A/N: Here's chapter three. Sorry it took so long but I've been working on so many different stories. I hope this chapter is worth the wait. This is also my first 'song-fic' type thing. Echo finally gets some hope, but how long will it last? You'll just have to stay tuned to find out.

I don't own Cyberchase. I don't own the song "Chains on Me". That's from Phineas and Ferb.

Read, review, and Enjoy! Love, Kawaii.

Picking Up the Broken Glass

Kawaii Stella

Chapter Three

A Promise

"Chains on Me"

I woke up this morning, and the world was gray.
Haven't seen the sun since they hauled me away.
The boss man says there's no use in trying,
He won't let me color outside of the lines.

Got these chains on me,
And they're draggin' me down.
Got these chains on me,
Hear that clanking sound?
Got these chains on me,
Mister, hear my song
Don't say imagination is morally wrong

Mm-hmm
Drink of water, boss?

As long as I've been here I got nothing to show,
Try to make something but the boss says no
Wanna be creative but the man won't hear it
That big boss man, he's trying to crush my spirit

Got these chains on me,
They won't let me fly
Got these chains on me,
Won't tell me why
Got these chains on me
Mister, hear my song
Don't say imagination is morally wrong

No, they won't let us dance or bang that gong,
Cause they say imagination is morally wrong.

Echo's song was interrupted by a rapping on the Plexiglas window. She pressed the button to turn off the shade, to find none other than Judge Trudy there.

"Hello," Echo greeted tentatively.

"Hi, Echo. I was wondering if you'd like to get out of here for a while and come help out at the courthouse."

"I'd love to!" Echo said. It would be marvelous to get away from the orphanage.

The judge opened the door and let Echo out. Even though Echo had only been in the cell for a day, it was still nice to taste the fresh air.

"What do you want me to do?" Echo asked.

"Some cleaning and filing for starters."

The work wasn't difficult and Echo enjoyed doing it. She was asked to come back every day, except on Sundays, to do one task or another. Working at the courthouse had its perks too. Every day a restaurant would cater to the courthouse as a civil duty. The work made living at the orphanage more bearable. After a week and a half of work, Echo got her first day off.

All Echo had to do was deliver some paperwork across town. Then she had the day to herself, as long as she was back at the orphanage by dusk. No problem. Echo quickly delivered the paperwork and was on her way to do whatever she pleased. After a small debate with herself, Echo decided to eat lunch a little early.

A hot roast beef and cheese sandwich was better than anything she had ever eaten at the orphanage. The sandwich was so good Echo could have eaten four more, but thought bet of it. It wouldn't do well to make herself look like a pig. After her meal she found her way to the general store. There she purchased three, plain white composition journals, a new set of pencils, a new sketchbook, and two paperback novels off of the dollar rack. After she left the store, Echo made her way to the park, where she put everything, except an eraser, mechanical pencil, and sketchbook into her backpack.

In the park, Echo found a nice, well shaded little pond. The shade trees around the pond were gigantic and undoubtedly ancient. At the bank of pond Echo sat against the trunk of one of the big trees. For several hours she sat there and relaxed; leisurely drawing at her own pace. For the first time in almost a month, Echo's drawings had a cheerful edge to them. Echo sat there for awhile and just drew to her heart's content. Over the course of the afternoon, Echo enjoyed the blissful feeling of the soft summer breeze ruffling her hair and the occasional ray of sun dace across her skin. The sweet breeze even coaxed Echo to take off her button up blouse, which she had earlier rolled up the sleeves on, letting her cotton tank top expose her arms, and their bruises, to the sunny air.

After finishing a sketch of a group of wildflowers, Echo aimlessly doodled on the cover of her new sketchbook10, now already beginning to fill with drawings. Flowers, small tessellations, and her name covered the front cover with black permanent marker. By the time she was done with that, Echo knew she ought to be heading back to the orphanage. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but Echo didn't really have any other choice. Putting everything except her sketchbook into her backpack, Echo walked back to town.

Not even halfway back, Echo got lost in thought, which led to her not paying attention as to where she was going. That led her to walk blindly into another person, knocking the paperwork from his hands. And there was a lot of paperwork.

"I am so sorry!" Echo apologized, immediately starting to pick up the fallen folders.

"It's quite alright, miss," a male cyborg said as he too bent down to pick up his papers.

Echo noticed that he had red glasses and wore a blue jacket.

"Here, let me help you," Echo offered, still embarrassed from her blunder.

"You don't have to do that; I don't have much farther to go." The man said.

"No, it's my fault; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. It's the least I can do."

"Alright," the man conceded. "My cybercraft isn't very far from here. May I ask your name?"

"I'm Echo," Echo said.

"Well, Echo, thank you for your help. I'm Dr. Marbles."

"It's nothing," Echo said with a smile as she followed Dr. Marbles to his cybercraft.

While they walked Dr. Marbles noticed the shadows around Echo's eye and cheekbone. He at first believed them to be shadows left from the fading daylight. However, the colors weren't right. The edges of the mark were yellow. It didn't take long for Dr. Marbles to realize what the marks were.

"Are you alright?" Dr. Marbles asked as they reached his cyber coupe. "That's a very nasty bruise."

Echo was touched by the concern. Dr. Marbles was the only one who had bothered to ask. However, she didn't want to earn anyone's pity.

"Oh, it's alright. It was an accident." Echo said.

Dr. Marbles could tell Echo was lying and Echo knew it. She gave him the files she had carried before attempting a reassuring smile.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Dr. Marbles. I gotta get going." Echo said before high tailing it back into the main part of Sensible Flats; back to the orphanage.

The bruise across Echo's face bothered Marbles. What bothered him more was how she'd tried to cover it up by saying it was an accident. He stacked the files back in order, finding something that shouldn't be there: a blue notebook. It had Echo's name on it. Marbles flipped open the cover and saw the first of several beautiful drawings all done in pencil. Marbles knew he needed to get this back to Echo. The only problem was that he hadn't a clue as to where she went. In order to find her, he would just have to ask around. The first handful of people hadn't had a clue about who Marbles was asking about. That was when he decided to check at the courthouse. Thankfully, it was just where Marbles needed to go. Judge Trudy, of course, knew exactly who Marbles was looking for. She directed him straight to the orphanage.

I would've never expected someone like her to end up in here, Marbles thought to himself as he entered the main lobby of the orphanage. He was greeted a little too warmly by Ms. Truehart.

"Well hello there, Dr. Marbles!" Ms. Truehart greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Hello, Abigail." Dr. Marbles said. Abigail Truehart was not one of his most favorite people. "I came to see Echo."

"Oh," Truehart's expression fell. "She's, uh, in the back. Wouldn't you rather sit and talk a spell?"

"No thank you. If you don't mind, I'd like to return Echo's notebook to her."

Dr. Marbles walked around Ms. Truehart, in the direction she had indicated that Echo would be. He walked down the hall where a door marked 'Solitary' created a barrier. Dr. Marbles entered the door and to his left saw the box of a room Echo was in. She sat on the floor with her back to the Plexiglas window, organizing some stacks of books and supplies. Her over-shirt was gone and her tank top showed all of the other bruises on her arms and shoulders. It was sickening. Dr. Marbles walked up to the window and spoke into the little microphone.

"Hello Echo."

Echo, surprised at seeing Dr. Marbles on the other side of the glass, returned the greeting as she walked to the window.

"Why in the world are you in solitary?" Dr. Marbles asked.

"I'm in here because the others hit me. They think that I'm crazy." Echo said quietly.

"If they attacked you then why aren't they in here instead of you? Did you not strike back?"

"No, I didn't want to get in trouble. No one believes me anyway. Besides, I was outnumbered. They pick on me," Echo came close to crying and looked away. "Because I draw and study. I'm in here so they can't attack me anymore. Why are you here?"

"It is sickening that they don't control the others. I'm here to return this," Dr. Marbles said as he held up the notebook. "You left it in the stack of files you carried. And from what I can tell from this, you are not crazy at all. You have a true and special talent. You don't belong in confinement for your God given talents. We'll get through this."

Marbles put his hand on the glass and Echo pressed her hand against his.

"I promise." Marbles finished.