Heys. So...another chapter. Hasn't been long, but I just love posting. So...bonding moment between Hannah and Chase. Backstory on Hannah. Continuation of Hannah's "de-training." Innermost thoughts and feelings. Yay.

It was unanimous. I was staying.

Everyone had immediately agreed. They seemed really excited about me finally living here permanently. I could have sworn I felt a surge of…what? Pride? Joy? Exhilaration? These feelings kept piling on and on and on. And I'm not sure I really wanted them to go away.

I adjusted quickly to normal life in the several weeks I stayed there. Everyone accepted me, and I even became pretty popular at Mission Creek High. That was mainly because I flipped the star quarterback, Trent, on the first day. Fortunately, he didn't take offense, even though I think he should have because I was technically a threat to him now, and even seemed impressed by my skills. The popular kids liked me because they were impressed as well, and the not popular kids liked me because I could and did just send Trent flat onto his back with one twist of my arm. Leo seemed especially excited about it.

Everything seemed normal until Douglas came into our lives again. Bree and Chase got a job at Tech Town, Adam and Leo rigged up zip lines throughout the whole house, Eddy taunted everyone, Mr. Davenport came up with dangerous inventions, Tasha tried to keep it all together, the usual. Then, Douglas sent us a message that Krane was up to something, Tasha and Leo got captured, and everyone almost got killed. Douglas saved our lives though, and it all went downhill from there.

I watched as Bree got tired of not being able to be normal and smashed her chip, Douglas finally fixed it and was forgiven, someone posted a video of the three using their bionics online, and Leo finally got bionics. I tried to help wherever I could, but I wasn't needed too much. Sometimes, bionics just outweighed everything else.

The day we found out Douglas had given Leo bionics, I went up to my room without a word. I could hear footsteps behind me, and I instinctively knew it was Chase. It was always Chase. Ever since the day he was controlled by the Triton App, he had been taking a special interest in me. We really had bonded that day.

"What's wrong?" he asked as I closed my door behind him.

I sat on my bed, and he sat next to me. For several moments, I didn't say anything as I gathered my thoughts. "You don't know what it feels like to be normal and be trained to be something more than that. I've always wanted bionics, real bionics, and they were always this close." I held my fingers an inch apart to emphasize my point. "They've always been so tauntingly close it's almost unbearable. I've always dreamed about getting them, but it's been sixteen years. I guess you guys are really good." I smiled humorlessly. "I don't know. I guess I'm just jealous that I'm the only one without them now. I'm sure Leo had it worse though. He had to live almost two years around you guys without even the slightest chance of getting bionics. But then again, sometimes it's worse to have hope." My head lowered in shame and sorrow.

I felt a hand on my chin, lifting it up. "Hey, it's okay. I'm really sorry if I did anything to make you feel bad. If you want, Mr. Davenport could probably give you bionics. We could always use someone else on the team."

I shook my head vigorously. "No, I wouldn't do that. I know how much Mr. Davenport objects to giving more people bionics; it could put them in serious danger. I'll only do it if the time is right…" I blew a strand of hair out of my face. "Besides, my feelings are irrelevant."

"No one's feelings are irrelevant. Even if some people think you're an emotionless experiment, I still see you as a human being. You should have your say in things."

"I've never had any say in anything in my life."

"What do you mean?"

"I was taken away to an orphanage when my parents died in a car crash when I was very young. No one would adopt me because I was 'traumatized' and 'injured.' I had some permanent scars until Mr. Davenport had the doctors perform surgery on me. The only one who would take me from the orphanage was your father; they were only too glad to finally get rid of me. He sent me away to a training facility where I studied and practiced for sixteen years. He had me visit you guys annually, even though there really was no point. I never asked for anything, never gave my opinion on anything. My life has always been in hands that were not my own. I was trained to remain silent and not have thoughts of my own, so I did. I tried to keep my feelings buried so no one, not even me, could find them, and I succeeded. Until I moved in with you guys."

There was a pause. "Wow, I never thought…"

My smile was more of a grimace. "Funny how many things the smartest man in the world doesn't think about, isn't it?"

He gulped. "Look, I'm really sorry if…"

"It's fine," I cut in. "No need to apologize. What's done is done. There's nothing you can do to fix the past."

"But–"

"We've already went over this, remember?" I tried to smile to reassure him I was joking, but I failed miserably. "There's nothing to worry about. I shouldn't have said anything in the first place."

"No, I'm glad you did," he said hurriedly. "I mean now I know you better. I know what your life was like and how to interact with you. The more you know about someone, the stronger your feelings toward them grow, whether positive or negative."

"That was probably the deepest thing I've ever heard you say." I smirked, and he grinned back.

"Why, thank you. I'll be here all week." He did one of those mock-bows.

We laughed, and the tension seemed to melt away. "You'd better go back down there. The others are probably worried about you."

He scoffed. "Worried about me? No, never. They're probably relieved they could get some time without me."

I punched his arm lightly, still smiling. "No, they're not that inconsiderate. Even Adam cares about you, though he has a strange way of showing it I must admit. You know your family loves you, right?"

"Yeah." He looked down, embarrassed at the subject. "They love you too, you know."

I shook my head. "I'm just a replacement. I could never be one of you."

"You already are."

Before I could reply, a shout came from downstairs. "Chase! Come down here!"

"Coming!" He turned to me apologetically. "Sorry, got to go."

"That's fine."

And he was gone, leaving me with my thoughts.