Author's note: Thank you for the great responses so far! This chapter is kinda filler, but things will pick up soon.
Also, to my guest reviewer "Jayne," thank you for such wonderful reviews. If you have an account, please log in so I can PM you. :)
CHAPTER THREE- The Offer
"I'm not your son," Chase growled at the spiky-haired man. "And I don't need a ride." He began walking again, trying to look casual while taking note of his surroundings and debating his options. Was this some kind of trap? Was Douglas about to attack him? How had he even known where Chase would be at that time?
"Are you sure? It's a pretty long walk to your house, and it's kinda cold today."
"I don't take rides from strangers. Or psychopaths," Chase replied, still staring resolutely ahead while he walked.
"Suit yourself," Douglas said, still driving slowly, keeping his car close to Chase. "But maybe we could talk for a few minutes?"
"We have nothing to talk about, and nothing you have to say could possibly interest me."
"Are you sure?" Douglas asked. "It sounds like you and your family aren't getting along very well right now. Brother and sister giving you a hard time? Donald not giving you enough credit? Believe me, I know what that's like."
"How do you know about that?" Chase asked, finally glancing at Douglas. "Have you been spying on us?"
"I heard you talking to your brother on the phone. And yeah, I may have 'accidently overheard' a few things that happened at home."
"You mean you bugged the lab." Chase wasn't really surprised by this information. Donald had gone through the lab and removed every bug and camera that he could find, but Marcus had been pretty clever in hiding them. And Douglas was a great computer programmer, able to break into Eddie's system. Who knows how many different ways he had been watching and listening to them?
Douglas grinned. "You call it 'spying.' I call it 'surveillance.' Can you blame me for wanting to know what goes on in my children's lives?"
Chase stopped walking and glared at Douglas again. "We are NOT your children. Let it go, man."
Douglas pulled the car over and parked on the street, just ahead of Chase's position on the sidewalk. He got out of the car. Chase backed up a few steps and scanned the area around him, ready to bolt if necessary. But Douglas approached him slowly and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"What if I told you that I can offer you more, Chase?"
Chase eyed him suspiciously. "More what?"
"More abilities. Upgrades to your bionic chip. I can offer you all of Adam and Bree's abilities, plus more as I develop them in the future. You would be an even better mission leader. Or you could go out on your own. You wouldn't need a team if you could do all of their jobs by yourself, would you?"
Chase considered this for a moment. "Why me?" he finally asked. "Why didn't you just give Adam and Bree all those abilities in the first place?"
"Adam and Bree were early versions," Douglas explained. "You know how later versions of software programs are usually better, because the developer has time to work out the bugs and glitches? It's kind of like that. I learned from the mistakes I made when I programmed their bonics. By the time I got to you, I was ready to upload even more abilities into one person, plus add the capacity for upgrades later."
Douglas leaned in closer. "I can make you even more intelligent than you already are, Chase. And stronger and faster than anyone else in the world. There would be no one as extraordinary as you on the whole planet."
"And then you would control me, and make me into your super-soldier, just like you wanted to do in the first place."
"Is that what my brother told you?"
"Yes. And I know it's true. You tried to control us before. Remember when you kidnapped Mr. Davenport and trapped us all in your basement? Because I sure remember it."
Douglas laughed. "It's true that I had the ability to control your bionics with my Triton app. But I only did that because you never would have come with me in the first place. Donald has poisoned your mind against me."
"Or maybe he was telling us the truth the whole time," Chase replied.
"He broke the remote, and I assume he removed the ap from your systems, right?"
Chase didn't answer, though it was true. It had taken him days, but Mr. Davenport had finally figured out how to remove the Triton program from each of their systems.
"If I wanted super-soldiers, I could just make an army of androids like Marcus. They're tougher, faster, and can handle more abilities at once. Yes, they burn out quickly, but you can always make more of them." Douglas looked him directly in the eyes. "You and your siblings were my real life's work. And you, Chase, were the pinnacle of that work. At least, you were supposed to be, but my brother took you all away before I could finish."
Douglas placed a hand on Chase's shoulder. Chase glanced down at it uneasily, but did not pull away. "I just want to finish the work I started. The work that was stolen from me. Let me make you all that you were meant to be, Chase."
Chase looked away and swallowed hard, thinking. It would be nice to have more abilities…to be able to keep up with Adam and Bree…to not be picked on anymore…
Douglas was still staring intently at him, waiting for a reply. Chase pulled back and shook his head. "I can't leave my family."
"The same family that makes fun of you? Doesn't listen to you? The same family that left you to walk home by yourself today?" Douglas laughed. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"You wouldn't understand." Chase shifted his backpack up higher on his shoulder and turned to walk away.
"An older sibling who puts you down, constantly steals the spotlight, and thinks they're better than you? No, I wouldn't know anything about that," Douglas said sarcastically.
Chase paused, ready to throw out an angry reply, and was surprised when none came out. "Whatever," he finally mumbled. "I've got to get home."
"OK," Douglas said. "But take this, in case you ever change your mind." He held out what appeared to be a small piece of paper. Chase cautiously accepted it. The only thing written on the paper was a phone number.
"You call that number from any phone, and it will send a signal to me. I'll come and get you right away." Douglas opened the door of his car and settled in the driver's seat. He turned the key, and the engine rumbled to life.
"But how will I know where to meet up with you?" Chase asked.
Douglas smiled. "Don't worry about that. I'll come to you." He shifted into drive and sped off, leaving a thoughtful Chase behind him.
Chase was still lost in thought when he arrived home.
He had walked slowly, thinking about Douglas's offer the whole way, and it was nearly 5pm before he got home. Guiltily he remembered that they were supposed to train right after school that day. Great. Another reason for Mr. Davenport to be mad at me.
In the lab, Adam and Bree were using the virtual reality simulator to train in hand-to-hand combat. Mr. Davenport stood at the control panel, typing in commands and directing the simulation. He stopped the program when he saw Chase enter the room. Adam and Bree took of their visors, and all three of them turned to glare at Chase.
"You're late," Donald pointed out, pointing to the clock on the desk. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago."
"I'm sorry," Chase replied. "It wasn't exactly my fault. Adam left without me."
Adam gave him an innocent look. "Did I? I'm so sorry." He smirked at his younger brother, and Bree laughed out loud and high-fived him.
Chase clenched his fist and glared at his siblings. If they had any idea what he had been offered that afternoon, and what he had turned down for their sakes…
"All right, that's enough," Donald shouted, stopping Bree's laughter and earning surprised looks from all three of the teens. "This ridiculous feud ends right now. You guys cannot function as an effective team like this. I want you all to apologize to each other right now."
The three siblings looked at each other uncertainly. Finally, they each mumbled an insincere-sounding "sorry." It wasn't the heartfelt apologies Donald had been hoping for, but it would do for now.
"That's better. Now Chase, get suited up. We can still get in a little more training before dinner."
Chase alternated between rubbing at his sore shoulder and picking at his food at the dinner table that night.
Though they had officially made-up, Adam and Bree hadn't gone easy on him during training. Mr. Davenport was trying to teach them some new hand-to-hand moves, and he had them practice on each other instead of against the virtual bad guys in the simulator. Adam had flipped him so many times that Chase still felt dizzy. Coupled with Douglas's words still running through his head, he found it hard to focus.
"Everything OK, Chase?" Tasha asked, bringing Chase back to the present.
"Um, yeah. I'm fine." He quickly shoved down a few more bites of food. "Can I be excused? I have a school project to work on."
"I guess so," Tasha answered, still looking concerned.
"What was that about?" she asked the others after Chase had gone up the stairs.
Bree shrugged, not looking too concerned. "Knowing Chase, he probably would rather work on a project than eat."
"Maybe he's still upset because you guys have been fighting for the past three days," Leo pointed out.
"You think so?" Adam asked, looking somewhat guilty.
"I thought you said they made up," Tasha said, looking at Donald.
"They did," he said, his voiced muffled by the mouthful of food through which he spoke.
"Barely," Bree mumbled.
"In that case, maybe you should go talk to him, Bree," Tasha said.
"Me? Why me?"
"You have been pretty hard on him for a while now. Even before this silly feud started," Tasha explained.
"Adam's the one who left him after school today," she shot back.
Adam looked even more guilty. "You're right. I should go apologize." He started to get up but was stopped by Donald.
"No, Adam. You can apologize later. Bree, Tasha is right. You and your brother need to have a talk."
Bree looked around the table at her family members, but it was clear they were all in agreement. She let out a long and loud sigh. "Fine. I'll talk to him." She looked expectantly at Donald. "Tomorrow?"
"Now," he replied in a voice that left no room for argument. Bree sighed again and pushed her chair back from the table.
She took her time walking up the stairs. She knew Chase was probably in Mr. Davenport's library, as that was where he liked to do his homework. It was also the room he went to when he wanted to be alone. And right now, she suspected homework wasn't really what had made him leave the dinner table.
The truth was, she was still angry at Chase, and had been for a long time. She was a little surprised that her family had picked up on it, but as she considered the situation, it made sense. Anger and resentment had been simmering inside her and building up for a while now. Ever since…
..since the avalanche, her stubborn brain reminded her.
Chase had gone alone on a dangerous mission to Antarctica, during a massive storm. He was trapped by an avalanche and Adam and Bree had to come rescue him. She would never forget how pale and still he had been when they pulled him from the snow. How long it had taken for him to wake up. She still saw his blue lips and frozen white fingers in her dreams.
He had almost died.
Chase, who was usually the first one to lecture his siblings on the importance of working together as a team, had gone off by himself. Bree didn't understand how he could do something so stupid and dangerous. Mr. Davenport hadn't punished him, and who could blame him? What punishment could be worse than almost dying? It was the same reason she had never been able to bring herself to tell him how scared and angry she felt, and how she still resented what he did. But holding in her feelings just made them grow. Instead of clearing the air, she made sarcastic comments and teamed up with Adam to pick on him.
The split between the siblings had been building ever since. Despite his mistake, Chase was still the designated mission leader every time they went out. Bree knew that sometimes, their teasing got to him. They were all performing poorly during training, failing their missions, and just generally being mean to each other. Bree knew that her unresolved resentment was part of the problem.
Maybe it was time for resolution.
Bree knocked on the library door. "Chase?" She pushed it open, not waiting for him to answer.
He was sitting at Mr. Davenport's big antique desk. He looked up from the book that was spread out in front of him.
"Um, I didn't say 'come in,'" he said testily.
"You would have eventually. I figured this would save time."
Chase rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"
She shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure you're OK, I guess."
"You guess?"
"Well, no one really bought your 'I need to go study' excuse at dinner, and I was elected to go see what's going on with you."
"I'm fine," he replied, looking back down at the book. "I'm studying. See?"
"Chase, you're the smartest person in the world. You don't need to study. Plus, the book is upside down."
Chase looked down, then quickly grabbed the book and flipped it over. A small piece of paper fluttered to the floor. He grabbed it and shoved it under a folder on the desk before Bree could see what was on it.
"What is going on with you?"
He stared at her intently, mouth opened, and Bree felt that he was about to tell her something important.
"Are you still mad about the fight?"
He looked down again. "Yeah….the fight. It's been stressful, the past few days, you know?"
"Yeah…yeah, I know."
They stared at each other, both wanting to say more, but both hesitating. Finally, Bree broke the awkward silence.
"Well, I'm, uh, sorry that things got so out of hand."
Chase nodded. "I guess we all took it too far."
"Yeah…." More silence. She knew there was more that needed to be said, and that they were both holding something back.
"Enjoy your studying, I guess." She turned to go.
"Bree?" he asked quickly.
"Yeah?"
"Are we good?"
Other than you sneaking off by yourself and almost dying? Other than you scaring us to death? Other than the fact that I'm still mad at you?
She looked down, unable to meet his eyes.
"Yeah, we're good. I guess." She quickly exited the room before Chase could ask her to elaborate.
END CHAPTER