A big round of applause for BTRlover1122, Lollipop, and Aisha who answered the question from last chapter right! Leo did accidentally program the GPS to take Rose to Mission Creek, IL.

I also want to give a shout out to Lady Cougar-Trombone, Share11223344, KrisKat, and Nicole0725 (you were in the right region, though!) for the warm reviews and your answers. Thanks, guys!

Quickly posting this open tag, which will substitute for the holiday episode. The chapter's inspired by many things, but it's mostly influenced by one of Jeremy Kent Jackson's tweets. ;)

I hope you guys enjoy it! And I hope everybody will have a blast with the Season Two finale coming up in a few minutes!

Episode Tag to: [open tag]

Chronicle023

Chapter:Kryptonite

Password: ****************

Date: 12.20.13

Time: 3:41 AM

Janelle asked me once what things scare me. I gave her a pretty decent list: spiders, bees, being trapped with no means of escape, my mother. There were a few other things, but she seemed to have found my fear of "cute little bumblebees" really amusing. I never finished telling her, because I went off tangent and started telling her the time when the kids in my old neighborhood dared me to pitch my baseball towards a beehive—which, in all honesty, I still think was a stupid thing to do even if I was just eight.

That made her laugh harder.

I guess those were actually the only things I'd tell her. I mean, I like her and all, but there's still some things I don't feel comfortable sharing. Like, how the thought of being stuck somewhere alone instantly makes me fidgety, or how, when someone wakes me up in the middle of the night, I pretty much jump out of bed, no matter how gently they wake me, and it would keep me up the rest of the night. I'm not terrified of being woken up. It's just, you know. One day, when I was little, Mom woke me up to tell me something about Dad—to prepare me or whatever—and then, a few hours after that, bad news came.

Thus the awful and weird phobia.

It's not a big deal, really, those things. I just don't see it as something you spring on someone so soon. Big D and my siblings don't even know about it yet. Mom probably knows; whether she does or doesn't, I'm not really positive. I doubt she'd tell me, anyways. That's one of the things that makes her great: instead of forcing me to confront what upsets me or scares me like some of the other moms, she uses her instincts to find a way for me to face them without me even noticing that she's doing it.

I used to be scared of heights. Leave it to Mom to pretend she was nervous to get on a roller coaster and use my protectiveness to snap me out of that.

The way I see it, fear is like a punching bag. Once you get the will to start hitting it back, it makes you stronger. Over time, if you keep going and going, it can help turn you into a skilled fighter.

But sometimes, fear is also like another fighter who is more skilled than you are. It knows where to hit you and how. It uses intimidation and irrationality. Intimidation, since it seems much more than what you can handle; and irrationality, since it fools you into thinking that because you're weaker than it is, you'll have no choice but to take the punches the rest of your life.

Wow. The things you say when you can't sleep.

It doesn't make it any less true, though. I see it happen with everyone, even with Adam, Bree and Chase, who I used to think were scared of nothing when we first met. Adam is still a tad bit scared of getting hurt because of that prank gone wrong. Faceless things (such as maggots) or faceless people creeps the heck out of Bree. Chase, I think, has some innate fear of failure. Seriously. The dude flips whenever he thinks about failing a subject or a mission.

Mom and Big D are tag teaming with that. I overheard Mom saying that she wanted Chase to understand that it's okay to make honest mistakes. She didn't want him running away from life because of life.

I thought it makes sense.

Those are the only phobias they have that I've observed. But then I forgot that with what happened with Marcus and Uncle Douglas over the summer, new fears would come up. Adam, I noticed, tend to be uneasy towards new people, but that seems like more of a teeny tiny punching bag to me than a fresh opponent. Chase doesn't let us in on how anxious he gets over Big D (and, lately, Mom) not being around on time, but we know. A relieved sigh would come out of him whenever he finally sees them.

Bree didn't appear affected at first, which wasn't surprising. For the period of time I've known her, I'm convinced that she's a tough chick. Well, when she's not trying to impress Owen. She gets all girly-girly, and she smiles too wide.

But, I guess I was wrong about her being completely fine, as I found out a few hours ago.

Since Big D gave in to Adam and Chase's demands to take them with him to his three-day conference in Seoul, it was just Mom, Bree and me here. Even with a tighter security in place (all thanks to Big D), Mom still insisted that Bree sleep in one of the spare rooms up here so we can be together, and she can watch over us. Bree didn't seem to want to, and I think it's because she really wanted some alone time.

After some negotiation, Bree was able to stay in the lab by herself—given that the door to the lab will never be locked, and Mom can monitor her at night times through the security system.

Mom was uneasy, so I told her I'll sleep in the living room so I could be close by if something happened.

Then, an hour after midnight when we were asleep, I was woken up by an earsplitting scream.

I quickly took out the specialized Taser that Big D invented for me, something that I'm supposed to keep 'just in case,' and then ran like a madman towards the lab. I stumbled a bit on the stares, almost like something you'd see in funny videos, but I lived. Thousands of scenarios popped in my head, and I got extremely worried about Bree.

I thought about kicking in an invisible door and yelling 'L Doo PD! Hand's up, you creep!', but that would have been too much.

When I got there, I saw that Mom was already with Bree. They were sitting side by side on their chairs. Mom was gently stroking Bree's hair while she cried. I felt bad, because I've never seen Bree in that condition. She was shaking, and her face was buried in her palms. I pocketed the Taser before coming closer to them, which may have taken forever because I didn't know what to say. "Hey," I said quietly, because I was afraid that if I speak louder I would scare her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Mom looked up at me sadly.

Bree kept sobbing.

I looked back at Mom.

Mom stood up. "I'll make you a cup of tea, okay, sweetie?" she asked Bree. She looked at me.

I understood. Bree wouldn't talk to her, so she's leaving it up to me to help.

"I'll be back in just a minute," Mom said before walking away and upstairs.

I stood there for a while, wondering how in the world I was going to talk to her. I thought about starting with 'Okay. So what's the problem,' but that sounded like I was disciplining her for crying. 'It's okay. Let it out.' No. Please don't. 'Chill, Bree. It's gonna be alright.' Too casual, like I don't even really care as long as she stops crying. And how do I know? I'm not even sure what's reduced her to that state.

So, I started with the only way I knew how. "Are you crying because Owen dumped you?" I asked as a joke.

Bree didn't respond, but her sobs were much quieter.

"Because you dumped Owen," I tried again.

She sniffled.

"Because Owen dumped you because he realized he's actually in love with Caitlin, who's in love with Adam, who's in love with the box of Frosted Flakes upstairs, and this has all just turned into a weird and twisted version of 90210."

Bree was quiet for a second. Then, she sniffled and started chuckling. "Ew," she said, finally taking her hands off her face.

I saw how wet with tears her cheeks and her eyebrows were, so I stood up and made my way to Big D's desk where a pile of napkins from a fast food restaurant he went to some days ago sat. I handed those to her. I shrugged after I sat down. "Well? What do you expect?" I asked.

"Definitely not that," Bree mumbled into a napkin.

I nodded. I just watched her for a while as she straightened up, trying to see if she's actually okay. It was kinda hard to do, especially with all of the napkins covering her face. "Do you want me to sleep down here?" I asked more seriously.

The smile on her face shrunk a bit. She shook her head. "No," she said. "I might wake you up again."

"So? We're off school. I won't go back to sleep soon anyways. I can just play Minecraft. Chase is probably up and at it. We can finish the game we were playing."

"No, it's okay," Bree said a little too quickly.

She didn't want them to know.

"You know I won't tell," I told her. She looked up at me a certain way, like she doubted me. I rolled my eyes. "I promise. And hey—I rarely break any promises."

Bree looked at the crumpled bunch of napkins in her hand. "I know," she said after a long pause.

"Bree?"

Bree looked at me.

"Is it too soon to ask? You know. What's wrong?"

Bree thought about it, maybe debating whether she should let me know or not. Her decision came after a scoff. "It was just a stupid dream," she said.

"Oh. A bad dream, huh?"

Bree said nothing, like she was thinking about everything that happened in the nightmare. "It was all so real," she said.

It was my turn to say nothing, but only because I understood. Still, there was something in her eyes that told me it wasn't the first time that had happened. They weren't wide, like it had taken her completely by surprise. They were…tired, terrified, used to it but still not used to it. "It's okay. It's just a dream. It probably won't happen."

"But what if it does?" Bree asked sharply. "I don't… I don't want to do those things. I don't want to hurt Mr. Davenport or Tasha. Or you."

I frowned a bit. "I know you don't."

"There was just so much…" she trailed off. She didn't want to say it, but from her expression, I could see it was something bad, gruesome. "It's always me. Every time. I'd walk out of his house, looking for something specific. The wall would dissolve, and then I'll find you standing outside, waiting for me. You'd tell me it's time to go to school. Then the next thing I know, I'm aiming one of the shock weapons right at you. But I didn't want to do it. In my mind, I'm yelling at you to get away, but it doesn't come out. And, always, before I push the button, you'd smile and tell me it's alright, that you understand. Then…" Bree shook her head. "Chase would do the same thing to Mr. Davenport. And Adam…with Tasha…"

It was a lot to take in, but I didn't really know how to help her. 'It's okay' just sounds redundant at this point. "Well, I'll tell you right now. If you aim a weapon at me, I'd try to get away from you without you telling me to."

Bree sighed. "Leo, I'm serious," she said.

"I am, too," I said. "Okay. Maybe not that serious, but I just want you to see that nothing like that will happen. Look. He's away now. He won't bother you guys anymore. Don't be scared of him."

"I'm not scared of him," Bree said. "I'm scared of what he can do. And for me to keep having these nightmares must mean that a part of me still finds it possible for him to get to us. Ice melts, Leo. And even if not that, someone who's as underhanded as he is could still free him. Then what?"

"Then we'll find a way to defeat him again," I assured her.

Bree seemed to withdraw from the conversation a while. She was in her own thoughts, and I doubt she really listened to everything I told her. When she came out of it, she stared at me straight in the eyes. "Can you promise me something?" she asked.

I didn't say yes, because I didn't want to commit to something I don't know. But I didn't look away, to show that I was listening.

"Run. Okay? I want you to run where none of us will find you," Bree said.

I laughed. "What? That's kind of impossible," I said.

"Try, at least. If it happens, don't be stupid in trying to be a hero. Just run and hide."

I kept staring at her.

"And if Mr. Davenport and Tasha would ever be in danger, and you can do something about it? Choose our parents."

"Choose? Why do I have to promise to choose?" I asked, and the tone of my voice probably escalated more than it should. "Why can't it be both you guys and them?"

Bree smiled sadly. "Because sometimes there's only room for one," she said. "And it's okay. Adam and Chase would probably want you guys to be safe, too." She poked my knee after I looked away, upset. The sadness in her face was gone, replaced by something brighter and more accepting. "Can you promise me that?"

Of course not. Given, Big D, Mom and I won't stand by and let them openly annihilate us, but I don't think I'd ever be okay with doing something that could hurt them.

I won't. I can't.

But she was waiting, and I know that if something like that went down, Big D and Mom will never be the ones to pay for it. That's the truth that we have to live with. Bree, Adam and Chase are aware of it. So am I. "Last resort," I said but didn't quite promise.

Bree sat up, all the traces of her nightmares gone. She attempted a grin. "You're a good brother, Leo," she said.

I wanted to argue with her, but it would be pointless. It was a done deal. Plus, she looked content, and our conversation may just be something that will help her out of her nightmares.

We couldn't really talk anymore after that anyways because Mom came downstairs with the cup of tea. She managed to convince Bree to stay in the spare room up here for tonight. Not without an awful lot of arm twisting, though. Like I've probably said before, Mom and Bree has a funny relationship. I think they're still getting their footing on that mother-daughter thing. They should be able to get there soon.

I hope.

It's been almost an hour since Mom and Bree went to bed. Things have settled down, and it's been super quiet. And boring. When Pascal was still alive, he usually stayed up with me when I couldn't sleep. The desk lamp being on may have something to do with it. But now that it's just me, I'm relying on the Chronicle and my tablet to keep me company until daybreak, which should come soon. I could go back to sleep then. Mom won't insist that I join them for breakfast. She knows my deal.

Or maybe I would be able to make it to breakfast, because I don't know if I can find any rest. Bree's given me more to think about. The minute possibility that I may have to relive that nightmare with me in her shoes already has my stomach tying in knots.

Signed,

Leo Francis Dooley

End of Chapter Kryptonite

Re-Enter Password: ****************

Date: 12.20.13

Time: 5:59 AM

Any theories on what's going to happen in the finale? I'd love to hear them!

As always, reviews are loved! :)