Hey! We're back from a long break!

First off, just want to give a virtual high-five to Lady Cougar-Trombone, doomforzombies, ereader12 (thanks!), LabGirl2001, AlienGhostWizard14, Rodrigo, LRW, and ShadowDragon1553 for answering correctly! Adam and Bree recruited Perry to help them out with Bob, and it did work - but I'm glad that I wasn't the only who felt a little unsure about that choice there.

Also, I asked about opinions regarding Leo's new leg, and I received some pretty hilarious responses to this (and they were funny to me because I sensed that you meant for it to be funny. I think). Yeah, I'm not sure if there will be other abilities on it beside the super kick, which we did get to see in the newest episode.

Then again, we never know what's gonna be pulled out of the bag next. They might have something that would work, too. :)

Oh! raenbc, thank you for your reviews, too! I appreciate them!

Okay, just a note about this chapter: this might be a little anti-climactic for you guys. Bionic Action Hero had been one of the biggest LR episodes this season, but sadly, I just couldn't get into it. I mean, there were two or three parts I absolutely liked, but, I don't know. I think you may see how I felt about the episode through how this entry came out.

Anyways, please don't be harsh if you end up not liking it. I tried my very best in writing this. :)

Hopefully you'll still enjoy.

Episode Tag to: Bionic Action Hero

Chronicle #059

"Luminescent"

08/27/15

9:31 PM

There's a science to attraction.

When you start liking or are in love somebody, there are three main chemicals that are released in your brain: dopamine, adrenaline, and serotonin. Dopamine explains the light feeling you get when you're with that special person. You know, when it feels like you're riding the clouds because that person just makes you feel amazing and weightless. It also explains why you can't eat and sleep. You're constantly thinking about them, and day and night those thoughts keep your brain going.

Adrenaline explains why your heart pounds when you see that person and why your hands sweat so much. It puts you in a fight or flight mode. Some people choose flight, hiding away from the people they like, but some choose to stay and face that person, which, I can tell you by experience, is hard to do. There had been many, many times when being with Amaranth made me stutter like I don't know what. Danielle and Janelle did the same to me. They don't even have to do anything but stand there, and for some reason I just get tongue-tied.

On the other hand, the level of serotonin drops, and what results is you being very anxious and fidgety.

Bree – and even Douglas – was sadly plagued by these this week, when an evil robotics engineer under the guise of a director and a teen actor who was actually an android came to the island pretending that they were going to shoot a movie about a teenage bionic. Man, did she fall hard for Troy West. She was so love-struck by him, and it was so plain to see. She smiled and sighed and stared up at him with these twinkly eyes. He did pay lots of attention to her, and I guess that was what really fooled her into thinking that he liked her, too.

Ooh, that jerk. That was my sister he used and almost offed. He didn't get too close, but if something had happened to Bree he would have been up to par with Marcus.

Androids. Why do they have to be so evil at our side of the coast?

Anyways, I do feel bad for Bree. I know there's this taboo among the five of us regarding what happened, regarding what could have happened to Chase and how it could have ended up for her. She bears much of the blame for giving Troy that information about Chase, but we don't talk about it. The truth, though, is that I don't really, truly hold her responsible. I mean, yeah, she shouldn't have trusted Troy that easily, but she does feel sorry for it. I think the lesson of not buying into things easily was pressed upon her after the events of that day.

And, I just heard stories about it, but it's not hard to imagine how she felt when she and Adam thought that Chase had died. Come on. That was her little brother. What went through her mind at that time was probably enough punishment for her already. Add to that the guilt I know she's still feeling? Girl's probably drowning in enough negative feelings to last her a lifetime.

There's also the fact that the boy she liked turned out to be a psycho bent on killing her brother, her, her entire family, the entire bionic population, and basically, the entire human race. It may sound funny, but it's not. Bree's a tough chick, no doubt, but she's still someone who's prone to losing her confidence because someone more or less rejected her. I know this because I talked to her about it.

I found her at the quarters, alone, after the classes one afternoon. Adam and Chase had stayed behind with some of the students who were quite shaken up with the android attack and had thus asked for additional training when it came to dealing with situations that we were all thrown into. (Though, at this point, I'm still wondering why virtually no one helped us during our battle with Big Bad Terminator at that time. Thirty bionic kids versus one android would have been much better than one half-ish bionic kid and one inventor versus one hulking robot that could have easily ground us to dust.)

Anyways, I asked Bree what she was doing back so early, and all she said was that she wanted to take a break since Adam and Chase seemed to have everything at the Academy under control. I just said okay then started raiding the fridge. "What about you? What are you doing the rest of the day?" she asked.

"Well, I was thinking of doing homework and actually getting started on my extra credit," I said, picking out a bottle of orange juice, "but…my study group bailed because of the training session. So, yeah. Pretty much nothing." I sat down next to her. "What about you?"

She sighed. "Trying to see what movie I can watch."

I narrowed my eyes. "When you say 'movie,' you mean…?"

She rolled her eyes. "No. I'm never, ever, ever—"

"—getting back together with Troy West movies?" I asked with a grin.

She laughed. "I see you've been listening to Adam's Taylor Swift megamix," she said.

"Nah. I really just want to make that connection. You gotta admit, it was heading that direction."

She chuckled, eyes back on her tablet as she scrolled down a list. "Yeah," she said.

"So, what are you thinking of seeing?" I peeked into the tablet and saw a roster of show times. "You're going to see Mission Impossible?"

"Yeah," she said with another sigh. "I can always count on Tom Cruise on being a good guy."

"Okay?" I said unsurely. "Who are you going with?"

She turned off her tablet. "No one. Just by myself. Like always," she said glumly.

I watched her as she walked back to her capsule to change out of her mentor uniform and into casual attire. Turning around, I realized through her words and actions that there was something bothering her. I waited until she sat back down on the couch before I asked, "What's wrong, Bree?"

She looked at me like she didn't know what I was talking about. "Wrong? There's nothing wrong," she said.

I quirked my brows at her.

She stared at me unwaveringly for a while. Then, "It's just… Boy problems, Leo," she said, leaning back into the couch, defeated. "You wouldn't understand."

"Uh, well, boy problems, no," I agreed, "but I've had my share of girl problems, and I don't think they're that different from one another." When she didn't speak, I said, "You know you can always tell me what's up, right?"

She looked at me hesitatingly at first, but after a moment she opened up. She chuckled wryly. "I just don't get why I always fall for guys that turn out to be jerks," she said.

I frowned lightly. "Ethan wasn't a jerk. He and his family just moved to Denver," I said.

"Ethan's different," she said. "Except for him, all of the others are just…awful. Kavan, Owen, Jake, Sebastian, Troy… They all turned out to be the same. I mean, did I do something wrong?"

I shrugged lightly. "I don't know. Did you?"

"I must have!" she said, frustrated. "It's like almost every single time, the guy I choose end up hurting me. I don't know if I'm subconsciously choosing boys like them or if I'm just really making bad choices. I hate it. I don't like it. Sometimes, I can't help but feel dumb. I mean, look at what happened with Troy. He came here, and I just easily bought every garbage he told me. He and that she-maniac almost killed Chase! And that was my fault! That wasn't what I wanted. That's not what I want. I mean," she took a breath and released it, a sad look on her face, "all I want is, you know, someone to be with."

I nodded. "Okay, let me ask you something here: what's really your reason for wanting a boyfriend?" I asked.

"I told you. I want someone to be with."

"So, you feel incomplete?"

She thought about it. "I don't know. I guess so."

"See, maybe that's the problem. You're looking to someone else to complete you when you should feel complete by yourself. Then those guys who don't deserve you see that, and they take advantage of you," I said. I smiled. "The person you're meant to be with shouldn't make you feel like you'll remain incomplete if they don't come into your life, like everything depends on him. He will never ask you to feel that way. At least I don't think he should. The person that's meant for you should make you think that you are good on your own, but when the two of you are together you're on your best version yet. Kind of like being amped up. Remember? When Big D upgraded your bionics and you had those cool tricks up your sleeves? I mean, your bionics and skills were good already before that, but that made those better.

"That's how it should be like with that guy. He shouldn't make you feel like, you know, like you're broken and needs fixing. He should make you feel like you were upgraded, not repaired," I said.

Bree chuckled. "Wow," she said. "Where'd you get all of that from? TV?"

I laughed. "Kind of," I said. "But some of it's from experience, too."

Bree nodded. "Well, I mean, that sounds good, but that's easy for you to say. You were with Janelle for three solid years," she said.

"And look where that ended up," I said.

"Well, okay, yeah, I see your point. But, the point I'm making still stands. The longest I've been in a relationship is a few months. Now, the chances of me finding somebody who is not a jerk is slimmer because we're in this island. It's not like I can just go out there and look for that guy you're telling me about."

"Then don't look for him."

"What?"

I shrugged. "Don't look for him. Why should you?" I said. "Bree, you're a rare diamond. Mom has told you that. Rare diamonds don't come to their treasure hunters. They wait until the treasure hunter who has put the most effort and spent the most resources to find them finds them. Why should you compromise your value for someone who's not worthy of you?"

Bree smiled. "You really think I'm worth that much?" she asked.

I scoffed. "Of course. I'm sure Big D, Douglas, Adam, and Chase do, too," I said.

She nodded slowly. "Alright," she said. Then, a moment later, she got up.

"Where are you going?"

"Gonna grab something to eat, and then leave for the movies. Flying solo doesn't seem so bad now," she said with a small grin. She frowned. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing."

"You wanna come, don't you."

I stood up from the couch. "Yeah, thanks for the invitation," I said, heading out to my storage box to get a change of clothes.

"It wasn't an invitation," she called out, grinning. On my way to the bathroom, I saw her rolling her eyes. "The movie starts in twenty minutes. Don't take forever."

Of course, we were able to make it in time. What with the hydroloop and her super speed, there was no chance we would be late.

While the previews were showing, Bree said very quietly, "Oh, yeah. I meant to ask, you said what you told me was from experience, right?"

"Yeah?" I said, munching on popcorn.

"But didn't you also say that you and Janelle broke up?"

"Well, I didn't tell you that. Adam did."

"Yeah, okay, Adam," she said. "But you two are not together, right?"

"Right."

"So, what was the whole 'complete' thing that you were talking about that's supposed to be from experience?" she asked.

I looked at her, quirked my brows and smirked.

She gasped. She playfully hit me then said a bit too loudly, "Oh my gosh, Leo, you have a new girlfriend and you didn't tell me?"

"Shh…"

Bree apologetically looked at the couple frowning at her as she said, "I'm sorry."

I chuckled. She glared. "Look. I didn't tell you because we agreed to keep it on the down low," I explained as quietly as I could. "It's not that we're embarrassed of each other or anything. We just wanted to see how long it would take people to notice."

"How long did it take me?"

"Mm, about two months."

She clucked her tongue. "Dang. My radar's rusty," she said to herself. "Well, which one is it?"

"Amaranth."

She sat up. "The girl with sound manipulation?"

"Yep."

She thought about it a while. Then, she leaned back on her seat with a huge smile on her face. "Aw," she said. "Yeah, I can see you guys together. It's cute."

None of us spoke for a while, but after the opening scenes and credits, when we reached the part in the courtroom, I leaned over to Bree and asked, "Hey, doesn't Jeremy Renner look to you like somebody we know?"

"Yeah. I was going to say the same thing," she said, also frowning. "I can't figure out who, though."

"Me neither," I said.

That was the last conversation we had. Thankfully, we were able to see the whole movie without any mission alert coming in. I think it's safe to say we both liked it. On the journey back home, during our conversation about the movie, the topic about Jeremy Renner came up again. We made a list of everyone we know and went through it. Nada. And that bothered us. It's still bothering us.

It's been a few days since then, but the effects of that afternoon is still evident. That talk Bree and I had here at the quarters seems to have done a lot of good. Bree looks like she's doing better, but of course I know that there are still some things that need to be hashed out. I don't think I can help with those 'some things,' though. It's between the three of them, between Adam, Bree, and Chase. It's not a business I can really get involved in. The best I can do is hope that they'd be able to straighten things out.

Still, I'm glad that I was able to help Bree in some way. It's the least I could do.

Signed,

Leo Francis Dooley

08/28/15

4:30 PM

The Bree Chronicles

As always, one hour special means two questions! Which of Bree's newer bionic abilities did we see her use in this episode? And, which of the Lab Rats' past enemies is possibly making a comeback in the future? Reviews and answers will be appreciated. :)

Also, you may notice that the entry kind of left something hanging in the air with that very last line. That would be explored next chapter.