2:32pm.

Heading to the ferry, Mack and Harris were walking down the streets of Bay City. The nerdy boy had plenty on his mind at the moment. How was he going to keep this from her? He hasn't kept a secret since he was 13 and Spyder made him cover up the fact that he pulled a prank on tbe vice principal. That didn't last long because he couldn't handle the pressure. And if he couldn't keep that on the down low, how could he possibly hide this?

"Are you okay?" Mackenzie asked, pulling Harris from his mental world.

He looked up at her and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good," Harris tried to convince her. She raised an eyebrow at him, which only made it harder for him to keep it up, "I'm serious."

"Harris, I might not have known you for that long, but you are terrible at lying," Mack stated as she giggled a little. Harris sighed, "you've been acting weird since you talked to my dad what's up?"

The male brains of the bunch hesitated. He stopped walking. Kenzie became confused.

"It's about you and Ryan," Harris started, "and...well, Liam didn't want me to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Mack asked.

Harris sat down on the edge of the sidewalk, with the young blonde joining him by sitting next to him.

"Yes, I'm bad at keeping secrets," Harris agreed on her previous point, "but it's only because I don't like lying unless I feel it's right. This...this isn't right."

"You can tell me," Mack responded, "I've handled a lot."

"Yeah but, this isn't dimension saving or guardian related," Harris said, "it's a family thing."

Kenzie shifted so she could face him more.

"Liam did anything to protect you and he would never want to hurt you," Harris spoke, "that's why he told me not to tell you, but you deserve to know."

"You're scaring me..." Mackenzie said in worry.

Harris hated to upset her. Unfortunately, life makes you have to reveal the hard truths.

"When Seth was looking for all the test subjects, one of them was pregnant," he explained, "she went into labor that night and needed medical attention."

"Oh my god, is she okay?" Mack asked.

"Yeah, her baby is okay and so is she," Harros reassured her. Kenzie let out a breath of relief, "her husband had to deliver her. Liam went there to help that night."

"That's my dad," Kenz praised her father, "even in the craziest situations he jumps in to help. Probably where I get it from."

Harris smiled a little before going on.

"You do. And that's why I like you so much," he admitted. Mack mentally beamed, thinking certain thoughts while Harris continued, "but anyway, the parents couldn't keep the child because Harper would go after her and try to hurt her. So, the dad asked Liam to take care of her."

Mackenzie's eyes widened a little.

"Wait what are you...what are you saying?" She queried.

Harris looked directly at her. He wasn't sure if he could face her entirely with this news, but he took the chance.

"The parents gave up their child to keep her safe, like Ryan's parents did...sorta," Harris progressed. His best bud's story was a little more layered than that, "and that baby...was you."

Blinking twice, the teenage superpowered human put the story together.

"Wait a minute," she began asking. Harris was nervous, "wait a minute, wait a minute...you're saying I'm...I-I'm adopted?"

Her friend didn't answer her.

"How the...why didn't-"

"He didn't want to drop this on you," Harris told her. Mack was upset, "he didn't want you to freak out or hate him."

"I don't hate him but, but he should've told me," Kenzie replied, "he didn't have to lie to me."

"I'm so sorry Mack." Harris sympathically stated.

The guardian swallowed a little as she stood up. She started walking really fast, to which her companion immediately went after her.

"Mack!" Harris called.

The young blonde didn't respond.

"Mack wait! Where are you going?!" Harris questioned aloud.

"Confronting Leo and Ryan about this," Mack told him, "they must've known. Mostly Leo I'm guessing."

"Ryan doesn't know and if he did he would tell you in a heartbeat," Harris riposted, "and Leo might be the best out of all of us at keeping secrets, but the thing is, it just came to mind."

Mackenzie stopped.

"What do you mean came to mind?" She quizzed.

"I may have...suspected this since it didn't add up at first," Harris talked, "and we weren't sure if it was true, so we wanted to ask Liam about it."

Mackenzie huffed as she turned around.

"That's why Veracity pulled you out of the room? So you could talk about it?" She assumed, "you guys could've said something and I wouldn't have to find out through you."

Harris walked up to her with a guilty, sad expression.

"You should've let me in on it." Mack said.

"I'm really sorry." Harris apologized.

Kenzie closed her eyes and sighed. She wasn't happy by any means. Although, she knew better than to take it out on the person who could never lie to her or anyone else. Reopening her eyes, she stared at her friend.

"I don't blame you for being mad." Harris spoke.

"I know," Mack retorted, "I am mad."

"I get if you hate me for a while." Harris added.

Not responding automatically, the young blonde was wearing a small grin. She cupped the nerdy school boy's face. Leaning in, the two locked lips. Harris was a little surprised at first, but kissed her anyway. It lasted for a few seconds before the guardian pulled back. She let her friend's face go.

"I am mad, but I could never hate you." Mackenzie told him.

The defensive operator cheesed a bit, making Mack laugh. The two then headed for the robot.

*************

The trio of boys made it passed the piles of trash. The sixteen year old opened the door and let the younger children enter before he did. Closing it, the three were about to head into the elevator. However, they found one of their teammates first. She was sitting on top of one of the tables, with her back to them. Her feet dangled as her hand held her head. The others could tell something was wrong, prompting them to go and ask.

"Hey V," Spyder greeted, "what's going on?"

She shook her head.

"Do we have to beat somebody up? Cause we'll do it. Heck I'll do it for fun." Mark offered.

Veracity chuckled a little.

"Trust me, I think you all seen me in action. I can handle myself." She replied.

"Then what is it?" Ryan questioned in concern.

His voice shocked her a little. She turned around and faced the guys.

"Well, there is something we have to-"

"He knows," Spyder told her, "we said it."

V raised an eyebrow as she looked at the oldest of the seven.

"Yup." He backed Spyder up.

"But that's not it," Ryan changed the subject, "I can tell. What's wrong?"

Veracity put her hands in her lap.

"I uh...found out how my mom died." She responded.

"V..." Mark remarked in sympathy.

Spyder quickly joined the female brains by sittinf beside her on the table. She gave him a glance before continuing.

"I thought something like a car crash killed her because my dads told me that and that she was really distracted with work," Veracity stated, "but I never saw where she worked. And when I was talking to Leo about..."

She stopped once she looked at the young pilot, who looked confused.

"What?" Ryan wondered.

"Um...that part I'll skip," Veracity dropped it. She didn't want to spill that news this way, "but Leo told me he heard an argument between Harper and this woman. Turns out, she was friends with him for a while before everything went down and he could recognize her voice. She worked at Harper Futuristics."

"Woah." Spyder reacted.

"You must be loaded then." Mark assumed.

"No, we're high middle class really," Veracity corrected him, "there's a difference."

Mark nodded.

"Anyway, they were arguing because mom found out what Harper was planning. She even quit because she wanted no part in it. Leo said that she was going to try and expose him too," Veracity went on. The next part she nearly choked out, "I mean, I know he couldn't hear anything because they left but, if she was going to expose the guy who started making monsters on national TV and she didn't come back after that...then..."

Spyder wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder up and down. The other two boys walked towards them. The male technopath hugged her while his brother put stood by.

"Can't believe he would do that." Spyder commented in sadness.

"I can," Ryan replied. He rubbed V's back in comfort, "this guy tried to capture people just to get power. Why wouldn't he pull something like this?"

He let her go, allowing the daredevil to slide closer to her and support her.

"I'm so sorry Veracity." Mark said.

"Us too," Spyder added. The dirty blonde haired girl wrapped her hands around his waist as her head went on his shoulder, "it's messed up."

The ferry doors reopened, with two other teammates entering in. They weren't far from the place. Upon coming in, both of them felt the mood becoming a bit somber. They decided to check it out.

"What happened?" Mack asked.

She ran up to everyone. Particularly V, considering she was the one who was being surrounded.

"It's about her-"

"Don't," Veracity stopped Ryan. She didn't want it to be repeated, "I'm figuring out how I'm going to confront my dads about this."

Kenzie didn't need an explanation to help a friend. She shoved Spyder out of the way to hug her bestie. The jokester gave an offended stare.

"Oh sure, just push me over." Spyder reacted.

Mark chuckled a little.

"When did you find out?" Mack questioned V.

"Like not even an hour ago." Veracity told her.

"What is with the bombdrops today?" Spyder wondered, "Ryan's a mutant, Harper killed somebody, and-"

"Mack's adopted." Harris added to the list.

"What?" V inquired, letting her friend go in the process. She kept her hands on Kenzie's shoulders, "you're adopted?"

"You're adopted?" Mark asked after her.

"You're adopted?" Spyder questioned.

"Adopted buddy!" Ryan cheered. Everyone looked at him, "what?"

Mack giggled a bit.

"Harris told me after he talked to my dad," she told everybody, "well...my adoptive dad."

"He's still your dad," Harris said to her, "and he wanted me to keep it from her, but I couldn't do it."

"Yeah cause you're horrible at keeping secrets." Spyder noted.

Harris rolled his eyes.

"Okay we get it." He replied.

"How you holding up about it?" Mark inquired.

Mack sighed.

"Don't let this smile fool you, I'm pissed off," she remarked, "but he protected me in any way he could. I could never hate him, but...who knows where my birth parents are?"

"Well Ryan's parents were on that farm," Veracity brought up, "maybe they're there."

"We should ask Liam about it and then go to Leo," Harris suggested, "it'll be easier that way."

Nodding, the guardian turned back to her best friend.

"I'm really sorry V." Mack spoke as she wrapped her arm around her again, but from the side this time.

The female scientist embraced her back.

"It's not any of your faults...it's Harper's," Veracity suddenly seethed. Kenz looked at her, aa did the boys, "I don't care that it was a long time ago, he deserves payback. Bad guy or not, I'm not waiting around for him to decide. He's going down."