CHAPTER TEN, three minus bree

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The group were at school once again, and Emilia was sat in between Chase's legs on the bench in the middle of the hallway, talking with Adam and Leo as they waited for Bree to show up.

Until she finally did. "Hey, did you guys know we had a study abroad program?" She walked over to them with a pamphlet in her hand.

Furrowing his brows, Adam asked. "Why would I go to another country to do something I don't do here?" Emilia nodded her head, pointing a finger in agreement before Bree caught her attention when she opened up the pamphlet. "Look, it says you get to spend a whole semester at a high school in Australia. And guess what? I applied!"

"Cool! Kelly Porter went last year. She got sucker punched by a kangaroo." Hearing this story from Leo, Adam smiled. "Well, all right. I guess we're going to Australia."

Emilia winced slightly, knowing that Bree would automatically decline to them going to the study abroad program with her. And she was proven right. "Uh, no, no, no. No way, this is my thing. I can finally be on my own, I can study, travel, make new friends, obviously ones that wouldn't replace Emilia."

The Hunter girl smiled proudly. "That's my girl."

"Ooh." Chase winced, softly tapping his girlfriend on the shoulder so she could move places so he could get down from the bench. "I hate to be a wet blanket—"

"No, you don't." Leo disagreed, causing Chase to send him a look before he turned to face his sister once again. "But Mr. Davenport is never gonna let you do this. You can't go on missions if you're halfway across the world."

"Well, sure I can. I mean, I haven't figured out all the details yet, but there's gotta be a way to make it work." Bree looked hopeful that there could be a way for her to go to Australia and to also go on missions with her brothers and Emilia.

As the Dooley boy stepped down from the bench, he started to point out. "Not unless these three can unlock a new ability to make up for you not being here. Ah, but then again, Emilia has all of your bionics combined so..."

Before Emilia could comment on it, Adam gasped and stood up from the bench. "Ooh! Maybe I can unlock an ability where I disappear and reappear somewhere else. Let me try." The boy took a deep breath in before bending his knees and grunted, focusing too hard in trying to teleport. After a moment, he opened his eyes and sighed. "Did it work?"

"You didn't do it long enough. Try it again, this time more grunting." At Chase's words, with the sarcasm going unnoticed by Adam, he nodded at his brother before doing as he said. Quickly but quietly, Chase ushered the others to follow him as they ran around the bench to stand on the other side of Adam. He opened his eyes, turning around in surprise as they all cheered. "You did it! Yeah!"

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The bionic teenagers all hung around in the living room, when Donald entered the room, walking straight past Chase and Emilia and towards the couch where Bree was sat with Adam. "Bree, is there something you wanna tell me?"

"I got this." Adam said to his sister and stood up from the couch before looking at Donald with a sigh. "Look, we all like you, but we think Tasha could've done better."

Emilia snickered at this comment, making Chase smile at her as the couple followed Adam into the kitchen, whilst Donald turned to Bree, deciding to tell her about what he found out. "I just got a phone call that said you'd been accepted to study in Australia."

"What? That's crazy!" The girl scoffed out a laugh before her eyes lit up in hope. "Did they mention what day I'm leaving?"

"You're not going." To no one's surprise, the man had declined, not allowing her to go. This left the girl in shock. "Why?!"

"Come on, Bree! It was obvious. Even Adam saw that one coming." Chase called from the kitchen, gesturing to his brother who turned away from the fridge. "No idea what you're talking about, already moved on to cold cuts."

Emilia chuckled softly as Adam kicked the fridge door shut before walking away. She turned back around and reached for another Dorito from the bag she was holding, and just before she could put it in her mouth, Chase had leant forward and snatched it out of her hand with his mouth.

"Wha— Hey!" Emilia pouted at the boy who sent her an innocent smile. She pulled the bag away from his reach before pulling out another Dorito and quickly put it in her mouth before Chase could repeat his actions. She looked back up to where Donald and Bree were as they continued their conversation.

"You can't abandon the team." Donald sighed at the teenager before walking towards the kitchen, gesturing to the three teenagers. "What if Emilia, Adam and Chase picked up and left for a month?"

Bree followed him. "Well, then I wouldn't have to go to Australia." She shrugged. "And I wouldn't just be leaving you guys. I can super-speed back anytime you need me. Plus, Emilia's with us now."

"That's not the only issue." Donald reminded the girl. "What about your bionics? Your training? Your capsule?"

Bree sighed and thought it over. Yes, Donald may have been right, however, the girl was desperate in wanting to join the program. "Mr. Davenport, this is really important to me. Can't we at least discuss it?" And with no hesitance, the Davenport man declined her request. "We just did. You're not studying abroad. End of conversation."

"This is so unfair." Bree groaned after Donald left the room. This made Emilia frown at her, feeling bad, knowing Bree really wanted to do that study abroad program.

"Don't worry, Bree. I'll get you to Australia." Her older brother approached her, and grabbed her hand before closing his eyes and let out a grunt, trying to teleport like he thought he did that morning at school. Growing more annoyed, Bree snatched her hand away from him. Emilia could understand where she was coming from, after all, she just wanted to do something normal for once after spending most of her life, training to be a bionic super-hero.

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"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Emilia banged her head against the table in annoyance. Just as she went to do it again, Chase reached his hand out, letting Emilia hit that instead of the table. He chuckled slightly before his face softened. "What do you need help with, Bub?"

"Everything! It just... help me." The Hunter cried dramatically before leaning her head onto his shoulder and he stroked the top of her head, just as Bree walked in through the front door, with a beaming smile. "Guess who just got invited to the Panic Inferno concert tonight?"

She stopped between the couch and dining table as Adam gasped and sat up on the couch. "Ooh, Brendan Delaney?" He guessed, getting a pointed look from his sister. "Me. Caitlin doesn't want to go alone because she's totally devastated."

"Why is she devastated?" Chase looked up at his sister who cheered. "Her boyfriend dumped her! Isn't that awesome?! Whoo!"

Donald walked out of the kitchen, feeling bad as he was about to let her down once again. "Bree, I'm sorry, but you can't go. I have to extract your bionic chips tonight for a critical performance modification."

Bree approached Donald in question. "Can't we do that tomorrow?"

"No." He shook his head. "I'm gone all day with a new product launch." This only made her more irritated. "Look, I wish I could go to the concert, too. You know, I get the whole rock and roll thing!"

Emilia looked at him with furrowed brows, along with Chase as he pointed out to him. "Uh, people who get the rock and roll thing, don't say, 'I get the rock and roll thing'." Donald narrowed his eyes at him, making Chase and Emilia chuckle to themselves.

"Come on, Mr. Davenport, can't I just—" The girl sighed, getting interrupted by the man who told her once again. "No, I'm sorry Bree, you can't go."

After he walked out the room, this left Bree stood in the middle, expressing her frustration. "Being bionic is ruining my life. I can't go to the concert, I can't go to Australia, I can't do anything!"

"You could go get me some juice." Adam gestured to the kitchen at his suggestion, that Bree simply ignored. The girl thought to herself for a moment before opening her mouth and spoke again. "No. You know what, I don't care. I am going to that concert." She walked towards the door, deciding to disobey Donald's instructions.

"Bree, what are you doing? You can't just—" The youngest-Davenport sibling was cut off by Bree slamming the front door shut after she left the house. This action caused Chase to scoff. "Can you believe that?"

Adam looked over at Chase and Emilia. "What I can't believe is Caitlin had a boyfriend." He found himself amused by this as he chuckled, before his brother laughed along with him.

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Emilia was in the lab, watching Adam as he tried to annoy Chase, who finally had enough before he grabbed his arm to stop him from disrupting whatever he was typing in the cyber-desk. Emilia laughed before turning in the direction of the tunnel to see Donald walk in.

Uh oh.

Emilia knew as soon as he came in, that Bree was about to be in serious trouble as soon as Donald noticed her lack of presence. Since the girl didn't want to betray her trust, Emilia decided to stay quiet until she necessarily had to confess.

"Okay, guys, we don't have a lot of time, so let's get to work on your chips." Donald stopped all of a sudden and looked around the lab, noticing one person was missing. "Where's Bree?"

"Uh..."

Cutting the couple off, Adam blurted out. "She's at the Panic Inferno concert!" In result of this, Emilia softly whacked him on the stomach that caused him to groan. "Ahh, he broke me. This guy's good."

Donald narrowed his eyes, angry to find out that Bree had completely disobeyed him before he left the lab in a hurry to get Bree from the concert.

Soon, the both of them had returned through the lab doors, with Donald continuing to scold Bree for her actions. "I can't believe you went to the concert when I specifically told you not to."

Bree scoffed, and in the same tone, she shot back at the man. "I cannot believe that you jumped on stage and begged every member of the band to sign your t-shirt."

Donald scoffed whilst looking away from her. "I most certainly did not." He turned around before pointing to the back of his shirt. "I got all of 'em, didn't I? Huh?" He sighed before returning to the previous topic of conversation. "Look, that's beside the point! You are in big trouble!"

"Yeah, thanks for selling me out, guys!" The girl looked towards her brothers in betrayal, knowing Emilia wouldn't have said anything.

"Oh, you have no idea what we went through. He grilled us!" This confused Donald who gave him a strange look. "I said, 'Where's Bree?" He echoed his question, showing that he did not in fact grill them.

"At the concert. Oh man, he got me again."

Donald turned to face Bree again, continuing the conversation. "Look, because of you, we are three hours behind. Now the modification's gonna take all night. Now go get in your capsule so I can extract your chip."

"Ugh, fine." Bree groaned, rolling her eyes before she super-speeded into her capsule. Donald then moved towards the cyber-desk and huffed. "I don't know what has gotten into you lately. You can't just do whatever you want whenever you want."

"Trust me, you have made that abundantly clear. My life is not my own." Bree looked at him with a straight face as her chip got extracted. As soon as it was done, she turned around and grabbed it before she stepped out of the capsule. "Here, my chip." She smacked it into Donald's hand.

Donald walked over to the console and placed the chip, gently onto it as Bree stopped behind him, pleading. "All I want is a little control over what I do."

"Yeah, well, you're part of a team." Donald looked back at the girl. "That's not gonna happen."

Bree looked at him in disbelief. "So that means I have to give up my entire life because of it?" This made Donald pull a face before scoffing. "Yeah!"

Emilia frowned, watching as Donald walked away and over to the cyber-desk, leaving Bree alone to her thoughts. "Well, if being bionic is going to stop me from having the life that I want... I don't wanna be bionic anymore."

As Bree picked up a nearby object, this seemed to catch Emilia and Chase's attention first, the latter looking in worry as he asked. "Bree, what are you doing?"

"Getting my freedom." Rushing towards her, they all yelled out in protest as they tried to stop Bree, but it was too late. Her bionic chip had already been smashed to pieces. They all stared ahead in shock as silence filled the room, until Donald was the first to break it. "What did you do?!"

"Well, she smashed her little chip—" Interrupting Adam, Donald looked at him sharply and raised his voice. "I know what she did!" He looked back at the one responsible. "How could you do that?"

"Well, she picked up that—" Once again, Donald was quick to cut Adam off who tried to remind him of Bree's actions. "I got it!" He snapped at the same time, Emilia had covered Adam's mouth with her hand. Donald held a piece of the bionic chip in his hand with a frown. "You have no idea what you've done."

Bree stared at him with a void expression as she responded. "I know exactly what I've done."

"Ooh..." Adam and Chase let out, making Emilia close her eyes in annoyance.

"Then you know you've made the biggest mistake of your life."

"Ooh..."

"Now help me find the rest of your chip so I can try to fix it." Donald looked down at the smashed up pieces of her bionic chip, but Bree refused to help him. "You know what? No."

"Ooh..." The boys once again chimed in, although louder this time, making Emilia huff out a breath before turning to them. "Both of you, shut up!"

"Excuse me?" Donald opened his mouth in shock towards Bree, the emotionless expression on her face not faltering one bit as she repeated in the same tone. "I said no."

Donald turned his head to look at the other three and sighed. "Emilia, Adam, Chase, can you leave us for a minute?" He asked politely. "I need to speak to Bree alone."

Before they could even take a step, Bree turned to them. "No, stay." She looked back at Donald and told him. "There's nothing left to talk about." At that, she gave the man one last look before leaving the lab.

"Do you want me to go talk to her?" Emilia asked, looking at the man with a frown. But Donald had turned to her with the shake of his head. "No. If she doesn't want her bionic abilities, she's off the team."

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The first mission without Bree had been sort of a success. Adam, Chase and Emilia had returned to the lab, covered in black ashes from the fire, plus, Emilia had hurt her leg after trying to put the fire out with her speed, as well as rescuing other people. 

"Ow, ow, ow, ow." Emilia muttered while limping through the tunnels to the lab, having a tight grip on Chase who helped her sit down on the small bench next to the chair.

Approaching the trio, Bree looked nervous as she asked. "Hey guys, how was the mission?"

"Oh, it was terrible." Adam responded first. "You know, I was thinking about having my next birthday at a chemical plant, but now I just— I don't know." He sighed before moving over to sit on the chair.

"We rescued everyone, but the mission took twice as long. Even with Emilia's super speed, Adam, Emilia and I barely made it out alive." Chase told his sister.

Through raspy breaths, Emilia muttered. "I need food."

"Yeah, and in case you're wondering, heat vision does not put out fires." Adam interjected to point out to his sister, as Emilia shook her head. "Well, I tried telling you that."

"Oh, well, I mean, I'm sure it would've been just as dangerous if I had been there."

"No." Chase told his sister in correction. "If you had been there, yours and Emilia's super speed would've created a vortex, putting out the fire instantly. But with Emilia having to do it herself, it took longer since she also had to super speed around to rescue other people." He explained to Bree what happened. "Congratulations, Bree. I hope that being normal is worth it."

Emilia held in a groan while getting up from the bench before limping over to the elevator so she could change out of her mission suit, as Adam and Chase did the same and stepped into their capsules.

A few hours later, Adam, Chase and Emilia were back into their old clothes, with the latter stood watching as Adam annoyed Chase again who was trying to type into the console.

Chase pushed Adam's hand away from his view, the three of them sharing a look as they spotted Bree walking over to them. "You can probably guess why I'm here." She looked nervous, but she was there to apologise.

Adam gasped. "Emmy, Chase and I didn't make it out of the fire and we're ghosts?!"

Bree ignored Adam by starting off. "I owe you an apology." But before she could carry on with her speech, Adam spoke up again. "Yeah, well, you should've apologised when we were alive." He wrapped his arm around Chase and pushed him aside to stand by Emilia.

"Wha—" The Hunter girl mouthed to Chase after seeing the confused look on his face. The couple furrowed their brows before turning back to Bree who continued with her apology. "Look, I just wanted some freedom from being bionic. I never meant to put you guys in danger."

"Well, you did."

"I know. I was just thinking about me instead of us. We're a family. I was being selfish and I'm really sorry. I want back in." The smile on Bree's face grew bigger at Emilia's response. "Good."

"Whoa, wait a minute, we gotta vote on it." Adam moved to stand in between the couple and his sister. "Hands? I'm looking for a four-fifths majority and someone to calculate it."

"Adam, we don't have to vote."

"Yeah, get out!" He suddenly shouted at his sister before realising. "Oh, right, family, family, yada-yada, I got it. Bring it in." He wrapped his arms around Emilia and his siblings, pulling them into a group hug.

"What's going on?" Donald entered the lab from the tunnels, wondering what the context was for the group hug.

Bree stepped towards the man. "Mr Davenport, I messed up, and I'm sorry. I'm ready to be bionic again." She immediately apologised, which he was happy about but sadly, he had to give the girl bad news. "Well, I'm glad you feel that day, but I can't do that."

"What do you mean?" Chase furrowed his brows at Donald. "She apologised and she wants back in."

Emilia nodded, agreeing with Chase. "Seriously, will you stop turning the girl down? That's getting annoying." She gave him a pointed look, receiving a smile off Bree.

Donald turned away from Emilia and towards the speedster. "I didn't create your chip, my brother did. And now that it's damaged so badly, I can't duplicate it." He explained.

"Wait, what are you saying?"

"I don't know if you'll ever be bionic again."

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MEGAN SPEAKS !

hope you enjoyed reading this
chapter! it was quite a long one!
but emilia's had her first mission and
to say that she survived, was great.
anyway, thanks for reading. i love you
all!! <33