5 days later
It was awkward to share a capsule with Chase. He said I sleep like a golden retriever, which happened to be his favorite dog breed. He's very basic.
Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare and my head would be resting on Chase's shoulder. I found it comforting, but it didn't make the nightmares go away.
I was good at hiding my pain. Everyone thought that because my parents were very rarely around that I got over it quickly, but they were wrong. I just mastered the art of masking.
No one knows about my nightmares. Not even Leo. And I tell him everything. Well, except for my insane crush on his step-brother.
I could sense Chase began to worry about me because of how okay I had been acting, but I just brushed it off and told him I was fine. Principal Perry even began being slightly nicer to me.
Well, she started calling me less harsh names. But it was something.
I picked at my cereal in despair, trying my best to look bored rather than sad as Adam bench pressed Leo, and Chase and Bree played catch or whatever it was.
Tasha was on the phone with Grandma Rose, Mr. Davenport trying to get access to some channel in Singapore. Earlier today, Chase had been geeking out for The Call whatever that was. He seemed excited about it, and it brought a small smile to my face in the moment.
I stood up and dumped my cereal out into the garbage disposal, popping two of the power pellets in my mouth and gagged at the flavor. It really did taste like dog treats.
"Yes, mom. Leo and I love our new home. Oh! You... should come and visit." Tasha said as my head snapped up, dropping the bowl I was holding into the sink. I heard it crack, wincing as I looked down to see it split in half.
"Sorry." I whispered. Now, I have to admit, I love Grandma Rose. The woman just scares me.
"But not today. Why? Because Donald's not feeling well." Tasha lied as we all looked at her, Mr. Davenport going back to stand on both legs. "Look, I gotta go. He just threw up in my purse. Love you, bye!" She hung up, taking in a breath.
"You know, we're gonna have to have your mother over eventually." Davenport said as Tasha shook her head.
"No, we don't. Look, my mom doesn't just visit. She has inspections. If she spots anything weird, she will use it as an excuse for her to move in." She said as I nodded, walking over next to her.
"She's right. Last time I made the mistake to invite Leo, Tasha and Grandma Rose to my house while my .. parents.. we're in Guatemala for a business trip, she didn't go home with Leo and Tasha." I said as Mr. Davenport sucked in a breath.
"Honey, when your mother visits, I will shower her with love, I will make her feel welcome and I will do anything humanly possible to--" before Mr. Davenport could finish, the doorbell rang, Tasha and I gasping.
"She's here!" I whisper yelled as Davenport froze.
"I'll be in the lab!" He said before dashing off, Adam, Bree and Chase running to huddle up together.
"Quick! Turn invisible!" Tasha ordered as the three of them looked at one another. "Oh, come on, you have every other freaky ability. Just run and hide!" She demanded as the three hide behind the counter. Leo and I stood arm to arm, grinning in fear.
"If I die, I'm haunting you and your family." I muttered as he nodded in agreement. Tasha fixed her shirt, going to open the door but her mother beat her to it.
"Oh good it's unlocked." Grandma Rose grinned, shutting the door.
"Mom! You're here." Tasha forced a smile as Rose rolled her eyes.
"Would've been here sooner if it hadn't been for your stupid gate." She said and set her bag down.
"Oh, that's just Donald's titanium security fence." Tasha said as her mother scoffed.
"Well, if you ran it with your car hard enough, it pops right open." She chuckled, eyes landing in Leo with a wide smile. "Leo. There's my baby. Come and give me some sugar." She said before walking over and hugging Leo tightly.
"Help me!" He croaked out as I shook my head.
"Oh and my little Nessa! How are you doing doll? You're parents still not back?" She asked as Tasha and Leo gasped, my breath hitching as Grandma Rose looked at them with confusion. "What's I say?"
"Mom..." Tasha said quietly, walking over to all of us as I forced back the tears that I could feel begin to form. "Vanessa's parents... they passed away a few days ago." She said and rubbed my shoulder as Grandma Rose gasped, putting a hand in her heart.
"I am so sorry, Nessa! I had no idea." She said as I sniffled and shook my head, forcing a smile.
"No no, it's alright Grandma Rose. Um... no one told you so it's not your fault." I said as she gave me a quick hug. "Will you all just.. excuse me for a moment?" I pardoned myself from the living room, quickly walking down the hall towards the bathroom.
I could hear Grandma Rose talking, the raising of her voice followed by Tasha's faint words. I could hear Adam's voice, so they must have been caught.
I watched myself in the mirror as my eyes began to turn red and puffy, my cries silent as this bathroom did nothing but echo. I sat on the edge of the bathtub, wiping my tears away and pulled out my phone, staring at a picture of me and my parents.
There was a soft knock at the door, Chase peeking his head in before walking in and shutting the door behind him. "Are you okay?" He asked, his voice quiet and soft as he sat down on the toilet lid.
"Not really." I replied with a soft chuckle, sniffing as a tear fell onto my phone. I shook my head, wiping away the tears. "I'm sorry... for lying to you guys and saying I was okay." I cried as Chase shook his head, sliding down to sit next to me.
"It's okay, Dottie." He said with a genuine smile, cupping my face so I had to look at him. "You don't have to pretend to be okay. We know you won't be for a while. We aren't going to shame you for mourning over your parents." He said as I pressed my lips together and nodded.
"I just didn't want you guys to worry." I muttered as Chase sighed.
"I'm always going to worry about you, Dottie." Chase admitted, bringing me into a tight hug. I took in his faint smell, allowing it to calm me down from the sadness and pain I was going through as he rubbed circles on my back. I buried my face into his shoulder, shuddering as I held back a cry. Chase broke the hug, giving me a soft kiss on my forehead.
"I don't have.. a single clue about what you're going through. But I swear to you, Dottie. I won't let you go through it alone." He promised and still held my face in his hands. I nodded with a small smile, not having the energy to actually speak.
"Thank you." I mouthed. I was sure I looked like a mess right now, but I could see that he didn't care.
"Oh by the way, Mr. Davenport finished building your capsule. You wanna check it out?" Chase asked as I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. Let's just make sure we avoid Grandma Rose. Whenever I'm sad she won't stop nagging me." I said as he chuckled, taking me to the lab.
He pressed the button to open the lab doors, my eyes widening in awe as I saw the four capsules standing in their spots. It wasn't a big change, but it was amazing to see that I was finally a true bionic hero.
"This is awesome! I still can't believe I'm actually bionic." I geeked as I skipped over to my capsule, which was in between Chase and Bree's.
"Yep. Now we won't have to worry about being cramped. You have your very own capsule!" Chase cheered as I smiled widely, stepping inside of my capsule.
It looked like Chase was speaking, causing me to frown since I didn't hear him. "What?!" I yelled, pointing my finger to my ear as he motioned for me to step out.
"Forgot to mention that it's soundproof. And Me. Davenport, Leo and I are going to prepare for The Call any minute so... get out." He grinned as I rolled my eyes.
"Alright. Just don't blow anything up." I said as Chase gave me a nervous look and smiled, nodding as I walked out.
⁂
I walked over as Chase walked into the kitchen, an angry look on his face as I frowned. "What's wrong? Did they not buy the exoskeleton?" I asked as Chase grabbed a water and sighed.
"Not only that, but I messed up so bad that I'm not allowed on the next call." He said as I pouted.
"I'm sorry, Chase. I wish there was something I could do." I said as he shook his head.
"I just need food now." Chase said and set the water down as I hissed. "What?" He asked as I smiled forcefully.
"Adam... cooked." I replied as we looked over to see Adam cooking with a burnt spoon.
"Uh just a couple more minutes." Adam called out as Leo looked down at the pot.
"Till what, you melt the pan?" He asked as I held back a laugh.
"You know what? Let's just all sit down and have a nice dinner together." Tasha said as Chase and I went over to help set the table.
"We can sit down, but having a nice dinner just isn't gonna happen." Leo replied as I sighed and shook my head.
"Hey, you're Leo's manny and you're letting him near a hot stove?" Grandma Rose yelled to Chase as I turned to him and raised a brow.
"Manny?" I repeated as he shot me a glare, walking over to Leo.
"Watch it, Leo. You wanna get sent to bed without any supper?" Chase asked as Leo looked back over to the pan then to Chase.
"Yes." He answered as I snickered quietly, watching Chase drag Leo over to the table as I sat down, Chase sitting next to me.
"What in the name of great Caesar's ghost is going on around here?" Rose asked as Adam had dumped the burnt spaghetti into her bowl.
"Nothing weird, that's for sure!" I grinned at Rose as she gave me an unsure look. And if the timing wasn't worse, the exoskeleton broke through the secret elevator, and I quickly shit up from my seat.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Rose yelled as I looked over at Chase, who gave me a nervous look and shrugged.
"That... is another member of our staff. Go away, James. We don't need you right now!" Leo lied as the exoskeleton shot at us. I quickly grabbed one of the pans, deflecting the laser onto one of the vases.
"Sorry!" I apologized as everyone ran for cover. I chuckled The pan at the exoskeleton, which only caused it to pause for a moment before I ran behind the plants to Chase and Leo.
"Adam, don't just sit there. Go take that thing down!" Bree ordered as Adam began to stand up, Tasha stopping him.
"No! If you do that, someone will know that someone has certain abilities!" Tasha said as Rose gave her a weird look. The exoskeleton grabbed the pasta, throwing it across the room.
"Oh, well, great. Now dinner's ruined." Adam complained as I hummed.
"Hate to break it to you, Adam. But it was ruined when you started cooking!" I yelled as everyone nodded in agreement.
"Donald, You're the man of the house, do something!" Rose demanded as Davenport looked at her with fear.
"Right. I'll take care of this." He said, getting up to attack the exo before ducking back when it shot at him.
"My hero." Rose said sarcastically as I nudged Chase.
"What if I used my electrokinesis to take out the exo?" I asked as Chase shook his head.
"It's a great idea! But we can't show our bionics to Rose." Chase said as Leo's eyes widened in thought.
"Wait I have an idea!" Leo said before running off, dodging the exo's lasers and coming back with a strange device. "It's time for the exo to meet its match." He said with a grin as Chase smiled.
"The electrofield destabilizer. Great idea, Leo!" Chase praised as Leo got up before coming back down, handing it to Chase. "Here. You should do it. Sorry for stealing your sizzle." He apologized as Chase shook his head.
"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I just have to get used to the idea of having another brother around." Chase said as I ducked from a laser almost hitting me.
"Guys, I'm really enjoying the heartfelt moment, but I'm running out of pillows here." Mr. Davenport said as Leo and Chase stood up, both running opposite directions as Chase flipped over the couch.
Okay that was kinda hot.
Before Leo could do anything to stop the exo, it grabbed him and threw the destabilize mr at the wall, shattering it to pieces.
"Uh Chase! Do we have a Plan B?!" Leo cried out as Rose stood up.
"HEY!" She snapped, the exo looking over as she pointed at it in a threatening way. "No one lays a hand on my grandson! It' time to pick up the hat!" She said and ran over, kicking the exo in the gut. It dropped Leo, the two of them running to hide behind the couch.
"Alright Exo. It's time I show you what I can do." I said, standing up as everyone but Rose tried to tell me to stop.
Electricity started to form from my elbows down as I got ready to blast the exo, watching it aim right at me. Before it could do anything, I blasted it with my electricity, watching it fly over the counter and see smoke rise as it shut down. Everyone then started to cheer, Rose standing up and giving me a strange look.
"Somebody better tell me what's going on right now. And right now just passed, so you're not talking fast enough." She ordered as I looked at Me. Davenport for help.
"Uh, Rose, there is a completely rational explanation for all of this. You are, uh, delusional. Who wants dessert?" He asked as we raised our hands.
"You know what, Mom? This is our life. Our house may be high-tech and chaotic, but it is full of love. And it may not be perfect for you but it is perfect for our family." Tasha said as I nodded slowly.
"What family? Wait a minute, who are these people?" Rose asked and pointed to Adam Bree and Chase, almost like she completely ignored the fact I just shot lightning out of my arms.
"They are, uh, my brother's kids. That I adopted when he died. Fell... in a volcano." Mr. Davenport said with a fake sad expression. He had a brother? It was that a lie?
"Well, why didn't you just say so? Now it all makes sense. You're just a modern family with a bunch of adorable kids." Rose said as we all smiled and nodded.
"Exactly." Leo grinned.
"Who is gonna need their grandma around all the time." She continued.
"Wait what?" We all said in unison as Rose started to walk towards the door.
"You know, I can stay for a few days in that spare room you got down the hall. Come on, baby. I got my overnight case in the car, and Gladys is watching Poochie so it's no problem. Don't thank me now. Come on." She said as I looked over at Leo with fear in my eyes as horrific flashbacks reappeared.
Tasha and Rose disappeared, Mr. Davenport turning to both Chase and I. "Chase, you really messed up today, but you kinda made up for it in the way you helped Leo like a brother. And since we have to reschedule it anyways, I want you both to be on... The Call. Hoo-hoo, it's back, baby!" He cheered as we all smiled before he turned to me.
"And Vanessa, I'm really proud of you for stopping the exoskeleton. But you just showed your bionics to Rose. I mean granted she completely ignored what she just saw but you need to be more careful. I get that she's family but you need to understand that you can't always trust family." He declared as I nodded in understanding. It kind of sounded like he was talking from experience.
"Got it. I need to be careful with who I reveal my bionics to. It won't happen again." I promised as Mr. Davenport nodded.
"So, whose up for pizza?"
⁂
"Oh, man. I am starving." Rose said as we all sat on the couch, nodding in agreement as the doorbell rang.
"Oh, that must be the pizza." Mr. Davenport said as he went to stand up.
"I got it!" Leo called out while we all turned our heads to see him in the exo suit.
"Leo why are you wearing that? It could malfunction again." I said as he laughed maniacally while opening the door.
The pizza boy looked up at Leo for a split moment before dropping pizza and running off. Leo picked it up and shut the door.
"Getting free pizza!" He yelled, laughing.
A/N:
Let's ignore the fact I mixed up the episodes. But the first few episodes of Season one are pointless