The Aftermath

"You're proud of me?" Bree asked in disbelief. "Because I've been trying not to be a disappointment to you since we defeated Giselle and Marcus."

Douglas cocked his head to the right and gave her a confused look.

"Remember when you said to Daniel, and I quote: 'Finally, a bionic kid I created that I can be proud of?' Well, that really hurt me. Adam, Chase and I have risked our lives numerous times on missions, but that didn't seem to mean anything to you. Ever since then, I've been trying to make you proud. I joined the Elite Force, got my sneaker line, and almost died getting superpowers. But you didn't notice, and if you did, you didn't seem to care," Bree said sadly. "I'm not mad at Daniel or anything, but you just met him, and you've spent more time with him then you have with me in the last two years. And don't get me started on Chase. You're always hanging out with him whether it's creating some new gadget or bringing an extinct spider back to life or whatever. Let's not forget Marcus. He wasn't even human, and you treated him more like your kid than you ever did me. You do stuff with Adam too, like blowing stuff up with him. Was that the reason why you never gave me a sister? Were you so disappointed with me that you feared creating another girl was just a lost cause?" Bree was now sobbing at this point. "You know that's why I said 'like we'd ever call him that' when Chase told Oliver, Kaz, and Skylar that you were really our father... because I felt like you never wanted to be my father."

"Bree, calm down," Douglas said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're right, I wasn't a good father to you. I'm truly sorry about that, but I have always been and always will be proud of you."

That caught Bree off guard. "You are?" she asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Of course I am," he answered truthfully. Bree smiled. "Thank you. That means a lot. Mr. Davenport's never said anything like that to me before. He has said he was proud of our team, but I don't think I've ever made him proud in something that didn't involve bionics."

"Trust me, you have. Donnie's just not good at expressing things like that. But look at you, Bree. How could he not be proud of you?"

Bree's smile widened. It was then that Douglas decided to change the subject. "And about your superpowers, what do you mean you almost died getting them? How did you even get them? What happened to you?" Douglas asked, concerned.

"I knew Kaz and Oliver got their superpowers just from touching this space rock called the Arcturion, so I thought if I touched it, I could get superpowers too. But as it turns out, if any mortal comes in direct contact with the rock, they'll die. Before I could grab the Arcturion though, Skylar blasted it, but the blast redirected and hit me. After that, I was in a lot of pain and was growing weak. Skylar didn't know why because she didn't even hit me with full force. She then thought that when her powers hit the Arcturion, energy from it must have bounced off of it and hit me. So the rock was killing me, just not instantly. Skylar was then forced to touch the Arcturion to redirect its healing energy into me. However, it came with a cost because Skylar lost a few of her superpowers. But since I made indirect contact with the Arcturion, I gained superpowers," Bree said rather proudly.

"Why did you want to get superpowers, Bree? You're already bionic," Douglas asked curiously.

"Well, AJ revealed his 'Elite Force Breakdown' list to us which ranked everyone's usefulness to the team based on their superpowers or bionics..."

"And let me guess, you were on the bottom," finished Douglas.

"No, I wasn't. Chase was. I was ranked third," Bree said, shamefully. "I felt less important to the team because speed had always been my thing and then Skylar came along with speed too, making me feel less special. Everything comes so easy to Skylar. I love her, but I would love her a lot more if she wasn't so good at everything, and if everyone didn't fall all over her. For example, when I held Naomi, she cried. But as soon as Skylar took her, she stopped. And that time Chase got stuck in Mission Command during a mission... Skylar became such a great mission leader basically overnight. Not to mention the times when people complimented her and made fun of me. Like Tony, who was the guy who offered me my sneaker line, or Perry every time she invites her self over to the penthouse. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely grateful for what Skylar did for me, but part of me wished that some of the powers Skylar lost when she touched the Arcturion were super speed and invisibility. Because let's be real, Douglas, before I got superpowers, super speed and invisibility were like the only (useful) bionic abilities that I had. I have never once used my vocal manipulation on a mission, and very rarely do I use my turbo leap for anything. Meanwhile, Skylar basically has every known superpower on the planet. Of course, she was ranked first on the list. I guess seeing AJ's list convinced me that other people thought that I was less important too," Bree let out a deep breath.

"Wow, well I'm glad you and Skylar are okay. I want to run some tests on you to see how your powers work and how they affect your bionics. Is that okay with you?"

"I guess," she paused. "I'm sorry, Douglas. You must think I'm a selfish and ungrateful brat."

"No, Bree, I don't," he answered honestly.

"You don't?" she asked, confused.

"No, I totally get where you're coming from. I felt that way, growing up with Donnie. I always felt inferior to him. But all that jealousy Bree, you've got to let go of that. I did a lot of bad things because I thought no one would care, and it wasn't until later that I found out they did. But Bree, you are important to the team too, and you shouldn't feel bad about it. It was wrong of AJ to make that list. You're all heroes, and you're all good at what you do. You have more to offer to the team regardless of your powers."

"Thanks, Douglas, for listening to me vent," she said sincerely.

"No problem, honey," Douglas replied with a warm smile.