As usual, Mr. Davenport gathered the teenagers in the lab. To nobody's surprise, he was showing them a brand-new device he had been working on.

"Okay, guys, say hello to my latest invention, the cryo-blaster." Mr. Davenport announced enthusiastically as he held the device. "This thing can freeze anything in a nanosecond."

Leo sarcastically clapped. "Bravo, Big D. You invented ice."

Mr. Davenport's grin fell. "No, I invented a way for astronauts to travel to distant galaxies while frozen in suspended animation."

"Which is a fancy way of saying 'ice'." Leo clarified.

"All right, here, let me demonstrate." Mr. Davenport insisted, taking the cup from Adam's hands and placing it on the cyber desk. "You guys might wanna step back because the ray from the cyro-blaster freezes everything it touches."

The group of five hopped off the cyber desk as Mr. Davenport fired the blaster five times, turning the cup froze into an ice cube.

Leo sighed. "Can someone please tell this dude he's making ice?"

Harper pursed her lips. "Well, I mean, in a liquid form, water molecules have more energy than in a solid - they move around quickly, essentially bouncing off of one another. As the liquid cools down, the amount of potential energy is reduced, and the molecules start to move slower. When the temperature reaches around 0°C, the molecules stick together and form a solid – ice. So, technically Mr. Davenport you're making ice."

"Look, every space program in the world is gonna want one of these. I just need the element to fuel them, cytanium." Mr. Davenport explained. He motioned his hand above the cyber desk to show the location of the rare element. "And it's only found here. I'm sending you on a mission to the most remote part of Antarctica."

Bree tilted her head. "As opposed to bustling downtown Antarctica?"

"No worries, Mr. Davenport. We've been to way worse places than Antarctica." Mr. Davenport reassured.

Adam chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Remember Bakersfield?"

Everyone groaned at the memory of the most atrocious place Adam, Bree and Chase had ever visited. In Bakersfield, the air quality was so poor that they had to wear safety masks to breathe due to pollution.

"Look, with your bionics, you should be able to swoop in and-" Mr. Davenport was interrupted by a beeping sound. A red cloud was approaching the snow-white mountains. "Oh, no. There's a massive storm headed there."

Chase shrugged. "So, who cares? We just dealt with a storm."

"No, this is a category five. It's much more dangerous." Mr. Davenport explained. "I can't believe this. I'm gonna have to call off the mission."

"Wha-no. There's plenty of time before the center of the storm hits." Chase reassured.

Mr. Davenport shook his head. "It's just not worth the risk."

"Can't we just wait until the storm's over?" Harper wondered.

"Yes, we can. I just hope the storm doesn't collapse the glacier." Mr. Davenport said.

"But if that happens, you'll lose the cytanium forever." Chase pointed out.

"I know." Mr. Davenport said before he turned and walked out of the lab.

"But we can do this." Chase called out.

Bree scoffed. "Stand down, flash glue. You heard the man. No one is going, not even hustle and muscle."

"Yeah. And muscle could use some help." Adam muttered; his tongue stuck on the ice cubed glass of water he tried to lick. Bree snatched the block off his tongue. "That hurt. Great, now I need some ice." He picked up the ice again and pressed it against his tongue. "That is so much better."

Everyone left0 the lab besides a frowning Chase and Harper.

"Do you think I'm useless?" Chase wondered.

Harper furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"I mean, I don't have super strength or super speed. My bionics aren't flashy or interesting. I'm just the nerdy kid with super intelligence. I'm just tired of not getting any credit. I work just as hard as Adam and Bree, but they get all of the attention." He explained with a frown. "Lately, I haven't really felt like I'm part of the team."

"Look at me, Chase." She began, taking a step closer to him. "I know you feel like you aren't worthy, but you really are. The team wouldn't be as successful as it is without you. You're a good leader. Even if it helps, I don't think you're useless. In fact, I think you're the most useful."

Chase smiled. "Thanks Harper, that means a lot."

Harper cleared her throat nervously. "While the others are busy, do you want to go out? I just think we need to talk about a few things, regarding the last time we were alone in the lab together."

Chase thought about it, a moment of hesitation invaded his facial expressions. "Yeah, I'll be up there in a bit. I have something to do first."

••••

Harper hummed as she walked out of the lab, heading towards the kitchen. She almost forgot that Leo had a study session with Janelle today.

Before Mr. Davenport summoned them to the lab to see his latest invention, Leo was getting ready for his study session.

"Hey, Leo. Have you seen my bag?" Harper asked, noticing it was missing from its usual spot on the coat rack. "Chase and I are going out for a while."

"No, and I should know because I cleaned this place from top to bottom." Leo replied, leaning forward. "And did he ask you or did you ask him?"

Harper furrowed her eyebrows. "I asked him. Why?"

"Um, no reason." He stammered.

Tasha walked over to the teenagers from the kitchen, holding two steaming mugs. "Here you go: two cups of hot chocolate for your playdate with Janelle."

"Mum, it's not a playdate. It's a study session." Leo corrected as Tasha placed the mugs on the coffee table. "I haven't had a playdate in five years." Harper gave him a look. "Three years."

"What are all these gadgets doing up here?" Tasha asked, motioning to Mr. Davenport's tech on the table.

"I can't just invite Janelle over here for geometry. I have to put on a show... pull back the curtains on Leo Dooley, also known as L-Doo." He explained as he stepped back and swayed. "I'm gonna have to change that."

Harper nodded. "Yeah, maybe it's for the best."

"Leo, you know you're not supposed to touch Donald's things. And if Janelle doesn't appreciate you as you are, then she doesn't deserve the L-Doo." Tasha said, mimicking her son's actions. "Yeah, you're changing that."

The doorbell rang.

Leo jumped in his spot. "She's here. Go! Go, get out!"

Tasha hurriedly gathered as many gadgets as she could, with Harper offering to help, but Leo quickly pushed the two them away.

"Good luck." Harper wished her best friend.

••••

Harper waited for Chase, but he didn't show up. Maybe he suddenly got busy and forgot to text her. He wouldn't just leave her uninformed about that, right?

She went to the lab and found Mr. Davenport working on the control panel.

"Hey, Mr. Davenport, have you seen Chase?" She wondered. "We were supposed to head out a while ago."

Mr. Davenport furrowed his eyebrows. "Um, no. I was hoping he'd be with you."

Adam and Bree entered through the back lab doors; their faces filled with concern.

"Have you seen Chase?" Bree questioned.

Mr. Davenport shook his head. "No, we haven't."

"He's not answering his phone, and his mission suit and gear are gone." Bree informed.

Harper's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah, I'm worried he was carried away by a small predatory bird." Adam said.

"Get him on the comm set now." Mr. Davenport commanded, grabbing up the comms from Leo and Harper's desk.

Harper and Bree quickly connected the device to the control panel.

"Got him." Bree announced. Adam handed out three more comms to each individual person.

"Chase, where are you?" Mr. Davenport inquired through the earpiece.

The comms picked up high winds, but Mr. Davenport's technology was able to block most of it out and Chase's voice was loud and clear.

"I'm at the cytanium site."

"What? I told you it was too dangerous. What are you doing?" Mr. Davenport demanded, pulling up Chase's coordinates on the cyber desk and checked the weather in western Antarctica.

"I'm proving that even without super-strength and super-speed, I can still get the job done." Chase replied.

The alarm blared, signaling the heavy storm coming in close.

"You're about to be trapped by a major storm. Get out of there now!" Mr. Davenport instructed.

"It's okay, Mr. Davenport. I'm almost done. I just have to get the last of the samples." Chase responded.

"No. Abort and seek shelter. That's an order. That storm-" Mr. Davenport was stopped when a rumbling noise was heard from Chase's intercom. "What was that noise?"

The only thing that came out of Chase's mouth was a scream.

"Chase? Chase." Harper called through her earpiece, but only the sound of tumbling snow and harsh winds could be heard.

"There was a major avalanche at Chase's coordinates." Bree muttered.

Mr. Davenport turned off the cyber desk. "He may still be alive, but we don't have much time."

"Adam, let's go!" Bree urged, trembling as she and Adam hurried out the back lab doors

"What can I do?" Harper asked Mr. Davenport.

"You can stay here and help me track him. We'll guide Adam and Bree through the mission." Mr. Davenport replied.

••••

Harper couldn't stop worrying about Chase.

There was an ache in her stomach, a sign that something was wrong. Her heart was racing with worry, but a glimmer of hope flickered briefly that he might be alright.

She wished she could join Adam and Bree in search for Chase in the heavy snow, but she was stuck in the chair, feeling helpless.

Harper leaned against her swivel chair, tapping her leg repeatedly on the ground as she tracked Adam, Bree's location in Western Antarctica on her laptop screen.

"Any sign of him?" Mr. Davenport asked from the cyber desk.

"Nothing." Bree replied in disappointment.

"I can't find the heat signature anywhere." Adam informed.

"Well, how can he not be here? This was Chase's exact location." Bree said in confusion.

"There's only one explanation: He met a family of Eskimos who took him in as their pet because he's the exact same size as a penguin." Adam suggested.

Bree sighed. "He's not here. Let's move south."

"No, guys. That's it. There can be another avalanche any minute. I'm... I'm calling off the rescue." Mr. Davenport declared.

Harper turned to face Mr. Davenport in shock. "What? We can't just leave him there. It's below -50."

Mr. Davenport sent her a sympathetic glance.

"Yeah, I'm not leaving without my brother." Adam insisted.

"Wait!" Bree called out. There was a pause. "That's Chase's comm set. He was here. We have to keep looking."

"Guys, I'm serious. Get out of there!" Mr. Davenport demanded urgently.

A cracking noise over the comms caught Harper's attention.

"Hey, there's that sound again." Adam said.

"Avalanche! Move!" Bree shouted.

After a few seconds, Harper clicked the button on her earpiece. "Are you guys, okay?"

"Yeah, we got out just in time." Bree informed.

••••

Harper sat in her chair for an hour, mostly staring at the screen while Mr. Davenport worked. She absentmindedly played with the slime in her hands, wishing she could contribute.

When Adam and Bree returned, the sun had set, and evening had arrived.

Mr. Davenport and Harper helped the bionic duo unpack their belongings, eagerly awaiting updates. Harper quietly organized their gear while Adam and Bree took off their snow jackets.

Together, Mr. Davenport, Harper, Adam and Bree walked back into the lab through the back doors.

"Don't worry guys, there's still a chance that we could find him." Mr. Davenport said optimistically. "Chase!"

Harper's head snapped up, a wide smile spreading across her face when she saw Chase standing behind the cyber desk.

"You're alive!" Bree exclaimed in relief.

Before Harper could embrace Chase in a hug, Douglas popped out behind him. The menacing look on Chase's face made her smile drop.

Adam gasped and pointed at Douglas. "It's Evil Uncle Daddy!"

"Back away from him, Chase." Mr. Davenport warned, his expression turning serious.

"It's too late, Donald. He's with me now." Douglas declared wrapping his arm around Chase's shoulders and pulling him closer.

Mr. Davenport furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"Chase, what's going on?" Bree inquired.

Harper was confused by Chase's sudden betrayal, as it was very out of character for him to betray them like this. She knew he was often teased and mistreated by his family, but it didn't seem enough to make him turn against them so quickly.

"It's true." Douglas answered for Chase. "I've finally taken back what was stolen from me!"

Leo burst into the lab, breathless, holding the cryo-blaster. "All right, Big D. I know I'm not supposed to touch your stuff, but you know how sometimes things happen, and sometimes things happen when you really don't want them to happen, and that just happens to be what just happened. Upstairs."

Mr. Davenport raised his hands and pointed at his brother. Leo shrieked, backing away from Douglas and Chase.

"Whatever you're up to, Douglas, you're not gonna get away with it." Mr. Davenport warned.

Suddenly, the cyber desk beside Douglas beeped.

"I just did." Douglas said as he unplugged the USB drive from the cyber desk. "The download's finished. I now have the power to give Chase all three bionic abilities. And now no one will be able to stop us."

"Actually, they can." Chase spoke up for the first time. "That USB you're holding is completely useless."

"What?!" Douglas asked in confusion. "Well then what just took an hour and a half to download?!"

"A list of everything Adam's ever eaten." Chase replied.

"Not my Incredible Edibles!" Adam exclaimed with concern.

Douglas angrily pointed at Chase. "You double-crossed me."

"Did you really think I would betray my own family?" Chase questioned.

Douglas shrugged. "Well, it's always worked for me."

"Even if you could offer me every ability there is, I would never go to your side. We're a team. And teams never quit on each other." Chase said, earning a smile from Harper.

"All right!" Douglas exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "You got me. What do you say we just... put all this behind us and get down to the business of healing this family?" He stood in front of the group of six. "Am I right? Bring it in, people. Let's hug it out."

Adam started to move towards Douglas with open arms.

"Adam." Harper scolded, and he instantly turned back around.

"Well, you know what they say... if you can't join 'em." Douglas said, pulling out a weapon from his back pocket.

"Get down!" Chase cautioned.

As Chase aimed the cryo-blaster at Douglas, everyone ducked or hid behind the cyber desk. With a quick pull of the trigger, Douglas was instantly turned into an ice cube, much like Adam's red glass cup from earlier.

Chase placed the device on the table as everyone stood up, looking surprised.

"Wow! You froze him! Um... now, exactly how would someone go about unfreezing someone?" Leo questioned before gesturing to many buttons. "Because it's not the button located here, here, here, here, here, or here."

Chase walked over to Mr. Davenport. "Mr. Davenport, I'm really sorry. I know I should have warned you about Douglas. I just knew that if I could get him back here, then we could trap him for good."

"Good work, Chase." Mr. Davenport complimented, patting his shoulder. "You make a great double agent."

"Thank you. Oh, and I almost forgot." Chase said, pulling out a small pouch from his suit. "Here's your cytanium."

"Oh! Money, money, money, money, money!" Mr. Davenport shouted as he jumped up and down. He stopped dancing and faced Chase. "I'm sorry. I mean, 'thank you'."

Mr. Davenport then turned around and made funny faces at his brother's frozen state. Harper stood between Adam and Chase, watching his behavior in amusement.

"So, what are we gonna do with frozen Uncle Dougie?" Bree wondered.

Mr. Davenport shrugged. "I don't know. We could probably ship him off to one of my offshore facilities. Or we could get some rock salt and make the evilest batch of ice cream ever."

The teens hummed in agreement.

"Speaking of the 'unfreeze' button...." Leo piped up.

Chase shook his head. "We weren't speaking of the 'unfreeze' button."

"Well, we probably should." Leo insisted.

••••

Leo led the group out of the lab, ignoring any protests he received. When they entered the living room, everyone was stunned, and Harper's jaw dropped in shock.

Janelle and Tasha were frozen like Douglas downstairs.

"Yep. They're frozen." Bree confirmed, placing her hands on her hips.

"Ooh, ice!" Adam exclaimed, sticking his tongue out. Bree, Chase, Leo and Harper quickly stopped him.

"We have to fix this! Janelle's mum will be here any minute!" Leo yelled.

Adam shrugged. "Okay, I'll just use my heat vision."

"No, then Janelle would see you using your bionics." Chase told him.

"Not while she's frozen in suspended animation." Mr. Davenport acknowledged.

"You heard the man! Light 'em up!" Leo insisted. He then quickly stopped Adam. "Oh, wait. On second thought, these ladies are gonna be really upset. I need a running start."

Leo quickly bolted out of the living room.

"Wait! Me, too." Mr. Davenport added, trailing behind Leo.

"Step back, guys." Adam advised, putting his hands in front of the three teens left behind.

Adam used his heat vision on Tasha first, melting the ice and causing it to drip onto the carpet. Tasha shook off the water and was unharmed. He then unfroze Janelle.

"What... happened?" Janelle questioned, pinching out her wet clothes.

Tasha narrowed her eyes. "Leo happened."

Adam, Bree, Chase and Harper all nodded in agreement. Tasha and Janelle stormed out of the living room and out the door.

"Harper, can I talk to you?" Chase asked, turning to face her.

Harper nodded. "Sure."

"Come on, Adam." Bree called, nudging her older brother with her elbow. "We better let them talk for a moment."

Once Adam and Bree left the living room, tension filled the room.

Harper and Chase stood facing each other, unsure of what to say.

"I'm really sorry for not telling you-" Chase began, but was cut off as she hit him on the head. He winced. "Ow!"

"You could have died!" Harper exclaimed angrily causing him to immediately quiet down. "You don't know how hard it was sitting in that lab doing nothing but wait for hours. Why did you have to go? What you did was foolish, especially after not telling anyone where you were."

Chase sighed. "I know, I just thought if I could go and get the cytanium, I could prove that I don't need strength or speed."

"Chase, you don't need to prove anything to them." She said softly. "I already know you're an amazing leader and-"

Before Harper could finish her sentence, two hands cupped her face and she felt his lips pressed against hers.

The kiss was slow and filled with pure passion. Harper was too stunned and didn't know what to do, so Chase took the lead, kissing her deeper. As she gained confidence, she began to kiss back, her hands moving to his shoulders.

Their eyes had flickered shut a long time ago. Their kiss was slow and passionate, showing just how much they cared about each other.

Harper's hands moved up Chase's hair, tangling her fingers in them, tugging slightly and gaining a choked-out groan from his lips as a reward.

She pulled away, needing air back in her lungs and rested her forehead against his. He gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm... I'm sorry." Chase whispered. "It was the only way-"

Harper placed both hands on his cheeks, bringing him closer and kissed him as hard as he did.

________________
PUBLISHED: 22.03.23
DEDICATIONS: Peters_suit_lady

A/N:  :)