Title: All Good Things Must Come To An End
Rating: K+
Genre: Family
Characters: Leo, Adam, Daniel, a few others
Pairing(s): None
Summary: '"Well, you know what they say. All good things must come to an end—and that includes us."' There are some good things, however, that should never be allowed to wither and die. They won't ever vanish. And that's a promise. (For the series finale)
Warnings: Spoilers for The Vanishing.
Notes: Well… this is it, guys. Lab Rats is over. I can't say too much right now or I'm going to burst into tears, but can I just say that you all are so amazing and I'm so glad so many people care about this show and about writing. It truly is astounding to me and I'm just so glad.
There's a special author's note at the end, be sure to read that.
(This takes place literally right after Adam and Leo go upstairs. Just for context.) Enjoy, everyone!
"Let's go get Daniel and go back to the island."
Leo hated how cold he sounded, but he just couldn't express any emotion at the moment or he'd break down—and he knew Adam wouldn't like that.
Adam was silent for a moment before saying, "Yeah, okay."
They walked upstairs in total silence, both of them obviously thinking hard. Their thoughts, however, were interrupted when they opened the door into the living room and were immediately faced with the rest of their family. (Plus Perry, of course—that woman just refused to leave!)
"What was that?"
"Where are Bree and Chase?"
"Are you going on another mission?"
"Did the robot people get melted down by Don?"
Leo gave Perry a weird look but responded to all the questions. "Big D gave us two options. Bree and Chase chose one option. Adam and I chose the other. We aren't going on another mission. And no, the 'robot people' are not getting melted down."
Daniel had confusion written all over his face. "So… what happened?"
Leo frowned deeply. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me anything about what Bree and Chase are doing." He couldn't pretend it didn't hurt.
Adam chimed in. "Oh, but we're supposed to go back to the island with you, Daniel."
Leo saw that the boy's mind was racing, but just said, "We'll fill you in as best we can on the way."
"But what about the rest of us?" his mother asked.
He turned to her, closing his eyes. "We can't tell you anything because we don't know anything. I'm sorry, Mom. If I learn anything, I'll let you know."
"And you're sure you can't stay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. But we're not far away, you can visit us anytime, Mom."
She was obviously upset, but nodded. "Okay." She hugged him and whispered, "Be safe."
He cracked a small smile. "Mom, you know I can't promise that." She raised an eyebrow, and he relented. "Okay, I'll do my best, I promise you that."
She nodded, satisfied, and Leo stepped over to Douglas. "We're going to need your help on the island, you know."
"I know," he replied. "But Donnie sort of asked me about—" he abruptly cut himself off.
Leo understood instantly. "You know what he's up to."
Douglas nodded guiltily. "Yeah. But Leo, I just can't—"
"No, I know," Leo interrupted him. "You can't spill secrets like that. I get it. But when Big D feels like letting his sons in on his big secret, tell me." Again, he realized how harsh he sounded, but he was upset, for sure. It kind of hurt to know that Davenport wasn't going to tell them anything.
"Leo, Daniel, we should probably get back to the island," Adam said. "Bob is there unsupervised, he probably blew up half the island already—which is awesome, but still."
Leo nodded, turning back to the adults. "You know you can visit whenever you want."
Perry grinned. "Unless I use my special codes to lock down the island and trap all the robot people in there…"
"You're uninvited."
Daniel laughed lightly at Leo's comment before saying, "Shouldn't we go now?"
"Yeah," Leo replied, as if shaking out of some kind of daze. "Yeah, of course. Come on." As they exited he couldn't help but turn around, eyes traveling over the faces of his family. Of course, his gaze settled on the doors leading down to the lab, where the last three members were. "Bye, guys."
"So… what do we do now?"
Leo looked up and over to Daniel, who had asked the question. He sighed and sat down in the hydroloop before answering. "I don't know. Get used to our lives, I guess? I mean, without them."
Adam joined them in the transport, buckling himself in, facing Leo. "And how are we going to do that? I just don't think I can…" He trailed off.
"I know," Leo replied simply as the doors slid shut and the hydroloop took off. Within seconds, they came to a stop at the island, instantly greeted by the students. They were instantly bombard with similar questions as those asked back at the house.
"Where are Bree and Chase?"
"How are we going to go to class without them?"
"What are you going to do?"
More an more questions joined the mix, and voices overlapped each other, making the whole scene a mess of noise.
"Quiet!" Adam yelled, trying to reassert control over the melee. No one payed any attention.
Leo sighed, raised his hand, and fired a laser sphere into the air. Everyone quieted down real quick. "Thank you," he said. "We know you have questions, but we can't answer anything."
"Why not?" a voice called out—probably Spin, judging by the high pitch and annoyed tone.
Leo and Adam glanced at each other, not sure how to respond, but Daniel spoke instead. "Because we don't know what's going on. My uncle won't tell us anything. Bree and Chase are going somewhere else."
Whispers immediately began to sound, everyone obviously speculating how they would continue on with their lives without their mentors.
But, Leo knew, the fact remained that they didn't need mentors anymore. They were fully trained. And he and Adam… they were only there to supervise. There was nothing left to do. "You guys don't need them, not anymore," he said. To his surprise, everyone immediately snapped to attention. He took it as a sign of encouragement and pressed on. "You guys have mastered your abilities, all of you. There's no need for mentors anymore. We were only sent back to supervise and handle missions." He swallowed. "Bree and Chase… left us. Voluntarily. They're working on something else, something top secret. Even Adam, Daniel, and I don't know what it is." He scanned the faces of the small army of teens standing before him. "When we find out, we'll know. But until then… just, be careful. The world needs you. Some people in this world still don't take too kindly to us, but they need to face it—they need us. So watch out, and never let down your guard."
"Wow, nice speech. You had any practice?" Daniel quipped as the students began to disperse.
Leo thought about that. "Oddly enough, no. You'd think I would—I feel like that cliché-speech-making-kid-who's-always-good-for-a-laugh character in a sitcom." He laughed, and the other two joined in.
After they quieted down, Adam turned serious—which was weird, considering it was Adam. "Why do you think this happened?"
"A lot of stuff has happened, Adam, you'll have to be more specific."
Adam cracked a smile. "Yeah, that's true. But I meant… why did our team break up? We were powerful. We were friends, siblings. We had each others' backs."
Daniel grinned slightly. "You were good."
Leo sighed lightly, thinking about it. "Well, you know what they say. All good things must come to an end—and that includes us."
"It's a sad thing to think about, huh?" Adam said. "More than four years of going on missions… you were with us almost every step of the way. And now… it's all gone."
Daniel looked up at Adam. "Yeah, but just think—"
"That's gonna be hard for him," some random student walking by joked.
"Aww, come on, Jess!" Adam called after her, grinning childishly. "I thought I was getting better hiding my non-intelligence!"
Daniel coughed. "My point is, well… think about the phrase. 'All good things must come to an end'. You came to an end, right? So you were at least good. But let me tell you, as a brother—you weren't just good. You were amazing. You were heroes. You are heroes."
Leo smirked. "You sure you're not the cliché speech making character, Danny?"
Daniel scowled. "I told you not to call me that! And that was the first and last cliché speech I'll ever make!"
"Suuuuure." Adam drew the word out, exaggerating his doubtfulness.
"I'm not cliché!"
Leo watched his brother and cousin fight bemusedly, knowing that their bickering was really their way of connecting—yes, it was odd, but it worked.
He remembered his sister who was not yet born, the one he knew would be an amazing addition to their family.
He remembered the brother and sister who left him behind—but he was not bitter. They were heroes, they wouldn't have made the decision otherwise.
He remembered that he had a family, as dysfunctional (because let's get real here, people) as they were.
This is a good thing, he decided. This is one good thing that will never come to an end. I'll make sure of it.
And that's a wrap, people!
Okay, I'm going to go ahead and be cheesy—this place has really become my home away from home... on the computer... and sometimes on my phone. You guys are just so amazing and I couldn't ask for better people to write stories I can read to escape the real world and/or read my stories and tell me how I'm doing. Some of you I would even consider friends, despite the fact I've never actually seen your faces. (Odd thought, isn't it? It's okay, you're still awesome!)
And Lab Rats, this thing connecting us… is over. But the great thing is—this archive won't die, I know his as a fact. We will stay connected, even though the show is over. There are those of us who will remain loyal and continue to write for Lab Rats, even long after Elite Force airs. Because, let's face it, Elite Force will never be as good as the original. Nothing beats Lab Rats. The universe will implode if anything does.
Lab Rats is an amazing thing. We have grown so much over the course of the show. It's just so whole-heartedly good. So if there's one thing I know: Lab Rats is one good thing that I will never let come to an end. That's a promise. I intend to keep it.