And the results were 24 to 5, in favor of a sequel. I also personally decided that there was a lot more to Chase's story, and I wanted to be the one guiding you through it. Some of you said no, and I appreciate your honesty! I even got one or two very good reviews about why they thought I shouldn't write a sequel. Thank you!
I will say this: Don't expect this story to be any happier than the one-shot that went before it. I'm not really planning on resolving anything; just expanding the world and showing you the reactions. This is still in the tragedy genre. If you're looking for a good cry-your-eyes-out kind of story, you found one.
This is a sequel. If you haven't read "By Reason of Insanity" . . . well . . . you won't be totally lost, I suppose, but I would suggest reading that first. This story is slightly AU and pretty OOC (some characters more than others). It's meant to take place after You Posted What?!
Remember, no Brase/Bradam/Chadam in this story. Certainly not in a romantic way. Just fluffy sibling moments. Capisce?
This story deals with some very serious issues. I don't want to make light of what happened/what is going on here. If I'm doing anything wrong, let me know so I can fix it. I want to make sure I'm not disrespecting anyone with this story. On that note, special thanks to amichele and j. liz. 8 for being creative consultants on this story. They helped me with a lot.
So grab a box of tissues and drag your boyfriends in here so you'll have a shoulder to cry on. Chapter 1 of "Now More Than Ever" begins now.
I don't own Lab Rats.
* * * Chapter 1: I Know * * *
"Adam. Adam. Adam!" Every word was punctuated by harsh knocks on the glass wall of my brother's capsule. "Wake up!" No response.
With a sigh I walked over to the computer along the edge of the wall. "What was that button again?" I murmured to myself. "Ah, here it is."
About ten gallons of water were suddenly dumped unceremoniously onto my older brother's head. He woke up abruptly, gasping and spluttering. He looked around, noticed me, and shouted, "What was that for?"
"You wouldn't wake up," I said curtly.
"Wait, I thought today was Saturday." Adam gasped loudly. "Did I sleep through the whole weekend?"
"No, today is Saturday."
"Then why did you wake me up?"
"Remember what we were going to do today?"
"Oh." Adam leaned back against the wall and wiped the wet hair out of his face. Slowly he exited his capsule. He shook himself off like a dog and I attempted to dodge the little bullets of water flying everywhere.
"We need to go soon," I said. "Come on, get dressed."
"I don't want to." Each word was said very forcefully. I sighed.
"Adam . . ." I tried to say.
"I . . . don't . . . want . . . to."
"You said you would!"
"Well, I slept on it, and I changed my mind."
"He needs us."
"I don't care."
"You really don't care? Really? Truly? Spit it out, Adam. Why don't you to see him?"
"Because it won't be him!" Adam shouted. "And I'm surprised that you of all people are defending him, Bree! Didn't he point a gun at you?"
Involuntarily my heart rate sped up and the breath hitched in my throat. I blinked back the tears and, while trying to keep my voice from wavering, replied, "I know he's changed. But he's still our brother. We still need to be there for him."
"But Bree . . ."
"I don't understand this. Don't you love him at all?"
Adam looked down at his feet. For the first time in my life, I think my brother truly looked heartbroken. Here was Adam, our always optimistic, cheerfully naïve, and someone dimwitted older brother, and he looked like he was about to cry. For that matter, so did I. But Adam was supposed to be the strong one. Why did he look like he was about to break?
"That's why I don't want to see him," Adam said quietly. "It hurts too much. He's supposed to be my little brother, and he's locked up in that crazy house."
"You've gone before."
"So have you. You know why I don't want to go back."
I took a few cautious steps towards my brother and put a hand on his arm. "Dr. Nelson told me that we might be able to give him hope," I whispered. "He can get better. And he'll get better faster if we're there with him every step of the way."
Adam jerked his arm away from me. "I can't. Every time I look at him . . ." Adam sighed. "I was there, remember?"
"I know," I said gently.
"I saw him break down."
"I know."
"I saw him holding the gun."
"I know."
"I saw him point it at you."
"I . . . I-I know."
"It hurt. It really, really hurt. I can't get that image out of my head. That image of you. You were so scared. You were too scared to do anything."
"I know."
"You were completely frozen on the spot. And if the police hadn't shown up right at that moment, you . . . you wouldn't be here today."
"I know that, Adam!" I yelled. "I know! I was there too! I was the one he pointed the gun at! I was the one who was scared and so stunned with disbelief that I didn't realize what my own baby brother was about to do to me!" The tears were flowing freely down my cheeks now. Frankly, I felt like I had been shot in the heart. Only this was worse, because I was still alive in the midst of all the pain.
Everything started spinning out of control. Tears flowed faster and harder until they were racking sobs. I buried my face in my hands and my brain felt fuzzy. My knees were weak and I thought I would drop to the floor at any moment.
All of a sudden, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me. I melted into Adam's warm embrace, not caring what a mess I must have looked like. I buried my face into Adam's chest and he stroked my hair.
Eventually my sobs quieted a bit. Slowly Adam released me. I wiped my cheeks and gave a half-hearted smile. I was glad to know that my big brother would always be there for me. The only thing that hurt was the fact that there should've been someone else to wrap our arms around.
I pushed open the door and walked into the small room. Adam followed me reluctantly. The room looked the same as the last time I came. I realized there was only one chair. That was fine; I didn't feel like sitting, anyway.
Adam and I glanced at each other nervously, wondering who would make the first move. Simultaneously we looked at our younger brother. He was at the foot of the bed, his back against the wall. His knees were drawn up to his chest and he was staring up at the ceiling.
"Chase?" I said quietly. "Chase?"
"Chasey?" Adam tried. I looked at him. Adam only used Chase's childhood nickname when he was genuinely frightened.
Finally Chase looked over at us. He blinked a few times. "You both came," he said curtly.
"We want to be here for you," I said simply.
Chase glanced over at Adam. "He doesn't want to be here," he said.
"I came for my little brother," Adam said.
"You came . . . for your bother . . ." Chase repeated slowly.
"How have you been?" I asked, trying to get a good conversation going. Though with Chase that seemed difficult these days.
"You asked that before," Chase said. "You always ask that . . . like a loop. Everything is one big loop. Over and over and over . . ." Chase trailed off and stared at the wall.
I pursed my lips. Why did conversations have to be so awkward? I wanted so bad to know what was going through my brother's head; to understand what he was thinking. The haunted look in his eyes broke my heart.
"Is this the last time you're coming?" Chase asked suddenly. "Did you come to say goodbye?"
"No!" I said, perhaps a little too quickly. "I mean, I can't speak for both of us, but no." I looked back at Adam. His chest moved up and down with a silent sigh.
"We'll both be back," he said.
"Liars!" Chase spat, so suddenly that I took a step backwards. Adam reached a protective arm around my shoulders. "You don't want to come back. And why would you?"
"We'd come back for you!" In spite of myself, I couldn't help but be a bit angry. Surely his illness hadn't caused him to forget our love for him!
"Why?" Chase shouted. "Why would you even care?"
"You're our brother!" Adam yelled back. "And I've always loved you no matter how annoying you were! No matter how many useless facts you told me! No matter how often you made me feel stupid!"
I put a hand on Adam's shoulder and pulled him back a bit. There was the beginning of a dangerous spark in Chase's eyes; a spark I had seen once in my life and didn't have any desire to see again. For a split second I wondered if I should notify the nurses outside.
Instead Chase just leaned back. He closed his eyes and began to play with his fingers. He actually looked quite serene.
Ten seconds ticked by. Then twenty. And thirty. No one moved. Adam stood beside me, still tense. Chase looked relaxed, surprisingly, though I could sense the frustration brewing right beneath the surface. And me . . . well, I didn't know how I felt. I suppose it was the same confusion and pain as the last time I had seen my younger brother. I didn't know how to feel. I didn't know how to react.
"But you don't love me," Chase said so quietly it was almost inaudible. Still, in this silence you could've heard a pin drop. "That's what they say."
"They're wrong," I mumbled.
"I don't question them. I can't."
Neither Adam nor I had any clue who 'they' were. I made a mental note to ask Dr. Nelson about it sometime.
"I can," Adam said softly. "Bree's right. They're wrong. We love you."
"Don't lie to me."
"We're not," I promised.
Chase looked up at me with a mournful gaze. He honestly thought that we didn't love him. After everything we've been through in our crazy, messed-up lives, Chase didn't remember our love.
We risked our lives in an avalanche to find him. We saved him from being cooked alive by Marcus and Douglas. We stuck our necks out for him in school. We would die for him. But he didn't know that.
I liked to hope that maybe, somewhere deep down, he did know that. Chase knew that we loved him, but whatever was going through his mind was suffocating that belief. Adam and I had to keep it alive.
I remembered a movie I saw once where a character was being taken away from the girl he loved. They kissed for one last time, and as the enemy pulled them apart, she told him, "I love you."
All I wanted now was to hear Chase say, "I know."
Those last few lines were a Star Wars reference. In case you don't know, in The Empire Strikes Back, Han was being taken away to get carbon frozen. Leia said, "I love you." Han responded by saying, "I know." Harrison Ford actually improvised that line, but I won't go into all my Star Wars geekiness right now. I just thought it would be a nice touch to end the chapter.
I'm open to suggestions. Which characters should go visit Chase? The story will be from Bree's POV, but I'll have other characters' reactions as well. Who would you like? Leo? Tasha? Donald? Douglas? All of the above? None of the above? Are there any situations you would like to see or any questions you want answered? (Warning: I might not answer all your questions. But you can still ask them and we'll see.)
Also: Yes, Chase has a specific mental illness. A few of you know it already (I told a few people in PMs) but most of you don't. Who can guess it? The first one to figure it out gets a shout-out! Only one guess per person, though, or it doesn't count. I wanna keep this fair. :)
I waited until today to post the story for a few reasons. First of all: I didn't have it finished until now (kinda important!). Also, today is Billy Unger's nineteenth birthday. Happy birthday to him! Although that's not all I'm celebrating today. Turns out Billy Unger has the same birthday as someone very close to me. I've been celebrating October 15th for years! XD Happy birthday to anyone and everyone who has a birthday today. Or soon. Whatever. :3
Before I go, I want to say a special thanks to RandomGirl for giving me some wonderful points on why I shouldn't write a sequel. Thank you so much for your honesty! But she also encouraged me to, "Follow your dreams, do whatever you please," which will hopefully become her review jingle. And I'm not too busy to respond to a total stranger (or a reader. Thanks!). ;)
Wow, long author's note. Sorry. XD Are you still reading this? If you are, put the word 'kumquat' in your review. I wanna see how many people actually read these notes.
Alright. I'll see you all soon. When, I'm not sure. I've got to figure out what happens next in the story. XD Don't worry, I have plenty of ideas. I just need to order them. Let me know if you want to see anything. Review/follow/favorite if you liked it. Thanks for reading! See you all soon!