Today's the day; my long promised multi-chapter is finally here! Needless to say, it took longer to finish than expected. I didn't give up, though - especially not when I told you I would publish it. As it turned out, that patience and persistence paid off, because I'm pretty happy with the product. Hopefully you will be, too. I'm very excited to once again be actively posting a story; I missed it.
This story is very much so made to make you laugh, but I feel that I should tell you that not every chapter is like that. Without revealing too much, I will say that things take on a more serious air in the latter chapters. It's nothing that horrifying; I wouldn't necessarily say it's bad enough for trigger warnings. If you were expecting a completely humorous story, though, I felt like I should tell you that it isn't like that for the entire time.
On a quick side note, I am finally able to create custom thumbnails - yay! I'm really happy with the work I did on the one for this story. How do you guys like it? You could say I took some inspiration (hah, puns) from Asori's thumbnail for A Man of a Monster. That one's amazing - and so is the story.
So, now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy Bound in Brotherhood!
I do not own Lab Rats.
"Mr. Davenport!" Bree angrily charged out of the elevator.
Donald was sitting at the kitchen island; the billionaire looked up from his tablet and sighed. It never went in his favor when Bree spoke in that tone.
"Yes, Princess?" Donald mocked sweetly. Bree only scowled.
"You have got to do something about Adam and Chase! They've been fighting nonstop for weeks, and it's getting on my last nerve!"
"Bree, they're brothers. It's only natural for them to fight like that."
"Not for weeks on end, it's not!" Bree retorted. "Because of their antics, my cell phone was plunged into a pudding cup! I was trying to give Caitlin misguided boyfriend advice!"
"Okay, Bree. Calm down," Donald said. The bionic girl took a deep breath and folded her arms. "Look, I know they can be annoying, but you just have to ignore them."
"Easy for you to say - You don't have to live in a basement with Thing One and Thing Two! Adam and Chase's incessant arguing is getting out of hand. Don't you even care?"
"Not if it doesn't affect me," Donald replied. Bree glared even harder. The billionaire sighed again. "Fine! If they haven't hashed things out in the next two days, I'll lay down the law."
"You said the same thing to Tasha when Adam and Chase were on their ridiculous prank-spree. If you didn't follow through then, why should I believe you now?" Bree deadpanned.
Donald looked up thoughtfully. "You're right. I can't think of a single reason."
"Mr. Davenport!"
"Okay, fine!" Donald caved in exasperation. "I promise to talk with them after two days."
Bree still looked suspicious. Donald would have given anything just to make her leave him alone.
Finally, he consented to a rather expensive idea. "I'll buy you a new phone if you tolerate the boys for a couple more days."
Bree squinted, "A new phone, like, the ePhone 7s?"
"Sure."
"With a new case?"
Donald sighed, "Fine."
"Okay, deal. Oh, but wait! I can't listen to music on my new phone without headphones. Hmm… what to do, what to do…"
"Bree, I just bought you new headphones."
"Yea. And now they're at the bottom of Adam's fish bowl," Bree said spitefully.
"What?!" Donald cocked an eyebrow.
"It all started when-"
"-No!" he interrupted. "I'll get you some new headphones. Just, please don't tell me what happened!"
"Beats headphones?" Bree smirked.
"Sure, why not?" Donald spoke through gritted teeth. His daughter smiled triumphantly.
"Deal. Pleasure doing business with you." With that, she strolled back into the elevator.
When she was out of earshot, Donald mumbled, "I just got a shakedown from my daughter." He solemnly shook his head, turning back to his tablet. "Well, I will say this - that girl has a future career as a lawyer."
Donald stared intently at his in-progress invention. He'd been hiding out in the lab for hours. Two days had passed, and Adam and Chase hadn't quite solved their differences like he'd hoped, and now he had to talk to them about it. One more complaint from Bree and he might just end up buying her that diamond convertible she wanted.
The problem was, he was too chicken to talk with the boys. Deep conversations were never his forte. So, he hoped by appearing to be busy in the lab all night, he'd get out of his promised parental duties. Up 'till this point, it was working. He wouldn't have to say a word to Adam and Chase so long as he threw himself into his work. He didn't mind, though; work was one of the things he loved most. And for him, work meant inventing.
Besides, he'd been working on this invention for months. Lots of painfully hard hours went into making it. He dreamed about creating this invention. Today, it actually looked like he would finish. If he did, it would be a huge scientific accomplishment. Donald's hands hovered over the helmet-like contraption, inches away from crossing the last two wires.
Just then, Donald heard the elevator ding. As the doors opened, brother bickering filtered into his quiet workspace. Donald sighed.
"Move!" Chase yelled from inside the elevator. His older brother stood in the exit holding the smaller, younger boy captive.
"Not until you agree to write my history report!" Adam yelled back.
"I told you, Adam. I'm not doing you any good by completing your homework," Chase replied, vainly attempting to squeeze past his brother. "Out of my way! I have studying to do."
Adam wouldn't budge. Chase tried everything. He jumped, crouched, and struggled to wiggle past Adam. He was unsuccessful with all escape efforts. Adam smirked, finding enjoyment in his brother's failed endeavors. Chase was getting more frustrated by the minute. He fought to keep Spike inside.
"You know, all you have to do is agree to write my paper. Then, you're free to go enjoy nerd time," Adam said.
Chase was done being tactful. He spoke in a dangerously low voice, "Not. Gonna. Happen. Now… Let me out."
Adam grew an unnerving grin. Chase gulped. Maybe I shouldn't have said that…
"Adam, Chase, knock it off. Both of you get in-"
"-AHH!"
Donald's eyes widened. The inventor quickly ducked behind the cyber desk as Chase came flying towards him. The youngest bionic glided across the desk and fell onto the floor with a crash.
"Oww…" he moaned.
When he felt the coast was clear, Donald peaked up from his hiding place. To his left, Adam was standing outside the elevator smiling. To his right, Chase was lying on the ground. Donald squinted, looking closely at his youngest son. It then hit him. As Chase flew across the desk, he took Donald's invention with him. Now surrounding the boy was broken pieces of Donald's device – the device that had taken him years to create.
"Nooooo!" Donald yelled theatrically, rushing to Chase's side.
"I'm fine, Mr. Davenport. Don't worry," Chase assured him.
"Not you! My invention! My invention - it's destroyed! I worked hundreds of hours on this!"
Chase finally sat up, holding his throbbing head. He looked around him and noticed the shattered glass and crushed metal. "Oh…"
Adam finally walked over. He peered down at the wreckage on the floor and cringed. "Oops. Sorry, Mr. Davenport. I hope that wasn't important."
Donald looked at Adam. The oldest boy flinched at his father's intimidating gaze. The billionaire raised himself to his feet.
"Adam…" he started calmly, "That was important!"
"What made that one so special?" Adam asked timidly.
Donald sighed in an attempt to calm himself. Speaking at a normal volume, he answered, "This was my neural retriever. It was a helmet that, when put on, would connect with your brain and recover forgotten memories."
"This was your neural retriever? You've been working on it for years!" Chase said from the floor. "This device was going to change the field of neurology!"
"I know," Donald spoke through clenched teeth, shooting daggers at the two teens.
"Well, in my defense, Adam was the one who threw me onto the table, thus breaking the invention. So, like most everything else, this was his fault," Chase spat accusingly.
"Oh, yea – real mature!" Adam spat back.
"It's not like you're much better! At least I don't need my younger brother's help on a history report!"
"Enough!" Donald interrupted. "You two need to stop fighting; it's getting ridiculous. Because of your petty arguments, my invention is ruined. This is both of your faults!"
The teens quieted, neither having a good or reasonable comeback. Donald saw that he made his point. "Now, clean up this mess."
Donald turned to Chase and helped him off the floor. The inventor then started to walk out. Those boys never learn. Someone else always ends up paying for it. Bree's right; this is like the prank situation. Man, I remember what my dad used to do when Douglas and I were fighting. How would they like that, huh? I bet that would teach them to get along. Wait a sec…
"That's it!" Donald exclaimed. Adam and Chase were surprised by his outburst. Both turned to Donald in confusion.
"What's it?" Adam asked.
"You've finally decided which of your warehouses to send Adam?" Chase hoped eagerly. His older brother glared at him.
Donald turned to face his kids. "No. I know how to get you two to get along."
"Unless you can make miracles happen, I don't see how," Adam replied. Chase nodded.
"Oh, just you wait and see… Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an old invention to dig up." With that, Donald rushed out of the lab.
Adam and Chase shared worried looks. They both feared what the inventor had in store for them.
"Please, Mr. Davenport!" Chase pleaded. "If you have even an ounce of humanity, you won't follow through with this!"
Donald rolled his eyes, continuing to fiddle with the high-tech metal bracelets in his hands. "Chase, it won't be that bad. Trust me; this worked wonders for Douglas and me."
"Up until six months ago, you two hated each other," Chase deadpanned.
"Okay, so, the technique worked wonders for a small fraction of time."
"Come on, Mr. Davenport! Handcuffing me to Adam would be like handcuffing me to a gorilla with explosives."
"And handcuffing me to Chase would be like handcuffing me to a short, weak, prison ward," Adam said.
Donald ignored them. Chase didn't give up that easily. He wouldn't get handcuffed to Adam without a fight (or at least a protest.)
Chase continued, "What about missions? What about school? What about when we sleep? I am not sharing my capsule with Adam."
"Guys, don't worry; I thought about all that. I'll unlock the cuffs before bedtime and lock them back in the morning. So, you won't have to share a capsule. As for school and missions, you guys will have to figure that out for yourselves," Donald explained.
"How?" Adam asked.
"By doing something called 'working together.' I know that's been a foreign concept for you two the past few weeks, but it means that you help each other instead of fight."
"Do I still get to toss Chase around?"
"No. That's the opposite of helping him."
"Then, I don't see the appeal."
Donald closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What's the point of locking us together, anyway?" Chase wondered.
"You'll be forced to spend time with each other and go about your day together. You'll walk a mile in each other's shoes, as it were. This way, you two will build understanding of each other. Now, it will take some effort on your parts, but I have confidence in you guys," Donald said encouragingly. "Although I don't know why…"
"You do realize I could just use my heat vision to break the chain, right?" Adam spoke. "Or even my super strength."
"That's why I designed these high-tech handcuffs. They're insusceptible to your bionics. Although the cuffs still allow you to use your bionics, you can't use them on the handcuffs themselves."
"You just thought of everything, didn't you?"
"Yea. I'm brilliant…" Donald grinned to himself.
The teens rolled their eyes. The inventor went back to adjusting settings on the handcuffs.
"Ugh, I'd rather be chained to a dog…" Chase complained. "At least it'd be smarter."
"Well, I'd rather be chained to a baby," Adam snapped. "At least it would be stronger."
"There wasn't a more perfect time to do this…" Donald mumbled. Finally, he finished configuring the cuffs. "Alright, looks like we're good to go."
With Adam on the left and Chase on the right, Donald approached them with the handcuffs. Chase's stomach churned as Donald snapped the metal "life-enders" on his and Adam's wrists. Once they heard the click, it was official. The boys were done for.
Adam tentatively lifted his right hand with a grimace. In sync, Chase's left hand tugged upward. The chain between the silver bracelets was short. They basically had to share a hand. The so-called "high-tech" handcuffs didn't look much different than normal ones. Davenport did that on purpose; otherwise, the cuffs would draw too much attention.
"How long do we have to stay like this?" Chase inquired with disgust.
"As long as it takes for the two of you to get along," Donald smiled. "Well, have fun!"
The billionaire made his exit from the lab.
"Great. I'm gonna get married still handcuffed to you…" Chase said despondently.
"Don't be ridiculous, Chase. No girl would marry you," Adam chuckled. The younger boy glared at him. This was going to be the longest experience of their lives…