I don't own Lab Rats. I do own this story. Enjoy.
* * * Chapter 1.1 * * *
"Look at you. How pathetic." He hit the boy's head. "Hmm. Pathetic."
The boy—and boy was a stretch; he was more of a young man—looked down like a kicked puppy. His chest quivered with every breath as he struggled to hold his shame and anger.
"You misled us. We thought you were stronger." Another hit—this one harder. "You brought this all on yourself." Hit again. "What a worthless soldier. Your body is weak." Another one—this one leaving spots in front of his eyes.
"It's not . . ." He swallowed, feeling the saliva run down the sandpaper he called a throat. "Not my . . . f-fault." He met the gaze of the man. "I'll get better."
"You will. Yes, you will. And when you do, we'll send you out again. But until then, you have become nothing but a hinderance to us. And taking seven bullets"—he tapped the boy's bandage-wrapped thigh—"that was your fault. We thought you were better trained."
The boy looked down even further. He had been trained better. Maybe taking the bullets was his way of taking a stand. The only thing he regretted was that one hadn't pierced his heart. Even if it did, they most likely would've found a way to revive him.
"When Graham brought you to us all those years ago, I thought you would be a powerful soldier. I thought you would be stronger than this. We've done everything possible to keep you alive, but you're pushing our boundaries, C. If we ever hope to bring down the government—to win this war!—we need soldiers like you. Powerful ones!"
The boy let out a laugh as dry as dust. "Nice exposition."
Another hit. He tasted blood.
"We know that your mind is the most powerful part of you," the man said, "so we've found a way to use it to our advantage. Call it a little . . . test."
"You're . . . turning me into . . ." He tried to cough—another hit. "A lab rat?"
"Like you're not used to it." The man walked over to a table on the other side of the dark room. He picked up some kind of helmet and fingered it as though it were a child—though the boy hardly doubted he would look at a child so fondly. "This"—he flipped it over and walked to the boy—"this is our latest advancement. We want you to test it out."
"What's it do?"
The man grinned like a Cheshire cat. "We'll show you a few stories, and we'll play a few mind games while we're at it. If your body cannot do what it's supposed to, we trust that your mind will."
"What if I don't want to do this?"
"What if you don't have a choice? Who here is strapped to a chair? Who here has bullets in every appendage? You are in no position to fight me."
The boy bowed his head, recognizing defeat.
The helmet fit snuggly. Some kind of metal rods poked his skull and gave him a dull headache. He knew that was far from the worst part.
And then he wasn't there in the dark room. He was in a darker place, but not a room. It was noplace, everyplace, and anyplace. He stood there, unable to move, only to watch.
What he saw left him with tears streaming down his cheeks.
His biggest fears played out in front of his eyes: embarrassments, death, torture and trauma beyond belief. He saw glimpses of people he vaguely remembered, but he didn't know them. Good, because he sat and watched them die.
He stood, unable to move or even close his eyes. He watched as every horrible thought, word, and deed passed in front of him.
Screams, chills, cries, pleas. No help for them, no help for him.
After what seemed to be an eternity of torture, it stopped, and he was back in noplace.
He screamed.
This is story is rated a high T for the following reasons: Psychological and physical torture, war, violence, blood, theft, one mild swear, many more implied swears, human experimentation, one mildly suggestive scene, depressed thoughts, allusions to suicide, minor character deaths, and implied deaths of canon characters. I don't approve of any of that, and it's all shown in a bad light. Do not copy this behavior, and keep your guard up while reading.
AU elements: Graham took Adam, Bree, and Chase away in You Posted What?!; Krane was never captured. (Leo is still bionic.) Anything else you need to know will be revealed in the story itself.
Update schedule (PST; times may vary):
Mornings:
Sun: 8:30 a.m. Mon-Fri: 8:00 a.m. Sat: 9:00 a.m.
Evenings:
Sun: 6:15 p.m. Mon-Tues: 8:00 p.m. Wed: 6:00 p.m. Thurs -Sat: 8:00 p.m.
For guests and people who don't use the follow button, it's highly likely that this story will not move to the top of the archives every time I update (due to FFN not moving the stories up if the updates are close together). Therefore, I recommend checking back at the times I have scheduled instead of relying on the archives.
All chapters are between 300-1000 words. Don't complain; you're getting two a day. There are eighteen chapters, each in three parts, so fifty-four chapters in total. I'll update all chapters over twenty-seven days.
This story is intended to keep you guessing until the end. If you want easy answers, I suggest you turn back now. The man may be playing mind games on C, but I'm playing mind games on all of you. That said . . . enjoy the story.