Title: "All That Has Happened"
Rating: Fairly high T—you'll see why soon enough (it's pretty dark!)
Genre: Family, angst, drama, a slight touch of tragedy
Characters: Bree, Leo (Because I just can't let go of Breo siblingness), one pretty minor OC, and one person who I can't reveal quite for the sake of the story
Pairing(s): None, just Leo/Bree siblingness
Summary: '"I'm not crazy," she told him. Seeing his dubious look, she kept talking. "Honestly, I'm not. I was just so tired, tired of everything. Tired of the fights, the missions, saving the world. I needed a break. I couldn't help it, I guess…" - "You don't know," he whispered. "You don't seem to realize how you've been acting."' The worst thing he could do was go see her. He did.
Warnings: Well, there's more-than-implied insanity, I guess. And a lot of drama. I love drama! (Anyone get it? No? Okay.) And a minimal amount of violence at the ending… but it's not too graphic, so don't worry!
Notes: And another one-shot! Yeah, I know. I've got a multi-chaptered story that I should post pretty soon, though! Oh, and I'm also pretty sure this is the longest one-shot I've ever written, so… yay!
Anyway, thanks to musicnotes093, SunnySkye18, PurpleNicole531, and jonakijoannaki for reviewing The Boy Frozen in Time! Your support means a lot :D
I'm kind of nervous about posting this, because of… well, you'll see. But please, I will accept and possibly even enjoy constructive criticism, just… please be nice. I'm not exactly sure what kind of feedback I'll get for this story. It's quite a bit different from everything else I've posted, so I kind of just want this to go over well. I wasn't going to, but my sister read it and said it was good, so I thought, "why not?" You guys (as in, you who read my stories) are all nice anyway :)
This takes place about a year after the events of Lab Rats—just pretend Bree and Chase didn't go and help the Mighty Med guys. Elite Force is irrelevant in this story.
I was going to write a Taylor-centric one-shot, but I ended up going for Bree—she did get a few votes on my poll, anyway. Oh, and go vote on my poll! (I'm off-topic again. Just… on to the story, yeah? Hope you enjoy!)
He hesitated at the doors, opting to look into the lobby for a moment instead. He shuddered involuntarily as he read the sign.
He could barely comprehend it. He was completely voluntarily walking into a building full of crazy people. The worst part was that one of those crazy people was someone he cared about.
He couldn't get past the fact that this was his sister's life now.
With his sister in mind, he pushed open the doors and walked to the front desk.
"Hi, um, I'm here to see Bree Davenport?" He looked hopefully at the woman behind the desk, and she nodded, flipping through what he assumed to be a book of room assignments.
"Oh, yes, Miss Davenport. The one who checked herself in here about a week ago?" She looked at him and he nodded in confirmation. "She's in room 5A, on the fifth floor. May I please get your name, age, and relation to her?"
He nodded. "I'm Leo Dooley, I'm seventeen, and I'm her stepbrother."
She smiled kindly at him as she typed into her computer. "Okay, you're all set. If any trouble arises, just call one of the doctors and you'll be fine."
He thanked her and headed to the stairs. The elevator would probably be faster, but he wanted as much time as possible to gather his thoughts before he saw her.
As he walked, he tried to think of something to say to her. He came up with nothing. What could he say? Would she even know who he was? Or was she relatively fine?
He had no idea.
He got to the fifth floor far to fast for his liking and it took all his will to reach for the doorknob to room 5A.
The door suddenly swung open and he stumbled back, but it was just a doctor. The doctor noticed him, and she gave him a… pitying look. Leo kind of wanted to slap the expression off her face, but he knew she meant well.
"I'll stay out here, if you need anything," the doctor told him, and Leo just nodded, not feeling like arguing with anyone. He didn't need any sort of backup, but the doctor seemed nice, so he let her be.
"Bree?" He whispered timidly as he pushed open the door and stepped into the room.
He was greeted by the sight of his sister—and it was jarring.
Because she looked fine. Clean, happy to see him, sane.
"Leo!" She stood and gave him a quick hug. "What are you doing here? Mr. Davenport will kill you if he finds out!"
Yeah… he hadn't told his stepfather about this little excursion. Mr. Davenport had banned all of them from going to visit her, saying that they couldn't handle it, but he couldn't help it.
He searched her eyes, looking for any hint of the madness she'd been sent in for. "I told him I was going to Mission Creek to visit family. Not a lie, technically."
She laughed slightly, but did look concerned. "If he finds out, though…"
"He won't," he reassured her. "But Bree…" his eyes locked on hers again. "You look fine."
Her vague smirk faded slightly. "Yeah. So?"
"Are you…"
She sat down on the bed in the corner. "Crazy?" She laughed humorlessly. "I know what you're thinking. I'm thinking it. I'm in an asylum. I should be crazy. I checked myself in here, for goodness sake!" She looked at him. "But I'm not, I know I'm not. When I checked myself in here, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't completely know what I was thinking when I came here, but I'm fine. I'm happy. I'm fine."
Leo blinked, confused, but he took a seat on a stool. "Bree, what—?"
She smiled. Actually smiled. "I'm fine, Leo."
She was actually glad that he visited her. She had missed her family. That was the one bad thing about this place. Well, that and the fact that sometimes she forgot easy words, forgot simple facts, forgot things she should know.
But anyway, he looked so utterly confused at her statement that she kept talking.
"I'm not crazy," she told him. Seeing his dubious look, she kept talking. "Honestly, I'm not. I was just so tired, tired of everything. Tired of the fights, the missions, saving the world. I needed a break. Everything was just… I couldn't help it, I guess…"
He frowned, looking both confused and angry. "So… what? You voluntarily checked yourself into this place because you needed a vacation?"
She shrugged, letting the impulses go momentarily still. "Basically."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "And you say you're not crazy."
She rose, glaring at him, anger levels suddenly skyrocketing, startling even herself. "I'm not!"
Leo stood as well. "Bree, if you think that checking yourself into this place to give yourself a vacation isn't crazy, then what is? Face it, Bree, there's something wrong!"
"Shut up!" She shouted. Her face fell, reflecting how miserable they both felt. "I'm sorry that you don't understand this. But I'm happy." Lie, maybe? "I'm not crazy." Am I?
"Happy?" Leo repeated, confused.
Bree lost her cool again. "Yes, happy!" Although maybe not at the moment. "Just… please, Leo. Leave."
"Leave? But Bree, I just got here!" He protested.
"Then come back some other time," she replied coldly, not even bothering to hide what she'd been hiding from him before—the incessant anger. Then she realized that she hadn't even realized she was hiding it before. Or was it just not there a little while ago?
That thought scared her. "I want you to leave. Now."
What also scared her was that she was forgetting things, things she should know. The boy in front of her, her brother, what was his name?
"I…" he trailed off, looking frustrated and maybe even slightly scared.
"Go!" She shouted, using her bionics for the first time in weeks and rushing forward, pushing him back. She paused, and for a minute she struggled, trying to remember the name that was on the tip of her tongue. She bit her lip and searched her mind. She knew the answer was there…
A wave of extreme panic flared up in her when she couldn't remember his name, because how could that be? She'd just remembered the name a few minutes ago… "Leo!" There it is. "Leave!"
He looked absolutely furious now, and his right hand was glowing dangerously red, clenched into a fist. "Bree, I swear, if you're faking…"
"Faking what?" She asked, honestly confused. She took a step back.
He blinked. "You don't know," he whispered. "You don't seem to realize how you've been acting." His hand unclenched and the fire dimmed, and all the anger seemed to drain from him, replaced with something Bree couldn't quite identify.
She blinked back at him, because she didn't know how she was acting. What was wrong?
Leo's gaze bore into her, analyzing her every move. "You're here because you say you needed a break, but that's not it. It's not, and I can tell. You don't need to be a super genius like Chase to figure that out."
She shook her head and opened her mouth, about to ask who Chase was. She didn't know any Chase—or for that matter, any super genius. She couldn't remember. But Leo cut her off.
"There's something seriously wrong! You aren't crazy, per se, but you're well on your way."
He blood boiled at his words. Not true. She let her anger and hate pour out into her glare, and she opened her mouth, yelling, the words ripping out of her throat. "I. Am. NOT!"
He stumbled back, wincing at the volume of her voice. "Goodbye, Bree." He turned and yanked the door open, running out. The door swung shut after him, and Bree heard the lock click.
And she yelled, screamed, cried… yet she didn't go after him. She felt the tears streaming down her face, but she knew she would feel better soon. And then she could ignore what he had said to her. What… what was his name again? She couldn't remember, and at this point, she didn't care.
Now, she could just not think, let that feeling of completion she'd felt since arriving there take her over.
She hadn't lied. She was fine.
"Are you alright?"
Leo gasped, trying to regain his breath from both the sprint from the room and the sobs being forced from his body.
"Fine," he said to the doctor who had stayed outside—her name tag read Dr. Wright. "I'm fine."
"You're probably wondering what that was," she said sadly, leading Leo away from the room.
He nodded, wiping some tears from his face. "What was all of that? She was perfectly fine for a minute, and then she was… she wasn't my sister anymore."
Dr. Wright sighed, looking down the hall. "Well… it's a sort of… decrease of control in the area of her brain that is in charge of emotion," she said. "She will have moments where she will be perfectly normal, like what you saw in there at first. But sometimes, her anger seems to get out of control—that seems to be the most common emotion for her, other than irrational happiness."
"She seemed to think it was some sort of… vacation," Leo muttered, remembering his sister's words.
Dr. Wright nodded. "She's in denial. She seems to think that she had control when she checked herself in here. She didn't. The remaining rationality she still had then compelled her to—we've gathered that much. The old Bree checked herself in when she realized what was happening. She doesn't seem to remember that—she seems to have suffered select memory loss. She can't remember certain events. And she's forgetting more and more by the day. It's all too common, unfortunately."
Leo nodded wiping away the last of his tears. "And… she might end up forgetting me, and Adam and Chase? Big D, Mom, Douglas? Taylor, Logan, Spin, Bob, Kate, everyone else? She won't remember any of us?"
The doctor still didn't meet his eyes. "Correct. She will eventually not be able to remember you or anyone else."
"There's no way to get the old Bree back? We're stuck with… whatever that was?"
"Stuck," she confirmed.
Leo nodded, letting out a shaky breath. "Okay." Breath in, breath out. "Okay. I… I'm going to go. Can you…"
Dr. Wright smiled kindly. "I will tell your sister that you will visit her again… sometime, when you're ready."
Leo smiled shakily back at her. "Thank you."
He walked back to the front doors, opening them. As the outside air washed over him, he glanced back inside.
"I'll see you again when I'm ready, Bree." He looked down. "I may never be. I'm sorry."
Then he was gone.
Wright walked back to Bree Davenport's room. She felt bad for the poor girl and her family—having a loved one take such a turn was truly terrifying.
As she turned the corner, she saw a tall bald man turning the knob on the Davenport girl's door.
"Excuse me, sir!" She called. "Do you have authorization to—?"
She stopped abruptly when the man turned, allowing her to see his face.
He chuckled at her expression. "I gave myself authorization," he said darkly. He stretched out a hand, and the poor doctor was dead before she hit the ground.
He paid no attention to her, or what he had just done. He simply opened the door and walked in.
The girl spun around to face him, and he was delighted when there was no recognition evident on her face.
"Who are you?" She asked, and he almost laughed out loud. He was very pleased at how quickly the virus he'd downloaded into her chip had made her forget. The stress from that conversation with Leo must have sped up the virus, as well. He allowed himself a smile.
"I'm someone who can help you," he said. "I know you want to be happy. And you're so close, but there's anger, which makes you unhappy. And then you get even more angry at that. I can help you."
She looked at him with wide eyes. "You know exactly how I'm feeling."
He chuckled. "I know." From his pocket, he pulled a picture. "Do you remember your name?"
Her brow furrowed, as if she was struggling to remember. "Uh… yeah. Bree? Yes, my name is Bree."
He frowned slightly, a bit unhappy with that answer, but he nodded. He'd been hoping she would forget, but that stuff didn't just happen. "Okay, Bree. Do you recognize these people?"
He held out the picture—it was of the rest of the Dooley-Davenport family. He hoped she wouldn't remember any of them.
She squinted at it, eyes flicking from face to face. "Um… no, no, no… I don't think so… but that's the boy who visited me a few minutes ago." She pointed at one of the faces.
He frowned at her finger, hovering over the boy's face. She could still remember Leo Dooley. He frowned. That could throw off his plans. Then he shook his head, clearing his mind of the thought. The little twerp wouldn't be able to thwart him this time.
"What's his name again?" She asked, looking up at him.
He shrugged, not wanting to say the name and possibly jog her memory. "That's unimportant. What is important is that he is bad, and so is everyone else in this picture. They have many, many friends, and they are all bad, too. You can only be safe and happy when they are all gone."
He put the picture in the trash can after burning it with fire in his palm, charring it. "I'm like you, Bree," he told her, seeing her stare. "I have abilities. Like I said—I can help you. So…" he held out a hand. "Are you in?"
She gave him a glance. "One question first: what's your name?"
He smiled, giving her an full, honest answer. "Victor Krane."
She gave him a hard, calculating look. "Okay." She grabbed his arm, and he chuckled, pleased. As they evaporated into thin air, he couldn't help but think: Everything is going according to plan.
He was so ready for his revenge.
Oh, jeez, that was actually darker than I intended!
Small recap, since I understand that it may have been confusing: Krane loaded a virus into Bree's chip that destroyed the function in certain parts of her brain, like the parts that control emotion and memory—it actually replicated some real-life symptoms of certain types of 'insanity', which is what the doctors were registering. Bree couldn't stabilize her emotions anymore, so she checked herself into an asylum (because she thought it was a mental thing, not a bionic thing, see). Then she started to forget things, like names and then, later on, people. That's what happened when Leo showed up—she kept forgetting who he was, and she already forgot about Chase (and Adam, but I didn't show that) while Leo was talking to her. The stress from that conversation sped up the virus, taking out the rest of her memories of her family and the battles with Krane and the soldiers. Krane used that to his advantage and turned her to his side, since she couldn't remember that he was evil and stuff.
Okay, people, I have an important question: do you want a sequel? I'm aware I left it very open-ended, so if you guys want, I will write a sequel. It'll only be a one-shot or possibly two-shot (maybe a three-shot if I'm feeling really good about it). I have a vague idea for it, but if you want to send me a PM with ideas (and you are definitely more than welcome to, I really could use some ideas :) ), I'll try to incorporate them and I will give you credit.
Remember: reviews are always welcome! I would really appreciate some feedback on this story in particular.
I should have a multi-chaptered friendship/humor story going up pretty soon, so keep an eye out for that!
Oh, and go vote on my poll!
Thanks for reading, everyone!