I DO NOT OWN LAB RATS.

Admitted

Leo was running and then he spotted Donald under a tree. When he got closer, Leo noticed that he was curled in a ball and crying. Leo ran up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, which made Donald jump. "Big D, you okay?"

"Go away!"

"Big D, what happened back there?"

"I said go away! I wanna be alone!"

Leo sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug. "Come on, Big D. Talk to me. What happened? What's wrong?"

Donald just let go and backed away from Leo, hugging his knees to his chest. "Go away! Just go away! Go!"

Leo put his hands up in defense. "All right, all right. I'm going." He started walking away, stopped to look back at Donald, and then started walking again. What was going on with his step-father?

Leo opened the door to the house and walked in. Everyone was on the couch watching TV and Tasha looked up at him. "Hi, honey."

"Hey." He walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"Any luck? Did you find Donald?"

"Oh, I found him all right." He took an orange juice out and shut the fridge.

"Well, what happened? Why didn't you bring him home?"

"He told me to go away and that he wanted to be alone."

"What is going on with him?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't talk to me."

Just then, Donald came in. "Hey everybody."

Tasha said, "Don't you 'Hey everybody', Donald. You have some explaining to do, mister. What happened?"

"W-what do you mean?"

Chase walked up to him and put a hand on his dad's shoulder. "Mr. Davenport, you snapped at us. You never did that before. What's going on?"

He swatted Chase's hand away. "Nothing! Nothing is going on or wrong with me! You know what? Just... Just leave me alone! Leave me alone!" He ran through the doorway to the stairs leading down to the lab. Chase stood there shocked with tears in his eyes. He can't believe his dad would snap at him like that... at his family like that.

"I-I–"

Bree put her hand on Chase's shoulder. "Chase, he didn't mean to snap, especially at you."

"No, he did. I keep asking how he is constantly and I'm getting the feeling that he hates it. He hates me now!" He ran up the stairs.

Adam threw his arms up and said, "Aw, great! Now we have two upset people!"

"I'll get him." Leo ran up the stairs and found Chase in Donald's arcade room playing pinball. "Chase, there you are!"

"Sorry I ran out like that, Leo. I guess I'm not used to him snapping at me like that. I mean, I've gotten in trouble with him before and he yelled at me, but he didn't snap at me like that."

"It wasn't just you, Chase. It was all of us."

"Sorry, Leo. "

"That's all right. Just, talk to us when you're upset instead of taking off."

"All right. Wanna play a game of cyber pong?"

"Sure."

"Great. I cannot wait to beat you again."

"You will not. I will destroy you in this match." They both went down the stairs and to the lab.

Donald ran into the lab and to Chase's capsule. He got in, shut the door, and locked it from the inside. He slid down, pulled his knees to his chest, and started to cry. Not even a minute later, he heard voices and then Chase and Leo came down. Chase went over and turned Donald's desk onto the cyber pong setting. They grabbed the paddles that were on the glass table. Leo said, "You're going down!"

"I don't think so! In your dreams, little man!" Suddenly, a light blue cyber ping pong ball appeared and they were hitting it back and forth to each other. Leo hit the ball to Chase and he returned it back, hard enough for the ball to fly past Leo. The holographic scorecard showed up on Chase's side and said 'Chase Wins'. "Oh yeah! I won! I am the cyber pong champion!" He jumped for joy and danced around. "Woo hoo! Woo hoo! Woo–!" Chase stopped when he heard crying from behind him. He turned around and saw Donald in his capsule, curled in a ball and crying. "Mr. Davenport!" He ran over and tried to open the capsule, but couldn't. "I can't open it! It's locked!" He banged on the door. "Mr. Davenport! Unlock and open this door now!" Donald shook his head, tears and fear clearly in his eyes. "Leo, go get Adam now so we can open it!"

Leo ran up and entered the living room. "Adam, Chase and I need you. Big D locked himself in Chase's capsule and he won't come out. Chase said that he was also crying."

Tasha asked concerned, "What? He was crying? I'll come with you." Everyone ran down to the lab.

They saw Chase struggling to get his capsule open. "Mr. Davenport, open the door!" Tears were forming in Chase's eyes. He did not like seeing his father like this, in fear and pain. Not physical pain, but emotional pain.

"I got this, Chasey." Adam ran up and with one swift punch, smashed the glass. He picked up his dad bridal style and put him on the floor. Donald curled his knees to his chest once again.

Tasha was rubbing his back soothingly and asked, "What's wrong, sweetie?" He didn't answer, so she tried again. "Sweetheart?" Donald looked up at her, eyes red and puffy from crying.

He stopped and answered, "Make it stop! Make it stop, please!"

"Make what stop?"

"The voices."

"What voices?"

"The voices that I hear. Make them stop!" He shut his eyes tight and covered his ears.

She pulled him into a hug and continued rubbing his back. "Honey, honey, honey. Calm down. Calm down. You're okay. Calm down." She removed his hands from his ears. "You had a tough day. I'm sure all you need is a good night sleep." He nodded, still terrified.

That night, Donald was sleeping... well, trying to sleep at least. Something inside wasn't letting him. He stared up at the ceiling and every time he blinked or moved his eyes, a sound that resembled Styrofoam pieces being rubbed together could be heard. He could hear his own heartbeat. He could hear everything inside of him quite perfectly. In fact, it was annoying the heck out of him. Apparently, this has been going on for weeks. He just didn't want to admit that anything was wrong. He couldn't take it anymore. He screamed and did the only thing he could think of. He clawed at his eyes to try and get the sound to stop.

Tasha came running in when she heard him scream and was shocked at the sight of her husband. He was trying to claw his own eyes out. She quickly shot up. "Sweetheart! Sweetheart, stop!" Tasha removed his hands and he had scratch marks on his face that were already bleeding. She enveloped him into a hug and he was shivering under her touch. She rubbed his back and brushed her hand against his cheek. She said to herself, "Something is seriously wrong."