Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats or any other Disney owned mention, only this FanFic which belongs to ME. © StripedFuzzySocks

A/N: Hey, I kind of feel like a jerk for saying this, but I'm ending the story now even though only one chapter was posted. It's not because I don't have interest or ideas or even enough fans, but because I had an epiphany. This whole story could so easily be converted to its own novel that I could actually publish, and I'm now seriously warming up to the money version - I'm almost done mapping it out. I wish I could tell you more details, but that's pretty much all there is to it. This wasn't all that popular on Fan Fiction, so at least I won't be letting down that many people, but to the followers - bless you all - I can at least post what I had written before my epiphany, as a means of a 1,750 worded goodbye present. (:

Part I

Even the Odds

Bree

I was seriously ticked off. No, ticked off wouldn't be fair to describe the searing, burning frustration I felt that day it began. I had just had it. Totally had it. No more. I was so sick and tired of running around trying to do the right thing while Leo went crossing every line, pushing every button, and bending every rule made the farthest it would stretch - and the little weasel got away with it. Every freaking time. And yet it was me sitting here outside the principal's office like a criminal when I did nothing wrong! The more I thought about it, the more it just made my blood boil at the injustice.

All this time I spent trying to be a good sister, trying to give Leo a chance to come clean, and look where it got me. I was so enveloped in my own quickly escalating thoughts, I didn't even notice the figure sliding into the seat next to mine until a blurred hand waved across my face, jerking me back to the present. Surprised, I turned to my right to meet the friendly face of Marcus and relaxed slightly.

"Oh, hey, Marcus. I didn't see you there." I apologized sweetly, nervously brushing a lock of brown hair behind my ear. God, it was so humiliating to be sitting on the bench outside the office where everyone could see you. And now Marcus knew I was here too. Even better.

"Hey, it's cool." He brushed it off naturally, leaning back in the seat. "So, how did you end up here? I had no idea you were such a rebel under all that pink." He joked, but at the same time seemed genuinely confused.

"I'm not!" I shot back a little too fiercely. "I mean, it's not my fault I'm in here. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Okay, now I have to ask. What happened?" Marcus implored. I sighed and shook my head in exasperation, crossing my arms in stead of replying immediately.

"Forget it. Your little friend Leo will probably tell you all about it later, about how I'm the biggest jerk on the planet." I huffed, admittedly with sass. Something I said must have pricked his interest, because Marcus then straightened in his seat slightly with a new spark in his gaze.

"We're actually not that close." He corrected me with that cool nonchalance of his.

Blushing, I suddenly remembered the great guitar incident of Career Day and the bitter rivalry the two (or primarily Leo) had for each other since then, every nasty look and snide remark washing back. Sometimes I tended to dump all my brothers into one category and didn't really bother to keep tabs on the little things, but for Marcus' sake, I could have at least taken the liberty to remember the fact that Leo wanted him to die in a fiery explosion. Yes, he really did say those exact words.

"Oh, right. Well, it's really no big deal." I assured him as sweetly as I could, my gaze wandering down to my sneakers.

"It was a big enough deal for you to be sent to the principal's office." Marcus commented dryly.

"Why do you care so much anyways?" I asked, truly wondering. He was my brothers' friend, after all. Why should he care about me?

"Just curious..." His voice trailed, then perked to its usual friendly aura. "And it looks like you could use someone to vent your frustrations on."

We sat in silence for a moment while I paused in hesitation, deciding whether or not to even get into it, but eventually my patience broke and I knew I had to vent to someone before I exploded.

"Alright, fine. Here it is. Leo was up all last night playing with his stupid spy cam and filming me in my sleep - creepy, right? And that's not even what I'm mad about! After an entire day of following me around school with that thing, he has the nerve to think I'd let him copy off my test for the Semester Exam! So of course I said I wouldn't - that would be cheating. But he used it to copy my answers anyway and when I got up to stop him, Perry flunked me for leaving my seat." I finished, my anger slowly beginning to simmer down from talking.

I let out a breath and nervously searched Marcus' face for a reaction, but his returning gaze revealed nothing apart from a guarded thoughtful expression.

"So, if your punishment was failing the test, then why are you here?" He asked.

"Um..." I laughed anxiously and broke the eye contact. "I may have been less than cooperative when Perry kicked me out..."

"What did you do?" A wide, amused grin spread on Marcus' flawless features, giving him a darker kind of happy than I was used to seeing.

"I - I talked back." I answered quickly, feeling my cheeks burn red. "I mean, I didn't say anything bad, but I think I caught her on a particularly evil day - even more than usual. Again, here I am." I finished with a sweeping motion to the bench.

"So, you're mad because Leo cheated off your test." Marcus summed up simply.

"Well, yeah... but what really bugs me is that he always gets away with that kind of stuff. It's not just this, either - it's all the time, with everything." I explained.

"So, you're mad because Leo cheated off your test and didn't get caught." He looked to me for clarification.

"Pretty much." I nodded, feeling that answer to be more right.

"Why?" He asked. I returned his waiting gaze with a shocked one.

"Well, why should he get to cheat when everyone else has to do the work?" I shot back.

"You could cheat." Marcus proposed. I was lost under his chocolate brown stare, tongue tied in his words.

"No, I'd get caught." I scrambled for the words.

"So this isn't really about Leo at all, is it?" Marcus grinned a one-sided smile, taking in my confusion with the new blissful but dark undertone I had never seen in him before now. I don't know why, but I almost found myself wanting more of it. This was a difference from the winy, awkward kid I thought he was the day I met him. This was a nice difference.

"Huh?" I managed to respond finally.

"Your problem is you." He announced boldly.

"Excuse me?" I protested, just starting to find my footing in the conversation again.

"Maybe you should worry less about what your brothers are doing, and more on what you're doing." Marcus suggested.

"And what do you suggest I do? Cheat? Break the rules?" I asked breathlessly, once more lost in his trance.

Marcus smiled a small, suggesting smile and leaned in close, until I was sure he was going to try to kiss me, but no. His lips paused inches from mine, frozen as though in a tease. A very, very small part of me recognized my ability to move away, but I don't think I could. I was already enraptured; intrigued. Even then, I couldn't move if I wanted to. Which I didn't. I really didn't want to. Face to face we remained, my eyes locked in his and his in mine. Did he want this? I couldn't tell - his expression was a closed book and his eyes revealed nothing but dark temptation.

"What do you want to do?" He whispered, his quiet tone deathly serious.

There was no trace of humor anymore, and he waited with endless patience for my response. The world dulled in the background and all I could see was him - his eyes, his look, his face, his lips waiting. Waiting for me. In that tense moment, I didn't feel myself at all. I just heard Marcus' words coursing through me over and over. I could do anything I wanted right now. Right now I had the power to change everything. No one had to decide for me anymore if I didn't choose to let them. The only reason people walked all over me was because I let him. Not anymore. I cleared my mind of all thoughts, living out every second of the encounter as if it stretched into a sweet lifetime all its own. I closed my eyes and leaned into it, feeling our lips connect perfectly in sync, like we shared the same thoughts, moved under the same mind.

Continuing without hesitation, in the back of my head I vaguely conceived the kiss deepening and growing more intense, but that only made me more desperate not to break the spell. My heart was beating so hard against my chest it made me wonder if Marcus could feel it too, we were pressed so close now. I didn't know what was going on, or what I was doing. I didn't even know if I was supposed to care or not. Internally, I decided that these were afterthoughts I would have to deal with when I got home, and for now to live in the moment as if it could last forever. I only wished it could last forever. What better eternity was there? I drunkenly pondered. My mind was mush, held captive by the moment. I no longer wanted to spoil it with thoughts. Unconsciously drawing closer, if that was possible, I put my head at rest, letting it slip below my now erupting fireworks of emotions.

I honestly don't know what would have happened next had it not been for the harsh pop pierce sharply through my ears, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stiffen in surprise. My lips froze and I grudgingly pulled away, utterly breathless and lost in a daze. I felt like I just got hit by a meteor. The best kind of meteor...

"Hey, Little Miss! If you're done swapping spit, your parents are waiting in my office right now!" Principal Perry barked from the office doorway.

A/N: Ha ha... I had way too much fun writing that... Well, I hope you enjoyed it! XD

Keep Calm and Write On,

-StripedFuzzySocks-