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

A/N: Hi, everyone! Just a quick recap, the Lab Rats uncovered where they came from upon searching the hospital records, but did they really get the whole story, or just know the half of it? Davenport himself has a shady past that will come back to haunt him in this chapter. Oh, and I hate to disappoint you guys, but there is no Marcus (just between you and me, my absolute favorite brow-raising villain) in this story only because I planned this whole thing out before his delightfully mysterious character was introduced. Anyways, without further ado, I present to you the full-blooded long-awaited Chapter 7.

Chapter 7

Back in Black

Chase

"I will never understand your kind." Bree was shaking her head in mock disappointment as I tightened the tie around my neck a little harder. I rolled my eyes in response to her sly remark as though I couldn't care less what she thought. Which, in this case, I didn't. Davenport and I were attending a fancy shmancy suit-and-tie convention on where Itex Corp. would finally reveal their particle collider to the public. I mean, I'd seen it once when I'd had to shut it down to save the world, but that didn't really count. It was broken and freaking out then. I wanted to see it in action.

If all the propoganda about it was true, this could be huge breakthrough for science! And I was going to be there to witness it and maybe even make my own contributions to the subject, thus jump-starting my career. To sum it up, I was over-the-moon excited about it - a feeling that was unfortunately lost on my siblings. I could really only talk about it to Davenport, since he was the only other person in our crazy family that would truly understand my excitement. I had been trying to tell Bree about it just for the fun of it and as expected, got me nowhere. Oh, well.

"Yeah, me neither." Leo chimed in from across the room as he stuffed barely surviving binders into his cluttered backpack. Call me a neat freak, but that was my interpretation of it. "I mean, you're ditching school to do school. It just doesn't make sense."

"This is way more than just school, guys! I've been waiting to see this thing in action for months! This could change our whole perception of -," I was interrupted by a chorus of yawns and rolled eyes. I quit trying to talk in my frustration and turned away from them, hoping I looked busy doing something.

"It's not that we don't care about your little nerd club, we just don't... what's the word...?" Adam attempted to smooth it over.

"Like it?" Bree suggested.

"Respect it?" Leo added.

"Ooh, I got it! We don't get the point." Adam concluded, seeming pleased with himself. I sighed in exasperation.

"Can't you just let me be excited about this?" I asked.

"Fine, if it's really that important to you..." Bree's voice trailed off into an over-ecstatic cheer, Adam and Leo's voices soon joining in the chorus. I laughed with them, the former tension in the room dissolving into happiness. Lately, it had been like this between the three of us - peaceful, happy, friendly. We got along most of the time and our fights were usually short and half-joking. It had been two full weeks since our discovery of the files, and it seemed to have triggered a 'get-along' bionic or something. I guess it really is true what people say about secrets - they bring people closer together.

Even though the news of our parents was, well, disappointing to put it lightly, just knowing the truth brought us all relief in our everyday lives. To myself, I hoped this era would never end - that time could just freeze on us here, laughing happily as a patchwork family somehow stitched up together. Nothing lasts forever, Chase. My mission helper chimed in. I don't how it is in your brain, but in mine, the day just isn't complete without a mission helper quoting Yoda. Or just plain raining on my parade. Things change. You're all getting older, you have a new little brother, you even attend a public school now. It continued relentlessly. You need to learn to accept change. You want to survive in the mission of life? Adapt. Go with the flow.

It was all I could do not to smack my forehead with my palm. Can't you just let me be happy for one measly second? I shot back at it. If a voice inside your head that isn't yours could giggle, it was definitely giggling. I'm not here to make you happy, silly. I'm here to help you. It replied evenly; ever the calm, cool, and collected type. It was a quality we shared.

"Ready to hit the road?" The unmistakable voice of Davenport asked from behind me. My excitement grew and bubbled over again as I nodded calmly.

"Great!" He replied then turned to Adam and Leo. "Tasha should be out in a few minutes to drive you guys to school, but we're leaving, so bye!"

And then we were all exchanging goodbyes and Davenport and I met the self-driving car. I could hardly wait to get there.

I'll tell you this much about science conventions: they're mind-blowing. Imagine all the greatest minds of our century (plus me; even greater mind) gathered together in one place to share the latest discoveries. That's how mind-blowing it was. Okay, I'll admit I was on the look out for any super humans or at least hybrids, but it looked like I was the only one to be found. For the first few hours, I had helped Davenport show off his latest inventions, but now I just wanted to explore other's contributions on my own.

Some gasps, 'oohs', and 'ahs' echoed out of a room 320 steps away on my left. That's right; my super senses are fully up and running now. For a short time, they had been slightly faulty thanks to the hospital basement incident, but it had only taken a short time to recover after the blow. Curious, I sped up the pace to see what all the commotion was about. A crowd had gathered around a professional looking woman and a strange contraption that for the life of me, I could not identify. And since not being able to identify anything is unthinkable for me, I had to check it out.

"As my assistant has just demonstrated, this compact device is capable of reading and recreating any memory or experience with a simple procedure. It is not yet available for purchase in stores, but it's not like you could afford it anyway." The sales person quipped, setting off a low chorus of laughter. "But not to worry, the expected release date for the Past Life is this July. People, this is the technology of tomorrow today."

After that, she was met with civil applause and nods of approval. The woman smiled warmly and stepped down from the platform to let her audience get an up close look at the product. Intrigued, I wished I could take it apart and find out for myself what made it tick. I mean, reliving past experiences? This was a level of inventing that not even Davenport had reached. The crowd had gathered around the device, so I decided to talk to the woman demonstrating it. I saw her standing by a coffee machine, drinking slowly while eyeing the possible customers with interest.

"Hello. I'm Chase Davenport and I'm interested in how the Past Life works." I introduced myself, holding out a hand for her to shake. Turning her 'sell smile' back on, she took my hand politely.

"Dr. Williams. Nice to meet you, Mr. Davenport. Pardon me for asking, but aren't you a little young to be a billionaire inventor?" She laughed.

"No, I believe you're thinking of the Davenport. I'm his son." I corrected her. For some reason, it felt very strange and awkward to refer to myself as Davenport's son. I wasn't really sure what our relationship was, but father/son just didn't sound right. Anyways, I'd think about that later.

"Really? His son? I have to say, I'm a bit surprised. I've never really seen him as a family guy. But I guess he must have gotten over that." Dr. Williams continued, a distant look clouding her eyes. Was it regret? Hurt? Constipation? I told you I'm not good with emotions.

"Yeah, guess so." I said awkwardly, snapping her back to sales person mode. "Now, you were going to show me the Past Life."

"Right. This is basically how it works..." As Dr. Williams began back on the route of selling her invention again, the tension eased as we moved along in the demonstration.

The Past Life really was impressive - all you had to do was attach the electrode reading patches onto your forehead, then pick a date and time. The machine reads your memories and transfers them to the screen to see the experience through your eyes again. Man, I wanted one so bad. I bet even Adam, Bree, and Leo would be interested in this! Once Dr. Williams had moved on, I scanned and downloaded the device into my chip's memory bank for future reference. I could think of no better way to spend my weekend than to rebuild this thing on my own. I hoped we had the materials - BZZZ BZZZZZ. My phone buzzed in my pocket, bringing my attention span back to full alertness. Quickly, I fished it out and answered the call.

"Chase! Where are you?! You were supposed to meet me at the entrance a half hour ago!" Davenport's angry but fearful tone sounded on the other end.

"Sorry, I got caught up with an invention called Past Life and lost track of time. This scientist named Dr. Williams invented it. Have you heard of her?" I asked, obviously not sharing Davenport's sense of urgency. There a short pause and before I could ask if he was still there, Davenport answered.

"I've heard of her." He said finally. He said it slowly - carefully - as if he were choosing the right words. Was there something he wasn't telling me?

"I just asked because she seemed to know you." I clarified, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. Which seemed to have the opposite effect.

"Really? What did she say?" Davenport's voice signaled an immediate and sudden interest, which confused me. Why did he care so much what she said about him?

"I don't know, just that she was surprised that you had a kid. She didn't think you were much of the fatherly type I guess." Which you aren't. I silently added to myself. Another pause.

"Oh." Davenport said, unusually blunt. "Just get over here and we can talk about it later, okay?"

"Um... okay. Fine, I'll meet you down there." I agreed, then hung up the phone.

I'm not one for massive understatement, but I'll have at it. That was weird. Downright odd. There was definitely more to this Dr. Williams character beneath the surface, and Davenport had something to do with it. The detective in me presided to look into it later, considering it had been awhile since I'd had a secret project to focus on. It felt good to be back in business. I thought about the new situation all the way down the first floor and as I exited the building.

Okay, I'll admit it. I never stopped looking. Two weeks ago, Adam, Bree, and I made a pact to give the origin files back to the hospital, keep the whole incident a secret, and move on with our lives as though nothing had ever happened. The thing is, I did only one of those things. I duplicated the files, giving one copy to the hospital and keeping the other locked in a hidden slot underneath my capsule. As for moving on, I am far from it. I just can't get the numbers and information - an intricate web of masterfully crafted lies - out of my head. It's proving to be physically impossible.

Perhaps that's my true glitch after all - I always have to know. And I have to know where we came from. Our story. I don't know why it's so important for me to find out all these things, but I just need some closure. Maybe then I can stop obsessing over this and Adam and Bree can understand and forgive me for breaking our promise. I have to know. The chipper beap of a car being unlocked interrupted my thoughts, and I stretched my senses to pinpoint the sound purely on instinct. Finding it almost immediately, I tuned into the area just for kicks, overhearing the conversation of the people entering the car.

"Why do we have to leave so soon? I thought we were going to check out some of the other inventions." A voice complained. I recognised the pitch and frequency, but I couldn't find an identity match just yet...

"Circumstances changed." An older female voice I identified as Dr. Williams responded bluntly.

"Could you be more specific? You're the one that dragged me here, so why do you want to leave so bad?" The other voice persisted. I could've sworn I'd heard it somewhere before!

"Just buckle up and be quiet. I'm trying to concentrate on driving." Dr. Williams' weary voice replied. The other voice sighed in defeat and the click of a seat belt sliding into place followed. Just as they were driving off, I heard one last statement before they were out of range.

"Whatever you say, mom." He said indifferently. That's when it all snapped into place for me. That was Ethan's voice.

A/N: Okay, I want to say I am so soooo sorry for not updating in like forever, but things have been really hectic on my end! I know this wasn't a particularly exciting chapter, but it had to be there. Filler, filler, gotta write her. *shrug* I also believe I owe you a heads-up about this story - it has a whole lotta Ethan. More and more of him as the story progresses. I realise that some of you aren't fond of his character on the show, and I actually agree with you on that. As Bree's first boyfriend, I expected more than the average 2 episode pretty boy with a relatively flat persona. So, I have taken it upon myself to completely recreate him to fit my own take on the series. If his constant appearance truly bothers you, just recreate him like I did. Close your eyes and create the Ethan you want and imagine that actor participating in this story. Everybody happy? Good. As always, review because that's what keeps me writing. :)