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

A/N: Surprise! Yeah, I know I said I wouldn't update until a week, but the vacation got spontaneously canceled, so I've written away. A lot of you have wondered what happened to Adam, and this chapter tells all. Big thanks to Chapter 8's reviewers: BTRlover1122, Lady Cougar-Trombone, glowing starry eyed, xxellabearxx, fanfictionlover, crazyinlovesky15, Lover chocolate and ice-cream, Cuteskull, TheRedFlowerOfFire, AnMaRo412, and ADayWithoutCHEERIsADayWasted. Alright, I'll stop babbling and let Adam take it from here...

Chapter 9

The Merge

Adam

My eyes snapped open and I bolted upright, the familiar feeling of confusion coming over me as realized where I was. In the driver's seat of Davenport's car. Why? Then the memories washed back to me like a wave crawling back up to shore. Spike's a killer. He lied. The anger and betrayal I had felt deeply earlier boiled up inside me again stronger than ever. I can't believe I trusted him! I let him play me like a fool, which I was - or at least that's what everyone labeled me as. All brawn, no brains. I always hated it when they called me that, but I never stopped to consider if they might be right.

Maybe they are. I mean, I helped a homicidal maniac escape in the blind hope he was innocent and then had the nerve to be surprised when it turned out I was dead wrong. There is no trace of Chase in Spike, and while I used to think that was a good thing, now it takes on a new, darker meaning. He's out there, loose in the world doing who knows what kind of horrible and it was all my fault. I had to make this right. I had to make he didn't hurt another soul or I don't know what I'd do. I had to step up and become the mission leader to save the mission leader.

I fished around for the car keys, but came up empty-handed. Of course. Spike ain't no Chase, but he was smart enough not to spare a life and then give the life car keys. That would just be too nice. Looks like I'd be walking home. Was this what being mission leader was like? If so, I now understood why Chase was often unbearable. Groaning, I stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. Getting into the zone, I prepared for the trip back home. I took a longer secluded route home so nobody saw an eighteen-year-old boy jogging at a leisurely pace pushing a car as easily as a shopping cart.

When I finally reached the house, I found it in chaos. Everything was soaking wet, thanks to me, but what really caught my eye were the men in black suiting up for a mission and Davenport sitting numbly on the couch, face a pale white. My heart sank down to my shoes. What happened here? While I stood at the doorway in shock, he just then noticed my appearance and frantically ran up to me. I suddenly found myself forced into a tight embrace and was reeling with awkward confusion. Before I could ask anything, Davenport pulled away, his whole body breathing a big sigh of relief. Again, what happened here?

"Oh, thank goodness. W-we thought you were dead." He explained, still panting from relief to see me. I took a nervous step back.

"Why would I be dead? The machines should have told you I was just knocked out. Right?" No reply. Davenport anxiously studied his shoes. "Right?"

"Davenport, why would I be dead?" I demanded. When he finally looked up, my worst fears were confirmed. Something disastrous happened. Something he wasn't telling me.

"All of your - Chase and Bree's too - stats spiked off the charts an hour ago then everything shut off. And I mean everything. Power's out from here to Welkerville. Haven't seen an electric pulse that strong since... no, I've never seen an electric pulse that strong. I mean, your chips hold a lot of power... so, I figured..." Davenport rushed, his body in perpetual motion from anxiety.

"Well... I'm alive." I tried to help, but I'm really not the warm, comforting type. For the first time since I've seen him, Davenport let out a small laugh of amusement. Why did I always seem to have that effect on people?

"Yes, yes, you are, Adam. Which is why you are going to make up for letting Spike roam free." He stated. I lit up at the opportunity fix my own mistake. I mean, that's the whole reason I came back, right?

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, curious.

Davenport had his idea face on, which was enough to make me hesitant, but the feeling increased when he led me over to the kitchen counter where a strange, small blinking contraption sat perfectly poised looking like something out of Star Trek. In other words, it had Davenport written all over it. He gazed at his latest invention lovingly, until he noticed my raised eyebrow, then he immediately pretended to act indifferent to the object. He loved his creations more than he loved his wife... but don't tell Tasha. It's just an observation.

"I call this the Merger." He paused for dramatic effect. "Is it trying too hard? Tell me the truth."

"I like it." Said a voice from behind. I flinched and whipped around to face Leo's laughing grin at my jumpiness. Man, I fell for that every time.

"Uh, so what does it do?" I asked quickly, not giving Leo a chance to gloat. He opened his mouth to explain, but Davenport beat him to it.

"Remember when we tried to restore the lost memories to Chase?" I nodded. That must've been after I left. "Well, that plan crashed and burned, which can only mean one thing - Spike has evolved into a complete and separate persona. So, we have to take things to a more extreme level. This is the device that will merge Chase and Spike's separate minds into one. Everything they think, feel, remember, will be joined or shared into the group mind, and according to theory, Spike's new individuality will be overpowered by Chase's superior mind and dissolve, placing Chase back in control."

"I was gonna say that." Leo muttered, annoyed.

"It's my invention." Davenport haughtily pointed out. "Oh, and by the way, it only works if -,"

"You're within fifteen feet of him, so you have to get close." Leo triumphantly cut him off. "The steady -,"

"Hum lets you know it's -," Davenport was stopped again.

"Working." Leo started again. "Chase's response could -,"

"Be unpredictable, so -," Davenport started.

"Be -," Leo continued.

"Careful." Davenport finished. "To turn it on, just -,"

"Press!" Leo shouted quickly.

"This!"

"BUTTON!"

"ON!"

"TOP!" They both screamed at once. I blinked.

"Okay... I think I got it." I replied, then frowned. "Wait, could you repeat the instructions just one more time?"

I pulled up Tasha's car into the school parking lot and yanked out the keys, careful to slip them in my pocket this time. Davenport told me Chase and Bree's GPS implants had showed up here at school before becoming unresponsive, which is strange. Of all the places in the world to set up an evil lair, what made him choose a high school I wonder? Eh, who can fathom the mind of a crazy person? Just as I had set foot outside the car, a gunshot echoed through the atmosphere, followed by a crashing sound. Well, that was never a good sign. Was I too late?

I tightened my grip on the Merger for security and ran after the noise, suddenly wishing I had Chase's talent for pin pointing sounds. Nah, punching a meteor to bits was way more fun. Still... was the crash from the back of the school or the side? I paused for a second to get my bearings when suddenly the bland white door the janitor usually uses to take the trash out burst open, revealing a figure too far away for me to recognise. Quickly, I started running again to catch up with the stranger, who didn't seem to have noticed me yet. Finally, I got to a point where I could see him. Chase, I mean Spike - I'm pretty sure.

In one hand, he held a gun, cocked in a position with his middle finger resting naturally on the trigger. On instinct, I slowed to a speed walk of sorts, reluctant about the weapon in the picture. Okay, I had to do this delicately and fast before anything... happens. It was then that I noticed the other object he carried, some sort of hard drive. I could only imagine what might be on it - death ray blueprints? Whatever it was, it wasn't good, I knew that. I considered sneaking up on him and Merging him that way, but bionic hearing canceled that option. There only one way to do this - like ripping off a band-aid.

Taking a deep breath, I surged forward with my thumb on the button, pressing down when Spike whipped around to face me. Please work. Please work. I wished, hoping I wasn't jinxing anything. I wasn't even sure if I believed in that stuff, but the way I saw it, I could use all the help I could get. It didn't seem to do anything and it was just then that I remembered something about being at least fifteen feet away from him. [Censored]. With a wild, predator grin, he aimed the gun at me. [Censored]. I felt silly holding my little Star Trek thingy, so I jammed it in my pocket while I shut my eyes tight, knowing I didn't have a force field and couldn't dodge bullets at light speed. I was just me, about to get shot.

Then, another crash and my eyes flew open. Another figure, who I immediately recognised as Bree, threw the door open on Spike, who forgot me in an instant. They wrestled for a brief moment and I was amused - and impressed - by how well she was holding out, that is until Spike put the gun to use. Managing to rip his arm away, he fired a single shot at her leg, causing her to collapse. He took advantage of the opportunity and started climbing the spiral metal staircase up the side of the school, the one the Science Club uses to study the stars or whatever.

Ironically, Chase had been the one to tell me that. Shocked and alarmed, I raced to Bree's side, but I couldn't reach her in time. Amazingly, she managed to grab onto a railing and haul herself up, limping her way up the stairs after him. Finally, I reached the bottom of the stairs and called out her name. She whipped around, seeming genuinely surprised to see me. A little ticked off, actually.

"Bree, get down here! I can turn him back to normal!" I shouted so she could hear me up there. She shook her head stubbornly and continued after him.

"Bree! Did you hear me?! You're hurt and unarmed! Let me handle this!" I persisted, starting to follow them. Who did she think she was? Finally, I was running by her side. You know, despite the hole in her leg, she was keeping up a pretty good pace - for an injured person, of course. I gently put a hand on her shoulder as a gesture to stop, but she shrugged it off, visibly flinching at my touch. "Bree. You're killing me."

"Stop calling me that! And I am literally laying down my life for your sister, so if I were you, I'd cut the Prince Charming act. It's not cute." She scoffed.

"What?" I asked, truly lost this time.

Just then, another gun shot rang in the air, leaving a hole in the step we had been on just a second ago. Oh, right. I knew there was something I'd forgotten. Got to Merge Chase and Spike... I really did not have time to argue with my mentally unstable sister, so this interesting little exchange would have to wait. I ran ahead of Bree, who was finally beginning to fall behind as the shot took its toll on her body. We met gazes once, and she solemnly nodded in understanding as she started hobbling back down to ground. Could she read minds now, too? Maybe she simply let the pain win.

Either way, Spike wasn't escaping me this time. I pushed myself higher and higher until the end itself was in sight... I was going to make it! The stairs ended just short of the rooftop, so I had to haul myself up a few feet to land on the roof in a tangled heap of Adam. How's that for D+ imagery? Plus because I'm better. When I managed to pull myself together into a standing position, I saw Spike there, waiting for me just out of range. I approached him cautiously, Merger at the ready, but he made no moves to run or shoot. All he did was toy with the hard drive, and when I got close enough, held the gun to it.

"I'm glad it was you." Spike stated. He didn't sound sad or mournful, or even relieved. Spike was now calm and indifferent, reminding me of the car window. No. He was playing me again, and I wasn't falling for it this time. He had no escape. "I don't suppose you want to know what's on this before you blast my brains out?"

"I can find out myself. I don't need you." I lashed back. But I didn't push the button.

"I'll tell you anyway. That girl down there..." He started, motioning to Bree. My grip tightened on the Merger. He better not be threatening her. "She's not your sister. She's Thorn, a failed experiment. This..." He tapped the hard drive with the gun. "Is your sister. The full unabridged Bree Davenport. Thoughts?"

"I don't believe you. You're just trying to trick me so I don't waste you. Well, it's not going to work! This is the end." I promised.

"I know I'm going to die, idiot. That's why I'm telling you all this. I thought if I made Bree like me, she would understand and join my side. So, I put her in here and made room for Thorn, who betrayed me. I don't care if I die, I have nothing left. Everything I've done - all the pain and suffering I've caused - it's been in vain. My only regret is that I couldn't cause more pain and more suffering for the people that deserved it. You. Bree. Thorn. Chase. Davenport. Leo. All of you. I may have lied earlier... I do have one thing left. The look on your face when I do this." With that, he shot at the hard drive four times, then after one long look at my crestfallen face, he grinned and shot himself in the gut.

Without thinking, without planning, in other words, true me style, I pressed down on the top button with all my being, watching as the switching Chase/Spike fell to the ground in agony. I couldn't tell which hurt them most, the gunshot wound or their head. They clutched them both, writhing on the roof in agony knowing nothing but pain. I say 'they' because for the first time ever, Spike and Chase were going at it, fighting for control of a dying body to the point where I could no longer tell them apart they switched so fast. Sometimes it seemed as if they were two people at once.

I ran to their side and picked them up, swinging them over my shoulder. No, no. It couldn't end like this. Spike doesn't get to decide for any of us. Chase has to live... he has to. We're a team. I tore down the metal stairs, my shoes making a metallic clang every time it hit the steel steps. Finally, I reached the bottom when Bree (I'm pretty sure) ran towards me, a million questions written all over her face. But I knew what she wanted to ask already.

"I hit him with the Merger, which should be turning him back to normal for good, but Spike shot himself - uh, and Chase. We have to get to the hospital." I explained quickly, already heading towards the car and coming up with an elaborate story for the doctors. But Bree grabbed my arm, holding me back, frustration present in her pained expression.

"That wasn't what I was going to ask you." She said, surprising me. "Is the hard drive okay?"

"No, Spike destroyed it. Why? What was on it?" I asked, getting a really bad feeling. Bree's reaction to this was unreadable.

"That was Bree." She said simply, refusing to look me in the eye. My heart stopped for a second. I almost went into the shock on the spot.

"H - He was telling the truth?" I forced out, swallowing the turbulent emotions taking me over from the inside. Thorn, I guess I should call her, nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, but I didn't want to hear any of it.

I think she said more, but I had turned away from her, now hustling down the parking lot without a glance back. I had to get to the car... get to the hospital. I wasn't about to lose Chase too. I had nearly reached the car when I heard footsteps coming from behind and I instinctively picked up the pace, managing to plop the still traumatized, muttering, bleeding, and unresponsive Chase/Spike into the passenger seat. When I slammed the door shut and turned around, Thorn stood in the way, fiddling with Bree's necklace that didn't belong to her with Bree's hands that didn't belong to her. I couldn't stand the sight of her walking around in Bree's body like she owns it - which I promise you, she doesn't. I shoved her out of the way and continued to the driver's seat.

"Wait! Adam! I'm sorry, I want to help!" She persisted, following me like a lost puppy as I did everything in my power to ignore her. I sat in the driver's seat and turned the key, bringing it to life.

"Haven't you done enough?" I said sourly, backing up to get the heck out of here.

"I'm sorry about Bree, but it's not my fault. I did everything I could! Can I at least know that your brother's going to be okay?" She pleaded.

"How about you do us all a favor and drop dead!" I shouted, all my pain and grief spilling out in those last words as I drove away, her limping figure shrinking in the rear view mirror. I blocked it out of my mind. My only focus now was Chase. He sat clutching his head next to me, rocking back and forth while muttering to himself. A world of emotions flashed in his glazed over eyes and I could only imagine what he might be going through. When I dared to look closer, I could see tear streaks shining down the side of his paling face. I've never ever ever ever seen this boy cry. Ever. Seeing him now made my heart break. I couldn't lose him too. Hang on for me, Chase. Hang on.

A/N: That's a wrap, folks. Yes, I know I have left a lot of questions unanswered with this one - one of them being the result of Chapter 8's cliffhanger. But don't worry, all will come clear in due time... all in due time. I would love to know your thoughts, but unfortunately I am not a mind-reader, so please please do review and tell me your reactions. Members with their PM turned on get a sneak peek of the next chapter when they review, so bonus! See you guys next time,

-StripedFuzzySocks-