Kihonne: Alright guys, I'm back with another chapter. I think it's a good one, though you action people might be a little disappointed. But I promise, there will be fights soon. Anyway, let's get the shoutouts done and over with so we can get onto the chapter.

Xxx

TvRomances: Don't worry – I haven't forgotten about Bree's injury. And yes, there will be a little lecture, but not much of one.

Dirtkid123: Well, there's plenty more in this chapter. Enjoy!

Labgirl2001: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I hope you like this one just as much.

Sodaluv8: I'm glad you liked it. Again, I point out that I don't typically choose actors/actresses for my characters. I just design them in my head, without basing them off of anyone's appearance. Unless they're based off someone I know. But I did pick some actors/actresses back in the chapter called Memorial. I think that was the third one of this story, but I'm not sure.

Guest: I won't lie – I do draw a lot of inspiration from that show. It was an amazing show with great actors and I'm still very upset that it was cancelled. Enjoy the chapter.

Guest: Thanks.

ILOVEBRAKENFUR: Well, the next few chapters will have quite a bit more of them.

Cap. Kayla: As if I could ever make him evil. I hope you had a great homecoming, and enjoy the chapter.

Xxx

Kihonne: On with the chapter!

Chase: Kihonne doesn't own lab rats. She only owns this story, her OCs, and anything else you don't recognize.

Chase's POV

WELKERVILLE, CALIFORNIA

"…And then he and Spin disappeared." Bree finished, shrugging her shoulders a bit. She winced as the movement jarred her injured shoulder and Marcus glared at her.

"Would you sit still?" He demanded, glaring at her. She gave him a guilty smile.

"Sorry babe." She apologized, before she finally stopped fidgeting, allowing Marcus to finish stitching up her arm. She winced again as he continued. "Could you be a little gentler, please?"

"Well, I wouldn't have to stitch you up at all if you hadn't jumped in front of three bullets." He retorted.

"I saved Chase's life!" Bree protested.

"It was still reckless. You're lucky the bullet only grazed your arm." I scolded. She rolled her eyes.

"Next time, I'll let the bad guy kill you. How does that sound?" She asked, not really meaning it. I rolled my eyes, knowing that Marcus had a better chance at winning this argument than I did.

"Then what happened?" Rhyder asked, getting us back on track. "After they disappeared?"

"Well, we knew that we needed to warn you guys, so we headed back to the sight of the explosion, hoping we'd find one of you." Marcus continued, finishing with the stitches and begging to wrap Bree's arm in clean, white gauze. "That's when we found Leo."

"They explained what was going on, and when we couldn't reach you, or anyone else for that matter, on the phone, I knew that something was up." Leo added. "I thought maybe Sebastian attacked early, but apparently Graham decided to lose his mind."

"Apparently…" I sighed, thinking of today's events. It had only been a couple of hours since we'd left the Hunters building downtown. Considering what Sebastian's plans were, it might have been wiser to head straight back into the Mission Creek, but with Vivyanna still out of it and with no idea how long it would be until she woke up, we had agreed that it was better to lie low for a bit. So here we were, stuck in a couple of connecting hotel rooms. Bree and Marcus were on the bed in this room, using the lamp on the bedside table so Marcus could see what he was doing better. Rhyder was sitting at the desk and Leo leaned on the wall while I paced.

"Well, he didn't just suddenly decide to lose his mind, now did he?" Roxanna commented, walking in from the other hotel room and leaning on the wall next to Leo. I jerked my head in the direction she'd came.

"How is she?" I murmured.

"Still out for the count. But you know her – her system usually goes through drugs like that pretty fast. I'd say another hour or so before she's shouting at one of us for being an idiot. Alex is watching her for now." She sighed. "But Graham…how long has he been doing this behind our backs? How many people, some of which had to be innocent, did he kill?"

"He's been doing it since the beginning. Vivyanna found missing Specials going back to the third month after we started working for him." Bree murmured.

"How could we have missed this?" Rhyder demanded, sounding frustrated. "Vivyanna saw it, you two saw it. Why didn't we?"

"Vivyanna never trusted Graham in the first place." I mentioned. "She was always questioning him, second-guessing his decisions. She always had a problem with authority, so she was far more open to the idea that he was the bad guy than any of us were."

"And we left on our own." Marcus added. "We just wanted out."

"Why?" Leo frowned.

"We were done with the fighting. We wanted to just enjoy the rest of our lives together." Bree explained.

"And then Graham put us on the list of Specials to be hunted and Vivyanna found us and told us what was going on…well, we knew that was never going to happen. So we stuck together, protected each other."

"When did Sebastian come into the picture?" I asked, genuinely curious. Marcus sighed.

"Vivyanna was determined to stop Graham from killing any more innocent people, so she started meeting up with some Specials and helping them learn to hide their powers. One of the kids she was teaching, a boy named Spin who could practically turn himself into a tornado, was grabbed by some of Graham's agents and she decided to go get him back. Even if it meant breaking into one of your Special prisons." He began.

"Of course she did." I chuckled. That sounded just like Vivyanna – breaking the law in her quest to do what she thought was right. I still couldn't decide if it was the best thing about her, or the worst.

"She needed some help and she'd heard of a guy fighting for things like this, so she contacted him." Bree continued. "That guy was Sebastian."

"They broke in, saved Spin, but Sebastian was hurt. He crashed with us for a while he healed, and he and Vivyanna started…" Marcus glanced at me. "Well, somewhere along the way, they hooked up and he just kind of joined us."

"He must have seemed like a hero." Rhyder rolled his eyes.

"Hey, none of us had any reason to suspect he'd go this far, alright?" Marcus stood up, glaring at him. "Nor did we think Spin would side with him."

"It's alright. Guys." I looked at Rhyder specifically. "Look, we just need to figure out what we're going to do. Any idea what his plan is, specifically? I know he wants to destroy us, but how exactly?"

"He said he was going to attack us in New York, but Sebastian's smart. Once he realizes that you're not there, he'll hold off on his attack. He'll want to keep the advantage of surprise." Bree replied.

"Which has been ruined by you telling us." Roxanna pointed out.

"He doesn't know that." My sister pointed out. I nodded.

"Bree's right. He won't be stupid enough to attack New York right now, while we're out. He'll either hold off, or he'll try to find some way to draw us out." I thought aloud. Suddenly, Rhyder groaned. We all looked at him, expecting some kind of vision.

"Sorry." He apologized. "Stomach cramp. I haven't eaten anything in a while."

"Us either." Marcus agreed.

"We could be stuck here for a while, with Vivyanna still unconscious and stuff." Rhyder mentioned.

"And whose fault is that?" Roxanna challenged.

"I saved her life." The psychic defended himself.

"And your own." She added.

"Okay, that's enough." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Look, there's a restaurant downstairs. Go eat before you all kill each other."

"Yes sir." Rhyder smirked, pleased with himself for having convinced me. Leo looked at me.

"All of us?" He questioned. I nodded.

"We're going to need our strength if Sebastian's as dangerous as you guys say he is." I replied. "But stick together, don't leave the hotel, and keep your phones on at all times."

"What about you?" Bree frowned.

"Alex needs to eat more, since his powers burn more calories than most of ours, so I'll stay up here and watch Vivyanna while you guys eat." I replied. Bree gave me a look, clearly displeased that I was skipping dinner. "But if you could grab me something, that's be great."

"Will do." Roxanna nodded before poking her head into the connecting bedroom. "Alex, c'mon. Dinner."

"What about Vivyanna?" He protested, even as he came out of the bedroom.

"I'll watch her. You go." I told him. "She'll be fine."

"…Alright." The kid nodded and followed the others out of the room. I moved into the connecting bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking down at Vivyanna. She looked peaceful, completely dead to the world, and I realized how much I missed seeing that part of her. The part of her that wasn't angry at the world, the part that wasn't afraid of what was around the next corner, and the part that was truly happy with her friends. The last few years had been…missing her kind of presence, the guarded optimism that had kept us all amused and together for so long.

Perhaps, when this was all over, we could start over. The two of us, together again. I wouldn't lie – even after all this time, I still loved her, and I still wanted her to be a big part of my life. I just hoped that she would want that too.

Vivyanna's POV

I opened my eyes slowly, my head feeling strange and slow. The room I was in was definitely different from the cell I last remembered – it's ceiling was white rather than grey, and the walls were a pale brown – and for some reason, the sounds of a TV filtered through the fog I felt like was caught in.

Confused as to where I was and why I was lying on something soft, I rolled my head lazily to the side, trying to investigate. A figure, avery familiar figure, was sitting next to me, with their back up against the backboard and their left hand stroking my hair. It felt nice, but something was obviously up here.

I guess I must have made some sort of noise, because the figure turned towards me, smiling gently. "Hey."

"Hey." I murmured instinctively, frowning at the figure. Then, I recognized him. "Chase?"

I tried to sit up on my own, only for my vision to blur. Strong hands gripped my shoulders, forcing me back down. "Whoa, easy there. You only just woke up; give yourself a chance to get your bearings."

"Chase?" I repeated, staring the genius. He nodded, frowning at me.

"The one and only." He replied. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." I admitted. He chuckled.

"Well, you only slept for about five hours straight, right in the middle of the afternoon." He mentioned. I stared at him.

"What happened?" I demanded.

"What do you remember?" He asked. I noticed that he had resumed stroking my hair.

"Graham being an ass, then his guys tried to grab me. Rhyder was there too, though I think he was only watching, and then one of Graham's guys drugged me?" I looked at him for confirmation and he nodded. "Uh, things are kinda blurry from then, but I think I remember hearing Perry talk or something. I don't know. I was still pretty out of it."

"I can imagine." Chase agreed. I sat up again, slower this time.

"What happened?" I repeated my original question. "You said you were going to get me out of there."

"I know, but Graham jumped us. Leo, Bree, and Marcus had to save our asses, but by then Graham had ordered Rhyder to bring you to Perry for the 'Special Cure'." I explained.

"Damn it, Rhyder. What is his problem?" I demanded, but Chase shook his head.

"Doesn't have one. He switched out the drugs, so all Perry ended up giving you was a sedative."

"Strong one?" I guessed, judging by the way I still felt a little sluggish.

"Strongest I've ever seen." Chase agreed. "But Rhyder saved your life."

"I take back every bad thing I'd ever said about him." I muttered. Chase smirked.

"He'll be happy to hear that." He chuckled. I looked around.

"You mentioned Bree and Marcus, but where are they?" I asked, concerned.

"Getting dinner, along with Alex, Leo, and Roxy." He assured me. "They should be back so-"

"Honey, we're home." I heard my sister joke, the door opening in the other room.

"Speak of the devil." Chase muttered. "In here!"

"I brought you some lasagna, and some nachos for Vivyanna for when she wakes up. If she's hungry." A seventeen year old boy with messy, long brown hair said, walking into the room. He stopped at the door, looking at me. I swung my legs off the side of the bed, sitting side by side with Chase.

"I'm starved." I smirked at him. He stared.

"Vivyanna?" He asked, surprised. I smiled.

"Hey Quicky." I murmured, smiling at the boy who'd grown up too fast for my liking. He tossed the two boxes of food onto the nearby desk and practically ran over, enveloping me in a hug the moment he was close enough.

"You're okay." He whispered. I chuckled, smiling into his collarbone. God, he'd hit one hell of a growth spurt in the past four years.

"Of course I am. I'm me." I replied, making him laugh.

"Well, look who's awake." Rhyder chuckled from the doorway. Practically the whole group was standing there. "What's up, Firefly?"

"That's worse than Vivy." I complained. He chuckled. "I hear you saved my life."

"Like you haven't saved mine in the past." He retorted gently. I rolled my eyes and smirked at my sister.

"Hey Elsa." I joked. She chuckled, but her smile didn't stay on her face for long.

"I'm going to guess by your good mood that Chase hasn't told you about Sebastian." She mused. I frowned and looked at Chase.

"What about him?" I demanded. He opened his mouth to answer, but Leo cut him off, pushing into the room.

"He doesn't need to." He told us, much to everyone's confusion. Before he could answer, he turned on the TV. To my shock, Sebastian's face was on the screen, the area behind him dark.

"Hunters!" He called, sounding angry. "I'm a Special named Sebastian Smith, and I'm calling you out."

"It's on all the channels." Leo explained quickly and quietly.

"For far too long you've oppressed those with powers. You've kidnapped us, killed us, and ruined the lives of those you didn't. Well no more!" Sebastian shouted.

"Oh my God." I muttered, staring at him. What was he doing? Was he insane?

"I've got six military grade missiles ready to launch, and I will launch them directly at six different elementary schools in the US if you don't meet me and my friends at…Mission Creek High tomorrow at noon."

"You think he'll do it?" Roxanna looked at me. I didn't answer, instead looking at the screen in horror.

"It's time you Hunters become the hunted." Sebastian ended the broadcast with, the screen fizzling and changing back to what appeared to be Bugs Bunny when it was done.

"You still think he's so innocent now?" Chase asked, looking at me. And for once, I had no answer.

Xxx

Kihonne: I know, I know. The Hunters becoming the hunted line was a little cliché, but I liked it. Anyway, tell me what you guys thought. You know I love reviews. I'll be back on Friday with another chapter, one that may or may not include a fight scene. Until then, review!