Hey everyone! Who's ready for the final chapter of Arcane Art? Thanks for all your reviews, guys! Thirty reviews for two chapters of a silly little three-shot? Thanks so much! Adam is grateful. Your reviews might just save his life. ;)

Lady Cougar-Trombone pointed out to me that I messed up in the last chapter and called Leo their "half-brother" instead of "step-brother." So sorry about that! I started banging my head on a table when I realized that (or the Bang Shrine *winks at AllAmericanSlurp*). Don't know what happened there, guys! Hopefully it won't happen again. Thanks for pointing it out, LCT! Sorry again.

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy this! I wrote it up last night and this morning, so sorry if there are any mistakes. I didn't have as much time as usual to work on it. But enjoy! I don't own Lab Rats.

* * * Chapter 3: Chase's Concession * * *

Chase and Leo were sitting on the couch watching cartoons. Leo stared at the television with his 'I'm-too-deep-into-this-cartoon-to-notice-anything-in-the-real-world' face. Chase was mentally naming every scientific law that Wile E. Coyote was breaking. There goes the law of gravity, the bionic super-genius thought as the coyote remained suspended in thin air above a cliff.

Suddenly a faint sound entered Chase's ears. He bolted upright and frowned. "Did you hear something?" he asked his younger brother. Leo just waved a hand at him absentmindedly. Chase leaned over and grabbed the remote, pausing the show.

"Hey!" Leo protested.

"Shh!" Chase insisted. He turned up his bionic hearing and listened again for the noise.

"Don't you shush me!" Leo said loudly. "You don't just interrupt a man's cartoon like –"

Chase clapped a hand over his younger brother's mouth. Leo struggled in protest, but Chase barely noticed. The sound entered his ears again, louder this time. "Bree," Chase murmured before jumping up off the couch. He charged blindly upstairs, disregarding the calls of his step-brother.

Bree's voice became quieter for a few moments. Chase strained his super-sensitive hearing, trying to determine where in the house she was. Finally her voice got louder and he could tell he was getting closer. He charged down a hallway in a part of the mansion that hardly anybody went to. Chase opened a door at the end. He could hear his sister inside.

As Chase entered the room he paused for just a moment. The youngest bionic observed the walls. His mouth fell open a little as he glanced at all the different scenes of his and his siblings' life as portrayed by painted illustrations. For a second he stared in awe at the majesty of the room. But he was drawn out of his thoughts when he saw Bree crouched on the ground next to a remarkably still, prostrate Adam.

"What happened?" Chase asked, crouching down next to his older brother.

"I don't know," Bree said. Chase could tell she was trying to remain calm, but he could hear the panic just beneath the surface of her words. "I followed him up here and came in and we talked for a few minutes and he just started coughing and . . . and then he just collapsed!"

Chase gently picked up his brother's wrist and sighed with relief as he felt a pulse. "Bree," he instructed, "go get Mr. Davenport."

Bree nodded and began to leave the room. But as she walked out the door she paused for just a second. "Looks like you were wrong. Adam wasn't okay," she said over her shoulder before super-speeding out of the room.

Chase immediately felt the guilt wash over him. He looked down at his brother's pale face and felt his chest get tight. Adam's breathing was shallow and raspy. It was starting to frighten Chase.

"I'm sorry, Adam," the youngest bionic whispered.

Chase watched from a distance as Mr. Davenport scurried between the various consoles in the lab. Adam was in his capsule, an oxygen mask around his mouth. Chase almost felt like he was going to be sick. Finally he got up and headed over to the elevator. Bree noticed and ran up to him.

"Where are you going?" she asked as Chase pushed the button for the elevator.

"Anywhere but here," Chase whispered.

"But why?" Bree questioned.

There was silence for a few seconds. "Because I can't stand to see Adam like that," Chase finally said as the elevator doors opened. The youngest bionic stepped inside, hoping that Bree would leave him alone. But instead his sister hopped in with him.

"What do you mean?" Bree asked.

"He's our big brother," Chase mumbled as the elevator began to move upward. "It's not . . . natural to see him like that."

Bree was silent until the elevator doors began to open in the living room. Then she said, "Follow me. I want to show you something."

Bree charged upstairs. Chase ran at his top speed to keep up with her. Even without her super-speed, Bree was still an incredibly fast runner. They ran through the halls until they came to a door that Chase recognized.

"I'm guessing you saw what was on the walls in here before," Bree said as she turned the door handle and they went inside. "But I think you need a better look."

The bright colors of the walls once again entered Chase's eyes. This time he was able to observe them closely. He saw the many different pictures that covered the wall. Each picture was a scene from some point in Adam's life. Chase gazed with wonder at how the proportions of the paintings were spot on. Nothing was crooked or out of place. It was all very . . . precise.

"So Adam did all this," Chase said quietly. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Bree sighed. "He's really talented, isn't he?"

"I didn't even know he could do anything besides lift heavy things and chase bugs," the youngest bionic said.

"Neither did I. But I guess we were wrong. You know, you're always making him feel stupid. Look around. Does he seem so stupid now? You really owe him an apology."

"Maybe I do. But don't heap all the blame on me; you make fun of him too."

"You're right. We both need to apologize," Bree consented. She guided her younger brother over to one wall and gestured to the fresh painting on it. "Recognize that?"

"That's me," Chase breathed. "That was earlier, in the fire. When Adam . . . when Adam saved me."

"Right before Adam collapsed he told me he painted that in order to push himself to protect us better next time," Bree explained.

The brother and sister shared a knowing look and Chase said what they were both thinking. "When he's better we need to let him know that he is doing a very good job of being our protective big brother."

Adam spent the next day recuperating. Mr. Davenport looked up every medical fact he could find about smoke inhalation and treated Adam appropriately. That morning Chase finally brought himself to help his brother. He ignored the way Adam looked so helpless and instead focused on supplying Mr. Davenport with any knowledge he had.

Later in the afternoon Chase and Adam finally had a moment to themselves in the lab. They were both sitting in chairs at the console to the capsules. Adam was much better now, though he still had a nasty cough to deal with. Chase fiddled with his fingers, knowing what he had to say.

"Adam," Chase said, catching the older boy's attention. "I . . . um, I wanted to say that I'm . . . sorry."

"About what?" Adam asked with a confused expression.

"A few things," Chase murmured. He looked down at his feet and scowled a little. He hated apologizing. It meant admitting that he was . . . wrong! Chase swallowed and could practically feel the pride sliding down his throat.

"I'm sorry for not listening to you yesterday and giving you a chance to tell us how you really felt," Chase continued. "I guess . . . I mean . . ." Chase paused, hoping Adam would interject. But Adam remained unusually quiet as stared at his younger brother.

"You're my big brother," Chase finally said. "It's . . . weird to see you get hurt. You're always so strong and you carry the weight . . . I suppose I need to realize that you're just as . . . normal –I guess that's the word – as the rest of us."

Suddenly Chase felt Adam's arms around his shoulders. Chase was still for a moment, slightly shocked, before he wrapped his arms around his big brother. Adam coughed into Chase's shoulder before saying in a raspy voice, "But I want to be stronger. I need to be stronger so I can protect you."

"You do a really great job of that already," Chase assured him. "You're the best big brother a guy could ask for."

Adam pulled back and grinned. "You really think so?"

"Definitely," Chase affirmed. "You're . . . also very . . . talented."

"You saw the room?"

"Yeah. That's impressive. I had no idea you could do that. I'm sorry for making you feel stupid in the past. You're really incredible, okay? You've got a gift."

"Thanks Chase!" Adam said. He ruffled his younger brother's hair, causing Chase to scowl at him. Adam grinned before pulling his brother into another quick hug.

"So, how long have you been working on all those paintings?" Chase asked as they pulled apart.

Adam shrugged. "A few months now, I guess," he said.

"Did Davenport say you could use that room?"

"No. But no one ever goes in there, so I figured it was fine. I found it a few months ago and wanted to make into my own 'special space.' But I didn't like the walls, so I started to paint them. Before I knew it I had nearly filled up the walls with pictures. I might have to move to the ceiling soon."

"Well, maybe I could help sometime?"

"Uh, I don't know, little bro. Some of those spots are pretty high up on the wall. I don't think you'd be able to reach." Adam laughed a little, which caused him to break into a furious fit of coughing.

Chase pursed his lips and waited until Adam stopped coughing before saying, "I'm going to let that slide considering everything else that's going on right now. But really?"

Just then the lab doors opened and the boys turned to see Bree walk in. "Hey guys," she said. "What's up?"

"Bree, don't you have something to say to Adam?" Chase prodded.

"So do you!" she insisted.

"I already did," Chase replied smugly.

"Wow!" Bree said, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm impressed! I thought I was going to have to force you to apologize."

"And now it's your turn," Chase told her, gesturing to their older brother.

Adam grinned and looked up at Bree expectantly. She rolled her eyes and said, "I'm sorry for ever making you feel dumb, Adam. You might not always be the brightest, but you're really great. You care for us and are always there when we need it. Plus you're a great artist. Even better than Owen, I think."

"Well I thought that was obvious," Adam said. "And I think I'm going to tell Owen you said that!"

Bree's face turned a bright shade of red. "Don't you dare!" she shouted.

"Yeah, give him your phone, Bree!" Chase snickered. "He can text Owen and tell him precisely what you said."

"No!" Bree said, placing a hand protectively on her pants pocket. "He'd be really mad at me!"

"But you do think I'm the better artist, right?" Adam clarified.

"Well . . . yes," Bree said slowly. "But don't tell him I said that! He's really cute! Please guys, don't ruin this for me."

"Maybe we won't tell him . . ." Adam said in a teasing tone. He coughed a few times before continuing, "If you won't complain about our pranks for a month."

"No way!" Bree refused.

"I've heard Bree say Owen's phone number," Chase said. He whipped out his cell phone. "Why don't we just call him up right now, shall we?"

"What, no! F-fine!" Bree yielded. "No complaints for a month." Her brothers flashed victorious grins.

"Girls are so weird," Chase mumbled to Adam. Adam nodded his head vigorously in agreement. Bree just rolled her eyes again.

Then Chase noticed how Adam was closely observing him and Bree. "Adam?" he asked with one eyebrow raised. "What are you doing?"

"I think I want to paint this moment next," Adam explained with a proud grin. "So that way I'll be reminded that I'm a pretty darn good big brother after all."

Ta-da! Did you enjoy it? I know you all like protective Adam, so I hope you did! It was really fun to write Chase struggling to apologize. *snickers* Oh, Chase. Did anybody notice how I had each of the lab rats describe the paintings in a different way? Adam noticed the colors, Bree noticed the detail, and Chase noticed the proportions. Pretty interesting, huh? (Yes, that was on purpose.)

I hope you guys liked this! For those of you who are fans of "I'm a Weapon," the prologue of the sequel, "I'm a Monster," will be posted tomorrow. So keep an eye out! Don't forget to go check out my other stories and follow/favorite me for more. See you guys later!