Hi guys!
So it's been over a year, huh? Wow. You know when you get so caught up living in the present that you suddenly look back and go 'woah', well that just happened. I never thought when I disappeared that I would ever in a million years be gone for over a YEAR! It was always 'you'll write tomorrow; you'll update tomorrow' and I guess it took A LONG TIME for tomorrow to finally come.
I'm SO sorry. I'm not even going to try to give you guys an excuse (if you're still around to read this, I wouldn't blame you if you weren't) just know that I'm REALLY sorry and I definitely intend to finish this (no matter how long it takes). Also (this counts for my one-shot collection too- which I WILL be updating again shortly) even though I wasn't updating it didn't mean (and doesn't mean) that I never read every single new review and got excited over new readers and follows and favourites and just BLOWN AWAY by the sheer support and enthusiasm and kindness you all have and shared with me :D
And although it doesn't seem like it, every little thing pushed me one step closer to updating, gave me that little bit more drive to write that little bit more in that chapter.
(I'm not even kidding, I would see a review or favourite or follow on my phone and I would SQUEAL with the biggest smile on my face thinking 'I can't believe people like my work!' then 'They are SO SWEET and INCREDIBLE' then 'Oh my gosh I need to update, these wonderful people are asking me to update- quick- you must go write now!' and then I would try to write and despite taking me a really REALLY long time, I finally got a chapter together for you all!)
I don't own lab rats.
This chapter takes place straight after the introduction...and since it's been so long (once again, REALLY SORRY) I included the last line of the last chapter as a prompt.
So Adam and Bree have been sent back to is around season 1-2 so early days, and it's an AU so it's not going to match up (especially now that the show has them at a bionic academy!) :)
Okay, I'm going to stop now, you're hear to read the story, not me rambling...
ENJOY!
The boy in the capsule shifted.
"Get behind me," Adam barked, skidding away from the capsule like it was a volatile bomb, as he placed a secure arm in front of his sister, forcing her backwards and behind a lab desk.
The two bionics waited for any more signs of life, anything to prove that he was alive. Slowly, almost agonisingly slowly, Chase stretched inside his capsule and blearily opened his eyes. He gave a sweeping look around the lab from behind the glass of his door, before gently pushing it open and inelegantly stumbling out, rubbing sleep from his half-closed eyes.
He looked different, Adam noted, his hair wasn't as long or spiked, he wasn't holding himself with military perfect posture or moving with immaculate precision. Chase was idly wandering away from his capsule with little barefoot shuffles. He didn't look so muscular either, smaller and more vulnerable in appearance, just like…..no…..not like before.
The eldest bionic kept his arm over his sister, and a steady eye on their enemy, who was currently looking drowsily across at both his and Bree's capsules with an air of confusion.
Why was he here? Did he follow them? What game was he playing with them now? Had he found a new way to toy with them? Why did he choose this? Did he know how much they yearned for this? Yearned for before? The onslaught of questions seemed endless.
Suddenly dark eyes snapped in their direction, he must of heard Bree's choked gasp once she saw how he looked, so different from the black clad, glove wearing nightmare creator of before. The costume and mask ensemble he wore now fit him well.
But, even though Chase might have thought hiding behind his old self would have worked, he had no idea what Adam and Bree had gone through to permanently brand the new him into their minds. The self-proclaimed King of Darkness. Chase couldn't pretend that well, and he couldn't play off hope that didn't exist, that had burnt up a long time ago.
Instead of lunging forward in an attack, Chase instead blinked twice and shot them a charming little exasperated smile, looking almost relieved that he had located them.
'He probably didn't want us to leave,' Adam whispered into the back of his sister's mind, ''Want's to keep us where he can see us.'
'So he's playing innocent, let's see how long it takes for him to slip up,' Bree replied.
"Why, hello there," oh, he was definitely good, Chase's voice sounded just like before, instantly forming two identical lumps in his sibling's throats. But they knew it had to be fake.
The youngest bionic took a step forward, "Now, usually people sleep at five a.m. but-"
"Get back," Adam growled, noting how his once younger brother had come too close, practically in attack distance if he wanted it to be.
"Wha-" The youngest bionic looked down at the two, furrowing his brows. He was taking in their defensive positions and skimming the lab, just to make it was intruder free.
Adam cut his question abruptly off with an almost hostile, "Move!"
Chase responded with a slight chuckle, raising his hands in the air in faux surrender as he back up, "Okay, okay," his smile grew larger, yet instead of turning into a smirk his siblings were prepared for, it remained almost sweet, "I surrender."
"I'm serious, back away now!"
The only response the defensive bionic received was a slight scoff and a lazy smile, "I'm going, I'm going- calm down. But Adam, Buddy, remember what we talked about? If you're going to start playing a game, you've got to warn me first, 'kay?"
With a final shake of his head and a quiet laugh, Chase spun around and began ambling around the lab, causing both teenagers on the ground to shuffle in an attempt to keep their foe always visible.
The eldest bionic kept an especially close eye on the boy, waiting for him to suddenly turn around and strike…..but he never did. All Chase did was flick through a couple of notes for what looked like one of Davenport's newer inventions, adding something at the bottom of the third sheet with a quick scribble, before turning to face them once more.
Adam braced himself, but instead of more pain, there was just a quizzical look from the brunette as he stretched once more and strolled calmly passed them towards the lift.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I can't imagine myself getting back to sleep now," he sounded so young, so innocuous with his casual words slung about so easily, "I'm heading upstairs for some early morning pancakes, care to join me?"
The youngest bionic raised an eyebrow to his two elder siblings, beckoning them with his hand, before adding an almost sly, "Don't worry, I'm cooking."
There was a deafening, impossibly awkward silence as the two elder Davenport's tried to work out how to proceed –play along? Or not…
"N-no, uh, thanks," Bree finally managed to drag out, noting that her older brother didn't look anywhere near prepared to say anything more than another 'back away' warning.
There was another quirk of a smile across Chase's lips, "Okay then…suit yourselves. Keep playing your game, maybe when I come back down you can explain it to me, yeah?" There was a sudden twinge of an unidentifiable emotion, before the brunette turned around.
And he actually left. Just pressed the button, paused for a moment, and sidled into the lift once the doors opened, "Last chance," came Chase's sing song voice as he made eye contact for the final time before the doors slid closed and he was gone.
"Do you think he can still hear us?" Bree barely whispered over a breath.
"Better not risk it," and the two turned to silently converse in their head, a trick they had discovered almost a month after joining the official rebellion against their younger brother and his army.
'What the heck is going on?' Bree emphasised with a long look.
'I don't know….' Finally Adam lowered the arm he had been using to shelter and guard his sister from the lethal King, '…..But it was definitely a low, dirty move.'
'He doesn't fight fair anymore…remember?'
Adam bit his lip and nodded, before changing their silent, telepathic subject, 'Where do you think we are?'
'No idea,' Bree gave an uneasy shrug, 'Maybe he knocked us out and took us to a fake lab, put us under a simulation or we're actually dead and this is our punishment for-'
'This wasn't our fault, Bree, it was all him.'
'I know…Just….' She sighed, before allowing a small smile to grace her features as she assessed the lab once more, 'Everything looks so perfect, so right.'
'Well he does have a perfect memor-'
The two were cut off by Eddy, "Okay, usually I try to act like you don't exist, it just makes my life more enjoyable….. Because I don't like you…But you're acting even weirder than usual."
The two bionics shared a look, "What do you mean?" they replied in sync.
The emoticon seemed to consider his next words, "…Did that soccer ball hit you harder than we thought, Rat?"
Both bionics flinched, Chase had enjoyed calling them his 'Little Lab Rats'. No, don't think about that, focus on the current situation. Living in the past only caused unnecessary pain and attachment to the impossible. Wait…Bree shook her head and raised a cautionary hand to her head, abruptly feeling a vague throb she didn't remember from before, suddenly she brushed her fingers across a bump just after her hairline.
"What?" She whispered.
Adam immediately jumped to inspect it.
"Okay then…..I know Dumbo over here didn't mean to kick it that hard, but I think it made you lose a few too many brain cells, not like you had any to spare or anything," Eddy chuckled antagonistically. But the two paid no mind.
"When did this happen?" Adam demanded in a tone that made the emoticon visibly raise a metaphorical eyebrow.
"I dunno, yesterday maybe?" Came the sarcastic reply.
No, that couldn't be possible, both siblings remembered the incident well, and it had happened just over a year ago. Almost a month before…a month before things started going downhill fast. It was impossible, but there was the proof on Bree's head.
"Adam, I need you to look at me," Bree suddenly clutched at her brother's arm, panicked.
"What?"
"Look. At. Me," and look he did, at first to amuse his sister, then in the same type of frenzied state as she appeared to be in, as he took in her round cheeks, clean skin and long hair. No dark circles from lack of sleep, no chapped lips or bump in aid of a previously broken, and never properly healed, nose.
The middle bionic was doing the exact same thing to her older brother, studying him, taking in the missing burn marks on his upper arm, his hands- the ones that were supposed to be stained with dirt and grime looking cleaner than Bree had seen them in half a year- his more rounded face, not hollow from too little food and too much exertion. It was like they'd stepped back to the beginning.
Had they really been so consumed taking in the perfection of the setting, and the difference in their…third room inhabitant…that they forgot to survey themselves?
Everything just kept on raising even more questions.
"My nose- your burns," the female delicately touched the bridge of her nose, perfectly aligned and without a bump.
"I know," he too, faintly traced the now clean skin he'd grown accustomed to seeing riddled with unsightly burns and scarring.
"Adam," Bree didn't even try to contain it to a thought, "look at my hair, even my nails" she shoved her well-manicured purple fingers under his nose.
"Anyone could have painted that…or fixed your nose, or given you extensions, or covered my burns- isn't that what make up does?" Adam didn't want to believe what his little sister was suggesting.
"No. Look around, at us, at the room," the two barely had a chance to survey the area and share another look before the lift doors opened once more, quickly Bree whispered, "Adam, not even a simulation could get everything this perfect."
"Okay, so I know you guys wanted to keep playing, but I made a little extra and decided 'hey, why not be nice and share?'…..so here," Chase rambled as he strolled back into the lab, a pile of pancakes and three sets of cutlery in his hands, "I hope you're hungry."
He took in his older brother and sister staring at each other like the end of the world had just been scheduled, "…Or not?"
Something was happening, they could tell, it was all too vivid for it to be a dream, too perfectly imperfect for a simulation, and certainly if they were blessed with any afterlife, Chase wouldn't be there.
So what was it?
"Maybe this is a dream," Adam hummed.
"I don't think either of us would be able to remember this all well enough for this to be a dream."
The eldest bionic took in the smell of the lab and heard the gentle, almost maternal whir of the computer. Every sense presented him with a new feeling of safety and security. "Whatever it is then, I don't want to leave- maybe get someone to leave, but…without that major flaw, this is actually pretty good. Great, really."
"Careful, it won't be too long until whatever this is turns into a nightmare…..they always do," Bree sent a steady gaze at the boy dutifully munching on his breakfast, "Especially with a certain traitor involved."
Leo, as it happened, was the one to finally convince them that this wasn't all some simulation, or at least show them that they were willing enough to believe in that lie.
When they had seen the boy again, tiptoeing through the lift doors to see if his bionic siblings were awake yet, they had immediately dragged him into a Bionic Tag Team hug. Adam and Bree were so elated to see his face again –even if the elder bionics were still sure something just had to be amiss.
Despite their lack of super hearing, they could pick up his heartbeat, feel the air he was inhaling and exhaling- feel the warm beneath his skin as blood pumped freely through his veins. Leo was not a robot or an illusion, Leo was human and real, alive and in their arms. Safe. Just like what they'd been dreaming of for the longest time.
Eventually the only Dooley shot them both odd looks and awkwardly patted their backs, before turning away from their too big smiles. Bree bit her lip.
"Okay, okay," he'd pushed them off after a while, "A whole seven hours without the L-Do can leave some with withdrawal, I get it, but….ooooh, pancakes," Leo trailed off distractedly, grinning coyly as he skipped over to Chase.
The two had refused his food, not having the right equipment with them to test whether or not it had been poisoned or drugged. Almost by instinct, Bree had dashed over and placed a hand on Leo's shoulder, followed by Adam working to use his body as a shield between Leo and any potential attacks Chase was about to send their way. Just in case.
"Uh guys? You're weirdness is getting in the way of my pancakes- so move," Leo brushed them off, shooting them a backwards glance as he accepted the silent food offering from his older step-brother.
"Leo-"But Bree stopped, noticing that the boy was already slicing into his breakfast.
The two Resistance trained super-humans held their breath while their human brother took a piece of pancake and swallowed it. They both wanted to destroy the food, Adam even tempted to use his accelerated heat vision on the lot of it, but that would risk something ricocheting off and hitting the one they wanted to protect.
"Oh wow," Leo sounded surprised, causing Adam and Bree to prepare to treat the boy for any poison he may just have ingested, "These are…wow. Why haven't I gotten you to make me breakfast before?" The youngest demanded, leaning across to playfully slap his brother's arm.
Both siblings immediately relaxed.
Chase chuckled, "I'm glad somebody likes them," before he turned to them, "You sure you don't want any- they're not poisonous, I promise," he winked.
So in the end, Bree and Adam stood rigidly by Leo, watching him eat the pancakes while pretending to look elsewhere when he stuck his head over his shoulder to shoot them another 'look'. Call it natural instincts, a feeling in the pit of their stomachs, a self-imposed habit…But after so long -no matter what situation they were in- Chase could not be trusted.
The female bionic began slowly playing with her hair, feeling the weight of something she felt so accustomed going without. Resistance regulations stated that hair could be no longer than ear length, as their enemies fought dirty and were not above clutching on to ponytails or perfectly styled curls and using them to their advantage, be it to capture, hurt or even…..even in one fallen comrade's case…..choke.
"Not a dream, not a simulation, maybe he wants us to think we imagined it all up- lull us into a false sense of security before…" Bree continued her musings, unaware that her elder brother's head had snapped up.
The silence in the room was broken by Adam sniggering, causing three questioning pairs of eyes glancing his way.
"You know what we haven't thought of? What if it is all real, what about that?"
"Huh?" Leo and Chase both looked just as bemused as the other.
But Bree knew what her brother was chuckling about, "Time travel?"
"Sure, why not? What else fits better," he began to laugh even harder until he was doubled over in hysterics. Bree slowly beginning to smile as she entertained the idea in her mind, even giggling quietly to herself at the mere thought of Adam's words ringing true.
"There is definitely something wrong those two," Leo's voice could be heard murmuring to Chase.
The two seemed to be chuckling uneasily at the absurdity of the situation, the pancake maker agreed, "You've got no idea. Sometimes…..I don't even know…if anyone asks, we're not related."
Adam laughed even harder once he heard that, for once meeting the other male Davenport's gaze, "You've got that right!"
That sent a sobering wave through the room, silencing everyone.
"Awkward," Eddy finally chimed.
Leo broke it by letting out an almost questioning laugh, before noticing the sombre looks upon both Adam and Bree's face. Chase seemed to notice it to, looking to Bree for a moment, like he was waiting for her to say something, before standing up to collect his half-finished plate and push in his chair. He glanced at his watch before returning his gaze to his plate.
"Well, that's enough…weirdness for one morning- I'll be with Mr Davenport if anyone needs me."
"Bye," Adam waved cheerfully, not removing his eyes from the boy's back until he had left the lab.
"Okay, what did I miss?" Leo finally chimed, looking around for anything that indicated there had been a fight, "Did something happen last night?"
"Oh, you've got no idea," both remaining bionics replied simultaneously.
How'd you find it? I hope I haven't gotten rusty! (Then again, please forgive me if I am!) Did you like it, hate it, think nothing of it? Gave up on the story because I was gone for so long? (which I totally understand if you did). Regardless, thank you for reading it this far though- It means a lot :)
The next chapter will have Tasha and Donald, involve more of the plot, and, Bree and Adam thinking back on 'Evil Chase'. Hopefully I will have it up soon (and by soon I mean end of the week AT THE LATEST!)
This was still more of an establishing chapter, setting up Adam and Bree initially in the past (whether or not they actually believe they are in the past, though at the end they are entertaining the idea).
(Ooh! Before I forget, could somebody please tell me how to spell Eddy/Eddie! I feel like I've asked this before but whenever I check I get both 'Eddy' and 'Eddie' as answers.)
Character Explanation Time *insert catchy jingle here*(Well it's more of a comment instead of an explanation, really.)
So I am SERIOUSLY excited to explore Adam and Bree in this story, compared to how they were in the initial show, because they act differently here, ESPECIALLY Adam (who acts and talks differently and is A LOT more mature) due to living through a war and being forced to grow up. So Adam and Bree act differently because of that and Chase is mainly just confused by their OOC behaviour compared to how they usually act. Leo is also confused but hey, pancakes! He just shakes it off as it being a weird sibling or bionic thing and doesn't really think that much about their greeting and odd behaviour.
THANK YOU for reading this, I mean really, just...Thank you. Both old readers who have been around for a while, and, new readers who just saw the story when it appeared today, you are all AMAZING! I just cannot even begin to articulate how BRILLIANT you all are. New readers for giving me a chance by reading this to the end (whether or not you liked it is TOTALLY your opinion, which I respect either way) and old readers for reading this after such an inexcusable amount of time being absent.
I promise that I'll update again soon :)
Catch you next time, yeah? Bye!