So this chapter was finished by Saturday.

Why wasn't it posted, you ask?

Well, I'll tell you.

Getting "please update soon" in all caps in my inbox is irritating as hell.

And we all know that irritating Zara is a bad thing.

So, being the petty, vengeful bitch I am, I decided to make you wait a few more days.

Enjoy.

So, in the customary fashion, I'd like to thank my readers and reviewers. And remind you guys that patience is supposed to be a fucking virtue.

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: "Shoo, Mia. I'm pissed at you right now."

AllAmericanSlurp: …You…you were supposed to fight gg180000 over the right to hit Sandy first…Buzzkills….

gg180000: I'm not even touching this with a stick.

Guest: Most excellent question.

Hellcat is sterile, as all cross-breeds are.

More than that, though, is that demons don't actually take mates or have children. See, Otherworld is total chaos. All the demons are just blobs of essence floating around everywhere. And, of course, chaos begets chaos in the form of new demons just appearing like, "Hello. I exist. :3" So he has the human side of him saying that he should find the lover of his dreams, but the demonic side heavily suppressing the physical manifestations of these. They'll still pop out – you know, finding a girl attractive, random sexual urges, and the like - but nowhere near as often as with a normal teenaged boy.

So, after reading that long explanation, let's read this! Adam?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

"Clever as the Devil and twice as pretty."

Holly Black, White Cat

"Intensely selfish people are always very decided as to what they wish. They do not waste their energies in considering the good of others."

Ouida, Wanda

Douglas

"Say what you want about Tasha, but she has one hell of a right hook," Douglas complimented as he watched the scene unfolding in the driveway below.

Donald nodded. "She can be pretty violent when she wants to be. Especially when it comes to the kids."

Douglas nodded. Just when he thought he had Tasha figured out, she threw him a curve ball. He was glad that she was just his enigmatic sister-in-law instead of his wife. He didn't think he would be able to handle it.

Behind him, Chase mumbled something tiredly and shifted a bit on the bed, likely searching for a more comfortable position to rest in. Honestly, he was probably aggravating at least three injuries no matter how he laid, but there had to be a position that was better than the others. Douglas sighed. "How in the hell did she know?"

Donnie shrugged, frowning. In the driveway, Adam had broken up the fight before it even started. Damn. "Maybe Sandra can see planes?"

Douglas snorted. "Humans can't see planes without magic."

"Adam shouldn't be able to charm demons, either," Donald countered. "Who says that some people can't see planes?"

"No one ever reported it before," Douglas responded. It was a lie, but he just wanted to drop the subject and focus on why Sandra had attacked Chase. That seemed more important than the wild claims of people seeing the planes.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he could see why she had lashed out. Demons were associated with evil, after all. Still, it wasn't like Chase had been threatening her at all.

Well, he probably hadn't been threatening her. Douglas hadn't been there. It was so unlike Chase to pick a fight with a random person for no reason, though, so Sandy had likely been the instigator.

One mistake.

He had made just one drunken mistake.

If it weren't for that, Sandra wouldn't have been around to start shit at all.

Adam wouldn't be around, either. So it was a double-edged sword.

"So what are we going to do about her?" Donald asked, nodding towards Sandra.

"She could be arrested for trespassing," Douglas pointed out, shrugging.

"She assaulted Chase," Donald hissed, obviously not satisfied with the simple trespassing charge.

"With a necklace," Douglas snorted, nodding towards the thin bloody chain on the nightstand. The only reason Douglas hadn't thrown it out was because he wanted Adam to see it. It would serve as an effective deterrent against seeing Sandra again. "The law doesn't protect demons. Hell, it doesn't even acknowledge that they exist."

Donald huffed. "It should."

Douglas smirked. "What's wrong, Donnie? Does the Man have his boot up your ass?"

Donald narrowed his eyes. "No. I just wish there was something we could do."

"The only way to get rid of her is to get Adam to shoo her away," Douglas mused. "It shouldn't be hard once Adam knows why she wanted to contact him in the first place."

"I say that she should take him," Eddy chimed in, popping up on screen. "And the other three, too."

Douglas rolled his eyes. "Why did you invent this pest?"

Donald's cheeks grew red as he mumbled his answer. "Home security for the kids...and I was lonely."

"You're that much of a loser?" Douglas prompted, raising an eyebrow.

"At least he doesn't keep his pet porcupine on his head," Eddy quipped.

Donald started laughing as Douglas ran a hand through his hair. Stupid computer.

"For fuck sake," Chase groaned, startling both men. With his back still to them, Chase pointed at Eddy drowsily. "Press the black button near his screen."

Donald frowned. "I've been meaning to ask what those were."

Douglas rolled his eyes. "A new button appears near Eddy, but you don't think to ask about it?"

"Did you ask about it?" Donnie challenged irritatingly.

Douglas frowned. "Shut up." Then, he leaned over and pressed a small black square about an inch over his screen. To his ultimate amusement, a thin slat opened just below the button, allowing a piece of black fabric to unroll and cover Eddy's screen.

"Hey!" Eddy protested behind the cloth. "What gives?"

Douglas grinned. "Awesome. When did you do this?"

"A few days ago. Tasha and I were bored," Chase mumbled.

"You know that he's still there, right?" Donald pointed out. "You didn't actually do anything."

Chase snuggled under the covers a bit. "It's just to aggravate him and make us feel better."

"Every screen?" Douglas asked.

"Except the Lab," Chase answered. "We didn't get that one. You were in your boxers, remember?"

Douglas nodded as Mr. Davenport crossed the room and ran a finger over Chase's ear, causing him to flick it irritably. "Watch your language," he chastised gently.

Douglas rolled his eyes. The kid was injured. Was it really the appropriate time to nit-pick at his language?

"What'd Sandy do to Adam?" Chase asked, his words slurred a bit. He likely would've rolled over to face them, but that would aggravate the injuries on his back. Besides, between the painkillers and his general state of weakness, Chase was probably too drowsy to do it effectively without looking uncoordinated as hell. So he pointed an ear in their general direction instead to listen.

"I want to know this, too," Donald seconded, carefully patting Chase's shoulder.

Douglas bit back the protective urge to snap at his brother. They're his kids, too, he reminded himself firmly. "Then why didn't you ask about it when I brought it up?"

"Because Eddy interrupted," Donald reminded him.

"Can someone move this thing?" Eddy piped up from behind the cloth.

"Anyways," Douglas began pointedly, ignoring Eddy, "The day Sandra and Adam went to that yogurt place, Bree found an article later that night. It says that Adam's just some inner city kid she's helping. The interesting part is that she's running for office -"

"Mayor?" Chase interrupted

"Nothing that grand," Douglas answered. "Just the Treasurer. Anyways, she was accused of not liking kids, which was putting a damper on her campaign. And that accusation came shortly before I saw her at the convention."

"She's using him to save her campaign," Donnie concluded slowly, frowning deeply now.

"She doesn't even want to be associated with him as his mother," Douglas spat bitterly. "I knew this would happen. Once a selfish bitch, always a selfish bitch. Right, Hellcat?"

Chase didn't answer. Instead, Donald shrugged. "We lost him a bit after he asked what she was running for."

Douglas nodded. They'd fill him in later.

"We have to tell Adam about Sandra," Donald started.

Douglas held up a hand. "You and I both know he won't listen. He's too wrapped up in the idea of knowing his mother. Hell, Yahn's been staying with me at night because Adam kicked him out of the capsule for being suspicious."

"Then we have to show him," Donald concluded. "Any ideas?"

"Not yet," Douglas answered, glancing out the window to see Sandra driving off while Tasha and Adam argued about something in the driveway. "Give me a little while, though, and I'll have something. I'm me, after all."

Donnie rolled his eyes. "I'm relying on a criminal. Great."

Douglas shrugged, grinning. "Sometimes the only way to win is to out-con the con artist."

"Fine, but I'm going to think up a legal plan while you do that," Donald muttered.

Douglas rolled his eyes. His plan would be leagues better than Donnie's, but if it kept his overbearing brother busy, let him come up with his own.

"Hello?" Eddy called from behind his cloth covering. "Somebody move this thing."

Donald frowned and crossed the room. "How do you get this thing to...?" He pushed the button experimentally and nodded when the cloth was pulled back into the narrow slit and sealed away from view.

"It's about time," Eddy huffed. "Don't you dare do that-"

Douglas reached around Donald and pressed the button, causing the slit to open and drop the cloth over Eddy's screen again.

"Hey!" the program protested.

Douglas smirked. Chase and Tasha were on to something. He did feel better now.

"Teddy said it was a hat, so I put it on. Now dad is saying, "Where the heck's the toilet plunger gone?""

Shel Silverstein

"There are two sides to every issue: One side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil."

Ayn Rand

Adam

Adam fidgeted a bit under Tasha's disbelieving gaze as Sandra backed out of the driveway, still nursing her bleeding nose with one hand. Several seconds passed before Tasha finally spoke, her voice quiet. "You think that Chase started it?"

"Well, Sandra had teeth and claw marks on her ankle," Adam pointed out.

Tasha's eyes widened. "Probably because he was defending himself! You know that he wouldn't attack unless provoked."

"Maybe that crazy little voice in his head told him to," Adam defended. "He is half-demonic, after all."

"She threw a silver necklace at him, Adam!"

Adam winced at that. Silver could really do some damage. However, Sandra had no clue that Chase was a demon, so she couldn't have possibly known about the dangers. "I'm sure that there's an explanation for that," Adam began. "Maybe it fell out of her purse or something."

"No intelligent woman would keep jewelry in her purse for no reason," Tasha growled.

Adam had to resist the urge to back up a few steps. Tasha looked menacing between her glare, aggressive stance and the fresh memory of her throwing a hard punch at Sandra. Instead, he crossed his arms. "Are you calling Sandra a liar?"

"Yes," Tasha hissed. "Are you calling Chase a liar?"

"He's definitely not as honest as he used to be," Adam countered. "I've lost about a hundred dollars to him. Who says that he isn't making everything up just because he wants Sandra gone? I know that none of you like her. Who says that he didn't get into one of your silver necklaces on purpose?"

Tasha looked incredulous. "Why would he do that to himself!?"

"Maybe he's jealous that I have a mother and he doesn't!"

Tasha suddenly winced like she'd been slapped. Adam frowned for a few seconds, confused. Why would...?

Oh, hell. He basically said that he had replaced Tasha like it was nothing. That she would never be their mother. Adam unfolded his arms as he felt the blood rush to his face in shameful embarrassment. "Tasha, I didn't mean-"

Tasha held her hand up, cutting him off as she spoke in a quiet voice again. "You believe a woman you've only known for a few days over your own brother?"

Adam shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what to believe."

Tasha pursed her lips and nodded. "Just checking." With that, she turned and walked back in the gate, her stride making it obvious that the conversation was over.

He watched as Bree and Leo started asking her questions when she reached the porch with three birds bouncing around her feet and sighed, running his hand through his hair.

No matter what he did or said, it was somehow always wrong.

Maybe he should just stop talking forever.

There. We finally found out what Hellcat and Tasha did.

Was that really worth panicking over? It wasn't all that great.

Anyways, when will Adam learn that people lie?

Well, guess we'll have to find out later, won't we?

Until then, feel free to review. Or don't. Just don't annoy me in my inbox, which is really a simple request.

And, of course, enjoy. :3

*Bows and exits*