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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

APU Ch. 6

Crushed and Confused

Spike lunged down, flexing his arms. "And why should I listen to you Miss Frizzle,"

Tilly raised an eyebrow. "Chase Nathaniel Davenport you will not talk to me like that," she scolded, looking down at the remote. "Looks like I need to maintain the aggression level but raise the range of the app's control," she muttered to herself.

"Fine, that lets stop talking and get smashing," Spike growled. "What spleen am I to crush first,"

"Your uncle Donald," Tilly replied sweetly. "Be a good little boy and go initiate our revenge,"

Spike jogged out of the room while his mother typed orders from afar.

Donald and Douglas were working on their latest invention. Donald looked up from the desk. "Chase, is something wrong?"

Spike growled, hunching down in preparation to attack. "I'm am just peachy. But you aren't going to be,"

The older Davenport brother's both stepped away from the desk.

"Clam down Chase, there is no reason to be hostile," Douglas said slowly.

Spike grinned. "Chase doesn't. But I'm Spike. And I am looking for some fun," he roared into Donald's face, causing his hair to blow back.

"Oh, come on Spike. You don't want to hurt anyone," Donald reasoned.

Spike laughed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Douglas coming towards them, trying to intervene. He gave another low chuckle before grabbing him by the shirt and throwing Douglas into the wall.

"Now we can get down to business," Spike huffed, grabbing Donald by the neck.

Adam, Bree, and Leo ran into the room after hearing all of the commotion. Tilly came in around the opposite corner, excited to see her revenge in action.

Bree saw Spike slam Donald into the wall. "What are you doing?!"

"Teaching this little ego-manic a lesson," Spike growled.

"Ego-manic? Okay maybe, but little? Come on," Donald groaned.

When Spike pulled back his fist to prepare for a punch, Donald took the opportunity to twist from his grasp. The material of his jacket made it easy for him to slip away. Spike growled, grabbing the side loose material from the side of his shirt as a handle, tossing him across the room.

Donald moved his arm above his face, bracing himself for whatever would come next.

Suddenly, Chase stepped back, losing his composure. Rubbing the side of his face, he looked up at the rest of the family, who were looking at him with wide eyes.

"What's going on?" Chase asked.

Realizing that Spike was now gone, Adam, Bree, and Douglas rushed to Donald's side.

Leo looked at Chase. "What was that all about?!"

Tilly stepped up behind Chase. "It must have been that commando app of his. Oh, Chase, are you okay?" she asked tenderly,

"Yeah, um, I think I am," Chase mumbled, letting Tilly put a protective arm around him.

"Why are you fussing over him? Mr. Davenport is the one who is hurt," Adam whined.

Bree and Douglas helped Donald into a sitting position.

"Chase, what was that for?" Donald groaned, holding his side.

"I-I'm so sorry Mr. Davenport, I have no idea what happened," Chase replied.

Donald sighed. "Chase, you are supposed to be a mentor. You can't just go off like that. What if someone had gotten seriously hurt? I thought you had gotten Spike under control!"

"Mr. Davenport-"

Donald cut Chase off. "Do you have any idea how irresponsible that was? Setting such a bad example for the other students,"

"Shut up Donald," Tilly snapped.

Both Chase and Donald looked up at her in surprise.

"With everything going on lately, Chase must be under a lot of pressure. It isn't his fault he has this app, and he obviously has no control over what this 'Spike' does. Maybe if you were a better scientist, Chase wouldn't have this issue," Tilly said, defending her son.

Before Donald could muster a reply, Tilly was already back to smothering Chase. "Why don't we go back to your room so you can get some rest," she suggested.

"Okay," Chase muttered, keeping his eyes to the floor. He was ashamed, embarrassed, and stunned from the previous events. Tilly lead him back to the mentor quarters.

"You sure that you are okay Donnie?" Douglas asked.

Donald shrugged it off. "I am just a little sore. I'll be fine,"

"What would have set Chase off like that?" Bree wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Adam said. "Maybe he got beat up by another student and got embarrassed,"

"Really Adam? What are the odds of that happening twice this week?" Leo snorted.

"Maybe there is a bug in his chip or something," Douglas suggested.

Tilly walked back into the room.

"How is Chase?" Douglas asked.

"Asleep in his capsule," Tilly answered. "I think he just needs some time to cool down,"

Donald turned to Douglas. "We should go scan his chip,"

"Wait!" Tilly said. The rest of the family looked at her, confused. Tilly knew what they would find if they scanned it. "Give the poor boy some time to rest first. He must be exhausted,"

"Fine, but once he is awake we need to take a look," Donald huffed.

As the rest of the family slowly went back to their activities, Douglas turned to Tilly. "Are you okay with me going to go help Donald, I know we haven't been able to spend much time together since you got back-"

Tilly smiled at him. "Honey, it is fine. I think I'll just go keep an eye on Chase. Make sure he is doing okay,"

"If you are sure," Douglas mumbled.

Tilly grinned and kissed him on the check. "I'm sure. See you in a little bit,"

Douglas waved back as she headed towards the mentor's quarters.

Tilly smiled when she saw Chase, sleeping contently, in his capsule. After giving a quick glance to ensure they were alone, Tilly took out the remote. She wasn't sure why the commando app stopped so suddenly, but the others were beginning to ask unwanted questions. She clicked away at the remote.

Trident App Engaged.

Chase snapped awake, stepping out of his capsule.

Tilly grinned at him. "Come on Chase-y, grab your stuff. We are going to go say good bye to your uncle Donald,"

Chase gave her a stiff nod. He grabbed his bag before following her to the door way. "One second," Tilly muttered, fixing his hair and covering his eyes with a pair of sunglasses. "That's better. You ready honey?"

"Yes Mom," Chase replied.

Tilly giggled in delight. "Oh Chase, it is so wonderful to have you back,"

She took his arm and walked with him to main area where the Douglas and Donald were working, Leo and Adam were goofing off, and Bree was texting on her phone.

"Great, Chase is up. Come over here and we can take a look at your chip," Donald instructed.

"Actually," Tilly corrected. "Chase and I talked and he thought it would be best if he took some time away from the island,"

"What, why?" Adam asked.

"There is just a lot of pressure on him here. A litle time off might rebalance him and get him back to normal," Tilly explained.

"So, you want to go back to Mission Creek?" Bree asked her younger brother.

"No," Tilly answered for him. "Instead he wanted to come stay with me in San Francisco for a little while,"

"I thought you were going to be staying her for a while," Douglas said, confused.

"Don't worry Douglas. Chase and I are just going to take a little break, but we will be back in no time," Tilly promised.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Donald said. "At least let me check him over first,"

"No!" Chase shouted, shocking everyone but Tilly. "I want to leave with Mom, now,"

"Chase, be reasonable-" Donald was interrupted by his youngest nephew.

"Can we go now, Mom? Please?" Chase asked.

The stiffness in his voice gave Douglas a bad feeling.

"Come on. We will see you all soon," Tilly insisted, after quickly hugging her older two children good bye.

Donald reached out to grab Chase's arm. "Wait-"

Chase yanked his arm away. "No, you aren't my dad so leave me alone!"

Tilly couldn't help but feel ecstatic underneath when she saw the crushing look on Donald's face.

Chase stepped onto the hydro loop, his mother not far behind him.

After the doors to the hydro loop closed, Tilly turned to Chase and smiled. "Good job son, now we can go home," Tilly cheered, hugging Chase.

And when she did, she chose to ignore the coldness and lack of emotion when he returned the hug.

Please review and tell me what you think! It really helps to motivate and inspire me in stories like these. Thanks ~AzulaTano