Back with Chapter 3.

I'm a tad upset with how short Adam's part is in this, but I thought that it made up for it in awesome. Hopefully draws out some feels.

Reviewers, line up and listen! This Author's Note is about to turn quite serious. I would put it at the bottom, but I feel that everyone should read this.

KickandBelli

I must confess: I was ready for a troll war. Nothing says "entertaining" like two trolls going back and forth. I thank you for your compliment, but would like to offer you this: I've been writing for nigh on eight years. I am probably older than the vast majority of people in this fandom, with which I am all right (I will not be revealing my age, but it's not just stupid high. High school ended for me just a couple of years ago). However, it is important to note that, when I was around 15 or 16 years old, my writing was nowhere near the caliber of some of the teens posting here today. In fact, I read back on an old book I wrote and started laughing at how bad it was. And I wouldn't be at my level today were it not for a friend of mine, with whom I've sadly lost touch. She put up with my crap almost non-stop for four years, gave me advice that helped. For the stories I wrote were merely the whetting stones upon which I honed my skill. And these authors here are using the same stone in this forum, practicing to become better. It is not helpful to them to tell them to stop.

Note the following, everyone: Whether or not her illness is fake, or if this KickandBelli isn't real, I still don't want to hear anything else about it. The matter is resolved. Keep it out of here. (Still look up Asperger's Syndrome, if you're curious. It's good to learn sometimes.) No, I don't think mental illness is a valid excuse for lashing out exceedingly.

Also know that, if you have a mental illness, you are by no means alone.

I wish it to remain a place where peace exists and serve as a reminder that not everyone will agree with you, but it is important to have respect for one another and get along (note Douglas and Chase). Otherwise, the world will continue its downward slide into the sorry state it's already in. (And, for the record, I'm not a hippie. I fucking hate hippies. I just kind of want the world to not suck for once. This might as well serve as a safe haven. Tacky reviews will be deleted on sight. You were warned.)

The rest of my reviewers

Thank you so much. I appreciate you all. :3 *Caught the warm, fuzzy feels of feelings*

Now that I've bored you with my novel up there, allow me to present Chapter 3 before you turn into rabid dogs and eat me alive.

Who's ready for a Chouglas moment? (Hate that name. Prefer "Chalas" because I can pronounce it like "chalice." But what can ya do?) Oly? Yahn? Tell the readers.

"Zara does not own Lab Rats or anything you recognize."

"If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

"Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice."

Charles F Kettering

"An effective father devotes himself to become an instrument and model of human experience to his children... accepts and affirms his children for who they are, appreciates them for what they are accomplishing, and covers them with affection because they are his."

Gordon MacDonald

Chapter 3 - Waiting and Watching

Chase

I leaned against the wall, my long tail tapping the floor as I watched Douglas. He was sitting at the kitchen table with furrowed brow, his elbows on the wooden surface and his hands clasped into fists in front of his mouth as the mess of papers in front of him lay forgotten in the wake of my discovery. I shifted my weight to one heel, wishing he would say something rather than sit there, looking like he was trying to solve a calculus problem or something. It didn't help my mood that his two imps – a steel-blue colored, gargoyle-looking pair called Oly and Yahn in lieu of their unpronounceable names (Ajiiyahn and Olyanaeci were their full names. Just insanely unpronounceable, am I right? I mean, mine was a few words long, but at least it meant something. And you could say it!) – were irritating the hell out of me because their actual master was busy.

Honestly, the two couldn't be more different. Yahn spent his time literally begging to serve. At the moment, he was examining my wings with a critical eye. "I can brush the dust off," he squeaked hopefully. "Your feathers would glow!"

I rolled my eyes. Because I was stronger than him, he often wanted to serve me, as well. Some kind of "please don't kill me" thing. It was awkward, to be honest.

It is right that he should serve you.

At least someone liked the excessive attention.

And then there was Oly, who was curled up on the top of a bookshelf at the moment, trying to sleep. Getting her to follow orders willingly was like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Seriously, Douglas spent more time telling her not to do some things. She currently opened one yellow eye to glare at Yahn. "Shut the fuck up!" she snapped.

"Don't start fighting," Douglas half-heartedly said with a slight wave, already bored with their antics.

Both winced – apparently, being forced to follow orders was painful – but their reactions after that were different. Yahn nodded vigorously. "Right away!"

Oly, however, closed her eye again and muttered, "He's not worth my time, anyways."

I frowned and pointed at them. "Why do you even keep these guys around?"

"Because Master is generous!" Yahn supplied, his voice very reverent on the word "master." Across the room, Oly scoffed loudly.

Douglas raised an eyebrow at me. "Do you want to do all the leg work?"

"I'll learn to love them," I declared immediately. No way in hell would I be fast enough alone. Besides, I could always just threaten to eat them if they became unbearable.

Why threaten?

I shook my head a bit. "What leg work, though?" I asked.

At this, Douglas looked a bit sheepish. "Well, you know how Krane and I were partners? Funny story…."

I found myself deadpanning at him, my ears lowered a bit. "You didn't teach him how to summon, did you?" Because that would be bad. I mean, think about it: A stupidly-powerful guy with a stupidly-powerful afrit at his back? Might as well give a nuclear bomb to the guy!

Douglas shook his head instantly. "Of course not," he protested indignantly. "I'm not an idiot."

"You did give him bionics…." I pointed out.

Douglas snorted, but was smiling anyways. "Smartass. Anyways, he did get me to summon a few things other than an imp sometimes." He pursed his lips. "He must have found another summoner." Almost to himself, he mused, "What are you up to, Krane?"

"Wait," I said, raising an hand up with my palm flat out in the universal "hold the flying fuck up" gesture. "How do we even know Krane is behind this?"

"You've made other enemies?" Douglas countered.

Well, that was like a slap in the face. I should have been about to come up with that line of reasoning. I tried to suppress the slight heat rising in my cheeks at being shown up. I let a second pass before speaking again. "So, what do we do for now?" I crossed my arms again. "What's to stop a random djinni from swooping in and eating my – wait, our - family?"

"I've been thinking," Douglas began.

"Don't exaggerate," I said quickly in the pause after his words.

He chuckled again. At least he was a good sport about it. "Right now, these two are going to guard them," he explained, sweeping a hand across the room to indicate both Yahn and Oly.

I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose and looking down. "They're screwed."

I agree.

Hey, we were on the same page for once! Who froze Hell?!

A light thump on my chest made me look at Douglas again. "Cheer up," he said, now leaning back in his seat. "I wouldn't keep Oly and Yahn around if they were totally useless." He gave me a wink, indicating that he knew something I didn't.

Frowning, I glanced at Yahn, who was scurrying over to the table. "You dropped this, Master," he said formally, even bowing as he presented a rubber band to Douglas.

Douglas chuckled and took the small prize. "Thanks."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did you shoot me with that?"

He pointed to Yahn. "He saw me drop it," Douglas claimed, his eyes widened to show false innocence. "Right, Yahn?"

Yahn obediently nodded.

I pinned my cat-like ears with annoyance. "Dropped it. Right."

You should "drop" the arrogant fool! My voice snapped. Maybe suffocation? Or turning him inside out?

You are not allowed to make suggestions anymore! I answered with some horror, willing myself not to gag at the mental image of the last suggestion.

Douglas chuckled a bit before he leaned forward again. "Oly: Come here."

Oly jumped like someone had prodded her with a needle before she stretched – raking her claws across the top of the shelf in the process – and finally jumped down, joining Yahn near Douglas. "What?" she whined. "You're interrupting my nap."

"Guard the Davenport mansion and all its occupants," Douglas said firmly. "Protect them everywhere they go. Report back here if you see any other demons or find out anything new that might be useful. But one of you is to stay with them always. And do not hurt them." At this, Oly began to snicker. Douglas gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, Oly: Laugh all you want, but I'm talking to you. Now go."

The two imps winced, but recovered quickly. "On it!" Yahn called as he spun around and bounded out of the room, headed for the door.

Oly, however, shuffled out with a sarcastic growl. "Goody. Just what I wanted: Guard duty around a bunch of stupid humans."

"Strange little guys," Douglas mused after they were gone. Then he picked up a paper in front of him and started to study it.

I pushed away from the wall with my shoulder and cleared my throat. When he didn't respond, I waved. "Hello?"

"Hi there," he responded, chuckling at his own joke.

I let out a frustrated growl. "What can I do?"

"Nothing," Douglas answered with a shrug.

Let me tell you how close I was to launching myself across the room at him. "Nothing!? You can't honestly expect me to sit here and do nothing!" I yelped, gesturing wildly.

"Can and do," he replied, finally meeting my eyes over the top of his paper. "If I recall correctly – which I always do – you're as much of a target as your siblings. And I don't want you out there if you're being threatened."

"But I can see it coming," I protested. "I should be protecting them, too, at least! I have Oly and Yahn beat, and you know it."

"If you want to do something, help me find Krane." He shook the paper a bit. At my incredulous look, he sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes, lowering the paper. "Listen: Oly and Yahn have a few thousand years of experience that you don't. They know how to keep everyone safe. Besides, would you even know how to fight another demon, if one presented itself?"

I snorted indignantly. "I've trained my whole life –"

" – Against people and robots," Douglas interrupted. "Not supernatural entities." He raised his paper again, obviously tired of the discussion. "Besides, you're just a kid. What do you expect to be able to do against a possible army?"

"But I'm your kid."

I seriously don't remember thinking that, but – boom! – there it was, slipping out of my mouth like it owned the god-damned place. It caused Douglas to look at me again - he appeared a bit surprised - as I found myself still going. "I mean, you made four bionic people. You can summon demons. You can show up like a flash of lightning and vanish like a puff of air, even with the FBI looking for you. You went through a lot of effort to get your kids back. Hell, you risked your life for us. Twice, for me." I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling awkward and embarrassed at the outburst. "If you can do all of that…then what can't I do?"

The little glimmer in his eye returned, the subtle reveal of his pride as he smiled halfway. "You're extremely stubborn," he noted.

"I like to think that it's genetic," I replied smoothly.

He chuckled before sighing. "Tell you what: When we find Krane – and whoever is working for him – you can break into their homes and spy. If you're careful," he added when I punched the air in celebration (checkmate, bitches). "If you get hurt or killed, I'm going to find some way to kick your ass."

I nodded before jumping to the table – a good twenty feet – without once touching the floor on the way. I gingerly scooped up a paper – which was covered in a jumble of letters (I shit you not) – and frowned. "Where did you get these?"

"Don't worry about it," he replied, making me think that I might not want to know after all. "Anyways, we need to crack the key before any of this will make sense." He held his paper out to me and pointed at the only coherent text on the page.

"What begins eternity, and ends time and space?" I read aloud. "What starts every end and ends every race?" Um, what? I wasn't quite a philosophical guy, so that went straight over my head. "What in the hell does that mean?" I finally asked.

"If I knew," Douglas answered with a slight grin, "we wouldn't have to crack it, would we? Just think of it as a challenge."

I did like challenges. I pulled a chair back and sat next to him. Challenge accepted.

"There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother."

Astrid Alauda

"Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted, the leader must be doubly vigilant."

Colin Powell

Adam

Call him paranoid, but Adam couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

Intelligence might not have been his strong point, but his intuition – when it worked – was rarely wrong. It was something he never really got credit for. So, when he started sensing the invisible tail, he didn't doubt it. It had nagged at him for a few days now, revving him up to the point that he had difficulty sleeping and frequently made his way around the house at night just to check that everyone was all right.

It was why he was currently outside Donald's and Tasha's room, quietly peering in the door to assure himself that his parents were still safe and sound. When he saw their forms side-by-side peacefully on the bed, Adam smiled a bit and closed the door again. He hadn't relayed his fear to anyone yet. They already thought that he was too jumpy – incinerating a killer plastic bag that had snuck up on Bree once using his heat vision hadn't helped much – and he didn't want to make it worse. Especially with this new (possible) threat.

Adam made his way downstairs, his jaw set determinedly. No; he would protect them in silence. He had to.

On the wall to his right, a small flurry of green caught his attention. He locked onto it, prepared to attack the offending party. However, when he saw what it was, he almost laughed. Resting on the wall at eye level was a small lizard – a "gecko," Chase had called it – that was barely as long as Adam's index finger. "You again?" he whispered, reaching out to touch it. The small creature had somehow gotten in a few days back, and Adam didn't have the heart to throw the little thing out; the world was cruel, after all. Especially to small things. The gecko flicked its tongue and scurried up and away from Adam's finger as he felt a pang of guilt at the thought. He would know that better than anyone; Chase had been small, and Adam had been cruel to him. Secretly, Adam had begun to wonder if Chase even wanted to come home again. Adam sure wouldn't. He did, however, wish he could at least talk to Chase one more time, if only to apologize.

Since that was impossible, though, Adam had decided to try and keep the gecko safe as a small way to make it up to Chase's memory. Adam often left little bits of food out for the gecko, feeling warm and delighted when he returned the next day to find the tidbit gone. Truthfully, he didn't know what geckos ate; he just used whatever was left over from dinner. But it was always eaten, so he didn't have a problem with it. Obviously, the gecko felt the same way; it was developing a little bulge in its midsection.

For a few more seconds, Adam watched his charge before deciding to resume his nightly patrol by checking on Bree. The gecko's yellow eyes seemed to watch him as he crossed the room. And, as the elevator door closed, he felt a slight chill run down his spine.

Call him paranoid, but Adam couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

There you have it! Feel free to review! Or not. Whatever. :P

Hmmm...How about that key, ladies and gentlemen? Any thoughts to possibly help Chase and Douglas out? They'd certainly appreciate it. They've been trying for days to crack it with no luck. Maybe you can set that wheel in motion. ;3

A few days wait is all you had to suffer through. Turns out that the graveyard shift offers a lot of time to write between bouts of work.

Now, I still feel the need to throw out there that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the days you should be watching for here. Other than that, I've actually nothing left to say.

Enjoy.

*Bows and exits*