Who's ready for Chapter Ten?

It's mainly filler, but whatever. :3 I actually like it.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or is still reading this. :D Never thought that I'd get up to 57!

*Warm, fuzzy feels*

Thanks, guys!

AllAmericanSlurp and Vampire Girl

Your observations about the fire have earned you this table flip.

(/e_e)/ ︵ _|_|_

Enjoy, you sarcastic bastards. :P (I actually ended up laughing, you trolls. XD Love ya'll.)

I liked writing about the fire. I wanted it to seem more sinister than usual flames. :D

And Douglas scoffed at Doofenschmirtz. Toned down from rated R: "He ain't got nothin' on me!"

Apparently, his ego was stung. :P

As for Chasey's appearance, everyone refer to Chapter One. There is a fairly detailed description there. And remember: Oly bit the tip of his right ear off.

Thanks to Guest, who helped inspire some of the meeting!

And whoever sent Oly back, thanks! She can hide almost as well as Douglas! O_O

All right, who's got this?

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

xD Thank you, Leo.

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."

Dalai Lama

"Courage: Do one brave thing today…then run like hell!"

Unknown

Chapter 10 – Unwelcome Guests

Leo

Someone was trying to shake him awake.

With some muttering, Leo swatted at the soon-to-be-dead idiot and pulled the blanket tighter to himself, hoping that his assailant would get the message and leave him alone.

Of course, this earned him a one-way trip to the floor, courtesy of a forceful shove. "You are the worst guard to ever have graced this world!"

Leo scrambled around on the carpet, the blanket tangled with his limbs and covering his face as he searched for his weapon: One of Davenport's T-shirt cannons. He had decided that if he couldn't go look for Chase, he could at least guard against spy demons. However, when he finally managed to free his head from the ensnaring fabric, he found himself looking up at a Yahn-look-alike that was sitting casually on the top of the couch, watching him. And, most importantly, she was holding the cannon, inspecting it with obvious disdain. "What could you do with this?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Bury me in your delicates?"

Leo found heat rise in his cheeks at the easy way she had both snuck into the house and disarmed him. Some demon guard he made. He sat fully upright, narrowing his eyes at her as he began to kick the blanket off. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice a bit stronger than he thought it would be, seeing as he had just woken up.

"Master sent me," she answered, casually tossing the cannon over her shoulder since she had obviously lost interest.

Leo watched it land among the plants behind the couch. "To do what?" he asked, suspecting that "Master" was Douglas.

"Well, I would tell the mighty warrior," she began, "but I'm not sure if I should be talking to you, or someone who can actually do something."

Leo finally kicked free and pushed himself to his feet, dusting his pajamas off indignantly. "Too bad," he snapped. "My mom and I are the only ones here. Everyone else is looking for your 'master,' runt." He drew air quotations, his voice suddenly riddled with contempt. Was it wise to antagonize the demon?

Probably not.

But Leo was going to do it anyways because she started it.

But the demon just shrugged. "Then the rest of your family might be dead. No skin off my wings."

It was all Leo could do not to lunge forward and shake an explanation out of her. "Dead?!"

"Oh yeah." She sat down, her feet dangling over the front of the couch over the cushions, and began to inspect the claws on her hand. "Big demon came last night. Burned the whole place to the ground. Didn't kill Master, but possibly got the half-breed." She looked at Leo. "Your next, if Lovett or his master doesn't want to wait until whenever everything's supposed to go down."

Leo was shocked into silence, feeling the blood draining out of his face as sick fear rose in his throat like bile. Demon attack? House fire? Chase possibly dying? Hell, everyone possibly dying?! An involuntary shudder passed through him. His family: They could be gone, and he had been at home, sleeping. He couldn't even keep a stupid imp out!

Some brother he was.

"Cheer up," the demon said. "At least they won't leave you behind anymore."

Leo snapped his attention back to the imp, wanting nothing more than to smack the casual demeanor from her. Fear was replaced gradually with rage. This wouldn't happen. Not while he was still breathing. He would either find them, or find Lovett and whoever was controlling the guy and make them pay for what they did. "I can track Adam and Bree," he found himself growling through his teeth. "You said 'maybe.' They could still be alive."

"Whatever gets you through the day," the imp drawled, unimpressed.

In a sudden burst of courage, Leo jumped forward and snatched the demon's tail in his hand before turning around and marching towards the elevator. "I'll show you," he huffed. "They're still alive!"

"Not everyone's going to live forever, you know," she hissed, clawing at his hand. She had obviously been warned not to hurt him at some point, because she didn't even break his skin. "Especially not humans just because you want them to."

Leo pushed the down button repeatedly, tapping his foot with impatience. "They're fine," Leo insisted, more for himself this time.

Because the demon was right.

Bad things happened every single day. If one counted missions and all the random crap the Davenports went through, there would come a day when someone didn't come back.

And Leo desperately hoped it wasn't today.

The doors to the elevator finally opened, and Leo dragged his captive inside with him, urgently pressing the button for the Lab. "You said Lovett had a 'master,'" Leo found himself saying. "Who is it?"

"Some guy named Krane, I heard," she answered, now gnawing at his hand with her sharp teeth. "For christ's sake, kid; let go! I only have one tail!"

"You're about to lose it," Leo snapped. However, his mind was stuck on the name "Krane." Of course that psycho had something to do with it. Why else would Douglas be supposedly "guarding" them? Leo was a little ticked that he hadn't connected those dots sooner. Grinding his teeth, he looked down at the imp, who was pulling pitifully on her tail. He found himself suddenly thinking over the previous night.

The demon is forced to listen to the summoner. We're bound to his will.

Hadn't he gotten disturbed at the idea of demons being forced to listen? Yet here he was, dragging an imp down to the Lab by her tail simply because he didn't like what she had told him.

With a sigh, he let go.

The little gargoyle fell over immediately now that the resistance she had been pulling against was suddenly gone, but jumped up quickly, dusting herself off. "Stupid kid…." She muttered.

"What's your name?" he asked. If she was going to stick around per Douglas' orders, then he might as well call her something other than "demon."

"Olyanaeci," she answered.

What the hell kind of unpronounceable crap was that? Leo just started at her.

"Master just calls me 'Oly,'" she added helpfully. "It's better than hearing you slaughter my name."

"I've heard of you," Leo said, recognizing the name instantly. As the elevator came to a stop and they stepped out, he explained himself. "Yahn mentioned you?"

Oly paused. "You know about Yahn?"

Leo nodded. "And Carth, Mesth, and Vilar."

Suddenly, Oly covered her eyes and shook her head with a groan. "Good god, Master sent those three idiots? Does he want you killed?"

"With Douglas, who knows?" Leo answered as they reached the end of the tunnel. However, when he stepped into the Lab, he was greeted with Oly's excited cry.

"Half-breed! Master! There you are!"

Leo stared at Oly and followed her gaze until he saw them, standing on either side of the tunnel entrance. Had he bothered to look around upon entering the Lab, he would've seen them easily. But he was so hell-bent on tracking Adam and Bree that it took Oly pointing them out.

Douglas and Chase, arms crossed, leaning against the wall with smiles on their faces.

Only Chase was different. More than the overly stunning cat ears and dark, dark raven wings, more than the tail that was casually tapping on the floor, more than the sharp canine teeth, Leo saw something different in Chase's eyes. Not just the way the pupils were slit now. No, there was a certain glint to them, like one who was fighting constantly not to cause trouble yet enjoyed the occasional bout of mischievous activity.

Not unlike Spike when he came out to play.

Leo could already tell that this Chase was not like the one he remembered. This one was darker somehow, more sinister, more angry at everything; he seemed to have a stance that screamed, I'm fucking pissed at you.

And he seemed totally at ease with Douglas around, who hadn't actually made a move yet, but seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

Leo suddenly wished that he had his T-shirt cannon back.

"Who's not sat tense before his own heart's curtain?"

James Russell Lowell

"I smile because you're my family. I laugh because there's nothing you can do about it!"

Unknown

Chase

Leo started to back away from us while Oly scurried forward and sat on my feet with a grin. "I thought Jasper had eaten you for sure," she said excitedly.

"Us? Nah," I answered casually, wrapping my tail around her. Honestly, I was glad she was okay. I'd miss the snarky asshole if she died.

"Need a minute with your girlfriend?" Douglas said, raising an eyebrow.

"No," I answered. I hesitated before correcting, "Fiancé. We're going to elope and get hitched in Vegas."

"Don't invite me," Douglas responded, wrinkling his nose. "Never liked Elvis impersonators much. Seriously, who are you to impersonate the king?"

I snorted. "You done there?"

"No," he responded. " I have an hour-long rant on this, so get comfortable."

"You see what you started, kid?" Oly groaned as I rolled my eyes.

"Hey!"

Leo's shout had us all looking at him. It wasn't like we had forgotten that he was there. He could've gotten involved in the conversation at any time. Douglas lazily eyed him. "What?"

"What are you doing here?" Leo's voice had gone up an octave, but I couldn't tell if it was out of surprise, fear or a mix of both.

That runt's voice is like claws on a chalkboard, my inner voice declared. You should fix that!

I'm good, I thought. To Leo, I said, "Listen: We can help each other." I nodded at Douglas. "We know a little about how Krane's going to make his next move. But we lost the papers that had the information."

"When the demon attacked?" Leo asked, quickly putting two and two together.

Douglas nodded. "We know it's going to look like an accident. That's why we're here. When it hits, we'll recognize it before you do."

"And then, when it's gone," I went on, "we'll leave. We won't be a problem anymore."

Leo was watching us through narrowed eyes now, suspicion evident. "You expect me to believe that?"

Douglas shrugged. "You could just die. Not my problem."

Well, that was a harsh bluff. I glanced at Douglas with a frown. "I'll make it your problem," I threatened. "In fact, I'll never stop whining." I clasped my hands together, throwing on my most devastated face. "Oh, you just let them die! How could you? It should've been me instead –"

"All right, all right. Get off your cross, martyr," Douglas interrupted, chuckling. "We need the wood."

"For what?" Oly asked. "Another barbeque with Jasper?"

"I'll bring the s'mores!" I exclaimed, throwing a hand up in the air.

"No s'mores!" Leo hissed incredulously.

"Fine," Douglas drawled. "That's just s'more for us!"

I would've hit him if he wasn't still packing a broken rib.

We watched Douglas laugh at his own joke for a second with serious expressions before he rolled his eyes. "My comedic gold is lost on you," he declared dramatically.

"What's wrong with you?" Leo was getting flustered now. "Adam, Bree and Big D could be dead right now, and you're cracking jokes about s'mores?!"

Hold up. "Dead?" I asked, leaning forward a bit. This was news to me! I mean, just because they didn't miss me didn't mean that I wanted something bad to happen to them.

Make no mistake about this: I wasn't exactly happy to go back home. Why stay where you're not wanted, right? I was still various amounts of bitter about being left to my own devices for nigh on three months. However, they were still family, and them getting hurt wasn't a good thing.

"They took your motley crew of demonic minions and went to hunt you down," Leo answered, pointing at Douglas.

I saw Douglas' eyes widen. "Hopefully it takes Jasper a while to dig out or he flees," he said, his face paling slightly. I imagined that death-by-demonic-devouring wouldn't be nice and peaceful.

"Is Jasper that demon thing that supposedly attacked?" Leo asked, glaring at us now.

"No," I said sarcastically. "He's the muffin man. Who else would Jasper be, Leo?"

I had never been flipped off so fast in my life. It was almost instantaneous.

I would've been amused, had the situation been different.

"We have to go back," I breathed. "They don't stand a chance against Jasper."

"What makes you think that we do?" Oly growled.

I was about to answer – mainly an explanation of why we didn't stand a chance but had to go back anyways – when loud singing filled the air. I pinned and covered my ears, grinding my teeth together and trying not to sink to my knees. That sucker was loud. Mr. Davenport: Not a good judge of when enough is enough. Especially when it comes to him singing the ringtone to the Lab's phone line.

Never had I hated "Amazing Grace" before or more vehemently.

Leo glared at us. He pointed at his eyes, then us, then back at his eyes again. "Don't move," he warned before picking up the small red phone on the cyber desk. "Leo speaking," he said, not even bothering with something clever. I was just glad that the exceedingly loud song had stopped. Beside me, Douglas looked like a great pain had been lifted from him at the almost-silence that followed the singing. Oly was curled into a ball, somehow covering her ears with her hands, wings and feet. I sighed and picked her up, placing her gently on a cabinet nearby – where she uncurled herself - while Leo continued his conversation. "So…you guys are okay, then?"

I held my breath.

Leo breathed a massive sigh of relief and actually let out a slight laugh, covering his mouth. "That's awesome. Come home."

"Thank god," I breathed, feeling some anxiety drain away.

Douglas – despite appearing relieved himself - shot me a look. "Think he'll mention us?"

"Because they're here. That's why," Leo explained into the phone.

"Yes, I do," I responded.

"I'm looking right at them." Leo gestured at us despite the fact that whoever was on the other line couldn't see us. "I'm not messing with you, Bree! Come home. I don't want to be with a psycho and his evil demons!"

Ouch. That stung quite a bit. Just because I was half-demon didn't mean that I was evil.

I'm telling you: Shut him up. Tear out his intestines and hang him with them! Pull out his kidneys and use them as puppets! Shove his own foot down his throat!

That's violent even for you, little voice.

I really don't like him.

And, to my surprise, Bree chewed Leo out for what he said. I could actually hear snippets of her words. They were not pretty. I imagined that she would get in trouble for it when she hung up. But it ended in Leo apologizing.

To her. Not to us.

But she bought it, since she had calmed enough that I couldn't hear her speak anymore.

"You'd better hurry," Leo ended up growling after a second. "Fine. Bye." He hung up the phone with a frustrated bang, causing me to tilt my head. Leo turned to us and crossed his arms, obviously trying to be intimidating. "Don't try anything," he ordered. "I'll take you both out."

"Right," Douglas said, somehow keeping a straight face. "The mighty guardian's watching us, guys," he said to us. "We'd better behave, or he'll be forced to subdue us."

Oly actually burst out laughing, bringing her fist down on the cabinet repeatedly. I grinned widely with amusement myself.

Leo just sat with a huff, staring at us. For several minutes after Oly calmed down, no one said anything. We just watched each other. By the way, it's amazing how sounds are amplified when everything's tense and silent. I could hear everyone's heart beating, all the gears in the machines whirring and meshing together; small sounds like that. I started tapping my tail and rolled my weight back on one heel. This would get annoying very quickly.

Finally, Leo broke the silence. "Chase? Is it cool being a demon?"

For christ's sake, take care of that brat's voice!

I shook my head.

"Why not?" he pressed, frowning.

I gave him a half-smile, showing one fang. "I have an evil voice in my head. It wants me to tear out your vocal cords."

Leo suddenly had no more questions. He just scooted his chair further away from us before silence engulfed us again.

Time inched slowly on, drawing everyone closer to home. Drawing the hour of reckoning near. I would be lying if I said I wasn't getting increasingly nervous.

Oly sneezed violently, accidentally hitting her head on the cabinet.

Douglas took a deep breath to keep his rib cage expanded so that his bones healed properly.

I shifted my weight to my other heel and scratched a bit at the bandages covering the burn on my side.

Leo started to hum a Beyoncé song.

Time inched slowly on.

It seemed like a lifetime had passed before I heard the unmistakable voice of Mr. Davenport coming from somewhere down the tunnel. "Leo? What's going on?"

I exchanged a look with Douglas. I swallowed hard. I wasn't exactly ready for this reunion. I had no idea what it would bring.

Douglas just nodded, a silent signal that it would be fine.

I sighed and tried to count to floor tiles to distract myself for a moment. It was time to gamble on Mr. Davenport's mercy. With what happened the last time he saw Douglas, I didn't have a good feeling about our odds.

But he had to let us in this time.

We couldn't afford to lose. It was a matter of life and death.

Bam! Chapter Ten!

xD

I don't know why, but I had fun writing this one. I seriously cannot put my finger on it.

It's just a filler type thing.

Don't know why it was so amusing.

Oh well.

Feel free to review. Or don't, if you're so inclined. :3 Either way is fine.

Another thank you to Guest, who saw an opportunity and took it, owning it with a great suggestion.

Seriously. If you have a suggestion, and I like it, I might make it happen. :) Don't be afraid to say it.

And, as always, enjoy.

*Bows and exits*