Dedication: This chappie is dedicated to all the stupendous reviewers of chapter 3 aka BTRlover1122, SibunaLover123, musicnotes093, Lover chocolate and ice-cream, Haterzgonnahate8, mandy326, Marian9, ScarredTimeCircuits, and last but certainly not least Unknown. At Unknown's suggestion I'm gifting you all with imaginary cookies, whatever kind you want, or if your like me and just want to eat the dough, that's cool too. You guys are amazing!
Special thanks to Marian9, BTRlover1122, musicnoteso93, MorbidApocalypse, DarkseidAlex, MBVlover2884, Millie85998, SibunaLover123, amichele, Toma. X. Jones, life among the dead, mandy326, skullcrusher1, wiz-witch in training, Lover chocolate and ice-cream, MonkeyWriter jr, ScarredTimeCircuits, and luv u chase jack ani for following this story, and to Marian9, BTRlover1122, darkest passion of love, StarReader2009, Millie85998, SibunaLover123, amichele, MBVlover2884, Dionvion, Toma. X. Jones, life among the dead, Lover chocolate and ice-cream, MonkeyWriter jr, ScarredTimeCircuits, and luv u chase jack ani for favoriting this story. You guys are all amazing too!
I have to give another special shout out to Lover chocolate and ice-cream who has a list of authors who has written stories they like on their profile and has added me to it. Thanks so much! You are utterly awesome!
Hey guys, told you I'd have this up by Saturday and it's about 11:30 pm on Saturday, that still counts! I'll post again by midnight next Saturday. Please enjoy the chappie!
Disclaimer: I wrote a letter to the producers of Lab Rats asking if I could have it. They have not replied, and until they do reply in the affirmative, I do not own Lab Rats, only the plot, The Program, and my OC's.
Last Time
They're eyes were still on the frozen vase. I turned around, flicked my hand again, and caught the vase with my other hand as it came down. I placed it easily on the table again before heading back to my seat. They eyes shifted from the vase to me as just kept staring silently, obviously in shock. I playfully rolled my eyes at them before sobering, remembering why we were gathered here in the first place.
"Well, now that that's been cleared up, let's go on with the story…"
Leo's POV
They all came out of their shock at my words. "Um, yes of course. Please go on." Big D replied. They all looked more interested than ever and I internally smirked. Yeah, the whole powers thing was cool, it's the other stuff I don't like. "So anyway, where was I? Oh yeah Ryan had just healed me…"
Continue Flashback from Last Chapter
"How did you do that?" I asked fascinated and slightly scared. I mean, she did just heal me with a wave of her hand, who knew what else she could do. The dark-haired one looked at me confused. I wondered why.
"Thanks, by the way." I added, realizing I'd forgotten my manners. "No problem. I'm Reina, but everyone calls me Ryan. And this is Genevieve, but everyone calls her Gen." The blonde, Ryan, announced, motioning to the dark-hared girl, Gen, as she said her name. Gen waved. "Hi." She muttered with an odd look on her face.
"Hi, I'm Leo. What is this place?" I asked curiously. "The HQ, for The Program." Ryan bubbled. There it was again; The Program. The evil red head had said that last night too. "What Program? What is going on?" I inquired, determined to get some answers. "You should know, you joined it. Why would you join a program you knew nothing about?" Gen asked looking confused. "I didn't join. I was kidnapped, drug here, and some crazy red head injected me with suspicious liquids." I corrected..
"What? That's weird. Everyone here either joined or was signed up by their parents. Sure, some were tricked and didn't know exactly what they were getting into, but they always joined or were signed up. Why would that suddenly change for you?" Gen mused aloud. "I don't know." I declared, frustrated.
"Well, this is what the program does. They inject normal kids with supernatural powers and then train them for…actually I have no idea what they plan on doing with us, they've never said." Gen explained. I was reeling from all this seemingly ridiculous information. If it wasn't for the blonde healing me, I wouldn't believe it. "So wait, the suspicious liquids were actually liquidated superpowers?" I asked, just to make sure I was hearing right. "Yep." Ryan chirped.
Wow, that was a lot to take in. Superpowers sounded cool, but these people did kidnap me. I had a bad feeling about this 'Program'. "What kind of powers?" I asked, trying to shake my anxiety. "It depends. No one has the exact same powers. Some people share powers, but the combos are never the same." Gen said to my confusion. Seeing that, she explained further. "For example, I have telepathy, telekinesis, electrokinesis, and technopathy. Christy has telepathy like me, but she doesn't share my other powers. She has telepathy, pyrokinesis, thermokinesis, and clairaudience. Make sense?" She inquired. "Kind of." I replied honestly.
"What about you?" I asked Ryan curiously, though I already had an idea. "I'm a healer, I can heal any wound, except I can't heal the dead, the persons heart has to be beating, though it will work if they're brought back with CPR." She said with a smile, seeming to love her ability to help people. "So you're like a super-powered doctor?" I joked. "Yep, but with a twist. Once I've healed a wound, I can cause it too. For example last month Christy's pyrokinesis got out of control during one of her training sessions and it hit one of the trainers giving him third degree burns. They called me in to heal him and I did, but now that I've healed third degree burns I can also cause third degree burns." She explained.
Well that sounded like it'd be pretty useful in a fight. I wondered what sort of powers I had. I hoped I could fly, that would be awesome. "What kind of training do you have to go through?" I questioned getting more excited and less anxious. Until I saw their faces when I mentioned training. They looked like I said their mother's ghost was back from the dead to haunt them. "What?" Gen sighed and began. "Well, its just…training is-"
"Ms. Blake, Ms. Mendoza, what are you two doing in here?" A semi-familiar voice called from the doorway. I flinched and gulped as I saw the red-headed psycho who injected me step into the room. I watched Gen flinch too, but not at the woman, at her name. Gen flinched when the woman said her last name. I wondered why. "We just were walking around and the door was open. We looked in and saw that Leo here was hurt so I healed him." Ryan declared. "Well I thank you for that Ms. Blake but your sevices are no longer needed. I suggest you and Ms. Mendoza," Another flinch from Gen. "return to your room." The woman finished.
They both nodded. "Bye Leo, it was nice meeting you." Ryan grinned at me. "Yes, goodbye Leo, I'm sure we'll see you around." Gen added. "It was nice meeting you guys too, and thanks again for healing me." I called back. "No problem Ryan said as she and Gen walked out, leaving me alone with the red-haired demon.
"Hello Mr. Dooley, my name is Harper Fox or Mrs. Fox to you, I run The Program. Welcome to The Program by the way, I assume Ms. Blake and Ms. Mendoza already explained some of what we do here to you." The demon, Mrs. Fox, stated in an emotionless, formal tone. "Yes. You inject kids with powers and then train them." I surmised. She chuckled without humor. "Oh we do so much more than that. Now I presume you want to get back to your family correct?" She questioned.
I was shocked but a bubble of joy crept up inside of me, though I felt apprehensive. What if this was a trick? "You're going to let me go back home?" I questioned cautiously. "Of course, you don't have to stay here, some of the kids do, but you don't have to. You're free to go back to your family. You'll still need to come for training, obviously, but we're not trapping you here." She replied.
I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I was going to get to see my family again. "However, I do ask that you not tell your family the truth of what transpired three nights ago." She added. I knew there would be a catch. Wait THREE NIGHTS! Mom must be freaking out by now. I'm gonna be in so much trouble. I thought about her terms of me not telling my family and decided to agree.
"Okay, but then what do I tell them?" I questioned. "Oh you're a smart boy, I'm sure you'll think of something." She dismissed. "Anyway, training is five days a week for two hours a day after school. Here, this is for you." She said handing me a matte black touch screen phone. It was rectangular in shape and had an odd blood red symbol on the back that reminded me of one of those Celtic knots. "The insignia of The Program." She confirmed when she saw me looking at it. "You get a week to settle in to your new self and discover your powers before we start training you. You may go now, Alyssa will show you out." She finished as got up and opened the door to reveal the spiky-haired figure, Alyssa apparently, who had handed her the needle on the night of my injection.
"I will see you back here soon Mr. Dooley, I look forward to training you." Mrs. Fox added before walking off down the hallway. I shivered as I got up and followed Alyssa out of the building. Mrs. Fox's last words left a haunting thought clouding my mind.
'I have a sinking feeling I'm not gonna like that…'
End Flashback
"And I certainly didn't." I confirmed for my family. "Sweetie, I still don't understand why you didn't tell us the truth." Mom announced. "Well, you have to look at it from my point of view. I was grateful they were letting me go at all, I thought I was never going to see you guys again, and I was afraid if I didn't agree to their terms they wouldn't let me go. Plus I was mad at you guys, well you three not mom and Big D, and I didn't feel like I owed you the truth anyway, if that makes sense. It was sort of like payback to me, even though you didn't know about it. I'm sorry." I explained sheepishly.
"It's alright. We understand, and you had every right to be mad." Bree admitted. "Yeah. Hey what were all those powers that girl Gen mentioned? I recognized some of them from movies you've made me watch but not all of them." Chase inquired. "Okay so telepathy is the ability to read and manipulate the minds of those around you. Telekinesis is the ability to move or cause change in objects by force of the mind. It's kind of like Chase's molecular kinesis, except it has nothing to do with molecules." I started. "Wait, I knew telekinetics were supposed to be able to move objects with their minds but what do you mean by cause changes in objects?" Chase interrupted. "It's like this one time Gen took a long metal ruler and used her telekinesis to bend it into the shape of a flower while it was sitting on a desk five feet away from her. She wasn't really moving it, but she was changing it. Make sense?" I inquired.
He nodded and I moved on. "Electrokinesis is the ability to create and manipulate electricity, including natural electricity aka lightning. Technopathy sort of ties in with that. It's the ability to control technology. Like Gen could hack into Eddy's mainframe and change his data using only her mind. You sort of have to be able to control electricity to control technology so those two are kind of a package deal. Pyrokinesis is the ability to create and control fire. Thermokinesis is the ability to control temperature and pressure. And finally clairaudience is ability to hear what people are saying using the mind from any distance. Like Christy could use her mind to hear what we're saying right now no matter where she is." I finished.
"Wow, that's amazing. So what are your powers honey?" Mom asked. They all looked at me interested. I shrugged. "I have elemental control, levitation, teleportation, and projection. Elemental control is just the ability to create and control the elements of air/wind, fire, water in all three forms (solid/ice, liquid, gas/steam), earth, and electricity, mostly natural aka lightning. Levitation is just the ability to float in mid air and I can sort of glide around, I'm hoping one day it will develop into flight. Teleportation is self explanatory. And projection is my main power it's...hard to explain. I mean, it's not just one thing. I guess the best way to explain it is that I can 'project' what I want into reality. For example." I flicked my hand and a dozen light pink roses appeared in my hand and I placed them in the vase I had previously frozen.
"That is awesome!" Adam exclaimed. I laughed at his reaction. "Thanks Adam." I responded. "Wait, why do you say projection is your main power?" Big D asked. "Well, it's what I do best, what I'm known for in The Program so to speak. Like Ryan is best known for healing, Gen's best known for technopathy, and Christy's best known for telepathy even though they have other powers. I'm best known for projection." I explained. "Wait, so you can freeze stuff like the vase, right?" Adam asked. I nodded. I had an idea where this was going. "Can you freeze time?" He finished. I was right.
"I can, but only for like a minute or two, freezing time takes a lot of power because you have to freeze literally everything. Every person, place, and thing has to be frozen. I can freeze people, not like in the ice way, though I suppose I could do that too, but make them freeze. Kinda like I paused them. Mr. Brand, one of the trainers, says I do that by slowing the molecules of a person or object down until the molecules stop moving all together, at the same time I can also speed the molecules up causing the object to combust. I assume that would happen to the person too, but I've never tested that. I can also slow the molecules down but not complete stop them which makes the person or object go in slow motion. I do that all the time because I think it's hilarious." I finished with a playful grin, my nervousness a telling them all of this forgotten for the moment.
"Also what do you mean you hope your levitation develops into flight?" Bree inquired. "Oh that. Well when I first started using my aerokinesis/air manipulation to lift and move stuff I couldn't move stuff that was really heavy, I couldn't move stuff extremely far, I couldn't move more than one or two objects at a time, and I couldn't move anything that was out of my line of sight." I started. "Yeah and now he could lift every object in his room at once from here." Eddy cut in. That was true, I'd try from the living room and Eddy would use his cameras to see if it was working. "Thanks Eddy. Yeah, see it developed as I continued using it. My levitation had developed some, when I first started I could only stay in one spot now I can glide around some so I'm hoping that one day it will develop more and I'll be able to fly." I finished my explanation. I really was hoping that would happen. I'd wanted to be able to fly since I was two.
"Oh, I've also been meaning to ask, did you ever find out why that girl Gen was afraid of her name?" Mom inquired. I felt pure anger rise inside of me. "It's just the way she got into the program. You see Gen was a little weird even before she joined the program. She was able to tell what people were going to do before they did it. I was because she had been able to tell the way a person thought by observing their personality. It was uncanny how accurate she was, which unfortunately caused people to see her as a freak, including her own parents. They knew what The Program would do to her they just didn't care, they wanted to get rid of her 'freakishness'. They abandoned her. That's why she hates her last name, it reminds her too much of them. She has an eidetic memory which her telepathy only enhanced. She was four and half when they dropped her off, and she remembers every little detail." I announced. If I ever met Gen's parents…they'd suffer, I'm not sure what I'd do but they'd suffer. I had become close to several of the other kids in the program including Gen, Ryan, and Christy.
"Oh, what about Ryan? Did her parents abandon her too? I mean a six year old can't really make her own decisions." Mom pointed out. "Yeah, apart from Ryan and Gen everyone in the program is at least twelve. Christy is the oldest; she's twenty five and her sister Bailey is the second oldest at twenty two. As for Ryan…no one really knows how she ended up in The Program. She's been in it since she was a baby; she was raised in The Program. There are theories of course. That her parents owed The Program and gave them Ryan as payment. That The Program killed Ryan's parents and took her. But no one really knows for sure." I explained. It was something I'd been very curious about myself. I wish I knew, and I know even though Ryan pretends she's fine with just being 'The Program Kid', I know she wants to know too. I've tried looking into it, but a part of me is hesitant. I mean what if I find out Ryan's parents abandoned her like Gen's did? It would crush her. But then again I might find out that The Program stole her (it wouldn't surprise me) and her parents have been looking for her all along. I guess I'd just rather her be curious but happy than her know and be hurt.
"Wait, there's one thing I don't understand. I get the whole 'Program' thing but that still doesn't explain the marks on your back" Adam pointed out, bringing out of my musings about Ryan. I sighed. "Training." I declared in a low voice. "That's training?" Chase inquired, the disgust obvious in his voice. "According to The Program." I confirmed. "That's sick." Big D said. I shrugged. "How is them carving words into your back training?" Bree asked. "Because it pushes me over the edge, which makes my powers react, plus I think they just enjoy causing us pain." I replied bitterly. "They do other stuff too, it's not just that." I added. "Other stuff like what?" Mom questioned. "Like what they did my first day of training…"
Flashback
This was the first time I'd been back to the Program building since the day I met Ryan and Gen. It was supposed to be my first day of training. It had only been a week, but it felt longer. I might have even convinced myself it was all a dream, if it weren't for the fact that I was grounded. If it weren't for the fact that I could see the mark over my heart where the needle went in every time I took my shirt off to shower or change. If it weren't for the fact that I had powers.
I had been a little surprised when Alyssa had shown up at my school. I told my siblings I'd joined an after school program so They wouldn't question me leaving. They were supposed to be hanging with Captain Eyebrows this afternoon anyway. Alyssa drove us over to the building in silence. I had worked on some of my homework on the way there. It was something to do. Something that distracted me from the nerves at what this training was going to be. I was really nervous. What if I couldn't do it? That would be humiliating. I didn't even know what it was, it's not like I'd been able to prepare. I hoped I did well.
We walked through the hallways to a room with bright lighting. Actually, the lighting may not have been that bright at all, but it seemed bright because everything in the room was white. The floor, the ceiling, the walls, all the people were wearing those white lab coats you see on mad scientists in the cartoons, the only thing that wasn't white was a glass tank thing that reminded me of Adam, Bree, and Chase's capsules only bigger.
I was confused, what kind of training was this. What was I supposed to do? There was no room to use my powers, nothing I was supposed to fight, so what the heck were they going to have me do?
Alyssa led me over to the glass tank and put me inside before shutting the door. "Wait, what am I supposed to do? Hello?" She had already walked over to the other people and put on one of those weird lab coats. I was getting more anxious by the second. "What's going on? Can you hear me?" I asked. "Yes, we can hear you just fine Mr. Dooley." A voice a recognized as Mrs. Fox's came over a speaker in the tank. I looked up to see her standing with Alyssa and the others. When did she come in? She wasn't there a second ago. "What am I supposed to do?" I repeated my earlier question. I swear my heart stopped when that evil smile she'd had when she told me the injection was mostly safe returned to her face. "Survive." She said simply.
My confusion lasted about half a second as I felt the oxygen being rapidly sucked from the tank as it filled up with some gas, I couldn't tell what. I was gasping for air. I banged on the glass door which was, unfortunately for me, locked. "Let me out. Stop. Please." I begged. They didn't stop. My lungs felt like they were going to explode. It was painful to even try to breathe at this point. "Let me out. Please stop." I pleaded again, sharp jolts of pain in my lungs accompanying every syllable.
But deep down I knew they wouldn't let me out, just like they wouldn't stop the injection. I thought I was going to die. It hurt so much. Then I heard that voice again. "You want out, get yourself out." Mrs. Fox's voice boomed over the speaker. I snapped. I had never been this angry in my life. I felt heat pool up in my hands.
I recognized it from lunch in the cafeteria. I had been chatting with my sibs when none other than Captain Eyebrows had to interrupt. Of course they didn't care, but I did. I was scared for them, and still mad at him for convincing them to ditch me at the movies. He started talking to them, and they kinda started ignoring me, and I just felt angry. I felt like he was taking my siblings away from me and I hated it. I felt heat pool in my hands and when Marcus went to pick up his drink he immediately dropped it saying it was boiling hot. The next thing I knew the can burst from the heat and pressure spaying all over Captain Eyebrows, which I sinfully enjoyed.
In that moment I realized what I had to do; I had to make this glass tank explode just like I had with the soda. I took as deep a breath as I could and started focusing the heat on the sides of the tank. "Let me OUT!" I screamed slamming the pressure as hard as I could onto the sides of the tank.
It shattered into a million tiny little pieces.
End Flashback
"They must have put up some sort of electro-magnetic field because none of the glass shards hit them." I deduced. The others were staring at me in horror. "This is all our fault." Adam said, seeming upset. I was surprised. I wasn't expecting that. "No it's not Adam." I reassured him. "Yes it is. If we hadn't ditched you that night at the movies you wouldn't have gotten kidnapped and none of this would have happened." He replied unconvinced, his voice rising with each word.
"I'm not gonna lie. That first week I did blame you three for me getting kidnapped and injected, but after that first day of training I never blamed you again." I admitted. "What are you talking about?" Bree asked frustrated. "Yeah, if anything that should have made you blame us more." Chase added. "Not after what happened right after training…"
Flashback
I stood there in the middle of the glass for a moment, half in shock at what I had just done, half just really needing to catch my breath. Mrs. Fox and her cohorts were staring at me in shock as well, like they hadn't been expecting me to able to do it. "That was incredible Mr. Dooley. That tank was built to be able to withstand a nuclear attack, and was built power proof. We were going to stop it before you died, we just wanted to see how hard your powers would try to escape. You shouldn't have been able to break that glass, but you did. I told you that you were special Leo." Mrs. Fox stated. Her voice saying my name snapped me back into reality.
I ran.
I knew I didn't know the building and had no idea where I was going but I didn't care. As long as I got away from those people. I kept running even as my lungs protested having not had time to fully adjust back to oxygenated air before I took off. I turned down what must have been at least my thirtieth hallway. Good god, how big was this place?
Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me and several voices calling out my name. I was panicking. I did not want those demons to catch me again. I was tired. My lungs had been abused, and I knew I wouldn't be able to outrun these people so I settled for hiding. I quickly ducked into the nearest room, shut the door, and locked it, sliding down and sitting against the door so I wouldn't be visible through the small window.
I heard the footsteps come closer and closer and my heart beating louder and louder with each step they took, and I prayed that they couldn't hear it from outside the door. I heard the footsteps stop outside the door and a shadow cast over the room as someone looked through the window. I sat as still as I could, not even breathing, despite how much my lungs begged me to. To my relief, they moved on, and the footsteps faded into the distance.
As soon as I felt they were far enough away I finally let out that breath I had been holding, much to my lungs' relief. I closed my eyes, just breathing deeply for a minute until I was semi-relaxed. I then opened my eyes back up and glanced around my safe haven. It was some sort of file room with a bunch of folders. One particularly thick folder caught my eye. Both because of it's size, and because it had my name on it.
As quickly and quietly as I could, I crossed the room and grabbed the folder, praying that no one would peek through the window while I did it. As soon as I had it I darted back to my safe spot against the where I could take a better look at the folder. I hadn't been mistaken. My name was on both the sides and the front. 'Leo Francis Dooley'. I opened it up and the breath I had just gotten back caught in my throat. An invloluntary whisper coming out of my mouth.
"Oh my god…"
End Flashback
"It was a file about me. They had been watching me for months. There were pictures of me, and some of you guys too, and pages upon pages of note with every little detail on me and my life. Who I hung out with, which girl I liked, who I didn't like, my class schedule, how I walked home, which by the way is how they knew where to grab me when I was walking home from the theater, right down to my favorite color. It wouldn't have mattered if you had shown up that night or not, they would've gotten me anyway. Maybe not that night, but they would've gotten me. And who knows what might've happened if they hadn't gotten me on that night in hat situation. If I wasn't mad at you which as I already said contributed to me lying to you, they might not have let me go. They might have kept me there from fear of me telling you and you stopping me from being able to go back for their 'training'. Maybe you ditching me that night was a good thing, because I can say without a doubt that no matter what happened that night, or what you did, they would've got me. How could they not?" I announced firmly.
"They knew everything about me before they even met me."
Hate it? Love it? Want some more of it? Leave me a review telling me what you thought. You get a shout out in the next chappie. Won't you just die if you don't have that? Thanks for reading, next chappie will be out by next Saturday so hope to see you all then!
A couple quick questions. Again, how do you like my OC's? You should be able to have a better take on them now that you've seen some more of them. Also, I was wondering if maybe I should put someone else they know in The Program, say Caitlin? I don't know, I just thought I might. Maybe she'd have a sick little brother or sister and in exchange for Ryan healing them she'd have to join The Program. I'm unsure about if I should do it or not so please leave a response. Thanks! Bye! :)
Katylilly45- There you go, he has both of those powers. I hope you enjoyed this chappie and continue reading. Thanks a bunch for reviewing!
Haterzgonnahate8- No problem, before I had an account I forgot to leave my name all the time. And leave as many reviews as you want; I love 'em! I'm ecstatic that you like this story so much. I'm also glad you like my OC's and Leo and Eddy's friendship. I thought it added humor too, while giving them both at least one person to talk to. No offence taken, I'm glad there's some humor in a fairly dark story. You are so sweet, I try to be the best writer I can, but I know I'm not that great. Yeah, Leo needs to loosen up doesn't he? And he will he just has to adjust to his family knowing about this after three months of hiding it, and he needs to stop believing he deserves it, he doesn't. There will be more on that next chappie and the flashback of the incident that made him believe he was a monster. Wow, this reply is long, sorry. Thanks for reviewing, hope to see you next chappie!
Marian9- I'm so glad you continue to enjoy this story. You are super kind, I'm no pro at writing stories. I'll try to update ASAP, but the next chappie will be up by next Saturday barring some sort of life changing event. I'm glad you like Leo and Eddy's friendship, though I agree, even I didn't see it coming when the idea hit me. Thanks a ton for reviewing, I hope I see you next chappie!
Unknown- Of course, imaginary cookies and stickers for you. And we certainly can't disappoint the Rats, on something like this they might resort to using their bionics on us, which would be bad. I'm glad you like the flashbacks because there were more in this chappie and there will be a couple more in the next chappie, then they should be done for a while at least. I'm glad you like the friendship with Eddy, I thought it would make sense, and I'm relieved it did. Sometimes something makes perfect sense to me then I tell my friends and they think I'm crazy…well crazier than they already thought I was. Anyway, how do you like the OC's now that you know a bit more about them? No problem, I'm touched that I was able to brighten your day. I really appreciate all my reviewers, and I hope I make that clear. I'm super happy you're going to keep reading! Thanks so much for reviewing, and see you next chappie!