Hey y'all! It's good to all virtually indirectly see you again! I want to thank everybody who's reviewed, followed and favorite(d). Anyway, I'm very happy-since I now have twenty-nine reviews! So, here you go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.
Donald Davenport, brilliant inventor and multi-billionaire, either called Donald or Mr. Davenport—also the fatherly figure of Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo, and the wife of Tasha. Outside, his mannerisms were much like Chase's—child-like, selfish, and self-absorbed. He was known for acting much more immaturely than he really was and for ego that never stopped, not even in a crisis. He couldn't always keep up the vain, egotistical act forever, though. He had his own enigmatic secrets, too.
Childhood memories were forgotten; all his life he only remembered being with the lab rats, watching them grow up, year by year, until his sweet little toddlers had turned into bored, independent teenagers. That was when it was just him and them, happy together, never knowing who lurked in the shadows, desperate to get the lab rats back. He knew, so far back then, that they'd been happy. He'd been happy, more like…
But that was before everything—before Leo and Tasha moved in, before Douglas had returned from his supposed "fall-into-a-volcano death," before Marcus had captured him, before the lab rats had revealed their bionic secret to Principal Perry. Before everything that had sucked up his content life and replaced it with an almost dystopian version.
What if Douglas had succeeded and Leo hadn't crashed in the "house" (or whatever he called that funky place) and made Douglas drop the remote, giving him time to smash it with his foot? What then? Leo and Tasha would be living in fear; they'd be on the run, and no one could stop Douglas. Donald needed the lab rats, not just for his safety and protection, but well…
He wasn't supposed to love his experiments! That's all they were—that's all that Douglas had intended them to be, right?
Internally, he shook his head stubbornly. They were his children; they were only human. And every human needed attention, no matter how amazing they were bionic-wise.
Now what? It seemed as if everything had gone back to normal. But everything hadn't gone back to normal at all. After all of the family moments with the new members Leo and Tasha, he still shielded his covert thoughts. The thoughts of the truth.
Every day, every hour, every minute, every second, he worried. He worried that Adam, Bree, and Chase would never come back home safely because they might expose their secret. He worried that Spike would come out and then he'd have a lot of explaining to do. He worried that Douglas would kidnap them on their walk to and from school and he'd never know about it. He worried in general about their safekeeping!
Donald shook his hand, barely acknowledgeable. What had happened to him? He never used to be this paranoid. But that was before Douglas had let him know he was still alive and out for revenge.
But Adam, Bree, and Chase went out on the most dangerous missions and a) they were always successful, and b) they always survived, even when the future had twisted their fate so they wouldn't, didn't they? Surely sending Adam, Bree, and Chase out into space or into a runaway train that was hurtling at four hundred miles per hour was much more dangerous than Douglas kidnapping them, right?
No… it was much worse. Douglas would activate their Triton App once more, and then he'd be helpless against his younger brother.
As much as he'd hate to admit it, he knew that he relied on the lab rats for his safekeeping, as well as Leo's and Tasha's. Without them, if Douglas had sent Marcus to attack and infiltrate his mansion, well… they'd all be dead by now, wouldn't they?
"I'm going to spend some quality time with my three WONDERFUL kids!" Douglas' voice haunted his mind, replaying itself, hour after hour, in his head.
Maybe today—today he'd show them that he wasn't just a cocky, egomaniac that had a room full of mirrors in which he called, "A room full of me." No, he'd show them that he cared about them all, and he'd protect them if it was the last thing he did.
Donald slowly got out of bed and went into the bathroom, where he looked at his reflection. His bloodshot eyes stared heartlessly back at him, empty and shallow and yet deep, like never-ending chasms. His hair, well… he was finding himself not caring about his hair lately, and that never happened! Successful multi-billionaires always had good hair! What was wrong with him?
He knew very well what was wrong with him.
He was afraid. For the first time in forever, he was afraid. Sure, he'd been scared of things like bad hair days and losing all of his money or getting a scratch on his mirrors in his room-full-of-me, but those were simplistic, superficial worries.
This was real.
Eddy flickered to life and Donald played with the soap bars in his bathroom. Normally he loved the smell or rosemary, sage, and peppermint, but all they'd reminded of were the times when he still was on good terms with his brother and when they'd wash each other, thirty-five years ago…
"Hey, Donnie!" Eddy shouted.
"Donnie" jumped.
Eddy snickered. "You know why I'm so glad that Douglas wants the kids?"
Donald stared at Eddy. No matter how much Eddy annoyed him sometimes, him, Eddy's best friend, well… Eddy would never betray him on purpose, would he?
Eddy continued, "It's because if they ever are captured, little Leo will go after them and then Tasha will go after him and then you can spend all of your time with ME!"
Donald sighed. Of all the things to say, that was the least comforting, because he knew that Leo would go after Adam, Bree, and Chase if they were captured. If they were captured, Leo and Tasha would be all he had left. And Leo cared too much about the lab rats and Tasha cared too much about Leo to stay behind.
Eddy continued in his nasally voice. "We can spend the whole day together! You and I can do all sorts of things! And maybe you could give me my body back. I loved terrorizing the little squirts!"
Donald grimaced and rubbed his temples. "Maybe later, Eddie. I… I just have to think for a moment. I have to be alone, okay?"
Eddy whined, "Only if you promise to play with me later!"
Donald barely heard him. "Of course, Eddy," whereupon Eddy switched off, leaving Davenport alone with his dark thoughts. I'll show them, he thought. I will. He just had no idea how to show them he really did care about them all! His rare fatherly moments came at random, least when he expected it, often at times where Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo didn't really care or notice. What was he going to do?
Donald had returned from a successful outing with a group of scientists developing a high-tech invention that allowed for stress to be relieved at once.
He parked his Davenport Industries car in the garage and walked in the back door. On his way down to the lab, he heard giggling. As far as he knew, Douglas didn't giggle. Who giggled like that? It sounded like Douglas when he was only five…
No! He couldn't have. No!
Donald ran down to the lab and saw something that made his heart drop.
There were three children in the room.
Perfectly innocent children, yes? But ordinary? Oh, no!
The oldest child, a boy, was aiming at rats in a cage by shooting lasers at his eyes.
The middle child, a girl, was giddily running around the room at lightning speed and causing papers to fly everywhere.
The youngest one shocked him the most.
He was lying on a metal table with a white sheet over him, and Douglas was bending over him, mumbling something along the lines of, "Yes… my boy, you have intelligence. You have a force field. And so many more hidden abilities left to be discovered… maybe I can speed that up, if only Donnie doesn't find out about it. You do lack strength and intelligence, but your chip can hold more! So much more! So now, to make you indomitable!"
Donald yelled, "DOUGLAS!"
Douglas whirled around, and then smirked. "You like what I did with the kids?"
Donald felt his heart drop once again. He had trusted Douglas. And now, he knew what Douglas would do. He'd active a "control" app… hopefully not the Triton App; Douglas hadn't mastered that yet… and then he'd turn them into mindless, killing soldiers.
Donald snapped out of his thoughts and yelled, "You aren't doing anything with them!"
"Too late, Donnie! I already have. Hehehehe."
"You won't!" In one fluid movement, he grabbed the girl speeding past him by her blurring arm, yanked the oldest boy back, causing his lasers to shoot wildly, and grabbed the youngest one out from under sheet. And then he ran.
Douglas yelled after him, making no attempt to stop him. "I'll come back for them, Donnie! And then they'll be all mine…" His voice faded out as Donald ran to his car and shoved them in, turned the ignition key on, and drove away, far, far away.
Donald looked up to see the doors opening, revealing Chase behind them. "Hey," he said. "What are you thinking about?"
Donald just said absentmindedly, "Oh, nothing in particular…"
Chase looked at him. "Aren't you coming?"
Donald shook his head in surprise. "What?"
Chase gave him a scrutinizing gaze. "I said, will you come to school today for the science fair?"
Donald groaned. He had a business conference today. "I'm sorry, Chase. I can't. I have… other things on my agenda today."
Chase gave him a hard, harsh stare. "You know, after all we've been through, you'd think you'd come to school just to see what your children are doing." And then he walked out, without a look over his shoulder, not even a tiny glare.
Donald Davenport had hid behind safe, secure, and conceited walls his entire life, but now, all he felt was sadness. Why couldn't the kids understand how much pressure there was on his shoulders? The answer, he decided, would be found out when he found his security—his true security, not a façade security. And how exactly was he going to find his security? That remained, in it of itself, a mystery with the answer yet to be provided.
How did you guys like it? Please review (but no flaming), and check out my other LR stories, Bionic Ice Skating and Marcus' Childhood!
Chapter 7 should be up by the end of this week! Should it be on Tasha or on Eddy? I've written both out, but I'm not sure which ones you want first, so let me know! :-) (I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors.)