Woo! Chapter Seventeen!

I love writing angry Hellcat!

Not really, but it does keep things interesting.

Anyways, I don't want to keep you guys waiting long, so let's kick this off. I'd like to thank all my readers and reviews for…well, reading and reviewing. What else, right?

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: "Still nothing. I am officially off the Hellia hook. :3"

Gg180000: "Geez, I don't want to hurt him! Just keep him from going on a mission!"

I assure you that, as it is me, the solution is much, much more unnecessarily complex than that. xD

DarkestKing: I'm thinking I've now gotten two votes for Douglas is gonna summon Chase and bind his will. Got another theory on the guy! Woo! We'll see. :3

RissA15: Were any of the leads in the right direction?

DisneyXDGirl: "Hey! I like my head firmly on my shoulders!"

"When it's not up your ass."

"Shut up, Hellcat!"

AllAmericanSlurp: Ysthry was curious, so she investigated the phone in the most logical demon way possible: Eating it. :3

UnknownForNow: Hold that Tasha thought, because she's on her way.

So, who wants to do this? Hmm…Yahn?

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

"La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu'il n'existe pas."

("The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.")

Charles Baudelaire, Paris Spleen

"You want to believe that there's one relationship in life that's beyond betrayal. A relationship that's beyond that kind of hurt. And there isn't."

Caleb Carr

Chapter Seventeen – Deceiver

Adam

"I can control myself, and you know it," Chase huffed, following Douglas across the Lab. "Seriously, what the hell is your hang up?"

Douglas sighed heavily as he picked up the little metal band that formed the device he was working on and fixing a type of lock to both of the ends, checking the electronic key by locking it and unlocking it a few times. "We've been talking in circles for the past two hours," he informed Chase as he started doing something with the wires on the other side.

"We wouldn't be talking in circles if you'd give me a straight answer," Chase retorted, leaning on the desk and glaring at Douglas, his tail lashing.

Douglas shot Chase a look. "I already told you that-"

"You don't want me hurting an innocent guy," Chase interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Since when do you care about strangers? And you know that I can keep myself in check."

Douglas sighed again. "Hellcat -"

"Why don't you want me going?" Chase hissed challengingly. "What's the real reason?"

"Because I said so," Douglas growled.

"That's not a reason, either!" Chase snapped.

Adam watched all of this from the other side of the Lab, both Oly and Yahn in his lap and observing quietly, as well. It was strange that Oly wasn't encouraging their arguing to escalate into a physical fight, but Adam didn't question it. Douglas and Chase were obviously trying to work something out, and anyone who got involved would have to face the wrath of whoever they disagreed with.

Normally, their wraths weren't all that bad, but they were really locking horns this time.

So Adam stayed quiet, watching as Chase and Douglas once again repeated the cycle that had plagued the past two hours: Chase demanding a reason, Douglas offering him one that sounded weak even to Adam - Chase wouldn't hurt anybody without a very good reason - and Chase calling him on it before it repeated again.

Honestly, Adam wondered if they even realized that they weren't alone.

In his lap, Oly shifted. "You don't think Half-Breed would eat us if he was mad enough, do you?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

"He wouldn't," Adam assured, rubbing the top of her head. "Spike would, but Hellcat won't."

Oly nodded and tilted her head as she went back to watching the verbal battle. Adam sighed. He could end the squabbling - all he had to do was talk, and Chase would be listening silently for minutes - but he had a feeling that this was something that they had to work out themselves.

So, even though he had chosen a side - Chase's - Adam held his tongue.

Douglas took off his watch and laid it on the cyber desk beside whatever his metal band was going to be. Adam noted a few buttons and a small light on the band as Douglas started messing with them both. Meanwhile, he had decided to try a different tactic than the one he had been using up until that point to talk to Chase. "Listen," he started, sounding much calmer than earlier. "I feel like we're getting nowhere here. Don't you?"

Chase narrowed his eyes suspiciously and crossed his arms, obviously wondering what Douglas was aiming for with this new approach. "Nowhere at all," he agreed, his voice much quieter now, too.

A few beeps sounded from Douglas' watch as the light on the metal band lit up green. He put the watch back on his wrist and gestured for Yahn to jump on the desk. "Let me get this made, and then we'll talk about it civilly, okay?"

After a second, Chase nodded. "What is that, anyways?"

"I'm going to attach a camera to it and give it to Oly," he explained. "That way, we can watch everything as she spies. Before that, though, I need to make it less rigid. Hit it, Yahn!"

Adam didn't know the actual spell Douglas was casting, but he had a feeling that something was off about it. The words he understood were strange for what Douglas claimed he was doing. Sure, the words for "flexible" and "indestructible" were in there, but so were the words "conform," "shift," and "bind." Adam shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Douglas finally finished his spell casting. With a grin, Douglas wrapped the metal band around his finger as easily as he would a piece of yarn.

The strength of metal with the flexibility of a watch band. It was an extremely impressive spell.

"Okay," Douglas said as he unwrapped his finger and turned to Chase. "I'll fix the camera to it later. However, I want to see if it works like it's supposed to. I know you're not just fond of me right now, but may I borrow your wrist?"

Chase eyed the little band cautiously. "After this, you'll hear me out?"

Douglas nodded.

Adam had to bite back the urge to warn Chase to back away. It was strange: Douglas wasn't doing anything threatening, but Adam still felt like he was being deceptive somehow. He chalked it up to the tension that had plagued the room for the past couple of hours and just watched as Chase offered Douglas his left arm.

Carefully, Douglas wrapped the band around Chase's wrist like a bracelet and connected the lock, using the key to secure it. The band instantly tightened around Chase's wrist, shrinking to rest right against the skin as the light blinked red twice. Chase lowered his ears and prodded it with his finger. "There's no slack for it to get caught on anything," he noted helpfully. "It doesn't hurt, though. It's a perfect fit. Now take it off."

Douglas shook his head. "No way, Hellcat."

Chase frowned and opened his mouth to protest, but hesitated. After a second his eyes widened with realization. "This was for me the whole time, wasn't it?"

Douglas just turned around and started typing things into the cyber desk silently.

Chase pinned his ears. "What does this thing really do?" When his question was met with continuing silence, Chase let out a low, tiger-like growl. "Douglas -"

"As of now," Douglas interrupted, shutting off whatever he was doing at the desk, "it sets an alarm on my watch off if you pass outside the fence so that I can either send Yahn to get you or summon you back. Before you try it, it will stick around if you try to shape shift out of it. The only thing that can get it off is the key." For emphasis, Douglas shook the little key before slipping it into his pocket.

Chase's jaw dropped open as he processed this revelation. After several seconds, he spoke again, his voice quiet, yet dangerous, like the calm before a severe storm. "You put me under house arrest?"

Douglas turned around to face him, smiling uneasily as if he thought he could stop the eruption that Chase was visibly spiraling toward if he found the right way to spin the situation. "Don't be like that. Think of it as a vacation from the outside world!" At Chase's expression, Douglas frowned and tried again. "It's only for a couple of days. Just so you won't follow Oly."

Chase pinned his ears, his tail lashing furiously. All of that – coupled with Chase's flashing eyes, almost-violent trembling and loud growling – would have been fine….

However, his hands started glowing an ethereal white, a sure sign that Chase was about to unleash his fury.

Upon recognizing the danger, Douglas started backing away. He held his hands up innocently, obviously forcing a steady voice in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Come on, Chase. No need to get violent."

Yahn jumped down and ran to hide himself behind Adam's legs as Oly hid her face with her wings. Adam didn't blame them; he wanted to run for cover, too. And he wasn't even the target!

However, Chase's impending explosion never happened. After several seconds, Chase just turned on his heel and silently stalked out of the Lab through the tunnel, his tail still lashing violently as he disappeared.

A moment of silence passed before Adam pointed after Chase. "He seemed to control himself to me."

Douglas shot Adam a look, crossing his arms. "Don't you start in, too."

Adam held up his hands innocently. "Look, all I'm saying is that he and I both know that your reason is total bullshit. I don't know what your problem is – or why you would go so far as to imprison him – but he just wants a straight answer." Adam shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he'll see it your way."

Deciding that his speech would have the most impact with a dramatic exit, Adam then stood up – cradling Oly to his chest so that she didn't fall – and walked out of the Lab, leaving Douglas behind to think about what was said. In the meantime, Adam wanted to talk to the one person who could intimidate Douglas enough to possibly get the band removed from Chase's wrist: Tasha.

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."

Mark Twain

"Once you have kids, you think like a parent. You get a lot more protective."

Trey Parker

Tasha

I'm going to smack Douglas one of these days, Tasha thought angrily as she approached Chase's room. None of her kids were prisoners, and he had no right treating anyone in such a manner. It came across as though Douglas thought Chase was a creature that needed to be caged rather than a teenager who just wanted an honest answer. Between this and using Leo as a spy, Douglas was going to be the death of her yet.

At the very least, he was causing gray hairs to appear prematurely.

Stopping in front of Chase's closed door, Tasha took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down before she gently knocked.

"I'm pissed at you, asshat," came Chase's voice.

Tasha sighed heavily. She would have to start passing around bars of soap to wash everybody's mouth out one of these days. "Language, mister. And can I come in?"

"Sorry, Tasha," Chase mumbled. After some shuffling, the door opened to reveal an obviously upset Chase. "I thought you were Douglas."

"Even so," Tasha warned sternly as she followed Chase into his room. He walked to the bed and sat down, somehow managing to make even this small act drip with unhappiness. Tasha had come to appreciate Chase's demonic appearance in that it made reading him so much easier. For example, his ears, wings, and tail were all drooping, as if they were sad, too. It was kind of nice to have one kid openly expressing himself.

Even if it was unintentional.

Tasha sat beside him, her eyes drawn the little grey band that was, according to Adam, stuck on his wrist like some kind of dog collar. She could hardly imagine the thoughts running through his mind. The idea of being confined in such a manner was impossible for her to comprehend. So, instead of saying anything, she did the first thing that came to mind whenever she saw one of the kids in a bad mood: She pulled Chase into a tight hug.

Apparently, Chase hadn't been expecting anything like that at all. It took him several seconds to hug her back, his chin resting on her shoulder. As she scratched between Chase's wings – he started purring, an overall strange but wonderful sound – she could see where Adam and Chase were having problems accepting Douglas' reasoning. Chasey wasn't dangerous at all. Sure, he was a bit more impulsive than she remembered, but he was still as gentle as a kitten underneath everything.

After a moment, Chase pulled back and broke the silence as he thumped his little imprisoning band. "I can't believe he did this."

"I can," Tasha responded, only half-serious. In all honesty, she was quite surprised that Douglas had the nerve to do anything of the sort.

Chase let out a chuckle. "He says that he doesn't want me hurting the guy, but I don't think that's it. He knows that I can control myself."

"You wouldn't hurt anybody," Tasha agreed, patting his hand. "Good luck getting a straight answer, though." She scoffed. "If con men don't want to be honest, they'll spin a lie until you would swear that it's true."

Chase shot her a quizzical look. "How do you know that?"

Tasha grinned. "Hon', you don't meet a man like Donald without accidentally dating the wrong men a few times."

Chase nodded slowly before he let out a sigh of frustration. "Whatever his reasoning, I don't get why this was necessary." He held up his wrist and shook it for emphasis, causing the light to catch the band.

Tasha shook her head. "Because it's not. That's why it makes no sense to you. How long do you have to wear that thing?"

"He said a couple of days," Chase answered sullenly, standing up and walking towards the window to look out at the night. "I don't like that guy, Tasha. He's bad news."

Tasha tilted her head. "How do you know that?"

"I just do," Chase answered, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know how, but I just know it." Tasha readied herself to speak, but Chase seemed to bristle. He pointed out the window. "See? There he is! Who would walk around at night?! He was only supposed to show up during the day. That was his pattern!"

Tasha frowned and stood up, joining Chase by the window. Sure enough, a man was passing the fence. So that was the guy giving Chase so much grief. She had never met him before, so maybe he was new to the neighborhood? Whatever the case, he was obviously bothering Chase immensely. She rested her hands on Chase's shoulders to try and steer him away from the window - geez, he was shaking pretty hard – when the man stopped by the gate.

Why would anyone stop by the gate at night?

Chase's eyes grew gradually darker for a few seconds before returning to their hazel coloring. She would never get used to that. Why his eyes couldn't stay the same color when he was checking the planes was an unknown fact that would bother her forever. However, before she could really think about it, Chase pinned his ears and gasped, pointing at the window. "I knew it! I knew he was hiding something!" His tail started to twitch excitedly. "Why didn't I think of checking the planes when the sun wasn't behind him?!"

Taken aback by this sudden turn-around, Tasha frowned. "Chase, what –"

"He's glowing," Chase purred triumphantly. "I was right! He's no good!"

Tasha felt her eyes widen. "He's the man that tried to break in?"

Chase looked at her, nodding excitedly. "And I caught him on instinct. How amazing am I?"

Tasha returned her attention to the man, who looked like he was picking the lock on the gate. "Come on, Chase: We need to get him out of here."

"Wait," Chase said, stopping her. "I want to see if Adam's spell worked."

Tasha frowned, watching the man nervously. What if he got through the fence? They might be too late to drive him away. "Chase –"

The gate suddenly opened just enough the let the guy slip through. He didn't get too far, though. About two steps up the driveway, the guy suddenly doubled over and vomited several times. He dropped to his hands and knees as the illness continued until, finally, he beat a hasty retreat – well, as hasty as one could be when crawling and throwing up – through the gate again. Once outside the fence, he seemed to recover rapidly. Standing up, the man stared at the gate for a moment before he closed it and walked away, trying to eliminate any trace that he had been there.

Other than the vomit he had left behind, of course.

"Way to go, Adam!" Chase punched the air in victory. "That worked perfectly!"

"Who is that guy?" Tasha found herself asking. Like hell –

Wait, like heck. Oh, no; Douglas was rubbing off on her!

Anyways, she wasn't going to let the guy off the hook that easily. Not when her family was involved.

"I could find out," Chase began, "but I would need this band off."

Tasha suddenly hesitated. The thought of Chase going after a guy who had repeatedly tried to break in wasn't her ideal solution. However, she forced herself to remember that he had spent his whole life training for things like this. Finally giving in, she nodded. "How do we do that?"

"Douglas has the key," Chase explained. "It's the only way to get this thing unlocked. Then, I can take Oly with me so that we can figure out this guy's game plan!"

Tasha nodded again, feeling a sly smile creep onto her face at the thought of undermining Douglas' plot to keep Chase contained. "So we need to get the key. How can I help?"

Hey, that point of view was new!

I don't think I can do Tasha very well. Sigh. :( But there she is.

And Adam's spell worked! Yay!

Anywho, at least we know a little about the guy Chase hates, right? :3

Which means a couple of things: You'll either be yelling, "I knew it," be chewing Douglas out, or thinking of various ways to make Zara's head spin with your randomness and theories, which is always fun. :3

Whichever it is, feel free to drop it in a review. Or keep it to yourself and admire it in secret. Either way, it won't bother me.

And enjoy.

*Bows and exits*