Hostile 16, people!

Here we are!

Woohoo!

What's going to happen?

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: "I was using that. :c"

ShyMusic: Perry's gonna win this for them. Just not in this chapter.

So let's begin! James?

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

"One may outwit another, but not all the others."

François de La Rochefoucauld

"Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope."

Aristotle

Leo

Lying was a very useful skill.

For example, Leo was sitting in the food court of Mission Creek's mall, eating a pretzel and waiting for Ysthry. His mother, however, thought he was at the movies with Janelle. Granted, it would be nice to go on a date with Janelle, but that was the least of his concerns at that moment.

His concern was to wait for Ysthry and eavesdrop on conversations around him.

Leo had picked the mall to begin his quest to spy because it was very crowded. Far more likely to find a Hunter in a large crowd, right?

He just had to watch and wait.

Close to an hour had passed when Ysthry buzzed up by Leo's ear, her little fly wings beating rapidly. "There are two over there," she whispered, landing on Leo's shirt and doing the leg-rubbing thing flies do sometimes. "That couple by the pizza place."

Leo nodded and strode casually over, careful not to look right at them. He glanced around, fixated on a fellow teen, and suddenly huffed. "Stupid jackass, skateboarding through the mall. He's going to hurt somebody."

The couple - a man and a woman - seemed to notice this. The man sighed. "People are always doing stupid things for selfish reasons."

Ysthry crawled on his shirt a bit, trying to maintain her fly illusion while Leo nodded. "Like those demon-summoning morons. Calling those things from a different world just for the hell of it. It's idiotic."

The couple perked up, the woman's eyes looking darker for a second in the light. The man leaned back in his chair, tilting his head. "Demons don't exist."

Leo forced himself to look upset and enraged as he hissed, "My brother didn't think so, either, until one took a chunk out of his leg."

"So you don't like demons, huh?" asked the woman, looking at Leo with keen interest.

Leo shook his head. "I wish they were dead."

"We can help." The man stood up, extending his hand. "I'm James, and this is Sarah, my wife."

"Leo," Leo responded, shaking James' hand.

"What if I told you that we lead a group of people who hunt demons?" James asked, letting his hand drop to his side. "Would you be interested?"

Leo nodded vigorously. That was so much easier than he had been expecting.

"You should meet with us tomorrow, then," Sarah continued. She fished around in her purse a bit and pulled out a small silver crucifix on a necklace chain. "Here, Leo. Just give this to the man at the door, and he'll let you in."

Leo took the necklace, carefully avoiding Ysthry. "Okay. Where is it?"

James wrote an address down on a napkin, handing it to Leo. "Five o'clock tomorrow evening." He smiled a bit. "Welcome to the ranks, Hunter."

Leo thanked them both and excused himself, going completely outside before allowing himself to smile widely. He had done it. He didn't need anyone's permission. He could infiltrate the Hunters himself.

His family might be mad if they found out, but they would thank him later. Especially when he had information that Kevin was probably too spazzy and incompetent to get.

Ysthry flew around Leo's head as he slipped the crucifix into his pocket and started for home, an elated, accomplished spring in his step.

"Everything is subjective."

Douglas Hsieh

"My father said: 'You must never try to make all the money that's in a deal. Let the other fellow make some money, too, because if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you won't have many deals.'"

J. Paul Getty

Mr. Davenport

"Don, please," Douglas begged.

And, as much as Donald loved to see Dougie beg at every given opportunity, he shook his head. "No. Kevin isn't staying here."

"Why not?" Douglas demanded. "You probably had Tasha spend the night when you were dating. Why can't Kevin?"

"Tasha always went home for Leo," Donald corrected. "Besides, there's something…off about him."

Douglas crossed his arms defiantly. "Just because he's a Hunter with anxiety problems –"

"No," Donald interrupted, glancing downstairs to see Kevin glaring at Eddy's screen from across the living room. "I don't know what it is, but it's not that."

"I'm a grown man," Douglas began. "If I want my boyfriend to stay overnight-"

"You also live in my house," Donald huffed. "If I want him picked up for trespassing, there's nothing you can do about it. Make him go home like the demons did. He's not allowed here."

Douglas pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don, please," he started more gently. "He can't stay by himself tonight. He just can't. I wouldn't ask if he could."

"So stay at his place," Donald snorted.

"We can't do that, either," Douglas shot down. "He let Hellcat go today by shooting Sandra. No doubt, the Hunters who saw them leaving together would want to know why she never came back. They're probably beating down his door right now. I can't be there."

Donald was silent for several long moments before finally responding. "He shot Sandra."

"It was Sandy or Hellcat," Douglas defended. "If he spared Hellcat and let Sandra live, she would just kill him for being a sympathizer before killing Hellcat."

"Sandra Pike? He shot Sandra Pike?"

"Let's not tell Adam, okay?"

Donald was silent for several more minutes again. Great. His sociopathic brother was asking to let his murderous Hunter boyfriend stay over. Finally, he sighed. "I don't want him here. Period. End of discussion. Why should he avoid his Hunter friends?"

"Donnie, it's not that he needs to avoid them," Douglas hissed, obviously becoming frustrated. "The Hunters aren't the problem."

"Then what is?"

Douglas glanced down at Kevin before dropping his voice and leaning close to Donald. "I'm afraid that he's going to relapse."

Donald rolled his eyes. "Relapse into what?"

"Look," Douglas began. "It's a long story, but the gist of it is that Kevin's being taken advantage of by the Hunters. He turns over demons, and…well…."

"Well?" Donald demanded impatiently.

"He's an amphetamine addict," Douglas whispered. "They take advantage of that. He finds a demon, they give him pills. It's a vicious cycle."

That explained a lot. All of Kevin's shaking, his random irritability, and his extreme anxiety about the threats he thought were going to come from robots in general suddenly made more sense. "He's going through amphetamine withdrawal?! " Donald hissed quietly. "Douglas, he should be in a rehab center with doctors to monitor him!"

"Yeah, well, he's not," Douglas huffed. "If he ever gets away from the Hunters safely, I'll march him straight to one. Until then, I'm afraid he's going to find a way to get his hands on some pills. He's only at one day. After today, I don't doubt that he's thinking non-stop about taking a wild trip to ecstasy land. Donnie, please let him stay. If not for me, then for his own health."

Donald sighed heavily again. "Douglas, he should be somewhere he can be watched."

"I have medical training," Douglas growled. "Donnie, please. Please, please, please…."

Donald felt an idea forming. He didn't really want to turn Kevin out to the world of drug abuse when he was trying to turn it around. He had taught the kids to help people, after all, and this was no exception. He couldn't, in good conscience, let the man relapse if he could do anything about it.

He could, however, get something out of this deal. Douglas looked desperate.

"A few conditions," Donald began. "You have to make Tasha and me an extravagant dinner next week for our anniversary, watch the kids for the night while we go spend it at a hotel, and no more criminal activity for a month."

Douglas narrowed his eyes. "I can make you a dinner, but good luck getting Tasha to agree to me watching the kids after what happened last time. I still have alcohol they might try to break in to. As for the criminal activity, vigilante activity is criminal. Us standing against Hunters is every bit as law-breaking as Hunters standing against us."

"I can get Tasha to agree to you watching the kids, if she knows exactly where your alcohol is locked up," Donald rebutted. "As for the vigilante thing…fine. No scams for a month."

Douglas was quiet for a moment, obviously debating with himself. Finally, he sighed. "Fine."

"And no sex," Donald added. "No one wants to hear that."

Douglas rolled his eyes. "No promises, but we'll try."

Donald glanced down the stairs at Kevin again. "If he tries anything, he's out. Immediately."

"Thank you," Douglas responded gratefully, smiling. "I'll make sure he behaves."

There you have it. Leo's in.

Right?

We'll just see, right?

So, until then, feel free to review. Or don't. Meh.

And enjoy.

*Bows and exits*