He, y'all! I'm back with the sequel to Thoughts of the Truth, and the second story in the trilogy "Dark Secrets." [Trilogy name may be subject to change.] I promise that chapters will be longer and that there will be action. There will be an estimated fifteen to twenty chapters in this story. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

Thoughts of the truth were lodged in the back of each and every soul, of the lab rats and the others. Thoughts of the truth were carrying out the true toil, the true work that would be the undoing of them all. Thoughts of the truth were swirling in the mind of each person, coaxing them and nudging them to do what they thought of first: to suit my needs, to satisfy myself.

There were thoughts of the truth to become smarter, to become recognized for anything other than brute strength, to be acknowledged for importance of the team.

There were thoughts of the truth to become popular, to become accepted into the close-knit community of well-known students, to become normal, to become a human being that didn't have to save the world every day, to be just human. To accept life without the heavy burden of missions.

There were thoughts of the truth to become accepted into a team recognized for flash abilities; to prove oneself worthy with his mind-abilities; one being so powerful he never let it show. There were thoughts of the truth that strived to understand the deep secret of the family, and who one could choose to be with—there were no good and evil sides; just mixed, confused, muddy, and gray.

There were thoughts of the truth to become included in the team, for being behind the scenes on each and every one of the missions, to recognize that one could have a love life and be helpful on these missions; these missions that would be one's undoing.

There were thoughts of the truth that struggled with the heavy family encumbrance, wondering what oneself did wrong between the point where one's brother was working for the good of the community, and then the bad of the world. There were thoughts of the truth that peeked around the corner, nervously, paranoid that one's kids would never come home again and would never see the light of day through their willing eyes—they would be trapped under a mind-controlling app for the rest of eternity.

There were thoughts of the truth that wondered if one could help, and always told, when offered, that one was a burden and of no help. There were thoughts of the truth that sang, "You're the odd one out. You're the one they all forget about."

There were thoughts of the truth that wondered if one had acted so badly that he was never to be trusted again as family remember; only to be regarded warily as the enemy inside the home, the inside job traitor.

There were thoughts of the truth that pondered whether one's own real children would realize that one was their real father; thinking that he could, once and for all, connect with his children in a way they never would have dreamed of. There were thoughts of the truth that enticed a delicious aroma of feelings: happiness, sadness, and loyalty. And they circled, just out of reach.

There were thoughts of the truth that whined, moped, and grumped about, wondering if one's own family would ever come to stop putting one down, and maybe even complimenting one for once, thinking that one deserved it after a tough childhood, even continuing into adulthood.

There were thoughts of the truth that made one special being, not quite human, not quite robotic, think carefully about one's actions in the past—had one wasted one's life away thinking only about another's thoughts and not the true thoughts that one should follow? There were thoughts of the truth that followed one's owner around like a love-sick puppy, crawling away defeated when one realized one's owner cared less than nothing about one.

There were thoughts of the truth that summed everyone up, exposing their weak spots, revealing their greatest fears, and ripping everyone apart as a family, whether it be a tortured family or a loved family, down to the very core. There were thoughts of the truth that threatened their owner, making the owner wonder if those were even his thoughts, or they were yet another entirely different being's thoughts simply using the owner as a host.

There were those thoughts of the truth—they were painful, betraying, honorable, and selfish—they were all thoughts of the truth.

And little by little, gradually, slowly, these thoughts of the truth began tearing apart the family.

Brother and sister grew apart; child and parent grew apart. Every existing relationship slowly weakened, until each and every family member no longer worked harmoniously together. Consciences urged them to confess their thoughts of the truth; to show what was really going on in their minds.

But their consciences also kept the secrets revealed, deep inside their darkest depths of their souls. And so darkness prevailed, reigning over the family.

Donald Davenport liked to think of himself as a calm, collected, and a mature man. But after the bionic showdown, after the avalanche incident where it seemed Chase was on the brink of betraying them, after the encounter with Krane where he had almost lost the pride of his life, well, he wasn't too sure about his life's security. He was anything but stable. He stumbled around the house, eyes bloodshot, and hair messy. And he never said a word of encouragement, or a word of criticism. He watched Adam, Bree, and Chase train so hard in a way he'd never seen them train before; in a way that made him feel like they had noticed he was a lifeless man, and that they were trying to cheer him up. He watched Tasha make dinners exuberant and exquisite and excellent, colors flying and savory tastes making his mouth water. But he was silent, and never complimented her. And he felt even guiltier when she realized that, and didn't even feel offended. It was like she knew he would come around eventually. But would he really?

Chase Davenport liked to think of himself as confident and secure, always included and always recognized. He had made sure of that when he was little—no, Spike had made sure of that. If Adam or Bree had ever ignored him, Spike would come out and teach them a lesson they'd never forget. And yet it seemed like they had forgotten, and Spike had only come out just two months ago.

And that was when he knew that he and his siblings had grown apart. It had always been "Adam, Bree, and Chase." And now, it seemed it was "Subject A" and "Subject B" vs. "Subject C." And he knew there would be a time when they'd anger him so much that he would fight back.

And he, as in Chase. Spike wouldn't have to do any work. It would be all him. Would he really get that angry?

But that was what had scared him. He didn't ever want his siblings to know about how much power he had, and how power-hungry he really was. Douglas had told him that they were alike; for the knowledge, for the thirst of power. He didn't want to show his siblings how powerful he was. They'd start regarding him as an angry powerhouse that would attack and the slightest provocation. And the last thing he wanted to do was to somehow have them become afraid him. Sure, Adam and Bree were relatively powerful, but in the long run, they could be defeated quickly because Adam only had four core abilities and Bree had only three…

Bree Davenport liked to think of herself as a thoughtful, sweet girl that was popular and had crushes from multiple boys alike, but sadly, that just wasn't true. She was the awkward, weird girl at school who seemed to be there one second when a boy asked her out and then gone the next, leaving only a trace of skid marks made by her unique Doc Martens. She liked to think she was a calm, casual, and collected person. But in the end, she wasn't. Not when she had the burden of saving the world on her shoulders.

She was growing apart from her brothers, she knew. Since they were the only other children near her age growing up, she'd become very close to them and thought of them the same way she would have if they'd been girls/her sisters. But did she really think of them the same way now? She would hate to admit it, but her relationship with Chase and Adam was fading, rapidly. She'd spent less and less time with her biological family and more and more time with her high-school life, with Owen and Ethan and Caitlyn, working at Tech Town. The only person she really felt close to was Tasha, because at least Tasha accepted who she was—a (not-so) normal teenage girl that felt slightly insecure but wanted to face the world and get a boyfriend and walk down the aisle in white. Would she really give her bionics up to be a normal girl who could go to the prom and get married and have offspring without ever having to worry about an epidemic in England or a toxic chemical warning leaking underground in Russia? The bionics, that she loved so much?

Adam Davenport had always taken care of his younger siblings whenever they needed him. He was the oldest by a year, and it was natural to feel the responsibility of caring for Bree and Chase. While other children might have thought of it as a burden, Adam thought it was a blessing. Because there was nothing better that he liked than making sure his siblings were safe and sound. He loved them more then he could ever express, and he knew he would always, forever. No matter how many short jokes he would crack on Chase, he had known before they had discovered the outside world that Chase would understand. No matter how many times he would humiliate Bree before they'd been exposed to the outside world, he had known she would understand. That's how it had always been. They'd had an unbreakable bond, broken only by the simple disappearance of one lab rat. And they always looked out for each other. No matter what.

But now, it seemed to break, be breaking, fast. And no matter how much he struggled to repair the broken bonds, to be smart, to be known for something other than his strength, he couldn't mend the tear.

Everyone's bonds were breaking, just too fast.

What do you all think? If you're glad I didn't leave you on a cliffhanger, you've got no idea what I'm planning. But I will say this: if you review a certain number of times (sorry, you have to be a member to earn this privilege) you will be added to my spoilers list. What is that? Let's just say you'll never have to suffer my cliffhangers again!

Okay, so I know I only did Donald and the lab rats, but for a very good reason. You'll see! Anyways, please review! Review, review, review!

(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)