Title: "Trial and Error"

Rating: T

Genre: Mystery, Friendship

Character(s): the Davenport household mainly, along with a few other familiar faces

Pairing(s): Donald/Tasha, mentions of Bree/Owen and Adam/OC, another (surprise) pairing

Summary: "Leo Dooley: You have Three days, Seven hours, Twenty-Nine minutes and Twelve seconds left to live. Spend your remaining time wisely. – X" And with that, their lives are turned upside down.

Notes: I need another series like I need a chip on the tooth. This is, like, my what? Third? Anyways, this is an idea I recycled and tweaked a little bit from a plot I had for an original fiction a year or two ago. It sounded good, so I'm giving it a go. More likely, it won't be a very long fic. My initial plan is not to prolong it. It's actually just a part of a personal challenge, so we'll see how it goes.

The story is set sometime in the future. This, I believe, is my first Lab Rats story that didn't stem from an episode. Though, I think the surprise pairing may come as a bit shocking to others, but if you've read a particular work of mine, it really won't be a very new idea. ;) You'll also find that the story is not and will not be affected by any of the events in Season Three.

Please enjoy!

WARNING: Potential death of a main character. It will be graphic, so watch out.

One.

The silence in the living room was violently shattered by the swift opening of the door and the loud chatter that accompanied it as soon as the clock struck the thirty-first second of the minute. The younger occupants of the house filed in towards the couch, the older three exhaustedly taking a seat after plopping their backpacks on the floor with a laugh, while the youngest remained on his feet as he sorted through the unbearably thick pile of mail in his hands. Peace threatened to fight back when comfortable quietness befell them all, but it was defeated once again when the oldest made another comment at the expense of his younger brother.

It ignited another bout of laughter among them.

For Leo, it was a sound very difficult to listen to.

It was just their second year of being together, of being parts that rise as a whole, but it would be sufficient enough to cast a permanent deep void once one of them separates by summer's end. Despite being only at the budding age of sixteen, Chase already neared the end of his high school days. Their mother had already gone through several cycles of grief, starting from the day he came home with the envelope for his senior pictures. She had been smothering her son (she refused to call him anything else) with much affection, to which he outwardly cowered from and inwardly drew towards.

Honestly, it made the other three somewhat jealous, especially Leo, but he understood. He was mature enough to appreciate that his mother's love was meant to be shared with his siblings.

Their mother wasn't the only one affected with these changes, however. His stepfather had been undeniably successful in making his older children believe that he was strictly pragmatic regarding matters like these. He had given the future graduate several plans to make college life fit perfectly with the obligation to those needing their help. He managed to bury himself within the tedious work of making sure his son would have a comfortable and enjoyable life outside the four corners of their home and to be preoccupied with engineering the perfect graduation gift for him that he had built an invisible wall that shielded the others from peering into how he truly viewed his son's impending departure.

Yet Leo could see through it, and this easily opened him up to be the keeper of his stepfather's deeper thoughts.

His stepfather's, as well as his siblings'.

All of them had been actively trying to lighten the situation, to hide the sadness they already felt, only so that they could support Chase's already wavering decision to leave them.

"Just don't choke, Chase," Adam said when Chase voiced his concern over giving his valedictorian speech during graduation. "Remember to breathe, keep your thoughts straight—and be brave when you finally admit to everyone that you've always secretly had a crush on Caitlin."

Chase responded with a heavy frown, while Bree expressed her disgust between chuckles.

Adam grabbed the blue cap from one of the chairs. He then put it on, the tassel dangling helplessly in front of his face. Assuming a pose as if he was Chase standing behind an invisible podium, he said, "I love you, Caitlin Cooper."

Bree and Leo laughed loudly. Chase rolled his eyes, grinning nonetheless.

"Wait," Bree protested, wiping tears off her eyes. "Caitlin's last name isn't Cooper."

Adam shrugged after tossing the cap back to the chair and sitting down. "Eh. Chase doesn't care. It'll change into Davenport soon, anyways," he said.

A sardonic smile flashed across Chase's face. "Yeah. And it'll probably be because of you," he pointed out.

Adam thought about it, a disturbed expression on his face.

"I doubt Ayanna would let that happen," Leo commented. Adam shot him a curious look. "I'm just saying," he continued as he arranged the organized letters into piles. "Ayanna's a cool chick and all, and I like her, I do—but man. She can get super territorial."

Adam nodded with a pleased grin. He clucked his tongue. "Yep. That's my girl," he said.

"How you're dating the captain of the debate team is still beyond me," Chase muttered.

"Speaking of chicks," Bree sat up, "Leo. What is this I hear that you're seeing a girl?"

"Yeah. I heard about that, too," Chase chimed in. "Do we know her?"

Leo continued shuffling through the last group of envelopes in his possession with unfazed concentration. "Having a gossip session now, are we," he said.

"Oh, come on," Adam said. "Look. It's okay if you're seeing someone else. That's cool. Janelle's been in Maryland for at least a year now. She's probably seeing someone else, too."

Leo didn't bother to look up when he heard a chorus of loud thwack! from the couch.

When Janelle told him the week before summer break last year that her dad was being relocated to Baltimore and would result into her whole family moving there permanently, it drove him into misery. He adored her very much, and he would like to think that she felt the same way, too. Their last week together was hard for him, and when she departed the last day of school, he thought it would have been better if someone yanked his heart out of his chest.

He knew she would be gone from then on.

Although, she promised to e-mail him often, and she had kept that promise through all the months.

They were still friends, and it was good enough for them. They talked about almost everything that happens. Lately, however, she hadn't been talking to him as much, which was okay. He hadn't told his family yet, but Janelle had disclosed to him months ago that there was someone she liked. She had written to ask if she could accept an invitation to a movie from him.

He told her that she didn't need his permission and would harbor no resentment.

So, for the last five months, Janelle had been dating another boy she met at her new school.

Honestly, he still missed her, but only as a friend.

"So, anything interesting in today's mail?" Bree asked in an attempt to end the awkwardness.

Leo examined the bright red envelope addressed to him which he found at the bottom of the stack. "No," he said. "There's about a hundred college junk mail for Chase. There's a few for the three of us. The rest is just bills and letters for Mom and Big D. Oh, and a book of coupons for Layla Gallego or Current Resident."

"Ooh. Is that the one that has the buy one, get one Hawaiian sundaes?" Adam asked.

"Yep."

"Sweet!" Adam sang.

"Did Stanford send anything?" Chase headed towards the kitchen counter where the letters amassed.

Adam frowned as he and Bree followed him. "I thought you're set for Columbia?" he asked.

"Can't a guy explore his options?" Chase asked, an unreadable expression passing by his features.

Leo looked up with a mild frown. "Hey, Chase, when you move out, can I have your capsule?"

Chase curtly shook his head as he picked through the envelopes. "Not unless you want a mild electric current to be your alarm clock," he said. "Plus, I haven't left yet."

A disappointed expression overcame Leo's face as he resorted to opening the letter sent to him. He listened to his siblings' conversation while sliding a used butter knife through the well-sealed envelope. Adam said something about going to the ice cream shop to redeem the free sundaes. Chase interrupted any further planning with, "Leo has to go to work today, remember?" Bree waved the thought away by reminding them that he had that Thursday off because of the company dinner their parents were bringing them to later on.

Leo took out the whitewashed piece of card, thinking it was yet another unimportant mail.

He was slightly taken aback when he read it, a chill slinking through his skin.

His siblings noticed his expression and misread it for something else.

"Ooh, what is that?" Adam said teasingly. "Is that from your girlfriend?"

Leo ignored the teasing, rereading the letter instead.

"This girl's got it pretty bad, doesn't she," Bree commented. She pouted mockingly. "What did your shweetie shay?"

Leo looked up tensely. He drew attention away from it by laughing albeit nervously. "Nothing," he said. "It's actually just junk, that's all. I should probably just throw it away."

Upon the goading of her other brothers, Bree super sped ahead of Leo after he walked away with the envelope and the letter. She snatched it from his hand then sprinted back to her spot beside Adam and Chase.

"Oh, not cool!" Leo stomped back in the room lividly. "That's my property. My letter. You have no right to take it or to read it."

"Chill, Leo," Chase held his hand up, grinning. "Why're you getting so upset? I thought you said it's junk."

"It is! But it doesn't mean you can just take it from me as you please!"

Adam laughed. He nodded knowingly. "Definitely from his girlfriend," he said. He sighed. "Alright. Let's read this thing."

"No!" Leo lunged forward, hands outstretched for the letter. However, even the height that he had gained and the small increase in the speed of his feet could not match the agility Adam had mastered over the years. Whenever Leo advanced, Adam would make the perfect step backward, causing his younger brother to miss comically while he read the letter aloud.

"Leo Dooley," Adam spoke at the top of his voice, "You have Three Dogs—no. Three days—quit it! Let me read it, Leo! You have Three days, Seven hours, Twenty…Nine—Twenty Nine minutes and Twelve seconds left to live." He stopped, glancing anxiously back and forth between his brother and the letter. Leo, meanwhile, stood on his spot defeated, seeing that all had been done. "Spend your remaining time wisely. X," Adam finished.

Chase moved within that second, his hand reaching out for the card. "You didn't read that right, Adam. Let me see," he said. He took it. "Leo Dooley: You have Three days, Seven hours, Twenty-Nine minutes and Twelve seconds left to live. Spend your remaining time wisely. X."

Bree joined her brothers as they read it quietly for the third time. When they understood that what they held in their hand was indeed, not a love letter, but a death threat, they looked up at their brother worriedly.

Upon instinct, Leo shrugged. "Well, at least I'll finally be off on a Monday," he offered.

to be continued.