Hey guys, here's chapter 16. Thanks for all the reviews.

So...I know I've been MIA for - 4 months? I'm really sorry about that, I just started to read this series, and I didn't realize that it would have this emotional pull over me, and I have been engulfed by that for a LONG time and forgot about everything else in my life. *sigh* The struggles of an avid reader. But also my city built this new water/amusement park, and I have been living there for most of my days, and by the time I get home I am usually tired from all the swimming and running about. Not to mention exams nearly killing me - gosh. Why can't reading/writing be an exam? I will gladly accept this challenge. Gladly.

Also, I have been busy planning out the rest of the story as well as writing future chapters. Just because I was MIA doesn't mean I wasn't thinking up idea's.

PLEASE NOTE THAT my idea was planned out long before the first season of Lab Rats ended, and any similarities you may see are coincidental. I believe I said this after I updated after the "Leo vs Evil" episode, but it's true. My plot my have similarities, but it is completely different.

Now on with the story!

ASHLEY
October 28, 2013
(evening)

"This is so frustrating!" I shouted, sitting down across from Zoey on her fuzzy carpet. "I don't know what to get him. He is the most impossible boy to shop for."

Zoey stuck her hand in the bag of chips she snagged from the kitchen on the way upstairs. "How about a coupon for a haircut? Because that boy needs one." She looked up seriously. "Like now."

Scoffing, I laid back and stared at her painted ceiling, trying to get the smell of the potato chips away from me. I still wasn't feeling to great. "That is not a birthday gift. Besides...His hair isn't that long. It suits him like that." Hearing my confession and seeing Zoey's raised eyebrow, I mentally slapped myself. "Dean doesn't look good with short hair. Makes his head looks bigger."

Today wasn't exactly going as planned. I woke up after spending all of yesterday and last night sleeping and resting, and I did feel better, but the smell from the food at the mall and now Zoey's chips was threatening to reveal the contents of my stomach. I ran into Adam and Bree on my way out the door to school, I probably wouldn't have noticed them if Adam hadn't yelled and patted me on the back, knocking me to the floor. And then there's James - the fed's still won't let Jacob and I see him. Apparently they're afraid that we'll gang up and retaliate. I was seriously considering it, but that will probably get all of us killed, and Jack and his brother locked away. With James having been away for so long, I felt the usual steady pace our family had created slow down. Everything was off.

I had spent most of the afternoon with Zoey after school at the mall, desperately searching for the perfect gift. And now, two days before Dean's birthday party, I'm still hunting. I should have gotten his present a long time ago. I'm a horrible friend.

"Chill Ash," the rustling of the chip bag caught my attention, and once I saw that she had finished it and was throwing it out, I cautiously sat up until she sat back down. "It's not like you don't see him everyday - and Dean doesn't mind waiting for his gift - well if it's from us."

"But it's his sixteenth. This present can not be late." Last year's present was very late. But that's because Jack had sent us away to a training camp to control our bionics during both the months of October and November. Which meant I had to miss Dean's birthday. This year I promised that I would be there, no matter what - and his present would be the best one he had ever gotten.

"Well as long as you're at his party, then it shouldn't matter to him if your gift is late." She gasped. "Which reminds me," She reached up onto her bed to pull down her laptop. Sliding the cover open, a devilish smirk appeared on her freckled face. "We need to plan The Prank."

Oh yeah. "Can we do that later?"

"Ashley!" Zoey yelled. "Dean's birthday is in two days! We need to plan this now, because we have been serious slackers lately."

So we did. We kicked idea's around, brainstormed massive idea's (which I had to remind Zoey several time's that we only had one day left).

"Ashley," She replied, forcing a posh accent. "Have you met me? I can turn 24 hours into twenty four years."

But not all my thoughts were focused on Dean's birthday prank (usually this is something I put all my energy in to) and honestly, I just don't feel like it. I don't feel like doing anything. What I truly wanted to do was break down the doors and bring my big brother home, where I knew he was safe and not being used as an experiment. But at the same time I wanted to disappear into my room and stay there, hoping for some magical force to come out of nowhere and fix all of our problems for me instead.

Sadly, that doesn't happen for me. It didn't help me when I tried to wish away my bionics when I couldn't control them, and nothing helped me now when I tried to wish Chase away. Instead, that force rewarded me with him hiding around every corner trying to be my...Friend.

"Stop it!" I hissed, trying to get Chase and his annoying habit's out of my brain. That's all I needed right now, especially when I'm supposed to be focused on Dean's prank.

"You don't like that idea?" Zoey asked. Looking up, I saw her giving me a quizzical look. Did I say that out loud...Judging by the look she gave me, the answer is yes, yes I did. It didn't help that I had no idea what her pitch was. Seeing that I hadn't paid attention (which a repeatedly apologized for) she scratched it out and we began all over again. We bounced idea's around until it was time for me to leave.

"I'll try to think of some idea's tonight," Zoey mumbled, voice full of sleep as she walked me to her door. "But I'm going to take a nap first." Lightly punching her in the shoulder (and then catching her because she almost toppled over she was so tired) I agreed that I would try, too. As we made our way down the stairs from her bedroom to the large oak door of her house, I waved goodbye to her brother who didn't see me.

"Just don't go over the top," I argued. "We will have one day to plan this, and I still need to find his birthday gift."

She was already shooing me out the door. "Yes, yes I get it. Now go so I can get my beauty sleep and get my mojo back. Love you and goodnight." And then she shut the door as I turned to go. Walking down her long drive, small idea's popped into my head. But I wasn't really feeling the whole prank thing right now.

"Until later," I mumbled. Making sure I was a safe distance away and out of people's view, I felt the exciting thrill of my body morphing. This time I felt my limbs shrink and thin, and a tugging sensation flowed through my spine. Feather's began to materialize, and before I knew it the breeze had caught under my soft brown wings instead of my usual dark brown hair, and my small body, now a bird, was racing towards the sky. I felt a ginormous weight lift off the shoulder's of the creature, my shoulders, and then all too soon, I was flying home.

I really wish I didn't come home. The longing to be outside, in the cool air over the city of Las Vegas at night without a care in the world overpowered me, instead of being stuck in the office inside the lab sitting at the long table. Still, I sat through the never ending mission briefing. A new mission, one maybe without James.

My fingers tapped the sides of my chair, and it wasn't until Jacob shouldered me that I noticed. So I stopped. Then my socked feet began sliding back and forth across the carpet. This feeling wasn't new to me. I actually feel restless quite often, but usually I can control it better - not make it so noticeable. Tonight is awful, I can feel every nerve become electrified in my body, and suddenly the need to run became evident the more I tried to suppress it. The feeling, something that I usually force down, was beginning to sneak out.

I tried to listen to Jack and Donald, I really did. But my mind was elsewhere, far away in the gusts of wind, and I just couldn't focus. Bree, who sat on my other side, tapped my knee, and mouthed "Are you okay?"

Before I could reply, Donald's voice got my attention. "Ashley?"

I looked up, now seeing everyone staring at me, including Jack and Donald who were currently perched at a white board, drawing out plans and conclusions. My feet halted and the rest of my body froze. "What?" My voice cracked.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked, leaning forward. "You seem...distracted."

My left hand twitched. "Yeah. I'm just...worn out." Jack nodded, before continuing. I looked at James empty seat, and felt the knot tighten. This is just too weird. Then I looked at the occupied chair next to his, to see Chase quickly look away from my gaze. Adam sat across from me, and waved when he noticed I looked his way. I gave a quick smile.

"As I was saying..." I couldn't listen. Glancing down at my hand, I saw that it was shaking. Not enough for people to notice, but enough for me to feel it. My fingers felt like liquid glue when it is being squeezed out of the bottle. What's going on?! I tried shaking it out, but instead the feeling traveled up my arm. A pulling sensation tugged at my spine as the numbness spread to my heart, letting me feel each steady pump that now distributed this chilling liquid feeling throughout the rest of my body.

Oh. Oh no.

Suddenly I realised what was happening. It couldn't be possible, yet it was possible. I tried to stay passive on the outside, as I usually do on mission briefs. But the horror I felt was there, just under my skin and was waiting to burst out. I was starting to shift, on my own. Without thinking about it or giving my chip the heads up. I remember this happening only once, and that was when I was learning to use my abilities. I was two.

"This is normal - your body is getting used to the shift." Jack had told me as I laid on the examination table in his lab those many years ago. "Your bionics are very complicated, and need to be tended more so than James or Jacob's."

"Why?" My small voice resounded in my memory as the rest of my body started to tingle. I still remember the rueful smile he gave me before going back to fixing my chip.

"I will tell you one day. But not just yet." He sighed, and then finally he made his way over to me and ruffled my hair. "For now, learn to become your bionic." He then ushered me the machine he used to extract our chips and put it back in. I had been thinking back to those days a lot lately.

"What's wrong with you?" Jacob's low whisper scared me and I jumped up. My body was still getting ready to shift- but for some unknown reason, the process was being delayed. Put on slow-mo. I looked at him, and Jacob was giving me a worried look.

"What's going on?" Jack asked again. "Ashley I am trying to explain where you are going - sit down please."

"Where are we going?" I asked, confused. Jack's distressed sigh caught me off guard. "I'm sorry! I'm just not feeling well and-" My finger's were no longer fingers. Actually, I had no fingers. I had paws that were shrinking. Quickly hiding them in my jean pockets, I straightened myself.

"I was saying," Jack repeated. "You all are leaving on a mission in two days." He, too, glanced at the empty seat. "But without James. So we need you all to be focusing." I knew the last part was directed at me, but nothing went through to me after he said the date.

"Two days? As in, we leave on October thirtieth?"

"Yes," Donald announced. "We are going to spend all day tomorrow preparing."

I still wasn't hearing correctly. "I'm not going." I whispered. I can't go, in two days it's Dean's birthday party. It's his sixteenth birthday. Of course, 'Mr. Know-it-All' heard me. His gaze infuriated me as I felt my jaw tingle, and the bite of my canine's sharpen into my gums.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Chase asked. "Of course you're going. We need the whole team!"

"Technically we don't have a whole team." Adam pointed out. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on controlling my bionics. Nothing was working. It's like they had a mind of their own. Like they're resetting.

"It's Dean's birthday party. I can't miss it, please Jack." I begged. "Can't we leave the next day?"

Jack was about to say something, he looked astounded, but got interrupted by Chase. "Your kidding me, right? We might not get another chance to get these guys - and you want to put this mission at jeopardy because of a party?"

I looked back up at Chase to see him fuming. I understand that my request isn't important to them, but Chase seemed more angered by this then the others. I passed Jack reaction off as me resenting everything that I am because James was gone - and he knew I didn't want to end up like that. But Chase looked like a steam engine.

"Who's Dean?" Bree asked.

"One of Ashley's best friends." Jacob mumbled beside me.

"Oh," Bree said sheepishly, and I glanced over at her, but had to quickly avert my gaze to the floor as my eyesight flickered. I knew my eyes were changing, and I never realized how much it stung - I was so used to a quick shift, one second I'm a human, next thing I know I'm running with claws.

"Well," Bree began again. I could practically hear her blushing, (what was that about?) and I realised it was just my heightened senses. "Maybe we can go on our own." Even I laughed at that. Like they would let me stay when we were already one member short. Why do I even say anything? "We have always gone in groups of three, so it will be a breeze."

"It's not that simple Bree," Donald said. "This mission is different, we don't know what were up against. It would be better if you were all there -"

They all got into it. Donald trying to reason, but I could sense the tension rolling off his shoulders. Chase, clearly not in the mood to be my 'friend', was fighting with Bree about not encouraging this predicament (thanks dad) while Jacob sided with him (traitor). But I wasn't processing any of this. All I could think about was the pain that began to fill me, and that there was no way I was missing Dean's birthday.

Adam's voice, whom had been silent, was heard over the ruckus caused by my one small request. "Hey Ashley?"

"Yeah?" I rasped.

"What's wrong with your ears?"

Snapping my head upwards to face Adam, I choked out the dreaded question. "What do you mean?"

He leaned over and pointed. "They're getting pointy!"

And sure enough they were. I stood up abruptly, stopping everyone's conversation. "I need to go." I made my way around the chairs and to the door. If I'm going to shift, why won't it just happen?

"Ashley!" I turned around at the sound of Jack's stern voice. Through all of the commotion, he hadn't said a word. But I saw the set determination in his eyes, and there was no way that I was getting out of this mission. I didn't even know what the mission was!

"What?" I hissed, fed up. My teeth were cutting my jaw, which was to big for the animal, and I saw Jack flinch back from my stare. I couldn't help it. I needed to go, I need to find a way to fix this.

"You are going on that mission." He stated. "Dean, I'm sure, will understand if you tell him it's about James."

I was about to retort to his statement when I felt the last stage of the shift, and from there it took only a moment for the morphing to complete. I wasn't surprised when my bones curved and bent, sending me down on all fours. Though now a small cat, the swish of my tail and twitch of my ears were enough to make Chase turn around and look away. My eyes, now longer burning, flickered to Jack who stood in a fatherly pose. Donald was staring at me in wonder.

Turning around, my paws carried me out of the room, and I fled out of the lab, out of the training sector, and made my way to Jack's office. But before all of that, Chase's words rung through my ears.

"Does she care at all? Doesn't she know that this will help her brother?"

So there is the end of chapter 16! Again, sorry for the late update. I can't believe it's already August - I feel like I just got off of school!
R&R
~monkey87