Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or Lab Rats.

A/N: Part of the story and the title were inspired by the song "How Many Times" by Mushroomhead.

Spoilers for season 3.

Un-beta'd

Douglas grimaced as he looked around the large, almost bare room. Sure, staying in his brother's guest room had its perks but that's all he'd ever be, a guest. He thought back on the choices he made in life knowing he deserved it though. It was his own fault he ruined his brother's life more than once and tried to tear his family apart. Sometimes he wished Donald would just cave in and treat him like a brother again instead of a stranger.

Over the passing months their relationship had gotten better but it still felt strained. Even his relationship with Leo seemed better than those with the rest of the Davenport family. He shook himself and decided to focus on the now and present. He lifted his duffel thinking it was pathetic how his life fit in one bag whereas before he needed a whole collection of luggage just for his day clothes.

'Oh, how the mighty have fallen.'

Douglas made his way through the house and down the stairs. He knew he'd miss the sound of laughter and his brother's eccentricities but he tried not to dwell on that. It would just make it harder to leave. He's almost out the front door before someone called him.

"Douglas? Are you leaving?"

He turned to see Leo looking at him strangely.

"More importantly what are you wearing?"

Douglas admitted he looked like an idiot with his wannabe beach bum attire but it was part of the plan. He was just glad it was Leo and not someone else that caught him.

He smiled, slipping off his sunglasses, "A friend invited me to join her on a cruise to the Caribbean and I thought I'd let her treat me."

"So," Leo grinned, "finally fell into Principal Perry's web of pant suits?"

Douglas recoiled, "No!"

"Yeah, yeah," the boy waved him away, "how long are you going to be on this cruise with your lady friend?"

"It's a four day cruise," he ignored Leo's smile, "I'm on my way to the airport right now and if my flight's on time I'll be there before the ship boards tomorrow. After all the drama these past few months I think I deserve it. See you in a few!"

He was out the door with his bag over his shoulder when Leo yelled for him to wait.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to everyone?"

Douglas deflated a little before he replied, "It's not like I won't come back. Besides, they're all busy right now. I heard their handler finally gave the kids a week off so they should enjoy it without having to worry about me."

"Alright," Leo made a face, not quite believing him.

"Here," Douglas took off his watch, "I'd hate to lose it while I'm out having fun. Be careful with it, alright?

"Whoa! What does it do? Does it shoot lasers or-"

"No," Douglas rolled his eyes, "It's just a watch. It was a gift from Donnie when we were kids so take care of it. Tell the others I'm sorry I didn't say bye in person. Take care of everyone while I'm gone."

The sound of a car honking impatiently at the end of the driveway ruined the moment. With his free hand Douglas patted the boy on the shoulder before walking away. By the time he closed the car door Leo already had the watch around his wrist and was waving goodbye.

Nobody mentioned Douglas' name until after dinner. They all knew he had a tendency to get caught up in the lab like Davenport. More than once they'd felt his wrath for being disturbed during one of his 'genius' moments so they figured they'd leave him be.

However, Leo told them he wasn't in the lab and recounted the story Douglas told him of a mystery woman and a cruise. Donald sighed because he hoped his brother stayed out of trouble while traveling. The last thing he needed was another call from jail. He didn't want another Mardi Gras incident.

-o-

Davenport questioned Leo at the beginning of the second week.

"He said the cruise would last four days but he didn't give me a specific date on when he'd be back."

-o-

By the end of the third week Donald started getting antsy. He dug for information, anything that would show him Douglas' location. He scowled when he saw there were no flights from the closest airport heading to Florida the day his brother left. Another quick search also revealed there weren't any scheduled trips to the Caribbean until the following month by any of the major cruise lines. He hacked all the security cameras in the area hoping one of them caught sight of where his brother was headed.

-o-

Almost two months had passed and no word from Douglas.

Leo fingered the watch guiltily thinking it was his fault for letting the man leave before questioning him more. He fidgeted as he stared at Chase from the doorway feeling a twinge of anxiousness crawl through him. Chase was on his hundredth scan of Douglas' room. He painstakingly searched the room from one wall to the other in case Douglas left anything behind.

-o-

Time seemed to speed up.

Davenport felt his gut clench as the months piled up and they still hadn't found anything.

-o-

"Big D!"

Donald ignored the yelling.

"Big D! It's about Douglas!"

Donald tripped and almost knocked his chair over in his haste. He ran to Leo already seeing the others crowded around him in confusion. Leo handed him the watch he'd been wearing since Douglas' disappearance.

"The time stopped and I was trying to fix it. When I moved this," the boy twisted the button on the side, "this came out."

Everyone stared in awe as the watch opened to reveal a blinking blue chip. They scrambled to the lab, staring nervously as Chase and Donald worked on the encrypted chip. Tasha didn't have the heart to make the others go to school that day with all the stress so they stayed home.

After several days they finally removed the firewalls and gained access to the hidden files. Davenport's eyes widen when he saw all the information his brother kept when he created Adam, Bree, and Chase. He awed at the degree of meticulous step by step planning Douglas went through to create their bionics. He squinted trying to read the side notes and memos scrawled on the edges of blueprints pointing out flaws and improvements. Near the end there was even a list of bionics each chip contained, some of which aren't accessible due to young age.

A few files contained collections of weapons and hideouts stashed around the world. One marked as 'Classified' had a list of well-known criminals Douglas worked with in the past followed by blackmail for each as a precaution.

"Mr. Davenport?" Chase looked uncertain, "Some of these files have voice recordings."

Chase brought them up with a flick of a wrist. He pointed at the time stamp in the corner.

"They were recorded after he left the mansion."

Donald searched deeper until he was able to find the coordinates from where Douglas was sending the voice recordings. He frowned at the erratic travel pattern and wondered what the hell was going on.

"What's that?"

Davenport followed Leo's finger to where he pointed at a screen. The last signal was headed to their doorstep. It was a frenzy as everyone rushed upstairs to see who could reach the front door first. When they opened it they found a small brown package. Adam picked it up without a second thought and even shook it out of curiosity.

Donald took it from him and motioned for Chase to be ready with a force field. After the wrappings were removed he carefully lifted the top before feeling faint. His stomach churned and his eyes swelled with tears. He barely heard the others question him and he tried his best to compose himself. He closed the box containing the crushed watch identical to the one Leo wore.