Searching for You

A Different Kind of Test

I was in the Davenports' lab, which was fine. I'd been in there before, after all. It was why I was in there that made me nervous.

Mr. Davenport was rummaging in his stuff across the room at one of the many desks and I was sitting on one of the swivel stools next to the holo-desk where they went over their missions. Chase was sitting in the one to my right, his arm propped on it as he leaned back. He was drumming his fingertips on the surface impatiently.

Adam, Bree and Leo were standing off to the side, waiting expectantly. They had all come down for a show. I know they did. It was just supposed to be me, Chase and Mr. Davenport down there, but when they heard that I was going to get tested for stuff they came barreling in after us, almost tripping over each other twice.

Bree was chewing her thumb nail and Leo was swaying back and forth a bit. Adam was . . . I don't know what Adam was doing. He had his head bopping like he was listening to music, but at the same time his eyes were darting around and he was beat boxing too. I don't think I'll ever understand what's going on in his head.

Mr. Davenport came trudging over to me, holding up some sort of scanning device.

"When I say 'go', I want you to transform," he explained. "I'll scan you with this while you transform to try to figure out where the source is coming from."

I nodded. "How does it work?"

"It tracks the electrical currents outputted from the bionic chip," Chase explained, tapping the back of his neck.

"I don't have bionics."

"You think you don't," Mr. Davenport continued. "But there is a possibility you do. A different type of chip that doesn't require a capsule like Adam, Bree and Chase's. I'm not sure how that would work, but we need to rule out every single possibility."

I pursed my lips, biting back my response. I knew for a fact I didn't have bionics. I knew because my dad was just like me, according to my mom. He could do things too. Things like me. If I inherited it from my dad, there was no possible way I could have a bionic chip.

But I didn't want to tell them that. It felt too personal.

Instead, I waited for Mr. Davenport to give me the okay and I shifted into my tiger form. My heart was pounding at my nerves. While it was true I didn't have a chip, I wasn't sure what else the scanner would find when I shifted.

Mr. Davenport's brow scrunched. "Odd."

"What's odd?" Bree asked, her voice rising in volume. She was nervous too.

Chase jumped up and walked over to his dad, peering at the screen. He drew his eyebrows together and looked up at everyone.

"There wasn't a single reading."

Adam, Bree and Leo all looked at each other in confusion and Chase and I held each other's gazes. No bionics. Of course I knew that. But something about them finding out carried more weight than I thought it would. I got more scared.

Mr. Davenport sighed and put the scanner back where he found it. He turned back around to face me and placed his hands on his hips.

"Are you okay with a blood test?" he asked.

I recoiled slightly. A blood test? I hate needles! The thought of something sticking into me always messed with me. And that was one of the reasons I didn't want to tell them in the first place. I had half a mind to run out of there right then.

Chase smiled slightly. "Not a big fan of needles?"

I shook my head, looking at my fur-covered hands and picking at my claws, embarrassed. I didn't want to look like a baby to them.

Chase returned to his spot beside me and took my hand reassuringly. "I'll be right here, okay? Squeeze my hand as hard as you want to."

I smiled slightly. "Let me shift back first. I don't want to break your hand."

I returned to my normal form and gripped his hand tightly as Mr. Davenport approached with the needle. Bree rushed up to me and put her hand on my shoulder as well. Having them there made me feel so much better, even if it was just a small gesture they were giving me.

I inhaled sharpy and so did Chase, as I was squeezing his hand harder. Bree started rubbing my back and I felt a sharp pain in my left arm.

Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it . . .

"Done."

I opened my eyes and saw Mr. Davenport holding up a full syringe of my own blood as he dabbed the spot where he stuck me with a cotton ball. A small dot of red came away with the material when he pulled it off and threw it in the trash.

"It will take a while for the results to come back," Chase explained. "But, at least we have something to go off of right now."

I nodded, letting go of Chase's hand and rubbing my forearm where I was stuck. "When will they be available?"

"About a week or two, depending on how the DNA responds to the individual tests Mr. Davenport puts it through."

"Alright sounds good."

"Can we arm wrestle?"

Everyone turned to look at the source of the question: Adam. He had his arms crossed and was grinning.

"What?" Leo asked. "Why do you want to arm wrestle Abby?"

"I want to see who's really stronger out of the two of us," Adam explained. "I've seen you use super strength, so I'm curious. How good is it?"

I looked around at everyone, unsure of what to do. I knew Adam would beat me, my super strength wasn't nearly as strong as his. Surely he knew that . . . right?

Nevertheless, I shrugged and walked over to the other side of the table. Adam followed and stood across from me, bending down and propping his elbow on the surface. Now or never, I guess.

I copied him and grabbed his hand, shifting back into my tiger form. Everyone else gathered around to watch, Mr. Davenport taking out his notepad to write his observations. I blushed slightly when Chase stood right behind me, peering over my shoulder. He really didn't have to stand that close.

Leo stood between us, his hand up. "One . . . two . . . three!"

Adam and I both flexed our muscles at the same time, straining against each other. I could feel his super strength instantly and fought against it, my forehead immediately breaking out into a sweat. He didn't look too bothered by it. He actually looked kinda surprised. I started gaining ground, his arm beginning to move down toward the table. Confidence started to swell within me and I started to push harder.

And that was when he started trying.

My arm slammed against the table, fire shooting up it as the pain kicked in. I sucked in through my teeth, yanking my arm away from him and massaging my forearm. It ached so badly.

"Well, Adam won," Chase observed. "I'm not really shocked, though, to be honest."

"Yeah, me neither," I admitted. I knew he would win all along.

"Really?" Adam asked, glancing back and forth between us. "Because I was shocked."

We all gaped at him. He was surprised he won? How on earth did that make sense? Adam beat everyone in an arm wrestle.

"What the heck are you talking about, Adam?" Bree wondered aloud.

Adam shrugged. "Well, I'm not surprised I won, but I am surprised at how much I had to try."

"What?" I asked.

"You actually made me try a lot harder than usual. I mean, I wasn't straining or anything, but I was definitely getting a workout."

Everyone was staring at me. Mr. Davenport was calmly writing away on his notepad, pen scratching on the paper steadily. I was just standing there in shock.

I had actually made the strongest man in the world try to beat someone in an arm wrestle. I didn't know whether to be proud . . .

. . . or absolutely scared of myself.