Heya there peeps.

Sooo, I know I should be finishing "The Rider Family Luck", but I've kinda hit a large case of writer's block for that story. Sorry, but it might take a while for me to update that one. I feel so unaccomplished for not finishing that one yet (T.T) But here is a sudden idea baby of mine.

Enjoi.

Max POV

Family.

If you ask someone, maybe some random person you came across on the street, what the definition of 'family' was, they'd probably say something along the lines of 'a group of persons who share a common ancestry'. In other words, people who are related through blood.

But there is another definition. 'A group of close people familiar with one another; more than just simple friends'. This definition would apply to my family. A band of crazy, abnormal bird kids whom really only have each other. We are not related by blood nor ancestry (except Angel and Gazzy), but we do share a bond. We have been through so much together, and I'd do anything to protect my family.

Anything applies to, well, everything.

You see, our expiration dates have appeared. The day we are scheduled to die, tattooed onto our necks. It scares us. It first appeared on me, then Fang, then Iggy, and so on. Oldest to the youngest, biggest to smallest, a countdown for our deaths.

I couldn't let them die.

We don't know how to remove them. We don't know how to slow it down. We don't even know if they were real or not, something engineered to scare or immobilize us. We've tried everything, and none of our methods worked. Desperation was all we were running on now.

So, here we were, all six of my flock, standing in a hallway of the Death Valley School, surrounded by Eraser guards escorting us to the Director. That's right, escorting, not attacking. Why, you ask, are we here at the place that caused us so much pain? It's because only the people that put those expiration dates on our necks could remove them. As I said before, we've become desperate.

"Are you sure we need to ask them for help? What if they just trick us again?" Iggy asked angrily.

"Iggy, we've already had this conversation." Fang said in an exasperated tone. He was tired. We were all tired.

"Well, I'm not exactly happy about asking our arch enemies for help." Damn, I was tired of his whining.

"None of us are!" I suddenly yelled. " But what else do you suggest? We've tried EVERYTHING Iggy! Do YOU suddenly have the solution? No? I didn't think so!"

There was a silence after my outburst. These past weeks haven't exactly been very kind to me.

I sighed. "Look, I just don't want any of you to die. We're family, and families stick together. I'm sorry, but this is the only way." God, I feel so damn defeated.

The rough, throaty voice of an Eraser interrupted our conversation. "The new Director will see you now, little birdies"

This Director was a different one. He was a lightly built man, naturally built I could tell. Those weren't fake, artificially made muscles I saw. He also had white hair, but his face wasn't even that old. Yeah, this Director was different.

And now he was just staring at us with those beady black eyes of his.

"Are you the new Director?" Gazzy innocently asked, breaking the suffocating silence.

The man's facial expression abruptly changed from stoic to heartwarming, the kind of face that a father or grandfather would use to children. He then let out an equally heartwarming laugh.

"Oh child, I am not the new Director" I could see the laugh lines in the edges of his eyes deepen. What was a man like him doing here, where all the stone cold scientists go to nest? I'm sorry, but he did NOT belong here.

"Then who are you?" That was Angel. I could confusion in her eyes, which probably meant that she couldn't read his mind.

"I am THE Director, Angel dear. I've owned Itex for years now, grew it from the ground with my blood, sweat, and tears. Those other 'Directors' you've met were only people who were meant to act as my substitute should I be gone. And, I have been gone, for some time now. Family issues don't resolve themselves now do they? If they were the real Directors, they would've ran this company to the ground already."

"Look, as much as I'd like to hear about your family issues and how much those other Directors sucked testicles, I'd like to talk about more life threatening matters". I really just wanted to get to point now. This man was the leader of our enemies and I wasn't just going to let him off the hook for being a little nice to us.

"Ah, yes. Your expiration dates." I wasn't surprised he already knew. He wouldn't be the head of an evil scientist corporation if he didn't know something like one of his experiments exact time of death, now would he?

"Yes. We want them removed as soon as possible. We've tried everything, but we know only you and your horde of evil scientists know how to take them off." Grrrr… That really hurt to say.

A silence. Then he smiled that charming smile.

"Is that all?"

I was shocked. He made it sound like I was just a little kid asking for a cookie. Like what I was asking for was as simple as that. I oh so very much wish it was.

"Yeeaah, I think that's all. But by the way you said it, there's a catch, isn't there?"

"Oh, its nothing as inhuman as performing more lab tests on you six. By the angel, how much you've already had of that." Whaaattt? I was prepared for a butt load of lab tests. How was this man THE Director?

"Then what do you want us to do, if not run tests on us? That's what you always seem to do to us." Fang suspiciously asked.

At this, THE Director's expression turned grim. "Before I tell you that, there is something you need to know about this world, something that you need to know to be able to complete your compensation. "

"There's MORE to this world than crazy scientists and mutant bird kids?" Iggy exclaimed.

"Do get serious about this, children. Please, sit. I need to tell you about an even more dangerous side of the world, a world more dangerous than the science world. The world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders."