AN: Alright, guys, this is kind of a strange idea, but I decided to try it out. Tell me what you think! It's going to mostly be in Fang's POV, with Max's POV occasionally thrown in there.

I struggled against the three Erasers that were holding me. Nudge, Angel, Gazzy, and Iggy were struggling against there's too, looking so fierce. Is it wrong to say that that makes me proud? I was cut off as we approached another Eraser, who was holding open a door.

She looked different from the other Erasers. She was shorter than me, about 5'8'', and she had dirty blond hair. Her eyes were a brown like melted chocolate, and she looked bored. Huh. Usually Erasers looked like little kids on Christmas whenever they got a chance at us. Her features had the same feral look to it that the other Erasers had, but at the same time, she seemed different.

She let the others drag us into the room and throw us into cages. "Watch over them, Max. If they try to escape, take them out." a whitecoat said. Nice to know that we're not expendable.

"Whatever you say, captain." Max said sarcastically, mock-saluting him. Then she rolled her eyes. She sat next to my cage idly.

"Get away from me." I growled at her. She rolled her eyes, not threatened by me at all. Which was weird. Usually, people cowered away from my death glare.

"Relax." she said casually. "They're only going to keep you here until they get rid of your expiration dates." She leaned back against my cage.

"They can do that?" I asked, shocked.

Max shrugged. "They give you a shot and it takes the expiration date out of your genes. I don't know the exact science of it." She looked at me over her shoulder, studying me carefully. "You guys are the flock, right?"

My head snapped up. "How do you know that?"

She smirked. "Everyone knows you guys." she said. "You're heroes around this place for a lot of the experiments. Gives them hope that they'll escape one day too."

"Why are you telling us all this? Doesn't this place have hidden microphones or cameras? And what are they going to do with us after they take our expiration dates away?" I demanded. I know it's a lot for me to say, but someone had to ask.

She smirked, still looking at me from over her shoulder. "You're in one of the smaller and less funded branches of the School. It has crappy security. But this School is the only place that has the serum to get rid of the expiration dates so far, since it was just recently discovered here. They don't have enough of the serum yet to ship it off to the other Schools. So they sent you here, and they're going to transfer you afterwards. As to why I'm telling you this, it's because I'm going to help you out as soon as they get rid of the dates." she said.

"What?" we all shouted.

"Keep it down!" Max hissed, giving us a stern look. "They might not have a great security, but that doesn't mean they're deaf! And, yes, I'm going to help you."

"Why?" Angel asked all innocently. "I mean, Erasers hate us."

"Well, that's not exactly true. We have a natural bloodlust. But, unlike the others, I'm not the whitecoats' little lapdog. I do my own thing. And, luckily for you, I decided that I want to help the famous flock break out of a little situation." Max said, grinning at her. It was feral, but…nice, in a way. Geez, those Erasers must've hit me harder than I thought.

"Besides, between me and you, I'm not totally an Eraser. I'm a human-lupine-avian hybrid. Try saying that ten times fast." Max added.

"So…you have wings? Like us?" Gazzy asked.

Max nodded. She leaned forward and extended her wings, showing us. I had to admit, they looked pretty awesome. It was so strange. An Eraser trying to help us.

"I still don't trust you." Iggy said.

"Neither do I." I agreed.

"Understandable." she murmured. "After all, I am part Eraser."

"Besides, Jeb told us that everything was a test. And it would suck if you were acting like you wanted to help us, but then you ended up just testing us. And plus, we'd be really, really mad, and…" Nudge said, going off into this whole rant.

Max raised an eyebrow at her. "Nudge, right?" she asked, pointing at her. Nudge nodded. "Yeah, let's keep the rants to a minimum right now." she said.

She moved to lean against an empty cage beside me, so she could look at all of us. "So, good ol' dad gave you the 'everything is a test' speech too, huh?" I asked.

My eyes widened. "Jeb's your dad?" Iggy asked. The others jaws were pretty much on the floor right now.

"Yep. Good old daddy dearest. Too bad I hate the guy's guts. As for the test thing, he told me the same thing when I was about Angel's age. He's drilled it into me ever since. This isn't some kind of test though. I can help you, but you guys are going to have to trust me. They give you the shots in about an hour. Then they're going to move you tomorrow. But I need to know that you guys will trust me, and do what I tell you to do." Max said. She was serious now.

"I think we should listen to her, Fang. She's not lying." Angel said. "She's even letting me read her thoughts now. She didn't let me do that before."

"So," Iggy said in his cocky voice, "are we your heroes too?" he asked Max.

Max cracked up. "No." she said. "I don't need a hero. I'm old enough to know that if you want something done, you have to go out there and do it yourself. Not wait for some guy in stretchy tights to do it for you."

We sat there, the others talking with Max, for about an hour. She wouldn't talk about her past, and she didn't say much about her abilities. It was strange. She seemed like she was really open, but she was actually very closed off and mysterious. I kind of wanted to know more about her. She was definitely an interesting girl.

True to her word, the whitecoats came in an hour later, pushing a cart with five shots on it, as well as some other stuff. "Take out the dark haired one. The boy." one of them said, pointing to me.

Max rolled her eyes, but obediently opened the door and dragged me out. Damn, she was strong! She firmly held my hands behind my back. "It's going to hurt," she said in my ear, low enough so the whitecoats wouldn't hear, "but it really is for the better. Just hang in there."

I nodded. One of the whitecoats stepped forward and jammed the shot into my arm. The pain was excruciating. It felt like I was being flayed alive. My knees buckled, and I would've collapsed if it hadn't been for Max holding me up. I barely registered the reassurances she was mumbling in my ear.

Slowly, so freaking slowly, the pain subsided. It wasn't until my breathing evened out that the whitecoats ordered Max to put me back into my cage. Then she grabbed Iggy. I immediately tensed. I didn't want him to go through that. They couldn't put the rest of the flock through that.

I looked over at Max. She was grimacing, like she didn't want to watch this. Like she knew what this pain was like. She met my eyes for a split second and gave me a sympathetic look. The same whitecoat jammed a shot into Iggy's arm, and I watched as he convulsed and groaned. Max was murmuring reassurances to him too, her lips barely moving. The whitecoats couldn't even tell.

This happened with all of the flock. One of the whitecoats stayed behind, while the others left. "So, Maximum, when did you get so close with these experiments?" the whitecoat asked.

"What'd you mean, Mark?" she asked.

"I mean that you seem very close to them. You know, I'm thinking of transferring you to another unit." Mark said. I saw dismay enter the rest of the flock's eyes. If Max was transferred, she couldn't help us. And we needed all the help we could to get out of here.

"Close? To these scumbags? What kind of crack are you smoking?" Max asked. She kicked over Nudge's cage, a murderous look in her eyes. She grinned wickedly at Mark, then moved it to Nudge. "I can't wait to sink my teeth in them."

Mark looked alarmed. He press a button from a remote he pulled out. Electric shocks went through Max's body. Her hands flew up to her neck, grabbing a collar that I hadn't seen before. Max snarled at Mark, her face twisted in pain for only a split second before it went blank.

"Maximum! You will leave these subjects alone! They're–"

"–very important for research. Yeah, yeah, I know." Max said, shooting a disappointed look in Nudge's direction. Mark nodded and turned, but I saw Max's hand shoot out and grab something as he walked by her. Mark didn't notice.

"You better behave yourself, Maximum. You don't want to be put in the isolation tank again, do you?" Mark asked her, half way out the door.

"No, sir." Max replied.

"What the hell?" Iggy hissed as soon as the guy had closed the door. "I thought you were on our side!"

"I am." Max replied. She sat down, leaning against the empty cage again. She rubbed her neck, wincing slightly.

"Are you okay?" Gazzy asked worriedly. "What's that collar?"

"This collar shoots electricity through the person wearing it, in very painful doses. It's like a tasser that someone can activate at the push of a button." Max replied.

"Well, what was up with that little stunt of yours? You scared me!" Nudge exclaimed, really mad.

Max shrugged. "I had to make him think that I didn't like you guys, or else he would transfer me. Then you wouldn't get out of here." she said. "Plus, I took the opportunity to steal the key to this collar. Now, when we bust out of here, they can't track me with the collar." she said.

Angel was watching Max with sad eyes. "You knew you were going to get shocked. But you did that anyways, for us." she said knowingly.

Max looked over at Angel. "It's rude to read another person's thoughts, my little mind-reader." she said in an almost motherly tone. "A person's mind is their private sanctuary. It's the only place they can think and act freely without others judging them. A person's thoughts are private, and you shouldn't read them unless you are given permission." Her voice was stern, but strangely caring at the same time.

"Okay Max." Angel said, looking a little guilty.

"So, we bust out of here tomorrow?" I asked her. I was ready to get out of here. I needed to get out of here. The cages were making my claustrophobia work in overdrive.

She nodded. "I'll let you in on the plan tomorrow morning before the whitecoats come. Right now, you all need to get some sleep. I'll keep watch." she said. "I'll wake you up if someone comes in."

"Yeah right. Like I'd trust you to watch our backs." I said, rolling my eyes.

Max rolled her eyes right back at me. "You're going to have to trust me tomorrow. Why not start tonight? Just get some sleep. I'm not in the mood to argue with you, because I just got 150,000 volts of electricity through my body. So shut up and get some sleep." she said, glaring at me. Geez, and I thought my death glare was scary. Hers was terrifying. I finally consented, but still didn't fall asleep for about two hours. This was going to take some work. I still couldn't get over my you can't trust Erasers mindset.

Then again, you can't really blame me.

AN: Okay, so I know it's a weird idea, but just give it a chance. Review, and tell me what you think, and what I need to improve on. Thanks!