Note: If the words are italicized it means either the character is thinking to him or herself, or Angel is speaking to someone with her mind.

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Chapter 1

(Fang's point of view)

"Max!" Fang yelled again.

The smoke was too much for him and he ended up collapsed on the ground, choking and coughing. He looked up, his vision clouded over with smoke, but he could still see a little and through the flames he saw a familiar figure. The figure seemed to face him then it fell and disappeared. Fang closed his eyes and passed out. The last thing he remembered was hearing his name being called over and over again and then hands grabbing him, and carrying him out of the flames.

2 years later

"Angel, report."

"I'm not picking up anything."

"What about you Iggy?"

"Nothing."

This couldn't be that easy. There had to be some sort of trap.

"Let's go in guys. Stay together. If we have to split up meet back here-"

"You mean 'base,'" The Gasman said.

Fang shot him a glance, "Watch your backs and be fully alert."

Everyone nodded, and one by one Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel spread out their wings and jumped off the cliff with Fang in the lead watching out for the slightest sign that something was wrong and they really shouldn't be there.

The building they were headed to leered in front of them. It wasn't very big. It probably had four or more floors, but it still brought that feeling of dread into the pit of Fang's stomach. He couldn't help but think the building had this familiar feeling to it, and with a shudder he realized it was almost an exact replica of the School. Almost. The School was still the worst place Fang had ever been. That, and they didn't really look that much alike.

They kept flying until a strong current lifted them higher into the air. They hovered above the building for a bit and then landed on the roof. Their feet gently pounded against the metal. Fang landed last and had to keep running to keep balance until the tip of his foot found the edge of the roof. He glanced down at the dry grass below him where dead plants and trees grew and suddenly he was glad they were in the middle of no where, just surrounded by a forest of trees, so five bird kids wouldn't have been seen flying so close to a building.

Fang backed up a few steps, then folded in his wings, and turned around to look at everyone else. They were arguring over something, but luckily they were doing it silently.

"I think a bomb would be the best way to get in," the Gasman said with a hint of excitement in his eyes at the prospect of being able to show off how fast he could make a bomb nowadays.

"No you idiot," Iggy said making the Gasman frown so he looked like the time when he was nine, Fang shook his head, that was two years ago. The Gasman was eleven years old now.

"We're trying to sneak in," Iggy said, "Not blow up the building so people 500 miles away hear us."

The Gasman's jaw set and he opened his mouth to say something, hopefully not some cuss word (not with Angel around), when they heard an angry hiss.

"Hey!" Nudge shouted quietly, "Your both idiots! Now help me lift this thing up!"

Nudge, who was kneeling on the middle of the roof, was trying to lift up a large piece of metal she had cut. Her magnetic skills were getting better and better. Not only could she attract metal, but she could manipulate it even more by cutting, say, a hole big enough for five bird kids to fit through. As long as they went one at a time.

"Great idea Nudge!" Angel exclaimed and jumped down first before Fang could suggest he go first.

"Yea," Fang said, "Good job Nudge."

She lost her scowl long enough to smile up at Fang and then went back to glaring at Iggy and the Gasman.

"This thing is heavy!" Gazzy exclaimed even though he and Iggy were strong for their ages.

"Just put it down somewhere!" Nudge said and jumped in after Angel.

Fang watched Iggy and Gazzy put the piece of metal down quietly and waited until they had jumped in after the girls until going down. He cast one more glance around him before he jumped in and darkness swallowed him up.

"Hey that's my foot!" Someone exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Someone yelled back, "I can't see! Can anyone find the lightswitch or something."

There was a silent click and Fang shileded his eyes away from the light until they finally adjusted. They were in some kind of attic. Across the room from where Fang had landed stood Angel whose hand was still on the light switch. Beside her stood a door with a small square window. Fang walked over and looked outside to see a hallway with other doors. No, they weren't in an attic. Fang looked around. Dust covered a computer and a desk along with boxes and boxes of who knows what, which Nudge happened to be digging through. They were in an empty office, or an abandoned one by the looks of it. But that couldn't be right.

Fang glanced back out the window partly hoping someone would walk by the door, but after a while no one did, and given the look Iggy gave him after straining to hear if someone was nearby, Fang knew there was probably no one there, and that something wrong. Just like when they found the address to the new Institute. Too easy. It had all been too easy, and that could only mean one thing.

"Trap?" Angel asked.

Fang looked at Angel, noticing how much older she looked now then when she was seven. They had all grown up so much in the last two years. They had learned a whole new kind of sadness.

Fang nodded.

Angel frowned, "I don't think we should leave yet," she said, "I want to see if the trip here hadn't been completely useless." She looked up at Fang, "Maybe we should look around some more."

"A computer would be useful," Nudge said still digging through some boxes along with Iggy and Gazzy, "I see all these files, but they're worthless compared to a computer and this one over here," Nudge said pointing to the dusty computer in the corner, "Doesn't even have a monitor."

Fang wasn't completely convinced that it was okay to look around, but Angel and Nudge thought it would help. There was a loud crash that made the old wooden floor vibrate a bit and Fang looked at Gazzy who stood behind a pile of boxes with their contents spilled all over the floor and a guilty expression on his face.

"Ok," Fang said, "We'll look around some more," He reached for the doorknob, "Hopefully no one heard us," Fang said glancing at Gazzy.

If there was anyone here, Fang added inside his head, but he opened the door anyway.

For a split second Fang had a flashback to when he had been tied up, bloody, and was being dragged down a hallway similar to this one. He shuddered inside.

"You'd think once you've escaped from somewhere you'd never see it again," Iggy said.

Everyone looked at him.

"Well in my case it's true," Iggy said looking down at the ground with his unseeing eyes.

Fang, feeling the need to comfort his friend (practically his brother) and wasn't sure how, reached over at patted him on the back.

"Don't worry," Fang said, "Your not missing out on anything right now."

The sound of a door's hinges creak made everyone jump up, but it was just Angel peering inside of a room. She glanced back at them.

"I think we should split up so we can get more done," Angel said.

Everyone looked at Fang, waiting for him to make the decision. To step up and be the leader he has to be ever since that day.

It had made him uncomfortable at first when everyone started coming to him with problems, looking up to him to do the right thing. There had never been a vote, not some kind of will saying if something happens Fang would be in charge, it was just expected. Iggy being the second oldest could have stepped up, but he was blind and needed help himself (plus he was very irresponsible according to the girls). Nudge wouldn't handle that kind of responsibility, she always needed an idol, someone to look up to and that had been...

Gazzy was pretty much a walking talking bomb, ready to go off at any second. And Angel, they all knew Angel couldn't be trusted with power. So it was Fang who became the leader even though sometimes he wished he wasn't.

"We could cover more ground that way," Gazzy added.

"We know how to take care of ourselves," Nudge said in an exasperated tone.

Because he was out numbered, Fang nodded.

"If we can, we'll meet on the first floor. If anything goes wrong get out and into the air as fast as possible. Angel will be able to communicate to all of us, so we'll be okay."

Everyone looked at him in silence then nodded their agreements and they split up into three groups. Nudge with Angel, Iggy with the Gasman, and Fang who was a group of one.

Fang watched them as they went their seperate ways then went down the stairs to the third floor.

It was quiet and he knew no one was here, so did everyone else, but they wanted to look around anyway. They wanted to see if they could find any information they could get. And Fang knew they wanted revenge on the people who had killed Max.

What he had told the flock was there was a notice in a newpaper he had found. All it contained was a picture and an address, and in the picture, all blurry were the words "Institute". He said he had been suspicious, and that he also wanted to have a look around like the other kids, so they located the Institute somewhere in Nevada, in the middle of a forest. Nobody knew how he really found out about the Institute. He knew right from the start something was wrong, but it was too late anyway.

Fang!

Fang jumped a little in surprise and was glad to be alone. He didn't want anyone to have seen that even he could be surprised. Of course he would never be able to hide that from a mind reader.

Fang, Nudge found a computer that works

"Where?" Fang asked outloud.

Second floor, third door on the left

Fang nodded, forgetting Angel wasn't actually there, then headed downstairs. As he walked down the stairs he saw a map of the building. He was right, there was only four floors, but around five undeground floors that Fang could not find an entrance to. He'd have to worry about that later. Right now he couldn't shake off this feeling of dread when he first saw the building.

When Fang finally found the right room, Iggy and Gazzy were already there. They all looked up when Fang came in, except Nudge, she was busy looking at the computer screen.

The room Fang had walked into was a computer lab. But it looked as if the only computer that worked was the one Nudge was working on because it was the one in the very middle of the room.

"I think I found something," Nudge said.

"Hurry," Fang said.

He couldn't describe it, but he felt like something was going to go wrong. Soon.

"Don't worry," Nudge said pulling out a pink flashdrive, "I'm going to put it all on here."

"Nudge," Angel said with fear in her eyes, "Hurry up!"

"Ok, ok," Nudge said, her finger flying across the keyboard even faster.

"Done!" Nudge exclaimed at the same time a new voice said, "Hello everybody."

Fang spun around, but it was too late. A large cage dropped on top of everyone making Nudge jump out of her chair as the metal bars threatened to land right on top of where she was sitting, cutting her off from the computer that blinked blue then shut down.

A black blanket was dropped on top of the cage shrouding them in complete darkness,which, in Fang's opinion, was pointless seeing as they had great eyesight even in the dark.

Out of habit, Fang counted heads to find that they were all there. Trapped inside the thing they dreaded the most.

At least we're all here, together

Angel's words echoed around in Fang's head.

"Not all of us," Fang whispered to himself.

Hope you liked the first chapter! Due to lack of time to write, next chapter comes out Sunday.

Again, Have a great new year! Happy New Years!