Welcome back to another chapter! Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or any of its characters.

Claimer: I own the plot.

Chapter 7

Fang was cursing silently in his head as Star once again squealed as a rat crossed her path.

"They just had to put this science lab in the sewers, didn't they?" she asked, her voice bordering hysterical and the next octave up. "I mean, couldn't they just put it in, like, a regular building and call it quits?"

Fang sighed and shook his head. "It was for security reasons," he replied. "They didn't want a building landlord to come and kick them out for illegal experimentation on human subjects."

Ratchet rolled his eyes. "Suuuurre," he said sarcastically. "Okay. Let's go with that. And how would you happen to know all this, Boss?"

Fang almost stopped cold, but caught himself. Maya shot him a questioning glance. There were a few moments of silence before Fang answered, "It's a long story."

"We've got time," said Kate, who was holding on to Ratchet's jacket for dear life. She didn't seem bothered by the rats. Just the gunk that coated the walls.

Fang thought for a moment. "Five years ago, the whitecoats, the scientists that worked for the School, the place where we grew up, were going to put a mutant in the School Yard or the Arena.

"The School Yard was were they had Erasers, half-men, half-wolves, chase down their prey and tear it limb from limb to train them. The Arena was where they'd pit mutants against each other to find out which recombinants were the strongest.

"I got angry and spoke out of turn. They got mad at me and told me I had two choices. I chose the second one. The second one allowed me to do things that normal mutants couldn't do. I stumbled across some info on the Institute and found out that they kept it underground for the reasons I just told you."

"I'm guessing that they had to find a different mutant to put in the School Yard or Arena," Holden said thoughtfully, keeping his eyes locked on where he was stepping.

Fang felt guilt quell up in his mind, taking over his body. It's my fault she's dead. It's my fault that this is happening. "Yes," he answered slowly. "The mutant they chose was a Gen. 53. A human/cat hybrid. She was an old friend of ours. 'Ours' meaning the flock."

They nodded, but didn't press him any further. They were silent for a while.

About twenty minutes later—it was really hard to tell—they reached the almost-invisible door that led to the Institute. Fang tried to open the door, but it was still locked, like it had been the first time.

"I got this," Ratchet said, brushing by Fang. He picked at the lock for five minutes—an eternity compared to the three minute record set by Iggy—before he managed to get it open.

Fang let everyone go in first before he did. Just before he crossed the threshold, he glanced back. He could see Max there, fighting with a fully-morphed Ari. He could see Ari slipping, trying to keep up with Max's fast, unpredictable movements. He saw her take him down. Ari's neck hit the floor with a sharp, nauseating Crack!

Fang blinked, and the image was gone. He made a mental note to never come back to New York if it meant getting weird visions from the past.

As they made their way down the dark, dank stairway, Kate asked, "Don't these people have safety regulations? There's no railing!"

The others chuckled. There was no sense arguing with her there.

When they started to reach the bottom of the stairs, Fang said to Ratchet, "There's a door five feet in front of you. It's unlocked."

Ratchet snorted and said sarcastically, "No shit Sherlock. I have eyes you know. I can see."

Fang rolled his own eyes. At least he was never far from sarcasm. First Selene, then Max, and now Ratchet. What was it about his personality that drew sarcastic people to him like a magnet?

Kate opened the door tentatively, like she didn't know what would be behind the door: the Boogey Man or Chuck Norris?

When they were inside, the others almost seemed to sigh as their feet sank into plush carpet. But Fang knew better. It seemed enticing, but once you were inside, you were subject to the horrors of science.

"Be on guard," Fang whispered, his muscles tense. He could sense something—several somethings—in the building. And not just humans.

His gang nodded and spread out. Maya went to the computers and started to hack one of them. It was her job to get any info out of this place that might relate to Doomsday Group.

Fang went to one wall, where there was a door that could be opened by pressing a small button. He knew that this door led to the holding room for experiments. It had been where they'd found Total.

The door slid open with a quiet hiss! Fang felt chills tingle up his arms through his jacket. His senses widened to take in the entire scene. He could hear Kate and Star almost silently rustling papers as they looked through file cabinets. He could feel the vibrations in the floor as Ratchet walked around, clicking random computer mice to see if any would turn on. He could smell Maya's scent, so much like Max's…

Fang blinked and shook his head. He needed to focus.

He walked into the room. Cages were still stacked three high in neat rows, which were twelve cages long. As he wandered through, he couldn't help but cough quietly in protest as the sickly sweet smell of decay assaulted his nose.

Following the smell, he soon found himself in front of a cage with two dead bodies of children.

They couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old. Their skin was deathly pale, their lips an unsightly shade of pale blue. Their eyes were open, expressing some form of fear that must have stayed with them when they died. They were dressed in white pants and shirts, something Fang was all-too familiar with from his days living at the School.

The part that scared him the most was that they had wings. The girl had silvery-grey wings with white freckles. The boy had dark tawny wings with black streaks in the secondary feathers.

Fang opened the cage and pulled the two kids out. He checked the backs of their necks for expirations dates. They had none. He felt them for potential injuries, but they had none. They looked perfectly healthy, and they couldn't possibly have caught any diseases; they were in a science lab after all, and the scientists wouldn't let their experiments even catch the common cold. Cancer was out of the question—they had no signs of tumors or cancer treatments.

So what had killed them?

Just then he turned over the arm of the girl and saw something truly horrifying:

Branded onto the inside of the girl's left wrist, about two centimeters short of where her wrist met her hand, were the Greek letters ΔΓ. They were also branded onto the same spot on the boy's arm. Who had done this? And why?

Just then, Maya walked in. "Fang?" she said softly. "We've got some files. You ready to leave?" Fang didn't answer, because he was still musing over what could have possibly killed these kids.

"Fang?" Maya asked. He heard her footsteps approach. When she was close enough to see the two bird kids, she gasped. "Oh, my God!"

Fang looked at her. There were the beginnings of tears in her eyes. One hand covered her mouth, obviously trying to hide her shock. "I don't think they were gassed," he told her. "They would be elsewhere."

She nodded, but still seemed greatly disturbed by the bodies. "Look," she whispered. "We have to go. I found some files that I think might be in relation to the DG. And if we don't leave now, someone's bound to find us."

Fang nodded, stood, and followed Maya out of the room.

But one thing still nagged at the back of his mind as they made their way through the sewers back into the light and fresh air: What had killed those kids? And why?

But more importantly: What was with those brandings and what did they mean?

*smirks* Anybody who can tell me the clue that Fang's gang found gets free cookies with Fang's face on them.

Fang: Hey!

Me: *laughs* Is everybody totally amped for the final Harry Potter movie? I know I am! And I'm SOOOO jealous of turtlelover0511 because she got tickets for the MIDNIGHT SHOWING! (Lucky.) Also, check out our (meaning a friend of mine and myself) page on Facebook! I don't remember what it's called (oops) but it has something to do with Harry Potter books being better than the movies. The picture is of the snitch and the Harry Potter insignia (HP). Check it out!

And remember to review! Please!

-A$h