A/N: wow...this took a while to get up didn't it? Sorry about the wait. Enjoy!

The Riddlyr

Chapter Twenty

"This is our secret weapon?"

Rail folded his arms in front of him, his brow pulling together as he examined the hulking Eraser collapsed against the wall away from the crowd. Jackal shifted nervously to his other foot, nodding as the Eraser stared up at them blankly from the floor.

Rail ran a hand over the back of his neck, "…okay?"

Jackal shook his head vigorously, "No, you don't understand. This is Rath…he was the one assigned to track down Nero at the start. Something went wrong…Jeb wasn't happy so he pretty much destroyed most of his brain. He's been down here since before me…all he does is sit there."

Rail shook his head, "And this helps us how?"

"Rath isn't just an Eraser," Jackal explained, his voice dropping several notches, "he's an ex-dealer. An elite soldier…"

Rath groaned and lolled his head against his other shoulder.

Jackal shrugged sheepishly, "…at least…he was at one point."

Rail shrugged, "I'm still not getting how he can help us reach the vents."

Excitedly, Jackal held up his hand, wiggling his fingers in Rail's face with a wolfish grin on his lips. "He's an ex-dealer, Rail…claws like diamonds. He can dig through anything…it's just a matter of getting him to put his muscles to work."

Rail nodded slowly, finally understanding. With Rath's half-minded help, they could dig a tunnel through the walls of the cell and break into the abandoned ventilation system running throughout Itex. As long the shafts remained unsupervised…it would be a straight shot to freedom.

"Brilliant," Rail grinned, turning to face Jackal, "…do these vents run passed the upper levels of Itex?"

Jackal shrugged, "Probably…why? It's not like there's anything up there that we need…" his sentence faded as he caught the look in Rail's eye. Jackal shook his head, pressing his lips into a thin line, "No. No. No way, Rail. You're thinking about going back for Nero, aren't you? It won't work…you'll just get caught and ruin everything!"

"We can't just leave him," Rail bristled, anger blooming in his chest.

Fang's iron grip fastened around his shoulder, spinning him around until their faces were just inches apart. "He's right," Fang said in a low voice, "we can't go back for him. Not only because we might risk getting caught…but also…Nero isn't one of us anymore."

Rail shook his hand away, gritting his teeth to stop the flow of reckless thoughts buzzing in his head. "How dare you say that," Rail hissed, "and you call yourself one of us?"

Fang threw his hands in the air, his patience bending as Rail stood stubbornly beside Jackal. "Rail," Fang reasoned, holding his temper, "they've taken his wings…they've erased his memory…God knows what else they've done…he's not himself anymore."

Rail glared at the shadowed face in the darkness of the cell, his hands clenched into tight fists at his side. "They can't change who he is," Rail murmured, almost too low for them to hear, "they can't take him away from me again."

Patience broken, Fang jabbed a finger sharply into Rail's chest, opening his mouth to speak and…the cell door squealed open. The groups of fledglings and Erasers jumped, scattering away from the door as a Dealer poked his sharp muzzle through, a sneer set into his jaws.

"Here's your pet," the Dealer snapped, roughly jerking an under-sized body in front of him and shoving it to the floor. He waggled his clawed finger at the cowering cell-mates, lips splitting to reveal needle point teeth, "Play nice now," he snickered, slamming the door behind him with a bang.

Nero struggled to his knees, missing the balance of the heavy wings across his shoulders. It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the dark cell, barely making out the shocked faces staring at him from the walls. He caught Mary's scarred eyes from the crowd, her mouth hanging open as her eyes began to water.

Cold hands knotted through his hair, pulling his head back to look into the dirt-streaked face of his once-rescuer. "Rail," Nero croaked, his lip splitting as he grinned.

Rail wrapped his arms around Nero's shoulders, squeezing him tight, "Jesus Christ, Nero," he gasped, rocking back and forth on his heels, "you scared the hell out of me…what happened?"

Nero coughed, pushing away from Rail's grip, "I pulled an act," he rasped, his hands shaking as he rubbed at his arms, "they still think I'm catatonic." Nero tapped his forehead will the tip of his finger, "They don't know I remember everything."

Rail's wide grin was cut short as Fang pulled him to his feet, jerking him away from Nero's crumpled form. "Stay back," Fang ordered, his eyes dark. Rail shoved him hard, struggling to loosen his grip, "What are you doing!" Rail stressed, flinching as Fang's nails cut into his arm.

Fang gritted his teeth, "We don't know that all Nero."

Nero ground his knuckles against the floor, steadying himself as he struggled to his feet. He smiled, almost apologetically, "I thought you might think that…but I don't know of any way to convince you that it really is me. Maybe…you can just trust me?"

Rail shoved Fang away, stepping back to Nero's side, "What's the matter with you," he scowled at Fang, pressing a protective arm across Nero's shoulders.

The silence that settled across the cell was broken as Jackal threw himself at Nero, wrapping his scrawny arms around his neck. "I thought you were dead," he laughed, swinging Nero off the floor and spinning him wildly through the air, "I really did think they killed you!"

Nero stumbled slightly as Jackal set him back down, a seemingly permanent grin plastered across his face. Nero smiled, laughing slightly as Rail steadied him.

"It's good to be back."

"Rath," Nero whispered, his face inches from the blank-faced ex-dealer.

Rath lolled his head to look at him, a spark of recognition lighting in his eyes. Nero took several steps back for safety, feeling the hopeful eyes of countless caged onlookers praying for a miracle behind him.

Nero opened his arms as if expecting a hug, "Rath…it's me. Do you remember me? I'm your friend."

Rath hesitated for a second, unsure if the small human before him had really been a friend in his past life…or a bitter enemy. He heaved himself to his feet, startled as the crowd of fledglings and Erasers shuffled back. He pressed his head against the wall, willing the headache in the back of his mind to disappear.

"Rath," Nero pressed, taking a step forward despite Rail's disapproving stare, "I need you to do me a favor…can you do me a favor?"

Rath pulled his brow together, biting hard at his lip…and nodded.

Nero pressed the palm of his hand against the wall, pulling it across the stone in a downward motion. "Do you see me?" Nero asked, repeating the action, "Do you see what I'm doing? Can you do this?"

Rath placed his large heavy hand against the stone, slowly dragging it downwards as Nero instructed. Nero stepped up next to Rath, running his hand over the stone in synchronization with Rath. "Good," Nero whispered, curving his fingers until his nails scraped the stone.

Hesitantly, Rath copied the act, his thick claws scraping across the stone. Ten long white scratches appeared in the wall where Rath dragged his claws, the powder of the rocks building in a pile at his feet. Rath paused, a wolfish grin spreading across his face as he pressed harder, his claws scraping through the stone like a shovel through soft dirt.

Nero stepped back, letting Rath continue the motion of digging at the wall over and over again. Jackal hugged him happily as Rath pounded against the wall, a look of absolute joy glowing in his lamp-yellow eyes.

"I don't believe it," Nero breathed, leaning against Rail.

Rail returned the comforting weight of his arm across Nero's shoulders; hope spreading down his throat and across his chest as he watched Rath dig at the wall. "Have you ever heard of Claude McKay?" Rail asked as the groups of gathered watchers shuffled away, each one off to do their own thing.

Nero shook his head.

"He was a famous poet," Rail continued, "in the Harlem Renaissance. One of his poems says: O kinsmen we must meet the common foe, though far outnumbered let us show us brave. And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow. What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, pressed to the wall…dying…but fighting back."

Nero smiled, pressing his face against Rail's shoulder, "Are we going to die?"

Rail shrugged, a smile flittering on his lips, "If we do…at least we fought back."

"Yeah," Nero whispered, his eyes fixed on the floor.

Please…don't hurt him.

The echo of the memory pressed in his mind.

I'll do anything.