Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Maximum Ride. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 36

We all watched as Agent Tulsin and two other agents escorted my biological parents to the waiting police car in handcuffs. Their white coats were singed in a few places and they had accumulated a few cuts of their own. Jeb's glasses were cracked and sitting askew and Anne's perfect hair was ruffled. They both scowled in my direction as they ducked into the squad car.

The next time I would see them, they would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The firefighters had contained the fire to the fourth floor which had been nothing more than a storage floor so, other than a few Erasers, no lives were lost. About a dozen scientists had escaped but the rest were rounded up and arrested.

I was sitting with my parents, Fang, and Marcy when Agent Tulsin approached me once again.

"Alright Max," he said, "you've taken the lead on this investigation so far, I think it's only proper for you to see it through."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is that your subtle way of saying that you need me to show you guys where the experiments are?"

His mouth twitched downwards at the corner. "Possibly." I shared a smirk with Fang before nodding and standing up, clutching a blanket tightly around my shoulders. Night was falling and a cool wind had picked up. After my prolonged exposure to the intense heat of the fire even the slight Florida breeze had me shivering. Fang stood up as well, clutching a similar grey blanket around himself. Agent Tulsin didn't even argue when our parents got up to follow us. After everything we'd been through they didn't want to let us out of their sights.

"You'll need one of the scientists permitted to work in the lab." I informed him. "You'll have noticed the fingerprint scanner by now."

He nodded. "We were hoping you could point one out."

"You know they aren't going to be very compliant." I said as I headed over to a group of squad cars that contained the captured scientists.

"We're willing to negotiate a little bit." He admitted. "We can't let those experiment's die in there. They're people…or at least they were at one point."

I gained a new respect for Agent Tulsin in that moment.

"I think I know just the guy," I admitted.

It took ten minutes to locate the old man. He flinched when an officer pulled him from his squad car and set him in front of me.

"I'm not as mean as Anne," I assured him, hoping he'd understand that there was no reason to flinch in fear of me. "I want to make a deal with you."

He shook his head. "I'm not getting involved in any deal with the police. If I'm a turn coat they'll get me in prison. This whole operation is bigger than you think." He cowered.

I raised an eyebrow. "Maybe we can help you with that." I said, trying not to process the thought of this operation spreading further than we'd already seen. "I'm willing to bet that if you help us get to those experiments and give us information on just how big Itex is then you won't have to worry about being attacked in prison. Agent Tulsin's already informed me that he's willing to negotiate." I looked at the Agent and he nodded in agreement. When the old man didn't make a move to respond I added, "Of course, if you're too afraid to take the offer I'm sure there's another scientist here who'd be willing to sell you out." I started to turn away.

"Wait!" He gasped. I turned and raised an eyebrow. "Alright, fine. I'll do it."

"Excellent." I clapped my hands together. "Now, come with us."

…

The FBI agents stood frozen in the doorway of the lab. Fang and I had moved inside of the door, holding the old man between us, as we waited for them to take action. None of them did. They all just stared in horror, taking in the view of hundreds of childish faces, some disfigured, some incredibly beautiful, and some normal, pressed up against the bars of their cages. Our parents stood with them, viewing the monstrosity with a mixture of pity and nausea on their faces.

I glanced at Fang to see if he had any idea of what to do. He shrugged, wincing as his injuries pulled.

The lab was untouched by the fire on the floor above. The room seemed to be reinforced with nonflammable building materials. The inside, however, was a mess. What had been a pristine workplace a few hours ago was now spoiled by broken glass, abandoned chemical concoctions, and spilled chemicals. The only thing that the scientists had taken care to do as they evacuated was to put the experiment's away.

After a few minutes of waiting for someone to move I realized that the ball was in my court and I'd have to make the first move.

"Where are the keys to the cages?" I asked the old man. He pulled a key ring off of his belt.

"They're all unlocked by a master key that only a dozen scientists have." He explained, selecting a large silver key and handing it to me. I took it and, after making sure that Fang had a tight grip on the prisoner, headed over to the cages. I stopped in front of the cage that held the young bird girl I'd seen on my earlier visit to the lab. She was pressed up against the bars, her talon-like hands clutching them tightly, her hollow eyes wary but hopeful. She scooted into the back of her cage and curled up as I fitted the key into the lock of her cage and opened it.

"Don't be afraid." I called to her softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help…we all want to help." I reached my hand out for her, egging her forward. It took some time but oh so slowly she uncurled herself and reached a tentative hand out to my own. I showed no sign of pain as her talons cut my palm and waited for her to scoot forward some before closing my fingers around her small wrist and pulling her to the front of the cage. She started to resist, her eyes getting a wild look as I held her wrist. I started cooing to her in soothing words, assuring her that I just wanted to get her out of the cage while I froze in my movements to move her. When she finally relaxed again I reached up my other arm, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, and lifted her from the cage.

She was feather light, no pun intended. Lighter then she should have been for a four year old, which is about what I suspected her to be. The feathers that covered her head looked like a baby chicks, a soft brown color that I had to fight the urge to touch. Her eyes were like a hawks, her talons sharp. But the rest of her was painfully human. I tried to set her on the ground but she refused, gripping my shirt tightly until I gave up and settled her onto my hip with a wince.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I repeated in a soft voice. "We're here to help you. Nobody will hurt you ever again." I gave in to the urge to touch her feathers. They were downy soft. "I'm Max," I said. "Do you have a name? Can you speak?"

She made a soft sound, deep in her throat, like she was trying to answer but couldn't quite figure out how to speak. "It's alright." I assured her. "Take your time."

She worked her jaw, swallowing and taking in large breaths of air. I was about to give up under the pretense that she couldn't speak. I started to turn towards the rest of the recovery team when she spoke, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Dove," she said. "My name is Dove."

I felt my eyes widen at the voice that came from her mouth. It was soft and childish, but almost like the coo of a dove. My eyes darted to the rest of my entourage who stared immobilized at the child with wide eyes.

"Dove," I said in an attempt to recover. "That's a beautiful name. It suits you. Do you want to meet my friends, Dove?" I started walking towards the others.

She shook her head vigorously and hid her face in my hair.

"It's alright," I repeated. "We're here to help. We're going to get you out of here."

I stopped in front of Agent Tulsin.

"Dove, this is Agent Tulsin. Agent Tulsin, I'd like you to meet Dove." I gave him a meaningful stare.

He cleared his throat. "It's nice to meet you Dove." He said, holding out his hand towards her. Dove peeked at him through my hair.

"Go on," I encouraged her. She gripped my arm painfully with one hand while she reached the other out to Agent Tulsin. To his credit he didn't flinch at the sight of her talons nor at the scratches they gave him.

"It's nice to meet you." She cooed. "Are you going to let my friends out too?" She asked, fully emerging from my hair at last.

"Yes," Agent Tulsin's voice broke and I saw a tear escape the corner of his eye. "We are."

….

It took hours to document everything in the lab, take pictures, and coax all of the experiments out of their cages. My parents, Marcy, and surprisingly Fang were all very good at convincing the experiments to leave their cages. Dove stayed glued to my side, helping me convince several of the more scared experiments out of their cages. She talked to them in some sort of made up language that I figured they'd created to converse around the scientists without being understood. After she spoke to them like that they usually allowed me to take them out of the cages.

Buses were brought in to transport the experiments from Itex the FBI headquarters in Miami. What would happen after they got there was unknown as of yet but I had Agent Tulsin's personal promise that they would not be harmed. I knew that after this experience I'd never be able to go about a normal life. I'd always be wondering what was happening with the experiments, how to help them, how many more were out there or still being made.

When the final few experiments were out of their cages we—being me, Fang and our families—accompanied them on the final bus from Itex. I don't remember much of the ride. Dove fell asleep on my lap and I fell asleep against my father's shoulder.

When I woke up it was because an agent had tried to take Dove off of my lap and she had dug her talons into my sides. I screamed, which made an already frantic Dove scream in terror and dig her talons in deeper.

I scowled at the agent until she backed off and soothed Dove until she eased her grip. "We need all of the experiments inside." The agent informed me. "You're to be taken to the hospital for an examination."

"No, no, no, no, no." Dove was repeating as she clung to me. I rubbed her back soothingly as I informed the agent that I would not be leaving Dove.

"But—"

"No," I snapped before disembarking the bus and entering a world of mayhem. The agents didn't know what to do, that much was clear. They were herding the experiments into an auditorium of sorts but they didn't know how to control them or what to even do with them.

Fang stepped up beside me. "This is crazy," he said.

I watched the agents interact with the experiments. They kept them at arm's length, like they were afraid they would be attacked. I felt my throat close in disgust.

"They're treating them as animals, not as beings with human comprehension." I complained, searching for Tulsin. I spotted him by the door and headed towards him, Fang following closely behind me.

"Tulsin." I called as I neared him.

"You're supposed to be going to the hospital." He chastised me, wading through the experiments to reach me.

"And you're supposed to be in control here. What the hell do you think you're doing with all of them?" I demanded.

"Well we don't exactly have a protocol for this. We—"

"Your agents are treating them like they are animals." I snapped. "They are smart. Talk to them. They will understand. As for a protocol, what are you supposed to do if you raid a human trafficking ring?" I demanded. "You get a bunch of kids that need to get away from a bad situation. What do you do with them?" I demanded.

"We put them in foster care but—"

"Exactly!" I cut him off again. "Treat them as children. Find a place to house them, even if it's within the building. Give them food, water, clothes, toys, they'll be content until you figure out your next move but for now," I gestured towards one of his agents, a man who was watching the experiments with one hand on his gun. "Stop treating them like fucking wild animals."

"Hungry." Dove agreed from at my side. I shifted her to my other hip.

"See?"

Tulsin shook his head. "We need you on the force, Max." He sighed as he headed into the now full auditorium.

Fang and I followed.

"What do you think they'll do with all of them?" Fang asked me as we went to stand in the back of the room by our parents.

I shrugged the shoulder that Dove wasn't dozing on. "The best thing they could do would be to build a sort of group home for them. Out in the country with a lot of land so that they don't have to worry about curious people wanting to experiment on them. A place where they can be with others like them and have no judgment. Where they can go to school if they want and live a free life. If they were smart, that's what they'd do." I sighed, realizing that the likelihood of my vision coming true was slim to none.

Fang slipped his hand into mine, lacing his fingers with my own. "It seems like you are the only one who truly understands what needs to be done." He said with a soft expression. "Whatever crazy stunt you plan on pulling next, count me in."

…..

Three broken ribs, a fractured clavicle, and a shattered heart later I was on my way back to Montana with my family and Fang. I'd had to say goodbye to Dove at the FBI headquarters in Miami. She'd cried and begged me to stay but after four days of writing up reports, being interviewed, and dealing with the dilemma of where to put the experiments, it was time for us to go home. When I'd explained that I couldn't stay she'd begged to go with me. I'd had to say no and she'd clung to me until Agent Tulsin pried her away.

I'd promised the little four year old that I'd visit and I'd call her all of the time but for a small child who had never had anyone keep their promise to her she was hardly about to start trusting people now.

"She'll be fine, Max." Mom assured me as she patted my hand. We were on a plane flying first class—courtesy of the FBI—and I was sulking in my seat as I stared out the window. "She's a child, she'll cry but she'll get over it. You can call her when we land to prove that you'll stay in touch."

"I don't know I just…it's not just Dove. I mean, she's a big part of it but I don't feel right leaving all of the experiments like that. The FBI still doesn't know what they're going to do with them and I feel like I've just abandoned them. I feel like I could do more for them." I thought back to the plan I had for them. I'd told Tulsin about it and he'd thought it was a great idea but, while he'd said he'd suggest it as a solution, there was only a small chance of it happening.

What other alternative could they come up with?

"You've done so much for them already, Max." Marcy said from the row in front of me. "You got the people responsible for putting them in cages in cages of their own. You freed them from day after day of experimentation. You've given them a shot at life. That's no small feat."

"I guess," I sighed. "I just don't know how I'm going to go back to normal life after all of this."

"You won't." Fang said, coming to sit beside me. "You'll always be thinking about them and you'll always want to do something to help them." He said in his usual blunt tact. "But you'll also be able to do things for yourself again. Without the life threatening situations."

"I don't know," I said with a playful smirk, switching gears in an attempt to bring myself out of my depressing mood. "I think the risk was half the reason you liked me to begin with." Our parents turned to a conversation of their own, leaving us to talk alone for the first time in days.

"Is that what you think?" He said, matching my smirk with one of his own as he leaned closer to me. "Because, if I do recall, I never said I liked you. You're the one who kissed me."

"You kissed me back." I pointed out, leaning closer as well.

"Hard not to, when you kiss me like that."

"Like what?" I whispered. "Like I was grateful you were alive after jumping out of an exploding building because now I can kill you for pushing me off of a building? Or like I'm grateful you're alive after jumping out of an exploding building because I really care about you?"

"Mmmmm, a little bit of both." He admitted, his lips a scant inch from my own.

"Well what's your excuse now?" I asked as I pressed our lips together. His response was only to pull me as close as the seats would allow as he kissed me senseless.

Last official chapter! Oh my god, its at this point in every story I write that the realization that the story, the world, I have created from my imagination is about to end. Even though I still have an epilogue left this is where I start getting a little teary-eyed. Please read and review!

Peace!