We walked in silence for a good fifteen minutes. No shushes from the peanut gallery, just our breathing and our shoes pressing into the dirt. I brushed some long grass aside with my arm and Fang copied me. The building grew ever so slowly, and my heart raced faster at every step. I nervously scratched my exposed ears, trying to think of something to break the ice here.

Did I push too far again? I must have, with him being this cold to me. It was frustrating, trying to understand him. Maybe I didn't need to understand him, but I couldn't just agree to everything he did like a blind bat. I just couldn't. How could anybody follow somebody without knowing their true intentions? Maybe I was just being too distrustful. Maybe I was being too stubborn to open myself up.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," I mumbled.

"Stop," Fang said, pausing in his stride.

"I-I'm sorry I-"

"This is close enough," he whispered, his eyes glued on the building.

I blinked up at the building. We were several hundred feet away from it, but I could see every crack and imperfection in the stone from here. Fang crouched down and I followed suit, not giving a second thought. I peered through the long grass as my pulse picked up. Seeing the building up close made me shiver. All we spoke about slid off our shoulders and a new heaviness latched on.

I swallowed as I analyzed the building. It seemed old. The grass brushed the bottom of the windows and bent over the doorway, the chipped and faded paint added a rustic tone to the decrepit walls, and the windows stood with no support or were missing entirely. The front door stood catty-cornered and a hole replaced where the handle should be. The building mimicked a hotel of some sort, but architecture held no pattern. On one side, balconies hung precariously over the other, while the other had open areas and rooms like an outdoor restaurant.

"This can't be it…" I whispered to myself. Why would anybody gather here? It looked too dangerous to step inside.

"Are you saying Speck's wrong?" he hushed back.

"No!" I spun my head to look at him. He quickly shushed me, and I sharply sighed. "I know she's right it's just… why here?"

"Middle of nowhere, abandoned, hidden from a satellite…"

I subtly growled, "Aside from the obvious."

He shrugged and a strand of grass leaned against his shoulder. "We're about the find out," he suddenly dropped to his stomach, and before I could even register the silliness of the action, he pushed me down as well.

"Ow!" I cried out, dirt and pebbles sticking to my skin and an area of my scales. I rubbed my collarbone from faceplanting into the dirt and stared at him. "What the hell-"

"Shh!" his eyes were on the building, so I traced his gaze.

Just behind a broken window, I saw a figure pause before reaching up and pulling down a pale sheet – wait what? The sunlight still broke through the fabric, as I could still make out the person's shape behind it waving their arms and walking out of sight. I glanced at Fang who only nodded, keeping his eyes on the window. No way. People were actually in there. No, they were already in there. How long were they here? Have they've been here before we got in? Or did they get past us somehow? I swore I saw nothing before, so how come I'm only seeing them now?

My body prickled and I cautiously crawled back and away from the building. Fang stopped me with his shoe, looked back, and I flashed him a worried look. "There's people in there," I breathed.

"Yeah," he turned to look back at the building. "That's why we're here."

I gulped and followed his gaze. People were talking to each other loudly enough for me to hear, but not enough for Fang to. My ears twitched and perked up, and as they angled towards the building, the better I could hear the dialect of the people. It was weird; my ears acted like a cat's. My tail was still, though the rest of me was tingly and ready to flee. On top of it, I could tell exactly how far each person was. It felt like visibly focusing on something far away, but with my ears. The more I homed in, the fuzzier the sounds were, but I could hear them.

"What do you hear?" Fang whispered.

"Hold on," I closed my eyes and focused. I let out a couple deep breaths and let my wings relax, the feathers folding over me like a blanket. Fang's breathing was loud, strangely enough, and I could hear the little taps of tiny creatures walking around the ground. A group of gnats buzzed in a cloud not too far off and a snake slid along the dirt with determination. No, push farther.

I had to go further than right beside me, and the more I narrowed down, the louder the voices were in the building. There! I stopped and tried to filter out Fang's heavy breathing next to me. The more I did, the voices got clearer, and the words were more enunciated.

"What were you thinking? I said a small gathering." It sounded like a man's voice.

"It wasn't me who invited them! Blame Patrick for that!" Another man, but his voice was raspy around the edges.

"Patrick, what the hell?" The first man, again.

"You know we need more manpower," yet another guy, I'm assuming who was Patrick, responded. "Plus, you never know who's watching."[F1]

"We're in the middle of nowhere," the raspy guy stated.

"Sure, but they can see everything," the first guy said before pausing. I heard shuffling and frowned a little. Were they walking around? No, they keep stopping. I heard a zipper sliding and heavy things falling to the ground, but no talking. What did they mean "they can see everything"? Can "they" see us now?

"We're clear," said a new voice.

"Good," the first guy replied. "Now we can discuss our next target."

There was a rustle and then the sound of a computer humming to life. My brows pinched as I heard the faint taps against a keyboard and the click of a computer mouse. "We will hit this area and disperse from there. You three will flank us, while the rest of you file in. The torches are in the bags. Patrick will lead the first wave, and Cameron will lead the second."

"Wait- why me?" Patrick exclaimed.

"Because you brought more freaks with you. You're in charge of them."

Silence held in the air for a second.

"What about Cameron?" Patrick asked.

"She'll be covering your ass if you mess up again," the first guy said again. I had to assume he was the leader. "I can't have you screwing over my name for the third time. You're on thin ice."

I heard snickers among the group and then a clap that startled my focus. My body shivered as I hurried to hear what they were saying, but it was muffled because they started moving around. I heard murmurs among the people there, and metal clanking together and boots stomping on the floors. Their voices overlapped each other, but I was able to pull out the leader's voice from the others, saying that they will break at dusk.

I opened my eyes and pulled my attention back to myself. My body trembled from what I heard, and my breathing was short and sharp. What did they mean by that? Torches? Did they mean weapons? What kind of weapon? What area are they hitting? I turned towards Fang.

"They're leav-" I froze, then blinked.

Where's Fang?

I looked at where his body once was and saw nothing, just flattened grass from his body weight and imprint in the dirt. My heartbeat rose into my ears and I turned my body over, looking frantically for any sight of him. Where did he go? I spun my head around, trying to make out his dark clothes among the green, but nothing stood out. No, no no no. He did not just leave me here. My head began to spin. Did he just leave me here? Of course! Of course, he would! He never trusted me. He never wanted to help me! He wanted me to be bait. He wanted me to be killed. He knew what I was, and what I did, and he was punishing me. And Speck isn't here.

Oh god.

I was going to die, and Speck wasn't here with me! How could he? How could he leave me here to die? My hands shook; my heart beat everywhere in me. I could feel it in my toes, banging, drumming so loud and fast I felt like I was going to explode. HE LEFT ME! He wanted me to die! And Speck was all alone! Was he going to kill her next? Was this how I was going to end? Did he want to do this ever since he met me? I was never going to see James. My eyes blurred. I was never going to see my brother-

"Hey."

I squealed only to have a hand clap to my mouth, hard. My cheeks stung as I crazily looked at the olive-skinned hand against me. I blinked several times to see a boy half-stooping over me and staring around the area. His eyes darted around and the more I blinked, the more I realized it wasn't a stranger.

It was Fang.

"HOW DARE YOU!" I shrieked only to have my mouth covered again. I let out a muffled scream and slapped his wrist.

"Shh!" he stared down at me. His hair fell around his face. "You want to lose our cover?"

"Of course not! You left me, damnit!" I muffled back, slapping him again. "Now let me go!"

"Only if you stay quiet," he whispered.

"Duh!"

He peeled his fingers back and I smacked them away. He retreated and gave me room to sit up a little. I glared daggers at him as he kept looking around. "Where the hell did you go?"

"I was right next you," he muttered.

"No you weren't!" I exclaimed under my breath. He shot me a look and I harshly whispered, "You were nowhere near me!"

"I was, you just couldn't see me."

I sharply shook my head in confusion, "What!"

"Didn't you see?" he rose an eyebrow. "I was blending into the surroundings."

I opened my mouth to retort, but the cogs in my brain didn't rotate for a second. Once I got them going again, I repeated myself, "What?"

He shrugged, "I can turn invisible."

My jaw fell. Was he serious? No, he couldn't be. No… no way. People can't just turn invisible. That was the worst sci-fi bull-crap I've ever heard. Him "evolving" to breathe underwater was one thing, but this? I shook my head, "That's bullshit, and you know it."

"I'm serious," he frowned.

I rolled my eyes, "Sure, and I'm the Incredible Hulk."

He stared at me then looked away, and I crossed my arms over my chest. His mouth stayed closed, and only a small part of me, emphasis on the small, felt bad for doubting him again. "You don't have to believe me, but I did watch your back."

Hmm, I guess that was true. If he did leave, then I would've been spotted and/or killed by now. Or at least scared to the point I expose my position. That means he was nearby, or at least hidden well enough that I couldn't see him. If he was invisible, like he claims, I should've at least sensed him there. Was I so wrapped up in my emotions that I couldn't tell? Was I really not paying attention to my surroundings? God, how could I be so stupid? I should've at least hit the area he was in or something. I can't just freak out like that, especially doing something as serious as this.

I hung my head, "Sorry."

"Don't be, I should've told you," he lifted his head over the grass. "They're gone now – were you able to hear anything?"

"Yeah…" I sat up properly and recollected my thoughts. "There were a lot of guys in there, maybe like fifteen or so. Maybe more? There was a lot of moving around. Lots of metal sounds too."

He nodded, "Did they say anything?"

"Yeah, something about a target. They sounded like an army squad planning out an attack," I explained. His eyes turned to the dirt, his attention deep in his thoughts now. I continued, "They said something about torches, and… something else weird."

"Weird?" he echoed.

"Yeah…" I slowly said. "Somebody said 'they can see everything.'"

"'They'? Like a company?"

"No, it sounded like the person was addressing people there," I clarified, the idea rolling off my tongue. It didn't make sense, honestly, but in context it did. What else would it mean? Did the leader have robots or something that had better vision than Fang and Maya? Better than Ratchet?

Fang went silent as he pondered over my intel. I wondered what he was thinking, and hoped he had a better explanation than I had. As he did so, a familiar figure was coming to a running stop about a mile away from us. She pumped her arms and slowed to a walk as she approached, her windswept bob loose around her ears.

"Hey," Maya breathed. "They filed out and went north-west before scattering. What did you pick up?" She looked at me as she placed her hands on her hips.

I reiterated what I told Fang. After listening, she matched eyes with him. They both shared a subtle nod and Maya sighed, "I really hope they don't have too much of an arsenal."

"It really sounded like it," I added, lightly hugging myself. What were these freakshows planning?

"Not to mention the other mutants they have," Maya added.

"Other mutants?" I looked between them, wondering how she derived that from what I said.

"You said there were people that could 'see everything'. That must mean they have genetically enhanced kids on their team," she stated. "How enhanced though? I have no idea."

"We don't know if they're Gen 77 or not," Fang added. "They could look like normal people for all we know."

"We need to go after them, now," Maya pressed. "Who knows what they're going to do. And where they're going."

"But how?" I asked aloud, getting their attention. "I- I mean… we don't have an arsenal like they do. And I'm not risking Speck's life here." I briefly closed my eyes. No way could I do that, but I already knew she was going to beg me to change my mind. I pinched the fabric of my shirt, frowning at the thought.

"We're risking our lives no matter what," Maya bit back at me. "Us just existing is risky."

"I know that," I growled. "It's just…"

"Are you going to help us or not?" she narrowed her eyes.

I stared at her then at my feet, knowing full well what I should say and refraining from what I wanted to say. I was doing this for Speck and getting info on James- Iggy's location. Helping them fight was solely for Speck's sanity. I didn't want to put us in harms way, yet here we were. If I had more info on Iggy, then we'd be out of here in a snap. And since I didn't have that, well…

"I'll help, but Speck's my priority here," I said to the ground between us. "If she gets hurt, we're gone."

Fang nodded and Maya sighed a little. I knew it sounded wrong from their perspective, but Speck was my family, and I'm sure Fang knew that. He understood more than Maya did, so why did she have to get up in my face about it? It made me wary, and the more she questioned me, the more I began questioning myself.

"She won't get hurt with us around," Maya huffed a little. "But this is dangerous. If this group has some major ammo up their sleeves, we could be facing for a fight."

"That means no one's coming out of it unscathed," Fang added. "We have to be careful."

"So… what do we do?" I inquired.

Both stood silent as the long grass licked at their bodies. I felt a strand brush against my tail, and I settled my tail against my thigh. What were we going to do? If they had a barrage of weapons in their trunks along with enhanced kids, we were no match for them. The best we had was Kate the powerhouse and Star the hummingbird; at least they could out-maneuver and hold their own in a way. Unless everybody else had secret tricks up their sleeves, I glimpsed in Fang's direction, we were toast. And I wasn't going to put Speck in the middle of it. She would have to stay at the hotel, or at least far enough away to where there was no action at all. And me? I maybe had some form of martial arts in my experience that I couldn't remember fully, some speed, flight, and water breathing that was basically useless.

"We'll figure it out," Fang said.

I looked up at him and he strongly nodded. Though I could clearly hear his voice was strained behind his two front teeth.

A/N: Thank you all for reading this story! *w* I appreciate every favorite, follow, and review you leave - it makes me so happy that you like it! If you're interested in any of my other work (art, crafts, etc.), please check out my profile for links to my Instagram, Tumblr, and more!