Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Has anyone considered that Itex might own this website?

I woke up from probably the best sleep I had ever had to a soft sound. I slowly got up, not really wanting to because the bed was so comfortable, but I my curiosity got the best of me.

I walked through the room in my new white nightgown. Yesterday, the others and I went shopping for new clothes. We all got a week's worth of clothes.

Angel and Nudge were still out like lights. They had a bit of a blowout when it came to the shopping.

I came into the hallway and the sound became louder. I couldn't really make it out but it sounded like a piano.

I walked down the hallway and I could tell I was getting closer to where the sound was coming from. I came across Asch's room and that was where the sound was loudest. His door was open a crack so I pushed it open. I found him sitting at a keyboard playing a song.

I walked up from behind him and listened. I had never really heard someone play a piano, or a keyboard for that matter. The song he was playing was really nice.

When he finished he turned around and jumped a little from seeing me. "Whoa," he said, "didn't realize I had an audience."

"Sorry," I said, "I didn't mean to startle you. I just heard it and I wanted to know what it was."

"That's all right."

"What was that song anyway?"

"It's called 'Sanctuary'. Well, actually, the original Japanese version is called 'Passion' but I like this version."

"Oh. Where'd you learn to play?"

"Geez, Maxie, are you always full of questions in the morning? I learned from a little instruction video that came with the keyboard. It was kind of a little thing I always wanted to do."

I smiled. I never really would have figured Asch as a piano-playing type. But then again, if you looked at us, you wouldn't know we have wings until we whip them out.

"Why don't you go back to bed? It's still a little early."

"Nah, now that I'm awake, I'll never be able to go back to sleep, despite that amazing bed."

"You like it, huh?"

I nodded my head yes.

"Well, since you're awake, you can help me get breakfast ready."

"Do you really want me to poison those children?" I asked jokingly.

"Oh, boy. Well, maybe you could wake Iggy. He's challenged me to a cooking competition anyway."

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Jeb sat in the taxi as it tried to get through the morning traffic. He opened up his briefcase and shuffled through some papers. He found an evaluation sheet he would need for the building he was going to. He placed it on top of the pile and then closed the briefcase again.

He hated being up so early, but this couldn't wait, according to Anne Walker anyway. He had to down three cups of coffee to keep him awake.

The taxi came to a stop. "All right," said the cabbie, "Here we are, that'll be $22.50."

Jeb paid the man and got out of the cab. "Thank you," the cabbie said, "and welcome to San Francisco."

The taxi sped off into the traffic and Jeb turned around to look at the new building. Anne had sent him here to review and evaluate the performance of the building. Basically, it was to make sure it wasn't a waste of money.

Jeb walked around to the back. In the distance he could see a group of assorted abandoned buildings. He wasn't particularly fond of the location but it was the best spot for not being obvious with its activities.

He came to the back door and pressed a button that was near a speaker. "Hello, this is Jeb Batchelder. I'm here to see how things are going."

"Mr. Batchelder?" asked a voice from the speaker, "We weren't expecting you for another couple of hours."

"I got an earlier flight."

"Hold on, I'll let you in a minute."

After a moment, the door opened and a security guard was there to greet Jeb. "Welcome Mr. Batchelder," he said, "welcome to the last stop before Hell."