A/N: Okay, chapter two! Now, I want Flame to give the disclaimer for me. (I just want to be weird...And it also makes the disclaimer interesting. Maybe Python will do it next.)

Flame: Do I gotta?
Me: Yeah.
Flame: -sigh- Fine. Flame-Taw does not own Max or the flock, or Erasers, or whitecoats. But he does own Eric, my dad, Tally, Taw, Python, all the Thrashers named in this chapter, and myself. (I really wish that weren't so.) Now can I go? I'm very busy and you're just being annoying.
Me: -pouts- Sure, Flame, go ahead and be a jerk.

"Noah?" The word echoed in my mind, as if it was an empty cave. It slowly became clearer as I came further into the conscious stage. "Noah." My name was now getting crystal clear and not sounding like it was being said through a tube of some sort. I opened my eyes and sat up. I was lying on a hard hospital bed, my leg with a bandage over it. Dad was standing next to the bed and Eric was lingering on the side lines. He looked relieved when I sat up. "Oh, good, you're okay."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, glancing at a closed beaker of clear liquid on a metal table next to the bed. There was also a syringe next to it along with a ball of gauze and tape. I pulled my pant leg over the bandaged leg, looking at Dad curiously.

"Apparently 104232's poison is rapid-spreading. You were close to death and actually stopped breathing for a minute. We got the poison out in time. But Noah, your leg may be a little soar and tingly - don't do anything that would injure it further. So no more combat training or anything like that for at least a week," Dad advised. Eric nodded and Dad looked at him and then back at me. "Okay, boys, go do your patrols." I nodded and slid off the bed. My leg did feel like it had fallen asleep, and I had that pins and needles feeling in my leg.

"Who would have thought you would be close to being beat by a little snake twirp?" Eric teased once we left the room, obviously himself again and not worried about me anymore. I growled. "I mean, you could have been beat by that bird girl even." I smacked him upside the head. It was easy, since we were the same height.

"Yeah, who was it that got their butt kicked by six flying kids? Not to mention the other twenty Erasers that were with you," I pointed out smugly. Eric rolled his eyes and crossed his arms defiantly.

"That was different," he grumbled, and I dropped the subject. He obviously didn't like it being brought up. We walked silently for a few minutes before he spoke up again. "You gonna get your team together and patrol outside and we'll patrol inside?" he asked - we meaning him and his team of Erasers. I shrugged and nodded. "Alright, meet you later, little brother."

Again, we split up. This time, I was headed to where the other Thrashers took breaks or slept. They had their own wing in the lab, like the Erasers. I found half of my team - seven of 'em - in the kind of game room. It had a TV, a few couches, a pool table, foosball table, and also a few random board games and books and stuff for anyone else. All seven of them were staring at the TV, transfixed with the Science Channel. "Hey," I barked, and all of their heads snapped towards me before they all jumped up. Three of them were older than me - the only ones on the team that were older than me. Slasher (20), Neo (18), and Tyler (also 18). The others were all younger, the youngest going to age ten.

"Dr. Harkel said we need to do our outside patrol," I said, meaning my father. The ten-year-old grinned. She was new to the force, but I didn't pay her much attention. See what I said about females before, if you have forgotten already. "Go out and start your patrols," I ordered. Obediently, the my fellow werebears listened, trudging out. "Oh, Neo," I said, stopping her before she left. Like I said numerous times before, I normally didn't pay attention to girls, but she was uber smart. "Know where the others are?"

"Uh...Carter, Theo, Hannah, Ivy, and Rynold are in the cafeteria holding a food fight, and Olly and Kyla are in their rooms," she said and I nodded. She followed the others out of our break room, towards the outdoors. I made my way to Olly and Kyla's rooms first, since I didn't want to get muddled up in a food fight at the moment. Both of them had rooms next to each other, and I just rapped on their doors. They knew already what was needed - we used something similar to Morse code from time to time. Though sometimes people could get what I say mixed up with something else. I moved to the cafeteria next, dreading what I'd find.

The place was a warzone. Two tables were flipped on their sides to make forts for the two teams - girls vs. boys. Ivy and Hannah were behind the table closest to me, while Carter, Theo, and Rynold were behind the other. Each had a generous supply of food from the kitchen, and half of it was splattered all over the walls, floor, and ceiling. It actually made it look better. Just as the doors closed behind me, I got mashed potatoes in my face. The room went silent. I wiped the potatoes from my face, disgusted. I hated potatoes.

"Sorry, Flame," Rynold said sheepishly, standing up with the other boys following. The girls also stood, clasping their hands behind their backs and rocking back and forth on their heels. These two seemed to do everything together. "We'll clean this up," he offered.

"You'd better. But after your patrols. Move it," I said. Rynold led the line, his head hanging dejectedly. He was also ten. The girls didn't seem too bummed out and were actually skipping after the other three. I followed behind.

Patrol was always boring. All it was was wandering around either inside or outside the lab - right now it was the Thrasher's turn to patrol outside, as you well know. Nothing exciting went on, and everyone was relieved when their shift was over. But today was actually different.

After five minutes of going around the lab, looking for anything suspicious - I'd passed by the door twice now - there was a roar from the other side of the building.We had all been told to roar if we saw anything while in our Thrasher form, or just to yell out if we were completely human. While rushing towards the side of the building, I was turning into my werebear form.

The others had all reached there before I had, because I was the farthest. All were in their Thrasher forms and seemed to be surrounding something. Ivy and Olly moved out of my way so that I could see what everyone was looking at. It was more like they were guarding, actually. The girl who had been shouting was there, looking terrified. She also didn't look so hot - she had scratches and some of her fur was burnt in places. Snake boy was with her, glaring. His eyes fixed on me and he looked surprised that I wasn't sleeping with the fishes.

"I found them trying to run away, Flame. I don't know how they got out, but no one was following them for some reason. So much Eric," Neo said snidely. I smirked, turning into my human self. The snake boy grinned when he saw the bulge on my pant leg where my bandages were.

"Take them back to their cages," I barked out, making the younger two jump. "Watch out for 104232's force feild," I warned Carter and Rynold as they grabbed the snake boy by his arms and hauling him up, since he had been sitting on the ground. The cat girl suddenly recognized me and lunged. Kyla and Hannah grabbed her before she could reach me.

"Let go, you lapdogs! That stupid Thrasher hurt my brother!" she snarled. Man, she just didn't give up, did she? Suddenly, for reasons unknown, I had a pang of guilt in my chest, but I made it go away quickly. I didn't need that kind of emotion getting in way of my work.

"And he almost killed me in return, so we're even," I shot back, then looked at the two that held them. "On second thought, take these two to Dr. Harkel. He'll know what to do with these run-aways." Kyla, Hannah, Carter, and Rynold nodded, leading the two children away. The others were just standing there awkwardly. "Well, don't you all have a job to do? GO!" I shouted the last word and they hurried away. I glanced back at the lab were part of my team and the experiments had disappeared to. The guilt started rising again and I shoved it down. What the hell was going on? I'd never felt passionate before.

The rest of our patrol was slow and boring, and most of the time I was thinking of the cat girl whose brother I had almost killed. Was thinking about it, too. Who I had sneered at as she was led away down the hall, back to her God-forsaken cage. I didn't feel as sympathetic for her brother, since he tried to kill me, but she hadn't done anything. Yet. I figured it was only a matter of time - I wouldn't always have my team with me when I encountered that dangerous ball of fur.

"Noah," my dad said, hailing me in the hallway as I trudged in for dinner. I stopped in my tracks. "Good job catching 104231 and 104232. Could you do a couple things for me about them? Please first talk to your brother - supposedly, one of his team was near the room when the twins escaped. One of them might be trying to free the experiments, and we don't want that to happen. Next, I need you to move 104231, the girl, to another room. The empty one across the hall from your bedroom. If the Eraser didn't let them free, it was her."

"Alright," I said, trying not to sound too reluctant. Dad smiled and patted me on the back before moving back down the hall. "There goes my chance for food other than the potatoes," I muttered, moving towards the cafeteria. Not to eat, but to talk to my brother instead. He was with the other Eraser team leaders, at the far corner of the room. Surprisingly, it wasn't a disaster anymore - then again, I bet those that started the food fight left early to clean like they promised. Actually, that would be a first.

"Eric," I called so that he noticed me and I didn't just have to stand by the table for an hour to wait for him. He looked at me, exasperated. I didn't do anything to make him look like that. Except maybe call him names and stuff, but that wasn't anything special. "Could I talk to you?" I asked, then glanced at the other Erasers who were looking at me curiously and added, "Privately?"

"This had better be good," Eric grumbled, standing up and following me out of the cafeteria. "I can't believe I'm listening to my little brother." I glared. "Alright, alright. Whaddya need?"

"Dad wanted me to talk to you. About the almost-successful escape of 104231 and 104232," I said importantly. "He said he thinks one of your team has been letting experiments free, and wanted me to ask you about it." Eric snorted.

"Uh-huh. Riiiight. Well, sorry to disappoint you, Noah, but not one of them would do something like that. It's the girl. She's spooky and manages to get out often. This is the first time she's gotten outside with her brother, though," he said, sounding sincere. I sighed. "Sorry, bro. Can't help you any more," he said with a grin, going back into the cafeteria with his buddies. Which left me to move the girl. Another wave of guilt washed over me. Maybe I could do something else...something that would make her not want to kill me every time she saw me. That would mean being really sneaky, though, and a great actor. Though, being the smart kid I was, I already had a plan. Hopefully I didn't get caught putting it into action.

And this would be the last time I helped someone, especially a girl experiment.

A/N: Dun, dun, dun. Sorry to leave you hanging, but I wanted to leave it there and put his plan into action next chapter. Please review! Thanks for the one review from alamodie. Glad that someone spotted this. Anyway, next chapter will be up and about ASAP.