Thanks for the R&R everyone! There will be more chapters to come. Sorry they are so few and far between, but I have a ton of activities and homework this year, so my Fan Fiction time is very limited!

Chapter 4

When I came to, I was sprawled on the floor, the bright lights dancing before my eyes. I felt like I had been set on fire, thrown off a hundred foot cliff with my wings folded, and torn into a million pieces. Whaaaat?

As my eyes slowly came back into focus, I saw the bodyguard standing over me. Seeing me awake, he dragged me up to the table again, where Sam sat, calm as ever, staring at me. Like I was a lab experiment. What else is new? "So, Sammy, what'd you do, cover yourself with another set of bodyguards? A shield of armor can only last so long, you know. And did I mention those were outdated last... millennium?"

He only stared. "Maximum, I'm not all that surprised that you are taking this like a joke. But think about this. Embedded in your neck, there is a small remote control shocker. It's much like a trained dog collar, if you ask me. When you arrived, we did a little... last minute surgery." Oh wonderful. My hand felt for the back of my neck- how come I didn't notice the stitches before? I was beginning to get the picture. I couldn't run for the stairs. I couldn't knock out the bodyguard, and I couldn't do anything out of the ordinary or I'd be unconscious before you could say 'escape'. Oh joyous day.

There was no way out. If they wanted me, they sure got me. But the question was- what were they going to do with me? Did they want my brains, my DNA, my family, just... me in general? What else could these crackpots want in this world?! People tried to use us as bidding ware, tried to use us to destroy the planet, to 'learn' about genetics. What else? There is nothing left for them to want! Or so I thought.

Sam interrupted my thoughts. "If you want to know the truth, Max, you'll get it. All in good time." Yeah right. I rolled my eyes and flicked my matted hair over my shoulders. "You don't believe me, do you," he suddenly whispered.

"Why would I trust crazy megalomaniac freaks who kidnapped me, dragged me into a tiny cement cell, and planted a shocker collar in my neck? Hey, if you would, I can't attest to that. But I'm pretty sure that no, I'm not going to believe a word you losers say." Resting my elbows on the table, I blinked back at Sam, daring him to contradict me.

And lo and behold, voila. He waved his security out of the room, the hefty guy suspicious, flicked off the camera in the corner, and came back to meet my glare. He sighed. "Max, if you really must know, yes, you are going to die. Just like the rest of us." Oh what a help. He'd turned into the Voice's brother; I guess great(or strange) minds think alike. My situation was looking a bit more grim. "But we do need you." Sam chuckled. "Why else would we kidnap you, drag you into a tiny cement cell, and plant a shocker collar in your neck, as you so kindly put it."

He stood and began to pace in front of me. I leaned back in my chair, looking bored as heck. In case you were wondering, in that situation, no, looking bored wasn't al that difficult. "I probably shouldn't be telling you anything, Maximum, but as you have discovered, there is no way out of this for you." He ran his fingers through his hair and turned to face me.

"Everything is exactly as it seems."

Huh? He lost me there. Did that mean that he was trying to capture my family to destroy something or create a bomb or-

"We need your DNA, Max. And we're going to get it. It's up to you whether it's the easy way-or the hard way.

Stunned? Me? Naaaah. It made sense. Crazy people trying to get my DNA so they could play world domination with a flying army ten times as strong as the average army. Who wouldn't want that? Let me see. How about... most of this small, small world?

I inwardly groaned. Here we were, back to square one. I had promised myself I'd never get into one of these situations again... And look where that got me. I had also promised myself I wouldn't think about... oh God. Fang. His dark hair, warming presence, soft skin, warm lips... Shut up brain, shut up shut up shut up! I couldn't bear thinking about him... my husband... any longer. This addiction had to stop.

But apparently, Sam had other things on his mind.

His stare bore into the back of my skull as I turned away from him. But he kept on talking as if nothing had changed. "Take your pick, Maximum. Which would you like to hear about first?" The silence hung thickly in the air around us, like a blanket suffocating me in its folds. "Alright, I'll take that as the 'easy way' first. The thing is, Max, we need your DNA, both to kill and create. Let me explain this epic tale to you.

"Six years ago, I went to a school where half of the teachers were set on capturing none other than your family. The six kids with wings sticking out of their backs, the ones who feared nothing but their creators. At the time, I had no idea as to their plans. I only knew, immediately after the fact, that I had fallen in love with the girl they were trying to kidnap or kill. And they knew where she was going, what she was planning to do, and how to get her back. That's exactly what I wanted to do- get you back. So you see, at first I joined forces with Itex so I could be with you." He glanced quickly in my direction and then away, as if embarrassed to see someone witnessing this confession. "But as they trusted me, the most intelligent people on this earth, if you ask me, allowed me more information. I grew to enjoy creating new life, however strange it may be, and especially the tracking part. Their new soldier models followed me around like puppies, drooling over me." Sam seemed to gloat at this. "And then they gave me a big assignment, bigger than any other they had given anyone-besides your dim-witted friend Ari, I suppose." Where did my brother have to come into this? I wondered, hands clenched at my sides. How dare he talk about my brother that way! "The project was you, Maximum."

Ooh, drumroll please. Yawn, same old, same old. Been there, done that, got the souvenir crap that's ridiculously priced... next.

Sam was still pacing, back and forth, back and forth. I was getting a little lightheaded. He sighed, and for the first time showed a vulnerable side, one of tension, as he ran his fingers through his thick hair. "This isn't going to be easy for me... or you, for that matter... but I'll try to make you understand our intentions. We need your DNA, but we're looking for some fresh recruits, ones we could take from birth. And we could do that by simply drawing your blood and waving goodbye as you and your silly little husband live happily ever after. But your DNA has a mere 2 percent avian grafted DNA. And we want more than that. Wipe that smirk off your face, I know that sounds greedy. We also want to be able to raise hundreds, if not thousands, of mini-Maximums. Taking your blood sample would be less efficient to grow these super-children, as opposed to, say, growing one in a womb."

Uh oh. This had better not be going where I think it's going...

I stared unblinking at my captor. Please don't let it be...

"We need you and Fang to. Well. We need you to... You get it, don't you?" Exasperated, he turned his eyes back at me. "We need you and Fang to give us your baby, alright?"

Wonderful. Simply wonderful. My unborn, unnamed child would have its end coming soon. An end that was not particularly pretty or painted with rainbows. One that I had already endured for far too long before finding a way out. A life at the School.

What to do, what to do. First on my checklist: kick Sam's butt. That filthy, disgusting, inhumane little... Oh, sorry, can't go farther. Angel might be reading this... Second: get back to Fang(oh God) and tell him as much as I could without freaking out. Didn't think at the moment that could be too hard. Next: find a way to escape these freaks' control. I doubted that it would be very successful, but hey, a girl's gotta try. After that, I would find a way to get the flock etc. out of harms' way. And lastly, I would live happily ever after. Yeah right. Or at least until the next band of lunatics found me again. Was there truly no rest for the weary? Or was that wicked? I could never be sure.

Either way, I was completely, utterly, entirely screwed.

As I sat there, mind racing in shock, Sam had leaned against the wall and was watching my reaction. Well, what did he expect? His eyes looked at me solemnly, almost sadly if you looked at them from a weird angle. What was HE thinking? And almost as if answering a prayer, my Voice came to help out.

He's thinking many different things, Maximum. You seem to confuse him, no matter if he seems in control. Well, I certainly won't share that one with you... Ah, yes, here we are. And I quote: "She's... so beautiful... wish it were mine... But bosses' orders. None of that. God, what happened?" And now there's some detached thoughts, very dark and grim if you ask me. Oh, look, Fang's face showed up. The Voice sent me a mental picture of him, my beloved. Oh, how it hurt. My faded memory became suddenly vivid, as if seeing him right in front of me. Thanks, Voice, for making my torn heart ache even more than it does already. Muchas gracias.

My first thoughts, after recovering from my moment of heartbreak, were "What does he mean, wish IT were mine?" Excuse me, I am a her, not an it, thank you very much. Talk about degrading women. Then another thought... a much worse one. Oh goody. I'll skip over that one for the moment, as I'd prefer not to think about it any longer. Change of subject: when was I getting out of this hellhole?

Well, of course, as I said before, great(or strange) minds think alike. Because at that moment, Sam answered my question. "You'll leave here immediately and be given time alone, but don't think of running off somewhere. It's not going to happen. Especially not with our agents watching the house. If you choose the easy way, of course." He let a little half-smile spread across his face. Yay, the crazy lunatic gets warm little fuzzies inside when he talks about being nasty to people! Just what this world needs, I'm sure.

My feet hurt. A lot. I don't know exactly why, if I'd been sitting for all this time as he dragged out his torture speech. But they were sore. Maybe from those idiotic shoes I had to wear. I dropped them onto the table and leaned back in my chair as if to hear a relaxing bedtime story. In this case, one which includes me most likely dying... Sam glared at me in annoyance. But I get that a lot. Then he began what he considered the "hard way" of getting my DNA.

"The hard way, Maximum, is going to be hard." No duh. "If you refuse to give us your child, we implant a program into your brain that makes you want to obey our wishes. Ah, so you are skeptical. Think, Max- we've created mixes of different species and new recombiant life forms and microchips that track your every move. It wouldn't be very hard to plant another chip in your brain that sent you positive thoughts. This way, you will willingly go home, greet Fang, have your child, seem like everything is all right, and then hand it over. And if Fang gets in the way... well, your chip could make you just a little angry with him. Enough to say, get rid of him." Sam smiled at this, open and wide. I could not believe I was hearing this. That little a-hole! I gave him my most obnoxious sneer.

He just kept on smiling. "That won't do you any good, Maximum. All you have is a choice: to go through this willingly and be completely aware of it, or to be knocked out and have no say in the matter whatsoever. It's up to you. What do you say?"

He stepped in front of the table so he could see my face. And I spat in it. I remember seeing his look of disgust as he wiped his fingers over his eyes, but I must have been blacked out by the shocker collar chip thingy because I don't remember anything that happened after that. But it was totally worth it.

When I could see light again, I was faced alone with my thoughts and one very big decision: Did I want to give my child to these freaks? Or could I find a way out?