I'm sorry this one took so long. School has kicked in full-swing, and I've had writer's block for this story. Hopefully, with this chapter out of the way, the chapters will come easier to me. I will still shoot for the update-once-a-week thing, but don't hold me to it.

Warning: there will be Erasers being shot to death. It's nothing too graphic, but if you are uncomfortable reading that, PM me, and I will send you a summary.

Disclaimer:
I do not own Red vs Blue. RvB belongs to Rooster Teeth.
I do not own Maximum Ride. MR belongs to James Patterson.

Their morning was shattered by a shriek. The compound burst with disoriented and panicked occupants as they immediately converged on the sound of the scream. What they found was Connecticut on the ground, holding her head, and screeching. Washington was at her side in an instant.

"CT! CT, what's wrong?!"

He was afraid to touch her for fear of hurting her. She was making panicked grunts as she smashed her palms against her skull as if she was afraid her skull might just fracture if she didn't.

"Something bad! Something terrible is about to happen!"

She repeated those words over and over like a mantra at different intensities as he premonition assaulted her.

The bird-children, as if they weren't already alarmed, suddenly began to feel absolutely terrified.

"What do we need to do?!" Carolina demanded, but Wash held his hands up. He had no idea.

"We need to get you out of here as soon as possible –leave the compound." Wyoming began hauling people to their feet and shoving them toward the door. "Run and don't ever look back! Get into the skies and head for the mountains where it's too high for their helicopters to fly. Go!"

None of them moved because, if they moved, they would allow their minds to jump to the dangerous and terrifying conclusions. They looked to Carolina with pleading eyes, as if she could, somehow, change everything by merely saying so.

"Y-you heard him! Move!"

The whole group, bird kids and human, were shoved out the door of the compound.

In midst this chaos, the only human walked cautiously toward her white winged confidant –images of the previous night's darkness running through her brain.

"Reginald." 479er grabbed him by his shoulder with a deadly serious look in her eye.

Wyoming avoided her gaze. "I've betrayed you all. I thought that if I just didn't report back that I had refugees here, Freelancer might not know to come for them. I should have known better."

"Reginald," her brown eyes broke with wet tears, "what's going on?!"

"I was tortured exactly like they were –in a lab with no hope of escape. I became too old to provide any new data. I'm a much older experiment than these kids. My wings are too disproportionate. I can't fly. So, instead of euthanizing me, they set me up here. I would send them refugees that escaped, and they wouldn't kill me." He spun on her with eyes full of true emotion. "I regret all of it. This time, this time I won't let Project Freelancer win."

"S-so what's going to happen?"

"The kids will escape to the air, and Flowers will take you to safety."

"And you?"

"And me? Poppet, I'm finally going to rectify the mistake I've made too many times. I don't care what they decide to do with me, but I'm never going to help Project Freelancer again."

There was no trace of darkness. It was gone. For the first time, 479er knew the whole truth about the man she had wanted so terribly to trust.

They could hear Caroline shouting in the distance, "Alright! Let's go! Now! Move!"

None of the bird kids said goodbye to Wyoming. It would have wasted valuable time, and he didn't deserve it. He wasn't expecting it either.

"Flowers?"

"Aye, captain?"

Wyoming smiled at his most loyal friend. The one with who he was tortured side by side. While Wyoming himself was the only one informed of the true intentions of their refugee business, Flowers had always been there to support him.

"I need you to get 479er to safety."

"You can count on me, good buddy! It was a pleasure being your wingman!"

Flowers, with that goofy smile ever-present, saluted his best friend. Wyoming saluted him too.

Flowers securely grabbed 479er's hand and urged her to run, but she only went one clumsy step before she pulled away, running back to Wyoming.

"Come on! I'm not leaving without you!"

The man's dark eyes were no longer shadowy. But, he didn't reply.

"Reginald!"

She took his hand and tugged.

"479er," he choked out, "I never told you this, but you are simply the most wonderful woman I've ever met. You're strong, so strong. You can make it through anything."

She released his hand and instead held the sides of his head so she could bury herself in his eyes, as if to inspect his very soul.

"W-what are you saying?"

"479er. I, uh…." He stopped again to restart with a more confident voice. "479er—"

"Lucy."

Wyoming froze; his blood stilled at the whisper.

"Pardon?"

"My name… is Lucy."

His brain was still arrested by shock when he suddenly launched out with his arms. He wasn't even sure what he was doing until his nerves woke up and sent signals to his jolt his brain awake. He felt her lips against his.

It was a small peck in comparison to a movie-ending kiss. No tongue. No lip-sucking. No desperate groping. There was nothing sexy or erotic about it. It was a kiss in its most pure form, as it was most innocent; yet, it was more passionate than anything anyone had seen in any sort of movie because it was real.

When they parted just a second later, Wyoming could hear the ominous humming of helicopter rotors.

"You need to leave!"

"But what about you?"

"I have to make sure the kids get out of here! After that, I'll come find you!"

"But what if you can't?"

"I'll be fine, …Lucy."

The name felt wonderful rolling off his tongue. It was simple and beautiful. It was everything a string of numbers couldn't be.

She chuckled dryly, frustrated and sorrowful, as she smiled toward him.

"Liar."

He grinned weakly, and his mustache quirked to the side like it always did. He squeezed her hand one final time, pausing only to memorize her face, her smile, before letting Flowers guide her away to safety.

Taking the bravest steps he'd ever taken in his life, he turned around and headed back to the compound. If only he could turn back time.

"Where are we going?"

"Anywhere!" Carolina shouted, shoving slower Wash to move faster. "Just get up into the sky!"

Her last words were lost as two helicopters burst in from above them, effectively cutting off their escape.

While the order to run wasn't heard over the rotors of the huge, flying machines, it was pretty self-explanatory. The bird teens scattered into the forest.

The thump, thump behind them was the Erasers jumping from the landing choppers to pursue them. There was no turning back, and the forest ahead of them was too thick to take off. All they could do was run.

"Two on our tail, three more behind them."

"Any weapons?"

"Either only close-range only or they're not confident enough in their aim to shoot at us while running."

"Let's hope we never have to find out."

Carolina and York ran in near-perfect step. Both with powerful legs that could propel them into the air and cushion them for a landing. They were much faster than normal humans. Unfortunately, the things chasing them weren't normal humans either.

These wolf-human mutilations' legs were hardwired for the chase. They were designed with every fiber to be faster than their mutant prey. If they couldn't get into the air, Carolina and York would be back to the lab for sure.

They begged and pleaded in their minds for some sort of clearing, just a little break in the trees so they could escape and use their feathering appendages, but the break never came.

"Watch out!" Carolina shouted as an Eraser made a lunge for York.

He couldn't see because it was on his left side, and the two mutants crashed together into a tumbleweed.

She coiled and pushed with her legs, propelling her straight up. While she didn't have room to flap her wings, she could still jump several feet in the air. The Eraser behind her couldn't stop its momentum and barreled underneath her. Before it could turn around, Carolina was charging back to help York.

York was pinned beneath the huge Eraser that was currently trying to get its jaw around his shoulder –not a fatal injury but enough to maim, to have a little "fun."

The teal-winged teen didn't stop but channeled her forward motion into a hard, roundhouse kick that slammed into the Eraser's furry head. Blood splattered on the ground as the kick was especially effective due to the fact that 479er had installed a fun, new edition to Carolina's attire in her spare time –steel-toed boots.
It yowled and York managed to dislodge himself from beneath the beast as it staggered in a daze. However, they both knew that this was only a temporary blessing. The second Eraser was snarling in and the three that were these Erasers' back up were only a few seconds away.

The two looked at each other and that was all the communication that was needed. They had to make a stand here and they needed to make it now. They stood, back to back (or wings to wings), as the Erasers surrounded them and circled them, evening out the space between them.

Although it was five against two, Carolina couldn't help but smile at the one whose nose was clearly broken. She landed a very satisfying hit.

Everyone, wolf-mutant and bird-mutant alike, was breathing heavily. The Erasers' tongues poked out like dogs' would. It made them look even more crazed than ever.

Someone struck, it didn't matter who, and the fight was on. Carolina wished that she could help York and guide his bad side, but she needed all her own peripheral vision in order to predict and block the attacks that rained in from all angles.

They were doing well considering the circumstances. They were outnumbered after all. But that didn't matter if the outcome was still the same. You didn't get points for getting second place; you got scars. Even though these Erasers didn't have guns or clubs, they wielded their claws just a dangerously.

Carolina caught a claw down her forearm and cried out before she could stop herself. York, distracted for just that half a second, also received a rather painful wound but his was to his chest. Within a flash, they were knocked off their feet and self-satisfied, toothy grins blocked their view of the blue sky.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound and one of the Erasers dropped dead beside them. Everyone's gaze was thrust upon a man with white, disproportionate wings and a thick mustache holding a sleek, black firearm. Guess being an expert marksman was something else that Wyoming hid from them.

One of the Erasers launched toward the new player –whether it was to avenge the death of a comrade or he was simply a challenge, they wouldn't know for sure. Carolina was going to place her bets on the latter. However, that eager Eraser was also killed with a skilled shot to the vitals. Wyoming made every bullet count.

Two down left three to go, that was Carolina's and York's opportunity to escape. With a renewed vigor, they fought against the hold of the Erasers. However, with whatever inch of purchase they gained against the Erasers, even with Wyoming diverting attention, it was futile against the sheer manpower the Erasers had. It wouldn't have mattered if Wyoming brought a machine gun, there seemed to be an endless flood of Erasers racing toward them, choking any hope from their lungs.

The Erasers dog piled the older avian-human mutant, disappearing beneath claws and fur. Soon, even more grunts came to restrain York and Carolina. They fought with all their muscle, all their adrenaline, all their fear, but the Erasers were just too much. The two were jammed into the ground and held there, hundreds of pounds of Eraser smothering them to the dirt.

The scuffle seemed to stop for a split moment now that the bird mutants had been restrained. Carolina could hear the panting of the Erasers and smell their dog breaths. She wanted to gag, but she was more concerned with simply breathing to be too concerned about the quality of the air. Her chest heaved against the ground as she tried to allow her lungs room do their thing. She became light-headed as the task of inhaling became too taxing. Dots danced in front of her eyes as her chest heaved mightily against the weight that was crushing her, but, suddenly, she was lifted from the pile.

For one moment, she wondered if she was being taken to heaven or having some sort of out of body experience, but then she realized gravity still held a horrible hold on her; it pressed her down into the arms of an Eraser as the creature carried her toward the helicopter.

No! She fought and squirmed. She was not a fish that could be tired out on a hook, that, with enough patience, would be lifted from the world and into a frying pan. No! She wasn't done yet!

She tossed, but she wasn't able to escape within the short walk that ended with her being dumped in a small, plastic and metal box.

A dog cage.

She immediately froze. She knew these were no ordinary dog cages. They were indestructible, especially designed for the transport of mutants like herself. She had spent quite a bit of time in a dog cage at the lab. However, the only good thing about the dog cage was that no Eraser could harm her in there. Sure they could jostle the cage, but their claws weren't able to reach her. In her experience, the dog cage was the closest thing to a safe place.

They couldn't do anything to her in the cage. But it was still a cage. She wouldn't ever choose to go back into one when she could have escaped. Still, although she wanted to fight, her body screamed in protest from injuries she wasn't brave enough to really inspect yet.

The Eraser that held her cage swung its arm back as if to bowl the cage into the belly of the chopper when she heard a voice call out.

"Wait! Let me see her first."

What scared her was the Eraser lowered its arm. That meant this was someone in charge, and she had a sinking feeling she knew exactly who. The Eraser tilted the dog cage up so she could see through the metal bars and right up at the dark haired man.

His face was unforgettable but his eyes were hidden behind glasses lensed that glared in the fading sunlight. He smiled. A horrible, terrible smile. She pressed, terrified into the back of the cage.

"It's been too long, Number One."

Her heart stopped –overwhelmed with fear and crippling dread. She didn't even notice that she had been loaded on and the helicopter took off before she came out of her shock.

Carolina had many figures that would appear in her nightmares, but his was one of the worst. His Southern drawl, his greasy black hair….

He was the Director of Project Freelancer, the commander in chief of the horrible lab known as the Mother of Invention.

And if there were two things he tried to make clear, it was these: she was his favorite experiment, his "Number One," and she belonged to him.

Okay, so, first off, I'm sorry if the Wyoming/479er bit was corny. I usually don't write romance, and I read romance even less so that was my best shot. XD

Also, I know that 479er doesn't have a canon name, but Lucy is the common fan-canon name for her. I don't know. Something about the name fits her so that's what I went with.

Also-also, I should clarify before people start thinking things I didn't intend: this is not going to be some weird Director/Carolina shipping thing. They are not going to be paired together and the Director has no romantic or lustful feelings/intentions toward Carolina. The Director "owning" Carolina is referring to him denying her rights as a human and owning her like a slave or property (not in any sexual way). I'm keeping this rated T.

Anyway, thank you for reading this. I appreciate it greatly! As always, review and fav if you so desire!

Looking forward to it!