I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I do not own Maximum Ride. Shocker, right? XD

Gazzy looked up as someone opened the door. A man in a lab coat was in the doorway, someone unfamiliar.

Gazzy fleetingly wondered how much force it would take to snap the man's neck. Probably not much, considering his mutant strength, but he remembered the stupid collar. And Angel. He didn't want to do anything that would risk Angel's life. Once his sister was safe he would be free to beat up any scientist he wished. Starting with Kyle, the mysterious and irritating figure that had somehow brought Itex back into the flock's life. And he could almost imagine blowing this place up, the beautiful explosion it would make, how it would almost be like the old days with Iggy.

"Come here," the scientist said in a calm voice. Gazzy felt a flare of anger as the man studied him, like inspecting some kind of animal, or… experiment.

Gazzy swallowed as he realized the full implications of the situation. He was pretty much helpless, and Angel was somewhere in here, also helpless. He hadn't told Max or even Dr. Martinez where this place was.

Completely vulnerable, in the middle of some evil institution. It was like one of his nightmares coming to life.

Gazzy stepped forward, closer to the doorway. He wondered if he could possibly be quick enough to kill this man and then run out of the place. That would be stupid though, Gazzy reminded himself. He had to know where Angel was first. He remembered an old lesson from Max: Always have a plan.

Gazzy decided he would wait and watch, and when the time came he would act. That was all he could do at the moment.

"Follow me," the scientist commanded him, turning and walking away. He didn't look back once, but Gazzy decided to follow anyway. He needed to know the layout of this place better. He hated taking orders, but he had to take people telling him what to do. He knew he should stay alert and look for an opportunity to make his move.

The whitecoat walked at a fast pace, never checking to see if Gazzy was behind him. Gazzy wondered at this. Did they really think all their experiments were so obedient? Or were they so confident that no one could possibly escape, or cause any trouble?

Gazzy did his best to take in his surroundings as he followed the whitecoat. He spotted some cameras, and noted the fact that there were guards periodically pacing up and down the extremely clean, white hallways. The guards were wearing black, professional-looking outfits, and they traveled in pairs. Gazzy's sharp eyes didn't miss the fact that they had semi-automatic weapons equipped.

Gazzy studied the doors that passed. Some were like his, heavily reinforced, and were spaced apart from each other. Could his sister possibly be in one of those cells? She would hear his thoughts, wouldn't she?

Gazzy took a turn left after the whitecoat, and then he froze. A certain strong smell had reached him, stopping him with a flood of memories. Gazzy inhaled again, automatically, and winced, shutting his eyes. He could almost feel himself being a little kid again, stuck in a dog crate, taken out to be tested. He could almost feel the pain and nausea and needles from those terrible days in the School. That hated chemical, too-clean smell lingered no matter where he was in the School.

That was what Gazzy smelled, now.

The whitecoat seemed to sense that Gazzy wasn't behind him anymore. He stopped and turned around. He watched Gazzy for a minute, seeing the tall, skinny boy standing stock-still with his eyes shut, near panic on his face.

"Come here," the whitecoat finally said in a dispassionate voice. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you disobey my orders—"

With great effort Gazzy opened his eyes, taking a deep breath. The sharp chemical scent made him want to bolt in the other direction, but he took slow steps toward the whitecoat, thinking of Angel.

Wordlessly the whitecoat pulled opened a heavy door, and Gazzy walked inside. He felt sick when the smell became even stronger and when he saw the metal table, with various needles and sharp looking instruments lying in a tray beside it.

"Sit," the whitecoat commanded, picking up a needle that Gazzy recognized was for drawing blood.

With only a trickle of relief, Gazzy allowed the whitecoat to draw blood from his arm. He'd been through worse.

Later, when he was walked back to his cell, Gazzy couldn't help feeling a flicker of hope. Because in his hand, discretely taken earlier, was a thin, sharp scalpel.

Maybe he could find a way to put it into good use.

Gazzy sighed, frustrated. The collar was made entirely out of metal. He knew it had snapped on him, but there wasn't any visible hinge, which was almost impossible to believe. Of course he couldn't really look at the collar since it was around his neck, but he should have been able to feel something. The only thing he could see, and just barely, was a green LED light blinking every few seconds. Gazzy had hoped that he could somehow use the scalpel to remove the collar, but it was beginning to seem rather hopeless.

Gazzy couldn't help tugging at the collar every now and then. Sure, he'd been moved up from a dog crate to a cell, but they still treated him like animal. He was wearing a freaking shock collar. He knew it shouldn't get to him that much; he remembered Max saying that the girls had to wear collars just the same when they were at that place in Germany. Still, he hated the feeling of being controlled.

Gazzy slid the scalpel in the side of his shoe, making sure it wouldn't scratch against his foot. He'd have to find another way to use it. It was the only weapon he had at the moment, but it was better than nothing.

And Max had taught the flock to always use whatever they had to get the best advantage.

Gazzy smiled as he remembered Max's old lessons. Never give up. That was one of them. One of the most important ones, she'd told the flock. Never, ever let the bad guys win.

Gazzy wouldn't give up. It could take days, weeks, even months to find a way out of here, but Gazzy wouldn't let the bad guys win. He would get Angel out of here alive. Somehow, he knew he would.

Angel sat quietly, thinking. It had been so long since anything had happened to the flock. But she had known this was coming. She just wished she could have done this better. If only she had known sooner. Max and Fang were going to find her, she knew it, but not until it was too late. And she knew Gazzy would find a way out, with that girl, Abby.

Angel was the only one not coming out of here alive. She wished it could be different, but she knew. She knew she was going to die, one way or another.

And it was all her doing.

Angel remembered those childish days, when she was young, when she thought she was better than Max. She had thought because she was more powerful, and Max seemed so weak sometimes, that she should be the leader. But she knew now, that Max was stronger than she was. Max was smart, and brave. She had taken care of Angel better than Angel could've taken care of herself. But when she was younger she had believed that Max was so stupid sometimes. She didn't understand why Max had led them into danger so many times. If she had been the leader, she would have known whether or not they were going to be in danger. But she learned, over the years, that it wasn't like that. Max struggled with keeping the flock safe and saving the world, working to be a hero and working to be with Fang. At the same time Max kept the flock together like a family, keeping them happy and together.

Except now. The flock was breaking up, Angel was going to die, and Gazzy was going to be torn apart. Angel felt it in her heart, the feeling so strong it nearly took her breath away.

The future couldn't be changed. The flock's fate was sealed.

Review?