Hello, everyone and thank you for reading. The beginning is a bit slow, but it gets better at the end. More action later, promise!

If you have the time, could you leave me a review? Pretty please? Critisim welcome.

Enjoy!

I woke up to the sound of nothingness. Kind of a strange sound to wake up to when you're an Avian-American who's always on the run, huh? Before I even opened my eyes, I knew something was up. There was always something going on, even if it's just a bird chirping or wind blowing. This kind of suffocating silence-it's just unnatural. A thought zoomed into my head, and I slowly opened my eyes, my worst fears confirmed.

I was alone in a laboratory. Not the school, because the Flock blew that up a LONG time ago. This was just another nameless lab that I had to deal with. Where was the Flock? Could they have only taken me? The last thing that I remembered was Fang's lips on mine…but I couldn't think about that now. I quickly scanned the room to see if anything of interest came to me.

White walls, white tiles that were covered in off-white mildew, white door with no knob on the inside and bolted shut with silver steel bolts, black pile of feathers on the floor, another white wall-wait, feathers? I quickly walked across the tile, noticing that my shoes left muddy footprints in my wake. As I neared the dark mass on the floor, I was surer and surer of my suspicion.

Fang was lying on the ground, unconscious and looking a hell of a lot worse than I felt. Feathers were ripped off his wings, leaving bare spots in multiple places. His pants were torn at the left knee, exposing a nasty cut that was pretty deep. I gasped when my eyes moved to his shoulder. It was caked in blood and had a bit of bite marks around it. There were claw marks surrounding it, and it looked like the bite had dug deep into his skin. I was appalled that they hadn't even had the decency to bandage it! I looked around for a first aid kid, and found none. Furious, I ripped the bottom hem of my shirt to form a bandage.

As I began to wrap his shoulder, I couldn't help looking at his face. His face was covered in yellowing bruises, and he had a cut above his eyebrow. Rage coursed through my veins. Who could have done this to Fang? He was an awesome fighter, and though I hate to admit it, he was probably a stronger fighter than me. Whoever had this had to be tough. Or crazy. Or both.

Finally, I was done. I sat there, not moving him in fear that broken bones could be involved. At that moment, he began to groan. "Fang?" I questioned his waking body. "Can you hear me? It's me, Max."

"Max?" He said quietly, and I knew how much pain he was in. His eyes opened, and he took in my form. "You're okay?"

I helped him into a sitting position and he leaned next to me against the stark white wall before I spoke. "Yeah, I'm fine." Truthfully, I hadn't even thought about my health after I saw Fang. It was like he mattered more than I did. I was flattered that he asked about me above all other things. "Do you know what happened? I can't remember anything after…"

He smirked slightly, and my pulse quickened. I was so glad that he was okay. "Erasers snuck up on us while everyone else was sleeping and we were…preoccupied." He smirked here too, and I scowled. Then he grew serious again. "They captured the Flock without even waking them, which makes me think that these are newer models. You were shot with a dart, and everyone else was lead away without a fight. It was like they were only after you and me." Fang spoke low, but powerfully.

"Why are you beat up so badly? No offence, but you look horrible." Fang smiled, and then moaned in pain. His face had contorted and he had disrupted one of his many injuries.

"I tried to protect the Flock," he stated simply. I nodded and scooted a bit closer to him. "Speaking of, where are they?"

I shook my head. "I woke up right before you did. But if what you said was true about them only wanting us, then they'll be okay." I said this as confidently as I could, but Fang saw through me and smiled with his eyes. Just then, the knob-less door began to beep. A few seconds later, the bolts automatically unlocked and the door pulled itself back into the wall, emitting an eerie glow that dyed the white walls a ghastly green color. A shadowy figure stepped loudly into the room, his shoes clopping on the tile.

"Jeb?" I questioned in disbelief. I thought that he was on our side. I shared a glance with Fang, and I read his expressions as well as if they were my own; in fact, they mirrored mine. "What are you doing here? And where is the Flock?"

"The Flock is fine, Maximum, and will be if you two cooperate. And though you may think differently, I am on the good side-the side to better the world." As I struggled to find words to argue this fact, he spoke again. "You two are the problem."

"Huuuuhh?" I asked with all the dignity and eloquence of any grown adult. Fang grabbed my hand and squeezed it, and I was newly glad to have him. I couldn't ever lose him again.

"Let me explain. You, Max, were created equally with the Flock. We then decided to add special genes to one of you, in case the world needs saving. Unfortunately, there were disagreements about which of you should get the honor. You were not fully developed yet, so we could not go off of personalities. Most agreed that Max should be the savior, because you were the oldest.

"However, a few scientists said Fang should do it, since he was a guy." My mind reeled. Those sexist pigs! Just because I wasn't a guy, they were going to trust all of the world-saving to FANG? No offence, but I don't think that he could handle the craziness of having a voice in his head as well as I could-which wasn't very well, mind you. Fang's grip tightened even harder, and Jeb prattled on. "Since the majority agreed on Max, we gave you the genes. But one major Fang supporter slipped the genes in when no one was around. You two are both designed to save the world."

Well, this was news. I looked at Fang's face, and almost doubled over laughing. His expression was priceless! He didn't get surprised easily, but when he did, BOY was it good! I turned back to Jeb. "So let me get this straight. Fang and I are equal? Why does this matter? And why now?"

"We only just realized what this scientist did. He was older, and as he was about to die, he told it to one of his best friends. Unfortunately for him, the man was also one of the most trusted scientists, and he immediately informed all of us about the situation. Obviously, plans were put into action.

Max, Fang, you are both incredibly powerful and hold the fate of the world in each of your hands. But you are linked in more than that you both belong to the Flock." He took a breath. "You two are balanced. As one goes toward saving the world, the other goes toward destroying it. Neither can fulfill your destiny of saving the world while the other is living."

I realized what Jeb was saying, but it wouldn't process at first. As soon as it did, it hit me.

Either Fang or I would have to die. And if Fang did, I would have to kill him.