Hey guys. It turns out I am san enough to write this chapter. Marching season is over and I'm pretty sad about that, but it's not like I'm never going to see my awesome band people again. There's still concert band season and I might have other classes with them. My favorite freshman, who I shall call Chocolate Chip, and her friends, Coleslaw and Pookie (Please don't ask. Band nicknames are weird.), have wrangled me into going to Chocolate Chip's house and playing random music at random times to take the place of band. So, yeah. I still have that. Anyway, on to the subject of this chapter. As I said before, this is a bad guy chapter. Some very interesting things are revealed. Oh yeah, I need to ask you all a favor. I need you guys to give me directions on how to make a smoke bomb or stink bomb. Nothing too major. I really don't want anyone in trouble. You don't have to go into much detail. You can just give me a list of the basic things that are needed if you want. Just make it simple. You see, my mom won't let me look up this stuff even though I told her it was for fanfictional purposes. Not even a stink bomb. Mothers. Oh well. As usual, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are AMAZING people. You guys rock! Okay, on with this chapter. I'm sure you'll like it or at least you won't loathe it anyway. Enjoy.

Willow tapped her foot anxiously. She was waiting outside the Director's office with Flint. Tanner was having a discussion with the Director about her. She was terrified though she'd never show it to anyone.

She looked to Flint, who was glaring at her angrily. "You've done it now." he muttered darkly. "Can't follow the rules for a second."

Willow turned away from him. Flint barely talked, but when he did it was never a very good thing. The boy was strange, that was for sure.

The Director's door swung open at that exact moment. Willow could see Tanner staring at her, disappointed. She felt terrible. She had only went after Melody and Skye to make him happy. He had been worrying about them constantly. She thought he would be so happy to see them dead.

Tanner just glared at her. She walked forward, the Director coming into view. Willow never knew someone's mouth could get so thin. Dr. Mason was not in a very good mood.

"What were you thinking when you went after Melody and Skye?" the Director asked her, cutting to the chase.

Willow turned to Tanner, hoping for some reassurance, but there was none. She took in a deep breath. "I was thinking I could finish off Melody and Skye all by myself."

Before the Director could say anything, Tanner jumped in. "You idiot." he snarled at her. "It's Jewel and Skye that need to be eliminated. Melody has to stay alive. I have plans for her."

Those words broke Willow's heart. Willow was in love with Tanner. She knew he didn't love her back though. He was infatuated with Melody. That was another reason Willow had gone after them. She had hoped that once Melody was dead, Tanner would love her instead. It probably would have worked if it hadn't have been for Skye's new power.

"Yes… well." the Director said, looking at Tanner. "I haven't actually given you permission to enact these plans Tanner. After what happened tonight, I'm not so sure that I should. If you can't keep your team under control how can I expect you to keep Melody under control?"

"Tanner didn't know about this." Willow said, rescuing him. "It was all my idea. I swear."

The Director sighed. "Alright, if this was all your idea, then you wouldn't mind explaining would you?"

Willow sucked in a breath. "I… I… I just wanted to get rid of them myself. I got the Tracker to locate them and then I went after them. That's all."

"And what exactly happened?" the Director asked.

Willow looked at Tanner again, feeling nervous. He didn't even look at her. She sucked in another breath. "I followed Melody and Skye into an alleyway in downtown Memphis."

"What were they doing there?" the Director asked. "Where was Jewel?"

"Melody and Skye were on a… date. They left Jewel somewhere I guess." Willow told them.

Tanner squeezed his hands into tight fists at his sides. Even in the dim light, you could tell his knuckles were white. He was not happy about this.

"A date?" the Director mused. "Wait, the 'E' virus hasn't affected Skye yet? Are you sure you injected it in him properly?"

Willow nodded. "Exactly like you told me to. I guess Melody must have stronger healing powers than we thought."

The Director nodded absently. "Well, that shouldn't matter. It's probably only delayed the process. If someone gets him mad enough then he should still morph."

Tanner groaned. "Well, that's all very well and good, but what about Willow's screw up?"

Willow sighed and finished her story. "I almost had them when Skye developed a power out of the blue."

"A power?" the Director asked. "That shouldn't have happened. I watched his development very closely. No powers were programmed into him."

"Well, he has one. He can create a small force field it looks like." Willow told them, feeling slightly proud of herself. Sure, she hadn't managed to destroy Melody or Skye, but she had managed to find out some useful information.

The Director stared into space for a minute. Then she said, "Yes. Well Tanner, we will discuss your plans for Melody in the morning. I should have a decision by then. You both are dismissed."

Tanner and Willow nodded and began to walk out the door.

However, the Director stopped them by saying, "Oh, and send me Cory. I need to have a word with our Tracker."

Tanner and Willow nodded again and shut the door behind them. As soon as they were into the hall, Tanner slapped Willow hard right across her face.

Willow staggered back few paces. Tanner hadn't really hurt her. The emotional pain was greater than the physical pain. How she loved him and how he ignored her, as if she didn't even exist. Making Melody come on to their side was much more important to him.

"That was the stupidest thing you could've done!" Tanner shouted at her. "Didn't I tell you specifically not to do anything? Didn't I tell you I'd take care of it?"

"But… I just… wanted to h-help you. You s-seemed so… distracted. I just th-thought I could h-help." Willow stammered.

"Well, there's the problem: You thought! I told you that I had a plan." Tanner growled at her.

Willow blinked a few times. "Yeah, but you said you hadn't quite finished it. You said there was still a minor detail you needed to take care of."

Tanner looked like he was going to shout at her again, but then a smile crept on his lips. "Your screw up gave me a brilliant idea, Willow. I know exactly how to get Melody totally on our side. I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"What is it?" Willow asked, a little surprised.

Tanner grinned devilishly. "Let's just say that it involves Skye."

Willow knew better than to question him. That would be a grievous error on her part. It would be even worse than what she had just done. Much, much worse.

They walked along the hall, heading to their room, when they passed someone. It was Cory, the Tracker that the Director had ordered them to send to her immediately.

"The Director wants you." Tanner told him absently. He looked like he was thinking of how to set his plan into full swing. If the Director would let him go through with it anyway.

"Why?" the dark headed boy asked curiously.

"Probably for helping this one." Tanner said, jerking his thumb in Willow's direction. "You better get down there now before she gets any angrier."

Cory gulped and walked down the hall, looking as pale as a ghost. Willow sort of felt bad for him. It was her fault he was in trouble anyway. But that was how it went at the School. Only the strong survived. Cory was weak. He had proved that time and time again. He had allowed himself to fall in love with Melody.

See, Cory had been assigned the task of keeping tabs on Melody throughout her childhood. He was a Tracker and had been assigned the task at birth. There had been rumors floating around that Iggy and Elisabeth, former experiments at the School who were part of the infamous Flock, had had a child. When the Director caught word of this, she personally made sure that Cory would be ready for her.

When Cory was five years old, he was sent out to find her. Willow didn't exactly know how he did this, no one really did. All anyone knew was that he located her and the whitecoat who had been assigned to take care of him moved them close to her and pretended to be his mother. No one ever suspected. Melody and Cory became friends as the Director had planned and he watched her every move, reporting on her frequently.

However, it had soon become apparent after a while that Cory had begun to develop feelings for Melody. He had been ordered to keep away from her as much as possible and, as far as everyone knew, he did so.

Willow walked through her bedroom door and sat down on her bed. She felt miserable. Flint kept glaring at her and muttering "idiot" even when he knew she was looking. Tanner probably hated her guts. But, what did that matter? He was in love with Melody anyways.

How Willow hated Melody. She was so freaking perfect. She was pretty and smart. Boys loved her. Tanner, Skye, Cory, and probably even random guys on the street. It made Willow so sick. She wanted to rip out her throat. She wanted her dead.

She began getting angry. She felt her claws extend out of her fingertips and dig into her hands. She felt the fangs jut out of her mouth. She began shaking. No. She had to keep calm. She wasn't supposed to morph unless necessary. She took a few deep breaths and felt her claws and fangs retract. Better.

Willow looked over to Tanner. He was muttering things under his breath that Willow, even with her heightened hearing, couldn't make out.

She wondered what this 'plan' of his was. She knew that he didn't want Melody dead. He wanted her to join them, though how he expected to convince her to do so was a complete mystery.

Why did Tanner want Melody on their side anyway? She was now obsolete due to the 'E' virus that all of the Director's personal helpers had been injected with. It made no sense. The Director had explained that due to Melody's genetics the 'E' virus wouldn't work on her if injected anyway. That had been why they injected it into Skye. So, just what was Tanner planning on doing with Melody if he somehow convinced her to join them?

Willow worried until morning. She lie awake all night, tossing and turning. She saw Tanner get up to go and speak to the Director. She silently hoped that the Director would shoot down his plan, whatever it was. If she did, then maybe Tanner would let her kill Melody. And maybe if she succeeded he would love her.

However, there was no such luck. Tanner came back with a smile on his face an hour later. All he said was, "She approved it. I'm going to get Melody. My plan is about to go into full swing. Just a couple more days."

"Why can't we do it now?" Flint asked.

"Because I want Melody and Skye to have a little time to themselves. Make them think they're safe. Then I'll strike."

Willow felt a sudden chill go up her spine. This was not going to go well. She could sense that something very wrong would happen. But, she held her tongue and let the man that she loved who would never love her back have his moment of triumph.

Good huh? Told you guys it was going to be interesting. You learned a lot in this chapter. I hope you guys really enjoyed this. It took me ages to figure out what would exactly happen in this chapter, but I think I did pretty well. I count this as a major success. Leave me a nice review. Updating next week. See you guys then.