Chase's PoV

Harlow and I glanced down at Andrew and then back up at each other. There was no way we could leave him here alone, but bringing him inside the shop of a potential kidnapper / murderer was insane. "I see no good option here" Harlow murmured, possessively placing her hand on Andrew's small head. "Agreed" I answered, but we both knew without any more spoken word that the safest option was to stay together.

I turned to the flock, noting their varied, but overall fearful expressions, and gave my best shot and sounding in command. "Alright guys, this is it. I don't know what we're about to walk into but the most important thing is staying together, staying safe, and saying as little as possible. In fact, don't even speak, let me do the talking when we go inside". If anybody disagreed with my plan, there was no attempt at protest. Little did my flock know, there was no plan in place.

We walked in the computer repair store, myself taking the lead with Indy and Felix directly behind me, Harlow behind them with Andrew and Ash in each hand. A flicker of pride surged through me for a brief moment as I saw the cold, expressionless faces that my team had managed to produce.

The shop itself was small, a hole-in-the-wall with dirty cement walls and painfully fluorescent lights. A handful of broken-down, circa 2000 Dell computers lined one wall, with a beat up brown wooden desk shoved against the adjacent wall. There were no decorations, no pictures, nothing that indicated that the shop was a legitimate business besides a few meaningless certificates hanging in broken glass frames on the door. I noticed stacks of papers filling the floorspace and the desk as I looked around for any sign of life. The door swung shut behind us and the banging sound created almost made me jump. Steady. I warned myself. The others were watching me closely. They needed a strong leader.

It was in response to the door slamming shut that a woman stepped out of what I had initially assumed was a closet door. It was also at that moment that I was painfully aware that the shop had no windows, no other means of escape besides the door that we had just walked through. I made a quick mental note that the door wasn't heavy and was made mostly of glass, easy to shatter if a sudden escape was necessary.

"May I help you?" The woman asked, quickly shutting the closet-like door behind her small frame and standing awkwardly in front of it. The only way I could think to describe the woman was like a bird. No, no the beautiful, mutant birds that we were, with our huge wings and gracefulness. This woman was more like a chicken, or a roadrunner like I'd seen in the desert once. Long, skinny legs with knobby knees and impossibly thin ankles.

I took a breath, steadying myself emotionally. I didn't know what to say, but I wasn't going to stand here and not say anything at all. Then, with horror and a weird sort of detachment, I heard myself say "We're here to see Vladamir"

Ash's PoV

The first thought that ran through my head after Chase opened his mouth like a crazy man to this weird woman was Noooo, that was not the right thing to say...I know sometimes I'm a little crazy, but even I'm not crazy enough to walk into a store that's connected to a criminal and state that I want to see him.

The lady, who I guessed was about five foot six including her red heels, immediately shot us a suspicious look but did not at all seem surprised by the statement. We made eye contact and instinctively my eyes dropped down to her red shoes and skinny ankles. Boy, I hope they don't snap. I couldn't help thinking. The lady straightened the hem of her white blouse and cleared her throat. "I think you kids are lost. You need to go home". Her voice was firm, but I noticed her hands left wrinkled marks in her shirt from where she gripped it too tightly.

"We're not lost. We know exactly where we are and what we're doing" Chase replied in an even tone, taking a step closer to the woman. I cheered for him in my mind, he was definitely coming across as intimidating, at least in my mind. The lady didn't seem scared, though. She took a step closer to Chase in response to him, but I noticed she stayed directly in front of the door, too. I shot a glance across Harlow to Andrew, making sure to smile at him so he wouldn't be too scared. I was a little scared, but I also knew I was with my family. And right now we outnumbered this lady six to one. Math was never my strong area, but I was pretty sure that was right at least.

"Look, you're not the only group of kids who have come in here asking for Vladimir. Everybody has read the papers, everybody knows this was his old store. But you children don't know what you're dealing with. Leave right now". The lady spoke perfect English, but there was definitely an accent. I couldn't tell what it was but I knew it wasn't Spanish. Suddenly, a burst of anger overtook me and I jumped forward. I knew what I was doing was stupid but I couldn't help myself. "I KNOW that Vladimir kidnapped my sister and I want her back RIGHT NOW" I yelled, voice shaking with anger.

Immediately, Harlow's hand dropped from mine and she gripped my shoulder, hard, so hard I wanted to cry out in pain but didn't. Her fingers dug so deep into my bone that I thought my collarbone was going to snap, and she didn't say a word as she forced me against her side and I knew to shut up right away. I knew telling the lady our business was dumb but I was so angry that Savannah was gone and I was so tired of feeling scared and restless from doing NOTHING that I wanted to shriek.

The lady looked at me with daggers in her eyes. "Go. Home" She said forcefully. Her voice was tight like the bun at the top of her head and her hands were back at the hem of her shirt. She took a step backwards against the door she had come in through and looked as though she was about to lose her mind... I wished we would have had a plan before coming into this computer shop. This whole thing was a bad idea, I suddenly realized.

Chase took command once more. He also took another step closer to the lady, and for the first time I saw something like fear flash into her eyes. Maybe our gang was finally scaring her. There was a long, never-ending silence that for some reason was the loudest thing I've ever heard. Then Chase slowly unfurled his wings, stretching his entire wingspan into the room, filling the space.

Harlow's PoV

It was at that moment that I didn't know if Chase was the stupidest or smartest person I'd ever met. It was also at that moment that I knew our strength was in our numbers. So slowly, after Chase had extended his wings to their full length, I shrugged my shoulders back and opened mine as well. The sweet younger kids looked confused but followed suit, shaking out their wings and filling the room with feathers. It was quite honestly one of the most beautiful sights I'd seen; our glorious gift of wings covering this dingy, ill-lit room.

The woman's jaw dropped. Before she could say anything, Chase spoke up again. "We know who Vladimir is and what kind of people he kidnaps. Now, if you know Vladimir, you know he will want to see us right away. But if you refuse, or really don't know him, I have no problem killing you right here and now"

I suppressed a gasp as I threw a glance at Chase. I knew he was lying through his teeth. There's no way Chase would ever willingly kill a human - a non-robotic or harry mutant person - especially a woman who looked as normal as a woman could get. But on the other hand, Chase had visibly changed demeanor in the last few minutes; moments, even. His eyes were hard and his jaw was set in such a way that I believed him. The woman looked as though she believed him too.

A/N - Wow, first update in 8 years. I found this story as I was going through old files and felt a mix of inspiration and nostalgia. I decided it deserved a proper ending, watch for updates!