"Max, this is a really bad idea," Fang said from behind me.

"Yeah, tell me about it," I responded. Walking into an obvious trap was quite normally a bad idea, and I for one didn't expect this occasion to be much different.

We had picked up the trail of a truck, the only tracks of any sort around, and were now following them to what I can only assume will be the others.

And probably some sort of wonderful group of School employees.

So we had a nice cruising altitude, heading for probable disaster.

A day in the life.

"That's not what I meant, Max," Fang said, and I could catch the agitation in his voice.

"I know we could trust him."

Oh, so that's what this was about.

I rolled my eyes. "You know we can't. We can't trust anyone. Remember Anne? Jeb? Ringing any bells? This is what they do, Fang. They get someone who seems great, send them to us, and they screw us over."

Not Brium," Fang was just adamant about this.

Brium had left us, if I remembered correctly. And that was fine by me.

The guy was just… He knew us; he knew who we were. How could he know that?

And he was… like us.

Speaking from personal experience, we don't usually come across others like us.

"And why not?" I asked.

Fang pulled up and hovered, and I had to do the same.

I stared at him. Well, more like glared at him.

"He saved my life once," Fang said quietly.

All right, time to find out what the hell I had missed.

"Okay, Fang. We don't have much time, so make it quick, please… So you know this guy. Lets hear it."

Fang took a breath. "I was seven years old, and the Whitecoats took me to an… arena, I guess. There were four Erasers, and we had to fight them. Brium and I. He was there before I was. So, we did. It was to the death, Max. Us or them."

I raised an eyebrow. "And you never told me this, why?"

Fang shrugged, "I didn't think it mattered. I never saw him before or since. I thought he'd be dead by now."

"So you won, I guess.," I said, stating the obvious.

If Fang was here, what else could have happened?

"We did." Fang nodded. "I've never seen anyone fight like him. He was ten, then. Three years older than we are."

I contemplated this for a moment, flapping my wings just enough to stay afloat.

"So, how can we trust him now? That was seven years ago, Fang. The School could have broken him easily by now. He could be, and probably is, working for them."

Fang smiled. It was a smile that said he had won this argument. And it didn't make sense, because he hadn't.

"If he was working for them, he'd have done something, Max. I mean, everyone but us are already captured right?"

I nodded, "It would seem that way. Hence the rescue mission you're stalling right now."

Fang smiled wider. "If he was working for them, we'd be in their hands right now, too."

I sighed. "Who is this guy? Jesus? Fang, even with the current bizarreness between us, I still think we'd be able to take him."

Fang shook his head slowly. "I don't think so, Max."

I rolled my eyes again and began flying faster towards the unknown.

If Fang hadn't been acting so weird lately I might've been more inclined to listen to him, but Fan was acting just so… un-Fang-like recently.

It made everything he said debatable.

And I hated that. But it was true.

I wanted the old Fang back.

And if Fang wasn't weird enough., we had some new player who may or may not (probably may not) be working against us.

A new piece on the chessboard of our lives.

But his eyes…

He had seemed almost completely honest.

Or he was a great actor.

It sucks so much not having the simple blessing of being able to trust people.

It sucks big.

We flew in silence for a while. That feeling of impending doom becoming more and more noticeable with each passing minute.

Fang didn't make a sound, though I know when Fang has his mind made up about something he lets you know.

So, he must've known that now I'm on the fence about everything, too.

What if maybe this Brium did want to help us?

Why he would do that, I have no idea. What would he gain?

Fang had planted the seed of doubt and he knew it.

He didn't have to argue with me because I was now arguing with me.

And he knew it.

And it drove me nuts.

He knew that, too.

The ground below us was nearly a complete blur, we were moving so fast. We weren't all that high up, but still, we were simply hauling.

I guess having your whole family taken gets a person moving.

"So, do you feel at all nervous that we're flying right into a trap?"

This was Fang trying to lighten the mood.

"Absolutely," I muttered back. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

He chuckled a bit at that.

And we flew the rest of the way in silence, making sure that the dirt trail the truck had left never left our sight.

And before we knew it, there was a truck. A big trailer truck sitting in the middle of nowhere right off a main highway that also seemed to lead to nowhere.

Perfect for a trap, but we really didn't have any other recourse.

I would rather die than abandon my flock.

This was the only option. And I had to take it.

And Fang was right there with me.

That simple fact, it occurred to me, did wonders with repairing any damage that been done to our freindship over the past few days.

The disagreements, the arguments, the kiss… all of that just sort of vanished when I knew that despite it all, Fang was still here.

It was difficult to thin of more to to ask of someone.

"Well," Fang said in a businesslike manner as he eyes the trap before us. "There's one good thing about all this."

I glanced at him to see what this could possibly be.

"You loooove me.' He held his arms out as wide as he could. You love me this much."

And with that, he was gone in a flash, leading the charge towards who knew what.

And now I was good and pissed off and I followed, already ready for a fight.

That bastard.