A/N sorry, this chapter is pretty long....he a whopper. Guess it's my thing now to write super long chapters then disappear back into the void.

Also it is Midori's birthday today so please consider how cute it would be for baby girl to learn about birthdays.

"She tries to kill me every single week, sometimes more! And- and now it's my problem to get her back because-" Amabilis cut off.
He looked at Peggy, Crystal and Stellaluna, awkwardly staring at him as he ranted.
"You want to live with that?! When I said I wanted her out of my hair I meant far far away! Not with you imbeciles!"

Stellaluna rolled her eyes, zipping up her jacket (Amabilis disapproved of such an idea, the open Society X jacket is a statement piece.)
"Well, are you going to come?" She asked, gruffly as she pushed open the front door.

Amabilis paused.
"Of course I am."
he walked to the door, Magenta at his side, unemotional as usual.

Stellaluna punched Amabilis in the arm playfully.
"Ladies first." She joked.

He raised an eyebrow and stepped out the door before Stellaluna, then Peggy, then Crystal.

Amabilis guided his fledglings through his yard to the forest edge and scanned their expressions for fear or determination.
Crystal and Peggy showed both.
Stellaluna on the other hand seemed oddly excited about this little adventure, especially considering what happened to Midori.

The forest branches were high on most of the trees, and they weren't pines so the fear of getting stabbed with sticks and pine needles was nonexistent.
Forests where you can't see through the trees are often portrayed as scary, but maybe it's scarier when you can see. If anyone questionable were to cross their path, Society X and Stellaluna's friends(?) would all see them, and it'd be a wild run for their lives.
Stellaluna cleared her mind of that thought, and persevered through the thick wood, where occasional clearings and stones lay on the ground

A distant animal skittered by and Amabilis' hand shot to his gun, which rested against his hip. He was jumpy for such an aloof guy.

"Amabilis." Magenta raised her voice.
"If we do see Midori...are we shooting or not?"

Amabilis' brow furrowed, he looked straight ahead seeming frustrated.
"We'll do what we need to." He said through a clenched jaw.

Crystal sensed his frustration and tried to ease the tension.
"I just wanted you to know we'll take care of Midori! We'll give her food and water and pets and we'll spoil her like grandparents! She will be totally out of your hair!"

Amabilis grunted as he glared at the younger girl.
"I don't care."

Crystal looked puzzled but persisted.
"So- I'm really confused- why do you two hate each other?"

Amabilis tensed.
"She....hurt someone I care about."

Crystal took a moment to think before she looked up at Amabilis again.
"Really? It probably wasn't on purpose! I was scared of her just like you before!!"
Amabilis' hands curled into fists and he bit his lip, he wasn't going to yell at this kid, he wasn't going to-
"I think really she's scared of herself, Midori has potential to be a normal person, she's just...scared! I hope-"

Amabilis turned to face Crystal, he snapped
"You don't even know her!" The forest went dead silent save Stellaluna's dragging feet over long fallen leaves.
He didn't want to yell at Crystal, afraid he'd terrify her. But he glared at Peggy, she was the one who convinced Crystal and Stellaluna this was okay.
"You're too forgiving. Some people can't be good. She broke into your house and attacked you and you let her stay!"

Peggy answered in a calm, controlled voice.
"She was homeless, abused and severely misguided. I don't care what she's done I couldn't let her go back."

She grew quiet and Amabilis looked over at her.
"Why do you hate her?" She asked.

Amabilis grumbled and Peggy moved forward, yearning for her question to be answered.
"Just...she hates me because of her owner. I hate her because she's awful and a killer."

"...Owner?"

Amabilis sighed. One of the reasons he liked Magenta was that she actually knew what was going on.
"No matter what happens she always runs back to her owner, like a little guard dog." He muttered.

"Who's her owner?"

Magenta froze for a moment before she stepped closer to Amabilis and began walking again.

"She's just some lady with a few screws lose. Korudo...she's cruel, but not too great in a fight. Luna-"
Amabilis raised his voice at Stellaluna and she looked up.
"You'll be a good asset, I've seen you fight, she will be an easy target for you."

Stellaluna looked down at her muddied boots.
"Uhh...th-thanks..."

Amabilis shrugged, it wasn't exactly a compliment, it was just a fact. But there was something about Stellaluna...she could take down Korudo, but she was reckless and would have to be careful of she'd fail.

"Korudo and Midori arent exactly alone, however. Don't mess with her other lab rats. They're..." Amabilis touched his scar as he trailed off
"In and out, real fast. I lead, We..." he looked to Crystal who was crouched next to a few lone dandelions, smiling cheerfully.

"Leave the fight to me and Maggie, Just grab Midori and we're out."

The trees began to thin, and Peggy lifted her hand, brushing it across what appeared to be a burn mark in an old, rotting tree.

Ashes adorned the ground, floating into the air as the teenagers walked upon them.

"Oh my stars..." Peggy's eyes widened and she peered forward. She fixed her glasses and rushed over to Amabilis.
"This is the old city isn't it?!"

Crystal raised an eyebrow.
"What?"

Amabilis nodded.

"Yeah. Way back there was some huge fire, the city got evacuated and rebuilt to what it is now." Amabilis jabbed a thumb in the 'new' city's general direction, the buzz of the highway was innaudible, the lack of such an ever present sound was almost eerie, though it was nothing compared to the promise of abandoned buildings that lingered in the team's minds.

"It's like ghost story fuel, right? Super creepy, nobody who goes there on a dare ever comes back." Stellaluna said.

Amabilis didnt spare her more than a glance.
"Ghosts? Nope. The reality of those frea..." Amabilis cut himself off, he looked at Magenta who gave a usual blank glance back.

"Anyways, I'm not scared." He folded his arms.

He probably thought he was being cool but it came off as a little annoying, egotistical. I mean how could you not be-

Stellaluna swore under her breath and Peggy shot her a look.
"Wow..." Crystal stared upwards.

In front of the group loomed a big white building with shattered glass windows and a chain link fence around it. A large stream trickled not far behind and wind whipped against the stone building's bricks.
A hospital.

Behind it was the rest of the abandoned city, painted white by ashes and black by scorches, there wasn't much, and there certainly wasn't much that still stood.

"This is wicked..." Stellaluna murmured as she took steps towards the fence.

Inside the building, the second floor Stellaluna could have sworn she saw a figure through the shattered glass.

She pulled out her phone.
"My vlog is gonna thrive." she said as she jumped onto the fence. A harsh hand tugged her backwards and she hit the dusty ground with an thud.

"Hey, are you even listening to me? I go first." Amabilis said.

As Stellaluna stood up Amabilis looked down on her. He ruffled her hair, flaunting his height.
"I'm not sure you could get down off the fence without falling. Safety first."

Amabilis scaled it in a matter of seconds and glanced at her from the other side.

"Wow!" Stellaluna yelled over sarcastically.
"I'm so impressed!"

"If you fall I'll catch you." Crystal promised, putting a hand to Stellaluna's shoulder as if she were the (very responsible and mature) legal adult in the situation.

"The last time someone promised to catch me my swim instructor nearly got arrested for attempted murder." Stellaluna responded.

She crawled up and leapt over, effortlessly landing on her feet.
"You're overreacting." She claimed.
"I do stuff like this all the time."

"You mean breaking and entering, Stella?" Peggy asked from behind.

Stellaluna paused.
"Well...not exactly but yeah."

"Alright." Amabilis cleared his throat.
"Lets get going."

Peggy stabilized her foot in the chain link but Amabilis rushed over.
"No, no, no, no. You and Crystal don't have enough fighting experience. You can wait here, we'll send Midori out ahead of us and you can get her home."

Peggy was livid. She jabbed her thumb towards the forest.
"Wow, Amabilis, you've really thought this out. I'm sure we can find our way back through this dense wolf ridden forest no problem!"

Everyone went quiet. Peggy being sarcastic? And mad? In what reality is this-

"I'm coming for my friend." Peggy claimed.
"And I don't care what's in there, Crystal isn't staying out here alone."

Her and Crystal climbed the fence too and pulled past Amabilis who only stuttered.

Peggy looked down as she noticed Magenta standing at the hospital's largest entrance. When she...disappeared they all tended to forget about her. That must feel awful.

Not giving Magenta much conversation seemed rude, but Peggy realized quickly she wasn't exactly social.

"Get a move on, come on, come on,"
Magenta snapped her fingers, looking Peggy up and down with a cold scowl.
"And stay out of our freaking way."

Peggy was surprised to say the least. This kid isn't one for first impressions...

"Then where are we supposed to go?" Crystal whispered, looking around the foyer as she stepped inside.

Clearly this wasn't always a hospital, its structure and design were grand, but undecorated. Peggy could see steel doors shining down long dark hallways, near every window was shattered or covered in wooden boards. There was an ever present ceiling leak that dripped rythmatically, though Peggy couldn't hear it as well as she could see it, illuminated by a stray beam of light.

In the centre was a grand staircase adorned with an old torn up rug that ran onto the marble floors, both covered with smears of dirt, spraypaint, water, and...blood.

It was dark in this building, but through the windows light streamed and dust drifted down.

"Hey. Penny,  better get moving before you get killed." Magenta hissed quietly.

"Imagine having so many kids and absolutely no noise problems..." Amabilis muttered as he led the flabbergasted girls down a first floor hallway.

Stellaluna's vlog was indeed, about to thrive.

Peggy flinched as something touched her shoulder, but calmed once she realized it wasn't a bug or teenage killer, it was Crystal.
"So this place is empty, right?" She peeped.

Amabilis scoffed as he faced her.
"Kid, that's the opposite of what I said."

Crystal clung even tighter, and Peggy ruffled her hair, resting a motherly hand on her shoulder. Crystal whispered
"I mean...I'm not scared of most things. But I am scared of uhh...doctors...this is all jut kids? Like Midori? No actual hospital stuff?"

Amabilis froze, turning to Crystal and crouching down as if she were an even smaller child.
"What did you just say, sweetheart?" His fake smile was bitter and pained.

"I'm scared of doctors..?" Crystal repeated shyly.

Amabilis turned around again and nodded.
"Oh. That's-" he gritted his teeth.
"Lovely."

Stellaluna had been awful quiet, following along just behind Amabilis. She glanced at him for long periods of time but whenever he turned around to grunt some meaningless comment she turned back to her phone looking uninterested.

The hospital was -as Amabilis mentioned- eerily quiet. He had said there were kids here and lots of them! But...there were no voices, no footsteps, just the creaks and leaks of an old, abandoned building.

It looked like the set of a horror movie. Peggy didn't like being at the rear of the group, and took subtle backwards glances to make sure she was the last one in the long hallway.

"Alright." Amabilis said. He turned around to the small group.
"Midori's that last room, next to the exit. Magenta and me will stand guard at the opposite end of this hallway." He grabbed his handgun from a ring in his belt and swung it around in his hand.
"If she goes on her usual violent rampage we're just a jog away."

Peggy clutched Crystal's hand and nodded, proceeding to the aforementioned door to rescue Midori.
Stellaluna stretched her hands in front of her, cracking her knuckles.
"We won't be needing you with me around!" She assured Amabilis, only to receive a blank and doubtful look from him.

He bid them luck and Magenta and Amabilis started back down the hall.

Stellaluna reached for the doorknob a few doors down and jiggled it.
"Locked." She whisper-shouted.

"Hospital doors shouldn't have locks." Peggy whispered back.

"Well I don't think this is a law abiding hospital."

Stellaluna tugged at the knob again, pulling, pushing and jiggling it to no success.

"Guys!"
The two turned to Crystal who raised a hand to her ear.

There was silence, and then there were two near silent sounds.
Amabilis loading his gun came from their left.
Fair enough, hopefully it was tranquilizers again.

But the other sound was a quiet sniffle accompanied by fast, anxious breathing.
The girls looked to each other before realizing where it came from.

Crystal raised her voice and leaned against the metal door.
"Midori?"

Things got quiet again. Then the crying came again, louder.

"Midori, are you okay?" Peggy asked.
"The door's locked, can you let us in?"

"No." Midori responded, sounding absolutely distraught.
"Get out."

"We're not leaving. Even Amabilis wants you free. It's bad for you to stay." Stellaluna said.

"I'm begging you...Please go. Please forget me. You have to leave right now."
Suddenly her voice heightened in intensity, falling into an absolute panic.
"Get out! Run! Now! You don't have time to-"

Heels clicked on the marble floor.

Midori went dead silent.

"One..." came a low growl from a dignified but sickly sounding voice.
"You have visitors?"

A woman stood in front of the three weakest Society X members.

Crystal squeaked her shock and fear.
A doctor. It just had to be a doctor.
And this wasn't a vaguely threatening dentist, this was a creepy, disheveled, exhausted, sick looking woman.

Her torn white lab coat was stained with old, dry blood.
Her short hair was an ebony black mess with graying roots.
She could have been pretty, but instead she looked like the dead could walk.

She held a ring of keys in her left hand, a leg of lamb in her right. Korudo. Midori's owner.
"Who are you three supposed to be?" She asked with a displeased scowl.
When no response came she continued.
"You look weak."

"Yeah, like you could take us, scarecrow." Stellaluna snapped.

Korudo glared at Stella, her lip quivering in offence. She then grabbed Stellaluna by the scruff of her jacket and slammed her into the wall face first.
"One!" She called out.
"Can you tell me who these delinquents are?"

Nothing.
She tugged Stellaluna back by her hair and slammed her forwards again.
"Please, dear! I'm just curious!"

Peggy and Crystal cried out. They threw themselves onto the woman but she pushed them back and growled
"Touch me and I'll kill her."

Peggy and Crystal moved back.
"I promise I'd do it. Against the wall."

The girls abided, Crystal burying herself in Peggy's sweater.

"Who. Are. They?" Korudo repeated.

Midori's shoes hit the floor hard as her voice moved closer to the door.
"I can't see, Mistress." She drawled sarcastically.

"Don't use that tone." Korudo snapped back.
She began unlocking the door with her keys.
Harshly, she swung open the metal door.

Midori looked down on the trio, shaking against the walls. Her green eyes were red and puffy as if she'd been crying.
"I don't know them." She said.

Peggy reached out to Midori, opening her arms for an embrace.

Midori looked for a second like she wanted that. But she didn't step forward, she snarled at no one, or everyone.

Korudo didn't look at all convinced by Midori's lie but she smiled nonetheless.
"Alright." She dropped Stellaluna momentarily and the girl took this opportunity to catch her breath (and swear to the point of Crystal's shock).

Korudo put her cold, bony arm around Crystal who cried out.
"I'll take this one, you can have the feisty one, and she,"
The woman lifted Peggy's jaw with her hand.
"Will go to Four."

Midori froze, her cross expression fleeting.
"Mistress...I...I think..."

Midori didn't have time to answer because Stellaluna saw an opportunity and as usual she took it. She bashed her fist against Korudo's face hard enough that she stumbled back, turning her face away from the roommates.

Stellaluna yelled.
"Keep your hands off Crystal. Don't so much as look at Peggy. And any finger you lay on Midori is one I'm gonna snap."

Peggy groaned.
A name drop, a freaking name drop for Midori. Great job Stellaluna, how are you gonna get out of this?

Stellaluna had an idea, however.
She decked Korudo in the face. Again.

The woman looked up in offended shock, she straightened to her full height, definately taller than Stellaluna.

"You worthless little rat!" she yelled, slamming her open hand against Stella's face with a slap.

"You think you can just come in here, taint my daughter, and then pick a fight with me!?" Her hand hit Stellaluna again, who was too small to force her off.

Crystal was panicking. Peggy was tugging Korudo back by her blouse's collar. Stellaluna was trying her best to fight back but her arms were held down by the woman.

And what of Midori? She was doing what she usually did. Standing there, watching, and not doing anything about it.

If she helped an outsider, if she even spoke to an outsider...the mistress would punish her. Even if Stellaluna was kind of a jerk...Midori didn't want her to get hurt.

Especially not by Korudo. Not like last time.

Midori closed her eyes and tried to ignore her 'friend's' screams.

But she couldn't.

She reached out, her fingers shaking violently.
And she hit her mistress.

Peggy pulled Midori away, breaking into a run down the hallway after Crystal. Midori didn't dare look back, her hands shook, she didn't want to look back.

She had hit her mistress.

For the second time in her life Midori was actually ready to run away. This time, Korudo would not be merciful with her, she had made the same mistake twice.

She ran, and as she tore through the hallways, as she ran outside ahead of her new team, hot tears streamed down her face.

She didn't stop in any clearings, she didn't stop in the clearing, she just ran, her new friends (and Amabilis too) close behind her.

Midori was going to be free.

And that was terrifying.