Stress stared down at Xisuma's unconscious body on the gurney before her.

"Where did he come from?"

"I don't know" Cleo said, poking her fingers into X's neck to check his pulse. "I just found him in the hallway outside. My guess is he's from one of the other departments, wasn't feeling well, and collapsed on the way here"

"Mn" was all Stress could say.

She was trying very hard not to let any unusual emotion or sign of recognition on her face, but it was proving difficult.

"He doesn't seem badly hurt" Stress said, taking control of the gurney. "I can take this one. I know you are busy with Mr. Keralis"

Cleo gave her a thankful smile.

"That would be great. Let me or Scar know if you need help, but I'm sure you're more than capable"

Stress looked around.

"Where is Scar? I haven't seen him the last couple days"

"Oh I think he's helping Cub with the half-breeds. Apparently one of them is very mouthy and received enough punishment that Scar needs to heal it before the process can continue"

Stress felt her stomach drop. One of them was very mouthy? Oh Grian...

Focus on the task at hand  Stress schooled herself, turning back to X. What the hell are you doing here? And what happened?

His pulse, while strangely sporadic, was not overly worrisome. His breath was steady and strong, meaning the likelihood of lung damage was low.

Stress examined his arms and noticed red rings around his wrists. The reasoning for his unconscious state was clear by the large lump on the back of his head.

Why were you tied up? Why were you knocked out?

Too many questions to deal with right now Stress decided. She arranged X properly in a bed, hooked an IV to the back of his hand, and lay a blanket over him.

She pulled out a small flashlight to check his mouth, but when she gently pulled on his chin and his jaw fell open, Stress saw a small folded up paper.

Her heart rate quickened, and she jerked her head around to make sure she was alone. When she was positive Cleo was busy on the other side of the room, she carefully pulled the wet paper from Xisuma's mouth.

With shaking fingers, she opened the note. The script on the paper was tiny and frantic with multiple spelling mistakes as though it had been written in a hurry.

We  are all here to get you and Grian out. Please keep X unconscous until we can mak an escape. We will explain later but hes been acting crzy and we cant have him geting in the way. Once we have Grian we wil come get you and we can get out togeter. Ply along for now
- M

Stress shoved the note in her pocket and rubbed her temples.

This is such a stupid plan. Worse than that, it's risky. What if someone else had found that paper?!

Making a mental note to kick Mumbo later, Stress gathered herself and forced a smile on her face.

Just play along. Just keep playing along.
______________________________________________

"Mumbo this is so stupid!" False whisper shouted, her voice muffled slightly by the cramped space.

"Well I'm sorry False but I didn't hear any better ideas" Mumbo hissed back, continuing to crawl forwards.

The group had stolen away into an air vent after leaving Xisuma outside of a door with the healers mark on it.

"Get your butt out of my face!"

"Get your face out of my butt!"

"Guys!" Doc growled, glaring at Iskall and Ren who were shoving each other against the tight metal walls. "I know this isn't ideal, but this really  isn't the time!"

The two boys dropped their eyes and mumbled apologies.

"Freaking children, I swear" Mumbo heard Doc mutter under his breath, and he felt a smile tug at his lips. At least some things never change.

"Seriously though, does anyone have any idea where we're going?" Iskall asked, a tone of worry in his voice.

"No but it's a lot safer to listen through the grates than to just walk around the halls" Mumbo responded, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "Shh! There's one up ahead!"

Crawling as quietly as possible, Mumbo strained his ears to hear any kind of conversation through the grated vent below him.

"New shipment just came in. Boss says to leave it in the docking yard"

"Why?"

"It's fake you idiot. A bunch of half-breeds have been wandering too close to the property, probably looking for food or some crap like that. They'll see the cart and think they are getting  a free meal and BAM! It will blow up right in their face!"

The two voices barked out a cruel laugh that made Mumbo's hair stand on end.

"Creepy little mutants. Thank god we have Cub. Did you see what he did to the new one? Man it was brutal"

"Well deserved though"

"Obviously"

Not being able to stand it anymore, Mumbo motioned forwards and crawled as quickly and quietly as he could until he did not hear their voices. Still, the words kept repeating themselves in his mind.

"Creepy little mutants. Did you see what he did to the new one? Man it was brutal"

He shook his head.

Not Grian. Not Grian. Please please please not Grian.

"Mumbo"

He opened his eyes. When had he closed them?

"Mumbo" Ren's gentle voice floated towards him. "We have to keep going"

"R-right" he stuttered. "Yes"

They continued on along the cramped vent for what felt like hours before reaching the end of the system.

"We have to go down here" Mumbo said.

He carefully pried open the grate beneath him, sticking his head out slightly to make sure that no one was around.

When he was sure the coast was clear, he began lowering himself down out of the square hole, head first.

This proved to be a very stupid idea. As soon as he was hanging out from his waist, he felt the smooth fabric of his trousers begin to slide against the metal.

"No no no!"

He fell hard onto the linoleum beneath him, managing to brake his fall slightly by rolling onto his back.

He saw Doc's head peak out from the vent above, badly covering a smile.

"Dude..."

Mumbo tried to glare but the pain in his shoulder turned it into a grimace.

"Just... just get down here"

When they had all descended from the vent, and Mumbo was helped to his feet, they gave themselves a chance to fully take in their surroundings.

Everything was white, from the floor, to the walls, to the bright lights that stretched down the hallway, around the corner, and out of sight. It was rather unnerving.

The most interesting thing by far was the large white metal door which stood directly under where the ventilation system had ended.

The large red letters on the door read

KEEP OUT

Mumbo felt a warmth spread through his chest at the thought of what his golden avian would think of such a blatant invitation.

"I can't help myself!" Grian had once said after accidentally ruining one of Mumbo's machines. "When I see a button I have to press it! When there's a lever I have to flick it! If there's a keep out sign, how am I supposed to resist?"

Mumbo smiled fondly at the memory.

Oh Grian. My Grian.

"Mumbo"

The sudden voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned to Doc who was eyeing the door.

"I think this is our only way forward"

Mumbo nodded and joined him, studying the keypad next to the door.

"How are we going to get in?" False asked, crossing her arms.

Doc pulled a small metal tool from his belt.

"It looks complicated but this is a very simple design" he said. "If I can just-" he stuck the metal tool under the side of the keypad and pushed into it so that it sprang free from the wall, hanging down by a multitude of colorful wires.

Doc took a step back and rolled his eyes at Mumbo.

"Amateurs"

"I know right?"

After playing with the wires for a couple minutes, the engineers heard a rather loud clunk as the heavy locks behind the door unlatched.

Quietly and carefully, they crept through the door. Mumbo felt annoyance nip at his heart as he walked into another perfectly white hallway lined with doors.

Peeking through the glass on one of the doors, his eyes widened as they were met with a small white padded room. A lump of a person lay in the corner, and Mumbo swore he could see a pair of horns sticking out of their brown hair.

"It's a hybrid!" 

He felt a yank on his arm as Ren pulled him out of the way to look through the glass excitedly.

"It's not Grian, but it's definitely a hybrid" Mumbo could hear the excitement in his voice.

Iskall and False weren't tall enough to see through the glass, so they stood nervously, shifting from foot to foot in anticipation while Mumbo, Doc, and Ren made their way down the hallway of heavy metal doors.

Mumbo glanced from room to room.

No

No

Not him

Grian

Where are you

Please

Gri-

Mumbo paused, cutting off his own thoughts in his mind. Curled in on itself was a tiny person. Mumbo could see golden curls peaking out from between his fingers as he held his head in his hands while he slept.

Mumbo's heart leapt into his throat.

Grian. My Grian. My-

Something was wrong with this picture. What was wrong?

Tearing his eyes from Grian's head he scanned the avian's body, the feeling of wrongness escalating with every second.

Suddenly Mumbo's mouth dropped open and he stumbled back from the door, falling to the ground.

His wings were gone.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Guess they finally found him, but what will happen now?
If you did enjoy the chapter, please consider leaving a like and a comment to let me know what you think!