The soft grunts of Addison jarred me from my unconscious state. It’s the weakest I’ve ever felt since being brought here. Rope wrapped around my waist and through my legs, traveled up my back and around my shoulders. I was being lifted out of the pit by the radiantly beautiful scientist. The color of my veins slowly returned to normal as I’m sure the shave gas’ effects began to wear off.

Once I could see over the edge of the pit I tried my best to help her and pulled myself out the rest of the way.

She sat down on the floor next to me, “I’m glad you’re awake. We have to get you out of here.”

“How long have I been here?”

“Since last night I think,” she told me. “Eric told me that you had to be put down, but that didn’t make sense, and he refused to produce your body. I had to find you.”

“Well I’m glad, but how am I going anywhere? I can’t scale and he’s been gassing me every few hours. I can barely stand. And then there’s this,” I motioned to my naked body.

Addison’s cheeks flushed red as she eyed my entire body and shook her head as if trying to rid herself of the image of me naked.

“Okay, let’s get you some clothes. I think the guard should be back by now. Wait here and when he gets close to you, do you have enough energy to knock him out?”

“Maybe, I’ll try,” I told her slightly winded.

She nodded and went to the door. After a minute of talking to herself, she opened it and yelled at the guard, “You have to come quick!”

“What are you doing in there?!” he screamed back.

“I have the code to get in! I told you I had to verify some results but I needed to get him onto the table. I need to slice him open. Help me move him!”

“What?!” he peered over her shoulder. I tried my best to look unconscious.

“He was on that examining table when I accidentally knocked him off. Please help me!” she pleaded.

The guard grunted before pushing passed her and toward me. He bent down and helped me to my feet. This was my moment, but I was entirely too weak. Luckily for me, Addison wasn’t. The guard jerked forward when she hit him across the back of the head with a pipe. He collapsed onto the floor and we stripped him of his clothes and tossed him in the pit.

It took me a while to get dressed. Addison helped me every step of the way. I didn’t deserve her kindness. Once I was ready to go, we stood up and looked around the room.

“We need to have this place look exactly like it was when you got here. Get the rope,” I told her, “Close the pit and turn the gas on.”

“Will that kill him?”

“It shouldn’t,” I shrugged, “But that’s something you need to ask Eric. Just hurry so we can get out of here.”

Addison took her time making sure everything was in its original position. She swiped something out of a drawer, but there wasn’t any time to argue about it. We left and wandered through the same cement walled hallways with my arm draped over her shoulder. Whenever we thought we heard someone coming, we’d switch positions to make it look like I was escorting her somewhere in the Station.

“We need to get you a quiet place to recover.” she said with those brilliant green eyes scanning the halls around us, “I know where we’re going.”

She helped me move through the halls until we were back at the original lab.

“No!” I gruffed, “I’m not going back in there to be your fucking specimen.”

“That’s not why I came to get you, Maverick. Please, we have to get you out of sight.”

She hurried me a few feet down past the lab toward another door. It looked more like a closet than anything. Lab jackets, shelves stocked with supplies, and cleaning equipment lined the back wall of the small space. She moved a box out of the way, pushed buttons on a panel that blended into the paint, and pushed the top corner of the shelf unit. When she opened it, we walked down a hall so slim we could only fit single file. Another door opened to an office. There was a desk and a large bookcase against the back wall.

“You expect me to recover in here? Won’t they be looking for you too? I mean, we bought some time with the guard in the pit, and this is clever and all but they’ll find this place. Eventually, they will come here looking for you,” I told her with an immense amount of worry in my voice. I didn’t want her getting into any more trouble over me.

Addison smirked walking over to the bookcase. She pushed the corner and it opened into a secret bedroom. It was simplistic in nature. Beige walls, slate floor and an open bathroom with a large shower head in the corner that hung from the ceiling directly above a drain. A desk with four drawers sat against the wall next to a small fridge under a window. I made my way over to it only to see nothing but ocean. Waves were crashing far below, and I didn’t have any idea where in Black Harbor we were. The only place with water crashing was the docks.

“You can stay in here and hideout. I normally come in here if I’m working in the lab late and don’t feel like trudging through the Station to my chambers. One of my volunteers built it for me before Eric got here. He took the space from one of the rooms and made this place into my own little hideout. Most people leave me alone so much so that they don’t even notice when I’m not around for a few days.”

“They’re going to notice now,” I asserted.

“Yes they will. We have an hour or so before they come back from their tour and maybe another hour before they realize you’re missing. I’m going to go back to my room and grab some essentials. We’ll hide out here until your back to normal and then you can get us both off this rock.”

“Rock? Is that where we are? This place is an actual thing?” I asked her.

“Yeah, of course it is,” she said, “Why?”

“My outfit’s been looking for this place for ages. We were starting to think it was a myth like that city in the mountains where Scalers don’t scale. Sounds like a place where you’d fit right in.”

“It does, maybe we can head there after we get away from here,” she let her hand slide down the side of my face letting me nuzzle against it. I didn’t know what we would do after leaving this place.

“Let’s get out of here first. Once we get to Black Harbor-”

“We can have the entire band of Scarlet Wings come here. They can go after Eric and Shaw for what they’ve done to you.”

“We don’t do personal vendettas,” I told her, “If I come back here, you’d better make sure there’s nothing or no one here worth saving. We’ll level this place to a pile of ash. Once they know what you guys are cooking up here, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

“Don’t do that,” she said with a light tremble in her voice.

“Don’t do what?” I moved away from her touch.

“Don’t lump me in with them. I started my research for a very specific purpose, and that hasn’t changed.”

“How do you feel about Scalers like me who revel in their birthright?”

“I think you’re beautiful. I think you’re courageous. I think you’re sexy. I wasn’t a pet because I was captured, Maverick. I was a pet because I wanted to be one. Even though I’ve never done pet things, I fit in more with Trevor and the Scarlet Wings then I ever did with other Anthros. But, even though I feel that way, I want to help anyone I can to get that same confidence in being themselves.”

“You came to the wrong place for that,” I shook my head, “This isn’t a place looking to help Scalers.”

“I know. I came here for the technology. Look around us. Do you think I’d have the peace and freedom to do this kind of work in Black Harbor? I knew they wanted my work for something, but when I first came here, I was able to work freely and at my leisure. It wasn’t until Eric arrived that things began to take this volatile approach. Now that I know, I don’t want to continue this. Not here, and especially not with them.”

“You shouldn’t. There’s an easier way for Scalers to lose their scales, without the help of any Anthro who hasn’t any idea what they’re doing.”

“I don’t have any idea what I’m doing? Seemed to work just fine on getting you here,” she replied with a snicker.

“I meant that the serum, the components you’re using, Scalers already have access to it. You’re trying to make a shortcut for something that’s supposed to be a life altering journey for the person on it.”

“I don’t understand. There’s already a serum?”

“I don’t think Aya would call it a serum. She would lean more towards concoction; potion even. You can’t do what she does for us.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What’s an Aya?”

“Not a what, who, but we’ll have plenty of time to talk about the answers you’re truly looking for. Right now, if you’re going to go get supplies for us in here, then go. And stay out of trouble. I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you for this,” I sighed.

With the sweetest look in her eyes, she leaned in and kissed me. It wasn’t aggressive like the last one. It wasn’t a goodbye kiss either. It was tender and sweet as if she’d planned to do it again and again. I hope she did.

Watching her walk out of the hidden room, I wasn’t sure what would happen when she returned, but until she did I’d lean back and get some sleep. Sometime in the next couple of hours, she’d see the kind of dragon I truly was. Then we’d see how okay she was with everyone being comfortable in their own skin.