It all happened so fast; one second Sebastian was lying on the floor of his cell and staring at the ceiling, counting the patterns to pass the time as he awaited his inevitable next poking and prodding session when all of a sudden alarms started blaring and he heard the panicked voices of scientists and rapid footsteps from outside his cell.

He got up to try and peek through the small window of bars to see what was going on, thinking maybe this was some sort of test, another experiment they had thought up. But then he heard voices, distant but clear enough with his hearing, and they weren’t anyone he’d ever met in all his years in the facility.

They hardly ever hired anyone new, too much of a risk of hiring the wrong person and having their secret get out, and judging by the aggressive yelling from both sides it sounded like this was completely out of the facility’s control. No, what was happening was a shock, an ambush, had to have been planned months in advance. But what did the intruders want? What is this mission of theirs about?

Sebastian usually liked to be very thorough in thinking out his plans and actions, needing to know what every possibility could be before springing into action, but it was only minutes later that the locks on multiple cells clicked open with loud hisses the rang throughout the facility. For the first time in years his cell was open and it was up to him whether he stepped through it or not, and he was not about to let the opportunity pass.

Whether the intruders had come to free all the Demi-humans there from captivity and guide them to greener pastures or if they had come with intentions just as malicious as the scientists and planned to wrangle them all up like cattle for themselves, Sebastian would not be staying to find out. And neither would his fellow captives, all seen whizzing past him and scattering around the second he stepped outside his cell.

The facility was nothing more than chaos as he looked around; scientists fighting to keep the intruders from going in further and trying to snag any Demi that rushed by them, most meeting a fate that would have them wishing they could just be locked up for life for their crimes. If he was honest with himself, Sebastian wouldn’t have minded taking some time to get some revenge of his own, but he knew time was a luxury he was just gifted and he didn’t want to waste any of it.

He took off from his cell and dodged his way through the winding halls of the facility, trying his best to remember where exits were or see if anyone else had found an opening. The amount of noise in the place was deafening but he was lucky enough to be able to hear the faintest sounds of doors opening and closing constantly, changing his path to head directly there as he saw many others rushing there too.

He was only feet away, the smell of fresh air almost prominent enough to guide him the rest of the way, when he heard a yell from a voice all too familiar. He knew he should’ve kept going, should’ve acted like he heard nothing at all and made his way out, but he found himself grunting in frustration and turning around anyway, trying to locate the sound.

And there he was, just a couple rooms down, someone was screaming out for help. It seemed that with all the commotion some Demi’s were toppling things over in their haste to get out, no doubt some unfortunate ones were getting caught up because of it. A few tables and a bookshelf had gotten pushed aside and they had fallen victim to it, pressed up against a wall with not nearly enough strength to free themselves.

Every man for themselves. Sebastian should’ve thought. They’re dead weight if injured.

He should’ve just turned away and kept running, should put himself first and eliminate any risk of being recaptured. But fuck it all, they were just as much a captive as he was. They had been subjected to just as much horrendous abuse and experimentation, so much so that they weren’t going to be able to free themselves with how weak they were. They weren’t going to survive.

Sebastian had seen how strong they could be, had seen firsthand how resilient and capable they were during group experiments, had seen how they were always one of the last ones to make it through intact even if they were just a lump of exhaustion and pain on the floor by the end of it. They had gotten tested on earlier today even, but they were still trying to fight.

Sebastian warred with himself for a few tense minutes before finally bolting over and quickly using whatever strength he had left to move the tables and bookshelves, creating just enough space for them to slip free and for Sebastian to grab their arm and start running back toward the exit without so much as a second glance. He couldn’t afford to worry about if they were too injured to run right now, they had to run.

The situation behind them seemed to be getting more and more serious by the second, the intruders were advancing inside and the scientists were starting to get desperate, who knew what measures they would go to to keep their dirty secrets hidden. Sebastian kept his gaze forward, all but pushing his way past any stragglers until finally...

He stepped outside.

The sun was more than blinding after being under luminescent lights for so many years, he felt like he had gone blind before he managed to blink away the intensity and look around. Demi’s were pouring out of the facility and running in every which way across the expanse of land they were on, practically in the middle of nowhere in a large clearing with nothing in sight but a distant tree-line.

It was the best chance at staying hidden that they had, so Sebastian gave their arm a tug and start running again, letting go once they past through the trees to keep going. He was exhausted and every limb ached from so much use after being dormant for so long but he couldn’t stop now, they were still far too close to the facility for comfort, he could still hear the voices from across the field.

As they ran, Sebastian tried to think of what to do, where to go. The first thing that came to mind was his family’s village, but that was like hoping they came across an oasis in the desert. The village had been burnt down decades ago at this point, with that everyone he knew before he was taken to this godforsaken building, and he didn’t have the slightest clue of where he even was now. He could be hundreds of thousands of miles away, and even if he managed to get there there would be nothing and no one left to help him. He supposed it could be a place to start over if the city near it hadn’t expanded...

Sebastian was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized they were starting to falter and fall behind.

“Hurry up! I will not hesitate to leave you if you slow me down.” He shouted, but there was only so much a body on the brink of breaking down could do.

He growled in frustration and looked around frantically, only seeing very distant Demi-Humans zipping past through the trees but seeing no sight of scientists or the intruders. The voices had gotten quieter, almost silent now with how far they’ve gotten, but Sebastian wouldn’t feel satisfied until he could no longer feel the looming presence of the building.

Against his better judgement, he slowed his pace just enough to grab them by the arm and all but haul them beside him, making them match Sebastians pace as his eyes burned with an intensity no one had seen from him in decades. “You will not disappoint me after I saved you, do you hear me? We need to keep going, forget your pain for now.”