Author's Note: This was inspired by parts of Hitawari-Angel-15's fic, MR Bloodlust 2: Queen of Hearts. You don't have to read that for this to make sense, but any self-respecting Fax shipper will have already read it, and if you haven't, you should.
And if you have read it and think, WTF – how did you get this story from Queen of Hearts? You may want to ask me. Or go read it, review, and ask CK yourself. I did mention it to her.
Also: This is a sort-of sequel to one of my other MR fanfics, Blind. You don't have to read that, either, but it's certainly preferable. But you'll understand Iggy's first-chapter melancholy if you do.
Chapter One: A Prisoner in the Mini-Dungeon. Thing.
Real bright, Max and Fang. Put the blind guy on guard duty. Real excellent brainwork, there.
Iggy was sitting very sullenly in the basement of a somewhat abandoned office building. It was only somewhat abandoned, according to Nudge, because while the building didn't have official occupants, the flock had been using it for long enough that it wasn't completely abandoned. Or something like that. The rest of the flock was taking care of Angel. She'd broken her left wing, and was currently either crying into Max's lap or puking all over the place.
He was sitting at the bottom of the steps, only three yards away from a very feisty prisoner, and was doing so very sullenly because he hated being on guard duty. It was boring, Gazzy was sleeping, and he didn't have any bombs.
Or fire. Iggy liked fire.
But the biggest reason that Iggy was so sullen was one that he wasn't precisely willing to admit, and that was because he was jealous of Fang. Fang got to eat the stuff Iggy had left behind and stay with Max, who was in love with him, and had the flock for company. Iggy, on the other hand, didn't get to finish his dinner, didn't get to stay with Max, who he loved, and had the prisoner for company. And this prisoner's company sucked.
"So are you gonna feed me or not?" came the slightly whiny, always annoying voice from three yards away. "Because I'm kind of hungry and stuff."
Iggy sighed. "No, I'm not going to feed you," he said, for the sixth time that night.
"But I'm hungry."
He ground his teeth together. And when you're a blind avian-human hybrid that has super-developed hearing, grinding your teeth hurts your ears like hell. "Look. Shut up, will you? I am not going to feed you. For the seventh time. I'm not leaving you alone to get you some food. And we don't have any more food, anyways. We ran out tonight. So unless you want to eat me, I suggest you get used to being hungry."
"I dunno. Barbecue wings sound pretty good right now."
Iggy took the opportunity to throw a rock at the prisoner. "That isn't funny. Cannibal."
"I'm not a cannibal," the prisoner argued.
He opened his mouth to retort, then stopped. He got to his feet quickly and pivoted slightly, listening closely to something going on outside the walls. Sounded familiar...
"MAX!" he screamed up the stairs. "THEY'RE COMING!"
There was a small stampede, and the door burst open. "How soon?"
"They're outside the door!"
She swore quite loudly. "Iggy – I don't know where we put the key!"
To be on the safe side, they had locked the door at the top of the stairs. Meaning that Iggy was locked in with the prisoner. And the door was reinforced.
Iggy swallowed. "Leave without me."
"What?" Max sounded shocked. "No! We're not leaving you, Iggy!"
The sound of a wall splintering punctuated her sentence. He shook his head. "You need to take care of Angel. Come back for me later!"
She wanted to argue, but the breaking sounds changed her mind. Max leaned against the door for a moment. "I will come back," she said quietly. Then she thrust herself away from the door and ran back to the flock.
Iggy stood quietly at the bottom of the steps. He'd just sacrificed himself.
"What about me?"
He turned towards the prisoner, annoyed. "I don't know," he said sarcastically. "I have the feeling that they're not going to be pleased with you, either."
"Shut up." The prisoner stood. "Get me out of these."
"No." Iggy was not going to release the prisoner.
The door at the top of the stairs shattered, and Iggy stood with his face turned up towards the attackers. He would not fight them. Not this time.