I do not own anything that has to do with Maximum Ride, but Giga was my idea. James Patterson owns the rest.

Now that I've finished that. Yeah I know the chapter is short but this is the only way I can update consistently so sorry. Hope you like it anyway!

~Lilly

Giga:

Well he said there were six of them: check. He said the eldest girl would be in charge: definitely check. So why was I surprised when the littlest girl, who he said could read minds, looked directly at me? Naturally I had no answer for that, but I also had no answer for the next thing that happened: she looked really confused and turned back around, facing the fire like she had been before. I wish I was closer so I could tell what she said when the older girl asked her what she was looking at, but her words, whatever they were blew, soundlessly past my ears.

But I was only burning with curiosity with one part of my brain, a tiny back corner; the rest was wondering why she didn't call me out of my poor hiding spot? Was this what the man, Jeb said about how I needed to make sure "you aren't seen by Flyboys or any of the workers at Itex, not that it will be hard for you to do that." Did he make me invisible, no he couldn't have, how was I supposed to help them if they couldn't see me? Of course I was hardly a skeptic about anything.

I was temporarily sidetracked when I noticed one of the older boys was busy typing on a laptop. Excellent! I was afraid I was going to have to quit my Critic section on an online newspaper I belonged to.

Well Jeb said I would be able to fashion illusions, so maybe it was time to tell them I was here. I figured I'd show he guy with the laptop and the head lady, they would do for now. I began muttering the commands Jeb said would set up the illusions the first few times. Then decided what they would see. But the other older boy was twitching, he could hear me I was sure of it, but how? My voice was almost muted. None of them looked my way though.

I pressed the mental on switch for the illusion and let them see me walking out of the woods, about two yards from where I was and prepared to get up.

Their heads snapped around at the same time to face where I told them I'd be coming from and the others stopped moving altogether. Miz Prez and Laptop Guy scanned the empty woods for a few seconds then turned back around; reassuring the others I was almost positive. But their movements were slight and jerky, their backs tense; they were both ready to defend their rag tag group when I appeared.

Truthfully that idea was not the most comforting I'd ever come up with, but education was one of the few things I remembered from past two months ago and I'd have five years of the Study of Body Language on my résumé which was weirdly long for a thirteen year old. So those little signs were glaringly obvious to my carefully trained eye.

Of course that was one more thing to add to the list of reasons why I should just turn around right now while I still could, which really meant while they still didn't know I was hanging out, because I didn't really have anywhere to go so it was here or some cardboard box in some ally. So I sucked in a big breath and took the few steps necessary to be where I'd been in the illusion I'd shown them.

I was very careful not to step on any lose roots or twigs and not just because, like in the movies it would snap and I would be tackled in a matter of seconds, which really would be unpleasant, but also because I'd been going barefoot for the past three hours and it would really hurt if I stepped on something sharp right now. As it was I have a nice sized blister.

I pulled back one of the lower branches and saw them sitting around the fire, bright gold embers crackling up. Picture perfect, a real Kodak moment in its entire gag inducing beauty, a real patch work family, stitched together unevenly, some pieces closer than others, but all connected. For some reason I couldn't quite remember that made my stomach roll.

I almost left then. There was no room for me in that family. I was in no place to walk out there and expect them to except me into their already perfect family. After all I couldn't even remember my parents' hair color, what did I have to bring into this family? Nothing, it was more than I could stand, knowing that. But I had to weight in starvation, being the outcast, starvation, being the outcast, starvation… I could probably find food, but that uncertainty was just a little unnerving, so… I could always leave later if I couldn't stand being the outcast. Choice made.

I took a couple of experimental steps out into the open. There was no response except a slight tightening in the shoulders of the two who were expecting me. Well that was a good sign. "Hello," I said experimentally.

They spun around so fast I narrowly missed my opportunity to slide to the side. "Hold on a second!" I pleaded hands up, "I'm like you guys!" I insisted letting my wings slip out from between my shoulders. "See?" I said turning around and flapping my wings a few times, before letting them pull back into my shoulders.

"Who are you?" the girl asked when I turned back around.

"Well my name is Giga if that's what you mean or that's at least what he called me."

Before I could ask what her name was she was speaking again, "He who?" the set of her mouth was confusing, she looked almost worried, not outwardly, there she'd put on a brave slightly annoyed mask, but her body language said she was a little on edge I concluded with a slight examination.

"He said you knew him."

"Did he tell you his name?" she asked really annoyed now.

"Jeb," I said, expecting a wave of realization when there was none something pulled at the edge of my memory, "Oh yeah I was supposed to show you that! One minute please!" I said sitting cross-legged right where I was and shut my eyes.

12-25-17-087-1400-6-231-3-70-4-11-156721-765-8-97-6-9-65-34-8-5-5453-45-256, the numbers swam in front of my eyes as I mouthed them and pushed the internal play button and opened my eyes. Just as I opened them their gazes glazed over and the older boy with red hair gasped and almost fell over.

That was unexpected.

"So you've got a computer brain?" the oldest girl asked.

So that's what the illusion was about? I wonder why Jeb didn't let me see it.

"Half of one."

"I guess you'll be around for a while then?"

"If it's ok naturally…" I trailed off.

She nodded and turned her back to me.

She was gesturing to each of her companions and in turn they were nodding with solemn faces, even the littlest girl who couldn't be much older than five.

"And I'm Max," she concluded, "Did you get all of that?"

"All of what?" I asked confused.

"Everyone's names," Max said slowly.

"You had your back to me how could I have?"

"You mean you couldn't hear me with my back turned?"

What any odd question. "No of course not."

Someone directly in my range of sight whispered, "Are you deaf?"

For some reason that made me mad. With a grim set face I answered, curling up my hand into a fist and pulling it down once and back up, the hand sign for yes. I didn't stop there though I pointed to myself and finger spelled the rest of the words in: Yes, I am deaf.