A/N Hey people, I realised this is slightly later than I said it would be, but I've finally gotten around to writing it. My two beta's haven't gotten around this chapter as of yet, but I thought it would be a good idea to throw up this story. Anyways, it's set after MR3, not MR4. Not much more to say, except enjoy!

Disclaimer: JP owns all canon. New stuff is mine.

I ducked down low, lashing out with a foot. I couldn't help but grin when I was rewarded with the sound of crunching bone. That must have hurt. A lot. I didn't have time to bask, though, as the Eraser replied with a swipe of his own, catching me across the arm and drawing blood. Wincing, I blocked out the pain.

Dancing back as the Eraser pressed his advantage, I found myself back-to-back with Fang, busy with two Erasers of his own. I had no time to see how he was doing as I blocked two swipes at my head. Dodging another, I saw an opening and took it, raised my hand to deflect his kick and elbowing him neatly in the stomach before swinging my body around, upper-cutting him and sending him to the ground.

I immediately surveyed my surroundings, taking a look at how the others were doing. Or I would have if not for the explosion that threw me onto the ground. Eardrums ringing, eyes watering from the dust and the world swirling around me, I managed to stand up on shaky legs.

"Everyone alright?" I yelled out.

The first to reply was Fang, whispering in my ear, "Seems like that got rid of the final few Erasers."

I whirled on him. "How many times have I told—"

"Here!" called Nudge, coughing and turning on the boys, "Can you please give us some warning before you do that one next time, I mean, really, that—"

"Hey! If we gave warning then the Erasers would know, too," replied Gazzy.

"Still, that came as a bit of a shock you know," said Angel. "Not to mention this branch nearly found my head." She gestured down at the Eraser lying at her feet. He had a stake through his head.

"Come on, people," said Iggy, "that was a mere seven on a scale of ten. We haven't even gotten to the high end of the scale yet."

"This is all rather interesting to listen to," stated Total by my feet, "but I can hear people coming."

"You can still hear above the ringing?" I asked him.

He simply rolled his eyes at me. Laughing, I ruffled his fur and turned to the others. "Okay people, you heard the mutt—"

"Hey!" Total huffed, but I ignored him.

"—people are coming and we just fought Erasers. That means our vacation has just been cancelled for now." Groans and curses were thrown about. I snapped open my wings, catching their attention, "Once we get far enough away it's back to holiday mode. And this time, no fooling around until we clear the treetops. We wouldn't want a repeat of last time, would we?"

There was some light chuckling as we rose slowly through the tree tops. It's hard to keep a sour mood when you're flying. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Fang slowly drifting over to me. Smiling, I adjusted my speed, dropping down to the back of the Flock as they whirled around and dived at each other.

"Hey there," I whispered softly.

"Hello back," he replied, caressing my cheek with his fingers.

Grinning wider, I caught his hand with my own and held it as we flew. My eyes darted around at the rest of the Flock, making sure none of them saw. They were so happy right now, playing with each other, diving through the sky, such a drastic change from our days on the run. And now . . . we might be on the run once again.

"They were Erasers," I whispered to Fang, "I thought they had all died out."

He sighed. "You're not going to go all tense on me now are you?"

I shook my head and moved closer to him. "No, I'm not going to get all tense. I'm just wondering what's going to happen now." I sighed. "This is just like last time. Nothing happened for a long time, then all of a sudden the Flyboys appeared. This time nothing's happened and then Erasers suddenly appeared. We're meant to be safe now. On holiday. Enjoying life."

"Come on Max, you'll make it through. We did last time didn't we? Plus," he chuckled lightly, "the School is gone, everything should work out for the best. Who'll be chasing after us? They're probably just strays."

I glanced over him, "Still we—"

"Need to be prepared," he finished for me, smiling and flying close enough to peck my lips quick—it takes a lot of practice to kiss while flying, and even now we only had a second before losing altitude. Like always, I felt warmth flood my body and my flapping became slightly erratic. I saw Iggy glance over and I straightened out my wing beats. "I know, Max. And I will be prepared. I'll talk to Iggy about it. After all, we're the Three Musketeers: the pyromaniac, the leader, and me."

I rolled my eyes at him. "The Three Musketeers? Have you been reading online novels again? Plus, if I'm the leader and Iggy the pyromaniac, then who would you be?"

Just as Fang was about to reply, Angel called out, "Max! There's a cave down there, maybe we should stay there for the night?"

I glanced up at the sky. A nice deep crimson colour. If I were Gazzy, I would go into all the details and describe it perfectly. I'd talk about the sun sinking into the distant sea to the right, the clouds floating in the sky, the sounds of wildlife in the forest below us. I'd say how the stars were slowly winking into existence the night sky.

Gazzy the poet. It was a surprise when we found out. Or more accurately, it was a surprise when Iggy burst into the hotel room we'd been occupying, reciting a poem out loud. A rather nice poem. And it was a rather . . . unique way to wake up as well.

Of course, it took forever for Gazzy to forgive Iggy. Those weeks were hectic. Neither of them would talk to each other and pranks were flying in all directions. More than once someone else got caught in the crossfire.

"Lost in thought?" asked Fang.

I glanced over at him. "Just wondering how Gazzy would describe the scenery is all. That boy sure does have a way with words. He should be an author."

We landed at the cave of the mouth and peered inside. Angel and Nudge were already playing some game on the ground, Iggy was cooking while Gazzy was watching him, and Total was making comments all the while. Seemed like this was the spot to bunker down for the night.

Sliding the bag off my shoulder, I threw it into the corner and sat down, leaning against it for comfort. I watched as Fang walked over, whispered in Iggy's ear and both headed off, leaving Gazzy to tend to the food, which smelled delicious, whatever it was.

I gazed toward the entrance of the cave, sky already a darker shade of red. The Erasers . . . Where had they come from? They didn't seem like Flyboys, either. Jeb hadn't sent me anything about the School coming back online so it wasn't that . . . It could be Itex; after multiple bases being stormed by children, they had managed to regain their composure and even got their lawyers to sue us. They sued Fang for causing damage to their image or something stupid like that, but it wasn't like they could find us. Last I heard they were on their feet again and bigger than before.

"Still lost in thought?" asked Fang.

I jumped and turned to face him, "How many times have I told you to stop doing that?" Noticing he had a bowl of food in his hand, I relieved him of it, digging into it enthusiastically. Not bad if Gazzy made it.

"You mean breathe?" He sounded so innocent when he said that, earning him a punch in the arm. "Ow! Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Max! Stop beating you Fang!" yelled Iggy.

"Yeah Max, stop beating me up," said Fang. "Beat Iggy up instead. Less chance of him getting annoyed and returning the favour . . ."

I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha. Real funny Fang." I got up for another helping, wincing slightly when I had to use my left arm.

"What's wrong?" asked Fang, instantly by my side.

"It's nothing."

"Sure, because that red stuff that looks like blood isn't soaking into your shirt, is it?" demanded Total from my feet.

I growled at him, but everyone was already in a flurry of movement. Fang was scolding me, Angel was grabbing the medical kit from Iggy's bag, Nudge was fretting and I was sitting in the middle of it.

"I'm alright," I practically yelled over the commotion. Did they listen? Nope.

"Fang, Gazzy, Total, get out," Iggy demanded.

"What? Why?" the instant complaints filed in.

Iggy pulled stuff out of his kit. "Because Max is going to have to take off her top so I can treat her wound. Now unless one of you is her boyfriend or something, I suggest you leave before Max kicks you out."

Fang opened his mouth to say something, but a quick glare from me and he closed his mouth, looking slightly sheepish. I jerked my head in the direction of the cave mouth and they left, grumbling. I turned to face Iggy. "You too."

His smile immediately vanished, "Why me? I'm the doctor around here . . ."

"So? This is a simple wound, now get out and we'll treat it ourselves." Iggy opened his mouth to complain but I cut him off. "Leave now. Or I can throw you out if you want." He closed his mouth and slipped away.

I looked across at Angel and Nudge, both failing to conceal grins. Rolling my eyes, I burst out laughing; they exchanged a single glance before joining me. Stripping off my shirt, I glanced at it and there was indeed a blotch of red where the blood had seeped through. How did Fang miss that?

Tossing it to the side, Nudge pulled out the bottle of antiseptic and applied it to my wound, causing me to grit my teeth, and wrapped up my arm. I sat as still as possible while she worked away. It was weird having Nudge talk so little; it was . . . unnatural, starting to border on scary.

When I said talking so little, I mean talking as much and as fast as a bunny that's high. And that's about half the speed she normally talks at. It doesn't mean I was listening; I just sat there, nodded my head, and made non-committal answers when necessary. It's what everyone does.

Picking up the clean shirt Nudge found me, I slipped it on called to Angel who was guarding the cave entrance. "Let them in."

"Hey guys, you can come back in now!" I winced as her voice echoed around the cave. Slowly, one by one, the guys filed in. I could see Fang's smug smile and Iggy's scowl despite the shadows thrown up by the fire.

"Okay people, time for bed. I've got first watch," I told them all.

"I've got last as usual," called Iggy.

"I've got second."

"No, I've got second."

"Whatever, I called it first."

"Fine, I'll have—"

"I call third watch."

"What? I was going to ha—"

"You were too slow so shame."

"Seems you've got fourth watch. Have fun," I told Gazzy.

Laughing, everyone got moved off to their various bags, pulled out some clothes for padding and promptly tried to get to sleep. I put out the fire and eased over to Fang. Squatting down, I whispered so that only he could hear, "Can I borrow your laptop?"

Fang turned over so that he was facing me and cocked an eyebrow. "Is that smart? You're meant to be on watch."

I chuckled and leaned close, kissing him on the cheek. "Why don't you take watch with me then and make sure that nothing happens?"

He chuckled softly and got out of his makeshift bed, walking over to his bag and handing his precious laptop to me. "What do you need it for?"

I merely laughed and walked out into the moonlight and turned it on, tilting the screen so that there was enough light to read through the latest news on Itex. There was nothing that screamed "Evil corporation!"

"Wait, go back up," Fang muttered in my ear.

Nodding, I scrolled back up and saw the article Fang wanted me to click on. Slowly we skimmed it. "So? The head of the FBI was found dead. What's so amazing about that?" I asked him.

"Don't you remember? Anne was in the FBI and she was working for the School. And now the head of the FBI is found dead . . ." he trailed off.

I tilted my head to the side. "It's possible," I finally conceded, "that there might be some sort of connection. But what I was hoping for is some sort of connection between the Erasers and Itex."

"Hm . . . move aside."

I passed him the laptop and he sat down, typing away as I watched over his shoulder. He jumped from screen to screen, moving at such a furious pace that I could barely keep up.

In the end I gave up and just rested, watching him as he worked. I noticed the way his head craned to the side to catch the light and his hair fell across his face, obscuring it, the way his shoulders were tense as he worked, the way his wings were spread—

Wings?

My throat suddenly went dry. He was topless. With that thought, a bunch of images flooded my mind, images I usually had while dreaming, images that both thrilled me and made me blush. A smile touched my lips and I walked over and kneeled behind him. As I leaned against him, my hands brushed down the side of his body, caressing the skin as I nibbled his ear.

He gasped and I allowed myself to smile at his reaction but he pulled away, making me whine in annoyance. Turning to face me, a grin plastered on his face, he leaned forward, a whisper caressing my ear. "Frisky Max?"

I simply growled in response and licked his nose, looking at him innocently.

He turned the computer so that I could see the screen. "I suggest you read this first."

I quickly scanned the news article and it completely killed my mood. It killed my mood with a nuclear warhead. "Itex is revealing a new product that's said to change the world and important leaders are gathering?" I glanced up at Fang. "This is not good. Something is almost definitely up."

Fang nodded. "Something is up. Definitely. The only problem is that we won't be able to get there in time and even if we did, what would do? There's no way we can stop this. Especially since they won that court battle and proved their 'innocence'."

I nodded, sour expression on my face. "I suppose there's not much we can do. We'll have to wait it out and see what happens, although I do want to start heading in that direction so that if something does happen we'll be close at hand."

"So, back to New York?"

"Back to New York."

A/N As usual, reviews would be nice, critiques even better.