Chapter One
I woke up, feeling groggy and sluggish. My limbs were weak, and my back felt odd. I couldn't understand it, but it felt like there was something different there.
It was dark, I couldn't see anything. A voice suddenly came, "She's much better then the others in this group. Hardly any deformity in the shoulders!"
"Yes, even better then the flock, in the way that the wings fold under just right, to where they couldn't be seen under a jacket and shirt," Another voice said.
"Don't mention the flock here," A deep, threatening voice said, further away, "They were a bunch of failures." "No, they really weren't," A small voice mumbled.
The deeper voice growled, but was cut off by a sharp, commanding voice.
"Turn the lights on," It said, "It will give us a better view of the wings."
The lights flicked on, and I realized that I was in some sort of room, with three white walls, and one black, where the voices were coming from. My guess was that the wall was a one-way-seeing-wall, or whatever they are called.
All I was wearing was a thin white cotton nightgown, and I felt violated in so many ways, not remembering a thing of how it got there. Or how I got there.
I looked around, sitting up and stretching every muscle in my body, feeling like I had been cramped into a ball for weeks.
Then I realized what the wings they were talking about were. They were my wings, the things that I had felt on my shoulders. Around thirteen feet, maybe a bit shorter, when I stretched them to their full length, and as white as everything else in the room, sticking out of two holes slit into the back of my nightgown.
The voices in the next room came back, "We gave her dove genes. I personally didn't think the wings would turn out as well as they did."
"Shut up," The deep voice was back, sounding like nails across a chalkboard, "Yes, she is cool. But it will be better if you can protect her from those other dumb birds."
A door opened, and my reflexes pushed my wings around me like a wall, concealing me in a soft, downy blanket.
"Come here, dear," A kind, gentle voice said.
"JEB!" The gruff voice was back, but closer, not through the little speaker in the wall.
"Quiet, Ari," the one named Jeb replied, "I know what I'm doing."
"You don't have the authority-" Ari started.
"I don't have the what?" Jeb laughed, "You of all people shouldn't be telling me what I can do, Ari Bachelor."
"Don't use that name!" Ari roared, "I'm not your son!"
"Yes, you are. And you are also Max's brother, whether you like it or not."
I slightly moved my right wing, just ever so slightly, to look at the two arguing people.
The one called Jeb was an older man who had messy brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He wore a white lab coat, with kaki pants underneath, and a button up blue shirt.
The one named Ari, on the other hand, was much different. He looked like some sort of mutant, with his shaggy long brown hair and wrinkled skin that was left more or less exposed beneath his too small lab coat and jeans. He wore no shirt, leaving the hairy chest exposed. He also had a scar just below his eye, the latter of which seemed younger then his body, and was sad, though his voice was angry.
Ari stormed out, leaving me with Jeb.
"Hello," He said, trying to be soothing, "My name is Jeb Bachelor. This is the Scientific Confederation of Human Observation in which Organisms Lecanoscopy."
(No, that word IS real, it just doesn't belong there, lol)
I looked up at him, not sure what to reply.
Jeb came closer, and out of instinct, I whipped my wings out and flapped them angrily at him.
He took a few steps, and then sighed, leaving the room. There was a slight pause before another three people came in, two with guns, one with a rolling dog crate.
"Get in," One of the guys with guns, who looked like Ari with his bulky body and tons of hair.
I scurried into the crate, letting the confined darkness engulf me.
Two hours later, I awoke to the sound of someone whispering hurriedly to me.
"Come on!" He hissed, his pale blue eyes wide.
I hurried out, hitting my right wing against the cage and hissing in pain.
I slightly gaped at the crowd that greeted me. It was a bunch of teenagers; the boy, along with two other girls and another guy. The first boy was the only one who wore regular clothing, the rest of us wore the thin hospital nightgowns.
The thing was, none of them were normal, except for the boy who had released me. One girl had a brown half-muzzle and shaggy hair, who was obviously a much better version of whatever Ari was. The other girl had a bluish sheen to her skin, and flaps on her neck that appeared to be gills. The boy who had large eyes and a weird shell covering his skin, like an insect.
I followed the four of them quietly as we scurried through the halls.
We walked quietly down the halls, stopping every once in awhile to listen or hide when somebody walked by.
Suddenly, the black-haired boy broke into a run, sensing something nearby. I didn't question, just ran with him.
Bug Boy had trouble keeping up, but Fish Girl and I helped him. I found that he had small, fluttery wings that looked like a complete failure, with how little and frail they were. They would never be able to hold him up.
Suddenly we heard a growl, and I slightly glanced back to see Ari running on all fours towards us.
"Run!" The black-haired boy shouted.
We sped up, and I saw an exit sign at the end of the hall.
The boy pulled something from his jacket, and shot it back at Ari. I heard a dull thwap noise, and a growl, but Ari kept coming.
"You should know better then that, Fang," His voice crooned demonically behind us, sending chills down my back.
I pushed myself further, now dragging Fish Girl and Bug Boy. The boy named Fang caught up with us, and Wolf Girl was already at the exit, holding the door for us.
We darted through, and kept running, knowing that though we were out of that accursed building, we were not safe.
We ran desperately for several minutes, the only sound being that of our labored panting, and the howling of the monsters that chased us. Until suddenly, the howling ceased, and Fang stopped.
He pulled out a cell phone and speed dialed the first button.
"Hey, Jane," He said into the device, "We're ready. We are just north of the cliff."
He hung up, and looked at us.
"Hello," He smiled, but the movement seemed forced, "My name is Fang. Do you guys know what's been done to you?" We shook our heads. All I remembered was endless torment.
"From what I understand, the scientists at the school, the building we just left, are implanting developed organisms, such as yourselves, with animal genes. I too, am a mutant in this way. I have two percent avian and ninety eight percent human genes."
He suddenly unfurled two black wings from behind him, though they weren't as big as mine.
"That's probably what I have," I smiled, stepping back and loosening my wings as well, then letting them hang down and relax from their cramped position.
One of Fangs eyebrows shot up with surprise, and he asked if he could look at them. I allowed him to, and he studied them carefully, feeling the joints and feathers. I winced slightly when he touched my right wing.
He eventually turned away from them, "Did they say which bird genes you have? I have raven."
"Dove," I replied, blushing.
"You probably have some sort of sea fish, more then two percent, same with you and wolf," He said to the other two girls, "And you, are some sort of insect?"
Bug Boy nodded, blinking his big eyes.
We heard the sound of a car approaching, and everyone but Fang cringed.
"It's just Jane and Becky," He told us as a dark van came into view.
"Are they mutants as well?" Wolf Girls voice had some sort of feral edge to it.
"They were experiments at the school, yes," Fang replied, "But they are not parahuman, no animal genes, that is."
I didn't understand, not until the girls got out of the car.
They looked related, though it was hard to tell. Becky was obviously the failed version of Jane. It looked like they were supposed to have been perfect humans, in every way. Jane looked fairly close, besides for the fact that she was missing an arm and her neck was to long. Becky, on the other hand, had equal beauty and ugly, like most people, but it was much more defined for her. Her nose was much to small for her face, and her hips were ridiculously large, but her eyes and hair were soft and pretty, and her hands were small and petite.
"Oh my gosh!" Becky said as she saw me, "Your wings, they are beautiful!" Jane seemed to agree.
"Almost like an angel," Becky continued.
"Becky!" Jane said, looking at Fang warily.
"I said an angel," Becky hissed. Fang rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"Are we just going to stand around here and talk like old women, or are we going to go back to the safety of our hotel?" We all piled into the van. Fang drove, though I don't really think he had his license. Bug Boy sat in the passengers seat. Behind them in the middle row was Wolf Girl, Fish Girl, and Becky, and in the back was Jane and myself.
It pained me to fold my wings up, really physically hurt, as my right wing felt popped out of place from the jolt it had received.
Jane talked excitedly to me, while Becky kept the two girls talking, and Fang told Bug Boy jokes, as it seemed he couldn't talk much. I knew that they were just trying to distract us, and probably keep us from going into shock.
"Do you remember anything from before," Jane asked me after awhile, "We did some research, and we figured out about you four, that you were already developed when they took you-everyone else that we've met, including ourselves, were just embryo when they implanted us."
"I remember," I paused, having flashbacks of a large old house. There were a bunch of other teens around, doing chores and talking. There was a swing at the front of the house.
"Harold Youth Home," I said quietly, "I was a runaway. My parents were addicts, of everything. I myself had a smoking problem."
"What's your name?" Jane asked, her eyes wide.
"Candice," I replied, "Candi for short. I was called Sugar Hart at the youth home, or Candi Hart, sometimes Sweetheart, as I was always nice to everyone, no matter what happened, even when I was getting over my personal addiction. But I can't remember my real last name- I probably would never use it anyway."
"I'm Jessica," Fish Girl introduced herself, "I am an orphan."
"I'm Samantha," Wolf Girl said, "I was an accused, very falsely accused, that is, juvenile delinquent, and was on the run for several years."
Bug Boy managed to croak out a few words in a chirpy, strained voice, "I am Jake. I was abu-"
He struggled with the last word, fumbling with his words for a long time.
"Abused?" Fang asked, raising his brow.
Jake nodded, smiling slightly.
We were silent for most of the rest of the way. Now sure that we weren't going to start having a panic attack, our three rescuers let us four muddle in our thoughts, trying to regain ourselves.
I didn't remember getting captured. The last memory I had before the School was doing laundry at the youth home. I had been talking with a couple friends, and then I had gone to take the clothes down to the basement to be sorted later on. On my way down the stairs, everything went dark. Had I passed out? Fallen down? Been captured? I might never know.
I did have a few memories of my time in the lab. Like the immense pain of being cramped up for more then a week in a row, the smell of being surrounded by other mutants who were failing and dying. The twisting agony of starving nearly to death.
I remembered being brought to a lab and them injecting something into me that made my heart start working faster, and I remembered them knocking me out, and afterwards feeling like my bones were different, lighter almost. Because my bones were now nearly hollow, but I was also very strong, thanks to the steroids that they had put me on.
The hotel was most definitely not the best place to stay in the world, what do you expect, when it's bought by three teenagers who are on the run? But it sure did beat a dog crate any day, which made it the best room in the world to us new escapees.
Becky and Jane gave us all clothes to change into when we got to the hotel. It was late at night, and all I wanted to do was sleep.
After I was showered (which felt amazing, as I hadn't bathed in who knows how long) and changed, I stretched out across the floor, leaving the beds to the others. I winced again as my wing complained, and this time they all noticed, as we had all been talking, and everyone was staring curiously at my gigantic wings.
"What's wrong, Candi?" Jane asked, furrowing her brow.
"Nothing," I replied, trying to smooth my face, "I just bumped my wing, that's all."
"Here," Fang stood behind me, and probed the muscle around my wing's joint that connected with my shoulder. Then with one swift move, he pushed the bone back into the socket.
At first it hurt, so much so that I cried out, but then, it felt a thousand times better.
"Thank you," I said, shyly.
"No problem," he smiled, "I used to have to do that all the time for M-" He stopped himself suddenly, looking away. The room settled into and awkward silence, and the only sound was that of Jake's shallow breathing as he slept.
I too, began to doze after awhile, and then I fell into the hardest sleep that I had ever had.
I was alone, in the woods. All that I could see were trees, but I knew they were still behind me. I felt tears streaming down my eyes as I looked madly around, searching for an escape.
I ran blindly through some trees, only to realize that the ground disappeared just a few feet later.
So this was what Fang had said, there was a cliff. Wish I had known sooner.
I unfurled my wings, screaming desperately as the ground drew closer and closer.
At the last second, the wind picked up beneath my wings, and I flapped them, gaining altitude.
I was flying.
The next morning, we all stayed inside. We would have left; Fang told me that they had a temporary home in Arizona that we would all go to for a little while, and stay with a friend of his. It was because of Jake that we stayed. Jane said that his body was rejecting the insect genes, and the overall treatment of his body in general, before and after the School, was to much for him. She said that he probably wouldn't make it.
So we stayed shut up all day. I didn't mind though, for the meantime, I felt safe. But it was slightly boring, as Jake slept the whole time, so I had nothing to do, I couldn't help him.
So I talked to Fang, who seemed to be just as curious of me as I was of him.
"It's just you three?" I asked him when the others went to go get food from the breakfast buffet.
"Well, not really. There's a group of mutants in the Rockies, they are the only other official group, and then the rest of our team resides in Missouri," He replied, "But we are going to go stay with my friend Dr. Martinez in Arizona so that she can check all of you out, give you a clear bill of health, and I also have some private matters to tend to with her."
"Have you heard of a group called the flock?" I asked, quite innocently, not knowing what his reaction would be.
He had been in the process of standing up when I had asked, but suddenly dropped back down, and then froze.
"I don't like to talk about it," He replied with venom.
I was silent, but the curiosity burned the air around me, showing through like a sore thumb.
He sighed, "I used to be a part of the flock. They are five, sorry six, other kids like us, with the bird genes. I left them around a year ago."
"Can you all, like," I paused, almost laughing at myself, "Fly?" He suddenly relaxed, laughing a bit, "Yeah. We can fly. I would bet that you can too, and maybe even Jake if he get's better."
I looked over at the pale boy across the room. "They must have tried to do something to his brain," I said sadly.
"It's like Iggy," Fang said, almost to himself.
He gave a sharp laugh, and I looked up at him, confused.
"What's so funny about that?" I asked.
"There's nothing really funny about it," He replied, "it's just that for the past year, all I've wanted to do was to pretty much make the flock disappear, and then you come along, and suddenly I'm thinking about them all over again."
"What happened to this Iggy person?" I asked.
"They tried to advance his vision," Fang replied, "And now he's blind. He too got really sick after our escape, but then we had Jeb."
I froze at the name.
"Jeb?" I whispered, "Bachelor?" Fang nodded, "Did you meet the little two-faced rat? He rescued us, and then left us, going back to the School."
I shuddered, remembering waking up in the room.
Jake soon stirred, and the others came back, bringing chaos back into the room.
Fang decided later that night that we couldn't just wait for Jake to get better, especially when Dr. Martinez might be able to help him. So the very next day, we were to head out.
The night, though, was a totally different story then the day. We were all now wary, aware of the fact that we had stayed to long in one place so close to the School. We all took turns keeping watch, save Jake.
Besides the shouts coming from the next door bedroom (that of which truly terrified me as much as the lab itself), the night was uneventful, and the next day, we were off. This time, Jake and I traded seats, so that he could sleep in peace and Jane, who had partial medical training, could keep an eye on him.
I found out that the School was located in Nevada, somewhere in the desert. So we really weren't that far from the place where Fang said this Dr. Martinez lived.
We left around four in the morning, and the drive was fairly uneventful. We stopped once to eat, but other then that kept pushing ourselves.
An hour after we crossed the Nevada/Arizona border, I fell asleep, exhausted after having so little sleep the night before when my body was used to just shutting down constantly, as that was how I had escaped the pain of the school.
I don't know how long it was until Fang woke me, but it was dark by then, and we were parked outside of a house.
When went to the door quietly, Fang and Jane supporting Jake, who was partially awake, but in terrible pain.
A woman who was probably in her early to middle thirties answered the door.
Her eyes shot open at the sight of us, and she immediately looked at Fang with shock. So our arrival had not been announced sooner.
"Fang," The woman, who I took to be Dr. Martinez, said, "What on Earth is going on here?" "They need your help, Dr. M," Fang explained, motioning to Jake, "He is dying."
She nodded, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt and welcoming us inside.
"Ella?" She called, "Would you come and make our guests comfortable?" A girl around thirteen or fourteen came from the other room, and almost did a double take at all of us. Although I had my wings tucked behind me, the others mutations were quite obvious. Jessica's skin seemed more blue in this pale lighting then usual, and it had a sort of shimmer to it. Samantha's muzzle stuck out like a sore thumb, and I realized for the first time that she had a small tail. And of course there were the sisters, who looked human but mutant in some way at the same time.
Fang took Jake with Dr. Martinez, and Ella took us to the living room. There was a long, awkward silence. Then Ella, who I suppose had been studying us, looked at me.
"Are you a mutant as well?" I laughed at her innocence, and nodded, unfolding my wings a few feet to either side of me.
Ella's eyes widened, and she said, "So your like Max!"
I furrowed my brow, "I guess so. I don't really know who that is though."
Ella ran to the fireplace, pulling a scrapbook from the mantle, and motioned for us to sit around her. Jane and Becky seemed nervous, though I didn't understand why.
"Max is my sister," Ella replied excitedly, "Well, half sister."
She pointed to a picture of a girl who was probably no older then myself posing, two large wings sticking from her back.
It occurred to me than that Max must be a part of the Flock, who Fang had left. Which of course would make Jane and Becky wary of looking at them.
"That's her," Ella said, oblivious to our discomfort, "And this is the rest of them. There's Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge. Fang used to be in this one, but Max ripped it out the last time she was here, and gave us this one to put in its place. That's Dillon."
At that moment, Fang came in, looking tired, and the rest of us pushed ourselves away from Ella quickly, as if she had suddenly burst into flames.
Fang saw the open scrapbook, and his face turned colors slowly as the anger rose like a ticking bomb.
"He is resting," Dr. M saved us by coming back just in time, "I was just about to start dinner, but it appears as if I will need to make a trip to the store. But first, where are my manners? I am Dr. Martinez, and this is my daughter, Ella Martinez. I know Fang, but I don't know any of you." She turned to Fang, waiting.
"Well, this is Jane and Becky, my partners in this mission. We just escaped the school with these four, Jessica, Jake is back there, Samantha, and Candi."
He pointed to each of us when he said our names, and I smiled and blushed as he said mine.
"They were being used as parahuman specimens," Fang continued, then in a lower voice, "Already developed specimens, I might add." Dr. M sighed and shook her head sadly, "He didn't even call." An uncomfortable silence passed as the majority of the room was confused.
"Dr. M?" Fang said, breaking the silence, "Candi and I could go to the store for you, if you'd prefer?" "Really?" Dr. M smiled, and sighing with relief, "Thank you Fang! Here, let me just make you a list and get some money." She fumbled around for a few minutes, inspecting her fridge and the people in the living room.
She handed the list to me, and then Fang and I left.
The car ride was awkwardly silent, as I wasn't sure whether he was angry or not, or why he had volunteered me to come with him.
He sighed as we parked, and rubbed his face, "I'm sorry." "For what?" I asked, though I felt my heart pounding in my chest with anxiety.
"For everything," He replied, "It's just. When I'm around you, I can forget her, Max, I mean. Or at least, how it was between the two of us. And I'm also sorry for almost blowing up at you all. It's just that seeing her-"
"I understand," I said softly, interrupting him.
Without speaking, we both got out of the car and went into the store.
I scanned the list, then frowned, confused.
"Hospital mask, foundation, nondescript hoodie?" I asked, "What are those for?" "We need to blend in," Fang replied, "And while that is easy for you, Jane, Becky and myself, it's not so easy for the other three. All that Jess needs is foundation to cover up the blue skin, and lot's of water so that she doesn't dry it out, and Samantha needs the mask to cover her muzzle. Jake, though, will be harder to cover. That's what the hoodie is for, to cover most of his skin. We will probably get him some sort of glasses as well, to cover his eyes a little."
I nodded, checking milk off the list as he grabbed two gallons of it.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked, fiddling with a pen.
"Sure," Fang replied, loading our cart with more things from the list.
"Why don't you like to talk about them? The Flock?"
He hesitated, then really thought about it, "Well, mostly because of Max, I guess, though I don't know why. It's been a year and I have mostly gotten over it, even though she is trying to make everyone think that she doesn't care for me anymore, I am not sure if that's really how she feels."
I bit my lip, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or me.
"But what about you?" He asked, obviously trying to change the subject, "Surely you had some sort of… Man friend, should we call him? Back at the youth home?"
I blushed, turning away.
"Oh, that's not fair!" he complained, "I answered your question, your supposed to answer mine!"
I scowled, looking back at him, "Terence was hardly what I would call a man. Looking back on him, I really don't know why I thought I loved him. Now I just realize that he just made me feel more mature."
"That's…. Unfortunate," Fang concluded as we finished getting everything we needed.
The drive back to the house was the complete opposite of the drive before. I started asking Fang things about the world, like what had happened since I had gone to the School. He told me about the new president, (which shocked me dreadfully) and how gas was now four dollars a gallon in some places!
When we got into the house, it was apparent that something had happened between our little group of escapees and Dr. M.
Jane and Becky were staked out on the back porch, with blankets and pillows, refusing to tell us what had happened and equally denying the command to come indoors.
Jessica and Samantha were in the room that I suppose was a guest bedroom, where Jake rested. They, unlike the other two, told us everything they knew.
"We were all in the living room, just like when you guys left, besides for Dr. M, who was in the kitchen," Samantha said, "And all of a sudden we here her talking to someone. She said something along the lines of 'It's me, I think you need to get down here right now,' and when we questioned her, she refused to tell us anything."
"It was probably Jeb," Fang said, shrugging, "They are close friends. But I don't think that we have anything to worry about. While he may be two faced enough to save us and then leave, he isn't enough of a jerk to turn us in."
While he said that with confidence, his face was worried.
Dr. Martinez seemed no different then she had before, but now we all knew that something was wrong, and if it weren't for Jake, we would be gone.
She made us chili for dinner, and chocolate chip cookies (:D) for dessert.
We were all getting ready for bed when there was a knock at the door. Fang tensed, and everyone exchanged wary glances.
Dr. M answered the door, and a girl's voice sharply came.
"Where's the fire?" Fang shot up, almost shaking with anger. I rose as well, ready to fight the oncoming threat.
A figure flew, almost literally, into the room.
"Fang?" Max asked, astonished.
And then the rest of the Flock, came in, including Dillon.
"Fang's here?" Iggy asked, confused.
Max stepped forward, and both Fang and I whipped our wings out, ready to fight. Fang knocked over something that was on the table in his hast to open his big wings.
"Whose your friend, Fang?" Max asked warily, looking at me.
"Candi," Fang replied with venom, "What do you want?" "FYI, this is my mother's house,," Max replied, "I have every right to be here. What about you? Taking your new girlfriend for a joyride?" "I'm not," I started.
"What would it matter to you?" Fang interrupted, "You've got Dillon now." "It doesn't matter," Max hissed, grabbing Dillon's hand, "I was just curious!"
Dr. M stepped in between them and I folded my wings back into my shirt, giving her some room.
"Stop it, both of you, before this becomes a 'My Horse is Bigger then Yours' war," She commanded.
Fang hesitantly folding his wings under as well.
"Great," Jessica sighed, coming into the room, "He's awake now. Dr. M, do you have any Tylonol? Or something that will ease his pain?" Dr. M nodded, and motioned for Jessica, Samantha, and I to come, but everyone else to stay.
Jake was sitting up, the scales that grew on his arm gleaming with sweat, though he was cold.
Dr. M grabbed a few bottles from the bathroom and examined them.
"Give him two of these," She told Jessica, "It will ease the pain. We will go to my office tomorrow, and have him checked out. If he makes it that far."
Those last words were quite, she was talking to herself, forgetting that we mutants had super senses, and that we could hear her clearly. Thos last wards echoed clearly in my mind though.
Jessica let out a choked sob, and darted from the room. I followed her.
"Jess?" I asked, following her out the back door, where Ella's dog looked at us as if to say, "Woah! You guys smell like animals!"
"I'm sorry," Jessica said, wiping tears from her eyes, "We had cages next to each other at the School, and for the past two years, we were the other's only comfort. I was there when he came back from his first surgery, and I knew what they had done to him. At first it started with his eyes, and that didn't bother him very much. It was when the skin started growing and his organs started changing that he was in pain. And I have to say that I have known him for two years, and I can't help but feel for him."
At that moment, Fang stormed through the back door, Max following him, yelling angrily.
"Where do you think your going," She demanded, "Are you just going to run away again? You know, that's just like you. You always leave just when somebody needs you."
"Fang?" I asked quietly, "You're leaving?" He stopped, turning around and looking at me.
He sighed, "No, I'm not going anywhere, Candi."
"Could we all just sit down and talk about this like civilized people?" Iggy asked, "Max, Dr. M made chocolate chip cookies." Max turned around as well, equally defeated. "Fine."
We went inside, and sat down in the living room. Fang sat down next to me, Jessica went back to help Dr. M with Jake, and Samantha went to talk with Jane and Becky.
"So," Max said to me, trying to make small talk, "When did you show up?" "Fang and the others saved a few of us from the school a couple of days ago. We were being used as developed specimens."
Her eyes shot open, "You mean that before you went to the school…..?"
She trailed off, shocked,
I nodded, "I was fourteen or thirteen when they captured me from a youth home a couple years ago."
The Flock looked at each other, astonished.
"That's insane," Iggy growled, "Those people should be hung!"
"Calm down, Iggy," Angel said sternly. I raised an eyebrow to Fang, and he shrugged.
"So am I just confused, or over the last few days have you two become, like, a thing?" The Gasman asked, looking at Fang and I.
"Uh, no?" I blushed, "Just friends."
For now, I added mentally.
I saw Angel chuckle quietly to herself.