Disclaimer: I own not Maximum Ride.
The flock had planned the trip for weeks. Months. It was all set out; when they would leave, what they would take, where they would go, how long they would stay. It was going to be the most amazing vacation ever.
A week-long stay in the Grand Canyon. That was where they were going. It was supposed to be the most gorgeous place in the United States… at least that's what the flock thought. Lot's of open sky for flying, lots of open land to spot enemies. Pretty nifty.
And they didn't even have to pay for air fare.
So, the day it was time to leave, the flock was set. Food and essential supplies were wrapped and stuffed into their packs. Everything was ready. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.
That is, until Iggy woke up with the flu.
"Ugh! This is awful!" Max complained, waving her arms around and pacing Iggy's room. Iggy was lying in his bed with a skeptical expression on his face. "How long have we planned this trip? This is the only time we could find to go! We won't have a chance like this for ages! What are we going to do now?"
Iggy raised his eyebrow and tapped his chin in mock-thought. "Hmm, I don't know. Go without me, maybe?"
Max discarded this suggestion without so much as a second thought. "No way. We're not leaving you behind. That's not fair."
Huffing, Iggy rolled his blind eyes and crossed his arms. "Max, it's less fair for the rest of the flock. We were all so psyched for this, right? I'm not going to make you miss it on my account."
"But! But! But what if you're attacked? What if Erasers come? What will you do then?" Max inquired, trying to find away around leaving one of her flock behind.
"Come on, Max. You know I'm more than capable of taking care of some Erasers. Besides, weren't they all terminated by the School? There's no threat anymore. The government wiped out Itex. Right now we're safe, and stuff. Besides, I'll be staying with your mom, and Ella. I'll be perfectly fine."
Max wasn't ready to accept this. She searched her mind frantically for every possible way the School could randomly appear… but really, she knew it was practically implausible. The School was destroyed, Itex was taken out, and Iggy, even sick, was more than capable of taking care of himself. The only reason he wasn't coming in the first place was that the flock was almost never sick, so if one of them got sick, they had to rest to get better fast. As Nudge had said, "It's only the evil germs that can take down a bird-kid. And the evil germs are the dangerous ones."
It was sort of a foolish, stupid sentence; at the time she remarked this, Nudge was only eight, and Fang had caught a cold after falling through the ice on a frozen lake. But the term had stuck, and it was used to refer to any illness a member of the happy family of mutant bird-kids caught.
Finally, Max was finished pacing.
"If we leave, we have to leave, like, now," she said, a note in her voice that told Iggy that, if he asked her to stay, she would, and the flock as well. But he wasn't about to be the one to wreck their first break in months. He wasn't like that.
"That's fine. I'll be okay. It may be a particularly nasty strain of the flu, but I'll be right as rain in no time." Iggy answered her with his trademark grin and a happy note in his voice, just to convince her.
Max shook her head and massaged her temples. "Wow, Iggs. If you're saying stuff like 'right as rain' then I know you must be sick."
Iggy chuckled again and waved his arm at her. "Go on, Maximum. The kids are waiting for you. And Fang. I bet you two can't wait to get to the nice, secluded Grand Canyon for prime 'bonding' time." He puckered his lips and made kissing sounds.
Laughing, Max tossed a pillow lightly at the blind boy. "Whatever. Okay, Iggy, we're going. We'll miss you. And I'll leave Total as your guide-dog…"
Max rushed out of the room, as Iggy answered the guide-dog comment with a "Now that's no fair! I'm sick here! Why do I get stuck with the stupid mutt?"
"Not very grateful, is he?" Total remarked, trotting past Max's feet as she blew down the stairs to the other four members of her waiting flock.
"Nope, not at all. You should go teach him some manners," Max answered, stifling a giggle.
"Bye, Max!" Ella called as the flock-minus-one rushed out the door and spread their wings.
"Bye, Ella!" Max answered, smiling up at the sky.
"Take care, honey!" Dr. Martinez shouted from beside her youngest daughter.
"Sure thing, mom!"
Then they flew away. Each had the nagging worry of leaving a member of their family behind eating at the corner of their mind… but still. He would be in good hands. Nothing bad was going to happen.
"Aw, come on!" Iggy begged, but Dr. Martinez steadfastly shook her head no. She wasn't about to let her ward out of his room until she was absolutely sure his flu had passed.
"No. You're still ill. You have to stay in bed and rest."
"But it's been a day! You know we heal fast! And I'm so sick of waiting around! I have to get out!"
"Iggy, it's just shopping. I can drive down there and be back in two hours. You don't need to get up."
Iggy crossed his arms and pouted, scowling. "I'm better! My temperature is down! I don't even feel sick anymore! Beside, I'm already stuck here while the rest of the flock is off on vacation. Might as well have some fun."
Dr. Martinez pondered Iggy's argument, peering at him cautiously. It was true. His temperature was back to normal. The flush in his cheeks had gone down somewhat. His eyes were no longer glassy. And he hadn't thrown up for twelve hours. He was pretty much better.
"We all get better within, like, a day or two anyway. I've probably got the virus or whatever out of my system by now. I'm fine."
Frowning, Dr. Martinez asked a question. "If Max knew you were going to be better in a day or two, why'd she leave you behind? Why not just delay the trip until you were better?"
Iggy stuck his tongue out and rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know Max. Has to stick to the schedule. It was either go or not go for her. She's so stubborn."
Dr. Martinez cracked a grin, then finally relented. "Okay, Iggy. You can go shopping for me. As long as you bring Total."
Sighing, Iggy agreed.
And that was why he was flying through the mountains to the city, bearing shopping bags and a quite obnoxious talking dog.
"You know, I'm very glad you thought to bring me. After all, Max assigned me as your guide-dog. I'm supposed to guide you."
"Yeah, yeah. Shut it, Total. Now, where's the city at?"
Total sighed and grumbled. "Due east, 'bout half a mile."
"Gee, thanks. Tell me when I should touch down."
They flew on in silence; Iggy was enjoying the feeling of flight, Total was brooding. Within five minutes, though, Total had spoke up, pointing out the edge of the small city. Iggy swooped down level with the canopy of the forest, then landed amongst the trees.
"There," he said, setting Total down and holding tight to his leash. "Now take me to the grocery store. Dr. Martinez told me the grocery list, so I know what I need… and I have money and stuff. She even said I could stop by that chef store and buy some cooking supplies."
"Whoopdy-doo for you. Thanks for sharing that information," Total huffed, beginning to trot off, leading Iggy out of the shade of the woods and onto the sidewalk of Main Street.
"Yeah, yeah," Iggy answered, the hand not holding onto the leash in his pocket. "How close are we to the store?"
"It's just a block," Total answered. They were now speaking quietly, at a volume only mutants could hear. That way, civilians wouldn't think there was a talking dog walking down the street (talking dog? Ha!). Or that Iggy was crazy and talking to himself.
"Didn't Dr. Martinez take you shopping with her a few times?" Iggy asked, and Total answered with an agreeing yip.
"Yeah. We bought flowers and party stuff for Ella's birthday." Then he glanced sideways slyly at Iggy. "That Ella… quite a pretty girl, no?"
"You sound like a perverted old man," Iggy replied nonchalantly, waving his hand. Total huffed indignantly. "Anyway, I wouldn't know for the life of me. Blind, remember?"
"Whatever. I would have guessed you'd have picked up on the signals she's been launching your way."
Iggy shrugged thoughtfully. "I don't know. I've always sort of had a thing for Nudge. But she's too young. Or, at least that's what Max would say. She'd totally freak. Even I responded to Ella's 'signals'."
"Yeah, I guess so. Here's the store."
"Right then," Iggy acknowledged, turning to walk through the automatic doors.
He didn't attract much attention; he was totally prepared. Black sunglasses covered his eyes, and Total had his 'SEEING-EYE DOG' vest on. They looked totally normal… except for the whole, you know, blind-guy alone in a store thing. However, not many people stared.
"Okay," Iggy started thoughtfully. "Where's the aisle with all the bread?"
"Here," Total said, leading him over. "So, you have a thing for Nudge? Since when? It's not very obvious."
"Hmm," Iggy started, walking over the tiles, running his hands along the food items until he came to the right type of bread. "Well, it started when I was ten. You know, I'd never actually seen myself before. No mirrors in the School. And then I was blind, so I never got to see my reflection after we'd escaped. Where's the fruit place?"
Iggy paused for a moment as Total guided him over, then grabbed a bag of assorted apples and oranges and a bunch of bananas.
"Anyway, yeah. So I was ten. And I used to stare at the mirror in the bathroom, because I guess I sort of hoped if I stared long enough, then I'd be able to see myself. You know?"
Total was quiet; he'd never heard this side of Iggy before. He sort of looked up to Iggy. He was the strong one, more outspoken than Fang, but more quiet than Max; the fastest flier besides Max, and she just had her turbo-boost. He was fun to be around. Total was closest to him besides Angel. When one is a guide-dog to another, they sort of develop a bond.
"Well, Nudge walks in on me staring in the general direction of the mirror. And she totally understands what I'm trying to do." Iggy smiled at the memory. "And she tells me that I look beautiful."
Total sniffed slightly, then leading Iggy to the meat and produce aisle to pick up some steak and hamburger meat.
"You know, that's sort of a girl-thing. But it was the first time anyone had ever told me what I looked like. It made me really happy."
Staring, Total nearly walked into a shelf of salsa, but managed to dodge.
"That's cool. You should tell her how you feel."
"Maybe I will. When they all come home."
They finished the shopping with little event, and Iggy paid with Dr. Martinez's credit card.
"Do you need assistance, sir?" the check-out lady asked, staring inquiringly at Iggy's sunglasses.
"No, thanks," Iggy answered mildly. "I'm fine."
He took the bags of groceries and Total led him back out of the store.
"Hey, take me to a bench. I wanna sit for a minute," Iggy told Total, and Total trotted them both down the street and sat on a bench in front of a shadowed alley. Iggy sat heavily, sighing and setting the plastic bags beside him on the bench. He leaned back and closed his eyes under his glasses, relaxing.
"What's up?" Total asked, wondering why Iggy was so tired. Bird-kids, as Max often said, had 'mucho de stamina'.
"Bleh," Iggy answered. "Maybe I wasn't as better as I thought. I think my flu came back."
"Oh no," Total answered, suddenly anxious. He had been there while Iggy hacked-up vomit into the toilet, sweating like a pig, face as pale as paper. "You should probably go home. Unless you want to call Dr. Martinez. She could probably drive down to pick you up in thirty minutes."
"Nah," Iggy protested, lazily waving his hand. "I'm fine. I'll just rest for a little, then I'll be set to go."
Total grumbled to himself, shaking his head in disapproval. "This is what you get for going out to the city before you were absolutely better. You're supposed to treat viruses carefully. I don't even think you're supposed to exert yourselves for, like, a couple days after getting better. You freaking went flying!"
"Whatever." Then he suddenly cocked his head. "Hey, did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Total asked, not paying much attention to the sounds around them. Besides, they were near the edge of the forest, so there were no people anywhere near. "Maybe it was a rat."
"Yeah, a rat." Iggy paused again, then frowned. He turned his head around to face the alley. "There is was again. Are you sure you didn't hear it?"
"No. Just leave it. Rest so we can fly home."
"I'm going to go check it out."
"Fine, then," Total called after him, jumping up to Iggy's empty space on the bench and looking after him. "Just don't get bitten by the rat."
"Yeah." Iggy walked cautiously into the alley. "This is an alley, isn't it?"
"Sure is. Rats love alleys."
Iggy stuck his tongue out and walked in further. "I can't hear it anymore. Maybe it was a rat."
"Just like I said, so let's…"
Suddenly, a large, dark man darted from behind a doorway that Total hadn't seen before; it had been cloaked in shadow.
"Iggy!" Total called, leaping over the back of the bench and rushing towards his mutant bird-kid companion, but the man had already swung a heavy metal baseball bat at the back of his head. Iggy swung around, but the blow had made him become dizzy; he stumbled, and then the bat collided with his head again, and he slumped to the ground, all consciousness slipping away.
Total growled and lunged at the man, but the man responded merely by swinging the bat at the small black dog. Total was knocked out of the air and against the wall, unconscious as well.
And the tall dark man bent to lift the unconscious Iggy from the cold ground to drag him back into the shadowed doorway and into an abandoned garage, where his van was waiting to drive them both far, far away.