AN: This goes our for the ever persistent and impatient Disneydork. Thanks for the wonderful reviews.

To Get What You Want

By Krrimarte

"Saying hellos is often harder then saying goodbye"

I nervously fiddled with the stereo. Suddenly his dark hand grabbed mine reassuringly. "Calm down, will you, you're making me nervous." He whispered. I sighed.

"I'm sorry." I said softly, giving his hand a squeeze. "They've probably grown so much." I said worriedly bringing my fingers to my mouth.

"Max, it's going to be okay. There's nothing to be nervous about." He repeated for probably the hundredth time already.

"That's the turn off." I said and pointed at the exit. He changed lanes and took the exit without a hitch.

Suddenly terror twisted my stomach. "What if they don't love us anymore?" I asked.

Fang only looked at me seriously. "Max, they love you. They understand."

I nodded and stared out the window as the scenery passed us by. I'd forgotten how nice the neighborhood was. Could I really just swing through here and uproot them like this after a year and a half? Was it fair to them?

"Fang, you have to be nervous, too. ... Right?" I asked, uncertain. Sometimes it was hard to tell with him. I stared at him, looking for any sign that he wasn't as calm and confident as he claimed to be.

"I'm a wreck." He responded unexpectedly, startling me. "I still hear Angel's cries in my sleep, or when I'm not thinking of anything else." He said.

"That's house, right?" He asked me pointing to the two-story Victorian.

I nodded, a lump developing in my throat. 'Angel, honey, we're here.' I though softly.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" Angel screamed running down the front steps before we'd even gotten into the drive way.

I took her in. She had grown so much, she was almost eight now, but for some reason I still pictured her as six years old, clutching her brother's hand. "ANGIE! Oh, baby, I'm back." I said as I threw open the door and ran towards her. I didn't bother slowing down. I just scooped her up and held her to me, tightly.

Gazzy came out the front door slightly calmer. He wasn't quite running anyway. He was ten now, and he'd grown a good five inches in that time. I'd forgotten how fast we bird-kids grow up. "So you guys think, that you can just come back after a year and a half and we'll come back?" He asked in mock seriousness.

"Yeah." I said dead-pan.

Gazzy came over and gave me a tight hug, "Good to have you back, Max."

"Come on, let's got talk to your grandmother." Fang said. He'd finally got the car situated and walked up beside me.

"Why'd you guys come by car? Aren't you still flying?" Angel asked.

I smiled. "Because, we're tired, and can't fly with our stuff and yours, honey."

Gazzy was already heading towards the house. He reminded me a lot of Fang, the way he said few words and just did what needed to be done. I looked over at Fang worriedly. Obviously we weren't the only ones that had changed. Fear clenched my heart as a thought occurred to me. What if their grandmother was unwilling to let them go?

'Max, it'll be alright. Calm down.' Angel's tinkling voice said.

'You're right, and what have I always said about reading other peoples thoughts?'

'Sorry, it's habit.' She sounded sad.

I frowned but let her lead me up the stairs to the living room.

Their grandmother sat crocheting by the fireplace. Two years ago, I'd think that there was something wrong here. It was too... Normal.

Fang fallowed behind me. "Hello." He said.

She looked up and smiled.

"Grandma had a stroke. She can't talk anymore." Angel said.

I nodded. That's what Angel had meant by 'it's habit.'

"Ma'am. I know that this is really sudden, but we'd like to have the kids back." I said softly, looking her in the eyes. She stopped smiling and a tear fell down her wrinkled cheek. I thought she was going to say 'no', until she nodded.

'She's sad because she loves us. She said she wants us to visit, but she knows that you're our mother where it matters.' Angel said to me. I nodded.

"Thank you." I said, my voice cracking.

"I'm going to pack my stuff." Gazzy said and headed up the stairs.

"Max, Fang, you have to see my room!" Angel exclaimed. Fang rolled his eyes and let Angel lead him to room. He turned his head and mouthed. 'Help me.'

I laughed and followed him to the room. I was surprised when I got there. I was expecting there to be pink frills and stuffed animals. Strangely, the room more like a command room. There was a full sized map of the globe taking up the entirety of one wall. On it were several large 'X's and three flags. She'd been monitoring our progress.

"I would find out whatever I could from Nudge, when she'd call and I kept track." Angel said as she pulled out a suitcase.

"I see." I said. Now, Fang was looking at me worriedly.

"I'm not different... or obsessed. I was just waiting. It was a lot like a calender, I was marking off the days." She said towards Fang.

Fang shifted uncomfortably as Angel proceeded to open drawers and sort through them. "A lot of these don't fit me anymore. And some of them aren't very practical." She said as she went about folding them and placing them either in the drawers or in the suitcase.

"Honey, we're going to check on Gazzy, okay." I said and looked at Fang. He nodded.

"Okay, he's upstairs and the first room on the right." She said, not looking up.

Once outside I sighed. "Obviously, we're all going to need to adjust." I said.

"Yeah." Fang said and started the climb to Gazzy's room. Surprisingly there wasn't a single scorch mark. I began to wonder if his separation from Iggy had hindered his love of explosives.

Gazzy was finished packing his suitcase and was working on a couple of duffel-bags. "Hey, guys" Gazzy said looking up at us.

"How you doing, Gaz?" Fang asked.

"Well, I'm almost done. I'm leaving a lot of my clothes and a few things like sports gear here for when I visit." Gazzy said.

"You can take as much time as you need, you know." I said.

"Sure, but where's the fun in that. So where are we going anyway? Or are we just floating around like before?" He asked.

"Actually we've been given an old military base, if you can believe it. We're going to ask Iggy if he wants to stay with us too." Fang said.

"What about Nudge?" Gazzy said sharply.

"Gaz, Nudge's mom really loves her. We can't ask her to give Nudge up. We've already talked to Nudge and she's going to spend the summer with us." I said.

The not-so-little blond nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's okay."

It only took an hour but we had the kids and their belongings packed into the car. As the kids waived good bye to their grandmother, Fang started to pull out of the drive. A thought struck me. "What happened to Total?"

Angel looked sad for a moment. "Total died, Max. He got old." She whispered. I looked at her in the mirror and sighed. "I guess we'll have to get another dog... Hopefully one that doesn't talk." I said softly.

Fang gave my a rueful look. Let's just say that the whole 'total' thing hadn't made him into an animal lover.

"COOL!" Angel exclaimed.

Fang turned onto the freeway. The car behind us started honking angrily, the guy flailing the fist about in the air. Obviously this guy was one of those road-rage people you hear about on tv.

"Gazzy." Fang said.

"Already way ahead of you." I heard Gazzy say.

"MAX! GAZZY JUST FLICKED THAT GUY OFF!" Angel cried from the back seat.

Fang let out a chuckle, probably shocking the kids. Then he sped up to avoid being rammed by Jo-Jo the Insane, Angry Motorist.

Ah... Sometimes it's like the good old days, only better.

HONK!! HONK!!...

We once said that we'd find a way, and we did. We've come back and claimed what is ours. This is our family, and we are it's guardians and you shall fall into the graves you dug when you forced us to leave them behind. But now, we are together again, and it feel wonderful