A/N OKAY SORRY GUYS

So school just got out, and I haven't had time, which is a crap excuse but here take it anyways.

SORRY.

Do you know what I hate?

No? Well come on, internet. You're supposed to know what I hate. You're supposed to know everything.

Go type into Google's search bar "What does Iggy hate?" and I promise you will get results that have nothing to do with me.

What I really hate is the fact that I had to go through about six thousand lives' worth of bullshit to be locked up in a crate for a week.

A whole week.

And nothing happened.

Now, let's examine the injustice of that. I have to go through the ordeal of spying and suffering Eavesdropper's syndrome (where you hear something out of context and it screws your life over), have to hear Fang basically throw any chances he had with Max away and then get kidnapped by Ari.

Did I mention I was locked in a dog crate? With no bacon or anything?

The only condolence is that I'm in the same room as Angel. We're not supposed to talk, because then we don't get served food (poorly prepared lasagna is better than no food). But the idiotic scientists forgot that, oh hey, Angel can talk without talking, so there you go.

Iggy.

I instinctively looked up, and I banged my head against the top of the crate. Ow, fuck. I mean, ow, fluff.

I could picture Angel rolling her eyes. Iggy, I'm seven.

And a lot more corrupt than I was when I was seven.

I hear you, Fang and Max every day. Angel sounded indignant, and I mentally laughed.

Yeah, alright. Can you hear the others?

Angel was silent for a few minutes. During the few minutes I rubbed my head, bit my thumb nail and tried kicking out the crate door. None of them were successful in solving any problems.

I... I can't hear them.

I sighed. It's okay, Angel. I'm sure they're fine.

And that's when I got a bit of a shocker dropped on me.

That's right: someone picked up my crate. And I didn't even hear them.

"Hello?" I asked, and I could feel myself being carried. "Um, hi, Mr. Science person? I prefer to be rolled around on cart. It's just a request, you know."

Iggy, Angel thought over. It's Fang holding your crate.

FANG?

But I thought you couldn't hear them!

I couldn't! I don't know what's wrong. I still can't read them.

I shuddered. Drones? I suggested.

Angel's soft reply was drowned out by the echo of my crate being slammed down onto a metal table.

"Rude!" I shouted, just as the crate door was unlatched. A rough hand grabbed my arm and yanked me out.

I was plopped onto a metal operation table, my hands tied to my sides, my torso secured They'd even had the foresight to strap my ankles does so that I couldn't kick anyone.

Angel? I asked, but I was alone.

And freaking out. Badly.

Okay, Iggy, try and breathe. Where are you?

My fingers twitched in agitation. Okay. Calm down. You've been in tougher situations before.

Touch: I'm fucking freezing.

Sight: The same as usual (aka nothing)

Hearing: My own breathing. God I didn't know how loud I breathed until five seconds ago.

Taste: Last night's lasagna (ew)

Smell:...

The smell was torturous. One second it had been pure Iggy (the smell of the sexiest man on earth if he decided to stay in a confined space and not shower for a week) and the next my nostrils were trying to close themselves against the strong smell of antiseptic.

"Iggy, how are you doing?"

Jeb.

"Well, Jeb, considering I'm strapped down on a freezing cold table inhaling antiseptics and still tasting last night's lasagna, I feel like shit. But I'm sure that was your intent, so job well done," I muttered, delighted when I found that I could still tilt my head from side to side.

Stop. We need to pause the story and appreciate that. Just close your eyes and picture a tall, gangly, strawberry blonde boy with restraints on his wrists, ankles and torso, just tilting his head back and forth.

Fifty points to Gryffindor for that one.

"This is for your own good, Iggy."

I sighed. "When are they going to update that handbook? It's like the world's worst pick up line for experiments."

"We're going to return your eyesight," Jeb said, finally getting it that I wasn't buying any of his crap.

But that... that stopped me.

I tensed. "What?"

"We've found a way to restore your vision. It's just going to be a quick surgery, and we're going to anesthetize before we do it this time. Worst case scenario is that you're still blind. But if it works right..."

He let the thought trail off.

I started shaking, partly because of the cold, partly because of the anticipation. How many times had I wanted to see like the others? It didn't matter, what they said about my overcompensating or whatever, and how I wasn't a bother. Because I knew I was. Just another responsibility. I was grouped with the Nudge, Gazzy and Angel when it came to being a leader. If I had my sight, I could finally be equal with Max and Fang.

"Let's do this. Please," I said.

Five hours later, I woke up feeling like death.

I was hoping I'd wake up being able to see, and I'd fly off and meet the flock and we'd go do badass-like things with my new sight.

But Jeb's first words were, "We're going to have to adjust your eyes. And this is going to hurt."

I couldn't see any difference in the light change. But all of a sudden, my eyes were on fire.

I pressed my hand against my mouth to keep from screaming. I couldn't even see anything, and my eyes hurt like a bitch.

"Stop, stop," I begged, but they kept on slowly making the lights brighter, until I could start making out shapes. And then, Jeb walked in, and I could see him in the now normal-light.

He was not at all what I'd expected.

"Uh, you look different than I thought," I said, my voice hoarse from my yelling. "Do I get to see the flock?"

Jeb shifted, looking uncomfortable. He pushed up his glasses and said, "Well, Iggy, you have to understand that you won't be going outside for a while."

"Can't I wear sunglasses?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Your eyes haven't been used in years. This artificial light is considerably dimmer than the sunlight, even indirect. The UV rays could damage your eyes, and we wouldn't be able to repair them."

I frowned. More to science than I thought.

"So why are you doing this for me?" I asked. "And why kidnap me?"

Jeb smiled wryly. "You'd never believe us if we said we were inviting you here to fix your flaws, would you?"

"No," I admitted, and then a chill ran through me. "Wait. Are the others being experimented on too?"

Jeb nodded. "All of them."

"What flaws do they have?" I wondered, not recalling anything wrong with any of them except for Fang and his stupid stubbornness.

Jeb answered my question with another. "Do you think we're done with you yet?" he asked, and I swallowed.

"Oh my god, no."

They were going to chop off our wings.

As a general rule. I like to keep my wings on my back.

But then again, do the scientists ever care what we want?

The answer to that, my friends, is for once not bacon. It is, in fact, "no."

I wish the answer was bacon.

Jeb had made the mistake of releasing me from the restraints, and I did the totally Iggy thing to do:

I got up and ran.

Jeb yelled something after me, but I ignored him. I did, however, think he knew what he was talking about when he'd talked about eye damage, and I closed my eyes as I ran.

It felt normal, running around with my eyes closed. Having eyesight could be compared to having night vision goggles when accustomed to running in the dark: it's an advantage, but you don't need it.

"Max, Fang, Angel, Gazzy, Nudge!" I yelled, running around, running into walls more than twice. "Let's go, go, go!"

I heard a couple of low shouts, and then I was joined by four others. I cracked my eye open and screamed.

The sunlight streaming in through the windows hurt.

"Iggy!" Nudge yelled as I crumpled to the floor. Dammit, life, just cut me a break.

Angel read my mind and, a minute later, shoved a pair of glasses onto my face. I tentatively opened an eye, found I could see fine, and bolted out the nearest exit.

We found ourselves on a field. "Up and Away!" Max shouted, and we all jumped up, unfurling our wings. I heard lots of angry shouting, and even some cheering, and when I looked back, all I could see were white coats, white coats everywhere.

I laughed, and Angel looked over at me, like Do you want to tell them or can I?

I took a minute to look at all of them. For the first time since we'd been kids, I was seeing them. Closest to me, Angel was flying, her snowy white wings reflecting the sunlight, her hair the richest honey gold. Her blue eyes were surprisingly innocent, and she stuck her tongue out at me.

In front of her, Gazzy was flying. His blonde hair, the same color as his sister's, was sticking up everywhere. He had the same blue eyes, but they glittered with mischief. I smiled: it was the Gazzy I'd pictured in my head all along.

Flying next to Gazzy was Nudge, her warm skin glowing, her tawny wings lifting her slightly on a drift. Her dark chocolate eyes were glowing, and I followed her gaze to Max and Fang.

Max was surprisingly beautiful, and I could finally see what Fang had been on about. But I didn't feel anything for her: heaven forbid, that would have been crazy.

Max's long brown hair flew out behind her, wide streaks of blonde giving her hair an beachy look. I couldn't see her face, but I could see Fang's face as he turned his head to talk to her. His olive skin was lighter than Nudge's, but not as light as Max's. He had dark eyes and jet-black hair swept to the side. He looked over at me, and I grinned.

"So, I'm gay now?" he asked, and I shrugged, which is somehow possible while flying.

Max turned around, and I was stunned. She had the most pretty brown eyes, so warm and happy and fierce and soft all at once.

"Um, guys, I have an announcement," I said, and they all turned to me.

"I got my sight back," I said, and Max almost dropped down to the ground.

"You what?"

"Yeah, um, Jeb kind of gave it back," I said, and Max's grin faded into a grim mask.

"Then it won't come without a price," she muttered, but she smiled again. "So what do you think of us?"

"You guys are seriously a lot better looking than I'd been picturing," I admitted, and Max laughed.

"I'm glad you think so," she said, slowing down so we could fly side-by-side. "That's what the glasses are for, I assume."

"You guessed it. Angel's a smart one."

Angel smiled, well, angelically, and Max smiled at me. Jeez, had she always been so smiley?

"I'm glad you're able to see, Iggy, that really is great."

We talked the entire flight, only interrupted when Fang asked, "So where are we going?"

Max grinned. "Well, there's this place in Nevada I've always wanted to go to..."

You know where we ended up going?

That's right.

We went Vegas.

And, if what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, I'll have a pretty damn good time.

OKAY. IGGY GOT HIS SIGHT BACK. AND HE THINKS MAX IS SERIOUSLY BEAUTIFUL.

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I SMELL TROUBLEEEE

THAT'S RIGHT... *SPOILER ALERT*

Honestly I'm so tired right now okay I need to go sleep and it's 8 o'clock I'm old.

Ash xx.