I just realized that I've written all these chapters and not included Total… so I'm saying now that he's just not in here… I always forget about him.

Disclaimer: I own the kids, that's it.

"That was the stupidest thing you've ever done," Fang said.

I rolled my eyes, shifting the little girl in my arms. "Whatever, Fang."

It'd been about fifteen minutes since the two of us and the two kids had escaped from the School. We were now heading for the meeting place designated in case the flock got separated. Up until now, Fang and I had been ignoring each other as the twins-- that's what I was calling them, since they looked about the same age and were exactly the same size-- stared at us with wide, scared eyes.

"We were almost caught," he continued, and I resisted the urge to fly over to him and smack him upside the head. "That cage had some sort of special lock on it, and it cost us a lot of time."

"Okay, well, I'm sorry you're one of the few people on this earth who would say, 'Oh, there's my children I never knew existed, let's leave them in this evil science lab where they'll be tortured and possibly killed.'"

"How can we even be sure they're our kids?" Fang demanded, but it was half-heartedly. We both knew that the similarities between ourselves and the kids were too uncanny to be coincidental.

Deciding that the question wasn't worthy of an answer, I faced forward, shifting the girl once again. Her dark eyes were terrified as she looked at me, who could be evil for all she knew, and it made my heart break that the sight of me was doing this to a child. To my child.

"It's okay," I whispered to her, low enough so that Fang couldn't hear. "I'm going to take care of you. You're safe with me."

The girl seemed to relax only slightly, but then her little fist closed around my sleeve. I smiled at her. "Do you have a name?"

She hesitated for about a second before weakly saying, "Seven."

I struggled not to let my rage show on my face. While the whitecoats tortured this little girl-- my daughter, for crying out loud-- they hadn't had the time to give her the simplest of human qualities: a name. Seven. You've got to be kidding me.

"Do you know his name?" I nodded at Fang and the boy he was carrying.

"Six."

So there you have it-- I discover that a bunch of mad scientists created mine and my best friend's children in test tubes, I rescue said children, and then find out they'll be responding to the names Six and Seven.

Ah, the life of a mutant bird kid.

0000000000

"Where were you guys? We were so worried!"

It was about forty-five minutes later, and we had located the flock. As soon as I landed in the cave, Nudge was pouncing on me, apparently not noticing that she was squishing a toddler.

"We looked behind us and you two just weren't there!" she rambled on. "We thought about waiting or going back in, but we figured you would know what you were doing so we left, but it was so scary, and--"

"It's okay, Nudge," I said, patting her back with one hand. "We're fine."

Nudge pulled away, and her eyes went wide as they spotted the little girl I was holding. Then they shifted behind me, where Fang was hanging back, still holding the boy. Angel and the Gasman were standing next to Nudge, and they looked confused, too, as they took it in.

"Why is nobody talking?" Iggy asked.

"Max and Fang brought back these little kids," Angel said quietly. "And-- they look just like them."

"You guys…?"

"No." Fang spoke for the first time. He came up next to me and placed the little boy on the ground. I looked down at the huge, terrified eyes, and then reached for my son's little hand. "The School created our kids, and Max decided to be Supergirl and save them."

I glared at him. "Fang is being an idiot," I told the flock, although I was holding Fang's gaze. "Ignore him."

"So are they… staying with us?" Gazzy asked, eyeing the kids.

"Yes, they are," I said firmly. "These are my kids. And Fang's, as much as he doesn't want to admit it. All six of us are their family now. I want you guys to treat them like it, okay?"

Without waiting for or expecting an answer from anybody, I knelt down beside the little boy. The little girl was still on my hip; she seemed to have already accepted me pretty easily. "Hey."

The boy just looked at me, like the girl had done at first. I felt the rest of the flock watching me, but I focused on my son and smiled as brightly as I could manage. "We're not going to hurt you. We're nice people."

The suspicious, narrow-eyed look I got was enough like Fang's to make me momentarily speechless. Then I sighed, knowing that getting this boy to trust us wouldn't be as easy as it had been with the girl. I moved her off of my hip and placed her on the ground beside her brother. "There's, um, Seven," I told him. "You like Seven."

The two were obviously comfortable with each other, so I stood up. "Keep an eye on them," I told the others. Then I turned to Fang. "We need to talk."

0000000000

Outside the cave was a cliff, overlooking a valley. Fang and I sat down, our feet dangling over the edge. For a moment, we said nothing as I tried to find the right words. Then I began with, "So what do you think?"

"I think you're off your rocker."

Alright, then. "I just thought it was kind of my moral responsibility, Fang. Being their mother and all."

"Is that what you want?" Fang turned to look at me, fire in his dark eyes. "To play mommy and daddy? We're fourteen, Max, and on the run from people who want to kill us, if you haven't noticed. There's no time for that."

"We take care of the flock!" I protested. "How is this any different? In fact, we're more obliged to take care of the twins, since they're actually ours."

"Plus," he went on, as if I hadn't even spoken. "I don't get you. You run off when I kiss you, and now you want to raise a couple of kids together?"

My mouth dropped open, and I gave him a long, disbelieving look. All the love I'd felt towards him last time he kissed me seemed like a foreign language right now. "Is that what this is about?" I stood up abruptly, then leaned down to talk right into his ear. "I'd rather have just about anybody else on this planet be the father of my children," I hissed. "You ass."

And then I spun on my heel and marched into the cave, feeling Fang's dark eyes on me but not daring to turn around.

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