I stared at all of them. In the months I had been away, they had all changed.

Nudge looked at lot more filled out, her hair just slightly touching her waist. Angel was stunning – she was gorgeous. But she still had the creepy essence about her. Gazzy looked a lot more... teenager-ish with a less boyish face. Fang was Fang. I nearly punched him then and there, but it would have given my position away. Iggy... wow. Iggy was just a-ma-zing. He eyes were a penetrating blue, and he had the whole Swedish look about him. He was tall... and looked more buff then Fang.

I stayed in the shadows of the trees. I had so many emotions running through my veins I couldn't think.

I remembered the last time I had seen Angel. It was after we had got back from Antarctica, and I wanted to go to the warmest place on earth. She had chosen where to go, and that night I got... taken.

The things they did to me there... imagine your worst pain. And multiply that by, like, 100. Even that wasn't enough.

They had came up with a vial that made everything intensify. So when they pin-pricked me, it felt like I had been shot. When they touched me, I felt like I had been slapped. The pain intensified. But so did the feelings.

So there I was against the wall, refusing to give up because my stubborn-ness was intensified. I was also past the point on depending on Fang. Which meant I had wanted to kill him.

But they pumped so much on that one drug into my body that I was still having side-affects from it. Which meant at the moment, I still felt like I wanted to kill Fang.

I dropped softly out of the tree, making absolutely no noise. Iggy's eyes snapped over to where I was, like he could actually feel the air move around him. If I wasn't concealed by the shadows, he would have seen me against the white of the sun. God, his eyes were so attentive. Like... he could actually see again.

I looked over at Fang again who seemed to be so tortured by something. Like he was upset he hadn't been able to save me. His eyes were haunted, his movements were fake and gawky, and he drooped around like a zombie. Yet, in his remorse, he had failed to save me.

Then Angel stopped, tilting her head. She looked over to where I was and her eyebrows furrowed. She knew something was here, she just didn't know what.

I knew what I looked like before I left. My hair had grown longer, but it was amazingly blonde with light and dark streaks. My eyes were more of a... darker, piercing brown. I was a lot more filled out as well, but not enough to get in my way.

And then I made a decision. Iggy was still facing me, not knowing he was actually looking at me. I wondered silently if he could see. But that would be next to impossible. Angel was looking in my direction as well, but everyone else was facing away.

So when I walked out of the shadows and saw Iggy's eyes widen, I knew he could see me. When I walked out of the shadows and saw Angel smile like never before, I knew she knew I was there.

"Max..." Iggy said, his piercing blue eyes looking straight into mine.

"MAX!" Angel screeched, running up to me and jumping into my arms. Her force didn't push me back at all. I had grown stronger if nothing else. "We all thought you were dead!"

When I realised she was crying, I couldn't stay silent for long. "Baby, Angel, its OK."

Nudge turned around to the sound of my voice, and her eyes started gleaming with unshed tears. She ran up to me as well, hugging to one side of my body as Gazzy ran up and hugged the other side of my body.

Fang finally turned around, and met my gaze. His eyes weren't haunted anymore, and as he stood up I backed a step away. He wasn't coming anywhere near me ever again. He saw the look in my eyes, and backed away, seemingly knowing what I was thinking. He bowed his head but remained standing. The kids hadn't seen what went on, but Iggy did. None the less, when he walked up to me, Angel dropped from my arms and Nudge and Gazzy edged away, only keeping the shortest possible distance between us.

"Hey," He said, taking the pain in my eyes and eating it all up.

"You can see," I muttered, the grin staying on my face for only a second.

And then I was in his arms, not letting him go for the love of God. We hugged and hugged, and when the kids had had enough of it, they clung onto us, hugging our figures.

"We thought you were dead! But you're not! This is the best day of my life! Oh, we should celebrate! I call the pizza. We are so getting pizza. And I can't see where Fang is. Can anyone see-"

Gazzy slapped his hand over her mouth and I kind of grinned.

"Nudge, I love you, but I need my ears, honey."

She giggled and looked up at me, a smile covering all of her face. "I'm sorry."

"It's OK."

"Max, what happened?" The Gasman said, his big round eyes looking up into mine.

"I'm not sure," I said, thinking back to everything that had happened. It burned a hole in my soul. A soul that was out of my reach, thanks to those fucking scientists. I wasn't going to tell them the truth. "I was with Fang and then they took me, but other then that, I don't remember."

Iggy looked deep into my eyes, but I kept everything blocked off. I wondered silently if he still had the mutations/powers. But maybe he just knew me well enough to be able to look directly past the walls I was holding up.

"They came to us, Max," Angel said, her tear streaked face staring up at mine intently. "They told us you were dead."

Maybe... maybe that was why Fang hadn't come for me. But... why did he believe them? Why did they think I would die on them? I was going to save them, if not the world.

"But I'm not. And I'm back, baby girl." I whispered, and they all tackled me with their hugs.

"Where's Fang?" I asked. I needed to have a word with that boy. I didn't want to, but Fang was Fang. I needed to talk to him about what had happened. My plan had ran away from me. I wasn't ignoring him anymore.

I looked down at Angel who was concentrating hard, and then she looked up at me, telling me where he was.

"Can I come with you?" Angel asked, hanging onto my leg.

"No, honey, this is something I need to sort out."

"But... the last time you and Fang were alone, something bad happened!" Gazzy said, his face forming a frown.

"I won't ever, ever let them take me again. They will not survive the day they come looking for me."

Gazzy grinned, as well as Angel, and they let go, beaming up at me.

Iggy grabbed my arm, and pulled me back for a hug. "He's torn up. Go easy on him."

I nodded, pushing away from him to go find Fang.

Now for the talk that I never wanted to have.

Hope it was good. I dunno about the rest of you guys, but when I write, I feel the pain. I'm feeling Max's pain, and everyone else's. I don't have a problem with Fang, don't worry. But my favourite character is Iggy by a long shot.

(:

A.I