I didn't understand much of what was going on. I heard yelling and more gunshots, which hurt my ears to the point of whimpering. Dream-Fang looked at me, surprised by my weakness. I was silent after that.

Then suddenly I was surrounded by utter darkness. And it was bitter cold. It took a minute to register that I was outside. I closed my eyes, refusing to see more than was necessary. The more I saw, the more it would hurt when I awoke. Then the long forgotten feelings of flight overcome me. And despite my better judgment, I opened my eyes. Dream-Fang was still cradling me in his arms, but I was confused by the rush of air on my face. Then I looked down and saw the ground, thousands of feet below. Impossible! How could Fang be carrying me, and flying? I weighed at least a hundred pounds!

He smiled tentatively at me.

"Still think you're dreaming?"

I nodded silently. Then I saw silhouettes of others around us.

"What is that?" I whispered, indicating the closest to us.

"That would be Nudge, Max. The rest of the Flock is here."

"No. you're all dead" I responded, my voice cracking at the last word. Somehow saying the word 'dead' made it more absolute.

"No, the trees caught us when we fell and softened our fall. We almost died, but there was a forest ranger nearby, and her and her daughter read my blog, so they knew who we were."

I shook my head and refused to believe that this was not a dream.

An unspoken question filled my head, but I bit my tongue.

If this wasn't a dream, if this was real, then why did it take TWO YEARS for them to come and get me?

I closed my eyes the entire trip. I attempted to forget that I was thousands of feet above the ground and Fang was cradling me in his arms. There was a part of me, a big part, which was struggling to wake up. But then there was a little voice in the back of my head, hoping that this was not a dream. And no matter how hard I tried, that little voice could not be silenced. It kept getting louder and louder until it filled my head and I could hear nothing else. My eyes flashed open at once.

I immediately regretted it, because there was a blinding light.

I'm dead was my first thought. But as my vision began to regain some focus, I saw that I was staring at a florescent bulb. I knew I was back in my cell. But when I looked about I saw that the walls weren't padded. Did they transfer me while I slept? This room looked like a normal small bedroom. I was covered with an old cloth that looked strangely familiar. To be honest, this room looked awfully familiar. 

Then it hit me. This was Dr. Martinez's room. My mother and half sister Ella had died, two years ago, just before my Flock died. No matter what police reports had confirmed, I knew their death was unnatural. That was my flock's mission—to find the truth—when they had been killed as well.

But why was I here? Were the Itex Whitecoats putting me under some sort of test? Or was this still my dream? The curious part of me—I was surprised it hadn't been killed—wanted to check things out. So I pulled my quilt off and tried to stand.

Of course it was been about a year since I had done that, so I was clumsy, but I managed. The door was not looked, and I opened it carefully. I couldn't see anyone in the hall so I eased out and closed the door behind me, then made my way toward the kitchen.

And there they were, five kids, and one dog, all with wings, sitting around the table. My Flock! My Flock! I celebrated silently. This is a dream, I will wake up I had to remind myself. The smallest turned around when she heard me.

She had long blond curly hair and baby blue eyes. Angel! Her white wings had grown, just like the rest of her. She was almost unrecognizable, except for the wings. Two years… She smiled at me and ran toward me.

"Max!" she hugged me tightly. I stiffened in response, which she didn't seem to sense. "Oh Max, I missed you so much!"

"Angel…" Fang warned in a low voice, he now stood beside her. He directed for her to move away but kept his eyes firmly on me.

"Are you still dreaming?" he asked me.

I reverted my gaze quickly.

"Of course" I whispered. "If I wasn't dreaming, you'd be dead, and I would be in a padded cell, wishing I was too."

He flinched and opened his mouth to say something but closed it. I could see his eyes flashing, looking for something he could say to make this all better. It was no use. As far as I could tell, Maximum Ride was dead. So if this wasn't a dream, he was just wasting his time.

"Max," Angel said to me "Ask the question that's in your head."

I shook my head.

"Ask it."

I sighed and looked at Fang when I opened my mouth.

"If, and I'm saying if this not a dream" he looked as though he was about to argue that but I put up my finger and raised my voice angrily "Then why did you taking you TWO DAMN YEARS to come and get 

me? Did you forget about me, huh? Is that it, or were you too F-ing Lazy to want to come and rescue me? I spent TWO YEARS thinking that I had lost all that I ever loved. They had to put me in a padded cell and a straight-jacket because I kept trying to kill myself to be with you guys. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep unless I was put on Lithium. Every F-ing day was agony, worse than any physical wound I've ever felt. I went through worse than death. Death would have been something to end the suffering. So yes, I hope to God that I'm dreaming, so I can know that you didn't actually put me through all that!!"

My flock looked at me, expressions ranging from horror, to guilt, to pity, to agony. I glared icily at them all.

"Max…" Angel whimpered, and I felt a twinge of guilt myself for going off like this on her. Fang perhaps, but not Angel. She would never deserve something like this. I looked at her and kept my gaze empty.

I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry baby I kept chanting in my head like a mantra, hoping she was reading my mind. So she, ignoring Fang's orders came and hugged me. I returned her hug and dropped on my knees. And suddenly she and Nudge were comforting me. I was horrified to see tears spilling down my face and I quickly wiped them away, the old Max beginning to return.

If this was a dream, I was going to live it up, no matter the pain. It was well worth it.

And I was going to send the bastards who caused me and my Flock all this pain straight to Hell.