Hey...I know it's been forever (two weeks, right?), so let me start my two part apology by saying you are all wonderful human beings for coming back and that this will never happen again... That sounds a little depressing - at least to me but I digress. Anyway, on a much happier and not-so-depressing note, I'm back! You guys have no idea what I've been going through these past two weeks. I actually had FOUR tests in one day and two quizzes the day after that. Man, high school is going to make me go insane! (But only if it can get me even more crazy than I already am. :))

So yeah, here's an important thing \/ right below this. It's pretty important so I suggest you read it. (In case some of you are a little slow, it's the note in the parenthesis) I'm kidding, I know you guys are smart, you have to be to be able to know what the heck my story is about to understand it in the first place (get ready for some politics!). But seriously, read the note. It'll make more sense as you read the chapter though, of course. Enjoy!

(Note: Italics = memories, Line = flashback)

Almost forgot to thank all my lovely reviewers! Thank you to: Laughable-CHICK, Beileve-It-Or-Not, toolazytoologin, Avian-American Gurl and all the people who reviewed in the first chapter as well!

Wings

Chapter 3: The Power Part 1

"I'm home…" a tall, dark haired boy announces as he steps through the door frame into his older half-sister's way-too-small house.

Two matching siblings run down the hallway and into the boy's arms, smiling from ear to ear, "Nick!"

Said person smiles faintly, almost forgetting that he made arrangements about three days ago for their friend's parents to give them a ride home every day after school considering how preoccupied Nick has been. He of course gave the usual excuses of "I have too much homework and studying to do for school" and "I got a job". Both of which are completely untrue, since Nick is still only 17, unless you count the weekly illegal poker games in the abandoned warehouses down at the pier as a job. The studying is learning better ways on how to cheat in poker.

"How was school big brother?" Angel, a tall nine year old girl with bright blue eyes and blonde hair asks as she grips onto his hand.

"Today, we had learned more science stuff!" Gazzy, also known as the Gasman whom is identical to Angel, yells out excitedly.

Nick nods and listens as the twins go on and on about their day. Though he knows he couldn't tell them about his; especially about all the weird things suddenly happening to him. It all started after he met that girl in that downtown courtyard.

"Yes, I do wish to live," Nick finally answers, this time much more sure.

The girl nods, "Then I grant you my power, the power of the Angel, so long as you grant me my ultimate wish. Do you except this contract?"

Nick begins to feel an odd, tingling feeling start up in his fingers, soon moving to the rest of his body. "Yes," he answers again, feeling two parallel lines shoot down his back, though not painful but very prominent.

Once the girl nods, she lets go of his hands and collapses behind Nick like she had when she was shot to death.

He still gets that tingling feeling in two straight lines running down his back along his spine. The warmth he felt coursing through him that night had long gone the next day though the images of that girl in his arms still haunt his dreams. I wish I knew her name, Nick ponders as he now half listens to the kid's stories about elementary things such as playing what on the playground and which colors were chosen to color on their teacher's whiteboard.

Maybe I can go back to where James and I had buried her and make a proper burial. She deserves that much and it's the least I can do considering she…sort of saved our lives. Nick hesitates; he still isn't fully sure what exactly happened that day. He wasn't sure what he was saying yes to, he just had this gut feeling telling him to say it. He trusted her as she apparently trusted him. He suddenly remembers all the blood and dirt caked into his clothes that he had to sneakily throw away that night in a far away dumpster. Angel had been so close to catching him…

"Nick," the voice pauses before saying his name again, "Nick," only this time louder.

The quiet boy shakes his head and blinks a couple times before processing what's going on. He looks at his friend in front of his with quizzical eyes, "What?"

James sighs, "We're here." He flicks his eyes to the small familiar house then back to his friend.

"Twins," Nick asks simply.

The tall, strawberry blonde boy yawns and stretches, "I called Ella and told her you weren't feeling good so she got off work early and got them. She seemed pleased."

Nick shoots a hard glare at his friend before sliding off the scooter and heading towards the front door.

James suddenly calls him out again and asks quietly, not completely sure on how to word his next question, "Are you alright?"

Through those three simple words, Nick understands that James means not only just about right now but about everything that's happened to the duo that evening. He knows he didn't show as much emotion as the regular person would when they put that girl in her grave. He knows they wouldn't be alive if it weren't for her. And he knows if it were two regular boys, then they'd be dead by now.

Inside, James has been an emotional wreck, trying his hardest not to show any of it to Nick because if his friend can be calm and collected, so can he. He wishes he was as strong as Nick at times. He wishes he could be yelled at by a teacher without cracking a smile. He wishes he could fail a test and not have to say a thing about it. He wishes he could blend into a crowd so easily that if looking away for a second, you'd lose him for hours.

Nick stops in his tracks and looks over his shoulder, his hands hanging loosely at his sides and his face the usual expressionless mask, "I'm fine."

His best friend watches in astonishment as Nick continues on his way to his door before giving a slight wave and shutting it behind him. He sighs in relief as he sees that all the lights are off and there are no sounds of little feet running around the house. He can't let anyone see his blood drenched clothes or they'll begin to think he's some kind of murderer/sociopath. God knows what Angel or Gazzy would do. Hell, I don't even want to see me at the moment, Nick thinks to himself as he walks through the small hallway into the kitchen which leads to the living room then up the stairs, narrowly tripping in front of Ella's door when his shoelaces get stuck under his own shoe.

He mentally curses then flings himself into his room before anything else hazardous to his safety can happen. Nick sighs in relief and begins to unbutton his sleeve before his bedroom light turns on suddenly. He freezes when he hears a yawn.

"Nick? Did you just get home?"

He licks his lips and closes his eyes for a second before going through several different scenarios of what he could do. "Ugh, yes I did. I'm sorry, Angel. I know how much me coming home late worries you and your brother."

The little girl nods, "But Ella worries too. She doesn't like it when you get home at dark."

Nick nods and moves onto his other sleeve to unbutton his cuffs, "I know, sweetheart. But," he fakes a yawn, "I'm tired and I'm sure you're beat, why don't you go to bed and I'll be there to tuck you in in a minute?"

Angel smiles, "Okay!"

He smirks when he hears the small feet bound back down the hall and the click of a door is heard. "Who knew I'd be thankful for once for short attention spans?" Luckily she didn't notice anything too out of the ordinary. Angel can get serious when needed. And when that happens, nothing stops her from finding out the truth…it's like she can read your mind or something.

"Nick, is dinner ready yet?" Gazzy yells obnoxiously for the third time from the living room couch.

Nick sighs melodramatically before stirring the macaroni-n-cheese a few more times as it continues to boil in the pot, "Almost, Gaz." The teen puts the wooden spoon down on the counter next to the stove and sets the timer.

He pushes some of his hair back and decides to go upstairs to change into his regular day clothes. Once in his bedroom as he's unbuttoning his shirt he notices something. Something that's never been seen before, at least not on Nick and he still can't get used to. He runs his hand across his chest and stomach and notices the more defined he is. He's never been one for working out; he's never really needed to in the first place. He's always been naturally tall and thin with little muscle. Now though he's seemed to grow abs over night! He first noticed how much stronger, and faster, he became in gym class…

The whistle blows loudly and everyone stops what they're doing to look at whoever had blown it. The coach, who's wearing his typical white polo shirt and dark blue basketball shorts, walks into the gymnasium with a stern look on his face. He has his ever begrudged whistle dangling from his neck. A clipboard and pen is in one of his arms and the other is in a tight fist by his side.

Everyone knows not to mess with Coach Stein. He's mean and cynical. The few people he seems to ever get along with are other adults or the best athletes he has. Everyone else is basically nothing to him. He could care less if the rebels decided to come and attack the school one day as long as he got out of harm's way. He's a real rough rider too. When he says run, everyone has to run or else they'll have to do pushups for the rest of the class period under his strict supervision.

Nick and James stop talking when they notice Stein looking straight at them. James gulps loudly and Nick elbows him in the side. The two watch as their Coach glares and walks towards the group of thirty kids in Stein's fifth period activities class. He looks at each and every student's face before finally grabbing his clipboard and tapping it with his pen, "All right class. Today we're running a mile." He stops when loud groans sound the large room. "And I'm writing down your times again. The state wants to see how much you guys have improved over these past few weeks."

"But didn't you take our times last time?" Someone asks aloud.

"Yes," Coach Stein announces, "but I'm sure you all know, considering you're all young adults that we don't live in a lazy world anymore. Kids your age are required by Germanic law to be able to run a mile in ten minutes or less by the time you graduate." He looks at his clipboard, "Most of you already can do that." He flicks his attention to Nick Anderson and James Griffiths for a second before looking at everyone again, "Some not so much."

Everyone groans again before heading outside towards the track. Once there, they line up at the starting position and wait for the whistle.

"Ready, Nickolas?" Coach Stein asks casually as the two walk slowly to the track.

"Only if you are, sir," said person remarks as he calmly walks to the starting line, not even glancing at his coach. Nick has always been one against the whole 'you must run a mile or else' situation that everyone is put in. He thinks people should be allowed to go their own pace when they like. Not have to feel the pressure to be physically fit just to do something they'll most likely never have to do once they are adults. They're basically training us to be like soldiers. Nick flips his hair to the side to see better before fixing his black t-shirt and matching basketball shorts so he's as comfortable as possible. Thankfully one thing the school is lenient on is dress code during any activities course. Students can wear what they like as long as it isn't "too provocative". Luckily Nick doesn't have to worry too much about that.

The whistle suddenly blows and everyone is off. At first Nick is at his usual pace of a slow jog. But as everyone passes him in a breeze, something changes in him. His heart rate begins to pick up. His breathing becomes deeper. He seems to be zoning out as his feet begin to pick up on their own. Soon all Nick sees is the blur of everything around him as he finishes his fourth and final lap.

Coach Stein's shout stops Nick from running an entire marathon. Nick slows and notices that he's already half way done with his fifth lap and turns around, feeling adrenaline coursing in his veins. Once he reaches his PE instructor the man just stares at him in astonishment.

"Ugh, sir," Nick asks, his hands on his hips as he slowly makes his way back to the starting line, "I'm pretty sure this where you tell me my time."

Stein blinks a few times before shaking his head, "R-right." He shakily looks down at his clipboard and locates Nick's original and newly recorded time. "You…" his eyebrows scrunch together, "You ran a five minutes mile exactly, about five minutes faster than your usual."

Nick nods and takes in a deep breath of air, trying to look like he's tired when in actuality he isn't. He feels like he can run an entire mile a couple more times. He's not completely sure how this feeling came on but he kind of likes it. He slightly smiles as he looks ahead of him to see people still on their second and third laps while he's done.

He notices James in the middle, huffing and puffing, but still keeping a good pace. Obviously he hasn't noticed that his best friend has already finished. James is always used to finishing a couple minutes before Nick so this will go as a major surprise.

Nick continues to watch his friends when all of a sudden a girl yells for him to get out of the way. He turns around curious to see a girl with medium length blonde hair and magenta colored bangs running right towards him. He doesn't even have enough time to move out of the way when she collides into him head on. Though oddly, even though her body completely falls into Nick, he's able to catch her with ease.

She's off her feet in seconds yet his body doesn't move an inch. She's feels extremely light to him as he basically holds her up by her upper arms and shoulders. She stares at him in shock for a few moments before getting angry. "What the hell? Don't you know how to move it? Why are you holding me? Put me down!" She kicks and tries to punch but it doesn't seem to affect the tall teenage boy.

Nick snaps out of it and lets her go, her feet lightly hitting the ground. He blushes faintly and runs a hand through his hair, "S-sorry."

The girl groans and rolls her eyes, "Whatever." She crosses her arms and pushes past Nick, "Coach, what was my time?"

"It's Maya, right?" Coach Stein asks the tall blonde before looking at his clip board, "5 minutes and 40 seconds, your average time."

Maya nods triumphantly.

"Not bad for someone who's almost always sick," Nick states as she walks past him on the track.

Maya scoffs, "I'm a natural athlete. It was programmed in me when I was baby so of course I'll run at incredible speeds." She sneers, "Unlike you who, what's your time? Ten minutes thirty seconds, again?"

Nick smirks and holds up his open hand, "Actually it was five minutes exactly."

Maya glares at Nick before spinning on her heel and heading for the girl's locker room. Like she cares if some lazy emo kid beat her in gym once, she has much more important things going on in her life that doesn't involve him anyhow. She laughs mentally before thinking, it'll never involve him. He probably goes home every day after school and does homework all night while I go and make a difference in the world. Or…so I hope; that's at least my mission. I want to bring Germania down no matter what it takes. Even if that means missing a couple days of school, nothing else matters except for liberation from this damned tyranny.

Nick tiredly lies down on his bed and yawns. He's had such a long week, even though it's only Wednesday. It started with that girl, than all the bizarre changes that have been occurring, trying to watch Gazzy and Angel when there's way too much going on even with the newly developed space he has in his mind. He can go through about twenty different scenarios in his head in a second – yes, he's been counting – yet try tackling homework, dinner and two hyperactive nine year olds? Forget about it.

He turns on his side and looks at the clock. It's only six o'clock? Nick asks himself in astonishment. He could've sworn that English essay he had to write had taken him way longer. After finally accepting that it isn't even late enough to go to sleep; Nick gets off his bed and begins to pace back and forth.

Let's see…homework? Check. Dinner? Check. TV? There's nothing on except for the news which I can really do without at the moment. Twins? Gazzy and Angel are playing house. Nick abruptly stops his mental list of things to do when he hears a loud bang from the room next door.

"I'm the princess!"

"No, I'm the princess!"

"Gazzy, you're a boy! Boys aren't princesses!"

"Well…well-"

"I'm the princess, now do as I say!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Nick narrows his eyes before shaking his head and deciding to check his email. He sits down on his bed, back leaning against the wall as he rests his laptop on his lap. Once it's on and running he's already in the more important emails. His breath almost hitches as he reads over one certain email. He quickly fumbles for his phone and presses speed dial one. His foot begins to tap uncontrollably as his cell phone goes onto its third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, can you come over?"

Well? Was it as bad as I think it is?

Well I really can't say it's bad, it just doesn't live up to my expectations, you know? I guess it just depends on what the readers think though. So...

Favorite/Review/Alert! Also, if this story continues to get four or more reviews a chapter I'll update much sooner than I have been (meaning I could possibly start updating every week)! Please feel free to ask me any questions as well, I know some of you wondering about some stuff and I might be able to help without giving away the whole story!

Now onto...

FUN FACT OF THE WEEK!

Saying something was easy like a test will most definitley result in you failing.