Summery: Max is captured by the Erasers, and the Flock are left the fend for themselves, but what happens two years later, when the flock come face to face with a certain familiar, winged teen girl… as the enemy. Can a certain dragon friend help Max remember? Will the flock ever get their leader back?

M/FX (Max/Fang), Nidgy (Iggy/Nudge)

Heya all! sorry about the long update, took me a while to finnish this chapy cos im starting exams this week ( SHOOT ME NOW!) i'm not sure i like this one, but anyway... tell me what you think? thanks for the great reviews, you guys kick ass!

( PS.- i left a last sentence out in the 2nd chapter, with Max and the white coats)

Chapter 4: Independence

The silence in the car was eerie. Total shifted uncomfortably on Angel's lap, and she looked down at him concerned.

Are you ok? She sent the message to his head. He looked up at her with his small, shiny black eyes and she could tell he was in a lot of pain.

It takes more than that to scare me, he thought bravely, but she could see he was shaken.

We'll be at Ella's house soon; her mum's a vet. You'll be OK, I promise, she sent, smiling at him reassuringly. He knodded his head slightly, before lying down across her lap. She pulled her jumper off and lay it gently over him, leaving his head out.

"Thanks," he murmured gruffly, resting his head on her knee. His ears quivered and he closed his eyes warily. Angel looked back up at Fang.

"Where are we going?" she asked quietly, saying it more for Nudges sake than her own. She knew that Iggy and Fang had had a conversation about what they should do next.

"The Doc owns the house next to hers- it's vacant. We're going to stay there, till we can figure things out," Fang murmured, staring darkly out the front windscreen. It was raining, and even though it was morning, the sky was darkened by storm cloud.

Angel took a peek at Nudge. She was staring out the window, her expression just as dark as Fangs. No one said a word as they drove along the deserted road, the rain and the engine of the family Sedan were the only sounds around.

"Max wouldn't have left anyone behind. She wouldn't rest till we were altogether."

The Nudges statement was so simple, yet it cut into everyone's hearts deeply. Angel felt a lump rise up in the throat. She missed Max so much right now. Would they really just leave her behind? Would she be able to get back to them again? She gulped and stared at Fang. He was too difficult to read. When he closed up outside, he closed up inside also.

"No one's leaving anyone behind," Iggy said firmly, turning and reaching behind him for her hand. She let him take it, and she raised her eyes, studying his face as if searching for the truth.

"I promise you, we'll find her."

Suddenly, with a harsh jolt forward, the car came to a screaching haul.

Gazzy looked down at his wristwatch, and lay down the roll of gaffer-tape... next to the carton of gunpowder. Grinning at his latest batch of explosives, he carefully shoved half of them in his bag.

"...And in later news today, the local historical prison, restored by multi-trillion dollar company, Itexicon, was burnt down at around 12 am this morning. Police reports indicate that the fire was the result of an arson attack. Itexicon and police are urging anyone with information on the attack, to step forward and to call..."

Nudge turned to Angel, stunned to see her and Gazzy slap a quick high five. Gazzy turned grinning at Nudge.

"That was awesome!" he laughed, standing up from the couch.

"Arson attack on the prison, fantastic!" Total agreed, grinning up at Angel.

Gazzy looked over to Nudge, and laughed as she shook her head. He liked the idea of attacking Itex again, plus the whole idea of blowing up things really tempted him. Nudge gave them a stern look.

"Fang's gonna have a fit when he finds out, you know that. We'll be moving again for sure-"

"Mmm, and this time I know exactly where we're going," Angel stated, grinning confidently.

Nudge shook her head again, but Gazzy knew she wanted to do this. Maybe to find Max.Gazzy's grin dropped. His heart constricted painfully, thinking about her. He missed her.

Excusing himself, he ran off to his room.

Quietly, he shut and locked the door when he got there. He dived under his bed, searching through the piles of junk. After a few dirty socks and rotting fruit-like objects went flying, he retreated clutching a grubby looking shoebox in his hands. He stood up and sat on his bed and was about to lift the lid, when a loud knock on the door interrupted him

"Gazzy, we're going to the park. Nudge said there's going to be something special on," he heard Angel shout through the door.

"OK, I'm coming!" he shouted back, before throwing the box back under the bed.

Grabbing his modified hoody and his bag, the Gasman looked around the room quickly before opening the door and following Iggy down the hall.

The park was packed when they finally got there. "Some sort of Indy band competition," Total had suggested. Nudge just grinned at them. Banners were wrapped around every tree, and teenagers ran around, dancing to the songs played on stage.

Of course, that didn't mean any of them were letting their guard down. Gazzy had already briefed Iggy of the layout of the park, and Angel was keeping her mind open for hostile thought coming from the people in the crowds.

Nudge looked over at Iggy sympathetically. He was standing as far back from the crowds as possible. The noise was obviously driving him mad. She made her way over to his side, and gently took his arm. He scowled at her.

"You knew this was on, didn't you," he yelled over the noise, giving her a face that made her laugh.

"Sure, but Fang didn't want to come... and he wouldn't have let us come by ourselves," she shouted, grinning at Angel and Gazzy who were making their way to the front.

"At least they'll have some fun," she heard him mutter, and she looked up to find him smiling at her. She smiled back, suddenly very aware of his touch. She felt her face blush, and let go of his arm.

"Hey want some ice-cream, they're giving them away near the stage," she shouted, masking her awkwardness. Iggy pulled a face, but let her drag him off towards the stage.

Two streets away, an appartment could just be seen over the park trees. Upstairs a window stood open, innocently letting the noise from the park drift through. The softly fading sun lit the floor inside, dimly revealing it to be scattered with item. A chair lay where hit had fell, beside the desk. Paper that had previously been occuping it, now just smoking ash littering the ground.

Among his personal possessions, lay a man in his 50's. His neck stood at an odd angle, and a foot sized bruise was already developing on the side of his face. A trickle of blood from his open mouth, ran down onto the floor. His hand still gripped the pen he had been writing with, only seconds before. His eyes stared blankly up at the young woman lazily standing over him.

A smile of grim satisfaction lined her features, and she reached up with both hands and pulled her hood over her newly blackened hair.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a folded peice of paper, carrying a list of names. Some were crossed out, some circled. She ran a finger lightly down the rows of over a hundred names, and stopped next to one. Ter Borcht. She patted he pockets, then something caught her eye. Smirking, she reached down and took the pen out the dead mans hand.

"All units, move out," she muttered, into her earpiece. Her dark eyes lifted to the window as a soft breeze drifted through. A dark ting of orange-red colour lit the sky; the sun had abandoned the land minutes ago.

The next second, the dark girl was gone.

He he he, tell me what you thought... it bored me a bit but its really up to what you guys thought. Luv you all!