AN: Daveigh's POV.

Yep, I was getting pretty bored with the arguing on whether she should join or not, so I just ended it in this chapter. Next one will have more interesting stuff going on.

I don't know when I'm going to post the next chapter since school starts again on Monday, and it probably won't be until next weekend.

School sucks. .

But other than that, enjoy! :3

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I enjoy sleep. So, needless to say, I don't enjoy getting up. But, when you've got to survive on your own in the wilderness, getting up becomes something that you do anyway if only because you know you have to do. Which is why I get up early, simply because I'm used to hunting in the morning because it's what I ihave/i to do to survive. So, when I got up at the crack of dawn and no one was up, I wasn't too surprised. I yawned slightly before yanking off the covers and swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I rolled my shoulders, loosening my wings a little from against my spine. The left one was incredibly sore, but in comparison to what it had been a couple days ago, I wasn't about to complain.

I stood up and looked out the window longingly. I wanted to go for a fly or at least go hunting for some food like I always did at this time. Old habits die hard, I suppose. I sighed and then debated crawling out the window now, when no one was awake and getting a good 2 hour headstart on land. That way I could find some town and hide out in a building, and with any luck, they'd fly right over me. It was tempting, but I knew that statistically speaking, the chances of it going that smoothly weren't very high. And while I was eager to get back to being by myself, I knew there was a fine line between being eager, and being so eager it's stupid. I walked around in a tight circle for a couple moments, careful to avoid making even the slightest of noises.

I contemplated everything I could do as of now without drawing attention to myself, and I couldn't exactly think of any. I frowned absently and headed over to the window, silently lifting it open so that the fresh morning breeze entered the room through the screen. I inhaled deep, realizing just how much being in doors made me miss the outside. My fingers fidgeted against the sill as every ounce of my being fought the urge to crawl through the window and be free. But, I had more self control than most and I knew that leaving now wouldn't be in my favor both healthwise and Flock friendship level wise. So instead, I simply sat down against the wall below the window and sucked in lungfulls of the crisp air.

"I should be able to leave either tomorrow or the next day." I thought to myself, based on my various experiences of injuries and how fast they healed. And, I could guarantee I'd be gone the moment I could. If only the Flock could have inherited the DNA from the more solitary type of birds.

My stomach growled noisily shortly after that thought, and I absently gripped at it. So much for not making a noise, although I seriously doubted any of them would have heard it. I glanced up at the window, yet again, and lamented the change in my daily schedule. I debating going to the kitchen to get food when there was faint knock on my door. I looked up and saw my favorite mind-reader walking into the room, a slight bounce in her step signifying that she was clearly happy about something.

"Morning, Daveigh!" She said brightly, but kept her voice soft.

"Good morning, Angel." I replied curtly, with a slight smile. "Do you always get up this early?"

"Nah, only if we're being attacked or something."

"So, I take it you guys are under attack?" I asked in amusement.

"Nah." She grinned at me, before taking a seat across from me on the floor. "Why are you sitting here...?" She trailed off, obviously not seeing the point of sitting beneath a window that happened to be less then 3 feet away from the bed. I shrugged. We were silent for awhile as I waited for her to say what she had came in here to say.

"Guess what?" She finally started, I didn't say anything, not really wanting to take a guess. "Max said you can join the Flock!" She finished, voice brimming with enthusiasm. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall, fighting the urge to bang my head against the wall instead.

"That's great..." I managed to say after a long pause. I opened my eyes and added the inevitable 'but' to the statement. "But, no thanks. I told you last night why I don't want to join you guys."

"I know that." She waved it off as though it was a minor detail. "But, we need you-"

"No, you don't, Angel. And you know it, too." I cut her off, my voice calm. "If anything, you only think I need you when I've survived just fine on my own. But other that, I'm not seeing how you guys ineed/i me, being that like me, you guys have survived just fine with the 6 of you." Her face fell and she stared at me long and hard.

"But...we iwant/i you in the Flock." She said quietly. I ignored the we bit...knowing that it was mostly true...save for a member or two. But it was the 'want' part that caught me off guard. While I knew most of them had wanted me to join, I hadn't taken into considderation just what that meant. And for someone who lived on her own with little human interraction, being wanted was an experience I couldn't say I'd ever really experienced. And as much as being wanted sounded appealing, the difficult side of me was still fighting.

"You want me in the Flock." I corrected.

"Nuh-uh, me, Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy all want you in the Flock."

"But that still leaves the two most influencial people in the Flock against me. And that's more than enough, considdering I don't want to be in the Flock at all." She stared at me blankly, and I had to change my wording a bit.

"That still leaves the two who make the decisions." I rephrased, and she nodded once. "Even though Max may have given me permission, it still doesn't change the fact she doesn't like me, Fang's view is essentially the same as hers, and I don't really want to join you guys." She seemed to think about this for awhile before speaking up again.

"But now that you've been here, Dr. Martinez might say something to the School and they'd know where you are anyway."

"Then I'll kindly ask her not to do that, and even if she does, that's a risk I'd still be willing to take alone. So, if you want me to stay, little girl, you're going to have to come up with some better arguments than that." I said playfully, while remaining resolute on my answer.

"You should get to know the Flock!" She suggested out of nowhere.

"Angel, you're missing the point. I'm going to be leaving within the next 24 to 48 hours...for good. There's not much point to get to know everyone."

"But you're getting to know me." She pointed out.

"Because you started it." I said quickly, hoping I wasn't falling into a trap.

"So, if the others started it, you'd get to know them?"

"That's not-"

"I'll go get them!" And with that she scrambled to her feet and darted out the door. Yeah, I had definitely fallen into a trap. When I was sure she was down the hallway, I began banging my head against the wall. I'd basically just done myself in, and it was going to be extremely difficult to get out of this one. I heard footsteps come down the hallway and into the room, and I peeled open an eye to see the Mystery Gang minus Daphne and Freddy. I blew a strand of hair out of my eyes and cast an unsure glance at Angel. She only smiled sweetly at me in reply before following the others into the room.

"'Sup?" I said reluctantly, fidgeting the rip in the knees of my jeans.

"Not much." Iggy said with a grin, his gaze resting slightly above my eyebrows. It may not have been perfect, but for a blind kid, it was scarily close. I blinked in surprise and returned the smile...before realizing that he couldn't see it anyway. If it hadn't been for the fact that he could probably make a bomb in under a minute, I might have felt sorry for him. But I knew he was a survivor and would be able to hold his own in almost any given situation, and for that I respected him. Taking pity on him would be a waste of time and energy, not to mention it would be the farthest thing from accurate in his case.

"Err, well, I don't really-" I started, suddenly feeling incredibly awkward. But lucky for me, Nudge interrupted.

"So are you going to stay?!" She exclaimed. I didn't know whether I should remain difficult and say something along the lines of "Stay here for two weeks? No." Or just be blatantly honest and say something along the lines of "I'd really rather not."

"Well...um-"

"If this is about publicity, it's not that bad. In fact, it's great! I had always wanted to be in a newspaper, and by joining the Flock, I was able too!" Total said, rather meladramatically in my opinion.

"Yeah." Gazzy agreed, if only for the sake of agreeing with Total to make a point. He then continued on conversationally, adding his own opinion. "Being in the Flock's not that bad! Sure, we're always fighting. But we're always on the move, too. There's more freedom to just...be yourself."

While that did sound appealing, I could be myself when I was alone and in remote areas. I had even been able to occasionally venture into towns and cities and just blend into the crowds because no one knew who I was. There was no publicity involved, and definitely no mutated killers involved either. And to me, that sounded like freedom.

Angel must have picked up on this thought pattern, because her brow creased as she glanced at me. The look wasn't angry, it was more contemplative, as though she was trying to think of yet another excuse to get me to change my mind.

"And, you'd get to travel everywhere!" Nudge added, inching closer to me. "And we could totally get you some new clothes!" She finished giddily, eyeing my torn jeans that were so dirty, they were almost stiff. My shirt had been replaced with what looked like one of Ella's, being that my other one had probably been so covered in blood it would never go back to being it's original color.

"But, if you guys are kind of...you know, on the run, wouldn't shopping for clothes be kind of difficult?" I asked slowly, not bothering to hide my confusion.

"No, we have money from doing air shows in Los Angeles." Gazzy replied. That wasn't what I meant, but I didn't feel like pressing that question any further. I was in a dilema. If I went with them, admittedly, I'd welcome the company. For the most part. And, I would be able to be more free about flying. And the traveling did sound nice. However, since there's always a 'but' to every good situation, I was also focusing on the downsides of this deal. Life as an unknown would be gone forever, I'd be attacked or ambushed almost every other day, and I'd almost never have privacy what with Angel around. (I was sure to think this extra loud so she could catch on.) I saw her bite back a smile, which could simply mean she was only listening to my thoughts even more intently. It was a tough decision, and I felt my will power crumbling. But, I was still willing to resist, even if the attempts probably wouldn't be effective anymore.

"What to you think, Iggy?" Angel asked abruptly, as she turned to face him. He looked taken aback, and he glanced down at her and then quickly to me. Both of which were incredibly accurate. I didn't know why she was singling him out and I glanced at Nudge and Gazzy who shrugged.

"I guess...well, I mean...yeah. Yeah. She should stay. I mean, if she wants to." He said as he glanced down, clearly finding this situation as awkward as I was.

"See, we all want you to stay!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Not all of you," I muttered. I got the feeling I was repeating my earlier argument with Angel, and said mind-reader knew it too if her smirk was anything to go by.

"Yeah, well, Max and Fang don't count because two thirds of us want you in...and in Congress, that's enough to override a veto." She said, nodding her head firmly. All of us, myself included, stared at her in disbelief.

"I learned that in school a couple of months ago." She shrugged. "The point is, we want you to stay. And if Max and Fang don't, they're outvoted. Plus, Max gave you permission, so if she doesn't like it, it's her problem." I cringed, seeing Nudge's point, but I still didn't have any interest in angering their fearless leader and her boyfriend. But, with that kind of logic, there wasn't much I could say except...

"Well...I suppose I don't have much of a choice. Fine." I lamented in defeat. With that declaration, there were several shrieks of joy and Gazzy held up a fist. I reluctantly pounded it, and offered him a weak smile. Well, if anyone had been asleep, they certainly weren't now. Angel practically lunged at me and flung her arms around my neck.

"I knew you'd say yes! I'm so excited! This is going to be great!" She assured me.

"Yeah, can't wait!" I wondered if I had even sounded half as excited as she was. She withdrew from the hug and shot me a huge, angelic smile. She was adorable, and I couldn't help but wonder just how often she used that fact to her advantage.

"Come on, let's go see what Dr. Martinez is making for breakfast!" She proclaimed, acting as though she hadn't heard my latest mental note.

"Yeah. I'm starving!" Gazzy whined as he headed towards the door. Nudge followed, yelling something about how he better not eat all the good food first. I stared after them, until all of a sudden, I saw a large hand extend towards me. I glanced upwards and saw Iggy offering me his hand. I took it and half pushed myself to my feet and was half pulled by his strength.

"Thanks." I said releasing my hand from the gentle grasp, before being gripped on the crook of my elbow by Angel. She practically wrenched me out the door, and I nearly tripped at the sudden motion.

"Let's go!" She said brightly, and with that I knew that things were never going to go back to how they were before.

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