Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never will. Enough said.
(Angel POV)
Angel! I heard dimly in my head. Fang! The flock and I had been circling above the forest hoping to see Max and Fang either by luck, or that one of the two would call me. We really need your help! I zeroed in on the source of the call. I started down toward where it had come from, and the rest of the flock followed.
(Kelsey POV)
I watched the boy faint in a kind of eerie, slow motion. All the time I was thinking about all of the things that I should have done differently. I should have examined his wound, I should have bandaged him up, I shouldn't have been so distracted. Not that I didn't have good reason. Wings! For Lord's sake! How was I supposed to focus on doing anything when the people I am trying to help just happen to be mutants? I imagine that I actually took it rather well. I mean, the kid had seemed surprised that I didn't run off, screaming. I was surprised myself.
"Okay, snap out of it," I whispered to myself. First things first. I quickly bandaged up the mutant bird boy. I suddenly realized that I only knew one of their names. Glancing over at the other, Max, I saw that the IV blood thinner was helping. It was now or never. I made my way over to her, set out my supplies and prepared myself to remove the branch. Suddenly, something hit me from the side, hard. I must have blacked out, because the next thing I knew, I tall, pale, read headed kid was standing in front of me. Oh yeah, and did I mention he had wings? And that I was tied to a tree?
"What did you do to them?" He snarled.
"Hmm, let's see. Popped tall and dark's shoulder back into place, bandaged his side. I gave Max there some blood clotters. I was going to remove the branch from her arm until I was so rudely interrupted…" I trailed off, realizing that it was probably not a good idea to smart talk the person… or mutant that was holding you captive.
"Do you think that I'm gonna believe that?" He whispered menacingly.
"She's telling the truth," said a light, musical voice from behind him. Suddenly, my interrogator stepped away and looked questioningly at a little girl who looked to be about 8. But who knows? "I'm actually six." She said.
Okay, can I say creepy? Beautiful winged children who answer your thoughts. Or had I said that out loud?
"No, you didn't. I can read minds." She said politely, and smiled.
Yes. Creepy. "Who are you anyway?" I asked, hesitantly. I was still weirded out by the mind reading 6-year-old thing.
"I'm Angel. This is Iggy." She gestured toward the kid who had previously tied me up. "Nudge." A dark skinned girl stepped into my line of vision. She smiled hesitantly, looking like she was trying to restrain herself from saying something. "This is The Gasman." A slighter older, male version of Angel waved. So, that left only tall and dark.
"That would be Fang," supplied Angel.
"Wait a minute. Angel, Nudge, The Gasman, Iggy, Fang?" I asked incredulously. "What did you guys name yourselves."
"Not exactly, but pretty much. See we're orphans. Or at least, we think we're orphans. These evil scientist types grafted avian DNA into our blood, and we grew up in this place called the School, but it wasn't really a school…" Nudge began.
"Nudge," said Iggy, and she stopped, but did not look happy about it.
Suddenly, I heard a groan, and Fang sat up. "What happened?" He mumbled, and tried to stand. Once again he sagged against a tree, and held his side. He looked over the scene, taking it in. One side of his mouth twitched up in a sort of half smile. "Are you comfortable like that Dr. Hicks?" He asked in an amused tone of voice.
I started, realizing that I was still tied to a tree, and that I had been carrying on a conversation from that position. Just like me to forget the more complex facts of life in favor of the more obvious ones. I mean, who would possibly remember that they are tied to a tree? Especially when there is something else as engaging as a conversation with kids? Sometimes, I amazed myself. And not in a good way.
Suddenly, I heard a laugh. It was Angel, who glanced up at me, amused. "You're funny." She stated, for the first time sounding like a 6 year old.
"So, are you going to let me down?" I asked.
"I don't know, I'd like to see how many times you forget that your up there" Fang started. Now that was annoying. It was one thing for me to make fun of myself, but completely different when someone else did.
"Fine. Leave me up here if you like, and I can watch you do a blood transfusion on your own. I'd like to see how many times you screw up. Or you could not give her a transfusion, and see what happens." I ranted. "Oh, and just to be fair, if you go with the second option you should probably know before hand. If your buddy Max there doesn't get a transfusion, odds are, she's going to die."
I saw any trace of amusement leave all of their faces. Fang seemed particularly sobered. He quickly came over to me, and untied me, allowing me to fall. He didn't offer me a hand up. "Okay, let's do this. No matter what you say, I don't want her to die."
Feeling guilty, I hung my head. But I had to tell them the rest. In almost a whisper, I said, "with the amount of blood she has already lost. She might die anyway."
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AN: I have a disease! I am cursed to always have to end my chapters with cliff hangers. I am really sorry about that. But hey, I updated so, you can't complain. Evil laughter