Thank you, those of you who reviewed. Each one means a lot to me.

We're back in the general Iggy-POV. Randomperson, your review reply is at the bottom.

Disclaimer: James Patterson's series Maximum Ride, in its entirety, has never and will never belong to me.

In Reverence

Chapter Four

We love you, Iggy.

…Angel?

Opening his eyes had never been so hard. Sleep was a drug clinging to his veins, weighing down his eyelids and pressing in against his exhausted body. His head was filled with rough cotton and his eyes were just on the point of burning. He wondered why Angel could not let him sleep. He definitely felt like he needed it.

Out of habit, as muddled awareness pushed through sleep's clutches, he didn't open his eyes at first. It was better to let your captors think you were asleep so they wouldn't expect retaliation. He kept his low breathing as slow as possible and restrained his weary muscles, though they begged him to get up and move. His sharp hearing took over, the sounds in the room suddenly amplifying. Somewhere near his head there was a high-pitched beeping. His own breathing, and…there. Five people were in the room with him, their breathing soft and measured with the comfort of health.

Five people…who…?

It came rushing back to him like a flood from a broken dam. The Erasers' ambush, agony and his wounded wings, the abandoned house and its clicking clock, Angel stepping down the stairs at his side, falling…waking up in a car somewhere, moving, hurting, bleeding…and then, nothing. Nothing but the familiar, silent oblivion of unconsciousness and a lurking wound that he knew would never fully heal. Now, his closed eyelids were the only things holding back a hideous reality that he wasn't sure he could face.

Opening his eyes had never been so hard, but he knew he couldn't hide forever.

"Max?" He asked, eyes probing the ebony abyss in front of him. "Guys? You there?"

There was a hasty shuffling noise and the sound of feet hitting the slick floor. Iggy smiled tentatively, immediately feeling it when his family's eyes settled on him. For some reason, he faintly remembered associating their gazes with needles. Now, he couldn't understand why he would think such a thing — he was filled with warmth just by knowing they were still with him.

"Iggy!"

Light footsteps rushed to his side and he felt the touch of small fingers on his face and arms. Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge had all gathered around him while Max and Fang hung in the background, coming towards him at a slower pace to let him adjust. The joyful energy in the room made his head whirl.

"Alright, let him breathe," Max said with a laugh. "Hey, Ig. How're you feeling?"

He licked his lips and moved his gaze to her direction. "Better. Not like I'm going to black out at any second anymore."

"That's a start," Fang said dryly.

"And...?" Max prompted. Iggy grimaced, catching the real meaning in her question. He turned his head away and felt Angel reach out to stroke his hair.

"They're not bleeding anymore," Nudge whispered. "I'm glad. There was so much blood before."

"Well, the doctors fixed you up pretty good," Gazzy said with a grin. Then he saw Iggy's expression. "I mean, we had to take you to the hospital. Like Nudge said, there was a lot of blood. It's okay, Iggy, you can trust these doctors. They're nice, even if they do look at us kind of weird."

Iggy relaxed into the hospital — hospital! — sheets and unintentionally noticed that no one said, "The Erasers can't get you here," or "You're safe here." Because, he reminded himself bitterly, no place was safe for him now.

Stop it, he chastised himself. Stop. You're alive, aren't you? Then stop moping.

But he couldn't. Not when he had no longer had wings. They made him what and who he was. Without them, what good was he? He could make bombs and keep his family company, but he was blind and crippled and he couldn't even fly to escape danger anymore, so what good was he?

He forced a faint smile onto his lips. "None of them look like twisted scientists?"

"Well, they all do, but that's just because they're cooped up in here all day," Angel giggled.

Angel's comment set off a flurry of remarks from each of the flock. Iggy felt his muscles relax and leaned back into the soft pillow behind his head. This was what he needed. He could feel their pain skulking behind the happy front his family put up, but they were here with him, and at the moment that was all he wanted. His wings still ached and he was painfully aware of how much smaller they were now, but he forced himself to push the thought away. He didn't want to think about it. He wouldn't think about it. If he did, he might go crazy.

Iggy let out a soft sigh and let his eyelids fall shut. Please…don't make me face it now. Not now.

His flock stopped chattering around him.

"Iggy?" Gazzy murmured worriedly. Iggy opened his eyes and offered the younger boy a small smile. He tried to keep the grief from his face but knew in the way that Gazzy clenched his hand that he hadn't been successful.

"I'm sorry," he breathed.

"For what, Iggy?" Max sat on the edge of his bed. He could feel her piercing gaze smoldering on his face and lowered his eyes.

"For…screwing up. For letting that Eraser get to me. I should've paid more attention. I shouldn't have wandered away from the group."

He knew they were sharing worried stares around him and clenched his fist into the bed sheets.

"Iggy, what happened wasn't anyone's fault," Max said firmly. "No, don't shake your head. I'm serious. It wasn't your fault."

No one deserves to blame themselves for getting hurt…not your fault…

Then whose?

Iggy clenched his teeth. "So why'd it happen, then?" he demanded. No one replied, and he lifted his gaze to stare accusingly around him. "Huh? Max? It has to be someone's fault. Whose fault is it, if it isn't mine?"
"What do you want me to say, Iggy?"

I don't know.

"That it's mine?" Max's voice was rising, making heat flush his face.

No, don't get angry. I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault.

"If it'll make you feel better, then fine, it was my fault."

Iggy shook his head furiously and flexed his hands in frustration. He needed to move. He needed to get up and pace, walk, fly —

His chest tightened and he bit the inside of his cheek, hard.

"Max," Angel said in a pleading voice. He felt her lean into him, petting his hair reassuringly, and fought the urge to break away.

What was he doing? He was Iggy. He didn't get upset like this. He was always smiling, always fighting to stay strong, always thinking why, why but never asking it. Because his flock needed him to be strong. They couldn't afford to have someone so weak in their midst. That was why when he started to break, Max got angry. He knew what she was thinking, because he was thinking it too. Why are you acting like this? Where's the laughing, untouchable Iggy that we all know and love? What's happened to you?

A sudden surge of anger filled him to the very tips of his body. Why can't you just be there for me? He wanted to shout. Why can't you just be there without asking why you need to? I know I'm not acting like myself! I know! But I don't need you to be angry at me, too — I'm already angry at me!

He felt himself shutting down and didn't try to stop it. His face smoothed out and he pushed the anger from his mind. Angel had stopped stroking his hair sometime during his internal rage and he could feel her staring at him. He did not even try to meet her gaze.

Max let out a long, tired sigh and he heard the shifting of thick locks as she ran a hand through her hair. "Alright. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."
"It's fine," he said with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders. I'm fine.

"No, it's not fine," Max insisted. "I shouldn't have done that. You're the one that needs help not right now, not me. I —"

"Max." Iggy lifted his head and gave her what he hoped looked like a soothing smile. "Really. It's fine. Apology accepted."

She fell quiet for a moment and started to speak again, but the door to the room clicked and swung open before she could say anything. Iggy heard footsteps come through the doorway and was pushing himself up in an instant, alert and instinctively ready to bolt.

"Hello," a startled woman's voice said. "Max, there are some men who said — is something wrong?"

"No, nothing, Dr. Martinez," Max said stiffly. "We're fine."

"Oh. Well, okay. Iggy, I'm glad to see you're up and alert. My name is Valencia Martinez — Max came to get me when you refused to accept treatment. I hope you're feeling better?"

"Yeah," Iggy said. The feeling of lying through his teeth was a familiar one.

"That's good," Dr. Martinez said, and sounded like she meant it. "Max, there are some men waiting for you outside. They say they're from the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Iggy frowned and felt Angel shiver next to him. Trouble?

"Do you believe them?" Max asked seriously.

"I don't think they want to hurt you, Max. I would believe them."

Yeah, Iggy added silently, but you don't know how to tell if people are crazy like we do.

"Okay." Max got up from the edge of Iggy's hospital bed. "Guys."

Iggy kept his gaze centered firmly on where he thought his lap was while his friends moved away from him. Angel though, to his surprise, didn't move from her spot by his side.

"I'm staying with Iggy," she said firmly. Her young voice sounded so certain that Iggy knew no one would challenge her. He was right.

"Alright," Max said. She turned to him, and he imagined her forehead would crease with regret and worry. "Iggy…"

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, with just a hint of unintentional irony. "I'll be right here."

"Right. We'll be back, then."

"Iggy," Dr. Martinez said just before they all filed out, "a doctor will be coming to check up on you in a minute. He's just going to make sure that everything is working right."

He nodded silently and waited for the door to close before slumping back into his pillow. "Alright, Angel," he said, turning his head towards her, "what's up?"

"I heard you, you know," she said solemnly. "When Max was getting mad. You shouldn't hold it inside, Iggy. It's bad."

He smirked wryly and raised his eyebrows. "You're a scary-smart little girl."

"Is that a good thing?" Angel asked.

"Maybe," he said, and laughed when she nuzzled his cheek. He sighed and lifted his eyes to the ceiling. "I don't know, Angel. Really. I know it wasn't my fault, but I can't help thinking it. I just…this seems like a really bad dream. And it won't end. I feel like I should wake up at any minute and then things will be back to normal. But they won't, will they? Things won't be the same again."

Angel didn't reply. Instead, she simply reached up and began to pat his head again. "It's okay, Iggy," she said. "I'm still here."

"Yeah. Thanks, Angel."

Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep, went the EKG.

Iggy heard the clipped footsteps echoing through the hall long before they reached the door and stepped through. He lifted his head, clenching his hands out of reflex. Then he remembered what Dr. Martinez had said about a doctor coming to check up on him, and relaxed a little.

"Doctor?" he said, aiming his gaze where he thought the man should be. There was no reply, but the footsteps came forward. Iggy's frown deepened with every crisp footfall. A cold chill went down his back.

"Doctor," he said warningly. He felt Angel trembling beside him and struggled to sit up straight.

It happened too quickly for his bed-ridden body to react. The man strode forward and Angel cried out in pain and shock, falling away from him. He heard her hit the floor with a smack and he called her name, reaching out blindly. A rough hand wrapped tightly around his neck and slammed him into the bed sheets. Iggy gasped and his hands immediately went for the grip crushing the air out of his throat. His wings shrieked in agony as he struggled furiously to break away.

The smell of rot rolled over him in a hot wave as the man opened his mouth and laughed. Iggy's stomach flipped over. He knew that smell. He'd encountered it every time the Erasers decided to pay him a visit back when he was still locked up at the School...

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep, screamed the EKG.

"Doctor?" The Eraser growled amusedly. "Guess again."

A/N: I know. Cliffhanger again. Sorry. Let me know what you think of the chapter, though!

randomperson: Yes, Iggy's awesome. Very. And that's alright, I get emotional over fictional characters too sometimes. Like Iggy - Patterson never includes him as much as I would like. :P Thanks, Fang's personality is oftentimes the hardest to work with. Obnoxious and quiet at the same time...hmm. I wasn't complaining about the two reviews, either. They were great. As for how long this should be...hmm. I'm not sure yet, but we definitely won't go past six or seven chapters. I think. It all depends on if I get hit with another bout of inspiration, like I did with this chapter.

Anyways, thanks for all the reviews!

-Kimsa