I'm sorry this is short. I have a head start on the next chapter so be expecting that soon.

As a little note: WTF? Did anyone here read Nevermore yet? !

If you have, let me know. It was CRAZY!

AngelPOV

It was around Christmas after Nick's first birthday that I heard it for the first time.

"Max? Where's Iggy?" I asked Max, who was washing dishes.

"Um...upstairs with Fang somewhere." She waved her hand, spewing soap everywhere. I wiped some from under my eye and headed upstairs, listening for Iggy's thoughts.

When I got to the top of the stairs, I saw Iggy usher Fang into the game room. He closed the door.

[...now he's gonna get it...] Iggy was sure mad about something. Now I was curious.

I tiptoed down the hall and crouched outside the room as Iggy and Fang sat down. Fang was confused. Iggy was furious.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Fang said when Iggy didn't say anything.

"You know," Iggy growled quietly. I pressed my ear harder against the door.

"No, I don't."

The couch crinkled. I imagined Iggy lounging on it and then leaning forward; Fang leaning on the TV in his typical fashion. "Okay, I guess I'll spell it out for you. *Who are you and what have you done with Fang?*"

Gazzy appeared at the end of the hall. He looked at me, confused, and was about to open his mouth when I put my finger over my lips. I felt out with my mind, hitting Iggy and Fang's before bumping Gazzy's. I sent him a message.

[Iggy and Fang are arguing.]

[I wanna hear,] he thought, scurrying over. He crouched next to the door as well, pressing his ear to the door next to me. [I feel like a spy.]

[Sh.]

[I can think if I want to,] he grumbled in his mind before I tuned him out.

"What are you talking about?" Fang asked back in the room.

"Grow a pear, Fang! Are you blind too?!" Iggy yelled at Fang. "What the hell have you been taking? You're a whole different person. And I'll bear witness. Since Nick was born, you've become a completely OTHER dude. I have no idea who you are anymore! I've walked in on Nudge and Angel crying multiple times because of it! You're so caught up in your new little family that you've forgotten about the rest of us!"

My lip trembled. Gazzy leaned even harder into the door, causing it to creak a little. We both froze, but Iggy and Fang were so caught up in their argument that they didn't notice.

"I didn't notice, Ig," Fang said softly. "I'm sorry."

"That's the point," Iggy snarled. "You didn't notice. What else didn't you notice? Hm. You didn't notice that Max has been checking out as well. I've had to take care of the flock for the last six months. When they're crying, or they have nightmares, it's me they run to me. That's not my job! It's Max's! But both of you have been so caught up in your new little squealing bundle of joy that you just don't care!"

His voice cracked on the last sentence. I looked through Fang's eyes and saw that Iggy was actually crying. Fang was frozen with shock.

"Jesus, Iggy," he said. "Dude, you gotta tell me stuff like this. Don't keep it all bottled up, man. Come on."

"You're even talking differently!" Iggy said. "Something has GOT to change. Or else...I don't know! But it's gonna be bad!"

There were loud, heavy footsteps. Before we could react, the door was yanked open, and Gazzy and I fell into the room.

"Oops," Gazzy said, summing it up pretty nicely.

Iggy stomped accurately over Gazzy and made his way angrily back down the hall, disappearing around the corner. Fang glanced down at us, and my heart started hammering. Before he could ask for a confirmation of Iggy's accusations, I snatched up the collar of Gazzy's shirt, said "Nice weather today, huh?" and dragged my brother down the hall, leaving Fang with lost, confused, and conflicting thoughts swirling around in a stormcloud in his mind.

NPOV

Okay, it was official. The number one most irritating noise in the world was the sound of a squeaky wheel on a shopping cart.

"Ugh, how can you stand that noise?" I asked Holly as she pushed the metal cart along the linoleum floors in the Target store we were shopping in. She glanced at me with a grin and jerked the cart back and forth so that it emitted the most agonizing sound yet. I pressed my hands on my ears and grimaced.

"You're horrible."

"And yet you love me anyway," she murmured, gazing thoughtfully at the isles. "Let's see. School and office supplies...school and office supplies...ah, here we are. Check this, Nick. There are so many different planners! It's awesome!" She held up a spiral-bound notebook with pink and brown flowers spilling across it. "Don't you just want to buy everything in this whole store?"

"No." I crossed my arms and frowned. I was not the biggest fan of shopping ever.

"Well, you do need to get some stuff, so...ooh, those pens! Hang on." Holly reached out absentmindedly and beckoned in the direction of the pen package she had seen. The pens slid from the rack and zoomed into her hand, and she dumped them into the cart, not seeming to see my boggling stare.

"Okay. Colored pens. Now you need pencils, a couple of binders, a composition notebook, dividers, filler paper..." Holly moved down the isles, tapping her lips with her finger. Occasionally she would actually reach down and grab a packet of something, but she would mostly just wiggle her fingers or beckon with her hand and let the item zoom to her.

"Is that, like, some kind of mutation or something?" I asked her finally.

She looked at me. "What? The telekinesis?" She laughed and raised her hand at me, beckoning to me. A huge force appeared behind my back, dragging my feet in a very ungainly matter towards her, sliding over the linoleum as I zoomed toward her body. At the last second she lowered her hand, and I almost fell over.

"Yeah," I gasped, "that."

"Yes, it is," she said, giggling. "It's really handy, too. "

"When did that develop?" I asked her.

She tapped her chin with her finger again. "Um...I'd probably just gotten pregnant with Cor, although I didn't know it yet. I didn't really use it at first, but after a little while I started practicing more. And voila! Here we are." She grinned and then picked up a blue binder, dumping it in.

"And I guess that Leo, Atalanta, and Rudy are also former subjects," I mused.

"Yes. Rudy is a lion-human hybrid, but Leo and Atalanta are both Gen. 77 kids. Atalanta had her vocal cords experimented on when she was eight; her singing voice could hypnotize anyone to do as she wanted. She could make a man who was being burned at the stake believe he was swimming in cool water. That's how she got out; she hypnotized the whitecoats into opening her door and then freed everyone else as well."

"What about Leo?" I asked.

"Nifty found Leo when he was a baby, back at the Institute." Holly sighed. "I know you noticed he has no mouth. He uses photosynthesis to digest light, and he does not need to eat or drink. By touching someone with his hand, he is able to share his thoughts, which is how he communicates. When Cor was born, Nifty decided to change his name to Leo - it had been Cory before, and she thought it would get confusing."

I nodded. "So, uh...are we done shopping yet?"

She giggled. "Do you have clothes?" she asked.

"Yes," I emphasized. "I have plenty of clothes."

"Good." Straightening, she began to wheel the cart back to the checkout, chatting animatedly. But suddenly she stopped, cutting herself off in the middle of a sentence as she stared at nothing, a horrified expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused

"Forced expiration dates," she breathed.

I was still confused. "What?"

She looked at me. Her blue eyes were round, terrified. "That's how your parents died," she breathed. "Forced expiration dates."

O.o