A/N O.k. so I'm so sorry about taking FORVER to update. We had science fair and a literature project due around the same time so I had to work on those. So I finally finished those, and then I got grounded, from everything. Including my computer, but on the positive side I've got a butt-kickin new chapter. ENJOY!! Please R/R

Oh, and I don't own Maximum Ride, blah, blah, blah. I do however wished I owned Iggy, but that's a whole different story.

Chapter 6

The faces on the flock were six identical masks of shock and horror. Suddenly a thought dawned on me. "Wait, four years ago… that's around the time we were broken out of the school." I looked around waiting for the rest of the flock to make the connection. And once again I got blank stares all around. I let out an exasperated sigh. "If Jeb had broken you out too, why didn't he come back after he left, and bring you with him?"

Suddenly it dawned on the rest of the flock. I rolled my eyes inwardly, seriously…

Kat though, caught my eye, and looked at me dead on. "I really don't know, but I guess it's because I've always been on my own." Kat dropped my gaze and looked off into the practically set sun. "But I do know why they sent me away, it's because of that file there." She gestured to the bigger of the two manilla envelopes. "I know too much, and CHU Industries will do anything to have me eliminated."

I glanced down at the files, and Fang practically read my thoughts AGAIN. "Exactly how much do you know about CHU Industries?" he sometimes takes the words right out of my mouth, it gets pretty annoying after a while.

"Well, your part of it, Max is too, as well as the rest of the flock" Kat looked around as if waiting for one of us to interrupt her. "It's also about global warming, and what CHU Industries is going to do to other countries all over the world."

She said this in such a nonchalant way that I even thought to myself "Hey, yeah I deal with evil masterminds and their plots for world domination everyday, so why is this so significant?" Really, this girl thinks a lot of herself; the world doesn't revolve around her.

I'm really starting to feel flock Déjà vu with this girl.

Kat stretched and yawned, she got up and snapped her wings out to there full length. I thought Fang's wings were dark, but compared to Kat's wings they were as light as Gazzy's. Kat's wings were like the night sky, dark in so many places, but the few specks of light held secrets that were too powerful to share. It was kind of overwhelming.

As Kat got up to stretch out her wing's and Iggy followed her. Gazzy and Angel started chasing each other, and Fang and Nudge started to read the other file Kat had brought with her.

I walked up to Nudge and Fang and plopped down behind them, trying to read the file over Fang's shoulder.

"Sooo…" I started "Interesting day." That comment earned me a glare down the nose from Fang, and a toothy grin from Nudge.

"Yeah" Fang replied "It starts out my vacation and it ends being another plot for World domination, great." He turned his attention back to the files.

"Like, so I'm guessing vacations off until Max gets to save the world again, right?" Nudge smirked up at me.

Seriously, that girl was draining my ever-shallow pool of patience, and it's not the deepest on even the greatest of days. Those days include Angel leaving everyone's thoughts alone, Nudge keeping sentences to a minimum of fifty words or less, and Gazzy and Iggy refraining from blowing anything or anybody up.

And let me tell you those days come as often as world peace, and cute, cheap shoes. I.E. NOT OFTEN ENOUGH. Well, at least they try, and I guess that's all I can ask.

A shriek broke through my thoughts, and I decided to take back my last statement. Great, well the "normal" calm had lasted pretty long, and I'm not too shocked that somebody yelled. I got up, and went to investigate.

Sure enough, there was Gazzy, Iggy, and strangely Kat. Apparently Kat was the one that that screamed. I'm not too surprised. As soon as Kat saw me come into the clearing, she leapt to her feet, and stalked over to me.

"This is why I prefer to be by myself." She rolled her eyes in the direction of the two boys. "I'm with you guys for roughly an hour, and someone almost KILLS me."

Oh great, I have a very strong feeling that this incident involves either: A, explosives, or B fire, and since her hair isn't scorched off, I'm guessing door number one.

"You are SOOOO lucky that I didn't go completely postal on them." With that she whipped her head around so I got a mouthful of hair.

She then turned the other direction, and stomped off. I sort of pity Fang right now. If my temper tantrums are half as bad as hers are, I must sound like a total beyoch when I go off.

I then turned MY head to face the guilty party. Surprising only one face was smiling innocently up at me instead of two. Guess whose face was looking like the cat who ate the canary?

Right.

"Ok guys what happened?" I looked at both of them "Iggy, now." He exhaled, in an extremely snotty fashion I might add, then started.

"All I was doing was talking to Kat, and she was telling me about what she's been doing since she broke out." He looked at me, brown eyes meeting milky-blue. "I asked if I could feel her face to see her, and then she asked me if the school did this to me?" He then snapped his head to the left, and said, "Then this one sneaks up behind her when I'm feeling her lips, and sets of a cracker."

For those of you who don't know flock terms a cracker is a pretty small flare. When it's lit it's virtually odorless and soundless. But when it goes off, that's a whole different story. I, personally, have experienced this Iggy/Gazzy creation. I was the test- run. Let's just say those two couldn't believe that I could run that fast, or pop with that kind of an edge.

The cracker is basically just a scare factor, and it won't damage you permanently. (FYI, I mean physically, not mentally. Well, I guess that if you hang around Gazzy and Iggy for long enough, anyone could end up in therapy.)

"I had nothing to do with this." Iggy continued "All we were doing was talking, I swear."

I can always tell when someone in the Flock is lying to me. Another Super special Max leader skill I've picked up over the years. Iggy did sound sincere, and he blamed Gazzy, which like, never happens.

"O.k. Iggy I believe YOU had nothing to do with this, so you may go." Iggy promptly leapt to his feet, and stalked off in the same direction Kat left in. As we went he kept on muttering under his breath about never having a moments peace around here.

I then turned my entire wrath, well as much wrath as I could muster under this circumstance, onto the small smiling blonde child in front of me.

He flashed me a smile almost identical to Angel's. I let out an audible sigh, and ran my hand through my hair before I sat down next to Gazzy.

"Look, Gazzy, we're trying to make friends and influence people here; and thats definitely not going to happen if you set off a bomb under them."

"No Max it was a crack-" Gazzy tried to start, but I held my hand up to silence him.

"I don't care if it was anything from a firework to a stink bomb; she may be the key to finally getting Mr. Chu and his company off our backs, and I don't want to alienate her from the rest of us."

Gazzy's innocent smile suddenly turned into a frown and his face scrunched up. "Us, Max? When did she become part of our family?" He looked at me with a mixture of fear and anger mixed into his eyes.

"No, Gaz, that's not what I meant, she does have wings and Jeb did send her." "Really How much more proof do you need?" I exhaled inwardly; she does have a pretty good chance of joining the flock now. I mean, she knows about us, and where we currently are located. Plus I'm starting to feel a more-than-friends vibe between her and Iggy.

Because, seriously, that's just what I need right now; more teenage mutant love in my life. Cause, gods forbid that, I'm the only one that has to deal with FEELINGS these days.

"Look Gazzy, things change." I started off saying "But, no matter how strong and different we are, we can't stop these changes."

He looked up at me as if he didn't understand. Great. So I tried again, "Gazzy, everyone changes, and our family is always going to change, not just Fang and me, but everyone."

He looked mad now, awesome. But the words he said to me before he left me there sitting on that log haunted me for weeks to come.

"Are you sure it's just not you, that's changing Max?"

Again sorry for the delay. If anyone has any ideas or comments feel free to send them my way. I hope to update again soon, but not take as long. I'm also working on a story for TDI C+D so if you're a fan, well free to fit me up with ideas.