Hi everyone! I'm updating mainly because Bubble Blower sent me a PM asking me to update. (sigh) Man, it's been more than a month since I last updated! Stupid real life, it confuses the heck out of me and takes up all my possible updating time! To make this up to you guys, I'm going to combine not one, not two, but THREE chapters together, and I think I'll do a songfic too, that's how much you guys mean to me!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and those people are Green.Winged.Mistress, Bubble Blower, Evil Angel of DOOM, MaxRideNut, S.L. Michaels, and ghj1. Since you all reviewed, you get COOKIES! I love cookies, and I shall share that love with the people who took the time to tell me what they thought of the chapter.

Now, on another note, I'm getting so frustrated. It's so sad because I'm only getting, what, six reviews to a chapter? Four? Those people who persistently review are pretty much my idols, but come on people, I know you're out there! What do you think of this? I'm going insane here not knowing. Especially since it takes me forever to write these, can't I have a few more reviews? Please? I know you all can write these, you've done it before, I used to get like seven to a chapter and now I'm only getting like four. More reviews, PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I'm too grouchy to do it.

Tali: Tough.

Zak: You gotta say it or they're gonna sue you! And an author in jail isn't exactly good for our story.

Me: Well then you say it!

Zak: Me?

Newt: No, you don't want him to say it, he won't stop saying it. Here, I'll do it. Roughdiamond5 does not own Maximum Ride or the characters or the plot, but she thinks she owns me and my friends and sister, so don't steal us. (to roughdiamond5) There, happy?

Me: Somewhat.

Syd: Well what are you going to do now?

Me: Oh, right, thanks Newt!

Shell: No, the other thing.

Me: Take a nap? No, it's too late for a nap, I'll just wait until I go to bed.

Syd, Shell: No, the other thing!

Me: Eat?

Zak: UPDATE!

Me: Aww, but I'm too lazy.

Tali: I'll pay you twenty bucks.

Me: Here's the chapter! Now fork over the money.

Chapter 7: Relationships (A/N we all know I'm bad at titles)

Super-Great-Extra-Long-Triple-Update-Time Part 1

POV Tali

"Hey!" I turned around to see a girl about my height strolling towards me with a boy a few inches taller behind her. The girl had brown, wavy hair (like mine but darker and without the highlights) and hazel eyes, and the boy was a brunette with darker eyes. Jake's hair, kinda. Except Jake's hair was kinda shaggier and I had a much better grip on his…how am I doing trying not to think about him?

"Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I don't remember seeing you here before." The girl smiled friendlily at me.

"I eat in my room." I avoided her eyes. I could have sworn no one so much as glanced at me, but this weird girl was seriously proving me wrong.

"Well maybe you should try eating down here for a change." She told me and led me over to the next-to-desolate table she and her friend was sitting at.

"No, I need to-" I was trying to protest, but the boy helped her and they pulled me over. What the heck were these strangers trying to do to me?

"Come on, one meal here is all. I'm Katie, and this is James." She introduced them, and the boy, James, nodded.

"Hi." He said.

"I'm…Demi. Bye." I left the tray on the table and tried to leave and come back for the food later, but they held fast.

"Why do you want to leave so bad?" James asked.

"My friends need food too." I mumbled.

"Well then bring them here! You don't have to be a servant for anyone but Mr. Denton." Katie said.

"No, we like eating in our room. I'm not sure they'd even want to come." I tried to get myself out of this.

"Can we come then?" Katie inquired, even though I desperately wished her to just leave me alone so I wouldn't have to act weird. I wanted so eagerly to say "no", but what came out was "lemme see", and my legs carried me to the attic with Katie and James despite my brain's protests.

"Hey guys." I opened the door enough to squeeze myself in after motioning for the two to wait.

"Where's the food?" Syd groaned. "I'm starved!"

"I'll get your food in a minute. But first I want to know something." I told them, speaking softer so the people outside couldn't hear what I was saying.

"What?" Syd and Shell asked.

"There are two people outside this door," I was muttering by this point. "who want to eat with us for some reason. Would you like them to join dinner? I'll understand if you say n-"

"YES!" They both said at the same time, and I cocked my head.

"Why?" was the first word that came from my confused mind.

"We haven't seen other people in so long!" Syd exclaimed.

"We want to talk to people who aren't like us for once!" Shell decided.

"Can we, Tali? Pleeeeease?" Zak asked. Wait, ZAK? I swiveled around to see Zak giving me Bambi eyes, and by this point, the three kids were giving me their own versions of Bambi eyes. "I came up to tell you Newt and Jake are on their way. But can we pleeeeease have them over for dinner?" Zak explained and begged at the same time.

"Oh, fine. Gimme a sec." I moaned and slid the door open. "They said yes." I told Katie and James, and they came in. Syd, Shell, and Zak eyed them suspiciously.

"Hello." Katie gave a wave.

"Guys, meet Katie and James. Katie, James, these are Syd, Shell, and Zak." My eyes widened when I realized what I was saying. I forgot the fake names!

"Tali!" Syd and Shell said at the same time, catching my mistake. I turned around and started banging my head on the nearest wall.

"Tali?" James asked. "I thought you were Demi."

"Yes, I am. I'm Tali and Demi." I answered slowly, not ready to meet their eyes.

"Can we tell them since you blew it already, Tali?" Zak beamed, happy to use my real name.

"The names and nothing else. They can't take it." I advised. Zak nodded, took a deep breath, and then exploded.

"Tali really blew it you know she called us Syd, Shell, and Zak but she was supposed to call us those other names, Tara, Skye, and Taylor because those are our fake names and Syd and Shell also screwed it up too because they were supposed to call her Demi but her real name is Tali and while I'm at it I ought to tell you that we have two other friends named Newt and Jake and we're supposed to call them Dylan and Kyle but their real names are Newt and Jake and Newt is Tali's twin brother and Jake is Syd and Shell's older brother and I'm an only kid and I was adopted anyways and mom probably couldn't handle any more kids anyways so I'm an only kid and I'd be really bored if it wasn't for these guys, they're my best friends in the whole wide world and we do everything together because our parents are friends and our latest adventure is making up these fake names and traveling back in-" by this point Syd and Shell were smart enough to cover his mouth up, and they did it so hard Zak couldn't even try to protest. Katie raised an eyebrow.

"But why fake names?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, that's classified information." I cut in before Zak could talk again. Syd's stomach gave a rumble.

"Who's hungry? I know I am." She asked the room, and Shell and Zak nodded fiercely in agreement.

"Fine, I'll go get the trays." I started down the stairs without as much as a glance to Katie and James. Don't get me wrong, I think they meant well, but when you grow up hearing stories of deception from your own parents, you learn to be a little paranoid about strangers. On the way down the hall, I ran into none other than Newt and Jake, and before I could open my mouth Newt (the big showoff) read my mind and spoke.

"We've got two servants named Katie and James in our room who want to eat with us, Syd, Shell, and Zak said yes, they're all waiting for food, and you and Jake are trying to avoid each other because of your first kiss with each other." Jake and I stared at him for a brief second.

"Showoff." I finally said to him. "Don't mention the last part to the kids."

"Of course not, my dear sister. Now would you like some help carrying those trays of food up?" Newt smirked and turned in the direction of the kitchens, leaving Jake and I trailing behind. We refused to look at each other the whole time, and it was hard, but I think I managed alright. Wait, no I didn't, it was more like trying to avoid a UFO casting its shadow straight over you. How the heck was I supposed to avoid this guy? I saw him every hour. Okay, my rant is done now.

Once we were upstairs with eight trays heaped in food, I opened the door to find Syd, Shell, Katie, and James laughing at Zak's antics, which happened to be imitating people's voices. Which we didn't tell our guests about. And yet they were laughing like they knew this kid all their lives!

"ZAK!" I almost yelled. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Crabby much, Tali? Don't worry, I'm just practicing a little ventriloquism. Who came up with that word, anyways? I mean, how do you relate voice mimicking with a big word that doesn't even have the words voice or mimicking in them?" Zak explained and rambled at the same time.

"You have a very entertaining friend, Tali." Katie smiled at Zak. "Do you think you can do me?"

"Well of course!" Zak said in her voice, which was mismatched with his nine-and-a-half-year-old body, which made it all the more humorous to the rest of us. I never really saw James truly laugh in the minutes I've known him, but I got the vibe that he never laughed this much before.

"FOOD!" Syd and Shell finally saw the steaming trays of various foods balanced on mine, Newt's, and Jake's arms and swiped two of them from me before I could set them down on the table. Everyone else followed suit, and eventually we found room for everyone at our meager table (provided a few people had to sit on their knees).

"So Tali, why did you and your friends come to Denton Mansion?" Katie asked in a friendly tone.

"Rumors going around say you're runaways or something." James added.

"Close." Newt finished chewing and filled in for me. "We just kinda heard it's a nice place and we get room and board, so we left our other place and came here."

"But from where?" James asked.

"We'll give you a hint." Syd said.

"It's very modern and close to here." Shell finished.

"Close? The guard said you walked all the way across the county!" Katie exclaimed.

"So we exaggerated a bit." Zak leaned back to drink a bit of milk before diving in again.

"So seriously, where?" James sounded a bit impatient.

"What is this, Interview the New Kids Day?" Newt matched his tone. "We'd rather not say specifically. Okay?" At least Newt made it clear that this shouldn't be brought up again. Everyone resumed eating for a few minutes, then Katie turned to Zak, who was on her right.

"Zak?" She asked innocently.

"Hm?" Zak was so preoccupied he hardly gave Katie a second glance.

"I think you like to be funny, don't you?"

"Yup."

"And part of being funny is playing tricks on people, right?"

"I'm listening." Zak finally turned her way.

"I can tell you the plans for the best prank in existence."

"How 'best' is it?"

"Let me put it this way. People will never see it coming in a million years."

"I'm in! What is it?" Zak pleaded eagerly.

"Ah ah ah, not so fast. I just need one little thing from you before I can tell you." Uh oh. About now, everyone was staring at Katie, ready to see what she had in mind.

"And that would be?"

"A question. I think you're bright enough to answer it."

"Well, yeah." Zak beamed. "So, what is it? Tell me tell me TELL ME!"

"Where did you and your friends come from?"

"The- wait, sorry, I can't tell you." Zak turned back to his meal. "Tali'd get really mad at me if I said so, and having Tali be mad at me isn't exactly a good thing unless I have a death wish." Smart kid. I'm flattered.

"Oh honestly Zak, imagine it, you, me, a gullible fool, some water balloons…" Katie tempted Zak too much and he cracked, which really didn't take too much.

"The future. 'Bout fourteen years ahead of you guys."

"ZAK!" Everyone but Katie and James yelled at the same time. Even Jake! And Newt! The people least likely to scold him! Katie and James just stared at him in shock. Of course, Zak was completely oblivious to all of this.

"Where's my prank where's my prank where's my prank where's my prank??" He bounced up and down in the creaky chair, dying to hear diabolical plans for the best trick ever. Of course, Katie was far from sharing it with him.

"You can't really be from the future! Can you?" Katie turned to us older kids.

"Well even for the future we're kinda special, we got wings and Newt and Tali got half the powers ever imagined and Jake and Syd and Shell can fly really really fast and I can imitate voices perfectly which is why Tali was yelling at me because she thought I told you about it and I can also touch things people touched and know all about the people who touched them for example Katie you believe us because you've read a lot of books and you've heard a lot about mutants and you also don't have a plan for me which I just realized and James, you think Katie's- oh wait, I'm getting a death glare from you so never mind but forget the whole thing WHERE'S MY PRANK?? Oh yeah, there is none. No fair! You promised!" Zak just couldn't stop talking and ruining everything. I don't know who got there first, but eventually Syd, Shell, and Newt were all holding a hand over his mouth.

"So," James started. "You're from the future?"

"Mhm." Zak nodded, and the three holding his mouth shut fought to keep his head still.

"But why?" Katie cut in.

"Can't tell you." Syd and Shell panicked and claimed at the same time.

"Let him go guys." Surprisingly this came out of my mouth, and everyone but Jake raised an eyebrow at me. "They know already. They may as well know everything." Slowly, hands came off of Zak's mouth, Syd, Shell, and Newt crept back to their seats, and James and Katie motioned for me to continue.

"We're here," I began. "Because we need to save our parents. Have either of you read Maximum Ride?" Katie nodded.

"It's one of my favorite novels." She stated.

"Mine too, since Katie told me about it." James agreed.

"Well then you should know all about their story. See, there's a little more that James Patterson HASN'T published. They have a genie named Rina, and…" You readers know their story from here, so I'll skip ahead for you. "And then after Iggy and Rina get married, Max learns she's pregnant, and she has a baby boy. And here he is." I pointed my thumb over to Jake.

"Really? This is Max and Fang's son?" Katie inquired disbelievingly.

"Yup." Jake refused to look at them.

"But the eyes. Neither Max or Fang have blue eyes, do they?" James asked.

"Well Jeb does, and Max is Jeb's daughter, and he's Max's son." Newt clarified. "It's all in the genes."

"Moving on, when Jake was about six months old, Iggy and Rina had me and Newt. And since mom is a genie and dad is a hybrid, we kinda got a bit of each. We're 49 percent human, 49 percent genie, and 2 percent bird. We're the first half-genie, half-human twins in history, so we're used to the media." I went on.

"Yeah, just like Mr. Jake Denton, heir to the Denton fortune." Newt nudged Jake playfully.

"So Syd and Shell were born about two years after Jake and Zak was born-"

"No I wasn't!" Zak intervened.

"What do you mean? Of course you were born!" Katie corrected.

"I mean she was going to say that mom and dad, or Nudge and Gazzy, to you guys, when I wasn't!" Zak was still trying to get used to the fact that he was adopted, and apparently he wanted everyone to get used to the idea too.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there." I waved him aside. "We only found out before we came to the past, also known as now, that Zak was adopted. But our parents won't tell us anything about how he came to us, except for the fact that mom gave him wings and powers to be more like his parents. So we grew up, and then a week or so ago, we decided that we wanted to go back in time and save our parents from their enemy, Ari 2, and they said yes, so I took everyone back in time, we got a job at this place, and here we are." The room was quiet for a good amount of time. Katie and James were staring at us like we were crazy, but hunger came first so we were just shoveling the remainder of our food into our mouths.

"You're sure you're not making this up?" Katie asked at long last.

"Why, did you want proof with that story?" Newt said with a mouthful of French fries.

"Sure, let's see it." James agreed.

"Can we Tali?" Syd and Shell asked me, eager to show someone their wings.

"Sure, but I'm not doing the trick." I told them.

"Will you do it when we tell our parents who we are?" Zak requested.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I leaned back and waited for Syd and Shell to display their wings, which they unfurled as soon as they saw my attention towards them. James and Katie did something a little like a gawk crossed with a gape at the same time, but I suppose you could call it more of an impression of a fish. This was most likely the first time they saw wings on a human up close and personal (unless they knew more about our families than they let on), so I couldn't really blame them.

"And now you know why Tali was so crabby at first." Newt told James and Katie. "She was worried that we'd tell you too much. Among other things at least…" Oh no he did not! I sent Newt a death glare worthy of The Director, and he beamed back, completely unphased. I'll need to ask him later how he does that. But in the meantime, DEATH TO NEWT!

"What do you mean by 'other things'?" Zak pried, and Jake and I both became fascinated in our empty plates.

"Oh no, can't tell you, I'm sworn to secrecy." Newt grinned, and Katie groaned.

"Honestly, you say you told us everything and then we move on and you're sworn to secrecy on another topic! Just tell us already, Lizard Boy!" Everyone turned to look at Katie.

"What?" she asked.

"No one ever called Newt Lizard Boy before." Syd stated.

"It's like no one ever thought of it." Shell included.

"Well then I'm just really bright now. Can I call him Lizard Boy all the time?" Katie smiled a smirk of her own.

"Oh, yes, please." I refused to look at Jake as he spoke, but I could have sworn he was trying not to smile.

"Excellent." Katie started a conversation with Zak about specific tricks, trying to refer to Newt and call him Lizard Boy as often as possible, James joined in, Jake listened silently, Newt was trying to get everyone to stop calling him by his new nickname, and I struck up a small (and nearly silent) side conversation with Syd and Shell about what we thought of the new people.

"So what do you think of Katie and James?" I breathed. Sure, I trusted Katie and James enough by now, but I also wanted to know what Syd and Shell thought of them and I'd rather have them be honest, so…well, you get it.

"Katie is really nice and funny and she tells some great stories!" Shell started in a whisper.

"Plus James is quiet but he doesn't make fun of anyone. And he's a good friend to Katie so he might be a good friend to us!" Syd inserted in the same volume as us.

"So overall you like them?" I concluded.

"Yeah, can we have them over for dinner every night?" They asked at the same time.

"Well, I don't know, we'll have to check their chore schedules." I told them, and their faces fell just a little.

"Wait, what do you think of them, Tali?" Shell wondered.

What DID I think of them? I snuck a glance over to Katie and James. They looked kind enough, good people to talk to and have around. Plus they seemed to be a big hit with the rest of us! "Well, if everyone else likes them, that's good enough for me." I said, and Syd and Shell smiled and turned to join the conversation that the majority of us were participating in.

After a while, everyone was tired, either from all the eating or from the energy used in debating whether or not Newt could fly to the moon and back (without superspeed in flight) before I could fight and win a battle with an Eraser. Finally, James remembered something and started another conversation.

"Hey Tali, you wouldn't happen to know how far your parents are in that story you told us, do you?" James reminded me.

"Hey yeah, good point James! Gimme a sec." I closed my eyes, and thought about what happened with dad and Fang and Uncle Gazzy. A movie was suddenly playing in my head, skipping from scene to scene to save time.

First dad was taking Fang aside. "I want to talk about Max."

"What about her?" Fang asked.

"You two look happy enough. I think it's time you take it to the next level."

"And what do you propose I do about it?"

"Propose, of course!" Uncle Gazzy burst out laughing, then it changed scenes. Now Fang actually seemed to consider this.

"How sure are you that she'll say yes?"

"I'm the boyfriend of a fortune-telling, mind-reading ex-genie. I know for sure." Dad said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. They argued a bit more, I think, but the next thing I knew Fang was agreeing.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'll propose to Max." Dad grinned and Uncle Gazzy did a dance, but Fang said "On one condition." And everyone froze.

"What condition?" Dad asked.

"You propose to Rina." Uncle Gazzy cracked up laughing.

"Shut up, Nudge-lover, the minute you turn eighteen I'm forcing you to do the same!" Dad snapped. "Now, as I was about to say, WHAT? Propose to Rina?" The scenes changed yet again, but I'm certain they debated some more, since that's kind of what they do when talking about their girls.

Dad sighed. "Fine. I'll propose to Rina too. But you go first, I need to get lessons from Angel on how not to let Rina read my mind and find out about it."

"Fair enough. I'll go first."

"Shake on it?"

"Shake." Dad and Fang shook hands and turned to Uncle Gazzy to say something, but the movie turned black, and I came back. It only took a few seconds to view, but I saw a LOT, and it shocked me.

"They agreed to propose." I claimed, hardly being able to believe it. "Fang said he'd propose to Max if dad proposed to their mom later, and dad even said he was going to force Uncle Gazzy to propose to Aunt Nudge when he turned eighteen!"

"YAY!" The girls squealed, even Katie. Newt and Zak exchanged "ew" faces, but they were never going to really understand until they were older. James smiled to show he was happy for us (since this meant we were going to exist and all), and of course Jake hardly showed any emotion at all. Not that I was looking at him or anything…

"Can we see Fang propose, Tali, please, please, please???" Syd and Shell begged.

"Sure, it might actually be kinda fun to witness. Who's in?" Everyone at the table raised their hands, including Jake, and Newt didn't even have to raise his hand for him! There's a record.

"But wait, how are you going to see them without them seeing you?" James inquired. To answer his question, I turned myself invisible and Katie and James stared at where I was supposed to be as I got out of my chair and crept over to a new location.

"I think we'll manage." I reappeared over by the couch, and everyone smiled at my own little trick.

"But wait." Oh no, it was his voice. I had to look at him! But if I pretend I can't hear Jake, then there'll be nothing to look at. "How are we going to keep close to them during the wedding and protect them? Not like they're going to let us be part of the wedding. Right…Tali?" He said my name. Crap, now I have to say something back! So I looked out the window and kept my answer short.

"I dunno, I doubt our parents are THAT cruel. They might let us watch if we play orphan again." Everyone began discussing ways to ask our parents while I stared at the swaying branches outside the window. Still not looking…

"Okay guys, I really hate to break this up, but it's way past bedtime and these guys need to get to sleep." I ruffled up Zak's hair, and he stifled a yawn.

"No it isn't!" Syd and Shell were trying to look awake, but ended up leaning on each other with drooping eyelids.

"You two too, time for bed." I ushered them into the "bedroom" after they each gave a hug to James and Katie. "Newt, Jake, mind help cleaning up?"

"We'll help." James offered.

"Nah, we've got it. Thanks though." I smiled wearily, but Katie grabbed a dish.

"Really, it's fine." She lifted up two trays and starting taking them down to the kitchen, and between us five we got the job done in five minutes. We said goodbye to Katie and James outside of the main servant's quarters.

"Well, it was nice meeting you." I shook James' hand and turned to Katie, who gave me a huge hug, which I returned awkwardly. Not a lot of people besides family hugged me, so this was a change.

"Thank you for having us over for dinner! I loved meeting your friends." Katie finally let go. "Oh, and don't worry, your secret is safe with us."

"Well that's nice. Just don't call me Lizard Boy, alright?" Newt rolled his eyes.

"Oh, no, I think I will." Katie grinned. "Goodnight Tali, Lizard Boy, Jake! Hopefully we'll see each other later!" Katie and James waved and then we were alone in the hall.

"Well, they were nice." Newt stated, and then we went to bed. Notice I didn't say we went to sleep. Now that there weren't any distractions, there was nothing for me to focus on but this evening's latest "first time ever", the first time I kissed a boy. And he was Jake. How could I ever look him in the eye again? I mean, what if things were eternally awkward between us just because of this little kiss? I'd never be able to be in the same room as him.

"Well, you refuse to look at him, so I'd say you're getting there."

"Go away, Newt."

"No, I think I'll stay, thank you."

"Well do you have to hang around and hear my thoughts?"

"Of course, I'm your brother, it's my job!"

"Well don't be my brother anymore. I need to think."

"No, I think you've done enough of that. Thing is, you need to stop thinking and start doing."

"Doing? Doing what?"

"Hooking back up with Jake, for starters."

"Well how the heck am I supposed to do that?"

"Ah, you didn't deny it. Excellent. Anyways, you should probably start by TALKING to him. Nothing's going to get done if you refuse to communicate."

"Mhm, what else? I need something to talk about once I talk."

"Well here's a crazy idea, but why don't you, oh, I dunno, tell him how you feel about him?"

"NO. Any other options?"

"I'm going to have to save that for another day, right?"

"If another day means never, then yes."

"I WILL get you together with Jake, Natalie Griffiths, just you wait."

"Yeah, yeah, but now I need options. So what do I say?"

"Let's find out. Jake, Jake, wake up man! You'll never guess who I have connected to us."

"Newt, this is completely and totally unfair and I won't let you be my brother anymore!" I whined. But it was too late, Newt was already gone.

"Okay, Tali, do you know why Newt connected us?"

"Uh…not really."

"Great, he's being annoying again." Okay, Jake never talks this much, even in his thoughts.

"Newt, you do a really bad impression of Jake, so cut it out, I caught you."

"Okay, so that was really bad, but it was practice, and since you refuse practice, it's time for the real situation. Jake, wake up!"

"Hm?" I know that sleepy 'hm' anywhere. Newt actually connected me to Jake this time! CRAP!

"Newt, if you don't disconnect us right now I'm going to-"

"Yeah well tough luck because you're connected and I'm not disconnecting you. Now you two, talk, make this all up, and get a good night's sleep! I swear I won't listen in." And with that, Newt cut his connection to us, and it was just me and Jake.

"Uh…Jake, I really hope you don't mind, but I'm going to try and get some sleep. I'm exhausted." I lied to him, but hey, I did NOT want to do this. Not that I was going to think that, because then he'd know how I felt, and it might make him feel hurt.

"Fine. I'll try too." But try as I might, I couldn't get the connection cut. Maybe it was something Newt made, so he was the only one who could cut us off. So I tried not to think at all, and it helped, because soon I was fast asleep.

At least, for a little bit. Soon I was roused by Jake's dreams. It was kinda similar to my own visions of the past and the future, expect this one was more like a collage of me. Seriously, there was us at the beach a few years ago, and one of me fighting with Syd and Max…he saw that? But there was one of me just a few hours ago telling our story to Katie and James, and suddenly I was coming closer and closer but I wasn't moving…oh my gosh, that was Jake moving closer to me to kiss me!

"Jake, wake up!" The visions vanished, and I heard rustling in the next room. Jake sat up in bed, then laid back down.

"Yeah Tali?"

"You have really loud and really vivid dreams, you know that?"

"Yeah. Gotta live with them every night."

"Might I ask if they're always about the same thing?"

"Most of the time, I think. I can never remember them."

"Do you remember the one you just had?"

"No."

"Maybe you'll still know the answer to my question. Why are you dreaming about me?"

"You?"

"Me. How come?"

"I dunno."

I sighed. "Jake, do you just want to forget this whole night never happened? It'd kill everyone else if they knew we were…you know, not talking for that reason."

"Sounds good. Can we sleep now?"

"Yeah. But can you throw something at Newt and get him to cut the connection?"

"Already here, sis."

"NEWT!" Jake and I both thought at the same time.

"Well I had to make sure it was going okay!" Newt defended himself.

"Newt, just tell me you weren't pretending to be Jake as 'practice' again." I moaned.

"Newt pretended to be me?" Jake asked me.

"Yeah, and he did a pretty lousy job of it, too." I responded. "Look, I said it. Can we go to sleep now? As in, in our own minds"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Night guys." And after a long time of mental conversation, Newt finally cut the connection, and I fell asleep almost instantly. Of course, every now and then I'd get a flashback of Jake's arms around me and his kisses, but still, it was sleep, and I wasn't going to let anything, not even Jake, stop me from getting it.

A few minutes later

POV Newt

Ah, a job well done. I got Jake and Tali to apologize! They were never going to get together if they didn't talk, so I had to break down a few barriers, which I did a pretty good job at, so go me. Of course, sleep took over me considering I stayed up listening to Jake and Tali's dreams and conversations to see if they were going to cooperate.

But this time, I hardly got any sleep before I suddenly lost my blanket. Zak needs to learn to share! I reached over to my right to try and steal a snatch of blanket from him, but I only felt air. Did Tali transport him somewhere else in her sleep? It's been known to happen, I once woke up in Italy because of her sleep-transport. Or maybe she transported ME? I opened my eyes to see which one was true. Apparently it was the last one, because it was cold and bright here, and a man was staring down at me. Jeb.

"Hi Jeb. Got a transporter on you somewhere?" I mumbled sleepily, too tired to hold a grudge right then.

"Actually, here it is." He held a metal pad with a plastic button on it in front of my face. "We needed to have some way to get you here every week for your checkup."

"Checkup?" Now I was on full alert and sat up. Apparently I was on a hospital bed, complete with hospital surroundings and that awful smell of…hospital smells, I guess, I never learned what it was exactly.

"Yes, Newt, your checkup. We need to make sure you're doing alright with your new powers so then something bad doesn't happen to you." Jeb explained with that blank expression of his. Now the loathing was starting to come back. "Otherwise you might loose mental abilities or shed some of your other powers, and then we'd loose our only magical hybrid."

"Riiiiight." I tried to make it sound like I was completely ungrateful for everything he did for me. I tried to make myself think "time powers? Big whoop. Invisibility? Don't need it. You should never have touched me in the first place." But still, I really would have missed Maddy… "Jeb, hate to break it to you, but I'm perfectly fine, so you can put away all the surgical equipment-" I tried not to shudder as my eyes met the needles and cutters. "-and just let me go back to my attic." I tried to get up and out of this place.

Jeb chuckled just a little and held me back. "Nice try, Newt, but you never know if you're okay or not. That's for us to decide. So if you'll just excuse me," He got up from his stool next to me and headed for the door. "I'll let the doctors examine you." The door swung open, and three whitecoats, one white male, one white female, and one Chinese male, stared at me.

"This is Subject 14?" The white male asked.

"Yes, this is him, and he needs a checkup. Examine his brain, maybe some running tests to see how his circulation and body control is doing, give him an inoculation to make his body keep accepting the fluids, and then send him back." Jeb commanded, and the three whitecoats nodded and started for me like vultures on a dead rat. I tried to back away and escape out the window, but it was one of those windows that won't open and are only flexi-glass so I wasn't going to be able to break through easily. I resorted to climbing on the ceiling like Spider-Man, and they got a broom and banged on me until I fell to the floor (so inhumane!). Then they strapped me down to the hospital bed with metal bonds, and the female injected me with this weird stuff that made me pass out.

It was kinda black for the surgery, and I think it took them hours to go through my brain and make sure I was working right, but it seemed like only a few minutes before I woke up with a scar that was hardly visible beneath my…hey, they shaved off my hair!

"You, whitecoats, what the hell did you do to my hair?!" I yelled, and they didn't seem to hear me. To get the nearest guy's attention (the Chinese dude), I spit at him and got him in the back of the neck. He swiveled around and gave me one of those "stupid, immature experiment" looks.

"Didn't you hear me, whitecoat? Why am I shaved freaking BALD?" I spat at him.

"We needed to get rid of your hair so we could get through to your brain." He answered simply and turned back to X-ray scans of…was that my brain? So what were all those pockets? Never mind. I didn't even want to know. Instead, to pass the time, I grew my hair out again so I could look normal if and when I got back to my friends. The female saw me in the glass, and soon they all turned around to see me get back to normal and gaped at me some more.

"What, whitecoats don't get to watch hair grow? Or do you just look at clipboards and X-rays all your miserable lives?" I leered, and they went back to business. I almost fell asleep trying to listen to their science mumbo-jumbo. Finally, they came back to me and unstrapped me. About time!

"I'm going home now, right? Because this is fun and all, but I need to leave." I asked. The white male shook his head, and they dragged me out the door and down the halls until we reached a room called "Lab 15". I expected more in a lab than just a whiteboard and a treadmill, but that's all it was, and they shoved me over to the treadmill and strapped me on. The white male set the treadmill for a walking pace, and the belt started moving. This was only too easy! The whitecoat moved it up a notch almost as soon as I started walking, and every few seconds they'd raise the bar until I was jogging as fast as this stupid machine would let me. I could go faster than that, and it was so boring having to be slowed down to this! And the whitecoats made me keep running until one of them had to go and get some coffee to keep them all awake. Then to make things interesting, they kept me running, but unstrapped my hands and gave me two small weights to lift while I was running. It was hardly a challenge, but it gave me something to do.

After an eternity or two, they stopped the treadmill, unstrapped me, and listened to my bird-kid heartbeat, which stayed the same pace as usual. I tried to resist when the woman came up with a needle and some blue-ish liquid in it, but she ended up sticking it inside my arm anyways. This time it didn't knock me out! I didn't feel any different, actually. Then they hauled me back to the room I woke up in, where Jeb was waiting for me.

"How did it go?" Jeb asked the whitecoats, ignoring me completely for once.

"Subject 14 displayed some very unusual, yet most likely typical for his race, functions." The female began.

"He seemed to not show any sign of slowing down during the running tests, and he didn't have any lack of strength, even directly after surgery." The Chinese guy added.

"You call that directly after?" I sneered. "That was hours after I woke up since you took so freaking long with the X-rays."

"Did he cooperate?" Jeb refused to look at me or listen to my comment.

"Well, he struggled a fair amount, but he could have been much worse given the extent of his powers." The man said.

"That will be all, then." Jeb dismissed them, and they all left like robots. He then looked at me, standing there with bare feet and pajamas in the middle of a cold tile floor. "So you seem to be functioning normally."

"I'm not deaf, Jeb." I sent him a death glare. "I'm not some dumb experiment who never learned. I heard them."

"Now Newt, I want you to do something for me before we pick you up again next week." Jeb the Devil leaned closer to me from his stool. "I want you to go a week without seeing Maddy. Or using the powers we gave to you at all, to be thorough."

"WHAT?" I couldn't believe it. I talk to Maddy as much as I can without smothering her! Which, sadly, isn't that often. Why should I listen to him and ignore one of my best friends?

"Newt, we know these abilities haven't changed you in the slightest. They haven't made your brain function irregularly, or made your other powers any different, as far as we've been able to test. Clearly we can't ask you to do any more or we'd keep you too long and your friends would get suspicious. But now we need to know if your body has become dependent on these powers, so we need you to not use them until the next time we see you, so then we can see if anything has changed."

"Well Jeb, hate to break it to you, but you gave me these powers to USE, and I plan to do just that, like it or not. So if you don't mind, I'd like to go back to my friends now."

Jeb sighed, and reached for the button. "Just so you know, we have ways of making sure you do as we say. In fact, it's the same way we bring you over here so suddenly. But I won't explain, since you want to go home-"

"It's not home. Home is my time." I almost wanted to add that I wouldn't mind an explanation, but to me that just sounded too much like I was cooperating.

"Fine, then, Denton Mansion. So goodbye, and we'll see you next week." He pressed the button, and instantly I was standing in the middle of the bedroom half of the attic. I crept over to my side of the bed, collapsed, and fell asleep as soon as I hit the mattress. Getting experimented on takes a lot of energy out of you!

POV Tali (note this was while Newt was being experimented on)

And yet after what felt like a few seconds, I heard breathing and rustling, which would have been quiet if I didn't inherit dad's super-developed hearing. What the hell do all these people want from me?? Shell better not have had another bad dream. But no, it was mom! What could she want from me at this time of night?

"M-Rina!" I struggled to sit up in bed, hardly realizing that I almost called her mom. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see where you guys live and ask you a question." She answered, still surveying our attic.

"This late?"

"Well, technically this early. And I just couldn't wait to ask you. It has to be now."

"Fine. Have a seat." I swung my legs off the end of the couch and she took the seat next to me. "Now, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you could lift that little swear you made me do."

"What? Why?"

"Well, I hate keeping secrets from Iggy. He's just as anxious as me to know who you are and what you're doing here. And I really want to tell him, it's killing us both to have this secret." Despite all my tomboy reputations and ignorance towards romance and all that stuff, I just couldn't help but think "Aww, that's so sweet! They're showing signs of affection and trust already!" Mom almost jumped.

"I can read your mind!" She almost forgot to whisper because of her newfound discovery, and I got furious. "I'm going to kill Newt. Why does he have to sleep now? Couldn't he have heard her?"

"Who's Newt?" Mom just couldn't stop reading me like a book, could she?

"No one." "Why, oh why does she have to be like this?"

"It's someone. You were going to kill him for not hearing me or something like that. But who is he?"

"I told you, no one."

"It must be someone you know, right?"

"Stop trying to find out!"

"What, I want to know!"

I moaned. Stupid curiosity of ours. "Fine. I'll give you three guesses." "I'll see what harm it can do later."

"Is it Kyle?" Who? Oh, right, she's talking about Jake.

"No."

"Is it Taylor?" Zak, I think she meant.

"Nope. One more guess."

"Is it Dylan?" Well because of the process of elimination, that meant she meant Newt. Crap!

"Maybe." "Dang it!" She smiled, happy that she figured it out.

"He's Newt? Aww, that's so cute! Instead of Dylan and Demi you're Newt and Tali. Did you pick your own names? And what are Taylor and Kyle's real names if Dylan's is Newt?" I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling her that she and dad picked our names. And she was never going to figure out their names! I wasn't going to screw up again!

"Kinda. And I shouldn't tell you their names."

"Why not?"

"Look, never mind about the names." "She better not ask about Jake and Zak again."

"Are their names Jake and Zak?" I could tell mom was enjoying this. She was never like this at home!

"Stop reading my mind! Didn't you want to get rid of this swear?" And since she could read my mind, I took that to my advantage and sent her a message. "Please play along! They'll kill me if they found out I told you about their names!"

"Yeah, I want to get rid of the swear. But why would they kill you?"

"Because you're not supposed to know!" I'm surprised I remembered to whisper with all this anger boiling up inside me. How could she not get the point and drop it and leave it alone?

"It's only simple curiosity. I only want to know for the sake of knowing."

"No! If I take away the swear will you leave the matter alone?"

"It might help. Now which one is Jake?"

"Fine, I'll level with you! There never was a swear. I didn't use my full name, so it doesn't count. You could have told him anyways. There! Swear gone! Get out!"

"Is it Kyle? I thought he looked like a Jake, if not a Mini Fang." Let me see, how much would the future change if I killed my own mother?

"Well you'll never know, now, will you?" I concluded that I couldn't stand her anymore, what with her access to my mind and my spilling of secrets, so I hauled her over to the door. Dang, mom got a growth spurt somewhere along the line! She almost dwarfed me.

"I've got it figured out! Kyle is Jake and Taylor is Zak! Nice names, I like them."

"Quit finding out or I'll put the swear back on!" Okay, I couldn't really do that without waking Newt up and making him control her mind so she'd cooperate, but frustration got the better of me and I just threatened impossible things.

"Fine, I'll go. But on one condition."

"I'm not telling you their names."

"Not that." Hallelujah!

"What then?"

"Ask Jake what he was dreaming about tonight." Huh? Okay, so why would she care what he was dreaming about?

"Huh?" Why did I never know she was this annoying?

"You'll see. I could show you right now, if you want."

"No thanks, I think I'll just show you something. The door." I opened the door to display the universal "please leave before I make you" sign.

"Fine. But ask him. And thanks for telling me the swear wasn't real!" Mom happily poofed out of our attic, probably to go tell dad everything. At least I put up more of a fight this time. And about these dreams of Jake's, they better not be about me again, otherwise I was going to have to…oh forget it, I didn't know what to do with him.

As I crawled back to bed, exhausted, I sneaked a peek into the future. Tomorrow, mom was going to freeze time and ask me if I knew what Jake was dreaming about. I was going to tell her that he wouldn't say, and she was going to claim that he dreamed about me. Both the "me" in the future and the "me" that was watching the me in the future were standing there with our jaws dropped down to our toes. He did it AGAIN? What could this mean? Did he…no, impossible. Even after that kiss, that was just to make me feel better, nothing else. Right? I stayed up until dawn trying to think it through, and still didn't come up with any answers at all.

HA, I remembered Rina's visit at the last moment! Yay me! Please review, and Super-great-extra-long-triple-update-time parts 2 and 3 will be up soon!