Quick AN: Hey, I've just realised that I've got the name wrong! It's 625, not 615! Doh! Anyway, I've gone through and corrected everything, as well as stupid layout-y stuff. So – enjoy!

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Disclaimer- Read last chapter for disclaimer. I'm too tired.

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1 day previously

Back again. Back at this stupid place. Dr. Gillams' lab. With bad suit guy.

"These," said Bad Suit Guy, "Are your new weapons. They are specifically designed for killing erasers, and…" Bad Suit Guy seemed startled that my hand was up. Hey, I do have manners.

I just don't use them often.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Why can't we keep our old weapons?" I asked. "They haven't done anything weird so far, like fail to kill an eraser, so why do we need new ones?"

He had an answer. Remember, people in Bad Suits have answers for everything – never argue with them.

"Your old weapons were designed for basic combat. If, as you say, the flock has just escaped from the School, Itex are likely to send lots of erasers after them. In short – you need better guns."

I have to admit, I was surprised by the amount of logic that Bad suit Guy could come up with. In my opinion, he didn't seem like much of a thinker. I wasn't sure if he even had a brain. He certainly didn't have a sense of fashion. In short, I was pretty surprised by the prospect of his intelligence existing.

Bad Suit Guy, too, was surprised. By the lack of witty replies I came up with for the next hour while he demonstrated our new weapons.

Jack got his old twin pistols replaced with a shotgun and, for even closer range, a Desert Eagle mark VII pistol. Geev had the same.

Amy and Nathan had what could only be described as miniguns. They fired at 2000 rpm, and only had enough ammo for a total of 1 minutes firing continuously (that, people, is 2000 rounds) – because, let's face it, we couldn't carry much more than that – but they were still awesome.

Robbie and I simply got "bulked-up" versions of our old guns. With better knives, and a Desert Eagle each. How nice.

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Present Day

'Robbie,' I asked. 'Is there something going on between you and Amy?'

For the last few hours, I'd sort of noticed that Amy and Robbie were acting a lot more friendly around each other. And seemed to be rather comfortable together.

'What would make you think that?' Robbie replied.

'Well,' I began, 'There's the fact that Amy stayed up to go on your watch with you last night. The fact that Nathan has given me a detailed description of what he saw earlier. And that you seem to be looking over at her every minute or so.'

Personally, I thought this was the best logic I could ever come up with. It worked – Robbie gave up, rolled his eyes at me, and went to "sit next to" Amy on the side of the cliff. Hugging would be a better description, in my opinion, but nevertheless that is what he insisted it was. Several times over.

Yes. We were back at lake Mead. This was not my decision – trust me on that one. Where we go is usually Max's choice. I sat down on the edge of the cliff, several metres away from Robbie and Amy, and listened. I was hoping I would hear Max's voice.

And I did.

Just.

I sincerely hoped that what I heard was not what I thought I'd heard, and that, if it was, it was spoken as a general comment to the whole of her flock, rather than just one member.

"I love you."

It didn't sound like all of a sentence. It sounded like there was more, that she was saying something else. But I couldn't hear much. Only that.

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It was raining.

I had woken up, and it was raining. This, of course, would have been perfectly normal had we not been in a desert. I had also woken up to find that Robbie and Amy certainly liked each other. I mean, kissing at the crack of dawn…

I coughed. In my thoughts. They broke apart, rather surprised that I was awake.

'I could say that it was good to see you two up,' I thought, smiling and raising one eyebrow.

'Yeah, you could say that,' Robbie thought back.

'Or I could ask why the two of you are not getting anywhere near enough sleep when you know perfectly well we're flying to New York tomorrow.'

They didn't know what to say to that.

'Alright,' I thought, pushing past Robbie, 'my watch. Now get some sleep.'

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Quite a few people around the world enjoy an early morning walk. Some prefer to go for a run before they eat, whereas those who live in the warmer areas of the world quite often indulge in a relaxing swim.

Some bird kids enjoy early morning flights. I don't.

Yes, there's the thrill and the joy of it all, and that graceful feeling – not to mention the absence of erasers. But even with all of that I still don't particularly enjoy it. Maybe it's 'cos I've been up half the night guarding my friends. Just an idea.

The view was pretty amazing, too. I have never seen anything more amazing than the tops of clouds. Gets me every time. The pure, white, candyfloss (that's the British name for cotton candy. See, told ya I was British!) like surfaces, shining bright, glistening in the sunlight. If I were any good at poems, I'd write one about it. I might do one day.

I could see Max and the flock ahead of us. We were slacking, only a few miles behind them – mainly 'cos we couldn't be bothered to hide when we were so tired, and partly 'cos I was worried about an attack.

Hey. We were following people who had just broken out of a top-secret facility. The likelihood is that they would be followed afterwards and attacked.

Of course, I was not expecting one of them to suddenly drop like a stone.

A quick glance told me it was Max. I could see the flock's expressions, all to clearly, even from this distance – they were all shocked. Within moments of taking in the situation, I was flying as fast as I could towards Max's falling form. I saw Fang swooping down after her.

'Not today, Buster,' I thought, 'It's my turn to be the hero.'

I knew I could make it before he did – I knew I was faster. I wanted to get there, to save Max. Because if I lost her...

But what worried me was why Max had dropped so suddenly. It didn't make any sense.

And then, as my mind exploded with pain and my wings folded instinctively into my back, it did.

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Pain.

That's all I could think about. The overwhelming pain, forcing my skull outwards, burning my mind to shreds. It was terrible. I wanted it to end. I wanted to die.

I was falling. I knew that much. I didn't know how fast or for how much longer, but I knew I was falling. I felt, for a second, some moisture cling to my skin – I had gone through the clouds.

Brilliant. It'd all be over soon. I'd be dead.

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"Fox!" Robbie watched in horror as his best friend of too many years fell through the clouds, tumbling and twisting as he gained speed. He could see the team behind him, out of the corners of his eyes, and they were frozen in fear – just like him.

By the time Robbie snapped out of the paralysing fear, it was already too late.

'Come on, faster!' Robbie willed himself as he dove swiftly down through the clouds. The cool, misty droplets raked his skin, hitting him with enough force to hurt him, but he didn't care. He needed Fox. The team would fail without him.

And then, as Robbie burst through the underside of the cloud, his eagle eyesight noticed a shape on the ground, miles below. A dark shape, which, as he approached, began more and more to resemble a human.

It was Fox.

Robbie slowed down, and hit the ground running. His feet skidded against the tarmac surface of the empty highway, and he grinded to a halt by the corpse of his best friend. At first, he could not believe that the body before him was dead – he searched frantically for a pulse, a breath, some sign that would show him that Fox was alive.

He could find none.

Robbie knelt by Fox's side. And wept.

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AN: OMG! Is it the end? Hmm, main character dead… at least I now know what it's like to kill myself off…

And yes, it may seem like the end – but it isn't. Not quite yet…

R+R! PLEASE! (Thank you)