The next morning, our alarm clock rang at gol-dang 5:30 A.M.! (Or, if you want to sound military-savvy, 0530 hours). My eyes snapped open and I bolted upright… only to pitch forward off the top bunk and fall straight down to the hard floor. Only a hasty extending of my wings kept me from doing a total face-plant.
"Uggghh." Nudge sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. "What the heck are they trying to DO to us?"
"It's called wakey-wakey time." I folded my wings, relieved to have preserved my dignity, and clapped twice. "Up and at 'em, ladies!"
"Where do we go? What do we do?" Nudge asked groggily.
"We go eat breakfast, of course."
Angel was already dressed and waiting, tapping one foot. She smiled at me. "I'm hungry. Let's hurry!"
Nudge stumbled into action, going through the motions of getting dressed like a zombie. I had slept in my clothes, just in case something happened during the night (you get paranoid like that after a lifetime of fighting, being kidnapped and other such trauma), so I simply stretched my limbs and yawned big and loud.
After Nudge FINALLY finished getting dressed, we marched into the hallway and made our way to what was supposed to be our own private mess hall. It had a sign on it that said AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. We figured that meant us and some select NEST people.
When I opened the door, I saw what was waiting for us and began to drool. There were pancakes and sausages and scrambled eggs with cheese and hashbrowns. There was an orange juice dispenser and a milk dispenser. There was real maple syrup and biscuits with gravy and fruit. OMG.
And there were Fang, Iggy and the Gasman waiting for us. Along with Total, who was wolfing down a plate loaded with everything.
"Beat you to it, Max!" Gazzy hollered.
"Whatever," I snorted. I walked in and took in the plain but roomy surroundings. "Good grief, smells like IHOP in here."
We ate like little piggies with wings. After stuffing ourselves, we lounged around for a bit, making small talk and discussing our new situation.
"I love it here. I mean, it's like we're actually in boot camp or something. I bet we'll even get to learn cool fighting moves and stuff," Gazzy sighed dreamily. "I mean, I know we're already super-good at fighting, but we might get to use actual weapons…" I could just see the flying bullets and mushroom clouds in his eyes.
"Heck, no. I wanna explore the island," Nudge beamed. "I bet it's beautiful on the surface."
"Probably just some random chunk of volcanic rock," Iggy said depressingly.
Fang was quiet. He was turning his fork over and over in his hands.
"So, uh, guys…" I licked the maple syrup off my lips. "What do you think we're gonna have to do now that we're here?"
Gazzy frowned and scratched his head. Iggy burped. Nudge cocked her head and thought for a minute, then said "Maybe we're supposed to help the NEST team when they go to take out Deceptibots."
"Decepticons," I corrected. "That's the most likely possibility, seeing how we'd be totally useless just sitting around on our butts. The government wouldn't want us here unless they planned on using us for something. Even if it is taking out alien trash."
"I think the Decepticons are scary," Angel said quietly. I almost fell out of my chair. Angel's only six, but she can take a lot of things most teenagers couldn't handle. If something actually scared her, it had to be utterly terrifying. "I read the flying one's mind a little bit. It's full of bad things. Worse than the things the scientists at Itex thought. Worse than anything the School ever did." She shivered. "They need to be stopped."
I bit my lip, then drew Angel close to me. "Hey, don't worry. It'll be okay. We've faced bad guys before. These bad guys are just really… huge and stuff. The bad guys never win."
"Yeah they do," Fang muttered. "The ones who managed to do this to us." He flexed his wings slightly.
With that said, he got up and walked out quickly.
I stared after him, my mouth almost falling open. I almost did the oh-so-attractive fish-gasping expression. "Be back in a minute," I told the Flock, then I hi-tailed it after Mr. Doom-and-Gloom.
"What the freaking heck is the matter with you?" I seethed, stalking behind Fang as he went down the hallway toward his room.
"Nothing," Fang growled.
I caught up with him and grabbed him by the arm. "Nothing, my foot. You're mad at me about something. Now what is it? Is something going on I should know about?"
"Something's going on, all right," Fang yanked his arm away. Then he turned and got me by both my shoulders and rammed me back into the wall. I just about started a knock-down drag-out, but then my eyes met his and I froze. Was that… pain? Confusion? Both?
"Something's been going on for a while now," Fang said under his breath, his face inches from mine. "You're just to stubborn to see it. Or maybe you don't want to, is that it?"
I glared defiantly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yes you do," Fang never blinked. I felt dizzy. "There's always been a you and me, Max. Always. Problem is, you don't seem to get that."
"I…" I was shocked. I am a word queen, and now I had no words!
"You're always running away from it. I'm always here, waiting, but for what? For someone who's gonna just keep pushing me away? We were never just friends, Max. Ever since we were little, we've known.
"We're made for each other, Max. It's destiny. There's no one else in the world I could be with." His wings unfolded, spread toward me, casting shadows over me. I suddenly felt weak, breathless and made of putty. Oh God. My own wings slipped out and spread toward him, sliding under his wings. Oh… God… Why did it have to feel so right? Since when was Fang a romantic Valentino anyway? Had he lost his mind?
Then again, when male hormones start percolating, anything can happen.
"It's my destiny to save the world," I said, fighting to stay sane. "That doesn't leave much room for… anything else."
"So? We'll make room." Fang gave me a half smile. "Max."
"Fang," I blurted, feeling stupid and wishy-washy and idiotic.
He leaned in. I raised my chin to meet him head-on. Contact was made. Lips pressed together, lips moving, arms moving, hands moving…
I felt a lot of things at once. It was like an out-of-body experience. I saw myself kissing Fang, making out with Fang in a dark hallway at 6:00 in the morning, tasting the maple syrup left on his lips, smelling that familiar yet alien Fang smell. Oh God. Finally we came up for air and slowly broke the last kiss, opening our eyes. I saw Fang's face and it seemed as if I had never seen him before in my life.
It was beautiful.
And completely, totally terrifying.
"Oh God," I choked, then tore away and ran down the hall.
I wasn't quite sure where I was going exactly. I rounded corners, raced down long hallways, and flew up whole flights of stairs. I pushed past some sleepy soldiers and overturned a cart loaded with dishes. Then I saw a door open, bolted through it, and suddenly I was airborne with free tropical winds lifting my wings.
I soared high in the air, frustrated and torn. None of it made sense to my makeout-fried brain. My thoughts were scattered, orbiting around a mental image of Fang's face and his black-hole eyes. I beat my wings furiously, gaining altitude, and began to circle the island. Nudge had been right; it was beautiful. The ocean was clear and pristine, and the dawning sun made everything glow.
I finally came down and landed on an open airstrip (how appropriate). I saw movement to my left and whirled. There stood Lennox, Epps and some other soldiers. They were speechless.
"Son of a…" Epps shook his head. "That was amazing."
They weren't staring at me like I was a freak or a circus creature. They were staring like they had just seen a ghost. Or, more likely, an angel.
"You have a spectacular gift," Lennox murmured.
"Thanks." I stood there, still shaken by my Fang ordeal, sizing up the other men. They didn't look threatening. Just awed out of their frickin' minds.
Sorry, boys. Get used to it. 'Cause you ain't seen nuthin' yet!
