Hey everyone! Me and my little brother are both sick, so we're not going to my Mawmaw's, so I'm updating!
Disclaimer: I own nada. Not the flock, not the Dairy Queen I mentioned a few chapters back, nothing! So, if the people that DO own these things are out there, reading this, please don't sue me!!!
I took a deep breath, sending up a quick prayer that he wouldn't freak out too bad.
"Um, well… Fang, you might wanna sit down," I told him, struggling to keep my voice even. He searched my face for a minute, dark eyes burning into mine, but he eventually just sighed and slumped down, leaning his back against a tree trunk.
He looked up at me. "Speak."
I walked over to him, resting my head on his chest and putting my hand in his good one. I started rubbing little circles on his hand with my thumb as I talked, trying to calm him down. "Fang…" I broke off again, not sure how to put it.
"Spit it out, Max. It'll make it easier."
I took a deep breath.
"Whenyougothurt,Iggysaidthatyou'rearmprobablywon'thealrightandyou'llneverhavecompleteuseofitagainandI'mstartingtosoundlikeNudgeand
pleasedon'tfreakoutbecauseIloveyouandIdon'twantyoutobehurting." I blurted out in one breath. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see Fang's reaction. I could feel his body tense. I pulled away, giving him room to breath, and twisted around to look at him. "Fang?"
He'd stood up, his forehead pressed against the cave wall his wings were flattened tightly against his back. I could see the emotions coursing through him. Anger, fear, frustration, worry. I put my hand on his arm. "Fang?"
Fang POV
Never use my arm again. So that's what they were hiding from me. I struggled to control my emotions, which were all over the place. Why? Why me?
As if it wasn't enough that I'd spent the first ten years of my life in a place that death was highly preferable to. As if being betrayed by my father figure when I was 12, as if being unable to trust anyone besides Max completely, as if going through things that would make 5-star general scream like a little girl, as if going through all of that wasn't enough, I had more than likely lost the use of my left arm.
I could sense Max standing right behind me, wanting to comfort me, but she knew I needed my space. I closed my eyes. No matter what, I was not going to hurt her – emotionally or physically – ever.
I realized that my wings were tightened against my back way too tightly to be comfortable. It was something I'd started subconsciously doing at the School – make myself a smaller target whenever my emotions went haywire. Max knew that, and I knew it worried her when I did it, so I took a deep breath and tried to relax.
I slumped down to the ground. "why didn't you tell me earlier?"
She looked guilty. "We didn't know how you'd take it. I figured you'd freak out and probably mess up your wounds again."
"Why couldn't you tell me in the hotel room?"
"Again, I figured you'd freak out and I didn't want the kids seeing that."
"Max?"
She exhaled loudly. "Yeah? What is it? Are you ok?"
"We don't know for sure yet, right?"
She shook her head violently. "No. Nu-uh. Not a chance, mister. Bad idea." She finished by giving me a look that was a combination of 'you are such an idiot' and 'if you so much as think about it again I will kick your butt halfway across the state'. Times like these, it was a real pain that we knew each other so well that she knew what I was planning on doing before I did it.
"Come on, Max," I insisted. She shook her head. "Please?" Her jaw dropped. Neither one of us could remember me ever saying that word.
"It could make it worse," she argued. I snorted.
"Max, we both know that even if you forbid me from doing it, I'll end up doing it anyways. It's just that if you're here, it'll be easier and-"
"There's less of chance of you doing something totally idiotic?" Max finished for me. She shot me the evilest look imaginable. "Ok, fine, I'll help. Stupid masochistic, stubborn bird-boy," she muttered. I smirked.
"Love ya too."
"Yeah, yeah," she smirked right back at me. She reached over and grabbed my left shoulder. "Hold still," she ordered, "if you're going to be a complete idiot, you're at least going to be smart about it."
I rolled my eyes, but listened to her and held still while she unwrapped the makeshift bandage on my shoulder. "Ok… done," she muttered. "try and move it, but stop if it hurts."
I nodded. I started lifting my arm, feeling a huge amount of relief, until after a couple of inches, the muscles in my shoulder started screaming in pain and flat-out refused to move my arm any further. I gritted my teeth and tried to move it more. No dice.
"Is that the farthest it'll go?" Max asked. I nodded slowly. "Can you move your fingers?" I tried and my fingers started wiggling. I could move my wrist and elbow too.
"So, it's like the exact opposite of what happened to you," I told Max. She nodded. I attempted to squash down the feeling of depression inside me. I was a liability now, a burden. There was no way I'd be able to fight half as well as usual with a useless arm.
"Fang, I know what you're thinking, and don't you dare ever think you're a liability again," Max said fiercely.
I didn't reply, but that little voice inside of me was yelling 'but I am'. Max hit me.
"Ow! Dang it Max, what was that for?"
"Iggy told me to hit you hard if you started going off onto one of your depressing tangents."
"And you listened to him? What's up with that?"
"Fang, when I got my chip out and couldn't move my hand, did you consider me a liability?"
"No, of course not."
"Like you just said, this is pretty much the exact opposite of what happened to me, with the same results. Stop thinking you're a burden, because you're not."
"Max, it's different. You're our leader. We're totally screwed without you. You tell us where to go, you keep us safe."
"And you don't?" Max interjected. "Fang, you flock is all six of us, not five, not four, SIX. You keep us grounded. You're the one who isn't afraid to tell us an idea is totally stupid and you're the one that calms us all down; you're the voice of reason. The flock needs you, Fang, and even more than that, I need you. I need you so bad, it hurts."
I was stunned into silence. What is it with Max and her emotional confessions this week? She must be PMSing. It would explain a whole lot.
"Max-" I started to say. She cut me off, crushing her lips to mine. This kiss was different. There was a kind of desperation and need in it. She was trying to show me just how much she needed me, and I was trying to show her just how much I needed her. When we finally pulled apart for air, she buried her head into my shoulder and I crushed her against my chest.
"Don't you ever dare think that I don't need you, because I do," Max ordered me. Yep, definitely PMSing.
"Ok," I promised, "I won't." And I wouldn't. I planned on keeping my promise, but that's what worried me. As we lay there, her face buried in my shirt, her words kept repeating in my mind. I need you so bad it hurts. I'd promised to myself that I'd never hurt her. Well, crap.
We got back to the hotel room almost half an hour later. The flock was up and waiting for us.
"What are we doing today, Max?" Angel asked, grinning at both of us. I narrowed my eyes. Out of my head, Angel. There's this little thing called privacy, you might have heard of it.
"We're flying to Texas," Max announced, "there's something we'll need to take care of there, and then we'll chill for about a week, then head to Mom's. Everyone got it?"
"Did the Voice tell you this, Max?" Iggy asked after the younger kids had scampered off the pack up our stuff.
"Yeah," Max answered as she stuffed her clothes into her backpack.
"What do we have to take care of?"
"The Voice didn't tell me any specifics, just that it has something to do with Itex."
"I thought that Itex was over and we were focusing on this whole Global-Warming crusade?" I asked, packing my laptop up clumsily with one hand. Max tossed me one of my shirts and I threw in into my bag too.
"Yeah, so did I but-" she broke off as this glazed look came over her eyes and I knew she was talking to the Voice. "Crap! You're kidding me right? Jerk!" She snapped.
"What'd it say?" I asked. She glared at her backpack. If looks could kill…
"It said that Global Warming isn't really happening, at least not that anyone can really prove! The earth is just going through this natural cycle and the scientists are bending the facts to make everyone think that we're destroying the earth, when in reality it's tons cleaner now than it was twenty years ago! Our time in Antarctica was just another 'test'! We were just wasting our time! I'm sick of tests!" She snarled. I could see her eyes fill with tears and I pulled her into a hug. I tried really hard and found out I could move my arm enough that it wrapped around her waist.
"We all are, Max. Let's just do whatever it is the Voice wants us to do, and then we'll have a whole week to do whatever we want, alright?"
She nodded weakly and I let her go. Twenty minutes later, we were at the checkout desk. Iggy, Gazzy, and nudge had taken the dogs out the back way. Yeah… the hotel didn't exactly allow dogs, but since when do we let little things like that stop us?
"Here's the key," Max said politely, handing the room key to an older lady, who took it and smiled.
"Did you enjoy your stay?" She asked. Max nodded.
"Yes, thank you."
The lady looked at the three of us. "You know, your daughter looks very much like you," she told Max. I blinked in total astonishment. She thought Angel was Max's kid? That meant that she must think that I was her dad. Oh joy.
"Thanks," Max said shyly. Ok, what's going on here?
"Come back and see us again soon!" The lady said. I looked at her nametag. According to it, her name was Linda. I just nodded my head. No use in making promises you can't keep. Angel grabbed my left hand and I put my good arm around Max and we left. We headed around back to meet up with the rest of the flock, and the minute we were in the air, I turned to Max.
"Why'd she think Angel was your kid?"
Max blushed. "Well, when I went to check in, she just kinda assumed that Angel and Gazzy were my kids, and I didn't feel like correcting her and trying to explain the whole 'we're adopted and our parents are missionaries,' so I just let her think that."
Iggy laughed. "You? A mom? At fourteen? Wow, Max, I never would've thought it." Max stuck her tongue out at him.
"I'm technically fifteen now, Iggy; my mom said my birthday was in December."
"I like the idea of you and Fang being our parents, Max," Angel piped up, "I mean, you've practically raised us already, so it's not so big a deal."
"What about me? I'm not like a dad?" Iggy asked. Angel shook her head.
"Nah. You're more like the crazy uncle that your parents don't like you spending too much time with 'cause they think he'll rub off on you."
Iggy grinned. "Sweet! I like being the crazy uncle. Although, I feel sorry for Max and Fang's kids."
"Excuse me?" Oh boy, Max was officially ticked off now.
"You two are the most paranoid, stubborn people I know. Any kids you two have are already screwed."
"Thanks, Ig," I said through gritted teeth.
"Anytime, bro."
I flew next to Max the whole day, and when we stopped for lunch we sat so close that our shoulders brushed. I was getting pretty good at doing every thing pretty much one-handed. When we finally arrived, it didn't even seem like we'd flown for three hours, much less the nine it took us to get there.
We crashed in a small cave on the Texas/Mexico border. I grabbed two granola bars and hunkered down next to Max.
"What now?" I asked. She groaned and rubbed her temples.
"The Voice says we're heading to some town in Mexico called Cuidad Juarez. Apparently, they've got an Itex branch there and there's something we need to see."
I handed her a granola bar. "Your voice isn't much into giving us details, is it?"
"Ya think?" Max said wearily. "We're gonna rest up for an hour, then head out, 'k?"
I nodded to show her I heard, then stretched out on the cave floor. A moment later, I felt Max lay down next to me and rest her head on my chest. I closed my eyes and I was out. I woke up to quiet giggles.
"Aw! They're soo cute! Angel, do we still have that-"
"Yep, it's in Fang's backpack! Go get it!"
"If you two get that camera out of my bag and take a picture of me and Max with it, I will make you regret it." I said calmly, not opening my eyes.
"Drat." I heard Nudge mutter. I grinned, then stood up and stretched, feeling my back pop in about fifteen different places.
"Max, time to get up. We're going to the Itex branch," Angel told Max, practically bouncing on her. Max got up and grabbed her stuff.
"Everyone ready?" she asked. We all nodded.
"Let's do this thing!" Gazzy yelled, flinging himself into the air and spreading his wings. We all followed, leaving the dogs behind with a promise to pick them up as soon as possible.
"So, did you have a nice nap, Max?" Iggy asked, grinning mischievously. Max swooped down and whacked him with her wing.
"For your information, yes I did. Sexist pig," she muttered.
"Guys, look! Is that… Suda Hures?" Nudge asked, pointing excitedly.
"Cuidad Juarez," Max corrected, "And yeah, it is. The Voice says the Itex building is in a deserted warehouse that they added on to, on the outskirts of the town. Close enough that it's technically part of Cuidad Juarez, but far enough away that if it blows up or something, the town won't be affected."
"That it?" I asked. Max followed my line of sight.
"Yep, looks like it. Let's go pay our old friends the whitecoats a visit," she grinned. We landed far enough away that their air-radar wouldn't sense us and crept closer.
"What exactly are we looking for?" I hissed.
"I have no idea," Max hissed back.
To your left, around 10 o'clock, look! Angel projected into our minds. We all glanced cautiously over. Oh snap. This is not good.
There, outside the building was hundreds of Shredders. They were sparring, using only their bodies and I flinched as I remembered what those teeth could do.
"Oh my gosh," Max breathed, and I nodded in agreement. "Let's get out of here," Max ordered and we slipped off. Five minutes later, we were hovering 20,000 feet above the Itex base, gathered around Max to hear what the Voice had to say.
"It says that that's just one branch. All the branches are determined to get us, and they're all mass producing Shredders like this one," she told us. Angel's and Gazzy's eyes went huge and Nudge and Iggy shifted closer to each other. I grabbed Max's hand. "We have to keep a low cover from now on," she ordered, "even more so than ever before." We all nodded.
"Max?" I said.
"Yeah?"
"There's no real reason for us to leave this branch alone, right? We could destroy it?"
"Umm, I guess. The Voice didn't say anything…"
I smirked and flew over to my favorite blind-bomb-maker brother. "You still have Bruce, right?" I asked.
"Heck yeah, why?"
"Hand him over," I said calmly, hiding my excitement.
"Why – oh!" Iggy grinned. He dug around in his backpack and produced what would appear to be an innocent tissue box to anyone that didn't know him. He forked it over. "After you press the red button, it'll go off in exactly 15 seconds. Have fun."
I grinned and swooped lower, cradling the box against me with my good arm. When I was about a hundred feet up, I pressed the red button and implemented Plan Delta – fly like heck.
The shockwave from the explosion sent me hurling backwards head-over-heels towards the flock. When I reached them, Gazzy and Iggy were cackling madly and high-fiving each other and the girls were staring in shock at the cloud of smoke that was still rising from a huge pile of ashes on the ground below.
Max looked at me, then shook her head. "What?" I asked innocently. "It made me feel better." She rolled her eyes. "One of these days, I'm going to understand how the male brain works." She looked at me again. "On second thought… I'm not sure I want to. Now, c'mon guys, before the police show up."
Ok, I got 14 reviews for the last chapter! You guys were this ('-') close! 15 reviews for this chapter, or no update. Review or… Fang will get depressed that he can't fight right anymore and leave the flock.
Speaking of which… I know you guys are probably really mad at me, but EVERYTHING happens for a reason (my uncle told me that when I got sick and we couldn't go out of town yesterday). He lost the use of his arm for a reason, and you'll find out what it is eventually! Trust me, it makes for a much better story line this way!!
--Dallas