Okay, so I know I've kept you guys dangling over the whole Jack thing, and it must be getting boring by now...(me? boring?...yeah...) so this is the chapter in which you meet Jack. I'm sorry mojomacy, you can't have him...he's mine :P Just remember, the Threat is now Mirage. Just saying.
**THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!** Jack's power is friggin awesome, but you'll need a key to understand it.
KEY:
Major thoughts (stuff that Angel would pick up)
Minor thoughts (stuff that runs involuntarily through the "back of your mind" like The Game. haha)
Mirage POV
I was going to go completely insane. I was sure of it. When I landed in the forest, I had the urge to walk. So you know what I did? I walked.
And walked.
You know what I've been doing for the past 8 hours of my life? Walking.
Not only have I been wandering aimlessly around, but I feel like I'm actually doing something. I have a sense of accomplishment. From walking. For eight hours.
Yeah. You would go crazy too. Trust me.
Totally worn out, I sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree. I could curl up and sleep here, or I could be safe (funny, right?) and find a cave. ...Definitely a cave. I stood up and closed my eyes, letting my power take me wherever the hell it wanted to. I was so beyond caring.
DUCK!
All of my senses suddenly on hyper-alert, I ducked down just in time to feel a foot go whistling past the top of my head. Who knew I was here? There was no way the School could've tracked me! Still crouched down, I huddled against the ground and turned my wings the perfect shade of gray-brown, doing my very best impression of a rock. They would never see me, whoever they were. I heard my attacker take a few steps forward, probably expecting to see something other than an empty forest.
Sucker.
After he let out a wild cry of frustration, I felt something hard connect with my wing. Probably his fist. Lemme tell ya, it hurt like crap. But if you punched a normal rock, would It cry out? No. And right now, I. Was. A. Rock. So, there.
I heard his breath catch. Uh oh. I felt him run his hands over my very un-rock-like feathers. Double uh oh. I prepared myself to use the techniques Max had taught me; in this forest, flying away was not an option.
3...2...
"Mirage?" My name was whispered, but I would recognize that voice anywhere. I started to shake. I couldn't stand up fast enough.
"JACK!" I yelled, practically tackling him. "I...missed...you...so...much!" I managed to choke out in between hysteric gasps of air. I had thrown my arms around his neck, and now his strong arms circled me, crushing me to him, making it hard to breathe. My hand found the back of his neck, and now that we were touching, his thoughts merged with mine.
For a while, there were no words, just happiness and relief and the feeling that the weight of the world was just lifted off our shoulders.
I missed you too, he finally thought. I'm so happy you came! Skye... Where's Skye?
Safe. We're all safe. It was such a relief to know that everything was going to be okay. I hadn't had that feeling in a long time. Now tell me, I demanded. Tell me everything. Hope it's not too bad...
Well, he thought, They carted me back to the School had to pee super uncomfortable and did a bunch of tests on my brain. So much pain... I think they were gonna take it out or something, but they wanted me alive, I guess. Right before I escaped, I love explosives they put me up against all these Erasers, wing got torn and it wasn't too bad. I thought I was gonna die.
Wait, I interrupted. Your wing is torn? how are we gonna get back?
"It's not that bad," he mumbled indignantly, but I caught a stray thought. Wonder if it's stopped bleeding...?
"Thoughts speak louder than words. Now, Turn. Around."
"Fine," he grumbled moodily, but I could feel the relief and excitement pouring out of him.
The wound wasn't hard to find. I could see where the Eraser had bitten down, tearing the muscle and probably breaking a bone. His beautiful brown-gray wings were streaked and matted with blood. There was no way I could fix this by myself.
"Come on," I said, already walking. He knew better than to ask where we were going. I never knew. We walked for several hours, but I didn't mind. I was with Jack. He was alive. Once we were back with Skye, everything would be normal again. At least, as normal as a bird-kid's life could get. Which isn't normal at all, but still. I was brought out of my little bubble of happiness by the feeling of Jack's confusion and alarm.
Snapping myself back into reality, I realized that we had gone into the neighborhood at the edge of the forest. Maybe there was a first-aid kit lying around...yeah, right. I kept going.
Hand-in-hand, Jack and I walked quickly and quietly through the darkening streets. I made sure to keep near the forest in case we had to bolt. Call me paranoid, but if you'd spent your life running from things that were programmed to kill you, then you'd be a bit jumpy, too.
I felt the urge to stop, so I stopped.
Turning, I saw that we were standing in front of a neat looking house. It had a little garden filled with bright flowers, and I found myself smiling in spite of the desperate situation. Sighing, I accepted the fact that I actually had to go inside and dragged an unwilling Jack up the porch steps. I rang the doorbell. The door opened, and a dark-haired lady was standing there, smiling at us.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
Jack gave me a look. You do the talking. I have no idea what we're doing. how is this helping, anyways?
I gave out another big sigh. "I hope so." I gestured to Jack in all his bloody glory. "He's pretty beat up. Can you, like, do anything?"
She turned to Jack, and as she took in his blood-soaked clothes, her eyes went wide. "Yes, of course I can help!" she said, ushering us into the house. "I'll get my stuff. I'm a vet, you know, but I can do people too." A vet. How ironic.
A young girl stepped into the hallway, stopping when she saw us. There was a brief pause.
"Mom," she said to the lady, who had returned with an enormous white bag. "You have to stop taking people in. These two could be long-lost cousins with like, flippers or something."
...ooooookaaaaaaaaayyyy...
"Ella," the lady scolded. "go back to your homework."
Trying to get past the weirdness, I managed to gather that she had taken people in before. Strange people...mutants. I felt panic start to rise in my chest before I realized that there was really nothing to panic about. In fact, this was perfect! She'd taken in mutants before, she could do it again. But which mutants? As far as I knew, the Flock, Jack, Skye, and I were the only ones away from the School.
So that means...
"Hey!" I turned to Jack, who was shaking me lightly. "What is it?" he asked, concern etched on his face.
"Max," I whispered.
"What?" he asked, totally lost. I quickly broke our connection. He couldn't know about the Flock-not yet.
I tuned to the lady. "You know Max."
"Well, I know several people named Max," she said evenly. I liked her already.
"And Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. We're like them, and we need your help." Her eyes widened with every word until she gained her composure and nodded.
"Follow me. I'll get you all fixed up." As she led us to the bathroom, Jack gave me his "what-the-hell-are-you-doing-you-must-be-completely-insane" look that I know, love, and completely ignore. She then sat Jack down on the edge of the bathtub and got to work. After she carefully cut off his tattered shirt, there was a lot of snipping and stitching and wrapping as well as quite a few curses on Jack's part.
"Ella?" the lady, whose name was Dr. Martinez, called. "Would you get us 2 glasses of water?"
"Sure, mom." After some shuffling, Ella walked into the bathroom and nearly dropped the glasses. "Oh. My. Gosh," she gasped, laughing hysterically. "you have got to be kidding me!" She then stumbled out of the bathroom, still doubled over with laughter.
What a strange girl.
While Dr. Martinez continued to work, Jack and I drained several glasses of water. I noticed him shooting me weird looks over the rim of his cup, only to drop his gaze when I looked back. How strange... Jack was definitely not one to shy away-especially from me. I gave him a questioning glance, but he just shook his head.
Several minutes passed in silence.
"All done," said Dr. Martinez, standing up. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Finally. Now, she'll send us on our way, and I can- "Now, who wants some chocolate chip cookies? They're Max's favorite!"
Before I even had time say no, Jack answered for me. "Sure. We'd love some."
I gawked at him. We had to go! We had to get back to Skye. There could be no delay.
I got up to follow Dr. Martinez and tell her no, but Jack caught me by the wrist. You need to take a break. You work to much. looks exhausted... Besides, my wing needs some time to heal. it feels so much better.
I smiled gratefully, doing my best to calm down. There was nothing to worry about anyway.
While the cookies were baking, Dr. Martinez gave me some fresh clothes. To my utter dismay, she didn't have anything that fit Jack. That means I'd have to survive a whole week with a shirtless Jack without melting into a pile of ogling goo.
De-lightful.
Just then, the oven beeped, dragging me out of my panic attack. I quickly and eagerly shoved one into my mouth, burning my tongue but totally not caring. These cookies were indescribably delectable. I didn't even try to hold in my moan of pleasure. I knew that no other cookie in the whole entire world would ever measure up to this homemade deliciousness.
"Oh mah gawf," said Jack through a mouthful of cookie. "Theef ah da bef coofef efah." I nodded my head in agreement, trying to savor my 5th slice of heaven. I could see why Max loved them so much.
Jack swallowed. "How much longer until my wing heals?"
"About 5 days," Dr. Martinez replied. "And I really mean 5 days. I know how fast you guys heal, and I do take that into consideration." Jack nodded. "Also, it's getting late. You two need your sleep."
She then led us to our respective bedrooms; mine was across from the bathroom, and Jack's was at the end of the hall. I wanted more then anything to spend the whole night talking to him, but I was just so tired. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I felt myself sinking into the best sleep I'd had in months.
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