Two weeks later…

Alley sat alone, her chin on her knees, staring up at the stars. Marcelle- who'd been retrieved from the pizza place by Angel- was lying next to her in the grass.

"Marcy?" Alley said.

'Yeah?' Marcelle panted in Alley's imagination.

"What do you thinks gonna happen?"

'I don't know, Al, anything I guess, anything at all.'

"What about what Scott said? '…They're not who you're supposed to be with, there's another family for you! Maximum Ride is no friend of yours.'"

'I don't know about that, but I like Max, she's nice, she took you with her, she's teaching you to fly, she has to be your friend.'

"I like her too, but what if he was telling the truth?"

'Has he ever told you the truth? He was just trying to make you stay.'

"You think so?" Alley asked hopefully.

'I know so. Besides, you shouldn't waste time with 'what ifs'… it's a waste.'

"True, so we'll stick around for a while." Alley decided.

"Alley?" Nudge called from the back door of Dr. Martinez's house. "Come on, dinner's ready."

"'Kay!" Alley stood and grabbed Marcelle. Maybe everything would be okay, maybe Alley belonged in Max's flock, and maybe she could just grow up now.

Fat chance. Said a tiny voice in Alley's head. She ignored it.

I watched as Alley snuggled into the bed we were sharing. She was clean and safe and unhurt now, the burn on her cheek was a faint scar.

"Max, should I have brushed my hair?" Alley asked.

"Yeah, probably. Here." I took the brush from the floor, where I'd dropped it.

She put out her hand to take it. I sat on the bed next her and ran the brush through her short black hair.

"Thanks," she said softly. "Thanks for everything, taking me with you and teaching me to fly and… just everything."

"No biggie." I said, putting the brush back on the floor.

I got up and shut off the light, then crawled back into bed.

"Night Alley," I whispered.

"Good night, Max," she murmured. "You know what?"

"No, what?" I asked.

"I love you… you're a good flying teacher and you're nice and stuff, and you want to take care of me, and you don't burn me or hit me or lock me in closets…." she yawned.

"I love you too, Alley, now get some rest." I whispered. He locked her in closets? Sicko!

"Okay, I wanna be like you when I grow up."

I fell asleep grinning.

[that's all folks! the story of how Alley Jones joined the flock. Alley might appear in other fics, review and tell me what you think! should Alley Jones be featured in other fiction on this site?]