A/N: Okay, I recently realized that I completely forgot about Total. O.o Very sorry, Total. Anyway, now I need to decide where he is. Hm…uh…er…well…aha! I have it! He's vacationing in Paris with Akila! Hm…maybe not, but I'm just going to say he decided to stay with Akila, wherever she is. Just in case anyone is wondering what happened to him.
Also, a big thank you the people that reviewed. Twenty-three reviews! Slowly but surely going up…
Now, on with chapter ten!
Chapter 10
3rd Person/Angel's POV
Angel was content. Very content. She was lounging on the biggest bed she'd ever seen in her life with a huge glass of lemonade, cuddling with Celeste. She had her own personal suite in a hotel near the White House. She couldn't believe it. She pinched herself, just to be sure.
It hurt, and she didn't wake up. She squealed happily and set her lemonade aside to jump on the bed in joy. And the best part was: nobody was telling her what to do! The president had said that she could do whatever she wanted, and he hadn't mentioned any exceptions. It was all so exciting!
Angel smiled to herself. If only Max could see me now…
Fang's POV
I shifted my primary feathers slightly and swooped a bit closer to Max. I was still about ten feet above her, and it was the perfect position to watch her from. And yes, I can hear you people screaming "Stalker!", but I'm not. Max is just so graceful when she flies, and it's the only time when she actually looks relaxed and happy. I could completely relate.
She turned her head and noticed me looking at her. I smiled at her and surprise filled her brown eyes, but she smiled back. I stopped flapping for a moment and dropped down to her altitude.
"Hey."
"Hey," she replied. "What's up?"
I flipped over and stared upward. "Hm…looks like…the sky. A few clouds. Space, past that."
She grinned and punched me on the shoulder. "Ha ha. Seriously, though, what did you want?"
"Who says I wanted anything?"
"Well, you dropped down and said, 'hey'."
I rolled my eyes. "And that means I wanted something? Maybe I just wanted to say hi."
She stared at me. "Did you?"
"Sure. Is it a crime?"
"No. Just unusual." She looked at the ground for a minute. "We're almost there."
"Yup."
Just then, Gazzy pointed down and shouted, "Look! It's Anne's house!"
I cringed slightly, and not only because Anne had turned out to be a Whitecoat. Sam…what a wiener. What had Max seen in him? I noticed the same reaction from Max, and I knew she was thinking along the same lines I was.
Well, I thought realistically. She's probably not thinking about Sam. I felt a flash of guilt as I thought about Virginia. I'd been stupid, that's for sure. I'd thought that kissing Max would fix that issue, but apparently not. What did I have to do to make her stop running?
I was dragged out of my thoughts by Max's voice.
"That's nice, Gazzy," Max said tightly.
"Can we stop by and say hi?" Gazzy asked.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Gazzy," I said, saving Max from having to say anything, since I could tell she wasn't particularly happy with this conversation. "Remember how things ended last time?"
Gazzy's face fell. "Oh, yeah. But I wanted to pet the sheep again."
"Maybe some other time," I said. "Or maybe we can find a petting zoo in D.C."
He still looked a little put out, but he nodded and didn't press the issue.
A little while later, Washington D.C. came into sight beneath us. We circled lower, looking for somewhere we could land without attracting any attention. Nudge pointed out an unused alley and we headed down for it. We landed, tucked in our wings, and joined the flow of people moving around the city.
Washington wasn't as crowded as New York, which I think we were all glad of, but it was still way more crowded than what we were used to.
Over the tops of the buildings I spotted a tall, thin, pointy thing sticking up into the sky. I tapped Max on the shoulder.
"It looks familiar, but I can't put my finger on it," I said, pointing it out.
"Oh, that's the Washington Monument," she replied. "I read about it in one of Ella's school books."
I raised my eyebrow. "Why were you reading Ella's school books?"
She shrugged. "I figured it might be a good idea to have some sort of knowledge of these things. We didn't exactly get a decent education. Anyway, I think we saw that last time we were here. Briefly, at least."
I nodded. Now that she mentioned it, I did remember seeing it when we'd been on that fieldtrip. "Max?"
"Yeah?"
"How are we going to get into the White House?"
She frowned. "Well, I hadn't really thought about it. I mean, we've been in there before, but that was with a school group. I don't think they'd let us in on our own."
"And even if we did get in, we'd still have to somehow figure out a way to talk to the president," I added.
She nodded in agreement. "I guess we just wander over and see if fate steps in."
I smiled wryly. "Gosh, Max, how did you ever manage to come up with such an ingenious plan?"
She punched me in the shoulder. "Hey, it's worked in the past."
"Hm…Maybe…"
Just then, I heard a voice I had never, ever expected to hear again.
"Nick!"
A/N: Now, I know you smart people most likely know exactly who that is, especially considering where they are, so I'm not going to bother turning it into a contest.
Review! =P