CHAPTER 10

AN: Hey guys. This chapter would have been up sooner, but my keyboard stopped working so I went to find batteries, then got distracted and made cookies. Mmm, peanut butter cookies.

Max's POV

Tell me the last time I did something randomly, on a whim, spontaneously, not thinking things through. Because clearly, that is exactly what I'd done. I'd been so hooked on the idea of finding Fang, that I hadn't stopped to think, how?

Sure, we were hopping on a plane to Richmond International. But God knows where he went from there. He could be half way to Yugoslavia for all we knew. So when we arrived in Virginia that morning, I truly had no idea what in the world I was doing.

"I suppose asking around could help," I suggested, but this was a big, busy place, and that wasn't getting us anywhere.

"Nellie, Nudge, why don't you try hacking into Fang's account again?" AJ recommended, nodding at a row of computers. The two were unconvinced, but there wasn't much choice.

"We'll try," Nudge mumbled, and the two set to work.

"While they're working, we might as well try to crack the password," I said, assuming a position at another computer. I tried his name and 'birthday', which didn't work. I tried several other dates, but came up short.

I was seriously getting fed up, when Gazzy bellowed, "I'M IN!" I looked over to see a desktop loading; amazing.

"What was the password?" I asked, astounded. He smirked.

"Fang loves Maximum Ride," he answered, making a kissy face.

"Is not," I muttered.

"It seriously is. All one word." I rolled my eyes, but my cheeks had already flushed, giving me away.

"Okay. Just try to get into his email." He left the computer to Nudge, who hacked in with ease.

I suppose this is where I'm supposed to feel bad for invading his personal space. But I didn't. I was actually incredibly elated. I was getting somewhere! Excited, I clicked on last email, which had some newspaper links. That didn't help us, considering the one article was about us.

After clicking on a few more, I came across one that seemed like a big pointer. Some girl who wanted to be in his army, with an address located in—all be darn!—Virginia, not too far from here.

"Hey guys," I said, actually grinning a genuine smile, ear to ear. "I know where we're going."

•••

When we asked for directions to the address, the man we asked snorted. I had no idea why until we got there. Cue the jaw-dropping.

"I'll go look for them!" Gazzy offered, eyeing the strip club in front of us with excitement. I shot him my darkest glare.

"No," I said. "We'll have to figure something else out."

"God, I really hope they didn't go in there," AJ moaned. "If Damian did something like that, I swear he's so dead." I nodded fiercely in agreement.

"I don't get it," Iggy said. "Where are we?"

"Your girlfriend's work," Gazzy chuckled. He still looked confused.

"Dory!" Fuzz exclaimed. "I never knew!" It took me a second to catch up, and when I did, I rolled my eyes. Poor Iggy still had no idea what anybody was talking about.

"We're at a strip club, Ig," I told him. Bing. I saw the light bulb go off in his head.

"Hey!"

"Look, let's just go find a phonebook and look up this girl," I interjected. We located the closest convenience shop, and it turned out to really be convenient. For some reason, they had county phonebooks for sale.

"My gosh that's so random!" Nudge giggled. "'Hey, I'd like some gum, some coffee, and oh, a phonebook too, while we're at it!' Heh heh heh." It was a pretty random thing to sell at a convenience shop, but I wasn't complaining. We used what was left of our (Iggy's) cash to buy the book, then looked up Daniels.

There were two entries, but we figured we'd try the closest one first. We kept the book though, just in case.

We arrived at the first house, triple-checking that we were right. When we were absolutely positive, we strode up the steps and knocked on the door.

You'll never guess who opened it. The Boogie Man? Close. An ax murderer? I wish. No, it was the infamous Red Haired Wonder!

In case you don't remember, she's the one who I caught sucking face with Fang back when we went to normal, un-capitalized school. And, in case it slipped your mind, I absolutely hate her.

"Max?" She asked, and I was surprised that she remembered me.

"Um, hi. Did you see my…brother around?"

"But he said you weren't his sister," she said, confused. "Fang, right?" He'd been here, I thought, my mind reeling. He'd been in the Red Haired Wonder's house recently. Good God.

"Yes, Fang. What else did he say? Why was he here?"

"Well, he said you were his girlfriend, and he was here because he's going on a road trip with my sister, Else, and this other guy." He said you were his girlfriend. I couldn't help but smile at that line.

"Was the other guy short and blonde?" AJ asked, and I saw hope light her eyes.

"Yup. Well, taller than you, but still. So Max, how come you're here?" She glanced at me with her wide, ditzy eyes.

"I was looking for Fang, actually. Do you know where they went?"

"Not sure, really. But I can call Else if you want," she offered. I nodded feverishly. Not that I was too thrilled about him being on a trip with the Red Haired Wonder's stripper sister, but whatever. If I could find him, that's all that mattered.

"Hey Else!" She chirped into the receiver. "Yes, I was just wondering where you were going?...No, just curious… New York? Like the city? Ooh, that sounds like so much fun! Have fun and say hi to N—Fang for me!" She hung up and smiled at me. "They're going to go to New York. She said they were leaving any minute now." Yes, I had a chance of beating him.

"Thanks, ummm…." I seriously almost called her Red Haired Wonder.

"Lissa," she said, and I smiled fakely.

"Thanks Lissa."

"No problem Max. Good luck!" You know, I didn't hate her so much now that she'd helped me and respected the fact that Fang and I were together (well, not literally, but you know what I mean). We said our goodbyes and left, ditching the phonebook at someone's doorstep.

"We can't afford any more plane tickets," I announced. "So we'll have to split up."

"It's okay," Nudge said. "Nellie and I can keep in touch with our phones."

"Right. You—wait, what? When did you get a phone?" She held up a little black flip-phone.

"I have my ways, Max," she said in an ominous tone, then burst out laughing. I was going to demand she tell me, but thought better of it. Maybe I didn't want to know.

"Um…okay. You can keep in touch with your phones…" We took off, the Pack dashing through the woods and the Flock soaring through the skies.

I'd been secretly doubtful when we first left, but I knew for a fact we'd find the boys now. Now that we could get into his account, we would always be one step ahead. And when I found him, I'd give him Hell.

•••

Iggy's POV

So first I was the blind kid, as if that's not bad enough. Now I was the blind kid who only had one wing and had to be supported by two other Flock members, slowing down the whole expedition. Say it with me: FML.

Nudge was carrying my right arm, and Gazzy was carrying my right leg. It was probably one of the most awkward positions I'd ever been in, especially when Nudge flew a tad bit faster than Gazzy and I frequently found myself being stretched like Play-Dough. Plus, I was thrown out of balance and kept shifting sideways.

"Iggy, could you hold still?" Nudge called back.

"Fly slower," I moaned.

"Yeah," Gazzy shouted from behind me.

"This is my pace," she said, annoyed. "I won't fly faster, and I won't fly slower. You're lucky I'm not like Max, because then I'd always be flying super fast like she does. Then you'd be totally ripped in half. Ew, that would be so gross. Or maybe I'd just yank Gazzy with me, so then I'd have, like, a chain of people flailing behind me. Heh heh that would be so funny…"

I eventually found myself able to tune her out and focus on more important issues, like keeping myself in balance and not letting my left wing tire out. I could do without the remainder of the Flock attaching themselves to my other limbs and yanking me apart like the Huns.

I was just flapping along in my merry way when I suddenly smashed into Nudge's back.

"What the—"

"Shh, I'm on the phone," she told me. I rolled my eyes. Then Gazzy slammed into my back, and it was like an Iggy sandwich.

"Do you mind?" I muttered, my arm and leg in even more awkward positions.

"It's Nudge's fault."

"Shh, I'm on the phone," she repeated. "Hey Nellie! Yeah, I think we're somewhere over Pennsylvania right now…Yeah, really? OMG I see you too!" She dropped my hand and my whole upper half fell forward, crashing into Gazzy's leg. I pumped myself back up with my left wing, but it was hard work when the only support I had was Gazzy holding my leg.

"Nudge," I hissed.

"Noooooo! That's just Iggy and Gazzy. My gosh Nellie if you were next to me right now I would totally strangle you! Heh heh heh. Yes, then I'd revive you and throw you in a pit of lava!" I blinked, more than disturbed, and shook my head.

"What are you guys doing back there?" I heard Max call.

"Nudge is on the phone," Gazzy answered. "And Iggy's heavy!"

"I get that a lot," I grumbled, when I really didn't weigh that much. None of us did. I only weighed about a hundred or so pounds, but if I was human, I'd probably be over 170. It's all muscle, okay?

I heard the familiar, smooth sound of Max's wings as she approached us. I could hear Angel, not too far off. Max grabbed my hand—I could tell because hers was bigger than Nudge's—and started off again.

"Flap and talk," she told Nudge. "Or we're leaving without you." See, Max was even faster. She wasn't in turbo-mode or whatever, but she was in quite the hurry, and my one wing wouldn't cut it.

"Can't…keep up," I managed, sweat beading on my forehead. I was being pulled into a parallelogram…or a trapezoid, or a geometrical shape of some sort.

"We're almost there," she informed me, but she didn't slow down. In fact, I think she even sped up. Gazzy gave up with that side and grabbed my left leg, which wasn't doing much. I think he just wanted to feel like he was helping.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"I think we just passed Splash Lagoon. Just a few more minutes and we'll be there." Huh. I thought we had at least a few more hours. Grin and bear it, I thought.

Soon, you'll be with Dory, don't worry, Angel thought to me. I felt my face burn, and hear her giggling in the distance.

Can you stop invading my thoughts? I thought back angrily.

Where's the fun in that?

"Stop it Angel!" I shouted out loud. It's called personal space, thanks.

"Angel, stop doing whatever you're doing that's making Iggy made," Max said tiredly.

"He's, like, projecting though," Angel argued. "It's hard not to hear his thoughts."

"I am not. You're just picking through my brain." I knew I wasn't going to win this, so I narrowed my eyes and thought all of the R-rated thoughts I could think of. I grinned in satisfaction when I heard her take in a breath.

"EW IGGY I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST THOUGHT THAT OH MY GOD!" I smirked.

"Maybe you shouldn't have been reading my mind," I pointed out. And that silenced her. I probably should have known that this would come back and bite me in the ass.