My mom sighed and took my hand, leading me back. The flock was playing tag, Fang was sitting with Iggy, and they where talking. I put on a straight face and walked over to them. "Hey, what was all that about?" Fang asked. Iggy turned, looking into my eyes…kind of.

I gave my signature 'tell you later' look and simply shook my head. "Okay, well…my mom and Jeb got us a slightly different house." Iggy stood up. "Alright, well, I'm ready to hit the hay, so let's go!" I walked down the beach to get the kids. They ran up, and Gasman was soaked. "I fell in." He muttered, seeing me look at him. I smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Alright, we have two cars." Jeb said. I walked past him and over to mom. "Where are we staying?" She looked at me briefly. "A hotel." She said, checking her watch. "There will be a jet at L.A.X. waiting for us tomorrow." I looked around.
"How'd we get to Los Angeles?" I wondered aloud. The rest of the flock hopped into mom's car, so Fang and I were stuck with…Jeb. Fang got into the back immediately. I practically pounced over him, hitting the seat on the other side first. Jeb was looking at us weird. "One of you can sit in the front." He said. I shook my head, "Usual routine." I smiled at Fang.

We drove in silence for a while, and Fang's hand was absently creeping toward mine. I tried not to laugh. His fingers laced into mine, and he smirked triumphantly. "Are you two dating?" Jeb finally broke the silence. "Um…I don't know what you're talking about." I spoke a little too quickly. "Yes, well…that explains why you're holding hands." Fang would have squirted milk out of his nose if he had any. "Well…I wouldn't consider it dating…more like…together." I laughed a little at my own statement.

"Well, this would be a good time to tell you this then. Max, we created Fang, not only as a member of the flock, but for you." Fang's eyes widened a little, but just enough for only me to see. "Fang was created to be your best friend, your partner in crime…and when you got older, your soul mate." I coughed a little. "That seemed to work out well." I looked at Fang, who smiled at me a little. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead gently. "You taste salty." He muttered. I laughed. "Hey, you swim in salt water, you get salty. It's the circle of salt." The three of us started to laugh.

"Max, you don't trust me, do you?" I looked at Jeb. "No Jeb, I don't…not really. I mean, it's hard to gain my trust, especially after you've lost it."

"That's understandable. But, I can assure you, once…Ari died…I retired. He…I just couldn't continue making things, and knowing that this is what happened to you guys…and Ari." He sniffled a little. "Max, I'm so sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you. I can take the voice out of yur head." I looked at Fang. "It's been gone for quite some time now. Fang took it on. Did you know it can control me?" Jeb nodded a little. "There's a chip implanted in your brain, but I can get it out without causing any damage." I smiled a fake smile and nodded. "We'll see." I muttered.

We pulled up to a fancy looking Marriot and a valet walked over to the car. Jeb shoved the keys into his hand and led us to the lobby. My mom, Ella, and the rest of the flock, were already there. I noticed they were grouped together in two's, Nudge and Angel, Ella and Mom, and Gaz and Ig. Jeb looked at me and Fang before going up to the desk. He handed me a room key and gestured to the elevator a few minutes later. Fang and I walked and hit the button for the top floor, according to my room key.

We knew we'd be sharing a room the second Jeb looked at us. I wasn't worried or anything, just filling you in. We went to the last room in the hall and opened it. There were two large beds and a bathroom, complete with desk and TV. "I call window!" I almost jumped over him for the second time today, and onto the bed. See, we flock members prefer places with lots of windows, and love being right by them.

"Fine, you call window, then I call shower." He darted into the bathroom and locked the door. I smiled as the child within me came back out. Creeping slowly, I crawled under his bed, brushing few gum wrappers and empty bottles aside. Fang takes fast showers, so I knew I wouldn't be waiting long.

Bingo, a few minutes later I heard the door creak open. "Max?" I silently snickered. "She probably went to get ice." He muttered. I felt the bed above me lower, and then hit my head. Quickly, I skittered backward. The TV flicked on. "Are you looking for better stain removal?!" Flick. "Please, I beg of you, don't kill him!" Flick. "Oh wow, perfect precision, and the ball goes right in!" Flick. "Six kids with wings made a fast escape from a restaurant in the big apple a few months ago. Now we ask ourselves, where are they now?" I listened carefully. "There have been sightings of a few deformed birds around lately. Also, a while back a set of six children attended a school in D.C. This resulted in a sudden disappearance. Now we have found them, doing air shows for the CNN." Sigh, flick. He'd turned it off and gotten up.

I watched his feet as he paced the space between the two beds. I chose a great timing, when he was turned away from me, I silently got up behind him and grabbed his shoulders. "AHH!" He whirled around and slammed me back onto his bed, drawing back his fist. Iwas seriously laughing so hard that blood almost came out my nose. "Max, don't ever do that again!" He yelled, not getting off of me or letting me up.

I took in his appearance, wet hair, no shirt. He looked hot. I mean, I must say, I have seen him with no shirt and wet hair numerous times, but never when he was angry. I was still cracking up. "Go take a shower." He hissed, pulling me up and shoving me into the bathroom. Jeez, he was mad. He slammed the door behind me. The shower was really warm, especially when oyu have it super hot. Did you know that California has really bad water pressure? It's annoying.

I finished after about a half an hour. I sniffed my hair, no more salt, it smelled like the beach and had a hint of flower in it. I was worried, how mad could Fang get? After combing thrugh my hair, I cautiously crept out. Fang was sitting on his bed, watching a movie. He still wasn't wearing a shirt. "Fang?" He just looked at me. "You can't seriously be that mad at me." He sighed and looked away. I batted my eyes a little and walked over to him. "I can prove that you can't stay mad at me." I got closer and kissed him, waiting patiently for him to make up his mind. He pulled me up over him and wrapped his arms around me. After a few minutes, I pulled back and rested my head on his chest. "Told you." I whispered.

Smirking, I got up and walked over to my bed. "Good night…Fangalator." I whispered. He didn't look very amused. "Night."