Okay, wow, all I can say is I'm so very, super-duper sorry.

My computer crashed and I flipped out because that meant I couldn't update… And I didn't know what to do.

Luckily, my mind still stored all the things I wanted to do for the story so I'm not completely lost.

I'm sorry my lovely reviewers, can you please forgive me?

Logan's POV :

I heard them from a mile away with my oversensitive hearing, knowing they were closing in on both of us fast. I glanced worriedly over to Nudge, hearing her whimpers gradually become more painful as I kept the warmth of my coat against her. She wasn't going to last long, I could tell easily. But what on Earth could I do?

"Nudge, shhh," I spoke to her, nuzzling my snout against her helplessly. "I'm going to get you to safety, okay? Just, please, hang on a bit longer."

But where could I take her? The only place I knew was close was the laboratory where they had kept both of us, and that wasn't ever going to be an option on my list. I'd rather die than take her back to that godforsaken place.

She was gasping, quieter now, and I started to think faster than I ever had before. Maybe if I changed, I'd carry her to somewhere deep in the woods and…

But she screamed, loud in my ears. I stopped moving immediately, my ears perked up in dread.

"Nudge!" Someone was calling her name, confusing me greatly. Could it really be her friends? I couldn't take that chance.

Without bothering to turn back to my human form, I jumped in front of Nudge, using myself as a wall between the trees in front of me and her gasping form. I didn't think much about what consequences could face me if it wasn't her friends.

"Here!" this voice was a girl's, unlike the first voice, and at that instant the brush in front of me shook to life. Clumsily, a tall, skinny, pale boy burst through the leaves, his chest heaving thickly with loss of breath. Every single fiber of me tensed as a reaction.

When he looked at me, all breath from his body suddenly stopped in an instant. His unusually misty, blue eyes widened with what looked like fear, but I could easily make out all the agony and pain behind his features. Years and years of not being able to show any emotion of my own had given me the power to see anyone's. And his was written plainly all over his face in permanent marker.

Soon he was joined by one other boy and a girl, both of them stopping in their tracks when they caught sight of me. I snarled, letting my instincts get the best of me.

It wasn't long at all until the first boy's eyes located Nudge's shaking form behind me.

"Nudge…" his voice was shattered and without looking at me, he began to walk forward.

"Iggy, don't!" the girl said suddenly, making me calm the growls rumbling in my throat immediately.

"Iggy?" But before I was able to say something more, I felt something smash against my face and I could feel the crunching of a tree as I slammed into it. I gasped and choked under his fingers at my throat, feeling every ounce of anger gush from his grip.

"What the hell have you done to her?" he growled into my face, his eyes though frantic.

I choked desperately for breath, feeling my head begin to ache. I stared at him and squirmed, gradually changing back to my human form.

"Let… Me… Breathe…" I barely managed to get the words out, and his eyes widened at the human shape I took. Quickly, his hand forced away, allowing me to cough spit to the ground and wheeze as breath filled my lungs. But he didn't move away.

"Iggy!" the other boy and girl were behind us now, crouching by Nudge, trying to calm her down, but the voice didn't come from them. "Stop!"

He tore his shocked eyes away from me and turned towards the sudden voice to the right of us, his breath coming in quick gasps. Another smaller girl stood there, her hand grasping Iggy's shoulder tightly.

"Stop now," her voice was tensed and too firm for a girl her age, but Iggy's hand unclenched from my arm gradually. "Your job is to help Nudge."

I stared at her and back to him, seeing Iggy's eyes cast down in pain at her remark. Without saying a word, he strode quickly over to Nudge's side where the girl was shushing her. The boy was staring at me, expressionless.

"You don't move," the girl said to me, not as harshly. I looked at her, still breathing a little hard but didn't move a muscle.

"What did you do?" it was the older girl this time.

"He didn't do anything," the girl said before I could even open my mouth. "They made it so her pregnancy skipped a few months; she's delivering now."

I stared at her with such confusion but she never did look either of us in the eye.

"Maximum," the unnamed boy was looking at the older girl now.

Maximum Ride? Was it really her?

"I know, Fang," she replied, not looking at him, just taking Nudge's face between her hands.

Soon, Nudge was up in Fang's arms, her eyes squeezed shut. Iggy was speaking to her, so softly I could barely hear but Maximum took him by the arm before he could follow. His eyes were close to tears.

"Angel, stay with Iggy," she was looking at the girl close to me.

"No!" Iggy was quick to react to the words spoken, forcing himself from Maximum's grasp. She was quicker.

Without much gentleness, she pushed him against the tree giving Angel enough time to come to their side. "Iggy, please calm down. Fang and I have this under control, all right? Just stay here with Angel."

Iggy stared at her exasperated, but he didn't speak. Without another word, Maximum released her hold and disappeared in the same direction Fang had gone carrying Nudge. Angel strode over to Iggy's shaking form gradually after that and I watched as he slid down the tree's trunk to the ground.

It wasn't long until screams interrupted the forest scene, worst than I had ever heard before.

…

Two hours later.

Iggy's POV :

I couldn't explain to anyone how hard it was for me to breathe, sitting there in agony, listening to the words Angel was sending to my brain of what was going on in Max and Fangs'. None of it was soothing at all, no matter how hard she tried. Eventually, she gave up and I was truly alone.

That is until I heard the rushing of leaves to the right of us, and Fang popped into view holding my life in his arms.

"Iggy," he spoke as I scrambled to my feet.

"Nudge. Is she all right? Is everything okay?"

I went over to stand in front of him so I could be closer to Nudge's sleeping body in his arms. Her face proved she was out cold, though I could still see small beads of sweat on her temples.

"Yes, Iggy. She's fine and everything is all right. Take her and let her rest as she pleases." I could see the small worried lines across his forehead though his voice sounded like nothing of the sort.

Carefully, he placed Nudge into my arms, making sure I had a good hold on her like I was blind. To him, I still was.

"The baby?" my lips moved without my approval before I could stop myself. He looked at my eyes for a long time.

"She's fine," he breathed. A girl. Just like Nudge had wanted. "She'll be fine. Just don't worry."

I didn't answer and he gave a half-hearted smile. "Keep her warm." He glanced at Angel and left silently through the bushes.

I snapped my mind out of every worst possible scenario, forcing myself to focus on my number one priority of taking care of Nudge. She quivered gently in my arms as if reminding me of the bitter cold that surrounded us. I wrapped my arms around her tighter and unfurled my wings to bring me up to the flat branch overhead. Laying myself down, I hid her face into the warmth of my jacket.

"Wrap your wings around her for insulation." The voice took me off guard and I stared down at the boy who spoke, the one who hadn't said a word since I threatened him. I growled gently, unable to stop myself; he smelled horribly of Eraser.

"It'll work, trust me," he said quietly. Angel glanced in his general direction.

"And how would you know?" I muttered, looking at Nudge.

"I was stuck in a cage once, in a forty degree weather room as they tested for my obliviousness against the climate."

I pressed my lips together, not moving.

"He's telling the truth, Iggy," Angel said quietly. "Just do it."

I looked down at her carefully, waiting for her voice to reach itself into my thoughts but it didn't. I leaned forward to stretch my wings out as far as they could go, being careful not to stir her. I laid myself back down on the branch and covered us both in my warm feathers just like my arms were holding on to her.

Eventually, her shivering gradually decreased and slept soundly in my arms; just like so many other numerous times I had held her in the night.

"Thank you," I managed to force the words through my gritted teeth. "For the suggestion."

"It's nothing," he said back, espressionless.

You can trust him, Iggy. I do.

Angel, going through days without knowing if she's even alive broke everything inside me. What if this Eraser is just a set up? What if they're watching in the bushes right now? What if the baby…

You can trust him. He's got more of a story than you realize. He saved Nudge and the baby.

I shut down my mind and pressed my lips on Nudge's forehead, not allowing myself to answer.