Me: Hola. I know it's been a little bit, but my great-grandfather died… so yeah my family has been a little mopey and depressed. I haven't really; I wasn't that close to the guy. In fact, he was a rather grumpy old man, and I hardly saw him in the last 4 years. But it is still sad that he's gone, leaving behind 7 kids, tons of grandkids and a few great-grandkids such as myself. I did love his sarcastic I hate the world attitude too. Now I know that it runs in the family. But yep that's why it's been taking so long, we've been planning all his funeral stuff and I had to rearrange a vacation (another reason to not feel bad the guy died, I was looking forward to my vacation! Sorry I just don't react when people die.) And I've has so many more shifts at work and its all be bleh. So I'm updating. Yay!

Rebbie: it's amazing your sympathy towards the dead.

Me: I just don't react. You could tell me my mom died and I swear I'd be like oh. I don't know why. Anyways why do you care, you have no sympathy for anything.

Rebbie: your point?

Me: I think that was it…. onwards with the chapter! Btw Fang might seem a little ooc, but that's cuz I suck at writing from his POV. But I thought it would be best for this chapter. And I actually swear in the chapter, something I hate doing but I think the mood calls for it. So, SORRY! In advance. And pardon me for swearing (=^-^=)

Fang's POV

Our meeting with Max had gone…well to say the least. Sure she was a little reluctant, but I believe she was beginning to come to terms with her true past, and not the ones the white coats had given her (upon her request, which we can overlook.) After our…incident… she seemed a little bit more inclined to believe our words. I did seem to have that affect on her.

She had left a little over an hour ago, muttering something about 'wasting Emmy time', so I could only assume she had gone to pick up Emmy for the night. This was probably safest for Emmy since we now knew that Emmy was also on the same medicine the white coats had been feeding Max. Which left some curious questions to be answered. Was Emmy one of us?

None of us had really moved much in the last hour, trying to decide on our next move. Nudge was being curiously quiet, and Iggy and Gazzy were chatting quietly about one thing or another. Angel seemed to be thinking about something. I was staring down at the rug from my corner of the room, thinking about Max.

"Fang…?" Angel whispered from her seat on our couch. I looked up at her. Her eyes were a little glazed over but her face looked worried.

"Hmm?"

"You have to get to Max. Right now. We have to go. Now!" She screamed at me, tears cascading down her cheeks. I was startled by her scream and almost jumped.

Her sudden shout alerted the others, and within seconds we were bolting outside. I had no idea what had her so spooked, but her voice scared me. Whatever she was hearing, whatever she was seeing, I just hoped that it wasn't as bad as the terror in her voice.

We were at Max's dorm in minutes, landing in the small woods beside it, quickly running up to her room. I thanked whatever beings were on our side that Jackie was at work and Macey was at soccer practice. Who knows what they would have thought if they saw five frantic kids huddled around their friend's door. We knocked on the door, and waited. No one answered. Without waiting any longer, Iggy quickly picked open the door and we all shoved inside. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary.

"She's not here." Gazzy said, stating the obvious for everyone.

"She hasn't come here yet." Angel said, her eyes glazing over, tears forming again at the corners of her eyes. Then it clicked, and I saw it click behind everyone else's eyes too.

"She went to pick up Emmy…" Nudge trailed off, and normally we would've been shocked at her sentence, for surely it was a record. But she had stated the thing each of us had realized.

If Max was in danger, and Max was with Emmy then…

"We have to go." I said, hardly waiting for the brief nods and muttered agreements as I turned and rushed back out the door, barely making it to the woods before taking off. I didn't look back once to make sure the others had followed. I knew they had. They were just as worried as I was. Max may be one of us, but she was suppressing her avian DNA. If she was in trouble, who knows how long she could fight against it, if she could fight against it. Surely it wouldn't be too long.

The flight to Jesse's parent's house could not have seemed any longer, and before we touched ground something seemed wrong about it. The door was slightly ajar, and all the lights were off, despite the fact it was late afternoon and there were three cars in the driveway. One of them was Max's. Not to mention the overwhelming silence. The phrase 'quiet, too quiet' never seemed so real. Slowly, we made our way to the doorway, hardly daring to breathe too loudly. We hesitated at the doorstep, knowing we could be walking into a trap. Suddenly the eerie silence was broken by a large crash and the sound of glass shattering, followed by a loud yell.

We didn't hesitate after that. I pushed the door open and ran into the house, stopping only to let Angel go before me, to follow the sound of the thoughts. We rushed after her, going through the hallway, past the living room and the dining room and into the kitchen. I barely processed the upset furniture and broken household items that lay in the rooms we passed.

We skid to a stop at the large entry way to the kitchen, letting the scene before us sink in. what we saw before us was surprising, and a tad alarming.

The kitchen table had been broken in half and lay in splintered pieces on the floor in the middle of the room. What had once been kitchen chairs were now broken pieces of wood one might use for a fire. Shattered glass lay like glittering jewels on the kitchen floor, deadly jewels, ready to cut you if you came too close. Plastic ware and silverware and other random kitchen items lay strewn about, as if a twister had come through. What I assume to be the microwave lay in a pile of metal pieces near the sink, which was missing its faucet. The window above the sink had been smashed, a leg from the table clean through it. The light on the kitchen ceiling was dangling by a very thin wire, but still shining it's brightest, and probably the only glass in the room left intact.

And on one side of the kitchen, nearest the door, was a very angry Max.

She had a cut along her forehead, and another one trailing from the corner of her eye to her jaw. She seemed to have cuts on her arms too, as if she had fallen into the broken glass. A bruise was forming on her jaw, but aside from that she looked unharmed. She did however look pissed. Her hands were being held by none other than Jesse's mother. Max was wriggling and looked exhausted, as if she had been fighting left and right nonstop, but that didn't mean she was about to give up.

"Where is she!" she shouted, and it hurt my ears, and only then did I realize that Jesse's father was standing at the other side of the room. My hands clenched into fists. So this was all his doing?

That damn… if I ever get my hands around his throat…

Mr. Woods laughed a little, and looked away from the piece of glass he had been examining, which now that I look closer at it, had blood on it. My blood started to boil, and Angel put a reassuring hand on my arm.

They haven't noticed us yet. Wait a little longer.

"Why, I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about."

Max snarled and struggled even harder. "Bastard! Just tell me where the hell you took her!"

"Now now, everything had been working out nicely until your friends decided to ruin our game." Mr. Woods smiled sadistically, taking a step forward. I also went to take a step forward, but Angel held me back, shaking her head.

A little longer.

I growled quietly.

"GOD-DAMMIT! TELL ME WHERE MY DAUGHTER IS OR I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Max screamed, struggling as hard as she could, but her struggles were to no avail. The parents must be white coats, used to dealing with experiments, therefore able to hold on to them. Plus Max hasn't released her full potential, so she isn't as strong as she could be. Still, I didn't understand why Angel wasn't letting me go in there and get Max.

We might get information. Just be patient. This is Max, she can handle this.

I scowled but knew she was right. I was a little amused however, that they had not yet noticed us. But they were caught up in their fight, so I guess it made sense. If we waited just a bit longer, then maybe we could find out a little something about exactly what happened.

Mr. Woods didn't even look the least bit afraid of Max's threat. In fact, he looked rather amused.

"Are you now? You know where she is, Max. Think hard. Think very, very hard." He said, with that evil smile on his face. There was this glint in his eye, a glint that said he enjoyed watching her struggle, he knew she had no idea where Emmy was, and not knowing was painful, and he enjoyed that. It made me want to kill him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! I'm trying to think, I really am, but I honestly don't know! Just tell me!" she cried, her anger starting to fade, desperation starting to fill its place. Her struggles became less prominent as her face was flooded with anxiety, desperation, fear, love, hate; every emotion imaginable crossed her face as she all but begged the man standing in front of her to tell her the location of her only family member.

And still I did not move. I don't know why, but the hand Angel rested on my arm kept me from moving, kept me rooted in place. And beside me, everyone else stood still. Watching, waiting.

"And what would be the point of that Max? Why would I tell the location of my treasure which I have hidden? Why would I set up a game, only to give away the prize? Why would I waste precious time deleting your past, to have you remember it all? Why Max? Why?" Confusion flashed across Max's face. That last question had nothing to do with Emmy, or locations, or anything.

Max faltered. Her head bowed, defeated. "I don't know." She muttered. "I don't know."

"Of course you don't, you chose not to know. This is all your fault. You chose not to know, and now you've chosen to try and remember. Remembering takes away those you got by forgetting. You got the little girl by forgetting. Keep forgetting. Keep forgetting and you can have her back. Remember, and you never see her again. Remember, and she's gone." Mr. Woods said, now standing directly in front of Max. He lifted her chin up with a finger, forcing her to look at him, and I fought everything in me to stay where I was.

He could give something away. He could give something away… A little longer…

"How do you think little Emmy would feel, to know her mother figure chose to leave her behind?" he murmured.

Max let out a low growl, and met his stare with her hard eyes.

"I will not leave her behind. If I choose to remember, I'm taking her with me. And an asshole like you is going to do nothing to stop me. So get your filthy hands off of me and tell me where you've hidden Emmy." Max said, in the lowest, deadliest voice I had ever heard her use. Each word was practically dripping with venom. A few seconds ago she was the defeated Max, and now she stood there, yes captured, but pissed off and every bit as determined as the Max I knew.

Mr. Woods stepped away from her, looking only slightly ticked off.

"I'm sure you know the place like the back of your hand. Or you would, except you don't remember." He mocked. If she could look any angrier, then she did.

Angel, may I please step in now?

She hasn't been hurt while we've been here, they've only been arguing. In fact, Mrs. Woods hasn't even said a thing, only Mr. Woods and Max have been at it. I think it's relatively safe to say it's okay to watch, for now.

I sighed inaudibly, really wanting to go in and bash someone's head in. But she was right. Let Max deal with this.

"I will remember, and when I find Emmy, if you have hurt her in any way, I will kill you." She threatened coldly, her eyes hardening even more. I knew that look. It was the look the entire Flock had come to know, the one that said 'I have set my mind on something, and I promise to see it through.'

"You're not going to be able to do that." Mr. Woods said, suddenly procuring a gun seemingly from midair. He aimed it straight at Max's head and I saw her visibly blanch. Angel's hold immediately fell away and I knew she was saying that he was giving all the information he wanted to give, go ahead. I knew she knew I didn't need her permission to lend a hand.

"Go!" I shouted, and 5 bird kids rushed into the room. The three of them looked up, obviously having been oblivious to us, which is still hard to believe, as we rushed in. But the gun didn't lower, and just as I went to reach for Max, a shot sounded out, loud in my ears. I heard the bullet make contact.

"Max…"

So for those who weren't really paying attention, Max has sort come to terms with who she is, despite not remembering much. So it is now back to Max's POV. So… Max's POV

"I will remember, and when I find Emmy, if you have hurt her in any way, I will kill you." I threatened coldly, my eyes hardening more than I thought they ever could. This bastard had the nerve to take my Emmy away, and the nerve to tell me I knew where she was, and even the nerve to tell me I would never find her!

"You're not going to be able to do that." Mr. Woods said, suddenly procuring a gun seemingly from midair. He aimed it straight at my head and I felt myself pale. I certainly couldn't find Emmy with a bullet through my head, now could I? But how was I going to get out of this one?

"Go!" I heard, and from the entry way to the kitchen, Fang and everyone came running in. Had they been there all this time? How had I not noticed them?

Despite the sudden interference, the gun didn't lower. I saw Fang reach out for me at the same time as I heard a gunshot. Slowly my brain processed exactly what happened, and as if I were in some lame action movie, I watched everything happen painstakingly slow.

Nudge and Iggy rushed at Senor Psychopath, trying to knock the gun from his hands. He shot it before they got him to drop it, but they managed to throw off his aim, though it was still heading in my direction. I could see the bullet traveling towards me, and I couldn't get away. Then I felt my hands be released, as Gazzy and Angel fought off the creep's wife. But still, the bullet had been fired, it was still coming towards me, too fast for me too dodge.

And then, someone was standing to front of me. Someone was protecting me. I heard the bullet make contact, and stood frozen as I watched the bullet reappear, making a clean exit. It passed right by my arm, but I paid it no more attention. Fang fell to one knee, a hand over the spot where the bullet had gone through. I continued to stand there, completely still, in shock, numb.

"Max…"

That snapped me out of whatever daze I had been in. I looked down at the guy who had just taken a bullet for me. He was emotionless as ever, but he had shut his eyes, and I knew that was his way of saying he was in pain. I kneeled down beside him placing a hand on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to meet mine, and I saw the pain in them, but also relief. He had been shot, and he was still relieved that I was okay.

"You… were shot…" I whispered. He grimaced, as if saying, 'duh.'

"You were shot…for me…" I couldn't stop what I did next. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug, forgetting for a moment about Emmy, about Jesse's parents, about everything. The guy in my arms had risked his life, to save my own.

I felt him wince, though I did feel him also try to hide it. Suddenly it clicked. I pulled back from the hug and looked down at his wound, then back up at his face.

"YOU IDIOT! You could've died! What am I supposed to do with a dead person on my conscious, huh? How's that supposed to make me feel, to know you died saving me! Didn't you even think about the guilt you could've caused, or the grief? Did you think AT ALL? Idiot! You are an IDIOT!" I exclaimed, resisting the urge to smack him. Fang looked at me, the shock evident on his face.

"Max, leave the kid alone. He's shot for heaven's sake." Iggy told me and I muttered a few choice words at him. Then I looked back down at Fang.

"You're losing a lot of blood. We have to stop the blood flow soon. The bullet didn't hit any major tissue, or it wouldn't have come out so fast. I think it went clean through, not hitting anything important. Well I mean, aside from you of course." I realized what I had side and blushed slightly, and despite his obvious injured state, Fang smirked.

Again I resisted the urge to hit the injured guy.

"Gazzy toss me your sweatshirt." He tossed it to me. Only now did I look up to realize Mr. and Mrs. Crazy were unconscious on the floor. Serves them right.

I crumpled the sweatshirt up and pushed it down as hard as I could on Fang's wound, which had grazed through his side. He closed his eyes as I applied pressure and I felt no sympathy. He was the one who jumped in front of me.

"Idiot." I muttered.

"You know you're grateful." I smiled. I was. I was very grateful. Maybe I couldn't remember much, maybe I barely wanted to be this Max, maybe I hardly understood anything about well anything, but this guy, this…Fang, had jumped in front of a bullet for me. I was, at the very least, grateful.

Me: So it's not exactly a cliffy, but Emmy is missing, so I think that does count. And in case there's any confusion, Mr. Woods was NOT the guy at the end of the last chapter. He is however related to him. Now you surely should all get it. But sorry, no previews anymore. And don't tell our characters who it is, it'll ruin the story. Some nice cute faxness there and some action. My plotline is moving along nicely now. Just so you know I didn't actually plan on shooting Fang, I was just typing, and it happened. Don't kill me. OH and thanks for all the reviews. I loved them!

Rebbie: OH shut up and get to the point. Basically, review again. This time you don't get a prize.

Me: That's not gonna make people want to review… But please do!