* First of all, thanks to NewHampshireMan155, NightOwlGirl, turtlelover0511, and Shayna-18 for reviewing the last chapter. Thanks for the thoughts on Dilly's wings. I had been thinking they'd be mostly black. I think light hair with black wings would be cool. And Jane's appearance, like Angel's, can be deceiving. She's not bad, just tired of being wallpaper-you know-fading into the background. lol
This chapter doesn't have a ton of action, but some important, yet subtle, foreshadowing is occurring. And the new kids get a bit of insight into the flock's former lives.
Nudge walked Troy outside, practically talking non-stop the whole time. She gave him the rundown of the flock's life since she could remember. Unlike Gazzy, she didn't go into gory detail about the bloody and deadly fights, or disgusting food (or not food, as the case may be) they ate. And she most definitely didn't mention that they often had gone weeks without bathing.
They paused to watch Iggy and Fang fight. Fang was still frustrated that Iggy was able to dodge him most of the time, but he was landing more punches than he was earlier. It was like riding a bike. They never really forgot how to fight, and it was coming back to them quickly.
Fang caught Iggy's jaw with an uppercut, making his teeth clang together hard. Iggy staggered back a couple of steps.
"Nice one," Iggy said, rubbing his jaw.
"I faked you out good," Fang laughed.
"They're really hitting each other," Troy observed.
"Oh yeah. How else are they going to prepare?"
"Prepare for what?" he asked.
"Getting hit. When you're in a real fight, you don't have time to stop the bleeding or cry," Nudge said.
Troy looked wide eyed. "Have you been hit like that?" he asked Nudge.
"Yes," she answered quietly. "I've had some broken bones. And my wings got hurt real bad, too. But we heal fast," she added.
"Wow," Troy said softly.
Nudge was anxious to change the subject and the scenery.
"Let's leave them to their training," she suggested. "So, how did you get to be a tutor?"
"My dad volunteered me. He wants me to get to know a lot of the kids. I'm supposed to tutor three other kids besides you."
"Oh. Then, you didn't really want to?" she asked.
"I don't mind. I'm an only kid and my dad and I moved a round a lot so I never really had many close friends. My dad means well. He's just trying to make sure I get to know some people. I think he's planning to stick around this place," Troy explained.
"Does your dad make up freaky creatures like some of the other scientists? Or does he do other research?" Nudge asked.
"He used to. He works strictly human, now. His big thing is stem cell research."
"What about your mother?"
"She's not alive anymore."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry," Nudge apologized.
"No, it's okay. It was a long time ago, when I was about six. It was some kind of lab accident. Mom was a scientists too. She did some work with hybrids. Simple organisms, though. Not like you guys." He gave Nudge a sideways glance, noticing she looked like she felt bad for asking about his mom. "What about you? Did you know your parents? I figured out that they're not in the picture anymore."
"No. One time, I thought I found my mom, but we were never sure. Iggy and Max are the only ones who know who their parents are. You know Jeb is Max's dad, right?"
"I haven't met Max yet. Mr. Batchelder did tell us one of you is his daughter."
"We've only known for a few years. It's a long story, but Jeb lived with us for a while after he broke us out of the old School. Then he seemed like a bad guy. Now he seems good. But, who knows."
Troy was confused. "So, you're not sure you can trust him?"
"Exactly. Don't get me wrong, we mostly do. He does a lot for us. It's complicated."
"And Iggy? You said he knows his parents?"
"We met them. Iggy went to live with them for a little while, but then they tried to make money off him. They practically tried to sell him. He left and came back to us. Every time one of us leaves the flock, bad things happen," Nudge said.
They walked the grounds for a time, trying to keep the conversation lighter, until they saw Jeb's SUV pull up.
"Pizza's here!" Nudge squealed. "Let's go help him bring them in." They jogged back to the car as Jeb began taking out boxes and handing them to Iggy and Fang. Jeb held out four more for Troy to take.
"I got these Nudge," Troy said, thinking he was being quite manly carrying four large pizza boxes for her.
"Okay, I'll get the rest," she smiled. She took the last five from Jeb and started to walk to the house.
"How many pizzas did you get?" Troy asked Jeb.
"Seventeen. And a large grilled chicken salad," he answered holding up a big paper bag.
Troy whistled. "Wow, that's a lot of food. You got twenty more people coming?" he joked.
The flock (minus a couple of members) Jeb, and the three new teens sat in various places to eat pizza. Most of them were able to fit at the long kitchen table. Angel, Sunny and Jane opted to sit at the breakfast bar, while Dani sat on the floor with James.
"Is Max coming down?" Miranda asked.
"Dilly is a little fussy today. Max is trying to get her to take a nap," Fang answered. "Where's Jump?" I haven't seen him all day. Iggy and I were going to ask him if he wanted to train with us."
"Wait, just him? Why not me? I want to train too." Miranda complained, ignoring Fang's original question.
A few others in the room echoed "me too."
"Uh, well, we're going to be really fighting-"
"And I can't fight?" Miranda wasn't backing down and Fang winced at her tone. It was the same tone Max took when she thought Fang was being sexist or over protected.
"Um, Max said she was going to do her own training to get back in shape. She thought some of you would want to work out with her instead."
Miranda huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "What, and do yoga?"
"Fine," Fang acquiesced. "You can train with us, too. I guess it would make more sense to have even numbers for hand to hand. But don't come crying to me if you get a few bones broken. We won't go easy on each other."
"I don't cry," Miranda said sternly.
"I think I'll train with Max," Nudge said. John and Gazzy chimed in as well.
"Who's Max?" Maeve asked.
"The leader," Gazzy answered.
"Of what?" Jane questioned.
"The flock. She's always been our leader. Kind of like our mother. Well, except for Fang. They're married," Gazzy explained.
"Hey Gazzy, pass the red pepper flakes," Fang said.
The flock all froze and looked at each other in alarm. No one remembered to tell Fang and Iggy that Gazzy was using his alter ego name.
"Ah!" Fang yelled and held his head. One at a time, he thought. Angel and John had both been trying to tell him to call Gazzy Zephyr at the same time. Who knew two people yelling at you inside your head could give you such a headache?
John nodded to Angel and she explained to Fang, then Iggy what was going on. That left John to take the heat for Gazzy.
"It wasn't me," he said to Fang as he picked up the pepper flake bottle and handed it to him. "If you smelt it, then you musta dealt it," he laughed.
Others at the table giggled.
"Real mature," Fang muttered. "But you're the one with broccoli on your pizza."
Dani chimed in from her spot in the Great room. "Yeah, broccoli makes James toot like there's no tomorrow." She chuckled, "And his poop turns green."
"This is a crappy conversation," Gazzy joked.
More giggles.
"Trying to eat here," Nudge complained. She glared at John, Dani and Gazzy. This was not the impression she wanted to make on the new kids.
"Trying? I'd say you're doing a pretty good job," Troy observed. "You ate like, three quarters of a pizza."
"Yeah, sorry for ruining your appetite, Nudge. You usually eat a whole pie," Gazzy said sarcastically.
"Wow, really?" Troy asked.
Great. Now he thinks I'm part pig, Nudge thought.
"We all eat that much," Iggy said through the food in his mouth.
"Say it, don't spray it," Angel whined.
"Bird genes," Iggy continued after he swallowed. "Our metabolism is super fast. And after working out with Fang, I'm ready for another pizza. If you really have two pieces left, can I have 'em, Nudge?"
Nudge tossed her last two pieces onto Iggy's plate.
Maeve turned to Gazzy. "Don't you have to eat a lot too?"
"Yeah," he said shoveling a large forkful of salad and chicken into his mouth.
"Then why'd you get salad?"
Gazzy wished she'd just drop it. "Don't like pizza." He took another bite.
"So, you won't eat pizza, but you ate rat?" Maeve smirked, thinking she had him.
"We were pretty desperate," Iggy said casually. "And that's not even the worst thing we ate."
"At least the rat wasn't already been chewed, leftover in the dumpster," Nudge added.
Maeve's eyes went wide. "You mean, all that stuff was true? I thought you were just messing with me."
"We wish," Nudge said.
Everyone ate in silence for a few moments, either reflecting or trying to grasp the revelation.
"So, what's for dessert?" Iggy asked, jarring everyone out of their rumination.
"I don't know. What are you making?" Dani called out.
"I'm in the mood for cookies," Sunny said meekly. "Can you make cookies?"
A lot of nods and yeses all around.
"How can I possibly say no to you Sunny," Iggy smiled. "Chocolate chip or snickerdoodles?"
"Can't we have both?" Sunny asked sweetly.
"Yeah, now that you've said it, I want both, too," Dani declared, licking her lips. "Iggy, I'm licking my lips."
"Well, then forget the cookies . . ."
"Eww, gross," Gazzy grumbled.
Iggy nudged Gazzy. "You won't always think so," Iggy said, making Gazzy blush.
"I'd rather have the cookies," Dani laughed.
More yeses all around.
"All right already. Both," Iggy gave in.
Maeve, Troy and Jane watched in awe as Iggy flawlessly gathered the correct items from all over the kitchen. Gazzy explained to Maeve how Iggy could sense colors.
"And stuff that's really similar gets stored in different parts of the kitchen so he doesn't mix 'em up."
"So that's why Mr. Batchelder said we didn't have to treat him differently."
"Yeah, and sometimes he gets around better than we do. Like when it's really dark."
"Oh."
"Speaking of dark, you should see the view of the stars out here. We're so far from any cities, you can see all of 'em," Gazzy told her.
"Oh, I think Mr. Batchelder is taking us back before it gets dark," Maeve said.
"Maybe another time," he shrugged. But really, he was disappointed. He giggled to himself. "Mr. Batchelder."
"What's so funny?"
"He's just Jeb to us."
Gazzy didn't notice the regret on Jeb's face.
"Dani tells me you boys are looking for work," Jeb said as if on cue. Dani glared at him from the living room. What part of try not to make it look like you're helping did he not get?
"Did she?" Iggy asked, not breaking his stride as he began pouring ingredients into the mixer.
"You know, education could get you a little farther than practicing beating each other up."
Dani sat up a bit straighter trying to gauge Iggy and Fang's reactions. That certainly wasn't what she and Jeb talked about. Dani knew the boys would never go for any kind of schooling.
"What kind of education? We're not going to become doctors or lawyers at this point," Iggy said. "We need to rely on the skills we have, which is our fighting ability. We were thinking we'd make good bouncers."
The rest of the flock watched with interest. Fang and Iggy asserting their independence would probably affect the whole flock.
"Well, yes, I agree that you should exploit your strong suit, but in a less brute force manner," Jeb said.
"How do you mean?" Fang asked.
"You did a great job training the new flock, Fang. I'm suggesting that you explore personal training. It's a booming business, very lucrative. And you're unlikely to get beaten up performing your job. You could even keep regular hours," Jeb explained.
"You seem to have given this a lot of thought," Iggy said skeptically.
"I knew there would come a time when you would grow up, move away from the flock. You two have families of your own. The others won't be too far behind."
The flock looked suspiciously at one another, as if accusing one another of mutiny.
Fang stood up defensively. "The flock is not splitting up. Just because we want to be more independent, doesn't mean we're leaving. It's not them we want independence from."
"Fang, calm down. There would be nothing wrong with you and Max or Iggy and Dani wanting some privacy. Kids grow up and leave home all the time. That's what people do," Jeb said. It only pissed Fang off more.
"No. We're not people, remember? We're freaks. We're more than a family. The flock is never splitting up. Never again." He got up from the table. "You can leave anytime, though." Fang walked out the front door.
Slowly Jeb stood. "I think maybe it's time to leave kids," he said to Troy, Jane and Maeve.
"Can't they stay until the cookies are done?" Sunny asked. Judging by their faces, the flock agreed with Sunny.
"First batch will be ready in about fifteen," Iggy said.
Jeb sighed. "All right. Another half hour. But then I've got to get you kids home." He went to the back deck and stepped outside.
After Fang cooled off in the air a few minutes, he spotted Jeb on the deck. He landed and loomed over Jeb in one of the adirondack chairs.
"Don't ever do that again," Fang gritted between his teeth. "Don't ever try to make it look like Max and I want to leave the flock. You know they've been worried about that ever since Dylan . . ."
"Died?" Jeb finished. "Not saying it doesn't change it. And are you really planning on staying together your whole lives?"
"I told you, we're more than a family. We need to stick together."
"And what if Miranda has a baby? Or Max or Dani have another. Is Nudge's future husband going to live here too? Gazzy's future wife? Their kids? Do you think you can just keep finding bigger and bigger houses? It's not very practical." Jeb gave him a dose of reality.
"Frankly, I didn't think that far ahead," Fang said truthfully.
"Of course not. You're still a kid, really."
Fang furrowed his brows. "No, I assumed we wouldn't live that long actually."
By his expression, Jeb wasn't expecting that. "Oh."
"Unless you're telling me I am going to live long enough to see Dilly's kids."
There was an awkward silence as Jeb contemplated Fang's query.
"I didn't think so," Fang said.
Jeb sighed. "Don't mistake my silence for an answer, Fang. I . . . I honestly don't know."
Fang sat down on another of the adirondack chairs. "Then we live the way everybody else does. Like we don't know how long we have. But we do it together."
"My offer to help is genuine," Jeb said.
"I don't want to be some stupid personal trainer to the stars. Iggy and I will find our own way. Thanks anyway." It was a half-hearted thanks at best.
The glass door slid open. "The cookies are ready," Dani smiled. "Everything okay?"
"Yep," Fang answered and went inside.
"That wasn't very bright," Dani chastised Jeb. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"
Jeb shook his head. "I'm a pro at saying exactly the wrong thing at exactly the right time," he deadpanned.
"What happened to helping subtly?"
"I don't do subtle," Jeb replied. "I don't have time for subtle."
* I don't have the next chapter written, just sketched out, so I don't know how long it will be before I post again. In the meantime, I appreciate your feedback and suggestions.
I am so enjoying writing this and you guys keep me going!