. . .um.

we may or may not be approaching the end of the story. my original plan changed so much that my original ending won't work anymore. so yeah. just a heads-up.

disclaimer: don't own maximum ride.

25. almost easy

"Oh, my God, thank goodness you're all all right!" my mom exclaimed as the flock and I landed in the beachy backyard of her hotel.

She ran at me and tried to suffocate me in a hug before I'd even folded my wings; but I let her fuss over me and the others, as she sort-of had the right to. We were supposed to have been in Florida days ago.

"Sorry, Mom," I whispered in her ear as I returned her embrace. We broke apart and I was surprised to see her warm brown eyes glassed over with tears. She hurriedly wiped them away with her sleeve.

"I was just. . ." She stopped, smiling and shaking her head. "Oh, never mind. Let's just get you guys inside. I'll bet you're exhausted."

"Yeah. The Atlantic's one big puddle," I joked, and she gave a slight chuckle. Turning to the flock, I called out, "Hey, guys, let's go. Inside."

I waited until they'd all started walking before following myself; I had to wait a little longer for Spark to get moving. She'd been unusually quiet ever since this morning, when we'd woken up to find Con and his group gone from our private Norwegian beach. It'd been a little surprising, but then again, Con had said they'd leave in the morning. So I didn't know if Spark's weirdness was because of their leaving or because of some other reason unbeknownst to me, but it was unsettling to see her acting so. . .un-Spark-like.

A hand came down on my shoulder and I looked back: Fang.

"You all right?" he asked, one eyebrow raised over one dark, inquisitive eye.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Just beat."

"And worried?" he guessed.

Dang it, why'd he have to know me so well? I shrugged, trying to play it off. "Why would I be worried? We're all here, we're all safe."

His eyes flicked momentarily to Spark, who looked like she was joking and messing around with Iggy. But it only took a few seconds' study to know her heart really wasn't in it.

"Spark's been weird today," Fang said finally. "It's kinda freaking me out, so I know you're freaked, too."

I bit my lip. "I'm not freaked, exactly, just. . .I dunno. Wondering why she's so quiet."

"If you want to know what's bugging her, just ask."

"Uh, don't think so," I said automatically, and Fang gave me a funny look. I shook my head. "Last time I tried to talk to her, she just. . .ugh. She doesn't like being asked about stuff."

"Maybe you need to try asking in a different way," he suggested.

I shot him a quizzical look, but he just shrugged and went off after the flock.

"Sparky!"

I jerked out of my semi-trance at the sound of my favorite talking dog's voice. I stopped in the doorway of Dr. Martinez's hotel room and looked down. Just in time, too-Total leaped and I just barely caught him, laughing as he attacked my cheeks with his tongue.

I laughed, lifting him up and kissing his head. "Hey, Totally! Haw, man, I missed ya, buddy!"

"What the heck happened to you guys?" he demanded, bracing his paws on my chest so he could look me straight in the eye. "I circled around to try to find Max, but after I couldn't find her I came back to find you all had disappeared on me!"

My grin faded and I shifted him into one arm. "Sorry, Total," I said quietly, scratching his head. "Shit went down and Itex had us take a detour."

"Hey," said a scratchy, more-familiar-than-my-own voice. "I thought we taught you better than that, Nik."

Once again I stopped, much to the annoyance of Max and Fang, who were behind me. Only this time, I wasn't stopped to catch an overjoyed talking Scottie; I was frozen in pure shock. I turned to stare blankly at the man standing by the window. Average height, brown hair, brown eyes, mustache. A bit of a belly, but it didn't detract from his appearance. He looked like a well-off businessman.

But he wasn't that. Not entirely. He was a manager, a director of nursing, all the way over in Denver. He was a bowler, and a golfer, and a family man. A husband. A father.

My father.

Tears pooled in my eyes, threatening to spill if I even blinked.

"D. . .Dad?" I croaked.

He just stood there, looking at me like he couldn't believe I was real. I could feel everyone's eyes flicking between us, like they were following a high-speed tennis match, but neither I nor my dad moved for a good two minutes or so. Then, all of a sudden, he lurched into motion and crossed the room in three steps. Enveloping me in a bear-hug that practically suffocated me, he just held me tight, almost like he was afraid I would disappear. And I just stood there like an idiot, blinking like I'd just woken up.

And surprisingly, those tears I thought would fall had disappeared. Pain cramped my arm and I flinched.

A muffled voice cried, "I'm dying down here! Hello!"

"Dad," I said into his shoulder. "Dad, you're crushing me. And Total."

In a second he was gone, standing back at a respectable distance.

"Oh." My dad sniffed, and I stared, realizing his eyes were teary. "Sorry, uh, Total. Forgot she had ya for a second."

"Hmph!" Total snubbed Dad, turning around in my arms, one of which bore new puncture wounds. "Sure."

Dad looked up at me and smiled. "Wow," he said, shaking his head. He passed a hand over his face, chuckling once. "You've. . .oh, wow. Nik, you're. . .alive."

"Y-yeah," I stuttered. "I'm fine. Just. . .fine."

I dimly heard Max's mom explain to the others how my dad had gotten here-someone at his work had showed him the CSM website, upon which was a picture of us bird-kids. Of course, he'd recognized me instantly, and called Dr. M, who had invited him down to Florida to meet us. The rest of the family was home in Colorado, and he'd just come to take me back.

That got my attention.

I blinked, looking over at Max's mom. "Wait, what?"

"We're going home, Nik," Dad said, and I looked at him. I saw his eyes were filled with such happiness that I found I couldn't hold his gaze; I looked down and petted Total, my face burning.

"Dad. . ." I began, but my voice cracked. I cleared my throat and took a steadying breath. "Dad, I saw the news clip. The police supposedly found my body, right? I'm dead."

"I don't know how they did that, Nicole, but it doesn't matter," he replied, shaking his head. I glanced up through my hair and noticed his eyes were moist, and that only made it worse. Dad never cried. "You're alive. You can come home, we can work it out. You have no idea how much we've missed you."

I opened my mouth to say that I did know, but then I realized something.

As awful as it sounds, I hadn't missed them nearly as much as they must have missed me.

So I said, "You're right. I don't."

I took a step toward one of the beds and set Total down upon it. Then, without another word, I left the room and loosed myself into the hallways of one of Miami's Best Westerns.

At first I strode along at a very quick, controlled pace. But then I heard a door open and panicked.

I ran.

Down the hall, hang a left. Rip open a door, rush downstairs. Turn right, run, nearly collide with a bewildered Puerto Rican maid. Back up the stairs, three flights this time. Zip through the halls, dodge a bellhop, down six floors.

Run, run, run, as fast as you can. . .

I didn't think. I didn't want to think. I just focused on one foot in front of the other, on not running into anything or anybody. Soon I lost track of what floor I was on, how far away I was from the room, how long I'd been gone. I slowed down some and spotted a door bearing a sign reading "ROOF ACCESS." I guessed I might as well, and had the lock picked in a second.

When I opened the door up onto the roof, I just stopped there and closed my eyes, reveling in the cool, refreshing breeze. I'd started feeling unnaturally warm, maybe from running, maybe from something else. I wanted to think it was the former, but I knew it was probably the latter.

I kicked off a shoe and left it in the crack of the door to prop it open. Wandering over to the edge of the building, my eyes raked over Miami sprawled out beneath me. Fancy cars raced through the streets, and fashionable tourists waltzed along the sidewalks. Cars driven by humans. Human tourists. All normal people, with normal lives.

Unless Michael Weston was down there, wandering around and blowing up drug dealers or whatever the hell it was he did as a fictional burned spy.

I hunched over the roof's ledge, resting my chin on my crossed arms. Miami wasn't as cluttered or close-together as Chicago. And it was a million times bigger than Monument.

God, Monument. My little second hometown. With its lightly curving roads and its kid-friendly suburbs. Where everyone goes to one of four elementary schools, one of two middle schools, and a single high school. The kinda place where everybody knows everybody. My heart ached for it, for the normalcy of it. My friends were there, and my family. My friends thought I was dead; my family had no idea what had really happened to me.

God, I missed them. Or at least, I would claim that I did.

But I was loving life with the flock. These kids were exactly like me, and for the first time I felt like I didn't have to lie to be accepted. Iggy, Angel, Total, Nudge, the Gasman, Fang, Max. They'd changed my life, and would probably keep changing it every day. Because of them, I'd met some really amazing people (and some not-so-amazing, but ya know. With the good comes the bad). If I ever had to leave them, I don't know how I'd stand it. They were like a family.

I felt very contradictory at the moment. I wanted my old life back, I wanted to stay on the run. I wanted this, I wanted that. I wanted both. I wanted neither.

I groaned and buried my face in my arms. I had no idea what the hell was going on anymore. Itex was done, God willing. Max wanted to help her mom with all the CSM stuff, and the flock wanted what Max wanted (most of the time). And me? I just wanted what was fun; and if neither was fun, then I wanted what was easy. I'd always been like that-lazy to my very core. But I wasn't exactly sure which life was easier anymore.

I heard a light scuffing noise from behind me.

"You better've left my shoe in the door," I said loudly, my voice muffled by my sleeves. "I don't wanna have to fly down and go back in the front."

"I, uh, did," said Max's voice. Here we go. "And Spark? I think we need to talk."

Oh really now? Why am I not surprised? I thought bitterly.

Now, despite our past differences, I didn't have anything against Max (or at least, not much). But I did not want to talk to anyone right now. Least of all a girl. Because unlike the males I've met over the years, the females try to tell me exactly what I should feel and exactly how I should act according to those feelings. But I didn't want logic. I just needed to think it all through on my own. By myself. Hence the running away to the roof all by myself.

"Spark. . ." Max's footsteps neared until I sensed her standing beside me. Her voice was quieter, gentler as she said, "If you want to go home, you can. We won't stop you."

No. Stop me. Please, stop me.

"We finished Itex in London," she added, trying to sound positive. "Nudge looked it up online-they're declaring bankruptcy."

Don't care, don't care. I don't want to go yet. I don't want to go back to waiting for a better tomorrow. I want to keep doing things to make for a better today.

Huh. Maybe she was helping. Because, for what might have been the first time in my life, I found myself thinking, Con was right.

(Well, there was a lot of cussing out in that, too, but that was the basic underlying thought.)

All that stuff he'd been saying last night. He'd been right. I couldn't just go back home like nothing had happened. Ha! How the hell could I be entertained by burning salts in Chemistry class when I'd freaking blasted a wall out of a building using my own (granted, amplified) power? It'd be even worse than before. I'd had a taste of adventure, of excitement. I was different. Like hell I wasn't. I'd die of boredom if Dad made me go back.

Listen to me, I thought wryly. If he makes me. Home's not the favorable option anymore.

"Spark?" Max ventured warily.

If she'd been talking before that, I hadn't listened. I neglected to inform her of that; she'd probably only get mad. After a pause, I finally lifted my head, screwing up my eyes against the sudden glare of the Florida sun.

"Yeah," I said. "Spark. That's me, Max. That's who I am now."

I heard her shift. "Um. . ."

"I'm Spark, the freaky flying bird kid," I stated bluntly. My eyes suddenly started burning, and I cleared my voice in a vain attempt to steady it. "I. . .I'm not Nicole Ackerly anymore. And I can't go back to being her, Max, I just can't. I don't want to hide who I am anymore. I want to be part of the flock. I've been more myself with you guys than I ever was back home. Besides-everyone there thinks I'm dead. It. . .I think it's better than I'm here, instead of home. I don't have to follow any rules, and I don't have to pretend to be somebody I'm not, and, and I've never had more fun just living. I can't go back, I just can't, don't make me. I'm not normal, I don't want to go back, I can't, please, don't make me, don't, don't, don't. . ."

And now I was crying.

Shit.

I don't know how long Max just let me stand there and weep like some confused, stressed-out teenage girl. Which, I realized, I was now. Which was just so fantabulous, you know. Especially for me. Because, like, that's what I'd always strived to be as a child. A messed-up teenager. Hell yeah, life's ambition: accomplished. I could die happy now. Oh, pure, unadulterated joy!

Layin' the sarcasm on thick now, are we? I asked myself. Woo! Just all over the place today.

I swiped my sleeves across my eyes one last time and straightened up in one quick motion. Quick note: no matter what people try to tell ya, crying actually does help. Sometimes. It sorta gives you a refreshed feeling afterward, like, okay, got that over with, now let's do some work.

I took a deep breath and blinked. There was still some moisture on my eyelashes-I could feel it. But I ignored it and looked at Max.

"Tell anyone I cried and die," I said, careful to keep a straight face. "Got that?"

Max hesitated. I'd probably freaked her out just now, so I winked to let her know I was better. She cracked a smirk. "Got it."

We leaned over the roof's ledge again, and for once, Max let me be for a bit. Then she asked, "So. What're you gonna do, Spark?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. Don't want to go back, don't want my family to miss me."

"Well, like I said, we won't stop you if you want to go home," Max told me gently. "But. . .I have to say the kids would miss you if you left."

"I'd miss them too," I admitted. "And Iggy, and Fang, and you. Oh, and Total. Especially Total."

Max let out a laugh. "Oh, yeah, I don't know how we survived without him."

I smiled, rubbing the back of my neck. "You know Con asked me to go with him."

I don't know what had made me drop that bomb. I hardly wanted to remember it, let alone broadcast it to the world. But I guess I owed Max some things. More respect, for one thing, as flock leader, and just as an all-around person. I'd just been thrown into the mix two months ago-she'd been living this shit her whole life. She did so much to keep the flock together and functioning on at least some level of normal, and all I'd ever done was goof around and make jokes. Maybe I had been a little too crazy on her.

"That what happened when you went after him last night?" she asked after a pause.

"Yeah," I said simply. "I said maybe we should think about the joining up, and he just randomly kinda asked me to join his flock."

"And what'd you say?"

"I said there was no way I was leaving you guys," I said with a shrug. "He got pissed, and I got pissed, and we just. . .bleh. Said mean shit to each other, sorta blew each other off, and next morning he was gone." I shrugged again. "Whatever. He's a jackass anyway, so I don't care. One less option. God knows I don't need another one right now."

"Speaking of options," Max said, half-turning towards me. I looked at her apprehensively. What now? "Why did you call Sy the other day?"

My collar started getting warm again. "What's it to you?"

"I just wondered," she replied quickly, like she was afraid I'd freak out and start bawling again. "Especially since you didn't want us to know, and got really mad when Blaze told. . ."

"I just hate it when people rag me about being girly," I sighed. I smirked and added, "In case you hadn't noticed, it doesn't happen very often."

She snickered. "Doesn't happen to me much, either."

"And then the one time you break tempo, you never live it down!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air. "I hate it! Which is why I hate Blaze for bringing up my calling Sy! She just had to throw it in my face!"

"There's nothing wrong with being girly," Max said, but she didn't sound a hundred percent certain on that. "Were you just checking up on him?"

"Yeah," I replied. I hesitated, but decided she'd probably ask about that last thing I'd said to him. "And. . .what I said to him, that Blaze didn't know what it meant. . ."

"Home in three days," she finished. "What was that about, then?"

"I didn't mean my home, exactly," I said haltingly, pondering my word choice. "I meant. . .well, his dad was some Australian dude, and we were going to Australia, so I guess, um, I wanted him to just hook up with us there, and. . ." I stopped as Max snorted. "What?"

"Blaze was right," she said, sounding like she was trying not to laugh. "It is a hook-up!" Max laughed outright and I scowled, waiting impatiently for her to finish.

"It is not," I snapped. "He's my best friend and I just prefer that he be around me instead of running around doing God knows what!"

"Just your best friend?" she teased.

"Like Fang's yours?" I sneered back. Her face shut down, and I felt a little guilty. "Guess we've both got issues, huh? Your thing with Fang just being complicated, and my. . .reluctance to confirm anything with Sy." I twinged just from saying it.

"You're a private person," Max said reasonably. "I get that now. Wish I could be, but it's harder when the only people you know are family."

"And family's kinda like Mafia," I said, only half-joking. "Once you're in, you ain't gettin' out. Nobody knows nothin' but they all know somethin'."

"Or everything," Max said glumly.

I nodded. "Or everything."

There was another companionable silence before Max asked, "Like your family?"

"Hm?" I'd zoned out there for a second.

"Don't they know everything?"

I shrugged. "Only the immediate. And Cody and Beck found out when we were little, apparently." I rolled my eyes. Add Taj and Sister Katherine to that list, too-the list of people I didn't know knew about my wings.

"So that's what you meant when you said you didn't want to pretend to be somebody you weren't," Max said. "You don't want to pretend to be human when you're not."

"Kinda. I mean, I am Nikki Ackerly; I grew up as her, and those files Con had on us said I actually was. But I'm also Spark. I was her before I ran away, and I'm her now." I lifted my hands, holding them like a scale. "And the difference is the fact that I have wings. Secret and unusable when Nik, fact and functional when Spark. Friends who think I'm human, friends who know I'm a freak." I shrugged, dropping the scale. "They're just two separate lifestyles that I can't live at the same time. Especially with that thing Itex pulled."

"With the human clone?"

"Yeah. And since it is dead, the Nik lifestyle is also dead," I said. In a mutter I added, "Or at least, it should be."

"You can't just leave all that behind so easily," Max said indignantly. I turned to her and she gave me a hard look. "Spark, that was your life. The vast majority of it, too. If you want to keep being Spark, then you owe your dad an explanation as to why."

"He won't get it," I protested. "He'll only hear that I don't want to go home, and he'll get all pissed and we'll fight. I'll probably end up blowing him off and running again, which'll only make it all worse."

"Spark. He's your dad. In all ways possible. He'll understand."

"Not all parents are as great as your mom, Max," I told her, shaking my head. "All my dad's ever known about this is that I'm the adopted one with wings. I'm his and Mom's 'secret angel.' " I rolled my eyes. "They think that since I'm their kid, they can control me. And up till this whole thing started, they pretty much did."

Max's eyes narrowed and I quickly amended myself. "Not that it was always bad! It was mostly a good thing. Like, I had a home, and clothes, everything I needed, and a lot of what I wanted. They're good parents. But when it comes to any of us doing something not their way or that they don't like, it's like, 'Gird your loins, they're unleashing the beast!' "

Max snorted and I went on. "These past two months with you guys have rocked. Well, not the dangerous stuff so much, but the other stuff. Like, not having to go to school. Flying around all day. Just. . .being who we are. No rules, no problem." I groaned suddenly, dropping my head into my hand. "Oh, God, Con was right. I would not be able to handle being told what to do again. I don't think I can go back."

Max was quiet awhile, then turned to me. "Let's make a deal."

"Excuse me?" I asked, looking up at her with my eyebrow raised.

"You stay with us for a while," she said. I kept watching warily and she went on. "A lot's happened lately, and I don't think your mind's caught up to all the change just yet. So you hang with us until things cool down, and then you try out the home life again."

"And?" I prompted. "What happens after that?" Because there had to be a second part to that.

Max smiled. "And if the family life doesn't work out, I will personally bust you out and haul your ass back to the flock."

I smirked, then raised my hand. "You got yourself a deal, chickadee."

"All right." Max slapped the high five and grinned. "Ready to head back?"

I heaved a breath and nodded.

I was ready to face my dad.

Max and I kinda hauled ass back to the hotel room. If I knew Dad, he'd only get more pissed the longer I kept him waiting, and I wanted to catch him before he got to the point where he just sulked and responded with one-syllable answers.

"He just stared at the door when you walked out," Max told me as we ran. "We all did. Then he started, like, freaking out, tried to go after you, but Mom talked him down. Iggy wanted to come after you, but, well, he's blind, and he doesn't know this place, so I came instead."

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Thanks for that. Which room were we?"

"Um, 412," she responded. I nodded again.

Ironic, that, I thought to myself. Home catches up with me in the room that's the same number as my address.

We made it back in under ten minutes. Max had a key card, so she went in first, but I was right behind her.

I glanced around and spotted him. "Dad-"

"Dammit, Nikki, you can't just go running off like that!" Dad snapped at me, rising from the table in the corner. I stopped mid-step and blinked at him, and guilt passed over his expression. "I'm sorry. It's just. . .I thought you'd left me again. Don't go pullin' shit like that."

That last part ticked me off some. I could take care of myself; I didn't need him reprimanding me. He liked to do that, and whenever he did I felt like a little kid all over again, with him yelling at me for not being good. "Nikki, stay here!" "Nikki, be careful with your brother!" "Nikki, quit doin' that!"

My fists clenched, my apologetic attitude dimming. I was not a kid anymore. I hadn't been for long time.

"Dad," I began, but he cut me off.

"I mean, I just had a freak-out just now, and your friends here weren't tellin' me anything!"

"Dad."

"Like, who are these people, Nik?" he ranted. "Just who have you been hanging out with? And why the hell didn't you call home?"

"Dad, I-"

"Pay phones! Borrow a cell phone! Hell, shoot me an email! Anything, just to tell us where you are, that you're alive, for God's sake!"

The marks on my palms from last night cracked open again and I winced. Thin skin on my hands, huh?

"DAD," I said loudly, and he stopped to glare at me. "Can I talk for like a second, please?"

"What?" he said grumpily. I just knew he'd react this way.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, you keep asking questions, but you're not giving me a chance to answer. So can I answer, please?"

"Fine. What d'you want to say?"

I took a breath and looked him in the eye. "Back at Dominick's two months ago, you told me to fly home and not stop. But my stitches ripped open on the way, so I had to stop. And when I stopped, I ran into these guys." I waved my arm around the room to indicate the flock. "They're like me, Dad. And you have no idea how much being with them has changed me."

And I proceeded to tell him what had happened since I'd lit out for home. Not all of it, of course. God no. He'd have a heart attack. But I told him the abridged version, and left it at that. The whole time, he was unexpectedly yet respectably quiet. But I had a hunch he wouldn't be so quiet when I got to the part about where I wanted to stay with these guys. Everyone else was quiet, too, until I finished telling the story and my dad said:

"Nik, maybe we should go out into the hall." He stepped forward, hand raised so he could guide me.

My hands started bleeding anew. "No. We're going to stay in here, with the flock."

"No, Sp-Nicole, really. We can go," said Dr. Martinez, rising from her chair. "We'll leave you and your father alone."

"Please sit down, Dr. M," I said firmly. "I want you all to stay."

I took a steadying breath and looked at my dad. Well, here it goes. "Dad, I'm going to keep hanging out with the flock for a while."

His eyebrows went up in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"I. . .I can't go home yet," I said. "There's still stuff I have to do for CSM, for Max and the flock. And. . .Max is helping me, Dad. She is. You and Mom were always so worried about me, how I'm so lazy I'd never leave the house and have a life. Thing is, as much as you want me back home, I'm learning what you wanted me to learn by being here. I'm learning how to step up and take control of my life. And that's what I'm doing now."

Dad's face was just kinda blank now, and I couldn't tell if he was angry, sad, shocked, or what. I just took another breath and went on. "I am not going home with you today. Itex only just went bankrupt, and there's bound to be aftereffects. I'm going to see this thing out to the end, and when things cool down, that's when I'll come home. If I end up missing the rest of the school year, so be it. I'll take summer classes, catch up online. But I'll only do that after I'm done with this. Can you deal with that?"

He kept that neutral expression on his face and stared at me for a while. Then he just scoffed and shook his head. "What happened to ya, Nik? You used to be a kid."

I felt my eyes narrow. What was that supposed to mean? Was he. . .did he understand? Was Max right?

Dad shrugged. "Not much I'll be able to do, is there? You're already here. You're used to running now. I try to drag you home and you'll only turn right around and come back, right?"

"But. . ." I thought to him I'd be sounding so unreasonable. Was he really understanding, or. . .?

"It's not like we have much control over you anyway," he said dryly. "You're not our real daughter, you're not our blood. Technically you don't owe us anything."

I stopped like I'd been slapped. You're not our real daughter. That hurt me. Literally stumped me speechless. How could he say that? While that was true (as far as he was aware), he had never said anything so cruel to me. Neither had Mom, or Kenny, or even Jeremy. Idiots at school had before, but they didn't matter. My dad, on the other hand, did matter. How could he say that?

"D-Dad, I. . ." My voice broke and I trailed off, at a loss for words.

There was a clatter, but my eyes had blurred over so much I couldn't see what'd happened.

"Mr. Ackerly, I think you should leave now."

I blinked the tears away and I looked around. Dr. Martinez?

She'd stood up so fast her chair had fallen over to the floor, and now she was glaring at my dad like she'd just heard him say he drowned kittens and blind puppies. There was a fire in her eyes that surprised me. Fiercely, she said, "As Max's mother, I completely understand your feelings of worry and heartbreak when you don't know where your daughter is. I myself have felt those feelings from time to time. But Spark is your daughter despite her genetics. From what Max has told me, you adopted and raised Spark since she was very young, and I'm sure she is eternally grateful to you for that. But she does not deserve to hear the awful thing you just said to her, and you had no right to say it, either. So I ask that you leave my hotel room now, and preferably go back to your home in Colorado."

The tears came back as I registered the emotion behind her words. She wasn't even my mom, and here she was standing up for me. I just. . .she was probably one of the most wonderful, loving people I'd ever met. I envied Max in having her as a mother.

My dad didn't seem to think the same as me, though. He glared at her and spat, "Nicole is my daughter, Doctor, and I'd appreciate if you didn't try to interfere with our family. But yeah, I'll leave." He grabbed me by the wrist and started pulling me toward the door. "C'mon, Nik."

I resisted, bracing my feet against the floor. "No, Dad. I said I'm staying here."

"No, you're comin' with me," he snapped back, his grip tightening. "Home. Now."

He had maybe ninety pounds on me, so when he yanked, I staggered forward, wincing from the intensity of his hand around my wrist. I saw Max and even Fang tense up, and Iggy half-rose from his chair.

"Dad!" I yelled, digging my fingernails into his hand. He swore and let go of me, cradling his injury and staring at me like I'd shot at him. But I did not feel at all bad about it. "Quit it! Now shut up and listen to me, dammit!"

He said nothing, so I just stood my ground and spoke what was on my mind.

"I have taken too much crap from adults I don't even know, and I will not take it from you," I said fiercely. "Now, as much as I hate to say it, I can not go home yet. If I go home and just start going back to the daily grind all at once, then I'll go insane. I just know it. People have been chasing after me and trying to kill me, and I just can't stop functioning on adrenaline. So I have to take some time to get used to not having people chasing me all the time. I need to ease off the action and excitement, and once that's happened, I'll come home."

The room was dead quiet for what felt like a long time. But Dad finally broke it, speaking in a careful, even tone.

"Fine then," he said with a shrug. "Do whatever the hell you want. See ya whenever."

And with that he turned on his heel and strode out the door.

It got quiet again, with only Total moving to get off a bed and come over to sniff at my feet. I let out a heavy sigh and crouched down to scratch head. The flock watched me for about two minutes, until Iggy said, "Okay, I'm dying over here. Are you okay, Spark?"

I managed to crack a smirk. "Yeah, Ig. I'm fine."

"So you're stayin' with us?" Fang asked coolly, looking out the window.

"For now," I replied, shrugging a shoulder. "I'll have to go back eventually. Just because my dad's being a jackass doesn't mean the rest of 'em don't want me back. And I owe my cousins a story, too, so I'll have to swing back by them sometime soon."

"When's this 'eventually' going to take place?"

"That doesn't matter," Max said, and everyone looked at her. I sent her a grateful smile and she returned the gesture. "For now, we're just going to do what we came here to do." Turning to her mother, she asked, "We have tickets to Australia, right?"

"Spark, I'm so sorry," Dr. M said, ignoring her daughter and looking straight at me. I blinked in surprise when I saw tears in her eyes. "I didn't mean to disrespect your father like that, I didn't mean to make him so angry, I-"

"Oh, no!" I raised my hands defensively. "No, Dr. Martinez, please. I need to thank you for that."

She looked hopelessly puzzled. "But. . ."

"Sometimes my dad just loses it," I explained. "Usually it's my mom who has to cool him out, so thanks for taking her place. Really. Thank you."

"You're. . .you're welcome," she said, sounding startled. "But. . .are you really sure?"

"Yes, I am," I replied sincerely. "And he'll regret saying it later, I'm sure of it. He always does."

And he really will, I added forcefully in my head. Itex may be bankrupt but I still have strings I can pull. I'll get those files on us, and I'll prove to him we're related. Nudge is great with computers. She'll get it if I can get her an in.

Swift was good with electronics too, I knew. But I didn't have him at my disposal anymore. I shook my head to rid it of the sudden onslaught of memories from the darkening Norwegian beach. Forget about that.

"So. Australia, then?" I asked, looking round at the flock. "Where're we goin' first?"

"Oh." Max's mom blinked and turned around, searching for her Blackberry. Finding it, she opened up some type of document and rattled off our schedule. When she mentioned Sydney, I lit up.

"Sydney! Oh, awesome!"

"Why is Sydney awesome?" Total asked curiously, snuffling at my hand.

"Uh, it's just beyond the EAC," I said with a duh kind of tone. "Which I plan to ride. With the surfer turtles, dude! Nice!"

Everyone turned to stare at me and I put on an innocent look. "What?"