Heeeey, I'm actually updating before bedtime today! I'm so proud of myself. XD Of course, I'm supposed to be learning Spanish verbs and doing math homework right now, but oh well; progress is progress.

Hmmm… a shorter chapter today. Should I post a second one? Maybe.

26 - Reunion

Since they were going by air instead of land, Iggy and Nina arrived in the West quickly. They were distraught when they discovered that the apartment where the rest of the Flock lived had been broken into and ransacked—a young, blonde mutant girl had been arrested, a neighbor gossiped—but they kept hope that Lex, Hunt, Nudge, and Gazzy were still free. Iggy rationalized that if they were trying to stay hidden, they would have headed towards the mountains, where there were fewer people and they'd be harder to find.

On Thursday Nina spotted Gazzy in a small mountain town, rummaging through a dumpster bin for food.

"Iggy!" he exclaimed, jumping out of the dumpster and rushing his best friend. Iggy nearly lost his balance, but he laughed heartily and hugged Gazzy back. "I'm so glad you're here," he told them, "Nudge and I don't know what to do."

"Nudge is here?" Iggy asked, perking up as if he was listening for her.

Gazzy nodded, and continued, "She's just outside of town. We've been trying to keep a low profile while we plan our next course of action, and, you know, she hates dumpster diving." He smirked.

"We should get out of here before we stop and talk," Nina pointed out.

Iggy nodded. "She's right. Let's go find Nudge, and then we can exchange stories."

When the group was reunited with Nudge, who had set up camp on a mountain ledge outside of town, she was ecstatic when she saw that Iggy and Nina were there. "You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!" Nudge exclaimed to Nina, giving her a huge hug. "But what are you two doing here? How did you find us?"

Iggy and Nina described what had happened to Ella and why they had decided to head West.

"Oh, Iggy," Nudge sympathized, "I'm so sorry."

"That's pretty bad," Gazzy agreed.

Iggy nodded, the raw pain still visible in both his and Nina's faces. "We have to find her," he said adamantly, "the CSM will fall apart without Ella. They've probably held her for questioning, so I'm hoping we can break her out before they have a chance to stick her in the 'Works."

"But what about you guys?" Nina asked, changing subjects, "We know the Collectors got Angel, but how about Lex and Hunt?" She hadn't stopped wondering about them ever since she found out that Nudge and Gazzy were alone—no, before that; since last week, when they should have gotten word of their safe arrival but didn't. Where were they? Were they alright? Had they even made it to the West?

"They arrived at our apartment the same day the bounty hunters set the Collectors on us," Nudge explained, grimacing slightly, "they were pretty roughed up from a transporter wreck that killed their driver, but they were alive and walking." She glazed over slightly as a fond thought came to mind. "It was so nice finally meeting Hunt, after hearing so much about him in your emails. And Lex—I'm still amazed that Max was pregnant and we never knew!–she's such a nice girl, and she's looks so much like Max and Fang."

"Nudge, you're getting off-topic." Gazzy mentioned.

"Oh, sorry," Nudge blushed, "but I still need to tell them about Lex's power."

"She told me that she was really good with languages and accents," Nina remembered. Intensely lucky girl, she'd thought when Lex told her.

"Yes, but she has a new power that showed up right after the crash. It allows her to interface with plugs and computers somehow, by sending electricity between her and the machine." Nudge grinned, "She puts my hacking skills to shame."

"So anyways," the Gasman pressed on, "A friend of mine turned out to be a bounty hunter and she—"

"She, Gazzy?" Iggy raised his eyebrows.

Gazzy ignored Iggy's implications and continued, "She knocked me out, tied me up and put me in the basement," he tenderly fingered the fading scar on his forehead that was once a gash, "but I escaped and warned the others. Angel stayed behind to distract them while the rest of us escaped."

He went on to explain how they had broken into the Gallery, but that somehow the alarms re-engaged and alerted a compound of Collectors that was stationed close to the main building. "The lights went on and buzzers started going off, and we all panicked and started running. We lost track of Lex, so I don't know what happened to her, but Nudge and I managed to dodge the Collectors, get back outside, and take off before they had a chance to grab us."

"And Hunt?" Nina's fists closed anxiously, even though she already knew what the Gasman was going to say.

"They got him," he told her, an apologetic expression on his face, "We followed the transporter that took him away. They've taken him to a small processing camp called the Luna Niña Processing Center, about two hours away from here."

Iggy grimaced, displeased with the news. "If Ella wasn't holed up herself she'd have my head for this," he grumbled, before asking, "And you have no idea what happened to Lex?"

"We didn't even see her," Nudge relayed, "The last time we heard from her was when we were in the Gallery, trying to navigate in the dark. She complained about a sharp pain in her side, and then suddenly the power came back on and we started running. It took us a few moments to realize Lex wasn't running with us."

"A sharp pain?" Nina remarked, "Like a cramp?"

"Or a needle," Iggy scowled. "Gazzy, what exactly is the Gallery?"

"I didn't get a good look," he replied, "but the wall seemed to be lined with tanks. Big tanks full of green gel, like what they use to keep people alive in the Citadel."

"But who—or what—was in them?"

Gazzy grimaced, and answered, "Experiments, I think. Like I said, I didn't get a good look. Some of them almost looked like normal people, but then others…" he trailed off. "Others looked like they could have been fresh from the School."

"It was like a museum of mutants," Nudge described.

"Then my guess is that Lex is still in the building." Iggy was silent for a while, processing all the new details inside his head. Then he decided, "We're breaking them out."

"Lex and Hunt?" Nudge asked.

Nodding, Iggy reminded them, "You said that Luna Niña is small, and out here in the mountains there won't be much in the way of backup. I say we get Hunt out first, and then focus our efforts on breaking into the Gallery. Gazzy, what day were they both captured?"

"Last Friday, I think."

"Then we'd better hope that nothing's happened to them in the meantime—if someone figured out that Hunt lives with me and Ella, he'll be in a world of interrogative hurt right now, and heaven knows what they're doing to Lex." The expression on Iggy's face was grim at first, but soon it turned to one of scheming and mischief. Oh boy, Nina thought—she knew what that expression meant. "Hey Gazzy, when was the last time you built a bomb?"

"An eternity ago," Gazzy lamented, "Nudge is even stricter than Max when it comes to explosives." Nudge gave him a stern look.

"Fortunately for you," Iggy told him, "I happen to have a potent stash of supplies in my backpack." He grinned devilishly and patted Gazzy on the back. "This, my friend, is going to be fun."