I apologize to you all, I know that this isn't quite when I said it would be, but I had to work late yesterday. Today is my day off though, so here you go. Enjoy.

WHEN I WAS JUST TWO YEARS OLD I LEFT MY LIPS OUT IN THE COLD...

Max POV

The next three weeks passed without incident. The Demons were quiet and we didn't have any more problems with them and Fang, staying true to his word, was working his way up the ranks, almost as fast as I had. He was already a rank higher than he used to be. Still low, but not as low.

Sarah had refused to leave either my or Fang's side for the whole time, she was always attached to one of us. I personally had no problem with this, I hadn't really been getting to spend much time with her. What can I say? I missed my kid. I know it sounds kind of odd coming from Maximum Ride, but I thoroughly enjoyed being a mom.

Every Friday, the three of us would go out for a fly, and sometimes the Flock would join us. Speaking of which, Gazzy and Angel had become impossibly close, practically glued together at the hip. I could understand that, they were making up for lost time. Iggy and Nudge were almost always holed up in one of their rooms, or down in the kitchen cooking. I swear Nudge wanted to kill the oven for stealing Iggy's attention sometimes.

I had no worries of what they were doing in their rooms. I had actually asked Nudge about it, to which she blushed and said that she wasn't ready for that and probably wouldn't be for quite a while. There ensued a very awkward game of twenty questions including things like, "What's it like? Does it hurt? Does it really feel as good as they say?" and the icing on the cake, "How often do you and Fang do it? Is he good?" It was made even worse by the fact that this just sent my mind straight to the gutter. I answered these questions with, "Well, not that I have anything to compare it to, but yes, I think Fang is pretty good." and, "Want to go get some cookies?"

My only real concern was Itex. We hadn't heard from them since the night they broke in, and that worried me. Why would they break in, try to kill me, leave us with an ominous message, and then disappear? It just didn't make sense, and I had a sick feeling that something bad was going to happen. Things had been too quiet, from both Itex and the Demons.

My musings were interrupted when Rico walked through my office door. His gaze went from me, uncapped pen in hand, to the stack of papers next to me that hadn't changed much. "Have you gotten anything done?"

I glared at him, "What are you, my boss? And yes, I have gotten a few things done, thank you very much." I pointed to the much smaller stack of papers to my right.

"Right. So are you going to explain to me why you are just sitting here staring at nothing?"

I sighed, "Its just been to quiet. The Demons raided our house three weeks ago, and we haven't heard from them since. Carson never even contacted me about the member of his gang that was killed. Its just...weird."

"Max, maybe you just need to accept the fact that there are times of peace. There are times when there doesn't have to be something wrong."

"I know that. But thats not just it. Why would Itex come back, just to disappear again? Something is going to happen, I can just feel it."

Rico sighed and came to stand right in front of me, "Max, you need to relax and stop being so paranoid. Fang and Sarah are in her room watching a movie. Why don't you go join them? Save all of this work for tomorrow?"

"I might just do that." I rubbed my temples, "God, I've got a headache." I murmured.

"So take some Tylenol and go relax."

I didn't answer, for my headache had just gotten worse. I squeezed my mouth shut and closed my eyes, trying to will it away, but it just got worse.

"Max? Are you all right?" Rico's voice was distant, but at the same time it was like a sledge hammer to my brain. I went from rubbing my temples to clutching my head as I gritted my teeth together.

No, this can't be happening. I have had a headache like this in over six years...

The pain intensified even more and I felt hot tears begin to run down my face as I cried out. I could distantly hear Rico trying to help me. I think I had fallen out of my chair at some point.

"Rico... get Fang..." And then my brain exploded, and all went dark.

AND THEY TURNED BLUE, WHAT COULD I DO?...

Nudge POV

I laid there, my head resting on Iggy's chest, completely content. The past three weeks had been heaven on earth. Not only was the Flock back together and everything peaceful, but I had Iggy. Currently, we were just laying on his bed listening to music, nothing more. It was actually kind of nice to just sit quietly.

The only problem with this whole situation was the Kitchen. Stupid Kitchen. Iggy was practically in love with it, one of his favorite things to do was to just go down and cook. I had no problem with that since I liked to help him, but that damn oven. With its stainless steel exterior and burners. Iggy was always going on about that stupid oven and how it was electric powered and was a double, so he could bake two cakes at once if wanted. I'll show that oven baking two cakes...

"Hey Nudge?" Iggy shifted a bit.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you mumbling about the oven?"

"Umm... I'm not. You just must be hearing things Ig." I blushed. I hate it when I do that.

"Right, whatever you say babe."

We were silent for a few more minutes until a new thought occurred to me. It was now August 3rd, and Angel and I were only here until the 25th before we had to go home. "Hey Ig?" I whispered.

"What is it?" he asked, sitting up when he detected the hint of sadness in my voice.

"What are we going to do? You know, when I have to go back to my parent's house?"

Sadness washed over his face, "I don't know Nudge. I don't think that your parents would really appreciate it if you brought your boyfriend back to live with you."

"Well, what if we don't tell them? We could act like it happened after you moved in." I was now fighting tears, "I don't want you to leave again." I whispered.

"Oh Nudge," he wrapped his arms around me and held me close, burying his face into my hair. I could hear his own tears in his voice, "I will never, ever leave you again. I promise."

I smiled softly and reached up to kiss him softly. We just sat there holding each other for a while, lost in our own thoughts. "Hey Iggy?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

He smiled big and kissed me again, "I love you too Nudge."

Cue Make out session.

I don't know how much later is was when we were interrupted my a scream echoing throughout the house. "Was that...?"

"Max." Iggy whispered.

We shot up and ran into the hall to find Fang already moving toward Max's room, Rico hot on his heals.

"Fang, what's..." I started, but he cut me off.

"Brain Attack."

AND THEY TURNED BLUE WHAT COULD YOU DO? AND THEY TURNED BLUE...

Well, tur-duh! Still kinda short, but much sooner than I have been updating. I hope you liked it. I felt like Nudge and Iggy had kinda been left out lately, as have Angle and Gazzy. I'm working on incorporating them into the story a bit more.

Well, I'll update again soon, so until then keep in mind that, WEINERS ARE THE SOURCE OF ALL EVIL!!

--M