No, contrary to popular belief, I was not hit by a car, or mauled by a ostrich, or whatever you have to explain my looooong absence. Let me tell you what it was. I have a really good excuse this time. Really!... Ready?

Chores.

(Throws hands in the air) YEAH! (looks around)

No?... well it is a sucky excuse. I would really tell you why, but it would take longer than this chapter. I ask your forgiveness as I bring you a longer chapter. Not my best, but I tried.

DISCLAMER: Uh... Max Ride belongs to that one famous dude... and Ren belongs to Dragonkey258.

I was strolling down the almost deserted hallway with Marcus on my right until Iggy fell in step with us. Why couldn't these people just leave us alone already?

It's your fault. You got them involved. You should have just saved the world when you got the chance.

Well thank you, Sunshine! I really needed that. Good pep talk.

"Hi, Max."

Well wasn't he the cheery one today?

"What do you want?" I growled.

Iggy grinned. "Actually it's what you want. You left your room and are walking down this hall with a purpose. So that means you want something."

Touché. If this guy wasn't a bird-brain, maybe I would think him my sarcastic intellectual equal. Oh… did I just make a pun? Bird-brain? Ugh.

I shuddered inwardly. The day when I make puns… something is wrong with me.

There is nothing wrong with a sense of humor.

Shut up.

"Well…?" Iggy interrupted.

"I want to talk to Jeb."

"Good, because he's waiting for you."

Creepy. "Fine. Marcus, can you go get Nohemi, before she bites my head off?"

Marcus grinned, saluted, and loped off.

Iggy and I stayed in silence until I was sure Marcus had gotten out of earshot. I looked at my former brother in annoyance.

"What do you really want?"

Iggy chuckled, deep and reverberating. If I was the type to be unnerved I guess I would be. But I wasn't.

"Max, Max, Max. You always know I am up to something." He ran a hand through his cropped hair. "I just wanted to applaud you in finding a new Flock." His voice just had a tint of bitterness in it, but I knew he was enjoying this too much.

I stopped in my tracks in disbelief. "What?" I spat with all the venom I could muster.

Iggy turned to face me, stopping in front of another door. It was painted to blend in with the rest of the décor. White paint and stainless steel doorknob. Iggy's eyes drooped, but his lips were clamped tightly together. The bad thing about his artificial eyes was that they were emotionless. There was no twinkle or luster to them. They were bland.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? Or are you that dense as that last night as a Flock member?" Both of our hands clenched into fists. "You are their leader, Max. You can't help yourself, you were born like that. But someday they will stab you in the back. Just watch."

With lighting speed, well not really, I pinned Iggy to the wall, my hand squeezing his neck. "The thing is, with the Flock, my world revolved around you. With Marcus and Nohemi, they know to keep their distance. They're not backstabbing pigs like you."

His eyes narrowed. Iggy's hands clutched mine, trying to twist them into letting him go. I scoffed and threw him to the floor. The door next to me opened and Jeb's head popped out the crack.

"Oh." He said after seeing Iggy pick himself off the floor.

I pushed Jeb's head, backing him into his office. My free hand closed the door, and threw Jeb into a chair.

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay."

An hour later I was rubbing my hand over my face in utter frustration. I was sitting in front of Jeb, his oak desk in between us. Jeb had all the confidence when I was a kid, because I needed him. As much as I refuse to admit it. But now that I am a "grown-up" he knows I make my own decisions. Like who to kill.

For that, he was deathly afraid of me.

The office was lavishly furnished, compared to G.'s. Red, plush carpet that your foot sank in covered the floor. Two loveseats faced the large imposing desk in the middle of the room. A large swivel chair sat behind the desk. A computer was on the right of the table. Behind it, were two large bookshelves with every title imaginable. It was nice to see people squatting in broken down shacks, while Jeb had everything he could possibly want at his disposal.

Do I really want to work with this guy? No.

Did I have a choice?

No.

Thanks a lot.

Did I really want to choke this guy, until his eyes popped out of his skull?

Heck yeah!

"So run that by me again?" I sighed.

"We need three teams on the perimeter, in case something goes bad. They will be stationed in strategic spots around the fence. They will be fully armed teams of two."

"Okay."

Jeb pointed to a spot on the map. "They will be placed, here, here and here."

"Who will be in these teams?"

Jeb sighed and leaned back, making the mistake of getting comfortable. "That is up to you to decide. We have a limited amount of people, you know the people that you want."

Experiments. Better to trust someone who went through the same hell on Earth you did to have your back, than a fickle human would rather shoot you in the back because of what you are.

No offense to regular humans of course.

I knew immediately who I wanted. "I want Iggy and Nohemi on one team. Marcus and Fang on another." My people mixed with his. Crap, I was going to leave one team that was totally Jeb's cronies. Guess that couldn't be helped. "What about that... Ren kid?"

"Ren?"

"Yeah, him. Is he good in a fight?"

Jeb winced. "Well, he just came back from a mission and he-"

"It's up to him to decide isn't it?" I knew what Jeb was trying to do. He didn't want to use his best kid for a fool's mission. I did not want to use a kid in the first place. But Ren was the best prospect I had seen so far.

"Yeah." Jeb answered, dejectedly.

"Good. Anyone you recommend?"

"Uh… if you're taking Ren, you have to take Crystal."

"Crystal?"

"Yeah, she is about Ren's age, fifteen, and she is the only one who can talk to him when he's in fox form."

Great another kid… wait did he say fox form?

"Fine." I bit off. "I want you to get them ready for me. I would like to pay a little visit to someone."

I took some papers from Jeb's desk and headed towards the door. Mixed in was the blueprints to the compound, Jeb had stupidly left lying around. An assistant popped out of a door on my left to hand me a heavy sliver box/briefcase.

"Where are you going?"

I smiled a devilish grin I opened the door. "To pay a visit to the woman who betrayed her country of course."

Duh.

(Slaps head) Duh! it's like... Jake... James...? Yeah James... peterson... platterson...pat...

Oh! Hey I need ideas for Fang's "power". Something serious... angsty, because angst is fun to write.