Persuasion
Anastasia POV
I was striding through all the dead bodies around me, Total fluttering by my head and the Gasman begging me to stop walking and start flying.
"Come on," he was whining. "We have wings. Let's use them."
"I don't know about you," I snapped, "But I need to rest mine; they're exhausted and painful."
He sighed. "Fine, fine. We'll walk."
We had gone back into the room where Angel and I had been displayed in that cage, and we were now going through the mass of corpses, looking for any one of the flock. This one time, Gazzy had turned over a dead Eraser – to find out it actually wasn't dead, and he had to give it a few good punches to kill it. Total complained for a good half hour that the Eraser jumping out of the dead bodies, trying to kill us, had been the stuff of nightmares. The Gasman replied that it was the stuff of everyday flock life, making me a little uneasy.
I never knew two people that talked more than the two of them. Except for maybe Nudge. Right now, they were arguing pro-choice against pro-life. Don't ask me why.
Total was pro-life. "I mean, imagine if your parents thought, oh, I don't want the kid anymore, and aborted you. Then you wouldn't exist."
"Firstly," said the Gasman, "I was grown in a tube. Secondly, I definitely wasn't an accident, meaning that I probably wouldn't have been gotten rid of. Thirdly, my parents didn't want me, but the whitecoats did. And fourthly, if I didn't exist, I wouldn't know what I was missing."
Total exhaled in frustration. "Fine. Take a normal human baby."
"Ooh," said the Gasman. "I know loads of them."
"You're so funny," said Total sarcastically. "Anyway, don't you think it's like murder? You think we should let people just go around killing things?"
"I, uh, killed about a hundred things today," he said. "Maybe more, considering la bombas. Not to boastor anything."
Total made a face. "That's not what I meant!"
"Guys," I said. "Sorry to stop the fun and all that, but would you keep it down a bit? I'm going to see if I can find any of the flock's minds."
They immediately shut up. I listened carefully.
Total was thinking, . The Gasman is so annoying. PRO-LIFE ALL THE WAY. I hope we find the flock. I really, really, really hope Max and Fang are going to make it official soon… when you're in love, you've got to love every day. Every day's important, you never know when your time together's going to end. I should know. I lost my Akila.
The Gasman was thinking, Max and Fang… I wonder where they are. They're fine, I'd bet anyone a million bucks. They're Fax. Of course they're- Riiiiight. Crap. I need to do a Gasman…. now. Can I stop it? Okay, Gaz. Cool it. Standard procedure. Breathe in. Breathe out. Oh, God, there's no stopping this one! Breathe in. Brea-
"Gazzy," I said quickly. "If you need to go, leave. Then come back when you're done."
The Gasman, his face purple, shot away, slamming the door. The ground shook. He came back in a few seconds later, looking satisfied.
Done, he thought.
"That was horrific," commented Total.
"Thanks, man," said the Gasman. "It's my pride and joy."
"Guys," I said.
They shut up. I listened hard, casting my mind as far as I could. That's when I heard it.
I'm so getting one of those all-in-one 'I love my parents' baby suits for Tiger. Pink. Maybe with glitter. Definitely with fuzzy b- Oh my God! Tiger stripes! That would be so, unbelievably cute. Aw. Gosh, Max. Stop giving me that look. I know you want to find the - Oh my God. THE FLOCK! I hope they're okay. I hope they've killed all the Erasers - I hate this newest bunch, orange really isn't my colour. Look, I know you love Fang and all, but… it's been, what, ten, eleven years? Everyone KNOWS they're meant for each other. Everyone KNOWS they've done stuff together. I wish they'd just hurry up and do something about it!
I smiled, then backtracked. Nudge? It was definitely her… but last time I checked, it had only been Max, Fang, the Gasman and Total here. Nudge… Did that mean Iggy was here too? And Tiger?
Nudge, I thought. It's Anastasia.
OHMYGOD! Hi, she thought. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Who else is with you?
Hi, I thought. Yes to the first, a couple of bruises and stuff, but nothing too bad to the second, and Gazzy and Total to the third. Angel's resting, but we know where she is. What about you? Is Iggy here too? And Tiger?
No, I made him stay with Tiger, she thought. I'm fine, and with Max. Wait one sec, I'm just going to tell her about you guys. A pause. She says - nope, sorry, she DEMANDS - for me to ask you if any of you are particularly badly hurt.
Um, I thought. I didn't know whether to tell them that Angel was pretty bad or not, because it would just end up with them worrying. But they'd find out eventually, anyway. Angel's pretty badly bashed up.
Oh no! thought Nudge. Poor her. Max says - wow. She says lots of things. Hang on, why don't you just talk to her, instead?
TTYL, I thought.
GTG, she thought.
Hi, Max, I thought, finding her mind very close to Nudge's.
Anastasia, she thought. Is Angel okay? What happened?
She was trying to torture the Superior, I thought. And it kind of affected her badly… psychologically. Physically, though, she's still pretty bad, with torn ligaments in one wing and a huge hole in the other. Plus she's got a huge gash down the side of her face.
WHAT? thundered Max. And… is the Superior dead?
Kind of, I thought.
How can you be kind of dead? she asked, frustrated.
I explained all about how her body had been killed, but she still had clones, and how we were planning to kill her once and for all.
Where are you? she thought. Me and Nudge are coming. I want to help.
So Fang's not with you guys? I asked, after a moment's thought.
Silence. I need to find him.
I'm helping you, too, I thought. But come meet us first.
Sure, she thought. Where are you?
Angel POV
He liked her. Of course he liked her. Why hadn't I seen it before?
"Hello?" he said, bringing me crashing back down to reality. "Angel?"
"What?" I said, slightly more brutally than I should've done.
He frowned. "Is something wrong?"
"Nope," I said, mock cheerfully. "Everything's fine and chipper. Peachy. Absolutely top notch."
He rolled his eyes. "Really?"
"No," I snapped. "Not really. Max and Fang are missing, maybe even dead, the Superior's still alive, probably planning on how best to kill us all, I am covered in blood and guts, some mine, some not, I can't fly because my wings are all torn up, and you're in love with–"
I stopped myself quickly, breathing heavily. Crap. With a capital C.
His grey gaze bore down on me, suddenly intense. I looked away, my face turning scarlet. I had said way too much.
"Who am I in love with?" he asked.
It was too late to deny it now, so I mumbled, "Anastasia."
"Anna?" he said in disbelief. Then, to my utter surprise, he burst out laughing. "Are you joking?"
"I – um – no," I stumbled.
He grinned. "She's my best friend, Angel, and that's all she'll ever be."
"But you were blushing," I said defensively.
"What – when?" he asked, looking at me as if I were crazy.
"When you were talking about Wally and Peter becoming Eraser chow…" I trailed off as his expression turned sour.
"You spied on me?" he burst out.
"No," I said quickly. "I just… I'm Anastasia's twin sister, so we both…"
"You can read minds, too?" he bellowed. "Can you do everything else as well?"
I nodded slowly.
"Oh, this is just great," he snapped. "So are you doing it now? Can you hear me saying respect people's privacy?"
I mumbled something incomprehensible.
"You know, I always hated that about Anna," he continued. "That she could do things like that. People shouldn't be allowed to read minds for a reason, Angel. And now you can do it, too? God." He exhaled in frustration. "So what other evidence do you have for this… ridiculous claim?"
"Anastasia was always flirting with you," I said.
"She was just like that," he retorted. "She used to be different. I don't want to say this, but she was cruel. I was friends with her because she had her moments. Sometimes she was nice, genuinely nice, and we had fun. This sounds corny, but I knew that she was a good person at heart. And now she's become that with you."
I scowled. If that wasn't a loved up speech, I didn't know what was. "When she was fifteen, you were arguing with her about Subject Twenty-Seven, and you were saying that she shouldn't love him."
"I'd just found out that he was cheating on her with the Superior," he replied quietly. "He was a cold-hearted, cheating murderer, and I didn't want her to get hurt."
"Spoken like a true lover," I snapped.
"Spoken like a best friend," he countered. "You'd do the same for the Gasman, and he's your brother."
I started. This was a very good point.
"You and I are both murderers," I said. "And so is Anastasia. What makes him any different?"
I knew the answer before I'd even asked the question.
"Come on," he said. "He's a jerk. He's a bad guy."
"Fine," I said. "But what about the blushing? What about all that?"
"I never blushed," he argued.
"Yes, you did!" I shouted back. "Don't lie to me! You were blushing when she told you about Wally and Peter being Eraser Chow!"
"If my face was red," he growled, "It was because I was furious at what happened to them. I expected it and I was already angry before she told me the truth, but when she did… it was awful."
I frowned. Did I believe him?
"So?" he asked, his voice suddenly not angry any more. "Do you believe me?"
I stared up at him; our eyes locked, mine pure cerulean, his stormy grey. A clear blue sky against a thunderstorm. Even our eyes were as opposite as it got. Our personalities… heck, I didn't even want to get started on how different they were.
"So?" he repeated.
"I don't believe you," I finally said.
He reached one hand around the back of my neck and pulled me up, with me wincing all the way, until I was sitting.
"I don't love her," he said, leaning closer to me, his eyes never leaving mine.
I swallowed. "Yes. Yes, you do."
Before I knew what was happening, his lips swooped down to mine, his breath hot in my mouth, his fingers curling into my blood-soaked hair. Forget about the pirouetting my heart had been doing, it was now bursting out of my chest, like my ribs weren't strong enough to hold its furious pounding inside. I linked my own hands around the back of his neck, fervently pulling him closer. Finally, he drew away, his breathing a little ragged.
"Now," he demanded, staring at me with a strange expression. "Now do you believe me?"
I nodded slowly. I had never been more certain of anything in my life.
Everyone, say it on three. One, two, three. FINALLY!
