A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews and comments I got last chapter. And I thank…God, for saying he loves me. I never thought I'd end up saying that. And I've worked out that the story will finish sometime in December. Definitely before Christmas. And just so everyone knows, I do read every review.
XxAngelwithwingsxX put this up, it's pretty funny:
Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.
Anablephobia- Fear of looking up.
Anglophobia- Fear of England or English culture, etc.
Aulophobia- Fear of flutes.
Aviophobia or Aviatophobia- Fear of flying. Lol it would be sad if Max or any of the Flock had this.
Bibliophobia- Fear of books.
Caligynephobia- Fear of beautiful women.
Clinophobia- Fear of going to bed.
Dentophobia- Fear of dentists.
Ephebiphobia- Fear of teenagers.
Geliophobia- Fear of laughter.
Helminthophobia- Fear of being infested with worms.
Lachanophobia- Fear of vegetables
Lutraphobia- Fear of otters.
Nomatophobia- Fear of names.
Octophobia - Fear of the figure 8.
Omphalophobia- Fear of belly buttons.
Papaphobia- Fear of the Pope.
Peladophobia- Fear of bald people.
Phagophobia- Fear of swallowing or of eating or of being eaten.
Pupaphobia - Fear of puppets
Zemmiphobia- Fear of the great mole rat.
Flock Meeting
"You've got to quit just thinking about yourself!" yelled Max. Angel crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip defiantly.
"Oh, like I don't already?" retorted Max to…the air. Oh right. It was the Voice again. Or she'd gone crazy.
"Never mind," said Max, shaking her head, "But I was worried sick while you were out there!"
I loved the way she reared up on the balls of her feet when she got ratty.
"You're worrying about the wrong things, Max," said Angel seriously, "You should be trying to breathe underwater and taking care of yourself. You don't have to worry about me."
Honestly, that kid was a nightmare sometimes. Breathing underwater? When would she drop that? And of course we had to worry about her, she was si—seven years old, it was our job.
"It's my job to worry about you!" gasped Max, "It always has been!"
It was true, even when Jeb was around it hadn't been him who had looked after Angel—he didn't have a clue about babies. She'd even done the diaper-changing for the most part.. Which I hadn't been envious of.
"We're a family, Max, I'm not a job."
"That's not what I mean and you know it," replied Max forcefully.
I realised I'd just been standing and watching them and should probably stop the verbal abuse.
I walked silently up behind Max, who was too busy arguing to notice me.
"Okay, let's break it up," I said. Max jumped and I smirked.
"Angel you're still a little kid, and Max is the leader. Don't forget that," I said calmly.
And if you give her any more trouble then I'll confiscate all the money you scammed off the crew members.
She sobered up and looked a little guilty at her scamming.
"Well I'm going to get some dry clothes. Come on, Total, let me tell you about everything I saw out there," said Angel.
"Could we talk about something else?" grumbled Total, trotting after her discontedly, "Like, modern art? Or my latest issue of Wine Spectator magazine? Fish and me—we don't mix. It really seems more of a feline thing,"
They walked down the hallway.
Max turned to me, wondering how I'd dealt with her so quickly.
"You handled that really well, Fang," said Max's favourite person as she came in.
I looked at her as she patted my arm approvingly. I smiled smugly at Max, knowing it would annoy her. Sure enough, her face flushed. I loved having such control over her emotions. It meant my actions mattered to her, and affected her, which basically meant she fancied me.
"Can we have a meeting?" asked Max, "With the flock?" Emphasis on The Flock, meaning no one else.
I nodded in consent.
"That's a good idea," said Brigid, "I'd like to ask you—"
"This is flock business," interrupted Max.
"But we're a team," said Brigid, taken aback by her bluntness.
"Yes, and I really, really appreciate everyone's help in finding my Mom. But some things are still just for the flock. It's always been that way, and it'll always be that way. 'Cause when it comes right down to it, there's us six, and no one else is like we are,"
Brigid nodded disappointedly. She should have been nicer about it but I appreciated Max's point. We couldn't put trust in too many people.
I raised my eyebrows at her, but she ignored me.
We entered the room, with Angel and Total (who had managed to get Angel to look at the Wine Spectator issue) curled up on a rack (sailor talk for a bed) and Nudge was trying to make khaki look fashionable.
Gazzy instantly stuffed his bomb behind a pillow and put on an "innocent" expression, which was only ever used when he'd done something wrong, which made it really obvious whenever he used it. I should have guessed that in a submarine full of explosives they'd find plenty of materials.
Nudge came up to Max before she could say anything though.
"Max!" said Nudge excitedly, "Look! I took off the collar and changed the neckline. Once I move the buttons, it'll be so much cuter."
And, who cares? It's still a khaki overall.
Max refrained from saying anything to Nudge, her eyes were set on the wires sticking out from under the pillow.
"Gazzy, I swear to God, if you've stolen a nuclear device, I will—"
"It's not nuclear!" he protested. But there are still other powerful bombs, for example I've heard some stuff about the H bomb…
And that wouldn't end well if Gazzy had one of them.
A/N: Please review, I only need two more to get to 100.
