A/N: As everyone can tell, this story has been abandoned both on the Maximum Ride website and here, though I have decided I will put up what is finished of the story here to be far. I might also go back and fix some grammatical mistakes, (like the paragraphs, which I fixed in this chapter), because it bugs me very much.
I have not given up on MaxRide though, and I have several Fang/Iggy slashes lurking around the site. I may also rewrite what I have so far completely, just for heck of it. Who knows.
edward cullen rocks my socks - sarah: I have to disagree with you there, Fang/Iggy all the way. -grin- Thanks for reviewing!
xxShadow53xx: Well, I'm updating.
GlitterStar: If you're planning my funeral, than at least make sure I'm cremated. 'Kay, thanks. Anyways, thanks for reviewing!
maniacmouse: Thanks! I can't believe you really think this fic is all that good, because I really prefer my latest projects to this one. But if you say so.
Kristen: -Hides- I am prepared for your wrath of doom, which I fully deserve. Just don't kill the author before she has a chance to put up the last of the chapters. Yes, Fang is probably a bit OOC, I think I have a tendency to do that with him.
Queen of the Leos: Aye, Fang is OOC. But I kind of like him that way, oddly enough.
Indigowolf: Haha, yes, the curse of the salads continues. Thanks for reviewing.
DestinyOverRidden: Yeah, it takes most people some time to warm up to this pairing (if they do) anyways, thanks for the review!
Chapter VIII: An Honest Mistake
Max... Max... That was all Iggy could think about, Max. She was well now, but still she remained forever in his thoughts. Why did he feel this way about her? She and Fang had something before he disappeared, did she still feel for him? Did she even want to feel like that at all? And the coffee wasn't making it any better. It just made the voice of doubt louder, faster and cleverer. He poured himself a third cup of decaf.
Decaf. That was all they had left. They were buying more tomorrow, the Maximum Ride bank account always got an anonymous deposit on Sundays, usually $500 but sometimes as high as $1,000 or as low as $50. Right now, they didn't have that much money left so he'd have to wait until tomorrow for his caffeinated buzz to return.
"Iggy, settle down with the coffee." Gazzy said, taking Iggy's fourth cup away.
"Hey!" Iggy said taking back his coffee.
"He's right you know." Max said from the living room where she was reading the newspaper.
"Drinking coffee while under stress causes you to be much more stressful. It adds to your cholesterol. Your doing nothing right for your heart." She said carelessly.
"Well I don't have an average heart do I?" Iggy said drinking deeply from the mug.
"I think Total has been eating the coffee again." Angel announced, walking into the room with both the little dog and Celeste in tow.
"Really?" Iggy asked slightly curious.
Angel replied "Yeah, he made another dent in the wall, plus there was a trail of coffee on the floor."
Iggy turned around, thoughtfully saying, "So that's where my regular went..." He trailed off as he settled in front of the television. Mad TV. God that was a funny show... unfortunately, a popular skit was one with a coffee addict. And most unfortunately, that's what they were playing today.
"That's you in ten years." Gazzy laughed. "Shut it." Iggy said, throwing a pillow at him. They quietly watched, and listened, to the television until Max announced:
"We just got a deposit."
Damn that voice thing was creepy. But useful he did have to admit. "Coffee!" He cried out happily.
"Yes, we'll get coffee now." Max sighed, putting down her paper.
"Yes!" Iggy cried, jumping to his feet. Thank god! He couldn't live on decaf forever. Iggy soon found himself rushing the rest of the flock out the door of the hotel with a $850 deposit in hand.
"Iggy, grab my hand, Angel, grab Iggy's other hand, Gazzy take Angel's Nudge you follow up the rear." Max said as they stepped out on the sidewalk. He obliged, knowing why Max insisted on linking all of them. New York in the summer and spring was one thing, New York in the winter and fall was another entirely. In the summer, tourists wandered through out the streets and the one could do so without being injured. But in the winter, most people were seasoned New Yorkers who just wanted to get out of the cold as quickly as possible. And a group of weird looking kids weren't about to stop them. People shoved them back and forth, it was the Mosh pit all over again.
Iggy felt a briefcase collide with his hip as Max cried "Hey! Watch it!" She repeated this several times before the group hurried down the block to the health food store. When they arrived, Max pulled them in and began dishing orders.
"Nudge, Iggy you guys get us some food. Gazzy, Angel and I are going to get some winter coats. We meet up back here at six." She said sternly.
"Aye captain." Iggy said saluting the girl.
"What are we now? Pirates?" She sighed, heading off with Gazzy and Angel.
"Shall we?" He said heavily. "Let's." Nudge smiled, linking their elbows.
"What's first on your list?"Nudge asked in mock curiosity.
Iggy smiled, "Oh, Ramone noodles, cereal, we need more waffles, macaroni... oh and COFFEE!" He screeched the last word so loudly the elderly clerk dropped to the floor, cradling a very long carrot like a machine gun. Nudge started laughing, Iggy, who couldn't see what had happened, only shook his head and dragged her to the coffee section.
He felt along the wall till he found the good stuff. The actual coffee beans. He'd bought a grinder a few weeks ago, and since then, the coffee had only gotten better. "We need some of this." He pointed to the forth one. He wasn't sure what it was. But it was good.
"Alright." He hear Nudge say as the coffee beans fell into a plastic bag.
"Now come on. I'm going to go get some rice milk." Nudge said thrusting the bag into his one hand, and grabbing the other.
"Rice milk? What's wrong with regular milk?" He asked feeling the cool from the frozen foods department.
"Vegans can't have regular milk." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Since when are you a vegan?" Iggy snorted.
"Since Tuesday." She shrugged. True, Nudge was a vegetarian, but what the crap was up with being a vegan?
"But milking cows doesn't hurt them." Iggy said tentatively.
"So naive..." She sighed, handing Iggy the basket. He had no idea what she meant. None. But that was Nudge for you.
Once they had a basket of vegan friendly foods, it was almost six. They stood outside in the freezing cold, waiting for Max, Gasman and Angel. Five past six. Ten past six. Fifteen past six.
"Maybe we should go back to the hotel." He finally said at nearly twenty past six.
"I second the motion. I mean we could get frostbite and have to have our hands amputated or something. And then how would we write and how would you cook? I mean you are the only one who really can cook, so it would be absolutely awful if you had your hand amputated. Absolutely. Then Gazzy and I would probably try to cook. We'd burn the spaghetti and no one would want to eat it so we'd spend all our money at restaurant and probably get noticed. And then we'd go back to the school and die. Yeah, we should probably get back to the hotel." Nudge on her legendary raves. They trudged down th street, carrying four heavy bags of groceries.
"Yes, I'm sure I'll have my hand amputated." Iggy said sarcastically.
"Well, it could happen! Just like a tiger could escape from the zoo or-" Nudge stopped as she was cut off by Iggy.
"Just leave it." He sighed, pushing open the door to the hotel.
"Ok." Nudge said quietly. The two lugged their bags down the hall.
"Do you have the key?" Nudge suddenly asked as they reached the door.
"No..." Iggy said, turning on the balls of his feet. "Oh sh-"
The door opened. "Oh... that one girl said you'd be here." said a rather bored looking maid as she walked back to where she was making the beds.
"What do you mean?" Nudge asked, peering in. All of their stuff was gone, vanished.
"Look. We don't want you staying here anymore. It's weird, it started out with six kids and a little dog staying here. Then sixth kid doesn't come home. Guests heard moaning, in pain moaning I hope, coming from your room. You kids have been here for what? A month? Two? We want you out." The maid said, tying off the trash bag and tossing it in a large bin. Iggy swore as he put his two grocery bags down.
"Hey, that one girl left a message for you. Here." The honey haired girl handed Nudge a piece of paper. She read it over and then pulled Iggy into the doorway.
"It says, guys I'm sorry about this. Meet us at the corner of 67th and Smith around 6:30. We'll hopefully have a place to stay by then." She whispered in his ear. Iggy nodded. That was Max. Always thinking of the common good.
Ring... Ring...
Iggy and Nudge looked up, who would be calling them? Nudge edged to the phone slowly. She hit the speaker button loudly.
"Hello?" She called softly.
"Hi. This is Angela from the Hospital. I don't know if you got my last few messages... Fang," Fang... Fang. Fang! "is still here. He's okay." He was alive... So Iggy was right. "Still has a bit of a limp but it doesn't pain him as-" Nudge suddenly jerked the phone out of the wall.
"UGH! I wish she would stop calling!" She screamed with anguish. Iggy felt the maid prod him with her elbow.
"Is that one right in the head?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah... yeah." He said dazedly.
"Wait." His head snapped up.
"That girl, Annie or whatever, she called before?" Iggy asked, stepping towards the girl tentatively.
"Yeah." Nudge spat.
"What if she wasn't lying?" He yelled, grabbing her shoulders.
"What if she was!" She screamed, pulling away from his grasp.
"But what if she wasn't?" He loudly asked.
Nudge's voice wavered, "Then... then I screwed up."
Iggy shook his head. "The hell you did."
—The Corner of 67th and Smith—
"Damn it's cold." Iggy shivered.
"It's about time, they should be here any minute." Nudge replied coldly. She was still mad at him for yelling at her. But what was he suppose to do? Let her just keep deleting these messages and leave Fang wherever he was? He couldn't do that. It just wasn't right.
"Hey!" Iggy felt Max's arm around his shoulder.
"Did you find somewhere to stay?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.
"Yeah." She rested her cheek on his chest gently. They rested there, in each others arms, for a fleeting moment before they pulled away.
"Come on then." She said, taking them both by the wrists. "Now, we're in the basement of a boarding house. We get a plain room for $150 a month. Furniture for another fifty. And they'll cook for us for yet another fifty. Dessert for an extra twenty five. So that's $275 a month. We can swing that, right?" She said, pulling them down the street.
"Yeah, I think so." Iggy said. He had done the math. They could make that. They'd have to cut back on spending a tad bit, but they could make it. And boy was he glad. "Well, here we are." Max said, shoving them down a stair well.
"The owner is inside." She said hastily as they tripped their way down the crumbling cement stairway. As Iggy felt his way down the stairs he already knew that the building was shabby. It was just the aura he felt from the building. It reeked of dust, dirt and age. The paint on the railing was peeling, the steps were crumbling and he could heard the windows and doors creaking from the outside. It wasn't the Ritz, but it was a place to stay. At least they had that much. Suddenly, there was a low moaning creak. Iggy felt himself thrust into the open doorway by Max, and then pulled to the side by Gazzy.
"Glad you made it." He whispered, guiding Iggy to a moth eaten couch.
"So, there is a disabled one." He heard a deep voice mutter across from him.
"Excuse me! I am not disabled! Just because I can't see you doesn't mean I am mentally incapacitated!" He snapped. How dare he! He didn't even know Iggy and he already thought him stupid! Just because he was blind!
"No, of course. That's not what I meant." The man trailed off, mumbling to himself.
"Mr. Maxwell, what are your conditions?" Max asked, clearing her throat loudly. It was becoming clearer this man could barely focus on the task at hand, let alone remember what he said minutes before.
"Yes, yes, conditions. You must agree to my conditions before I let you stay here. First condition, you pay every first of the month. I don't care if your kids, I need money to get by and it doesn't help if I let you people freeload. Miss Ride has confirmed that you have jobs... illegal or otherwise, you have jobs. So I expect you to pay. M'kay? Second condition, if anyone asks you are my cousin's kids. Got it? My cousin Richard Ride's kids." He said firmly.
"Got it. Richard Rid's kids." Nudge replied as Mr. Maxwell began to speak again.
"You're home-schooled. But you're going to start attending a private school next year. Right? Okay? Another thing, don't hang around here. Be out as much as possible." Everyone nodded, who would want to hang around here? It was a moth eaten filth bag!
"And uh," He started hesitantly "you guys are runaways right?" Everyone fell silent. They were runaways, in a sense. But they couldn't tell him a cock and bull story about kids with wings and mad scientists. He'd kick them out! Call em looneys! Send them away...
"Well, n-not really." Iggy said shakily. He suddenly felt all their eyes upon him. He prayed, for a fleeting second, that he would sound convincing before starting with his yarn.
"You see, Angel, Alex and I, we're brother and sister. I'm twenty-two, she's nine and he's twelve." He hoped the ladies in the coffee shop were good at guessing ages.
"Monique is our cousin, and Max is our step sister." He continued. "Our parents had gotten divorced when I was fourteen and since then our dad had remarried, but mum and dad stayed good friends. That's why our mum, dad and step mum were all escorting me back to Elderwood, the private school in uptown New York." He willed his eyes to water. "We were on the train, almost six years ago, and I had gotten up to go get us something to eat, at the back of the train, when it happened. When the train crashed... everyone in the first three cars was killed. The last two though, only had seven fatalities. When the trains collided, I was thrown forward and I smashed my head against the wall. That's how I went blind. After that... we were all orphans, Max included for her father had committed suicide when she was six. The four of us were bounced from relative to relative for two years, no one could take us in long before having some type of tragedy in their lives... Monique's father was already a widower, his wife had been taken by cancer only months earlier, when he was killed in an industrial accident. So it became the five us, roaming from relative to relative till no one would take us in." He felt fat tears stream down either cheek. "So, we were taken to a foster home... an elderly woman who died of a heart attack only two weeks after we came. In the chaos, we just... slipped away. We've been on our own for three years. They've given up, we have no family to keep them searching. The only family left... is us." He choked.
When had he become such an actor? He had never been able to lie convincingly, or tell Angel proper bedtime stories, but he could all of a sudden make himself cry? What was up with that? He suddenly felt Max wrap her arms around his shoulders, sobbing. Good, she was going along with it too.
"I-I'm sorry kids." Mr. Maxwell said sincerely.
"That's okay, you can go now. We'll be fine." Max cried. Iggy felt a hand on his knee, and then he heard the stairs creak as the man left the basement. As the door squeaked closed he felt a everyone's arms around him.
"Iggy!" Max squealed, laying a kiss on his cheek. "That was brilliant!" She cried, pulling him to his feet.
"Y-you think so?" He asked shakily.
"Yes of course!" She replied happily. He couldn't help but feel his pride swell.
"G'night." Max said softly reaching her hand out for Iggy's. They had set their cots next to each other's, only inches from each other. Gazzy and Angel slept on the pull out, and Nudge on the bed. A few unused sleeping bags and four unused cots lay, heaped in the corner but other than that they had very little furniture. Iggy speculated this was simply the Maxwell's garbage they had been given, but he couldn't really complain.
"Night, Max." He replied, interlocking their fingers. He had heard that your fingers were your strengths, the spaces in between were your weaknesses, so if you laced your fingers together you were filling each other's weaknesses. He liked it.
"I'm sorry." She yawned.
"About what?" He asked, squeezing her hand.
"For getting us kicked out of the hotel." She replied, her voice filled with sleepiness.
"It wasn't your fault." He said, kissing her knuckles. And through the musty air, the thin quilts and the tiredness that filled him, he could feel her smile.
A/N: It's weird to read this stuff over... Just because I have a totally different writing style now. Not to mention everything I write is pretty much shonen-ai. Anyways, I'll put up the next part when I have time to edit.