A/N: I'll be using the review reply thingy now, because that's actually what I was suppose to do anyways. In any case, here's chapter nine.
Chapter IX: Hey You
In one week at the Maxwell's and Iggy had realized that they had not been given the house garbage. All furniture was like that.
Within one hour of waking, Mrs. Maxwell had given them a complete tour and introduced them to everyone. Everyone being the other residents. On the second floor there were seven bed rooms and one bath. At the end of the hall was Mr. And Mrs. Maxwell's room, it was decorated with a large bed, shaggy carpet, a screen-less window and peeling wall paper. Most rooms followed that basic design, with a few modifications.
For instance, the room to the direct right of the master bed room belonged to Mr.Oatsmen. Otis, for that's what everyone called him, was in construction. He was a squat man with huge bulky arms and a low rumble of a voice. His room had been modified to fit his numerous drills, axes and hammers. He kept them slung on the right wall, as well as left. His window had a large crack in it, allegedly Otis had taken a practice swing and lost his grip. That was also his testament on the large holes next to his door. The flock had hurried out of the room and into Flea (Flee-uh)'s room.
Hers was a gentler room. A water bed with a down feather blanket and matching pillows. Her carpet was also much softer, he suspected that was her own addition to the room though. She had a wooden desk and rows of books, she was in college and spent a good deal of her time studying. Iggy liked the room, he wanted to stay a bit longer but Max had rushed him out. Max claimed she thought her French accent was fake and annoying, and that was why she had hurried them out of the room and into the Merriweather's room.
The Merriweather's were a young married couple who always seemed a bit nerved. Mrs. Merriweather was heavy with pregnancy, and Mr. Merriweather was a very thin man who was rather frazzled with work and his wife's bulging middle. They had barely sat down when they were whisked out again by Mr. Merriweather, insisting that his wife needed rest and he needed to pay bills. They had not seen any of the rooms on the left side of the hall, two were for rent and the other belonged to an old widower who spent a good deal of his time asleep. If the flock thought they were done, it turned out to be far from it.
They were lead into the attic. In the attic was four rooms, there was a bathroom and then two normal sized bedrooms. The two bedrooms were occupied by Natalie, the Maxwell's daughter, and Sargent Lork. Sargent Lork was a police officer who worked the nightshift, he was heard from very little, but seemed very kindly and intellectual. Natalie though, she was something else. She was a piano teacher and she insisted on giving the flock lessons. Max and Gazzy stumbled over the keys, awkwardly turning out 'Yankee Doodle'. Nudge and Angel were more interested in singing the songs then playing, to be honest. But Iggy, he had taken to it like a duck to water. Natalie claimed he had a gift that was not to be wasted and gave him daily lessons at no charge. She would sit next to him and hum the tune, or perhaps play it, then Iggy would simply play it back. She taught him by ear since he couldn't read music. She said it was the best way to learn really. From what he heard she had frizzy red hair which she hid under a green and purple ski cap and gray eyes. But the thing that was so different about Natalie was that she was in love with the Artist.
The Artist's real name was Ike, but Natalie was the only one who called him that. The Artist lived in the remaining area of the attic, which was a large room he referred to as 'The Studio'. The Studio had only one piece of furniture, a rather smelly mattress he had laid out in the corner. The rest of the room was taken up with half finished sculptures and paintings. Iggy had yet to hear him say anything besides "I'm busy." but apparently he and Natalie had very meaningful conversations, judging by the way she fawned over him at dinner. The only person the flock had yet to meet was Fred. Fred was the Maxwell's young son who often came home drunk. He lived in the basement as well, which was divided into a bathroom, a living room, a small bed room and a large studio. Of course, the flock lived in the large studio, and Fred in the small bedroom. They often heard him throwing up in the bathroom or mumbling in his sleep but had yet to meet him. Personally Iggy wasn't too stoked to meet Natalie's younger brother.
"You know, he's been gone almost two months now." Max said quietly. Her head was resting on his shoulder gently. They had been laying on the couch for about fifteen minutes, thinking of a place to go, after all Mr. Maxwell did not want them around.
"I guess he has." Iggy stroked her hair softly.
"Do you think he's still out there? Do you think that girl was telling the truth?" She asked, sitting up again. Iggy paused. He had to put this gently. He was the only one who truly believed Fang was still out there. He knew the rest of the Flock were still trying to get over his death, and for him to be suddenly alive... that would be harder for them.
"Yeah. I think so." He kissed her hair as he stood.
"Really?" She asked, following him to the living room.
"Yeah." He said, sitting down in front of the television.
"Do you?" He asked suddenly.
She took his hand in hers, "Yes. Yes, I do."
He let the water sink over him slowly. He'd been in the hot tubs already today, but here he was again. He was back because, he still was limping. True, it didn't hurt him as much, but he still couldn't walk normally. So, naturally he thought if he was in the hydrotherapy tubs a little more, maybe then his limp would go away. That's what simple logic said, anyway.
"You know what might really help?" Angel said, her head snapping back up. She often joined him in the hot tubs now, though she claimed it faded her hair color. He saw no evidence of that to be honest, but he went along with it.
"What?" He asked sinking deeper into the bubbles.
"Ballet." She declared, hopping up and pulling a towel around her waist.
"Ballet?" He stood up and pulled his sweat pants on.
"Yes, ballet." She said, holding open the door. Fang sighed and limped through the doorway. He pressed his palm against the silver head of the walking stick Fin loaned him.
"How the hell is ballet going to help?" He mumbled, leaning heavily against the stick as he limped down the hall.
"Take a look at this." She pointed her foot and he saw what she was talking about. Her upper calf popped a muscle. She did the same with her left leg.
"It gives you leg strength hun. Real leg muscle." She said tossing her hair back. She had cut it the day before. It now just grazed her shoulders, instead of her mid back.
"I can see that." He murmured as they turned into a draped doorway. As they stepped inside Fang saw himself reflected in at least twenty mirrors which covered the walls of the room.
"This is my studio." She sighed, pulling on a black skirt over her red swimsuit.
"Your studio?" He asked, plopping down on the floor.
"Yes, mine. It was an empty room. I bought the mirrors, I put them up. I've been studying since... since I was very small." She said, pulling on some pink satin flat toed shoes. She laced them around her ankles with care, then stood on the flat toes. Fang's eyes widened, she was standing directly on the tips of her toes. Then she began to turn and leap. She walked directly on the tips of her toes and lifted her leg much higher than her hips.
"Come on, I'll help you warm up." She pulled him to his feet slowly. Was he going to do that? It seemed physically impossible!
"This is first position." Her heels touched but her toes were turned out to face opposite ways. He did the same, but he just couldn't turn his toes out quite as far without falling over.
"Good, now this is second position." She slid her foot out so they were shoulder length apart. He followed her lead.
"Third is only used for young children so we'll skip it. Forth position though, we will do." She placed her right foot against her arch then brought it out about three inches. He once again followed.
"And lastly, fifth position." She put her heel against the ball of her foot. "Now, let's start the warm up." She smiled, Fang on the other hand frowned. And with good reason.
In twenty minutes he was already sweating through his clothes. "Can-we-take-a-break?" He panted, leaning on his knees for support.
"Yes, yes. I think you've had enough for today." She smiled, handing him a white towel. He took it and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Let's go visit River, shall we?" She said, briskly walking out the door. Fang groaned and stiffly limped after her.
"Can't you wait for me?" He pleaded, catching up to her.
"I guess I could..." She stopped and turned on the balls of her feet. He clamped a hand on her shoulder and pulled himself up right.
"Let's get going then." He said, turning to the end of the hall.
"No... you know what I just realized? I have to run some errands in the city today. I'm sorry." She said looking down at her watch.
"When are you going to be back?" He asked, slightly deflated. Angela stopped in mid step.
"You should come with me!" She threw her arms around him.
"Come on! I'll get my coat and we can catch the bus and get out of this place!" She cried gayly. She pulling him by the arm down the hall into what he could only guess was her room, nearly dislocating his shoulder all the way. She had a single, which was lucky. You often got placed with looney roommates, or just people who didn't like you. Fang had of course gotten River and Zion, as well as Grey. They were fine roommates, but he couldn't help but wish he had a single most of the time.
"Come on, let's go!" She grinned, she had traded her lab coat for a brown over coat and bright pink shoulder bag. She had pulled back her hair into a small ponytail at the nape of her neck, thought a few strands of dark hair escaped. She handed him a black jacket and pulled him into the elevator.
"Where exactly are we going?" He asked as the door chimed open.
"Central park!" She said happily. Fang cringed... the last time he was in Central park...
"We need to get out of here." Gazzy said for the thousandth, going on millionth, time that commercial.
"I second the motion." Nudge said flatly. Iggy couldn't help but third it. Mr. Maxwell had been ducking in and out, growling about their agreement.
"Where would we go? Bloomingdale's?" Max laughed.
"Well we have to go somewhere!" Angel whined, one of her recently taken up hobbies. Whining.
"You know what?" He said, standing up so quickly his chair fell over.
"What?" Gazzy asked dazedly.
"We're going out." he said firmly. He heard the creak of the rusty couch cushions as the remaining flock members stood up and followed him up the stairs.
"Where are we going?" Gazzy asked as they stood at the bus stop. Iggy stopped, had he even thought about that? No... but it's not like he couldn't think of something off the top of his head.
"Central park." He decided as the bus pulled in. They boarded it's sticky confines and sat down in the very back, where their conversations wouldn't be disturbed. Nudge and Gazzy sat in the seats across from Iggy and Max, Angel sat on Nudge's lap so she could properly see out the window. Max sat in the window seat on Iggy's side.
"You know, I wish I could look out the window. Just once more." He said quietly. He felt Max's head on his shoulder.
"Why would you want to do that? You know what I see through this window? It's clouded, dusty. All I see are bare trees and children playing in the streets, which are filthy to begin with. A stray dog digging through the trash. The world isn't that beautiful." She whispered to him.
He smiled and kissed her forehead. "But you are."
"So what are these errands of yours?" Fang asked as he limped slowly next to her.
"They're already underway." She said pulling her arm around his shoulders.
"What do you mean?" He asked, as he cocked his head to the side.
"My errand was to get you out of that gloomy place." She said laying a kiss on his cheek. Fang smiled. He was glad to get out the Hospital... he'd been coped up there for more than a month. And half of that time he had been on bed rest. It was good that he was out for once.
"Yeah, it is." She smiled.
"You know, I almost forgot you could do that." He smirked.
"Almost, but not quite!" She giggled.
"Yeah. Almost but not quite." He said quietly... he'd almost forgotten the flock. He could hear Nudge's voice, recite her rants, but her face... he couldn't remember what she looked like. And Max, remembered every curve of her body, but weren't her eyes blue? Or where they green? Iggy, was his voice low? Or high? How tall was Gazzy? Angel, didn't her hair reach her mid back? He could hardly remember...
"I'm glad we got out." Nudge said sprinkling a cracker over the ground where squirrels soon followed.
"Yeah so am I!" Gazzy said from the tree above. Iggy on the other hand wasn't that happy. The park brought back memories of the night Fang disappeared. He could hear those hideous shrieks still... they haunted his mind still.
"Is... is that Fang?" Angel's small voice asked suddenly.
"I-it is." Max choked. "It's Fang."
Fang suddenly felt a body against his, someone else's hair on his face, lips on his cheek. "Max?" He called softly. He held her at arms length. She was thin, gaunt and had hollows under her eyes. Her grey eyes.
"Yes, yes it's me!" She cried as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"And, and Angel." She said pulling the little girl to her side.
"Gasman and Nudge." She pointed to the two of them.
"Ah-ah-and Iggy." She said pulling the blind boy from where he had tripped unto the grassy lawn when Nudge had run into him.
"Oh we've missed you so much!" She threw her arms around him again.
"I-I missed you guys too." He said softly patting her back.
"Where have you been? What happened?" She asked, stepping back and finally taking a good look at her long lost friend. Her gaze lingered on the walking stick he was clutching, but then she looked back at his eyes.
"A lot happened." He said, scuffing his shoes.
"Like what?" She asked desperately.
"Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it." Iggy said flatly as he examined the scrapes on his palms. Ow, God, why did he have to do that?
"Oh... okay." Max quietly. Iggy felt his heart sink. He wrapped his arms around her, she didn't deserve that. He shouldn't have said it.
"Oh, hey! This is Angela." Fang said suddenly.
"Hi." a feminine voice squeaked, who was this girl? How did Fang know her? He hugged Max tighter. She didn't deserve any of this. It was going to tear her apart. Why had Fang changed so much? Before he was the strong, silent type. Now... he wasn't quite sure what Fang was. His voice sounded hollow, his words were generic. They might as well have been talking to the wall. Because this wasn't Fang. At least, Fang as they knew him.
"S-so if you don't want to talk about it that's okay. I can totally understand that. I think everyone can really, I mean we've all gone through that." Nudge said, her voice wavered. She sounded close to tears. He couldn't blame her.
"Yeah, we've all gone through that." Max said softly, Iggy felt her tears drip down onto his sleeve. Couldn't Fang see how Max was being torn to pieces? Iggy sighed. Maybe Fang being back wasn't such a good thing.
"No... um, maybe tomorrow though..." Fang said quietly, scuffing the ground with his shoe. Angel didn't get it, what was wrong with Fang? Why didn't he want to talk to anyone? Why did he walk so funny? He looked so thin, and his arms had weird criss crosses across them. His hair was longer, his eyes looked sad and his mouthed always frowned. He was so different... what happened to him?
Angel looked at the girl he held in front of him. She was small, but muscular. Her face was thin and her features were delicate. She was very pretty... but Angel didn't understand and her. When she read the girl's mind, she'd been thinking ...and now he's going to leave me... What did she mean? It seemed Angel had a thousand questions, and yet no answers.
"Yeah, yeah... like um three?" Iggy shrugged coldly. Why was Iggy so mad at him? He was thinking about Max... not Fang. Maybe she could... but when she reached into Fang's mind, there was nothing there. What was wrong with Fang?
"Yeah. That's fine." Fang shrugged.
"So, so we'll see you tomorrow?" Gazzy asked, he hoped so. Maybe, if Fang came back... then Max would stop crying, and then everything would be back to normal.
"Yeah. I guess so." Fang nodded. Gazzy would have smiled, if he hadn't doubted him. He wouldn't look any of them in the eye.
"Bye then." Gazzy awkwardly stuck out his hand, which Fang shook. Why didn't he want to come home with them? He almost asked, but instead bit his tongue. Maybe Fang didn't want to talk to him. He watched as Fang shook Nudge's hand. It all felt too formal, too... too old. But then, Angel walked up to Fang and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I missed you. Total and Celeste did too." The little girl said, looking up at him with total admiration. Maybe things would be better now that Fang was back. Maybe they could be a family again.
Iggy came up and gave Fang a one armed hug. "Glad to see you alive."
Lastly, there came Max. She threw herself into his arms and sobbed on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." Max cried wiping her eyes on the corner of her sleeve.
"It's okay." He said squeezing her hand. "Bye." She said and kissed him on his cheek.
"Bye..."