A/N: Well, I'm back. Just want to say thanx for all the support, reviews, and reads. (You wouldn't believe how many hits this story has gotten. And it hasn't even been up for a month!) Well, as you all know, this is the chapter when Fang's true name shall be announced. The poll has ended with 9 votes Hunter and 18 votes Nick, according to my odd way of counting votes. BUT WAIT! That isn't the end! I asked several outsider people who have never read the book which name they preferred and any other suggestions. Then, I contemplated the issue over three collective hours of biking, 30 miles, and 3 CDs I listened to while biking. (I bike a LOT, like 5 miles a night. And always after midnight cause no one else is out then.) Anyway, after much thinking, I have decided. But I won't tell you here! Read on! And, of course, REVIEW! If you do, I shall post again much faster.
Chapter Nine:
We landed as a group, all touching down in the cover of the small woods near Allison Raines house. After another uncomfortable night, Fang was finally going to meet his mom- and possibly move out of our lives forever. Not that I care- right?
Yeah. Right.
Most of the time, Fang was Mr. Cool, Calm, and Collected. But now he was too nervous to hide his nervousness, positively twitching beside me as we approached the house. When we reached the driveway and saw the little black car lying in wait for us, we knew it was time.
Pulling me aside, Fang whispered in my ear, "Max, I'm… I'm scared."
I reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. Fang was never scared, or at least never admitted to it. Fighting bloodthirsty wolf mutants more than twice his size? No problem. Talking to his mother? Complete emotional meltdown.
Standing tip-toe to reached his ear, I whispered back, "I'll tell you what I told Iggy: if you weren't I'd know you were nuts."
Fang grinned weakly and nodded, turning to face the rest of the flock. "Well… let's get this over with." He walked up to the door, rang the bell, and immediately lost his nerve, scurrying to hide behind Iggy.
A moment later, Allison Raines answered the door.
"Can I help you?" she asked, looking suspiciously at the troop of tall kids, plus one unusually silent dog, standing in her entranceway. Which would be us.
"Ms. Raines?" I said, just to check. After all, maybe she'd been mailing someone else's packages and this was all just one huge, terrible, glorious mistake. It was possible, wasn't it?
"That's Dr. Raines," she corrected.
"Sorry, Doctor," I quickly amended. Doctor? Oh no…
Then it struck me that I had no idea what to say. Well, congratulations, I found your lost son for you, and guess what? He's my best friend in the entire world, whom according to a six-year old I love, though I'm still not entirely sure about that, so thanks for snatching him away form me, you jerk! Somehow, I didn't think that would cut it.
"Hi, I'm Max… Smith. You don't know me, but I believe I know something about you." I started.
Allison Raines nodded slowly, obviously wondering where the he-eck this was going. I totally sympathized.
"When you were a teenager… I don't know how or why, but you got pregnant."
The angry shock on her face was a clear enough sign that this was not what she had been expecting when she opened the door.
"You were probably just a little older than me, but you went ahead and waited the nine months. And had a baby boy."
The doctor seemed ready to rip me apart. I guessed this was probably a pretty emotional memory so her. Too bad.
"But… the doctors told you he had died and you never saw him again."
"I hate to interrupt your lovely retelling of my life story," Dr. Raines interjected, her voice as icy as Fang's when he was angry. "But may I ask if you have a point?"
"Yes, I do." I reached behind Iggy and pulled Fang in front of me. "I think this is your son."
Fang stood trembling beside me, eyes locked on the ground.
For three scary seconds, Allison looked as though she were about to lunge at me in rage. But then she glanced over at Fang- and couldn't stop staring at him. As she examined him, her expression shifted form angry to confusion to… amazement.
"Oh my God…" she murmured, raising a hand to touch Fang's face, as though to convince herself that he was real. Fang finally looked up, with an astonished smile to match his mom's.
Allison looked past him at the rest of us. "Please come in, all of you."
After a moment's hesitation, we all filed in and sat slowly on the couch and chairs. Total jumped up into Angel's lap.
Dr. Raines still couldn't take her eyes off of Fang. "I was going to call you Hunter…" she sighed sadly.
Hunter. It suited Fang somehow.
"Hunter Nicholas Raines," she continued.
Total suddenly snorted. Iggy smirked and mouthed, "Fnick,." Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel all smiled. I, however, frowned disapprovingly. Angel? Kick Iggy for me I thought. I thump on my left confirmed that she had heard.
Luckily, Allison seemed not to notice. "But I don't understand. If Hunter's not dead, then what happened that night?" She looked to me for the answers I really did not feel like giving.
I'd been dreading this question. "It's a really long… strange story…"
Allison stared at me stubbornly, just like Fang always did. "I spent a really long time thinking my only son was dead."
"I know," I said cautiously. "But we've all had… unusual lives and we can't really tell you much until we know for sure that we can trust you."
The doctor looked livid, chewing her bottom lip. "Look. This is my son. I think I can be trusted."
"No."
Everyone turned, surprised, towards Fang. "Sorry, but we don't… can't trust anyone we just met."
Dr. Raines mouth hung open, kind of shocked and sad. Then she closed it. "Fine. What to I have to do to get you guys to trust me?"
Fang shot me a look and I knew what he wanted me to ask in that creepy way of ours. "You say you are a doctor. What of?"
Allison shrugged. "I'm a dentist."
For a moment, everything was deathly silent. Then Iggy and Gazzy started to laugh. Nudge and Angel joined in with giggles. Total chucked, then quickly shut his mouth to maintain his normal dog cover. Even Fang looked amused at the irony of it.
"What?" Dr. Raines demanded, looking offended.
"…Sorry." I swallowed a smile. "It's just Hunter…well, we call him Fang."
For a second, Dr. Raines didn't seem to get it, then her mouth quirked into a grin. "That is a rather… odd coincidence," she admitted.
If you think that's odd, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Okay. What next? I glanced at Fang and he returned it hauntingly. I knew he was telling me something, but for once I had know clue what. What did he want me to ask her? Then it hit me: that night a gazillion years ago when we'd first got wind of the fact that we might have real parents.
"A teenager, jeez. She was probably a crack addict or something."
"Maybe not. Maybe she was a nice kid who just made a mistake."
He wanted me to ask her that? Was he insane? That had to be the single most private part of her life and he wanted me to dig it up!
Fang continued to stare at me darkly, so I sighed and cleared my throat. "Uh, Dr. Raines… how did you- er… become pregnant? As a teenager?"
Her answer, when it came, was steely and cold as ice. "I was raped," she said flatly.
I winced. Yeah, she was definitely mad at me. Happy now Fang? "I'm sorry…" I said, soft and sincere. I meant it too.
Allison shook her head. "Anything else?" she asked. Her voice still had an angry chill too it.
I thought rapidly. I was not "listening" to what Fang "said" anymore about question suggestions. Saying the first thing that popped into my head, I blurted as seriously as possible, "Do you like birds?"
Dr. Raines blinked. Okay, I had to admit that that question was a little off sounding, but if Fang was going to be living with her, then the question was all sorts of relevant.
"They're… pretty. I like them okay. Except for pigeons. Always pooping on my car…" she trailed off and frowned. "Sorry, but what does that got to do with anything?"
"Everything," I answered. I sneaked a glance at Angel and she nodded. Nothing suspicious. We could trust Dr. Allison Raines.
Okay. Let's go. "You asked what really happened that night. Obviously F-Hunter-" I corrected myself. Great. Fhunter. That was even worse than Fnick. "-didn't die." I finished and then took a deep breath. I had never spilt the entire enchilada of beans. Iggy had talked to his parents and I hadn't told Ella and her mother everything. This was huge. "What really happened was he was kidnapped. By doctors."
Fang's mom gaped at me.
"We all were," Nudge said suddenly.
A really loooooong silence followed.
Finally, Dr. Raines sputtered out, "Why?"
Fang's hand found mine and squeezed it. He knew what was coming and he was nervous. I squeezed his hand back reassuringly.
"They needed him… us, for test subjects. Guinea pigs for some ground breaking experiments they wanted to try out."
Allison looked slightly outraged. "But human testing is against the law without consent!"
I shrugged. "The whitecoats don't really care about breaking the law. And it's possible the government gave them permission."
Dr. Raines looked at us allwith obvious pity. "What… what did they do to you?"
Fang was practically crushing my hand now.
I ignored her question. "Dr. Raines… are you sure Fang is Hunter?"
"Yes! Of course."
"Would you love him no matter- no matter what he's like?"
Allison's eyes settled on Fang agained. "How could I not? He's my only child. I… I may not have known him until now, but I already know I love him."
I glanced at Angel again. She nodded. The doctor wasn't lying.
"Okay," I said. The tension in the room was mounting to incredible heights. "Fang… show her."
Fang reluctantly stood up and took off his windbreaker. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply, he slowly spread his wings.
A/N again: HA HA HA! I feel so evil! I LUV cliffys. Except when I have to read them and then wait forever for the next part. Which is what ya'll shall do! MWA MWA MWA!
As for the name. Before you get all pouting and say "BUT NICK WON THE VOTE!", let me tell you, I thought really HARD about it. I decided to compromise. And all the people I asked said Hunter Nicholas sounded better than Nicholas Hunter. If you disagree, too bad, my story. But there will be some mention of the infamous Fnick in the next chapter, I promise.
Wow, I got to say, I think that was the best chapter ending I ever wrote. Well, whatever. I know the vote's over, but please review. I makes me feel appreciated and loved. If I get at least four for this chapter, I shall hurry up with Chapter Ten. If not, then I shall be lazy. REVIEW NOW SLAVES!
