Twenty-One

Iggy ran his fingers over Fang with a feather-soft touch, his features giving away most of his thoughts, since he'd never really learnt to hide them. I watched silently, reading his face, waiting.

"Well, he should wake up soon. He'll hurt like all hell when he does, though." He sounded slightly amused, and sat back on his heels. "Are we getting out of here, then?" He asked, looking in my direction with his sightless eyes.

"Yes. As soon as Fang is awake." Iggy nodded.

"I could carry him," Bree said softly, standing at my shoulder, and I looked up at him in surprise. "If Iggy would carry Liz?" He looked inquiringly at the blind bird-boy, apparently forgetting that he was exactly that - blind.

"Ah, sure." Iggy said, surprised, and stood up slowly.

"Glad my opinion accounts for so much." Liz put in snidely, and I shot a look at her, and she flushed slightly, dropping her gaze, realising what she'd said.

"Your opinion doesn't matter right now. Okay. Let's get out of here. Nudge, Gazzy, get our stuff." I spoke quickly, looking at the two pre-teens, both of whom hurried off to do as asked. I then frowned at Angel.

"Are you alright, Angel?"

The little girl nodded, and I narrowed my eyes at her. "Do you have a headache?" I asked, concerned, and picked her up, hugging her to me.

Angel looked at me very seriously, then around at the others, before whispering. "I will tell you later?" It was sort of a question, but mostly a request. I nodded, and put her down. Nudge and Gazzy came back just then, and handed out the various items that belonged to us all. Liz had dug around and found her and Bree's items.

"Ok, let's get out of here." I got nods, and the younger kids took off out the window, followed by Iggy carrying Liz, her arm's wrapped around his neck, and him holding her lightly around the waist. I checked Fang again – he was still way out of it – and then nodded to Bree, who picked up Fang, and took off lightly. He was very strong – probably from carrying Liz everywhere – but I still caught his surprised look at Fang's weight. Huh.

"Heaver than he looks," he murmured, and I almost smiled.

"I know." I said simply, and we glided along air currents, keen eyes searching through the pre-morning darkness for somewhere to stay, heading in the direction of Dallas.

"Landing would be really good right now, Maximum." I heard Bree's voice grind out, and looked in his direction, startled, eyes widening at what I saw.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." He looked worried, and I called the flock to order, and we dropped towards the ground. We were in that odd empty section of the world between crappy little towns. There was nothing except trees around us, and we landed in a thicket, between them, and Iggy set about making a fire with Gazzy, while Angel, Nudge and Liz all fidgeted a little behind Bree and me.

"Iggy! You said he'd be fine." I accused, brow furrowed as I looked down at Fang.

The blind mutant left the now crackling fire and crouched down at Fang's shoulder, fingers brushing over the back of Fang's head where he'd been hit, then over his forehead.

"He should be," Iggy sounded confused and lost, staring blindly down at Fang, who seemed to have developed some sort of fever, and was muttering under his breath!

"Well, he isn't!" I snapped, and then took a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart and the panicking feeling that was trying to rise to the surface.

"You think?" he replied, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Yes, I do." I snapped again, scowling, and gave him a shove. "Take the Flock, go and find a shop or something. We'll stop here for the day."

Iggy nodded slowly, standing up and taking Angel's hand. "C'mon. Let's go get some food."

Angel tugged her hand loose, looking at her shoes. "I want to stay here." She said, looking up at me seriously.

"Ok, fine, Angel can stay." My tone denied the others, who looked like they wanted to stay, too, and they took off, taking Bree and Liz with them.

Angel waited until they were out of sight, before moving over to me, sitting in my lap beside Fang's shoulder. "Will he be alright?"

"Yeah, I think he just has concussion." I said slowly, taking a deep breath as I dropped my gaze to look at the unconscious mutant, and then back at Angel's serious face. "What happened?"

I was referring to the house, her headache.

Angel grimaced, flushing slightly, and looked out over the fire. "I blew him up."

What?!

Twenty-Two
I choked, coughed, and felt Angel turn to look up at me. I stared down at her, in shock... I think. Her little face looked up at me solemnly.

"Max?" Her voice was hesitant, and I blinked, and then hugged her close.

"Oh my God, Angel!" I said softly, "When did you get so scary?" Angel stared at me with her huge, beautiful blue eyes, which were slowly flooding, and then burst into tears.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry!" I gasped, being flooded with guilt, and hugged her close. Angel didn't reply, but clung to me. I don't know how long I held her, but once my shoulder was sufficiently drowned, she began hiccoughing, and finally taking deep breaths. After a moment she looked up at me. She looked gorgeous, even with red eyes, and I kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry, baby."

Angel hugged me, snuggling close, and whispered something. I had to ask her to repeat it.
"I don't know what happened," She said, a little louder, a little more clearly. "He... he hit Fang..." She turned her head, looking up at me. "I thought he was dead." She swallowed back more tears as I nodded. "I was going to make him hit himself, with the table leg... But then he went for you!" She sounded outraged under all her tears, and looked up at me seriously, "I lost it... and he went boom!" She blinked.

"I've never lost control before..."

I stared at her.

"You can loose control?" That wasn't me... My head and eyes moved before I'd processed the thought, and I stared down at Fang, who was staring in return at Angel, looking as concerned as Fang can look. Angel was staring at him, too, looking stricken.

"You Okay?" I asked, causing Fang's gaze to flicker towards me. He nodded stiffly - what else was I expecting - and then returned his gaze to Angel.

"You can loose control?" He repeated, and I felt Angel shrink back into my arms. Why was she so afraid of Fang suddenly?

"Yes," She barely whispered, and I felt my own muscles stiffen. I forced myself to relax and just hold the little girl, now studying Fang's face.

Fang nodded slightly, but stopped quickly... Not the ideal motion to make with a case of concussion.

"I'm hungry." He said suddenly, forcing himself to sit up. Angel and I stared at him in shock.

"What?"

Fang frowned at me. "I'm hungry." He repeated, as if I were daft.

"I don't think you should eat. You'll be sick." Fang glared at me. Don't say I didn't warn you. I gently set Angel out of my lap, and moved to Fang's bag, digging up a couple of bars, and gave them to him with a 'you'll see' look on my face. Fang ignored me.

What was with him? Angel was frowning at him. Maybe his brains had been addled?

Five minutes later, Fang was paying for eating. I couldn't help smirk as he scrambled up, glaring at me as if it were all my fault, and vanished into the bushes. Angel and I winced; it didn't sound fun.

"What's with him?" I murmured, not really expecting an answer, waiting for Fang to come back.

"I think you're right." Angel said... Hu? I blinked at her. "His brains have been scrambled." I laughed at her, before realising she was serious.

"You're joking, please?"

She pulled a face, not answering, as Fang came staggering back, looking pale, and slumped down at the base of the tree.

"Feeling better?" I asked, completely serious, concerned. He didn't even look at me.

Ok, Fang is scaring me.

He is acting weird, isn't he? Voice chimed in, and I tilted my head, closing my eyes as I replied, ignoring the ever happening hammer of pain that accompanied Voice.

What's with him?

Honestly?
Well, no Duh.

I have no idea.

Well, that's just great.

One bonus. I got a straight answer.

Twenty-Three

Liz's POV

Shopping was easy. I stole the credit card off Iggy pretty swiftly, once we'd landed, and marched Nudge down the street to a lacey looking little clothing shop. It was nothing fancy, you know, just no-brand clothing that would keep us warm, but it was better than the op-shop. Nudge and I went wild, finding clothing first for ourselves and then Angel and Max. That took longer, since we had to guess at Max's clothing size and Angel too. It's really hard getting the shop owner to help you when you say your six year old is like, seven foot… Ok, I excaudate, but you know what I mean.

The boy's were less than enthusiastic, but they got themselves some cloths. Gazzy came out all done up like a bush; Iggy's cloths had been fought over by both Bree and Gazzy, before agreement was made, mainly because Iggy said if they didn't shut up he'd blow them up.

Charming person… bird… creature.

I made Bree find something for Fang, since he was about the same size. The youngster's seemed reassured by this, probably because you don't dress a dead person. Fang'd be fine.

After spending more than Max would like on her card – why does she care, it's not like she has to pay for it! – we marched off down to the road to where a shop was, and proceeded to buy anything that could be eaten in the air, and wouldn't kill the boys to carry. More money was spent. That was when Total declared that we had to buy food just for him. Even more money was spent.

And no one recognised me. Which is good, by the way.

"We can go back now, right?" Gazzy asked, looking worn out and slightly irritated, but not as much as Iggy behind him. I don't think that kid likes to go shopping…

Heh, and me calling him kid: He's two years older than me.

"Yeah, we'll head back now." I said, walking at the front of the group with Bree. Max really has them well trained… They'll follow any girl so long as she takes control. Pretty cool. I wonder if they'd do as Angel or Nudge told them… Probably not. Oh well, go me.

We left the town on foot, 'cause we didn't really want them to see us – or rather, the others – taking off into the blue. And I liked to walk. I like the feel of the planet under my feet. I've got nothing against flying bird kids, but it is nice to remember I'm human once in a while. Honestly, I think they all forget sometimes.

"I'm not walking any further." Nudge suddenly said, a rather short statement, especially from her, and she stopped. I turned around to look at her. We would be out of sight of the town, so I guess it would be OK. I shrugged in answer, and she sighed with relief. The dog bounded up into Iggy's arms, and huffed.

"I hate walking."

"Join the club." Wow, they really can whine. I frowned at Iggy, who didn't see it, being blind and all.

"Okay, we'll head back now." Playing leader is fun.

I went over to Bree, and the rest of Max's flock took off into the sky, with us following. Nudge, Gazzy and Iggy all had one bag each, while Bree had two. I was holding Max, Fang and Angel's new cloths in a squished bag.

We were only in the air about five minutes when everything went wrong.

Twenty-Four

It was getting late. I mean, really late. Fang had gotten a fire going: He seemed pretty normal now, though I caught Angel frown at him sometimes. We'd decided that he was out of it because of the knock to the head. Maybe I'll ask him later, but not now.

Right now, the flock was still missing, and it was starting to get dark.

The day had taken forever to go by. I mean, woken at around five-ish by blood-thirsty Erasers, blown up, Fang out cold. You know, it just wasn't the best way to start the day. But now, Fang was awake, Angel was asleep, and I was pacing a ditch in the ground because my Flock was still out shopping. I hoped.

Iggy isn't exactly a happy shopper, so I had been expecting them back maybe two hours at most after they'd left. You know, go to town, buy some food, come back here and annoy me by fretting over Fang.

They hadn't.

I forced myself to stop pacing and flopped down beside Fang, who was playing with our little fire. It was very little, but it was still a fire, and Fang is still a guy, no matter how bottled up he gets, and as such has a fascination with fire and water. It's a guy thing, I'm sure. Anyway, he was poking it with a twig absently.

"Must you?"

He didn't answer, but turned slightly to look at me out of the corner of his eye, and poked the fire again, the flicker of a smirk touching his lips. I thumped him in the shoulder, and he sighed.

"They'll be fine. From the looks of Liz, she probably took them shopping for cloths and stuff."

I frowned. "For the whole day?!" I snapped, "Jeezum, there was only her and Nudge, they wouldn't be able to drag Iggy, Gazzy and Bree around all day to look at cloths."

"What are we going to do, then?" He asked, turning to face me, brows arched questioningly.

"Wait for them," I said, rubbing my temples. Fang nodded. "What was with you…? Before, I mean?"

Fang's brows furrowed as he stared at me, and then shrugged. "Why?"

I shrugged in return, looking at the fire, "You acted really weird when you woke up. Angel kept frowning at you. And even Voice didn't know what was up." I turned to look at Fang, who was looking at me with as much amusement as Fang can show. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"I was decked with a table leg, and you expected me to be normal when I woke up?" He shook his head slightly, still smirking. I frowned at him.

"I'm fine, and you'll get wrinkles." It changed to a scowl, before Angel came over to join us.

"Feeling better, sweetie?" I asked as she sat down in the slightly smaller than Angel-sized gap that was between Fang and I.

"Someone's coming," She whispered, not answering my question and Fang and I both listened carefully, watching Angel.

"It's Gazzy!" She squealed suddenly, using my and Fang's shoulders to thrust herself forward to where Gazzy landed ungainly on the ground, followed moments later by Iggy. I rushed over to them, Fang at my heels.

Oh, my, God. "What happened?" I demanded, helping Iggy to stand, and dragging him over to the fire so I could examine his wounds. Angel led Gazzy over while Fang dug around in his backpack, bringing up the medical supplies.

"Erasers," Iggy said bluntly, wincing as Fang started applying antiseptic to his cuts. "They came out of no where. Nudge and Liz were talking about something. They took them."

I felt my heart freeze. I'd just been about to ask where the two girls and Bree were. I felt Fang stiffen beside me, and to my other side, Gazzy looked like he was trying really hard not to cry. Angel was clinging to him.

"Where," I ground out. It used to be easy: When someone was stolen, go to the School. Now there were freaking whitecoats everywhere.

"They were heading towards the School." Gazzy said, looking up at me. I expelled a breath slowly. So, we wouldn't need to dash around like mad-hatters trying to find out where they had taken them, at least.

"Okay," I said, forcing myself into leader-mode, shoving my terror away. "Where were you when you were ambushed, and why didn't they take you two?"

"They would have. Iggy blew them up. And we were about five minutes by flight outside the town." I nodded.

"Right. Did they all go back?"

"Yes," Iggy said, sitting down as Fang moved towards Gazzy.

"We'll stay the night here, then." I said, already making plans, "and head out tomorrow. You two need to rest." I added, seeing both Iggy and Gazzy about to protest. Fang knew me, so he would have already known why we were staying the night, and Angel probably read my mind.

"Fine." They said, more or less in unison, and I made sure they were all fixed up before they collapsed and fell asleep. Angel joined them while Fang and I sat beside the fire, trying to work out why the School would want Nudge, Liz and Bree.

Twenty-Fire

Liz's POV

We were only in the air about five minutes when everything went wrong.

Eraser's suddenly dived at us from above, dropping like falcons out of the clouds, their wings easily maneuvered. These were the new ones; born knowing how to fly, how to kill, and loving it. I heard Gazzy scream something, and an Eraser went boom before he was given a punch to the stomach, two of the beasts latching onto him. Iggy somehow knew, and both beasts were quickly destroyed: he made them drop Gazzy and then blew them up.

While this was happening, Nudge was taken out by three Erasers – one snapped her wings back, causing her to scream, another caught her and did something to her that made her black out, her slim body going lax and they carried her off, a helicopter appearing. We couldn't do anything, because there were about eight Erasers circling Bree, who wasn't sure what to do. He'd never had to fight Erasers in the air before, and he didn't know what to do with me. I was clinging like a limpet: There was no way he was going to let me drop.

I saw Iggy below us. I think Gazzy was somewhere there too, or maybe he was chasing after Nudge. "Drop me." I whispered harshly at Bree, who started. "Iggy'll catch me." Ok, I don't know why I suddenly had faith that the blind mutant would catch me, but Bree nodded, and I felt his grip loosen. I let go of his neck, and the bag of cloths, and dropped like a rock.

Right into an Eraser's waiting paws. Great.

Whatever that other one had done to Nudge, this one did it to me. I was out cold before I could form the idea of fighting him.

I woke up slowly, my body feeling like dead weight, and I almost wondered if I was dead, before realising that dead people probably don't wonder if they were dead. Besides, I hurt all over, which most likely meant I was alive.

Yay for me.

My eyes were reluctant to open, but I managed it, and stared up at the roof above me. It was an odd roof, and I lifted up an arm to touch it. It wasn't very far away. Groaning, I sat up, knowing where I was, even if I'd only been there once before, and cringing at the thought.

"Liz?" A soft voice and I turned to the left to see Nudge peering over at me through the bars in her crate. "You okay?" I nodded, and she licked her lips. "Is Bree okay? He's beside you." I stared at her for a moment, then turned slowly to look to my right, where sure enough, Bree was leaning back in his crate, eyes closed and looking as if he were having trouble breathing.

"Bree?" I whispered, and one eye opened slightly, watched me for a moment, then closed. "You okay?" He didn't even look at me this time, and I sighed, leaning back against my crate. I glanced over at Nudge, but she had her head buried on her knees, arms wrapped around them. Poor kid.

Hang on. "Where are Iggy and Gazzy?" I saw both Nudge's head pop up and Bree's eyes flash open as I finished my question, and we all peered around, trying to spot the two other bird kids. Neither of them were with us.

"They'll get Max. She'll come get us." Nudge said, looking positive about it.

I nodded, thinking, I hope you're right.

Bree was focusing on his breathing. I could count it, in, one, two, three, out, one, two, three; In, one, two, three, out, one, two, three.

I think I would have found it amusing, if it hadn't been for the fact that Bree never worries about anything, and his having to focus his breathing was really freaking me out. Nudge looked as if she were asleep, her head buried in her arms on her knees, but I could see her shoulders shaking. I think she was crying, and I wasn't sure how to comfort her.

I'm only a year older than her, you know.

The door opened, and I saw Nudge peer over her arms, and then shrink back against the back of her crate. Bree didn't move, but continued his counted breaths, eyes closed. Legs moved into the room, and I followed them up to see who I assume was Jeb. He walked to Nudge's crate, and looked at her for a moment, before stepping past me and crouching down beside Bree's.

"Hello, Bree." He said softly, calmly. Bree opened his eyes and stared at Jeb, but didn't reply.

"The Erasers say you were with part of the Flock." He continued, watching the bird boy carefully. "I need to know: Was Max there?"

Bree gave a sour snort, and glared at Jeb. "Which one?" What did that mean?

Jeb seemed a little confused, also, and frowned at Bree, "What do you mean?"

Bree just stared at him.

"I would really appreciate your cooperation in this." He said softly. "We know you were with Iggy and Gasman. They escaped, I realise that. We need to know what happened to Max, Fang and Angel."

Bree shook his head, looking sad. "You'd rather not know, Jeb." Bree had really lost me now, though Jeb looked more confused than anything, I think he was starting to worry.

"What happened?"

"Don't you read the paper?" Oh, Jeezum. Jeb's face hardened. "There is your answer." Bree said simply, staring at Jeb. "Fang and Angel went with her into hiding. I was bringing the others back here. They didn't know it, of course. Told them we'd be having Christmas at this place I know." Bree shrugged, his eyes flashing, "Then your stupid dogs came and (swear word of choice) it all up. 'Could have had the whole flock – or most of it." I stared at him through the crate, and then I dragged up every sour memory I could, and forced myself to cry. There was a moment's pause, and then Nudge launched herself into a fury, screaming vial words at Bree across the cages about trusting him and all that sort of shit. I grinned into my knees through my sobs.

Bree ignored us, and stared at Jeb for a while longer. "Well?" He demanded, motioning towards his door. Jeb didn't open it, but asked another question.

"What about Max II?"