A/N: Honestly, guys, I'm so happy to see people are still reading this. I've had a very rough couple of months (several family members and my dance teacher died), and have only recently found motivation or inspiration to write again. Thank you for your patience.

Just a warning, there's some non-graphic but still gross dialogue in the very beginning about skinning animals. If you don't want to read it, just skip past the section between the two *'s.

It takes another week to trek across the Kentucky/Tennessee border. Part of that is because the humans don't have as much stamina as me (although I begin to notice a slight decline in my own endurance), but I also have to take some of the blame upon myself. I keep getting turned around. Sure, in the mornings and late afternoons it's easy enough to judge direction by the sun, but by noon I'm relying on my instincts, which apparently decided to fly south for the winter.

We settle for the night in an abandoned barn, having covered less distance than I would have liked over the course of the day. Our supply of food wasn't meant to support four hungry people for weeks on end. I figured it's past time to introduce the boys to the Flock's lifestyle: survive by whatever means necessary. This means teaching them basic self-defense, wilderness survival skills, and paranoia, (all of which I have plenty).

* "So you cut right here, under the base of the tail, but don't cut deeper than the skin. And you have to use the tip of the knife, wiggle it around under here like this."

"Ew."

"And then you twist the tail to break it."

"That's disgusting." Crack. "I think I'm going to hurl."

"And you use your foot for leverage, then pull on the feet like this. . . see?"

"Oh my gosh I need some fresh air."

"Cool! Can I do the next one?"

* I smirk at James' retreat. "Since you're going back out, can you get some firewood? We'll need to cook them." He raises a hand in acknowledgement, probably relieved I'm not forcing him to partake in the squirrel skinning. "Oh, and don't take too long. It will be dark soon."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, mom," James shoots over his shoulder as he disappears into the trees.

Nathan watches me work with wide eyes. "Please, Max? Can I try one?"

I nod at the small pile of dead rodents. "Yeah, the best way to learn is through experience." Well, sometimes. Nathan holds out a hand for the knife I've been carrying around in my pocket. "Remember, it's a sharp blade. Always cut away from yourself. And if you accidentally cut yourself, tell me immediately."

"I promise! I'll be careful!" I transfer the tool to the boy and he eagerly starts to recreate the method I've shown him. When he successfully finishes the first squirrel, I step back to let him work without too much supervision.

I choose the opportunity to hide a muffle a yawn. Three days without more than an hour of sleep is nothing to worry about. Sleep, schmeep.

When Nick sees me come back toward the fire, where he's been taking a mandatory break, he starts to scramble to his feet. "We'll need more firewood soon. I should –"

"Sit down. James is taking care of it." He reluctantly falls back again, huffing. I hide my grin at his attitude. "How's your leg?"

"It hasn't changed since the last time you asked me." I raise my eyebrow. He rolls his eyes. "It's fine. I wish you'd let me do something. I can help."

I would let him help if he didn't finish each day's hike with grit teeth. As it is, his leg is healing, but I'm not going to tempt fate by sending Nick into the woods on his own.

There's a triumphant laugh behind me. "Max! Look! I did it!"

"Good job, Nathan! Keep up the good work!"

And then it's Nick's turn to raise his eyebrows. "You let Nathan skin the food?"

I shrug. "He asked to do it."

"And you left him alone with a knife."

"I'm literally ten feet away. Besides, he's eight. He can handle it."

Nick shakes his head. "In the real world, Max, that would be considered child neglect." I know there's no accusation behind the words because he's having trouble keeping the corner of his mouth from twitching up.

So I cross my arms and sit next to him. "In the real world, humans with wings would be fictional."

Nick cracks a smile. "Most people think they are." I shove him aside half-heartedly. He feigns hurt and mumbles, "But seriously. You have to admit it's cool sometimes."

I shrug. "It has its ups and downs." No pun intended. "You wouldn't believe the growing pains. And when Angel finally began molting her down feathers, we had to sweep the house at least twice a day. And it would float around, and stick to your sweat and in your mouth."

Nick chuckles. "Yeah?"

I smile fully in return. "It was worth it, though. She was so excited. When it was time to teach her to fly, she took a running jump off the roof. Almost gave Jeb a heart attack. Fang and I caught her before she hit the ground. The next time she tried, it was between the two of us, and she picked it up like a natural."

Nick leaned back on his forearms and stared at the patch of sky visible in a hole in the roof. "What's it like? Flying?"

My wings twitch at the thought of it. "I couldn't describe it. It's terrifying and exhilarating and breathtaking. And when I fly with the Flock, it's the only peace we get."

He hums under his breath. "I would give anything," he looks back at me, dark eyes set in a serious face, "anything for that kind of freedom."

My breath catches. "Don't."

"Max?"

"It's – it's not worth it, okay? Everything else. . . it's not good, it's not real. . ."

"What's not real?"

"It's all an illusion, isn't it? Freedom, because we're always being hunted, and nowhere is safe. Any time we try to feel normal the world comes back and throws it in our faces. My family isn't even real, because we're not related – "

"Max, breathe."

"And at any moment we could just keel over and die, because that's how they programmed us!"

Nick sits up straighter and shakes his head. "Woah, woah, woah. Calm down."

"I can't! If I ever calm down, I could lose everything!"

He cups my face in his hands. My initial reaction is to pull away, but he follows me and gently runs his thumb over my cheek. "Breathe, Max." And I realize my heart is beating like a jackhammer, heavy and fast in my chest, my breath too light to shovel oxygen into my brain. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, and after a moment it evens out to the point my head isn't fuzzy anymore.

When I open my eyes again, Nick's face is inches from mine. He moves a hand to tuck hair behind my ear. "You don't have to be related to be family. I don't know what it's like to have all of that looming over you, but I'll always be here to help, okay?"

My heart flutters a little. Traitor.

He smirks, dropping his hands back to his lap. "Besides, being normal is overrated. I mean, look at us. We're totally human, and the proverbial crap still hit the fan."

I force myself to smile. "You may be human, but I wouldn't venture so far as to call you 'normal.'"

"Where should I put this?" James enters the barn with a respectable pile of sticks stacked in his arms. "My arms are burning, and I think I'm bleeding."

~xXx~

I watch Nathan and James talking animatedly over the fire, too tired to keep up with James' detailed instructions on creating a remote-controlled explosion. (It would concern me more if I weren't desensitized to it). The two of them have hit it off like peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, macaroni and cheese.

My stomach growls. The squirrel, though cooked decently thanks to James' mad skills, has failed me.

Nick pokes a stick in the fire and plays with some embers. "Are you sure we aren't clones somehow?" He keeps his voice low.

I frown. "Do you have wings tucked in there that I don't know about?"

"No, but that place – "

"The School."

"Right. What if they wanted humans to compare you to? Like a control group?"

I shudder. "Trust me, you would remember having any contact with the School."

"What about twins?" James asks. I look across the fire again, not realizing that James and Nathan had tuned into the conversation.

"Not likely." I grimace. "The School would jump at any opportunity to study twins. And that would require both of you."

"So what changed?" Nathan asks.

I look to him, confused. "What do you mean? Nothing changed; I just woke up and the Flock was gone."

Nathan shrugs. "You said it looked like they had never been there at all. What changed?"

I knew I shouldn't have told them so much. It's just dragging me deeper into knowledge debt. "There was no trace of the fire. Our packs were missing. Even. . . even the brush we had to cut through to get to firewood was whole again."

"So what if they never were there?"

"Are you suggesting I've just broken free of a lifelong hallucination?"

Actually. . .

No, my wings are definitely real.

"Like, what if we are the Flock?"

"I'm not following you."

"Oh!" James suddenly leans forward. "You mean like an alternate universe?"

Nathan nods. "I saw it in on the TV once."

"What?"

"It's like, there are four dimensions to the universe, right?" James starts.

"I thought there were only three?" Does being half bird mean I miss out on a whole different dimension?

"Time is considered the fourth." Oh, okay, naturally. I knew that. James continues. "And the fifth is?"

I exchange a glance with Nick. Resist rolling my eyes at James' teacher voice. "An alternate universe?"

"Yes! It's like, every time you make a choice, you choose your universe. But the other universes still exist separately. We're just experiencing the one we created. They're all here, but they're like. . . um, radio waves. We can't hear them, but we know they're still there."

I frown.

"You can't," James falters, "You can't hear radio waves, can you?"

Nick almost spits out his water.

"What? No!"

Nathan cackles the same way Gazzy does when he's pulled off a particularly explosive feat. By habit I shoot him a glare without any heat behind it.

Nick recovers and manages to reel the conversation back in before it goes hurdling in an entirely theoretical and nonsensical direction. "You're suggesting Max has ended up here, an alternate universe?" James nods. "How, exactly?"

James raises a hand to his mouth. "Well, the only way to travel between dimensions is through a wormhole."

I mentally congratulate myself on my ability to keep a straight face. "I think I would have remembered falling into a magical portal."

"It's not a magical portal, it's, like, a rip in the time-space continuum."

"Uh-huh. You watch too much science fiction."

"Says the girl with wings."

Touché.

"It seems too convenient," Nick says. "She fell asleep, slept-walked into a wormhole – "

"Who said anything about sleepwalking?" I manage to keep my voice calm, but inside I'm freaking out. Have I been sleepwalking this entire time? I knew I rolled out of trees, but has it escalated to the point where I could endanger the Flock by wandering away in the middle of the night?

"Chill, Max." Fang – Nick, I remind myself – frowns. "I was only joking." His frown deepens as he studies my face. "When was the last time you slept?"

"I slept last night."

"That's a lie. You were keeping watch."

I huff. "I'm fine. I've gone longer without sleep." To be fair, it was when whitecoats gave me regular injections of a caffeine-like drug for two weeks until my heart almost stopped. I shudder involuntarily.

"Max?" Nick takes my hand, and I realize I've spaced out a little. As I learned through experience, concentration is one of the first things to go when suffering from sleep deprivation. He squeezes my fingers lightly. "Why don't you sleep now? James and I can keep watch tonight."

He says it like it's simple, but it's not. I probably couldn't fall asleep if I tried. "I. . . "

"We'll wake you up if anything happens. Promise," Nathan pipes up. As though he'll be alert or conscious in the next hour, let alone the entire night.

"Anything," Nick repeats, and the look in his eyes tells me he's talking about my nightmares.

I guess if I wake up before my subconscious goes crazy on me. . . I swallow. "Okay. But just a few hours. Don't think I won't wake up and kick your butts into next week if you've let me sleep in."

James snorts. "Duh."

I allow myself to smile as I get comfortable (read: finagle my limbs into a position that will leave me with maximum blood circulation throughout the night. Learned that the hard way when numb wings made a U and A fail.) Without even thinking about it, I extend my right fist.

When I realize my mistake, (which took longer than I care to admit), I blush and start to pull my fist back. Nick fist bumps me. Then Nathan, and finally James. Not what I was going for, but. . .

Surely these warm fuzzy feelings will transfer to my dreams, right?

~xXx~

I wake up in a cold sweat, heart hammering away in my chest again. Something's wrong.

"Lie face down and put your hands behind your heads."

Ah, that might be it.

I sit straight up, and in response there are several clicks surrounding me. "Lie down and put your hands behind your head," a male voice behind me repeats. I continue to ignore him, taking in my surroundings better. It's dark except for the beams of light from flashlights surrounding us, and the glare makes it impossible for my eyes to adjust to anything outside the circle of light on the three of us. Nathan is lying a few feet away from James, on the other side of the smoking remains of last night's fire, and is only just stirring back into awareness. He startles when he blinks his eyes open and sees all of the people around us.

Nick is nowhere to be seen, and I don't know whether that's good or very, very bad.

A flashlight shines directly on my face. "Where is the one called Nicholas?"

I blink in the light, then smirk. So they don't know where he is. Good. "How should I know?"

"You're his girlfriend." Guess I can't play dumb.

I roll my eyes. "Right, let me turn on my boyfriend radar." I squeeze my eyes shut and pretend to think. "Can't find him. Guess it works better if you're actually in a relationship." Somebody behind me growls. "Seriously, though. I was asleep. No idea where he went."

Another growl. "Lie on your stomach and - "

"Yeah, you said that. No, thanks. The decomposing hay smells weird." I make meaningful eye contact with Nathan, who seems to get the hint and begins to wiggle closer to James. It'll be hard to make a break for it if he's still asleep. Until then, best to keep attention on me.

I seem to be too good at it, though, because a few people lunge toward me. For the sake of the limelight, I scrabble backward until my back hits knees. There I let my pursuers grab my biceps and wrestle me to my feet.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" I resist half-heartedly. Can't pull all my cards until I'm sure we can all get out together. Nathan's reached James, and I watch him carefully jostle the older boy awake.

"What is your name, child?" The people "holding" me spin me around to face a specific flashlight (one I still can't see past.)

I scoff. "Like you don't already know."

The fingers digging into my right arm and shoulder tighten until I'm sure they'll leave bruises. "Our facial recognition software could not identify you," the voice belonging to the hands hisses.

Hm. They're more high-tech than I would have guessed. Probably "Them," then. That also means they have pictures of me, which I knew, but it's disconcerting that they have enough evidence to run through software. I want to peek behind my shoulder to check on the boys, but it will only give up the game, so I squint into the flashlight. "That's weird," I reply sarcastically. "My friends said my nose job wasn't that noticeable."

"Where were you born?"

Ha! Wish I knew. "West of here."

"When were you born?"

Again, answers I don't have. "It was a while ago, trust me."

The man holding the flashlight gets closer, and the beam only gets brighter as it approaches my face. I turn my head away and try to blink spots away. A hand suddenly grabs my chin, twisting me around to face the man again. I snarl and snap at his fingers. He squeezes the sides of my jaw so hard I think it might break.

"You think you're funny, but I've got news for you, kid. Something big is going to change, and you can either join us or be left behind."

Despite my calm demeanor, adrenaline starts pumping into my veins. My arms shake with the effort it takes to keep them by my side. He releases my jaw, and I spit, "I'm good, thanks."

Judging by the way his flashlight bobs, the man shrugs. "Suit yourself." Then, addressing the crowd around us (I guesstimate ten people?), "Take them away."

Ooh, how ominous.

I manage to spin myself around so I can see that James and Nathan are awake, and I yell, "U and A!"

They spring to their feet, surprising the people casually leaning over them, and sprint toward the door. Bless them, remembering their scant training. In the momentary confusion their flight causes I sweep the feet out from under my attackers, and they release me on their way down. Only two people have peeled off from the crows to chase the boys, so I'm left surrounded by six.

There's a shot, but I've ducked before I even registered it. Two tiny prongs attached to wires attached to the gun shoot past me, sizzling in the open air.

"I see you and Nick share friend circles," I quip. The guns looked the same model as the one Nick used on me weeks ago. It means they aren't trying to immediately kill us, but it would be more reassuring if I didn't know how painful the shocks could be. Definitely enough to knock me out if I'm hit too long.

I block hits to my stomach and face, but a few lucky people manage to hit my sides. Ugh, if my healing factor doesn't kick in I'm going to look like a nightmare come tomorrow. An especially forceful shove from behind knocks me off balance, and I use the momentum to somersault under attacks and into a weaker section of fighters. But the crowd has nothing to focus on but me, and they rearrange accordingly.

I manage to down someone with a wicked uppercut, and then knock another off her feet with a well-placed roundhouse kick. I'm setting up for a sucker punch when somebody jumps on my back from behind, so I grit my teeth and shove my head back into their face. A nose definitely crunches. I ignore the feeling of blood spraying across the back of my neck.

When I duck under an attack from the front, the assailant before me successfully knocks out whoever was behind me. I roll to the side and back to my feet, into an open area where I have a millisecond to catch my breath.

A hand catches the back of my jacket. I start to attack on instinct, still heaving, but my punch slows to a tap when I realize who it is. "Nick," I breathe, relieved.

"ATVs parked outside. Come one, James and Nathan are already – " He cuts himself off as he throws me to the side, both of us narrowly missing more electric prongs.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he smiles.

When I look up, we're surrounded again, and Nick and I naturally take up positions back-to-back. "We only need to find an opening. If you see one, take it." I whisper. He nods, behind me.

And They rush into an attack. Nick and I work as well together in this universe as my own, I realize. We're able to read one another's body language to plan attacks, and smoothly protect each other's weak spots like it's second nature. It's a feeling I've missed since working with Fang.

When there's only three left, I spot an opening. "Four o'clock," I mutter, trusting Nick is listening. He flips somebody over his back and barrels through the opening. I follow close behind, catching up quickly to his limp. When I reach him, I grab his arm and half-drag him along.

The familiar sound of a popping stun gun, and something imbeds itself into my jacket. I stumble as the electricity sizzles through my body, and it takes all of my self-control to keep my wings hidden. Nick has to let go to avoid drawing the shock to himself. The second it stops, he yanks the prongs out none-too-gently and helps me back to my feet. Whatever advantage we had is now gone, excepting that every single-use gun has been fired. I'm still shaky on my feet, my muscles contracting, but Nick and I should still be able to take out just three people.

Luckily, it sounds like we won't need to. Two ATVs roars around the corner and stop just outside the door. James yells from one, "Get on!" Nathan waves excitedly from the other. Ooh, boy.

We don't need to be told twice; at once five people in the barn begin to sprint towards the exit. Nick reaches James' ATV and hops on. James looks to me, but I wave them on ahead. "We'll catch up! Go!" And they speed off.

I reach Nathan's ATV at the same time the Bad Guys reach the entrance to the barn. "Let me drive!" He obligingly scoots back and holds on tight as I gun the machine into the woods.

I almost let myself relax when we reach the tree line. No way they could follow us on foot. Then an engine revs from ahead of us, and several sets of headlights blink on.

"Hang tight," I warn. Nathan's fingers lace around my abdomen. I swerve our vehicle into a different direction, spraying dirt and dead leaves across the forest floor. The line of – is that four? – ATVs roar after us, and I press the gas to go faster.

"What about James and Nick?" Nathan has to shout to be heard over the wind.

I grit my teeth and swerve around a fallen tree. "I'm sure they're fine. We'll meet them later." Behind us, the other ATVs creep closer. I gun the engine.

We hit a large rock that causes the entire vehicle to pitch to the side. "Max! I'm slipping!" Nathan's fingers scrabble around my jacket.

"Hold on!" I use one hand to wrap around Nathan's and one to steer. The other ATVs are still hot on our tail, but I don't want to risk speeding up and losing Nathan. I need to lose our tail.

We speed past trees and across plains for another ten minutes before I see our chance. "When I say 'go,' you need to let go."

"What!"

"Trust me! I'll catch you!"

"O-okay." His fingers reflexively tighten around my stomach, and I can feel him leaning his face into my back. I roll my shoulders once to loosen up my wings. Only one shot to get this right.

The path we're on follows a steep ridge, and I've managed to put enough distance between us and the people chasing us to risk using my wings. If I time it right, they'll chase the vehicle instead of us, not realizing we've separated. I can land on top of the ridge and look for Nick and James from there.

I steadily pick up speed as we approach the ridge. "On the count of three," I shout. "One, two, three!"

Nathan obediently, though hesitantly, releases his grip just as I unfurl my wings. The immediate rush of air snaps my wings back almost painfully, but it's enough of an updraft to lift me the few feet necessary to clear the seat. I reach down and carefully pluck Nathan as he passes beneath me.

As planned, the ATV continues its journey down the straight path, though not as steadily as it would were someone steering it. Nathan gives a triumphant 'whoop!' and I smile, giving my wings a few experimental flaps.

We don't rise though. I only manage to get a few more feet up, wings flapping frantically. I gasp as they suddenly seize, and Nathan and I fall in a heap onto the forest floor.

Headlights flood the path, and I have just enough sense to curl around Nathan before an ATV bulldozes into me.

I'm out like a light.

A/N: I honestly would love to hear your opinions on this, because it seems rushed to me, but that may be because I've read it a gazillion times. Also, don't ride ATVs without helmets. It's a great way to get dead.