A/N: It's been forever, I know, but tbh I'm not sure if anybody is still reading so my motivation to finish is hovering around 10% on a good day now. It's my new year's resolution to finish this dang fic, so get ready for that. I plan on updating with shorter chapters (like, I'm aiming for about this length now, instead of the previous goals of ~4000 words.)

Also, I have written 30 chapters, and almost 90,000 words! Holy snapapples!

"I think it's that way. It was south of the park when I looked it up before."

James tightened his grip on the steering wheel of the car as he turned on his right blinker. He was not about to get pulled over by cops because
A) he was fourteen,
B) he didn't have a driver's license,
C) he and Nathan were supposed to be kidnapped, and
D) the trunk of the car still had all of those bloody towels in it which would not look good.

That's not even taking into account the evil school-bombing gang-murdering corporation that was after them. And probably looking for this car.

Rather than driving in another circle through the neighborhoods surrounding Dallas, he asked Nathan, "Do you have the address memorized?"

Nathan opened his mouth, closed it, and then tried again. "The street name had something to do with trees."

James glanced at the street signs the next couple of times they stopped: Maple Street. Poplar Street. Oak Lane.

Nathan must have also noticed, because he looked away from the window long enough to give James a properly abashed look. "There was a house in the background of the picture she sent me with her foster family. It had a red roof—"

James's eyes went wide. "Wait, foster family?"

Nathan looked confused. "Yeah?"

"We are headed to a family home?"

"They send most of us to foster families."

James pulled onto a tiny side street and pulled into an open parking space. When he stopped, he took a deep breath and rested his head on the steering wheel. "Look, Nathan, I know you are excited about seeing your sister, but we will have to be careful about this."

Nathan nods. "I know, I've grown a lot since she last saw me."

James runs his fingers through his hair. "It's not just that. I didn't realize we were going to somebody's house." He huffed out a breath. He should have noticed that there weren't any businesses down here.

Nathan's head tilted to the side. "Where did you think we were going?"

James pressed his lips together. He didn't know how to answer the question. "Do you understand why this is dangerous? What if somebody recognizes you? Or me?" Before Nathan could interject, he added, "Not your sister. What if her par—guardians remember seeing you were missing on television? They might call the police."

"Nobody will see us," Nathan insisted.

James was seriously considering turning around and giving up right there. They were going to run out of gas if they didn't stop somewhere soon. But Nathan must sense his hesitance, because he dips his chin and looks up through his lashes and BAM! Hits James with some of the saddest puppy eyes he has ever seen.

"I really miss my sister. I just want to say hi, then we can leave again. It will be super fast!"

James inhales and lets the breath out slowly through half-clenched teeth. "Okay." He pulls the car back into the road. "Okay, but we have to keep it quick. I'm giving you five minutes, tops." He hated capping it at all, since the boy had come all this way just to see his sister, but better to miss his sister than become a missing person.

They continued to drive, down side streets, slowing down in front of every house that Nathan squinted at a little too long. James tried to keep rolling to conserve gas. He was about to give up and look for a gas station when Nathan bounced up in his seat, pushing his finger against the windshield excitedly. "There! That's it!"

James pulled to a stop a few cars down from the house they had just passed. Nathan tried to jump out of the car immediately, but James held him back. "Hold your horses, we don't even know if anybody's home."

James used the rear view mirror to examine the house. It had two floors and a red roof, with a modest yard of yellowing grass and a single oak tree that was already missing half its leaves. One of the upstairs windows was open, and there was a car parked on the street immediately in front of it with a Texas license plate and a baby seat in the back.

Nathan was watching brazenly through the back windshield. "Well? Can I go?"

"Where do you think her room is?"

Nathan squinted at the house. "Top floor?"

"Can you be more specific?"

Nathan shook his head. "Can I go now?"

James was back to white-knuckling the steering wheel. "I don't know."

Nathan shot an angry look at him over his shoulder. "I'm going." But before he could slip out the door, the front door of the house opened.

James released the parking break. They were getting out.

"Wait," Nathan whispered. He rolled the window down a crack and whisper-screamed, "Hey!"

The kid—he was small, had to be around six—froze, the basketball he had been walking to the garage halfway out of his hands. He swung his head around until he saw the hand madly waving out the side of the car parked in front of the yard. He looked back at the house.

James cursed. Nathan hushed him, "That's a bad word."

"Oh, like Max and Nick don't say any worse."

The kid didn't immediately scream for his parents or disappear back inside, but James wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Instead, the boy edged closer to the car. "Do I know you?"

Nathan beamed. "Do you live here?"

The other boy's eyes widened and he stepped back. "I'm going to go get my—"

"No, wait," James sighed. He gave Nathan a look that Nathan at least had the decency to look ashamed.

"I'm James. This is Nathan."

"I'm looking for Angelica. She's my sister."

The boy looked confused, so Nathan elaborated. "It's her birthday. Well, it was, but I missed it. I have something I want to give to her! No, I had something, but I lost it. I just really want to see her anyway."

"Angie?"

"Yes! Small, blonde. Blue eyes?"

The boy shook his head. "She's not here."

James felt a sudden weight settle in his stomach.

Nathan kept prattling on, unperturbed. "When will she be back? Is she at school? I bet she loves school!"

"She doesn't live here anymore."

Nathan cocked his head to the side. "She doesn't—" he trailed off. There was an awful moment of silence. "She's not here?" he whispered.

"Someone else adopted her. They moved her after I came."

Nathan looked like the floor had been dropped from beneath him. James put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Nathan, it's okay. We'll find her." He looked at the boy. "Do you know where she went?"

The boy shrugged. "California."

James shut his eyes. "No way."

"Yeah, it's pretty far." The boy turned away from the car, oblivious to the knowledge bomb he had just detonated. "By, Nathan!"

Nathan was pale. "Bye," he mouthed, the words not making it all the way out.

James barely remembered to shout, "Hey, we were never here, okay?" before pulling out. He didn't wait for the kid's response. What six-year-old would keep that kind of secret, anyway? They would have authorities looking for them in Dallas before the end of the night.

They made it all the way back to the park in silence. It was still empty, and Max and Nick were nowhere to be seen. The second he stopped the car, Nathan thrust the door open and shot out.

James turned the car off and ran after him. "Nathan!"

Nathan fell to his knees by the edge of the lake, and that's where James caught him. "Hey, it's okay."

"It's not! Angie's gone!"

James wanted to promise that they would go after her, but it was an empty one he didn't have the heart to give. "She's safe."

Nathan was heaving for breath, so James picked him up and rested him against his chest. "Breathe."

All that came out was a sob.

It's awkwardly quiet. Nick sits next to me, close enough I can feel the heat coming off him. The hand behind him, the one he is using to prop himself up, barely brushes mine. I don't want the contact to end. I can still feel the ghost of pressure on my lips where he had—

Where Nick had kissed me.

Even thinking about it makes an embarrassing smile creep to my face. Stupid hormones.

But the atmosphere is anything but romantic. James sits across the fire from us. Nathan's asleep, head in the larger boy's lap. He tuckered himself out crying.

"What happened?" I ask.

James's face is grave. "We found the house. She isn't there."

I feel myself go pale. "She's dead?"

Nick's hand, behind us, grabs mine and squeezes reassuringly.

James shakes his head. "No, but she's been moved."

I sit up straighter. "Where? We have to find her."

He won't look up from the dirt. "California."

I can feel Nick go rigid. Partially to reassure him, I say, "Then we go to California."

James nods wearily. "We have to get out of the city, but she's been adopted, so we should be able to find her new address in the system."

Nick hasn't relaxed his posture. I squeeze his hand back, hoping to bring him back. But I drop it when he says, "I don't think we should go after her."

"What?"

"She's been adopted."

My breath catches in my throat. There had been a time. . . I wanted Jeb to be official. I wanted the Flock to be legal. It was the dream: a permanent home, with permanent family guaranteed to not sell you out because they want you.

So all I can manage is a soft, "Oh."

James shakes his head, jaw set. "No, we need to go. We saw a kid at the house, and he'll probably tell his parents we were there. Whoever is chasing us will know we're looking for her."

"No," Nick says. It is more forceful than I would have expected. "The best thing we can do is stay away." There's an odd beat. "From her."

James narrows his eyes. "It's a tie. Max?"

I sit up straighter and make deliberate eye contact with both of them. "I want you both to understand that you are never being the stealth on a mission, because you're about as subtle as a tractor in Manhattan. James," I turn to him, "Nick told me. You don't have to keep pushing the issue."

He blinks, surprised. "He told you?"

I nod.

"And you're okay with it?"

I shrug. "There's not a lot I can do about it." It's not like I'm about to cut my wings off. I look to Nick next. "Look, I know you're worried, but we are going to have to leave regardless. It's better for our psyche if we have a goal in mind."

Nick's face goes dark. "So you want to go?"

I nod. "We'll head out first thing in the morning."

I'm coming, Angel.

A/N: I am a much more experienced writer now than I was at the beginning of writing this story, so I am wincing a little at even asking, but if you're reading this, do you mind leaving a little comment? I am starting to debate just posting the outline I have had sitting in my documents for forever instead of spending the energy writing all of it, especially if nobody else cares. I want to move on haha .-.