A.N- I've been really busy these past few weeks, so I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had testing and a bunch of other crap. This week is my birthday and then I have more testing in a couple of weeks, so it might take a while to update again, but thanks to all the people that are still reading and I hope you all can patiently wait. Because the next time I update will be a time skip and Itex will start getting involved. I'm sorry if this chapter sounds a little weird, but I wrote little bits at a time throughout these weeks, so that's why it might be all over the place.

Special thanks to: Drakefire, MAX-FANG-FAX, Burnin'blackandblue, LOVE HATE DUH, MockingJayBirds (that's the reaction I thought it'd get hah), dopeycookiemonster, &Lydia (x2 haha)

Getting Used To Jake's

A few weeks passed after the incident with the baby, and I healed completely after just a couple of days. I also forgave Dylan after a few thousand of his constant apologies, just so he'd shut up.

Jake had taken the chips out of all of us, on by one, until only Ratchet remained. We found out that he actually didn't have a chip and Fang told us it was because he was born with his powers. Itex had nothing to do with him.

Gazzy and Iggy were back to building bombs and apparently found great materials that Chris was just itching to get rid of. I told them that as long as they were careful, that I wouldn't bother them. Great leader-ness, right? But my logic was that Iggy had enough common sense to not do anything too dangerous, and that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to Gazzy. On top of that, I never had much energy to keep a close eye on what they did every hour of the day, so I gave the task of checking up on them once in a while, to Fang.

Nudge and Star have been getting along pretty well; something no one would have guessed in a million years. I mean with Nudge being the motor-mouth she is, and Star being so easily annoyed, they were destined to clash. But somehow a friendship was starting to bloom instead.

Gavin would talk to us from time to time, more so than the rest of The Voice (which is what we call this group of people, for obvious reasons). He also seemed to have a little crush on Nudge. I thought it was cute, but at the same time I would kill him if he even tried to get alone with her. After this whole pregnancy thing I've been overly protective about all of the couples in this flock.

There wasn't much I could do about the older couples like Dylan and Maya because they were older. I would just have to trust that they wouldn't do anything that could lead to Kate's and I's situations. Then there was Iggy with my sister Ella, but I knew that he wouldn't do anything along those lines for a very long time. Unless he wanted to deal with me, which I'm sure is the last thing he'd want to do. Also because I knew that wasn't who he was. He was one of the nice guys and wouldn't do anything that the girl wasn't OK with. Or at least I hoped…

So the only ones I could actually do anything about were Gazzy and Nudge. Gazzy, I'm pretty sure wasn't at that age yet. And Nudge… Well Nudge is the one I'm stressing over at the moment.

Anyway I, along with the most of my flock, had grown to trust Jake, Livy, Chris and Gavin in these past weeks. They really seemed like they wanted what was best for us. Jake had explained that his first priority was to get the chips out of us because that was how Itex was tracking us. He told us his theory on why Itex had left us alone for so long and why they wanted us now.

Jake also told us that after the chips were out of us, we would be free to leave whenever we wanted to. He said we would be pretty safe as long as we were careful, and wouldn't have to move locations so often anymore.

We all decided it'd be best for Kate and I to stay put for a while, at least until we figured out exactly where we would go.

So we were residing in The Voice's building for the time being. Fang and I were thinking of a place to live permanently. Or as permanently as a flock of mutant-kids/teens could live. Meaning a few months at the most.

We were using The Voice's computers, which couldn't be traced because of some constantly changing computer number or something, to find the perfect place. They even had all of the known Itex buildings marked on the computer map that they let us use. With it, we were able to see the least-likely places we'd be found in.

I wanted to go to a nice little town in Arizona, while Fang wanted to stay here in noisy New York. So that's where we're at now: arguing about where to go.

We were in a room that Dylan, Maya, Fang and I shared. We would normally to boys and girls separate, but we needed to get everything about our flock in order. We needed all of the new info we'd received straightened down, and that normally lead to us four (Dylan, Fang, Maya and myself) talking all night long. So we just decided to room together.

"I want Arizona!" I tell Fang stubbornly, looking at him. I was sitting on my bed, a wall to my right, legs out in front of me, with one of The Voice's laptops on my lap.

"For the hundredth time, Max, no." Fang argues back, without looking up from his own laptop he'd gotten from The Voice. He was sitting to my left on the same bed so that we could easily show each other any place that looked promising. We'd been going back and forth about this place for a while now.

"I am the leader, I call the shots. Not you, Fang." I remind him through clenched teeth and false calmness.

Fang's finger pauses on the mouse and he looks at me. "I thought we agreed on doing this together." He shoots back, a little aggravated now.

"We did, but you didn't even consider it!" I shout.

"Max, it's all the way across the fricken country!" He tells me, almost shocked.

"And since when does that stop us? We can fly, if you've forgotten." I say.

"It's different now." He says a little softer.

"How? We still have wings if I remember right."

He shakes his head. "You and Kate are pregnant, Max." He says, sounding like he were explaining it to a child.

"Really? Wow, golly. When did that happen?" I exclaim with major sarcasm.

He pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration and closes his eyes. "Max, just a few weeks ago you had some trouble flying for a few hours. Do you really think you'd be able to fly for a few day-" He says, now looking at me, before I interrupt him.

"We'll have breaks."

"If we have them as often as you need them, it'd take us a decade to get there." He tells me calmly. "Then there's Kate. I'm sure she wouldn't enjoy being lugged around for so long."

"We can take cars there." I try.

"We're easier to be ambushed on the ground." He counters. "You two just can't travel this much for the time being. We need somewhere closer. Somewhere where we know our way. Somewhere we could blend easily into."

"So where do you suggest then?" I ask, folding my arms stubbornly.

He moves his finger on the laptop's mouse pad and makes the monitor brighten again. He then double taps the pad and turns the laptop slightly over so I could have a better look.

The street names looked familiar for some reason and I looked to the top to see the address bar. "New York? We're in New York." I say.

"Exactly." He tells me. "We're already here so you and Kate won't need to go through the whole travel thing. We're already familiar with theses streets, and because of the huge crowds we'll be able to go out without being found as easily. And on top of that, we have The Voice close by in case we need their help somehow."

"But the flock's claustrophobic?" I try.

"I outgrew it, so can the rest of you." He says. "Face it Max, this is the best choice."

I grunt and face the wall, after closing the laptop and putting it at my feet.

I hear Fang close his laptop and put it on the floor. Then I feel him come closer, I think sitting behind me, and whisper, "Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad." I say angrily, still facing the wall.

"Max." He says. When I don't answer, I feel him move some more until I feel his head on my shoulder and his arm around me. "Pwease don't be mad at me." He tells me in a little kid voice.

That was so un-Fang- like that I chuckle and turn around to him. Now only a few inches from his face, I say, "I'm not mad at you. I'm just, I don't know. I just wanted to go to Arizona." I tell him.

He closes the short distance and makes our noses touch softly. "Why Arizona?" He asks, now hugging me to him. He extends his left wing over us, out of habit, until we were almost completely cocooned in darkness.

I think about it for a moment. "I want to see my mom and Ella." I say, now realizing it myself.

"Oh." He says, looking down. His gaze lands on my slightly protruding stomach, probably without even meaning to, and then he looks up again. "Do you want your mom to be here when… When he gets here?" He asks quietly.

"I don't really trust anyone to help me with this when it's time, other than her; and the flock of course." I confess. "But I'm sure Iggy wouldn't want to do this sort of thing…" Fang makes a weird face at this, almost angry at the thought I guess. "…Or you…" I add. He makes an even weirder face now, which made me laugh. "…Or the rest of the flock for that matter. Most of them would probably pass out just thinking about it." I say, grabbing one of his hands and tracing patterns on his palm as we speak.

He nods. "We can just call her whenever you think you'll need her." He suggests.

I nod and we stay quiet for a long time, a nice kind of quiet that only Fang and I can truly pull off without it getting awkward.

This bed wasn't bigger than the average twin sized bed, but we both fit and still had room to spare. It was warm from our body heat even though we were on top of all the sheets and comforters, and I was getting ready to fall asleep.

It was night time and most of the others were fast asleep by now. Other than Dylan, Maya, and us that is.

I'm not sure where Dylan and Maya were, but they always slept in this room so I doubt that they're sleeping. They had gone out today, to see a movie or something, which they should have been back from already. I'm not going to worry though because, one: they're old enough to take care of themselves, and two: if I worry too much they baby will start to stress. And a stressed baby= a more than stressed Max, which I will not go through again…

Fang had put his chin on top of my head a while ago, making the side of my face rest firmly on his familiar chest. I could hear the beating of his heart, which was like a lullaby to me by now, and started to drift off.

"Are you sleepy Max?" I heard Fang whisper close to my ear.

"Mh hm." I hum, waking up slightly. He then started to get up, separating his body from mine, which had been curled up against him, and waking me up completely. "No." I say holding onto the end of his shirt. "Where are you going?" I ask, a little hurt from his sudden departure.

He was standing up now, wings tucked in, and my hand attached to his shirt as he looked down at me. "To my bed, since I thought you'd want more room." He explains.

"No," I grumble. "Sleep with me." I tell him, well actually order him is more like it.

I didn't care that his bed was only a few feet away from mine, I still wanted to be right beside him.

His mouth goes up in a half smile, "Fine," he says slowly "but only because you asked so nicely."

I smile and pull the covers down for him and me to go into. As I did this, he walked over to the door and turned the lights off. (Minds out of the gutter people, this is just supposed to be an innocent moment.)

After he'd lain down beside me again, he pulled the covers over both of us and I scooted as close as I could to him. He put one arm under my head, which I would choose over an actual pillow any day, and another arm around my waist to hold me closer.

I tucked my head under his chin and he said, "I love you Max. Good night."

"Night, love you more." I responded.

"Not possible." I heard him barely breathe.

I smile again and nuzzle my head closer to him and his warmth.

… Next Morning…

I woke up from feeling the bed move and at first I didn't want to open my eyes. I was under the covers in a dark room, completely warm, so of course I wouldn't want to get up. Who would? So I end up just opening my eyes so that I would wake up.

I could hear some whispering from close by, most likely inside this room. I start to listen in and realize that it's Fang and Dylan.

"Where were you all last night?" I heard Fang ask, quietly.

I slowly press a few fingers down on the sheets in front of my face. That way I would be able to see them without them noticing me; just in case they would stop talking if they knew I was listening.

"Just out. We told you, remember?" Dylan tells Fang. Dylan was in his bed, lying sideways, looking up at Fang. Fang was standing beside his bed, casually looking down.

"You said you were seeing a movie. Movies don't last six hours." Fang tells him, calmly.

"We walked around afterword. What does it matter?" Dylan asks defensively.

"What does it matter?" Fang asks rhetorically. "You could have been taken by Itex or Hans or something and we wouldn't know because you didn't even have your phone on." He says, now getting a little mad. "Max was getting worried. She tried to hide it, but I could see it in her eyes. What if she got too stressed and he got stressed? You know you're the only one who can control him. Do you even care about her anymore?"

Dylan had been looking down as Fang spoke, looking ashamed. "Of course I do, I just wasn't thinking." He says, a little quieter. "I swear I'll never do that again, I'm really sorry. She's OK though, right?"

"Yeah she's fine." Fang answers. A few seconds pass and realizing they have nothing left to say, Fang walks to the door. He pauses after opening it a little, letting light pour into the dark room, and turns back, "And you better not have done anything with Maya." He warns, before walking out and closing the door behind him, darkening the room and letting what he just said to sink in fully.

What had Fang meant by that? I mean other than caring for Maya like I care for Dylan and the flock. I don't know if it was just me over thinking it, but it almost sounded like he meant something more. Had he meant something more? Had anything happened between them while we were apart?

Questions like these flooded my head as I lay, motionless and quiet, on my bed.

Our room was pretty small. And because of its size, we had two bunk beds instead of four single ones. One was to the left of the door, which the guys used. Dylan on the bottom bunk, Fang on the top. Then the second bunk was on the far wall when you walked in, facing the door. Maya and I had taken this one, Maya on the top and me on the bottom since I was with child.

I was looking up, at Maya's top bunk, mentally asking her a billion questions that had drowned my mind.

A while passed until I heard Dylan stir.

I was too deep in thought to realize he'd gotten up until he was a few feet away. I quickly shut my eyes to pretend I was sleeping, so there'd be no evidence that I'd been eavesdropping, but it was no use, "Max I know you're awake." He whispered.

I opened my eyes, sitting up and turning to my left to see him. He was standing beside my bed looking at me with a blank face.

"I'm really sorry I left for so long, I really am." He tells me.

"It doesn't matter. Fang was just overreacting, don't mind that drama queen." I say with a smile.

"I know it's bothering you." He tells me, seriously. "What he said about Maya I mean."

My smile disappears and I look down.

He takes a seat on my bed, causing me to bounce a little, and says, "Don't worry about it so much, I don't think you have anything to worry about. He wasn't feeling- what he feels with you, when he said it. He was just saying it out of, protection I guess. Like the way you protect the flock."

I nod. That had made me feel a little better, but not much. I looked up at Dylan.

The room was still as dark as it'd always been, but my eyes were well adjusted now, probably the way Dylan's always are, and I could see Dylan very well because of the little light coming from under the door. So I could see his face perfectly when he said, "Or you could just ask her yourself if you really want to know. You know, so you won't have any doubts."

I give him a confused, and a tiny bit shocked, look. "She's awake?" I ask.

"Well no. She's a lot different from you in a lot of ways, one of them being that she'd not as light of a sleeper as you. But you can ask her later, when she wakes up."

I nod, and decide to get up.

"Or you could just ask Fang." He adds when I'm halfway to the door.

I pause and think about it. Then I keep going, having decided that'd it'd be less awkward to ask Maya. "Later." I tell Dylan, walking out the door.

A.N- Hey guys, just though that it'd be cool to have a question of the day (or question of the update). So I'm just curious, what is your gender(not in a creepy way)? I know that this story is more girlie, so I'd expect more girls read this than guys, but are there any guys that read this? And if you don't want people to know that you're reading this you can even leave an anonymous answer or something. I just want to know.

Love,

~L