A/N: Here is chapter 8 (finally! I was gone for three weeks and was computer deprived. I am so sorry)! Thank you to all reviewers! I love you all! I mean, one hundred and two already! Oh, and for those who asked about the Harry Potter blurb at the end: I put a website, but URLs can't show up, apparently, so for the link check my profile (but AFTER you read and review, right?).
"Canada?" Fang asked skeptically. "Why Canada?" Hey, that's the exact same thing I said. "And what did Jeb say?"
"Canada, because I said so," I retorted, knowing that would piss him off. His expression became annoyed. "And Jeb said to go to Canada because otherwise Itex would find us again like they just did yesterday – I mean, two days ago."
"How do we know that we can trust him?" Fang asked. "He claims to be good still, but how do we know that it isn't just a fluke to reel us in? How do we know he isn't bait?"
"Look, I don't like it either," I sighed. "I definitely don't trust Jeb all the way yet. I doubt that I ever will again. But he has a point. They won't expect us to leave the country so soon after half of us just returned from Germany. They'll think that we'll want to stay here."
"But why Canada? Why not London or something?"
"Who knows? Maybe there's something in Canada that we're supposed to know about. Tell the others to angle farther north. I can't yell without hurting my own ears right now."
"Hey guys!" Fang called. His voice wasn't extremely loud, but I still winced as my head throbbed. "Angle north and kiss the US of A good bye."
"What?" Iggy cried in disbelief. "Why the sudden change of plans? And why are we leaving the US?"
"Itex will find us if we don't leave the country," Fang explained.
"Jeb said so," Angel chimed in. I shot her the best look I could from Fang's arms, but it's really hard to look threatening when you're being carried bridal style. How many times did I have to tell that girl not to read my mind? Was she ever going to listen? Actually, no, don't answer that.
Gazzy entered the discussion, followed closely by Nudge. "How can we trust Jeb?"
"I don't want to leave so soon!" Nudge whined.
"Look, it's not a group vote," Fang said. "We're leaving and that's it." Hmm. I was impressed. He handled that…pretty well, actually. Hey, wait a minute! Fang was distracted! I can get out of here! I ripped away Fang's grip and beat my wings by myself. Ha! I was free!
…and I was falling. Damn it. I HATE not being able to fly.
Fang caught me, of course, with a smug look on his egotistic face. I didn't give him the satisfaction of words, or even a look, inwardly seething at the fact that I couldn't fly. "I told you that you would fall," he said, grinning. "Why don't you ever do anything I tell you?" Hey! He used my words against me! I still didn't say anything to him, protecting my dignity.
Instead, I turned to the rest of the flock. "We're going to Canada. It's not a democracy. It's a Max-ocracy. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Got that?"
There was sullen agreement. This wasn't going over well, but then, not everything would. Speaking of things not going down well…"Fang," I said in an urgent low tone. "You haven't told them about…well, the two of us, right?"
"No," he said in the same tone. "I figured it was a bad time. Did you want me to?"
"No. No way. Not now. They don't need to know. Iggy is bad enough."
"They'll find out sooner or later, you know." Fang, the eternal voice of reason. I snorted mentally at the thought.
"Well, let's make it later, if you don't mind." The last part was an expression, of course. They weren't finding out even if he minded.
"Our secret," he agreed. "I'll swear Iggy to secrecy until we decide to say something."
"Good," I said, fighting back fatigue that threatened to swallow me back up. Man, that brain attack had really worn me out – more than usual. Most times I could fly soon after. Not this time. Uh-uh.
I felt Fang turn with a twitch of a feather. We were heading north – Canada, here we come, I thought, somewhat regretful.
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Did Fang let me fly eventually? Of course not. I think that he likes holding me way too much. It got a little scary. At least I got to pick where we landed. I mean, I was okay after only around ten or fifteen minutes. I mean, hello, we have super fast healing powers! But no, Fang just has to carry me around like I'm some helpless human girl. Blechh.
We landed in northern Wisconsin, deciding to cross over into Canada tomorrow. I stayed far away from Fang, in case he decided to gloat again about my previous lack of energy. Even a smug look is his idea of gloating.
"Alright, guys, you know the drill!" I yelled. (Oh yeah, my headache is gone, too.) "Get wood for the fire; Iggy, get dinner started; let's move it!"
"Yeah, you're definitely much better," Iggy teased. I resisted the strong urge to trip him as he passed me and instead whacked him upside the head.
"Oops! My bad," I joked, wishing he could see my smirk.
"Hey, Max? I have a question," said Nudge tentatively.
"Mm. What is it?" I asked, sighing. I really wasn't in the mood for a Nudge rant right now. "Make it short though, okay?"
"Well…I was just wondering…why are we doing what Jeb says? I mean, I know he's your real dad and all, but he's done so much confusing stuff, and….I just don't know anymore." In a flash, the atmosphere at our campsite went from carefree to so thick you could practically see it. Everyone froze, staring at either Nudge or me.
I took a deep breath and tried to smile. "You know what, Nudge? The only reason is that they found us at the aquarium. I don't know how they did, but they won't be expecting us to leave the country. That's why. Okay?"
Her expression cleared slightly, but she still looked slightly troubled. "Okay," she replied, but I could see she was still doubtful. I was proud of her for thinking for herself, duh, but still…she shouldn't have to doubt me.
What does that mean if she does?
Everyone was still staring at me. I looked back expectantly. "Well? We've still got work to do!" They busied themselves, muttering excuses. Fang held my gaze for a millisecond longer, and then turned his back to take some firewood from Gazzy.
What was I doing, you ask? Planning. Planning meaning trying to talk to Jeb to find out why on earth we were leaving the country.
So, any bright ideas as to what exactly we're supposed to be doing in Canada? I asked hoping for a direct answer.
Listen to your flock.
Well, thanks, because I never do that! I mentally spat. When?
You decide whether I got an answer or not.
An arm went around my shoulders. I looked around, startled. Fang was to my right. "Relax," he said simply. "Don't worry. We'll help. I'll help." Surprisingly, I calmed down. I hadn't realized I was so tense. I smiled, and he moved away, after a quirk of his own.
Iggy produced a lighter from his baggy jeans pocket and lit the pile of sticks and brush. The flames leapt up towards the trees, and then settled down back to earth. He produced packs of hot dogs from his bag and speared them on sticks, two each. That had been all we could afford. He handed a stick each to us.
We held them over the fire in unison to cook. The smell after five minutes just about drove me crazy with hunger. "Can we eat them "Can we eat them yet?" Nudge asked, her eyes begging.
"I'm not sure if they're done" I said, pulling my stick off the fire and examining my food. Gazzy's stick caught fire as he leaned over to look at Nudge's.
"Dang it!" he cried, jerking it away and blowing hard on the burning piece of wood. At last it went out, but his hot dogs were burnt as well. Forgetting about the burnt stick, he grinned. "Excellent! Mine are done."
"If Gazzy's eating, I definitely am," Nudge proclaimed, taking hers off the fire as well and sliding a hot dog off the branch. "I'm starving."
"We know. You've said so a hundred times," said Fang, rolling his eyes at me. I snorted.
"Go on. Everyone eat; I can see you drooling," I said. Fang and Iggy shoved the hot dogs practically whole into their mouths. Gross. They're such guys. Well, Angel ate half of hers in one bite, so I guess I can't talk bout the teenage mutant guys in my flock, can I?
I sat on a log, finished my hot dogs in record time and watched my flock. My stomach rumbled, demanding more food. I ignored it and focused on figuring out what to do in Canada. Fly to the closest whatchamacallit…province? Find a library, research Itex…and then what? Reenact what had just happened not even two weeks ago? Take Itex by storm? Yeah, six vs. a thousand. That'll turn out great.
I pressed the heels of my palms hard against my eyes, clearing the mental picture of a forbidding Itex building, surrounded by Flyboys or worse. We'd figure something out. We always did.
A small hand took my left palm way from my eye and grasped it. I moved my other hand for a better view. Angel. "We can do it, Max. Really. Don't worry," she said, smiling.
"I'm not," I lied. "Just thinking." I blocked off my thoughts so she wouldn't know just how stressed I was. She was only six. She didn't need my burdens too.
You're only fourteen, Jeb chipped in, and you're doing beautifully. Angel gave my hand one last squeeze and left to finish her dinner.
I looked up at the sky. The sun and nearly gone down, and the sky was a watercolor of reds and purples. I watched it until it grew dark. Then I finally stood, my legs stiff.
"Alright, guys, find a spot to sleep," I said wearily.
Fang appeared almost magically, silent by my side. "Do you want me to take first watch?" he asked quietly. His breath tickled my ear.
"You don't mind?" I asked gratefully. "I really just want to sleep."
"I can take your watch too," he offered.
"There's no reason to go all 'protect Max' on me. I'll take second watch. And be sure to wake me up!" I said forcefully. "Don't even try saying you forgot."
He held his hands up in defeat, smiling slightly. "Alright, Your Highness. You win."
"Thank you," I said, pretending to be haughty. I couldn't do it for long without cracking up. Fang laughed too.
"Lovebirds," Total whispered, brushing my leg as he went to Angel. I glared at him, but it was suddenly awkward between Fang and I. I smiled, deciding to shrug it off. "Good night Fang," I said, and curled up on the other side of the fire by Nudge to sleep. I may have kissed Fang last night, but that doesn't mean I'll go around macking him every chance I get. No matter how hot he is.
I fell asleep planning what to do. It felt like I had just closed my eyes before a hand was shaking me gently into wakefulness. I came awake at once and scanned our campsite. No morphing robots, no intruding humans…okay. I turned my attention to the owner of the hand. Fang, of course. "Your watch," he said. "See? I did wake you up."
I struggled into a sitting position. "Good. Just because I kissed you doesn't mean I'm suddenly Barbie."
One dark eyebrow raised. "Really? I thought you were prep-school Barbie! So much for that."
I tackled him and pretended to punch him with each word. "I-am-NOT-a-Barbie!" I started to get up. Fang held a finger to his lips.
"Don't wake up Iggy."
"That goes without saying," I said in a 'duh' tone. He captured my lips in a quick good night kiss and stretched out next to Gazzy, his face carefully turned away from him. I grinned and touched my mouth, the ghost of his lips still lingering on mine.
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The next morning, we packed up and took to the air again after a scrambled breakfast. "Are we getting to Toronto today?" asked GAzzy.
"Yep. Should be only about an hour's flight," I replied, giving him a smile.
"What are we doing?" asked Iggy.
I changed my smile to one that I hoped was reassuring for the benefit of the rest of the flock. "There's a plan."
"There's always a plan," Iggy finished with me. "Of course."
"Why even doubt it?" I asked him, grinning.
An hour passed fairly quickly. A faint roar reached my ears. .I glanced at Iggy. His face was alert, confirming my suspicions. "Max?" he began.
"Jet," I interrupted, "I know. Pull up, guys! Jet at ten o'clock!" I zoomed straight upward, followed closely by Gazzy and Iggy.
My head skimmed the bottom of a cloud before I stopped, misting my hair. I peered downward, searching. In no time, the jet screamed beneath us, oblivious to the fact that six mutants were hovering not thirty feet above. I could just make out the logo on the side: TORONTO AIRLINES.
The tail end of the jet passed and was gone, just like that. "Did you see the words in the corner of the logo?" Fang asked me under his breath, his eyes fixed intently on mine.
"What, Toronto Airlines? We're almost there, huh?"
"No, in the corner of the logo," he said impatiently. "It said, 'an Itex company'."
I whistled. "They're everywhere."
"You're telling me," he said. "So what now?"
"Go down," I said, and repeated it for the rest of the flock. "I think we're here!"
Angel cheered. "More foreign stuff!" Normally just as excited, Nudge just grinned. I flipped head over heels and zoomed downward after Fang – straight into the arms of the waiting Flyboy.
'Crap' would be a major understatement here.
A/N: Sorry, cliffie. But you know something really weird? When I went on vacation, we were in rooms 3219, 3220, and 3221. The flock stays in 319, 320, and 321! I was like, "That is awesome!" And I was even in Chicago. Oh yeah!