Right guys, first of all, I would like to apologise for not updating for so long! I just got sidetracked by… erm… a lot of things.

By the way, I started this before the third book came out, so it's based after SOF. Just wanted to clear that up.

This chapter is dedicated to Howler At The Silver Moon, who's review finally got me out of my hole and updating again! Speaking of her, I'd like to suggest that you read her fic - 'Yet to be Titled'.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. However, I do own Cassie and the plot - so NO STEALIE!

"Okay, we'll go first," Max said. "As you already know, I'm Max, and this is the rest of the Flock. Guys?"

"Fang, fourteen. No powers," the tall, dark haired guy said simply.

"Wait a minute, powers?" I asked, confused.

"Some of us have special powers, side effects from the experiments," Max explained. "For example, I can fly at supersonic speed and I have…" she trailed off, and looked away from me. I decided not to push it any further, I was feeling a bit stunned at this new revelation.

"Okay," I said simply.

"Right. Back to business. Iggy?"

"Erm, I'm Iggy, I'm fourteen. No powers, but I'm pretty good with bombs," the tallest guy said. "And I'm, err, blind," he continued, looking a bit embarrassed.

I opened my mouth to say something, but decided against it and shut it again.

"I'm Nudge, I'm eleven, and I can, like, sense leftover energy from places," one of the younger girls, the one who had spoken to me before, grinned. "You know, if someone's been sitting at a computer, and I touch the computer, I can tell who they are, what they were doing, and what password they used," she explained.

"I'm the Gasman, I'm eight" said the youngest boy. "And I can mimic voices," he said, the last few words in my voice. I raised my eyebrows, impressed.

"I'm Angel," said the youngest girl. "I'm six, and I can read minds, control people with my mind, breath underwater, and talk to fish," she said.

I raised my eyebrows. That was a lot of powers.

"We were born at the school, and spent all of our lives there, until four years ago, when a whitecoat called Jeb took us away to live with him. Two years ago, he disappeared," I could see pain on Max's face, and anger, although she looked like she was trying to hide it. "Recently, as we were trying to save Angel from the Erasers who kidnapped her, we discovered that he's working with the School, and I'm supposed to save the world somehow. Now we're constantly on the run from Erasers and the whitecoats. The end," she said, folding her arms. "So now you know our story, what about you?"

"Well," I sighed. "My life was pretty normal, until about a month ago, although it could have been longer, I don't really know. Anyway, one day I was just walking home from school, and there were these guys in a Hummer, and they injected me with something that knocked me out, next thing I know, I wake up and I'm in a dog crate in a lab somewhere, with wings, weighing half of what I used to weigh, and that sort of thing," I explained. "Until you guys showed up, they would torture me almost every day. And that's about it," I said, blinking hard to fight back the tears that I could feel welling up, as I remembered what they had done to me. I would not cry in front of the Flock.

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Max looked at me, then at the rest of the flock. "Right guys, I think we'll stay here for tonight. Give us al a chance to rest up, that sort of thing," she said. "Iggy, get a fire going," she said, rummaging around in one of the backpacks.

"But, he's blind," I muttered to Nudge. "Wouldn't it be safer for someone else to start a fire?"

Nudge just looked at me. "Iggy's the best at that sort of thing," she said matter-of-factly. "He's been blind since they tried to 'improve' his eyesight at the School, when he was five, so he's had a lot of time to get used to it," she explained.

"Oh," I said, feeling myself go red with embarrassment.

"Don't worry. He didn't hear," the little girl, Angel, said, looking up at me.

"How did you…" I started to ask, but then I remembered, she could read minds. There were a lot of things around here that I was going to have to start getting used to.

Ten minutes later we were sitting around a fire, toasting this, that, and anything we could really. I was getting used to having to eat more - or having a higher metabolism, as the scientists back at the lab called it. For about five minutes there was nothing but the sound of everyone eating. But, after a while, the normal chatter resumed. Iggy and the Gasman were deep in conversation, occasionally I caught the word 'bomb' or 'explosion'. Nudge and Angel were talking to each other, and Fang and Max were having a muttered conversation. I felt like a bit of an outsider, I mean, these guys had known each other all their lives, and I had just showed up, all alone, with no idea what was going on, no flying ability so to speak, and no idea of how to take care of myself.

I sighed and rotated my hot dog over the fire.

"You okay?"

I looked up, and saw Iggy looking at me. Well, he wasn't actually looking, of course, but he had his head turned in my direction.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I lied, biting of the end of my hotdog.

"It must be a lot to take in," he said quietly. Then he put his hand on my arm, and started rubbing it. I looked up at him, and he blushed, almost as if he could see me.

"Sorry," he said, "I'm feeling your skin texture, so I can recognise you if I need to. Would you mind extending your wings a bit?" he asked.

"Sure," I said, and slightly unfurled my wings, which were still a bit sore from their first flight. Iggy ran his fingers along them gently, he seemed to be memorising how they felt.

"Okay, I think I've got it," he said. "You can, erm, tuck them in now."

"Okay," I said, folding them into my back again, and smiling at him, even though he couldn't see it.

"Cassie, do you want some tips on how to fly better?" Nudge turned to look at me.

"Yeah, that would be great!"

Twenty minutes later, we had all finished eating. "Okay guys, we need to plan our next move," Max said. "We're going to rest up here tonight, but tomorrow we need to get as far away from here as possible. Tomorrow, we're going to go back to our old house, there might be something worth finding there," Fang shot her a look, but Max just continued talking. "I suggest you all get a good nights sleep," she said, glancing at me. "We've got a long day of flying ahead of us. I'll take first watch."

This announcement was met with murmurs of agreement, and then the rest of the Flock all gathered around Max, and I watched as they stacked their fists on top of one another. I stood back, just watching.

Max looked at me. "What are you waiting for?" she asked. "You're one of us now."

I grinned and went over, putting my hand on top of hers. Then the rest of the flock taped their fists with their free hand, and I did the same. After that, everyone broke up. Fang piled dirt on the fire, before joining the rest of us at the back of the cave. I lay down between Angel and Nudge, only just realising how tired I was.

I fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.