Okay people, I know it took a little while to finish this chapter but I was having a little bit of writers block, so yeah. R&R!!!

Two years later

"Mommy!" I heard the screech and whorled around, instantly feeling the small arms wrap around my legs.

"Kismet, sweetheart, what is it?" I questioned as I picked her up in my arms.

I instantly did a sweep of my surroundings. Fang and Iggy were talking about who knows what under a tree, Gasman was entertaining himself in a game of chest with some old guy, and Nudge, Angel, and Total were playing on the playground and slide. We were at a park, and the only thing I saw suspicious was a chipmunk seemingly luring a kid into some bushes by it steeling his crackers.

"Mommy, thewe was a big doggy. It bawked at me and twied to eat me! It looked like a…" she cried into my chest. She didn't need to finish for me to understand. It had reminded her of an Eraser, and so now she was scared.

"Don't worry sweetie, I wont let them get you." I whispered into her ear as I held her closer.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" Fang questioned as he walked over.

"Kimmy saw a dog who… who scared her." I said, using her nickname.

"Oh…" Fang didn't seem to understand.

"It reminded her of the E word." I said, trying to spell it out for him. The word "Eraser" scared Kismet, so we always just called it the E word so that when she was around she wouldn't get frightened.

"Oh!" he seemed to understand now. He took Kismet from my arms and brought her over to the playground, to try and get her mind off the little incident. After a few minutes she was running around, having lots of fun with the slid and the swings.

I watch the two, smiling and laughing, and I think of how much they both have changed. Fang had always been the quiet, to himself kind of guy. He never told people if he had something on his mind, or if he was worried about anything. It still is kind of like that, but he isn't totally distant anymore. He smiles, and laughs, and talks with us. He's more social and… happy. It makes me happy too.

Kismet is still a mama's girl, always running to me, but she's grown up knowing fear, and I wish desperately that she could have grown up like a normal kid. I wish she could have a mother who is at least in her twenties, and I wish that she wasn't always so scared. Every time she sees a dog she gets scared. The only dog that she isn't scared of is Total, and he's a talking dog that she grew up with. I just want her to be happy, but I don't think she can possibly be happy living the life she's in right now. The only problem is this is the only life she could possibly live that could possibly give her the slightest pleasure. All I can do is hope. Hope that someday things will change, and we'll be accepted for who and what we are.

"Jeb, we've been trying to catch them for three years. We need a new plan." a scientist declared as he paced a lab room.

"I know, but it isn't my fault Max and the others are smarter than our Erasers. If they would follow orders and use the element of surprise than maybe we would have them by now." Jeb retorted, running a hand through his hair.

"Jeb, we have new designs, old designs, and everything in the middle. Nothing works! Even Max II didn't work, and she was supposed to be flawless!"

Jeb mumbled something incoherent under his breath about the second Max.

"Jeb, we need to take some drastic measures, otherwise we'll never catch them. Never."

"We'll catch them, don't you worry about that." Jeb said as he looked at a picture of him and the flock, when they were still happy.

He missed that.

It was dark outside and everyone was asleep. Everyone, that is, but me. It was my turn to be on watch. The flock kept asking why we had watches since the Erasers weren't exactly after us, but I just wanted to be careful. I couldn't take the chance of them getting a hold of Kismet. I knew they still wanted her and I wasn't going to let them have her. They would never touch her if I could help it.

Suddenly I heard a twig snap and I quickly turned around to come face to face with Eraser. My eyes widened and I tried to find my voice, but for some reason it wouldn't come. Instead of saying anything I just kicked Fang awake and grabbed Kismet. I quickly bolted. Fang got the others awake and they followed behind quickly. I didn't know what was coming over me. My voice wasn't coming and I was suddenly becoming cowardly! What was wrong with me? I was in warp speed when something hit me from the side, causing me to plummet to the ground. Kismet was screaming the whole way down, her voice shrill. My back was facing down and I was in a ball surrounding Kimmy. I hit the ground, and my wings seemed to break, but I held on to the little girl in my arms tightly. I heard the footsteps before I heard the voice.

"Poor, poor Max." Ari's voice drifted into my ears, and I quickly held onto my little girl even harder. She was sobbing into my chest, feeling terror from both the great fall and the Eraser looming over us.

I quickly jumped to my feet and tried to take off, but my wings wouldn't open, and when I tried to make then it felt as though somebody were ripping them apart. I scream and fell to my knees, still holding tight to Kismet.

"It would seem you're having a little trouble with your wings, dear Max. Don't you worry, we'll take you home and get them fixed right up." his voice was malicious, and it scared me to think of what they might do after my wings were healed, or what they might do while they were healing.

"Stay away from me." I ordered in a quivering voice.

"What's wrong? Is the all mightily Maximum Ride scared?"

I didn't have time to answer before I felt my body stiffen and the world around me go black.