This chapter needs no intro.

Disclaimer: Do I look like a MAN to you! (the answer is no)

Ok, was it just me, or was I having the worst day ever. Hmmm, let's see…

1.Beeping alarm clock.

2.Tripping on Fang's shirt

3.Wearing Fang's shirt

4.Iggy's jokes

5.The Talk with Angel

6.More of Iggy's jokes

7.Fang getting kidnapped

8.Broken wing

9.The monthly curse

Yep, I'd say that pretty much qualifies me for the "Worst Day Ever" award. I'm so thrilled. Not.

"Um, Nudge, could you maybe fly to a drugstore and get me some… supplies?" I whispered.

She nodded. "Wow, Max, you're, like, having the worst day ever!" She sympathized.

I rolled my eyes. "Please just go." Nudge went. I got slowly and painfully to my feet, then went about the business of changing into clean pants, all the while grumbling under my breath about evil mad scientists who decided that bird-girls should get periods. I mean, jeez, couldn't they at least have given me one break from the hassles of normal girlhood?

"So, what are we going to do to rescue Fang?" Gazzy asked once Nudge had returned.

"Well," I answered "I have to stay here until my wing is healed, but we don't want to lose too much time. You should go on ahead. I'll catch up later." This sparked immediate protest from the Flock. I let them rant for a minute, and then held up my hands for quiet.

"Look, I know you don't like it, and I know it isn't the best plan, but its our only shot at rescuing Fang before he gets to far away, unless someone has another idea."

Iggy seemed to look right at me. "Actually Max, I have one."

I gave him a quizzical glance. "Let's hear it then." I said, hoping it wasn't going to be another joke.

"Well, just after we rescued Angel, I thought it might be a good idea to put a tracker on each of us, in case it happened again. I made a few in New York, and I was testing them on certain flock members."

"And Fang had one?" I asked. I noticed that Iggy had a small metal box in his hand.

"No," he answered, rubbing his thumb over the box. "But the one that I put on you seems to be flying northeast."

Four days later, we were up in the air, wind streaming past my face. My wing was almost as good as new, although I was going to have some pretty wicked scars to add to my collection.

"Hey guys, adjust course 57 degrees east." Iggy called, box in hand. We did as he suggested, flying in a loose formation. Total was in my arms. I couldn't stop looking at the hole where Fang should have been. I missed his presence. He was my voice of reason, my security net. With Fang around, I knew that someone was watching all of our backs. A selfish part of me was mad at Fang for getting captured and leaving me by myself, but it was a small part.

"Hey Max, I'm hungry." Nudge said.

"Ok, we'll stop and get something to eat as soon as we cross the US border." I answered. I had been pushing them, going as long as they possibly could without rest or food. Anxiety and urgency were pressing on me. We had waited too long. Who knew what horrors the white coats had done to Fang already?

Fang was currently in the dark. The cold, wet, disinfectant-smelling dark. He knew he must be in an Itex laboratory someplace, but where, he couldn't even guess. He stretched a hand out and waved it in front of his face. Nothing.

Oh no! Did they make me blind, like Iggy? He thought urgently. He flailed his arms and legs, looking for something to push off of, but to no avail.

Guess I'm stuck. He thought. If only Max were here… Oh, Max. She would be going crazy with worry by now. The memory of her face came to him. He had meant what he said, in that tree. She really was beautiful. The memory kept replaying itself, over and over, followed by others. He was soon finding it difficult to keep even a single thought straight. Was Max real? Or was she a movie character? Or a book character? Someone he had seen on TV? He thought Max was real. No, he was sure Max was real. She would be coming to save him from this evil.

She had better get here soon. That was Fang's last conscious thought before he slipped into the fuzzy world of dreams and memories.

I let out a sigh of pleasure as I bit into my hamburger. I hadn't admitted it to myself, but I had been hungry too. We were all gathered around the plastic, fast-food table, happily stuffing our faces.

"Isn't that cannibalism?" Total asked Gazzy, who was eating a chicken burger

"Total, shhh!" Gazzy replied with his mouth full. "There are other people here."

I scanned the room, looking for Erasers. It was tough to tell them apart from the crowd these days, except, of course, when they were morphed. All I saw were children and their parents, no one over ten or under thirty five. So far, so good.

Iggy frowned, tapping the device he had built. "I think I've lost the signal." he said.

"It was stationary for a while then it died on me." He shook the box lightly. "Nothing's broken."

"How sturdy are those things?" I asked, still eating ravenously.

Iggy shrugged. "It should hold out… unless it got wet somehow."A I chewed on my bottom lip, puzzled. "Well, do you remember where the last signal came from?" I queried.

He nodded, a look of concentration on his face. "I should be able to lead us there."

A bit more Faxness should be coming later. Sorry if that or Chapter Five sounded a little Miggy-ish. There is no intentional Miggy in this fic. Please review, criticism welcome.