AN: Here's another chapter! And on Thanksgiving! You guys are pretty lucky. :P Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson.

CLAIMER: Any new plot ideas in this story are mine, unless otherwise noted.

Chapter Fifteen

After eating breakfast, we were back up in the sky. I had filled Angel and Gazzy in on the plan, and they were all for it.

"Will any of the experiments join the Flock, Max?" Angel asked me several hours later.

"I don't know, sweetie," I replied. I hadn't really thought the whole 'saving all experiments' thing through. Sure, I want them to be free, but what if they decide to join us? Having six in the Flock was hard enough.

"Most of them will probably want to start their own Flocks," Fang said. "Like the ones in New York did. And if they can't fly, the best we can do is get them several miles away from Itex. They'd just slow us down if they stayed."

I nodded, thankful that Fang had a better response than I did. Angel seemed satisfied, so the Flock continued to fly north for several hours, all lost in our own thoughts.

"Anyone hungry?" I asked later, somewhere over Oregon. It was already around two in the afternoon, and we still hadn't stopped for lunch. I had been so absorbed in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed that so much time had passed. Nudge's complaints usually let me know when it was lunch time, but she hadn't said anthing.

"Yes!" Angel and Gazzy exclaimed. I guess they were really hungry.

"I brought some food from the hotel with me; how about we stop down at that lake and eat it there?" Fang suggested.

"Alright," I said. "Land on the grass over there."

The Flock all did as they were told, and soon we were all eating while enjoying the view of ducks playing in the clear lake. I leaned back in the soft grass, letting myself relax for once.

"Max? Can I talk to you for a second?" Nudge asked after everyone finished eating. Iggy and Gazzy were working on some bombs near the edge of the lake and Angel was playing with Total while Fang watched from under a tree, so we were relatively alone.

"Sure Nudge," I said, sitting up to face her. "What's up?"

She looked down into her lap, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Well, lately I've…I've felt…"

"Yeah?" I prompted. Nudge looked up at me and finished in a rush.

"IthinkI'minlovewithIggy." Wow, that was definitely not what I had expected.

"You do?" I said, at a loss for words. I mean, Nudge was only eleven. Iggy was fourteen. That was a big difference.

"Is that weird? I mean, he's like my brother, right? So I can't like him. But every time I look at him, my heart speeds up even faster, and I can't breathe, and…it's just really confusing."

"No, it's not weird," I told her, deciding to ignore the age difference and focus on comforting her. "You're still young; it might just be a crush. People get those all the time; a big rush of feelings, and then it's gone."

"But what if it doesn't go away? I can't exactly do anything about it; he's part of the Flock, if he didn't feel the same way, it would be so awkward."

"Oh, sweetie," I said, wrapping my arms around her slim figure. "I know; it's confusing. But it'll all work out. I promise."

"How? Should I do something? Urgh, I don't even know how to flirt! What am I supposed to do?"

I pulled back, my hands still on her shoulders. She looked at me with her big, trusting eyes, and I felt horrible. I knew that Iggy didn't have feelings for Nudge. It was probably just a crush, but she would still feel terrible if he rejected her.

"Just give it a while, okay? See if it does go away."

Nudge nodded. "Okay, Max. It's just so hard! I can barely think when I'm around him!"

"I know, sweetie. It will work out, though. Just give it time; everything will sort itself out eventually." Nudge nodded, slightly reluctlantly.

"Nudge! Want to come play with Total and me?" Angel called out. Nudge looked up at me.

"Go ahead," I said, standing up.

"Alright. Thanks, Max."

"No problem." We walked over to Angel and Total, where Nudge went off to play. I headed up to the tree that Fang was under, sitting down beside him.

"What'd Nudge want?" he asked, sliding his arm around my waist.

I hesitated; should I tell him about Nudge's crush? "Promise you won't say anything?" I asked. Fang nodded. "Nudge likes Iggy."

Fang's eyes widened slightly. "But Iggy doesn't like her…" he began.

"I know. She's only eleven, though. I doubt that it's anything more than a crush."

"I guess."

"I still feel bad for her, though. Being rejected by your first crush must hurt. Do you think things would go back to normal between them if she says anything?"

"Probably. We're all too close to let anything stupid like that come between us." We sat in silence for a few minutes, watching as Nudge and Angel threw sticks for Total.

"So that's why Nudge has been so quiet lately!" I exclaimed a few minutes later.

Fang chuckled softly. "Took you long enough to figure out."

"Oh, and you knew right away?"

"It's pretty obvious. She's growing up; she was bound to outgrow her monologues sooner or later."

"I guess. So, are you ready to leave yet?" I asked, beginning to get up. Fang's arm tightened around me, holding me against him.

"No," he whispered in my ear. "I want to stay here and kiss you." His breath tickled my neck, and he leaned forward to kiss my neck softly, his warm lips causing tingles to go up and down my spine.

"The kids will see," I whispered back, pushing him away.

"So?"

"So we need to go." Fang finally relented and we got up, calling the Flock over.

"Alright guys," I said after they had all assembled. "We're going to fly all the way to Washington tonight. Iggy and Gazzy will set up bombs again, Angel will make sure that all whitecoats stay in their offices, Nudge will keep watch, and Fang and I will go in and get all the experiments out that we can. Got it?"

"Got it!" Angel replied. She, Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy all jumped into the air and hovered, waiting for Fang and me.

"What happens after we destroy it?" Fang asked.

"I guess we'll just find a nice patch of forest and spend the night there. We can decide what to do with the new experiments in the morning." Fang nodded and snapped his wings out.

My breath caught as I looked at his black wings. I had seen them nearly every day for my entire life, but they were still amazing. He smirked at me when he noticed that I was staring, and my face immediately flushed.

"Let's go," I said, jumping into the air join the rest of my Flock. Fang did the same, and soon we were heading towards one of the worst places in the world. Again.

AN: There you go! There will be no Niggy, but, as you can see, Nudge does get a crush on Iggy. And I gave you guys some Fax. This was only a filler chapter, but it ended up being one of the longest ones:P I hope you liked it! You better review a ton:P

Oh, do you guys want a spoiler? I want to give you one. Don't read the following if you don't want it, though it's not a very big spoiler.

SPOILER:

There will be four OC's; Serena, Taya, Jayden, and Saber. They are MINE; NO STEALING! I won't introduce them all at once, but two should be coming in the next chapter! I hate it when people introduce twenty new characters in one chapter; it's just too confusing. :P I hope you like them!

Happy Thanksgiving! And remember to...

REVIEW!!!