The Angel Experience

By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: All credit for everything but Kat goes to James Patterson.

Chapter 7:Show and Tell

Kat walked down Yesler with Iggy and Angel. She liked Angel very much; she was chatty and energetic, something Kat hadn't had much experience with, and she liked to hear about Angel. She liked Iggy too; he was sarcastic and sexist, sure; but he was also very fun to be around, and he seemed to approve of her.

"So," Iggy began. "How do you know exact directions to this Elliott's place?" Kat liked sarcasm, and she smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe 'cause I've only spent almost all of my time there since I escaped from the lab?" Iggy half smiled, half scowled but didn't let the subject drop.

"And that would be..."

Kat decided to change the subject, this was getting boring. And she'd have to explain it all to this Max guy again anyway. "So who's Max?"

Angel took up on the subject energetically. "Only the best leader we've ever had. Well, aside from Jeb, we didn't really have another leader... But still, Max is great, really brave. She's so cool."

Oh. She was cool. Okay. Weird name for a girl though. Then again, Kat decided that she wasn't the best judge of names herself. All too soon it seemed, they were turning North-West onto Alaskan Way. This road goes on forever, though Kat absently. This and Yesler.

As soon as Pier 55 came in view, Kat stopped, still one Pier away. "Do you guys see this Max person anywhere?" She was still suspicious.

"There she is!" Angel hopped once or twice, trying to get Max's attention. Kat saw a tall girl with sandy-blond hair look up from talking to a boy, probably her same age. He looked up too; he looked like he was Mediterranean, maybe Italian, or Spanish. Next to them were two more kids, one a bright-looking African-American girl who was chatting animatedly to the other boy, a short kid with blond hair and blue eyes, much like Angel's, who was busy eating a piece of candy.

"Angel, you want to take over?" Now that they were actually here, Kat was hesitant to actually meet this famed 'Max.' Was she a 'good guy', or would she turn her over to the Erasers in the end? Now all four of them had noticed Iggy, Angel, and herself. The two younger looking ones seemed nervous, Max seemed partially confused, and partially upset. The Mediterranean boy didn't appear to show any emotion at all.

Angel walked in front, and Iggy behind her; Kat followed behind him, childishly attempting to appear invisible. When they arrived at Elliott's, they all pulled up chairs and sat down, except for Kat. She stood uncertainly, not quite knowing what to say. Iggy reached over to the empty table beside theirs and grabbed one of the chairs. He pulled it up beside him and said, "Sit here."

The others looked surprised, but Kat sat anyways, slowly lowering herself into the proffered chair. "Who are you?" asked Max, not beating around the bush.

Not letting Kat answer for herself, Angel went right into the explanation. "Oh, Max, this is Kat. She's really cool, and she's a hybrid like us, only not an avian one." These people get right to the point, thought Kat in surprise.

"Cool," said the African-American girl. "So what are you, like, are you part fish? Part dog? Part--" she was cut off by Max.

"Okay, that's good." She cast a glance at Angel, and Angel nodded. "A'right. I guess we can trust you. I'm Max; this is Fang," the tall dark Mediterranean boy, "Nudge," the speed talker, "and the Gasman, Gazzy for short." The blond boy. "So," to briefly summarize Nudge's question, what kind of hybrid are you?"

For some reason, Kat felt self-conscious about admitting this to them, when she had had no hesitation at all talking to Iggy and Angel. "Panthera tigris tigris," she mumbled incoherently.

"What was that?" Max asked.

"Panthera tigris tigris," she said more loudly.

"Is that some kind of cat?" That was Nudge talking.

"Yeah," sighed Kat. "I'm part, um, Bengal tiger." They all looked slightly skeptical, so she sighed again and said, "If we can go somewhere less public, I can show you."

"Show us what," asked the Gasman.

"She's got ears, and fangs, and claws," said Angel, then added, "She says she's got a tail too, but me and Iggy haven't seen it yet." Nudge and Gazzy looked impressed, and Fang and Max raised their eyebrows.

"Do you really have a tail?" asked Gazzy in an awed voice.

Kat nodded keeping her expression alert and confused. "Yeah, I do. Um, no offense, but do you guys actually have wings or something?"

"Yup," said Max, playing with a bottle cap on the table. "So, you want to show us? Your ears or whatever? Do you have a 'less public place' for it?"

Again, Kat nodded. "Yeah, right down by South Jackson Street and Alaskan Way." More surprised looks.

"Wow," said Gazzy. "Looks like we have another Nudge on our hands. Only--a less talkative one."

"Yeah, she's kinda like that," said Iggy, speaking up for the first time. Max gave him a weird suspicious look, then turned back to Kat.

"Okay, lead the way."

"Alright," said Max, "Who goes first?"

They were at the set location, and Max referred to who was going to show their hybrid 'side affects' first. Nobody seemed to want to.

"How about this," said Nudge, "One of us will show you our wings, the you show us your claws or something. Then another set of wings, and your fangs. Like that, sort of taking turns."

"A'right," said Kat doubtfully. Angel skipped forward and shrugged out of her jacket. Kat's eyes widened as Angels white wings unfurled. "Oh, okay." was all she could manage.

"Let's see your claws now," said Gazzy anxiously, excited to see.

Kat smiled grimly and unsheathed her claws silently, holding her hands up for them to see. The younger ones gasped in delight and Max whistled. "Nice."

Nudge went next, then Kat revealed her fangs, which received appreciative oo's and ah's. After Gazzy's wings, she showed them her ears, and Fang rose one eyebrow slightly. After Max, she pointed out her eyes, with their cat-like appearance and amber color. Finally, after Fang's wings, she had to show her tail.

"Is anyone besides you guys looking," she whispered to Iggy. He shook his head slightly and she nodded. "Okay then, here goes." She reached under the bottom of her shirt and untied the piece of cloth around her waist. A heavy ginger and black fuzzy tail, complete with black fur on the tip, fell with a quiet thud, just reaching the ground.

Gazzy, Nudge and Angel gasped and squealed. "Wow!" they chorused. Fang raised both his eyebrows. Even Max looked surprised.

"Okay," said Max, drawing out the word. "So you have a tail. Anything else, fur? Paws?"

Kat grinned a fang-framed smile. "Well, I have a bit of fur on my spine, but that's about it." It was so worth it to see the looks on their faces.

"Can we see? Can we see?" There go the younger kids again.

"Nope, I have some limits."

"Aw," they said in disappointment. "There's no justice in this world," mumbled the Gasman.