Disclaimer: I just realized I've been forgetting these. Whoops. So, I don't own anything at all. (That should cover it.)

A few months earlier:

Max POV

Max? said a small voice in my head. I just about jumped a foot, inhaling sharply.

"Angel?" I whispered.

Shh, Max. It's very quiet in here. I don't want to wake anyone up.

I sighed deeply, still spooked. Sorry, sweetie, I thought. You scared me is all. I didn't know you were awake. What's up? I could see her eyes open in the darkness, but she didn't move from her position on the floor. That girl scares me sometimes. A lot of the time, actually.

I can't sleep.

Why not?

Her blue eyes widened. I… I heard… People are thinking bad thoughts.

Whitecoats? Erasers? Years of paranoia flooding my veins as my heart rate pounded. I tensed, ready to jump to my feet, shout at the flock, and get the heck out of there.

No, No. Angel interjected forcefully. Nobody from the school. Or Itex. They're just… bad people. There was a pause. Full of hate.

I relaxed slightly, breathing in and out steadily. Are they going to do something bad? Hurt anyone?

I don't think so. It's just… it's not right.

A lot of things aren't right. You know that. How do you think you ended up with wings

I know.

Go to sleep. Everything's fine.

She hesitated, but gave in. Okay.

My head was silent for a short, blissful while. I was just starting to slip back into the Zen-like state I adopted for keeping watch when I was interrupted yet again.

Max?

Angel! My heart was pounding again.

Sorry. But…

Yes?

Can we go to the zoo tomorrow?

Thank god it was dark, or I may have been subjected to the dreaded Bambi eyes. Of course, she could just manipulate my mind...

I wouldn't do that.

Angel… Can't we talk about it later? As in, not in the middle of the night while I'm trying to keep watch. Anyways, you know perfectly well how I feel about zoos.

You don't have to go.

I thought about this. True, Nudge was 15, and she could take the younger kids if she wanted to.

Oh, thank you Max!

Wait, I didn't- I sighed again. Ten-year-olds were exhausting. Especially when they could read your mind. Angel beamed at me. Never mind, I thought, directing my thoughts at her now. Just go to sleep. And don't scare me like that again.

Okay. Good night.

Night.

I leaned back against a wooden cabinet, checking our surroundings to make sure that nothing lethal had sneaked in while I had been distracted. We were sleeping in the kitchen of the bakery where Iggy worked during the day. The store was relatively low-tech, so a simple lock pick was all that we needed to beat the security system. And Ig, to operate the lock pick. Lately he'd been trying to teach Gazzy, with mixed results.

We had to stay in the kitchen, since it was the only part of the store with no windows. The tile floor was hard and cold, and the manager turned off the heat at night; but, hey, it was relatively warm and relatively safe, and that's all that matters in the long run. After all, it beat sleeping in the subway.

I had about a half hour of watch left when I heard a rustling noise and a cold hand touched my shoulder. It took all of my self control not to let out scream that would wake the entire block. I whirled around.

It was Fang. Was everyone trying to give me a heart attack tonight? He smirked at my panicked face.

"Shut up," I hissed.

"I didn't say anything."

"You are so infuriating," I informed him, not that he seemed to care. "It's still my watch," I said. "What do you want?"

"You're jumpy tonight," Fang said, completely ignoring my question.

"Yeah, well, when Angel feels the need to randomly talk, in your head, in the middle of the night, it's a bit unsettling."

"What'd she want?"

"Just something about bad people thinking bad thoughts. Nothing extraordinary."

"Nothing concerning…"

"No School, no Itex, no Erasers. It's fine."

"You sure?"

"We're in New York City, Fang. It's not exactly filled with saints."

He raised an eyebrow, and I glowered at him. Not responding, he stared back at me. My face colored and I looked away.

"Get some sleep," he muttered. "It's almost my watch anyway."

I nodded, getting up and walking quietly over towards the rest of the flock. Lying down, I rested my cheek against the cool white tile and shut my eyes, but I wanted to jump up and scream and punch something. For the past four years of peace, moving from place to place like a nomad, I'd always had a restless feeling inside of me, and Angel's worries had brought it to the surface.

There was no way I was going to fall asleep any time soon, so after a while I silently got to my feet and walked back over towards Fang. I sat down next to him and leaned against the cabinets. He didn't say anything, just shifted closer so our legs were touching.

We sat there, in the silence, for a long time.

Author's Note: Thank you so much to the five people who reviewed, who are: moongoddess286, anonymous reviewer "Uh," which is a very interesting name, by the way, bloodsack, barigirl1, and senoritasophia13. Thank you. Reviews make me very happy. Ridiculously happy, actually. Oh and, Sophia, laughing was not one of the responses I had in mind while writing the prologue. Come on now, it wasn't that bad? Was it?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review. Thanks!