okay. i have redone this series, starting after the prologue, to clear up some confusion. in my mind, everything made sense, because i knew what was going on, because it's in my head.

when i was informed it was confusing by multiple sources, i took a step back and looked at it from a reader's POV. and i saw just how right you were. it was VERY confusing, and i hope i have cleared up all confusion now. if anything still confuses you, let me know, and i'll try and fix it or explain or...idk. just lemme know.

i hope you like this version better. :) it evens out the IggyxOC romance with Fax. so, neither is too heavy or too rare. it's a balance, and i think i'll end up liking this series much better for that. as will all of you Fax fans reading. :D

so, yes. here it is. it's pretty long, but it's very explanatory? if that's a word? idk. lol. but, here it is. hope you enjoy this series, and i hope to have cleared up all confusion.

yes. thank you. please read and review. like the past reviews for this one, it helps me. if critisism is constructive, i don't mind it. if you're gonna be an ass, plain and simple, that's a little different. but, i can take it. i just ignore assholes. i had someone tell me i should stop writing, because i'm that terrible on one of my other accounts on my first thing to ever write. ever. so, i took that, kept writing, kept getting better, and now i'm here.

i guess it helped me, but i'm not like everyone. some people take that to heart, so this goes for all the time. don't be so harsh. people have feelings, and to tell them to never write again? really? no. don't do that. ever.

sorry. i just hate it when people say shit like that to destroy someone's dreams. cause it does.

now. sorry. here's the super long redone chapter one in Max's POV. :) hope you enjoy.

oh. btw. the entire title of this chapter wouldn't fit, so i'm just putting part of it and telling you the rest here. i'll do that for any chapter titles that don't fit.

01. Patience may be a virtue, but I don't have any.


Track 00. Born Like This: Three Days Grace
Track 01. Break Out! Break Out! : All Time Low


*6 years later*

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" I yelled arrogantly, cocking my hip to the side with my hand resting on it.

His dark eyes didn't meet mine. Actually, he didn't even turn. Instead of our faces meeting, my face met one of his pillows. And then an inappropriate hand gesture.

"Oh, that's how we're gonna play?" I asked under my breath, laughing darkly as I stepped inside, closing his door behind me.

Mom would not approve of this. In any form or fashion.

But I know how to get my way with Fang. In this kind of instance.

Give the boy some credit. He has a mind of his own and a backbone to speak it.

But, right now, it was time to get what Max wanted, and Max wanted Fang to get his lazy butt out of bed.

So, what do I do, being the smart, charming person I am?

I crawl into bed with him, which was enough to surprise him and wake him up. But only a little. When I straddled him and leaned in really close, my breath tickling his ear...he was sitting up holding me, his hands gripping my arms firmly, with a pining hold.

Fang...turned my own trick against me?

No, because I had won. The guy was up, wide awake. But now, I was sitting in his lap, held here by his grip. As much as I hated admitting it, he was stronger.

That wasn't really what was keeping me here, though. That really sucked to admit, which is why I will tell you that if you ever repeat what I'm about to say, I will come after you with a rusty ax.

Hell. I don't even need an ax. I'll just kill you with my bare hands.

It wasn't his grip keeping me in this...rather uncomfortable position. It was those eyes; the dark, beautiful, mystifying orbs of wonder staring at me as if nothing else mattered in the world.

My mind began to wander, off to a perfect fairytale land—a place where Fang and I were more than just—

No. Stop this train of thought right now!

When I stopped thinking about it, I was able to scramble up and get a grip on my senses, taking a deep breath to calm myself. "Get up, sleepy head. The Crosslins will be arriving any minute."

He was now in a very sour mood, because he was scowling as he stood from his bed and began pushing me out. "Yeah, yeah. Got it. Be out in a minute."

Damn that boy and his stupid incomplete sentences.

I just sighed again, irritated that I let myself get caught up like that. How could I do such a thing?

I couldn't, not again.

That's it, Max. Good girl. Remember the boundaries.

Ugh. Those stupid boundaries I had set up. He didn't know they existed, but they were there. All strong and resolute.

Because I refused to admit to myself that I had feelings for Fang deeper than friendship. I wouldn't call it a sibling thing, because I wasn't going there. Not anywhere close. Fang and I would never be together, but I still wasn't gonna risk putting that…

No. Not happening.

I shuddered as I thought back to that day, six years ago.

Wow. Six whole years...the time really has just flown by.

It took us another year to finish Itex, hopefully for good. But, we managed, and we decided to lay low. We had saved the world, and everyone recognized us. So, we had some hiding out to do. Originally, we thought we would dye our hair all kinds of crazy colors, but we decided to keep it simple.

Just change our names and make full background stories, with the documentation to prove it all.

Anyways, after a year, everything finally settled down, and we started living with Mom. Iggy never left us again, because he liked it here. But, it was too boring. Still is. It's what they all want, though. A roof over their head, all the time; never worrying about where the next meal will come from, that fear disappearing; and an adult they can look to for comfort, besides me.

And now, now that we were finally getting used to the flow of things again, Mom's fallen in love. Finally, she found someone who made her as happy as we did. No, correction: happier than we did, because she had us and Jason—her love.

They met two years ago. One of her workers at her new clinic she opened up—her first very own clinic—introduced them, and they instantly connected. They were just friends for a while, but it turned to more. Much more. A year or so ago, I think.

So, now, they decided to get engaged, but, there's a catch.

They're not getting married until they're certain it's what's best for the families—his and ours. Until they're certain we can manage under the same roof without killing each other, they're not actually getting married.

We were all a little worried about this whole situation. It was a little messed up. On one hand, we were eager to meet this family and make them ours. We wanted Mom to be as happy as absolutely possible, especially after all the crap she went through with us.

But this...it was risky. Our covers could easily be blown if things didn't work out right with them.

I have no doubt that Mom and Jason are soul mates. I've seen them together, and it's just so obvious! When soul mates meet, everyone can tell those two are meant to be. Except each other, it seems. You have to prove it to them.

I don't really get how people can be so oblivious like that. I mean, soul mates...if you have one, you're lucky. I'm one of those people who believes that not everyone does have a soul mate, and the ones who do, they're the lucky ones.

All the rest of us have is true love. Sometimes. Maybe?

Ugh. I don't know. This whole "love" this is just a confusing mess to me. Ever since we've started settling down and moving on with life...I've been thinking about it more and more, thinking about a certain guy who has been there with me through it all—except that brief period when we split over the whole "Ari" thing. But, that separation...it brought us closer, even now.

Fang was constantly on my mind, because I had nothing to distract me anymore! It's so irritating, because I don't want things to change. At the same time, I'm curious. I'm hopeful. I'm just...it's confusing, and—

Okay. Enough of my completely out of character emotional ramble. That's the downside of "settling down." You "get in touch with your emotions," and it's sickening.

Ugh. I need an Eraser to beat the hell out of, to get my mind off things.

Oh! Right. Our undercover names.

Mom and Ella kept their names, because they have fairly common names, and, I mean, not putting them down or anything, but people really don't know their name and face like they know ours.

But they should! They just don't, I guess because they don't have wings?

I don't know.

Anyways, my stupid name is Alexandria, and I go by Ali. It's not that it's a bad name...for someone else. It's just not me. At all.

I can't see myself as anything but Max, though. So, I'm kinda biased.

Our cover story makes Iggy and me twins, because we're only four months apart otherwise. That just can't normally happen. I'm the oldest, just a few hours older than Iggy. We're both twenty-one, like our actual ages are, and we're currently going to the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

Why? It's a good medical school, and that's what I want to be—a surgeon of some kind. I haven't gotten into the specifics just yet.

Iggy's name has been changed to Will. He's actually finished up school, because he went summers to finish a whole year early. He's currently looking for a job as a science teacher.

I think he'll make for a good teacher, to be honest. I'm not sure if he's mature enough yet to teach high school kids, but, hey. If he can get a job and stick with it, more power to him.

Then, there's my pretend boyfriend, Fang—also known as Nick Riley. He's eight months younger than me, like in reality. Fang's actually getting a degree in forensic science.

We watched NCIS, and he got hooked on Abby. She inspired him, apparently, and that's what he's getting into.

Alright. Well, there's Blake Seaver, Ella's boyfriend? Fiancé? I don't remember if that's official yet. I know he's planning to ask her at some point, or maybe he already has? I don't think so, though, because there hasn't been any random squealing.

Anyways, he's going to Auburn University to learn how to be a vet, whereas Ella is learning to be a veterinary assistant—something she pretty much already knows how to do perfectly. They're both nineteen, but she's a few months younger.

And then there's Monique Rodgers—or Nudge, as we all know her as. She's still here in Arizona, going to a local community college. She wants to go somewhere big, but right now, she's just going through cosmetology school. But, she's only been in a year. She loves it, especially since she doesn't have much longer. I think she'll be good at that.

After Nudge, there's Gazzy, obviously. At this point, he's fifteen, so he's just a sophomore in high school this year. His fake name is Jackson Hotch. And then, after Jackson, there's his baby sister, Emily Hotch. She's about to be thirteen, start her eighth grade year.

I'm glad I never had to go to middle school, because from what I hear, it's hell.

As I was saying before my mind got completely off topic and informed you of our cover names—the stories will come later, my friend—we're not sure what to do. We can't pretend to be normal the entire time these guys are here, because soon, they'll be moving in for good. And, yes, the majority of us will be off in college, but we can't put that kind of pressure on Angel and Gazzy...to continue living the lie all the time.

So, we had to determine when it was safe to tell them. It was a decision everyone was leaving to me, but it was something I refused to do alone. I would talk to them, discuss it with everyone, before telling the Crosslin family our little secret.

From the way Mom acted when we addressed her about it, they had some secrets of their own.

I don't know. Can't be anything like ours.

The hardest part wouldn't necessarily be hiding our wings, because we've found a way to literally make those disappear. It makes blending in with society a little easier, I must admit.

But...the wings weren't the issue here. The issue was gonna be these new powers that we seemed to be getting, out of nowhere. They all would've come in handy quite often before, but we just get them now. Now that we've settled down.

The problem we're having is our control of them.

Now, we're all pretty badass. I'm not even gonna lie. The wings are incredible, but now? Now that we have powers to go along with them?

It's just...wow.

Well, we'll start with Iggy, because why not mix things up a little? Okay. So, before, he was able to run a little faster than the rest of us, but nothing really significant. I mean, none of us really had anything that really made us special, besides the wings.

Now, Iggy can run so fast none of us can see him. With our supersonic eyesight? Not past an instant blur.

It's amazing.

He also has the ability to take abilities away from people and channel it to either himself or someone else. This is something he's starting to master the weaker stage of this, actually, because back five years ago when we were destroying the final Itex—that we know of—he used it on an Eraser, who lost his wings and his wolf mutation. And he fell to his doom.

So for a while, Iggy had two pairs of wings and was able to morph. But, he gave that to a corpse. Which worked, thankfully. Eraser Iggy is not a pleasant thing to see.

Before he got it under control, he took Angel's ability to read and control minds. The problem with his ability is, once he takes it from you, he can't give it back. So, she lost those, and she was devastated. He felt pretty terrible, but it wasn't his fault either.

He didn't want those, so he gave those abilities to a corpse also. And I was a little glad too, because Angel didn't need that kind of power. No one does.

He's also hydrokinetic, which, in simpler terms, means he can control water—randomly make it appear, make it do whatever he wants if it's already there, and absorb it too. That kinda stuff.

Alright. Finally, we're wrapping Iggy's awesome things up and getting to his most powerful ability. Iggy, my little brother, is empathetic, which means he has the ability to feel the emotions of the people around him, and control them. Actually, I think it's anyone within a mile radius, to be honest, because he's done it to me when I wasn't even in the same room.

Let's just say I beat him repeatedly for that. Hasn't done it since.

Now, onto Fang. Yeah. We'll go in age order, minus myself, of course. We'll start with his weakest ability and work up to his strongest.

Fang discovered, last week, that he has the ability to create a force field, or a shield, around himself. He's worked it up, in just this past week, to stage two. Once he got it to where he could emit it out ten feet tall, and ten feet wide, he began strengthening it. Ten feet was enough for the flock, plus Mom, plus Ella, plus the Crosslin family.

Unless they're large, but if they're like Jason, they're not. At all.

Umbrakinesis is next, but it's pretty damn strong. That is the ability to, basically, create shadows around yourself and control them. It's pretty creepy, but it's effective. Seeing the shadows pick things up, as if they were another person...it's strange, but really awesome.

Then there's his phasing ability, which basically means he can walk through walls or anything solid. He gets into trouble with that one, a lot, especially when he mixes it with his strongest ability—the ability to disappear, now on will, and move around.

Yeah. He built that one up.

Oh darn. I almost forgot the claws he has...basically, it's just his nails, but when he has enough adrenaline pumping—or whenever he commands them to come out—sharp nails come out and can cut through some seriously strong metal. It's kinda like a cat, but stronger.

Don't you dare tell him I compared him to a cat.

Then, Nudge, she has her magnetism. That's pretty strong now too, but she doesn't really see a point in building it up too strong. I told her it might come in handy one day, but she doesn't listen. She's Nudge.

Teenagers. What can you do besides love 'em?

If Fang heard me say that, I can guarantee his response would be, "Kill 'em?"

Ugh. I'm around that boy too much for our own good.

Anyways, beyond that, Nudge is super flexible and elastic. She's not really stretchy, nothing creepy, but she's pretty scary flexible. I don't know how she does some of the gymnastic stuff she does, and I sometimes wonder how she unbends herself...then, I remember that I really don't wanna know that.

Um...hmm...oh. She's electrokinetic, which means she can control and produce electricity. It's harder for her to produce it, though, because she has to have some energy. If outside, she's fine. Inside a dead building? No. Not a chance. She has to have a power source. Which can be the sun.

And, to go with that, she can electrically transport. Which basically means she can transport through some electrical wires and end up at the end. It's good for speed and efficiency, but it's not so powerful as to say, a snap and you're one place, a snap you're at another.

Not that I want that. Once again, way too much power.

Gazzy's are pretty much predictable. He's toxikinetic, which means he can control poisons, toxins, and pollution, basically. Or deadly fumes people might release in the air. It's pretty neat, and if he wanted, he could save the planet.

But that's a lot of work for a fifteen-year-old boy. Not that he couldn't do it, but, I mean, why make him? The world's a cruel place, but fixing pollution won't really help much.

And, of course, his old toxic waste abilities he's had since...birth. He's also heat resistant, and he can make things spontaneously burst into flames. It's pretty incredible.

He tried that on Iggy, and things just got messy. Fire and water going everywhere. And then most of Iggy's clothes burned off, and I had to put an end to that.

Ugh. Boys.

Then, there's Angel. She was pretty down when she lost all her old abilities, but when she started growing more, she cheered up a little. Just a little, not a lot, but a little. Which is better than nothing.

She still feels useless, though, but I try to tell her she's been as helpful, and will continue to be, as anyone else.

The problem is, I can't seem to get through to her, because I've never been in her shoes. She's going into this deep depression, and she's started going bad. Bad as in, I caught her drinking yesterday. She got a tattoo on her ribs that say Fight or flight. It's pretty sweet, and I'm not saying tattoos are bad. It's just...she's just turning dark...and she got black lowlights underneath her usually blonde hair.

Once again, not saying that's bad. She's just worrying me. She's finding an interest in all these scary bands that truly terrify me. I have no idea what they're saying, but she seems to, and I'm seriously worried.

I need someone who can communicate with the girl, someone who understands that she can relate with. But, I don't know what middle school drama and confusion is like. I really don't. Never been there.

How can I forget the time I walked in and found her making out with her friend, Kara? That was a nightmare. Needless to say, Kara hasn't been over since...

Anyways, before I start crying and screaming and worrying all over again, I'll just tell you her new abilities.

She's worked up her morphing ability, and she can now talk to and control animals. Still can breathe underwater too. As can Iggy and Fang. Along with that, she has this thing called intuitive aptitude. Big words summarized means she can sit down with a super complex and mortifying piece of equipment and instantly know how to work it, after touching it once. It works with anything like that, really, and it's really neat.

Now mine? Well, I'm very weakly vitakinetic, which summarized means I can heal some minor injuries and make major injuries smaller. I can't bring back the dead or anything, not that I would want to. So, that's one. Another is, I'm sort of able to disappear. It's another very weak ability, because it's only at the stage Fang's was back...wow...seven whole years ago. So, one day, it'll build up, but not yet.

Then there's my dehydration ability, which means I can get any living thing and literally suck the water out of it. It usually goes into my body, but if Iggy's there, he can get it before it does and use it for whatever.

It's kinda terrifying, because I tried it on a plant, and it withered and died. Right before my eyes. An Eraser? Same story, except it just fell over and turned to dust and old bones.

Scary. Very much so. Iggy could probably technically do it, but he doesn't wanna think that hard to get something that terrifying. He would rather just stick with what he's got.

And, other than my super fast flying—which has gotten much faster, I must add—I don't have anything else.

These things we've gotten...they scare me, honestly. What if the power gets to our heads? What if we accidentally hurt someone innocent?

What if we kill the Crosslin kids? Jason would be furious, and there goes Mom's happily ever after!

I just...I'm so worried about all of this, because we can't hide it, but we can't tell them until they're sworn into secrecy—basically until Jason and Val seal the deal.

So...I'm just kinda waiting impatiently, preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.