I kicked my bag around a bit in front of me to try and get my feet comfortable. I hadn't had that much to pack, but Valencia also packed me some extra clothes in a different bag. She insisted that I needed more clothes than I had. I was currently in my borrowed PJs, sitting in the front seat of the black van that K-Unit had rented. Yassen was driving, and K-Unit was watching the roads, and Valencia driving behind to make sure they didn't lose us.
I had tried to sneak in with the flock to Valencia's van, but Yassen had caught me by the arm, and dragged me to the rented van. I then argued that I could drive Valencia's van and follow behind them, to make sure we didn't get separated.
"I'm fairly sure that Ms. Martinez can drive her own van exceptionally well, and that she does not need your assistance in following us." Was what he had replied with in answer to my point. So, now, here I was, arms crossed over my chest, trying to get moderately comfortable. We'd only really been on the road for about twenty minutes, and the dead silence in the van was starting to weird me out a bit. It also brought back memories I'd tried a long time to repress.
I shuddered quite a bit, and decided to draw my knees up to my chin. Before I got seriously comfortable, I zipped open my backpack a tiny bit and pulled out a zip lock bag. Opening it, I smiled a little. Max had handed me the baggie before we left the house, and I'd hardly gotten a chance to see what it was. Breathing in the smell, I sighed. She'd packed me some cookies for the trip.
After about a minute of me slowly eating a cookie, Eagle started to shift around a bit. As the smell of the cookies filled the entire van, the others started to look around as well. Only Yassen seemed unbothered by the smell, which I found surprisingly annoying. Still though, I stayed quiet, waiting for someone else to say something.
I heard movement from behind me, and then my seat thumped a bit. "Where the hell did you get cookies?" Eagle exclaimed, leaning forward as much as he could.
"I got them from Max. Valencia made them this morning. And trust me, they taste every bit as good as they smell." I replied. I figured I needed to do something to pass the car ride, as well as a distraction, and torturing Eagle with tantalizing cookies seemed to be a good idea.
At least, that's what I thought. I had fun with that for about two minutes, before Wolf told Eagle to shut up, and Yassen grabbed the cookies away from me. And then, much to my horror, threw them out the window.
"How could you? I was enjoying those!" I said, sitting up a bit. "I was also passing the time by bothering Eagle!"
"Yeah, and in turn, bothering us, Cub. Sorry, but it had to be done." Snake replied. He also gave Yassen a pat of thanks on the shoulder. It was interesting to see how they all interacted with each other. I'd guessed they'd stayed and trained together at Brecons Beacons. Yassen had the same synergy with K-Unit that I had with K-Unit, only, Yassen and I didn't have that synergy. Which only made me remember Blunt's backstabbing again. Which only made me frustrated. It was the same thing, over and over again. The man couldn't stick to his damn promises if there was something he could do to get himself higher.
"Your training from me starts tomorrow morning. You'll be up early, and there'll be punishment each time you complain. You won't be getting any warning of what you'll be doing each day. And don't think that because we'll be hiding that I'll lighten the load. In fact, that will just make it worse. Less people around, so, really, I could just push you harder." I'd been surprised at the sudden change of subject. Only a few people could really surprise me constantly; Yassen was one of those few.
Really, though, at the moment I didn't give a damn about whatever training he wanted to give me. As well, I was still a bit in denial about the whole adoption thing, and I didn't want to hear, or accept another word of it. And I knew that. But I was known for my stubborn streak, which I'd actually picked up from Jack.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever." I deadpanned, much like I had earlier, when I had gone out for my 'jog'. Really, I'd been too tired, mentally and physically, to think up my usual sarcastic remark. Everyone has their limit, and, really, I just wanted to strangle Blunt, and then crawl into a warm cozy bed. Apparently, sleeping fourteen hours didn't cut it. It was odd, because I could usually deal with it, but it seemed, in the past ten minutes or so, I had become more and more tired. It wasn't normal, and whenever something wasn't normal…
I shook my head again as my eyes gently slid close for the third or fourth time. I grabbed my water bottle, yanked it open, and poured the ice water over my head in an attempt to get more alert. Crude, but very effective.
Something wasn't right. Looking around, I saw that Yassen had also noticed this, and opened all the windows. I glanced back and saw that Valencia was still following us, unaware to our own situation. I personally hoped to keep it that way. I didn't want any car crashes anything. A) That'd be a huge disadvantage, and B) It'd probably bring police.
I stuck my head out my own window, and took a few huge breaths. And then I started shaking. Cold water + cold whipping wind equaled one freezing teenager. But it helped clear my head, and I'd rather be freezing than falling asleep drugged.
I half turned to Yassen, but kept the wind in my face. I took another really deep breath. "Tampered with?" I asked, meaning the car and the air filters. Though when whoever had gotten the chance to sabotage the rented vehicle, I don't know. Well, rather, it was mainly obvious, I suppose. They knew the general area that I was in. If they put two and two together, they would've figured I was at the Martinez residence, and it was obvious which car would belong to the ex-assassin, teen spy, and SAS unit.
He just nodded in response, and I rolled my eyes. Turning in my seat again, I saw that K-Unit were mostly completely out, except for Ben, who seemed to be doing the same thing I had been doing; drifting on the fringe of consciousness. Checking the clock, I realized it had been more than ten minutes that I'd been out of it. More like thirty, maybe forty. We were closer to our destination.
I fiddled with my seatbelt and took it off, just in case. "Remotely? What are we going to do if they're following, or tracking us?" I asked again. Surely it was remotely controlled, or else it would've started as soon as we started the van. And there was no one as far as I could see following us behind Valencia. Though suddenly, I wasn't so sure.
"Yes, remotely. And obviously, I'm not going to drive straight there now. At the next available stop, we're all getting in the other van." He replied shortly. I suppose there wasn't much else to say, though. I nodded for a second at that, and looked around. I was still shivering, but I thought it would be a good idea to stick my head out the window again, while we were driving at about 120 miles per hour. But this time I looked up, trying to see if I could see anything like a helicopter silhouetted against the night sky. It was surprisingly clear, with a huge, bright moon, which only made it easier to see that there was nothing there.
I shifted back into my seat, and took a second to rub my arms with my hands. It didn't help that my hair was soaked, along with my clothes. If I wasn't going to get dry soon, then I wouldn't get warmer anytime soon. It could only lead to a cold, then pneumonia. Really, sometimes I have the greatest ideas, I swear.
Getting another great idea, I climbed into the back part of the van, tripping a couple times, and nearly falling a couple more. But my idea mostly worked. I gave Ben a big hug with my wet, shivering form, which had more or less the same effect on him as pouring water over my head had for me.
"Ugh, what are you doing, Alex?" He groaned, pushing me away, and half sitting up. There weren't proper seats in the back of the van, so K-unit had technically fallen asleep on the floor. I stood back up, bent over, and shuffled back towards my seat. Though instead, I pulled down a little tuck-away chair from the back of my front seat, and sat down on it.
"Getting you up, of course. Stuff is going on. Personally, I think we should somehow warn the others." I said, trying to sound semi-cheerful. It didn't really work though, because I was still shivering, and I'd stuttered on a few of the words.
I felt the van lurch a bit, and list to the side, and then stop. Yassen turned a bit, looking at me and Ben. Out of the corner of my eye, and out the back window, I saw the other vehicle come to a stop a few feet behind us, filling our van with the glare of headlights.
In a moment of silent communication, I opened the side door, just as Max opened her door. I hopped out, and Ben hopped out behind me. He took a second to grab something from the van, and tossed it to me. Unraveling it, I saw it was a sweater. Huge, and though I would be practically swimming in it, I put it on anyways. Besides, there was a perfectly valid reason.
"What's goi-" Max started, but I abruptly cut her off, waiting until we were standing extremely close to each other. I didn't want to be loud. We were in the middle of nowhere, and yet, I still felt the need to be extremely quiet.
"Our van was sabotaged. Sleeping gas in the air vents. Remotely controlled. We're probably being tracked, as well, so at the next stop, we're abandoning our van, and we're all going to have to pile in yours. There's not much choice, either." I explained rapidly. She nodded at everything, taking it in, and I wouldn't doubt that she was memorizing it as well.
"When we do the switch, I'll get Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and myself to fly above. It'll make some room in the van, Angel can keep contact with us through her mind, and we'll have a bird's eye view of everything." She replied. I couldn't help but agree. It was a good plan.
"Kay, then I'll see you at the next stop. If anything happens to our van, then keep driving. Don't stop. These are people you don't want to mess with." I said, before giving her a small smile, and heading back to my own van. I waited a second, hearing Valencia's van door slam shut, and then climbed back into the back, with Ben, again, right behind me.
I sat back on the pull down seat, and Yassen pulled back on to the road. "When we get to the next stop, then we'll move into the other van. However, at that time, Max, Fang, Iggy and Nudge will start patrolling the skies, which will help us for fore-warning wise, and it'll make a little more space in the van." I explained. Getting no replies, I guess they saw it was a good plan. Or at least the best plan we could manage under such pressure.
I was still a little fatigued from the sleeping gas, but I knew I couldn't fall asleep even if I wanted to. I squirmed in my seat a little, trying to free my hands from the long sleeved trap of the sweater. Finally, my hands poked out, and I was able to clasp my hands in my lap, if only to have something to hold on to.
Ben seemed to be lightly sleeping against the wall of the van, but glancing over my shoulder, Yassen seemed completely unaffected. I was curious at that. I mean, when I'd first snapped out of it, he seemed a bit affected, but holding on. And now, while Fox was drifting off, the others still hadn't woken, though Eagle was starting to stir, and I was tired out from it, he seemed absolutely fine. As though nothing happened.
I'd been staring at him unconsciously for about five minutes when he finally glanced back. "What is it, Alex?" He asked, looking back to the road. I reached into the front, and rummaged my iPod Touch out of my bag. Yet another gadget from Smithers, but it played music as well. The gadget half of it was controlled through the few apps on the device, but besides that, it was completely normal.
Settling back in the fold out seat, I shook my head. "Nothing." I'd been thinking of actually explaining what I was thinking, but decided against it. Besides, he'd probably already guessed what I was thinking, so there wasn't really any point, in my mind.
Keeping it on a low volume, I used the speaker of my iPod to play music. Choosing a song I thought was fairly appropriate to my life in some aspects, I hummed along with the lyrics. At one point, I paused, completely freezing for a minute, waiting. And then I sneezed.
My sneeze fully woke up Eagle, and he looked over at me a question forming in his mouth. I sneezed again, shaking my head.
"Ah that's just bloody wonderful." I muttered, "And I'm only explaining it once, so you can wait until those two get up." I added, gesturing to Wolf and Snake, who were still, surprisingly, still completely out. But I supposed whatever gas it had been would generally affect everyone differently.
Of course, eagle was still able to find something to say; despite the fact that I had thought he would just stay quiet. "What song is that? It seems kind of dark. Not like you." He asked, reaching his hand out for the iPod. Cherishing the gadget, which Smithers had actually given me for my last birthday, I selfishly didn't let him see it, which made Eagle pout. Then again, we were both just childish like that.
"Though considering what you said, Eagle, the lyrics are actually quite ironic, considering Alex's life." Yassen said from up front. I was surprised he even got why I liked the song. I found myself grinning a bit as Eagle tried to follow the lyrics.
Turning up the volume, I said, "The song is called Brick by Boring Brick, and it's by Paramore." I was tapping out the beat on my knee, and Eagle nodded. "The very basic theme of the song is leaving childhood behind. Very good song, in my opinion." I added, starting to quietly sing along with the second verse.
A few minutes passed in silence; while I sung quietly, Eagle moved up to the front seat to get an update on what had happened from Yassen, seeing as I refused to. I just didn't want to have to explain over and over. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned to look at them.
"Get the others up, there's a gas station coming up." Yassen said shortly, already turned back to the road.
I nodded and knelt by Ben's side, gently shaking him. When that didn't work, I tried poking him. That got him stirring a bit, but not up.
"C'mon Ben, just get up." I said, shaking him some more. It wasn't as gentle this time though, and it did get him up. It more startled him, so that he already had his gun out before he realized it was just me. I just smiled. "And it'll be your pleasure to wake up Wolf and Snake."
There had only been one time when I'd woken up Wolf, and it wasn't something I was going to have a repeat of. In all truth, it had scared the living shit out of me. It had been at Brecons Beacons, when I was training for another few weeks. From that day forward, I refused ever to wake up Wolf.
Of course, Ben knew what had happened that day, which is why he was grinning at me as he got Wolf and Snake up. They both groggily sat up, and Ben quickly explained that we had to switch cars.
Both men became more alert as Fox quickly explained what was going on. I glanced at the front window, before kneeling down in front of the sliding door. I held onto the handle, and made sure the door was unlocked.
'Ready?' I mentally asked Angel, taking a quick second to glance back at Valencia's headlights.
'Yes, we are.' Came the reply. I wasn't actually expecting a reply, so it was a bit of a shock. I nodded after a second, and then remembered that she couldn't see me.
I adjusted myself just a bit as Yassen slowed down. We were at the gas station, but he kept going until both vehicles were out from under the bright lights. I had the door open before he fully stopped, and I held it open for the others. Max opened the door on Valencia's van, and each of the flock minus Angel took off from the van. K-unit hopped into the other van once the flock had vacated it.
Yassen got Ella to move to the back seats, and he took the front passenger seat. I'd been about to climb in, when I paused. I looked up, and in the moonlight, I could see the flock circling high above us. I had one foot in the van, and off of a gut instinct, I looked behind me. Something flashed across my eye. I took my foot off the rim of van, and swung the sliding door shut as I spun around and ducked. Barely a second later I heard the glass above me crack and Ella's semi-muffled screaming. I couldn't tell whether she had been hit or if she was scared. I didn't have time to check, either.
I jumped up and started running towards the gas station, and I hit the back of the van to tell them to go. Yassen got my message, obviously, and translated for Valencia. Behind me, I heard the tires squeal.
I kept low while running. 'Will they care about blowing up the station?' I thought. I hear a ping of a bullet hitting metal. 'Guess not.' I added. I heard another ping, and saw a spark in my peripheral vision this time.
'Get to the other side of the station,' I hear Angel's voice in my head. 'Fang and Max will pick you up.'
Even as she told me I could see them starting to hover over the pavement. I poured on the speed, and started sprinting. I heard a few pings echo around me, and out of instinct, I ducked, though it was doubtful to help.
Nearing Max and Fang, I reached out, and jumped. They swooped forward, and each grabbed a hand, rising fast into the night sky. I saw the red laser dot appear on one of Fang's wings. Figuring I didn't have time to explain, I curled up like I was doing a crunch, and then dropped my weight. It made both of them drop their height a bit. Enough for the shooter to miss, which had been my intention.
Fang had opened his mouth to ask about why I just did that, but they both heard the bullet whiz by, which answered his question. They kept flying up, until we were all out of range. I could just barely make out the van, and that was from the headlights and back lights. I looked down to the station, and tried to focus on the little people down ther. They looked like ants. No, they were smaller than ants. And they seemed to be grouping, from what I could see. A few seconds passed, then two of the miniscule people walked away, while the rest stayed. I felt something was wrong. I felt I should go back down there.
And then it was too late. As Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy joined us in the air, I saw a small inferno. It was right next to the station, and then there was an explosion. They were blowing up the station. They didn't want witnesses. They were blowing up the station because I got away. But that was the story of my life, right?
I went limp; a dead weight. More innocent blood on my hands. I almost wished I was down there dead.
'It wouldn't of made a difference,' a small voice interupted my thoughts, 'They still would've destroyed the evidence.'
'Angel, I know.' I thought back, 'But I don't need you to be peeping in on my thoughts when they're that dark.'
'Yassen told me to.' I heard back, but I didn't hear anything else after that. I clenched my fists, and snapped myself out of it.
While I'd been wallowing in self-pity, we had started to move. I looked up at Max and Fang. Max gave me a little smile, while Fang kept looking striaght ahead.
"We're gonna pass you to Iggy, then us three will switch off on who's carrying you. Angel said that we'll have to wait a bit before we can bring you down to the van, just in case." Max said. I nodded, and looked around for Iggy. He was behind us, slowly coming towards me. Once he was holding on to me, bride style, Fang and Max let go.
I decided to relax a bit, and so I started to star gaze. I searched out the few constellations I knew, tracing the imaginary lines between Orion, Cassiopeia, and the Big Dipper. I stretched a bit to see the constellations behind us.
"What exactly are you doing?" Iggy asked when I shifted a bit more to try and spot a few other constellations.
"Oh, um, trying to see how many constellations I remember. I don't think I've ever seen so many stars at once. It really, well, pretty, I suppose. And kind of calming. It's just so peaceful up here." I replied.
"Well, at least you can see the stars." He snapped back.
I shrugged a bit. "Then I'll just figure out a way for you to know what the constellations look like."
Iggy was going to reply, when Max flew up beside us. "Angel said Yassen wants you back in the van. Now. So I'll bring you back down. And we'll have to be fast." It had only really been about forty minutes since we left the gas station, but were had been going pretty fast. The Flock's stamina surprised me. I doubted even K-unit would've been able to keep up that pace running.
I nodded. We waited a couple more minutes before Iggy tossed me to Max. She carried me bride style as well, and when we were beside the van, Yassen braked and Wolf opened the door. At the same time, Max stopped and I jumped from her arms. She took off into the night sky again, and I clambered into the van.
I saw Snake opening his mouth, and I shook my head. "I'm fine. I didn't get hit, or anything." I curled up on my seat, and let my head drop to my knees, which I had pulled up to my chest. I zoned out, and eventually drifted off to sleep, thinking about my new friends, and my new 'family'.
Author's Note:
Hey, everyone! Sorry for the long wait! My computer broke again, for about the fifth time this year. I didn't lose anything, but it took away a lot of access time to a computer. School's started too, but I can type at school, seeing as I have two of my three classes in a computer lab.
I found this chapter to be a bit crappy. I meant for it to be a bit more action-y, but I hit a writer's block, and it didn't really come out the way I wanted it to. But, I still hoped you enjoyed it, and sorry (again) for the long wait. Also, I'd like to give a giant virtual cookie to PrideIsArrogance for being the first reviewer ever on this fan fiction. And I thank you all who have favourited and alerted as well!
