Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from Maximum Ride.

Imagination or Not?

Dr. Martinez drove home from Teddy's school slowly. She had always taught Teddy to tell the truth, and he had done so. It just happened to cause some problems.

As she pulled into the driveway, she saw that not only was Jeb's car there, but piled around the front door were a number of muddy sneakers. The rest of the flock was home.

Teacher conferences instantly forgotten, she almost ran inside. There, standing in the kitchen, were Max and company, along with a smiling Jeb, Ella, Teddy, and Nudge.

"Mom!" Teddy shouted. "Max an' everybody flew right on the roof! I watched!"

"Did you really?" Dr. Martinez asked Max. "The shingles are coming off as it is."

"I missed you too, Mom," Max laughed. "And we landed very lightly. No damage to the shingles."

"Hey Mom," Teddy interrupted, "Iggy says he can teach me how to make a bomb I can actually sneak into school!"

Distracted, Dr. Martinez turned to him and Iggy, who had a very guilty look on his face. "I told you, absolutely no bombs! Especially not ones he can take into school."

"Bombs?" Iggy said. "I didn't say anything about bombs. That was Gazzy."

The Gasman was quick to defend himself. "I didn't say anything! What Iggy means is that he didn't actually mention bombs, not really. He said explosion devices."

"Teddy," Dr. Martinez sighed, "why don't you set the table?"

Once all were crowded around the kitchen table dining on hastily grilled hamburgers, the talk turned to the recent activities of the flock.

"Oh, the usual," Max said. "Beating up bad guys, flying around, trying to stop Angel from getting strangers to buy her a laptop computer."

Dr. Martinez looked at Angel. "Speaking of Angel, can you give me some warning next time you're going to show up and fly away with her and Gazzy? They do have school, you know."

"I don't want to go to school at all!" the Gasman interrupted. "School's boring."

"I like it," Nudge said.

That was true. Nudge had taken to full-time education in a way Gazzy hadn't. He was constantly getting in trouble, and his science teacher had begun locking up any chemicals for fear that they would be used in a new bomb. However, all the teachers liked his sister, who did very well. Of course, that may just have been that she could find the answers to tests in the teacher's mind. Nudge, too, got good grades, although hers were unassisted by her talents. The only complaint Dr. Martinez got about Nudge was that she talked all the time.

"That's just because you get to see your boyfriend," the Gasman was taunting Nudge.

"That's enough of that," Max said, "or I'll let everybody tease you if you get a girlfriend, Gazzy."

"What do you mean, if I get a girl?"

"Fang says Max is his girl." Max looked at her five-year-old brother, who had said this.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Fang said so," Teddy said, "and he said Max is sexy."

Everyone turned to Fang, who looked horrified. "I didn't say anything to him!"

Iggy dropped his fork. "I'll get it!" Fang shouted, eager to escape the stares of the flock. He dropped onto his knees and crawled under the table.

Teddy, who seemed quite pleased with the effect his sentence had caused, waited until Fang was completely under the table, then he slowly bent down until his face was about level with Fang's, who was busy looking for the fork and didn't notice him.

"BOO!!" Teddy shouted. Fang, surprised, jolted backward with all his considerable bird-kid strength. He slammed into a table leg, breaking it off the table, which tipped over, dumping everyone's dinners onto the floor. Ella screamed. Iggy tried to stand up, tripped, and fell over on top of Fang.

Everyone minus the two boys on the floor started laughing. Dr. Martinez was torn between hilarity and disapproval.

"Teddy," she asked, "did Fang really say that?"

Her son looked up at her innocently. "Well…not really- but Angel said he thought it."

"I didn't do anything!" Angel protested. "He's just imagining things again."

"Enough!" Max said, "It doesn't really matter anyway."

Fang and Iggy finally managed to get up from the floor. They noticed their family laughing.

"Yeah, that's right," Iggy muttered, "take it out on the blind guy."

Fang glowered darkly at Teddy. "That's the last time I give you a piggy back ride."

Teddy grinned. Then he stopped and got a strange look on his face. "I…just imagined it," he said slowly.

Dr. Martinez looked surprised. Then she spotted Angel, who wore a look of deep concentration on her face.

"Angel!"

"What? You know he imagines stuff all the time."

Dr. Martinez looked around at her family. Her daughters, who were such friends although one of them had wings; her husband; the flock, back from another escapade with evil scientists and Flyboy robots; and her son, now examining the wreckage of their kitchen table with interest.

She smiled. "I wonder why."