A/N-This is now my most popular story, thanks to all who review, you guys are great! I hope you keep reading, because there's going to be more surprises, more plot twists, and more drama coming up! This has gotten as many reviews in 6 chapters as my first story has gotten in 12, you all rock! Thanks again! ^_^
Also, thanks a bunch to nm-maximumride4eva, who's been such a big help for all my stories, with the constant reviews. Always the best reviewer, you'll surely read all my MR stories, no matter how lame they are xD You're the best ever! ^^
Max POV
"First things first." Fang said. "I gotta get an outfit, and you all have to get dresses, to make you look like you're classy enough to be at a movie premiere. They won't let us get near Nudge unless they know that we're the flock, and we have to look professional about it. That, and I really wanna see Max in a dress." His face was all seriousness.
"Why can't we just crash the place in our normal outfits and steal Nudge out of there, not admitting that we're the flock?" I asked, annoyed as I looked out the window of our car. Fang had insisted on driving away before I threw a fit.
"I told you. We have to be calm, cool and collected, and look like we know what we're doing, or else it would be totally jacked up, considering that they already know where we live. That, and I really, really want to see you in a dress."
I humphed. "Just for that, I'm getting a long one." He swore under his breath.
"More to the point, how did they find out where our house was? There's not a single person who knows, and Nudge has detached herself from the flock…she couldn't have."
Fang was silent for a moment, and I chewed my nails nervously, awaiting a reply. "She could have done it…to get revenge…" he said slowly, and hesitantly.
"No! Nudge would never do that to us! Especially since we didn't do anything wrong!"
"She probably wasn't thinking, Max. She was just hurting and wanted to get back at the world, and her way of doing that is by ratting us out. The hard part is, that's not all. We can never go back, not even to move our furniture, because that'll attract attention to ourselves, and reporters will be all over us. We can never go back to our home. We'll have to find a new one."
"No." I shook my head emptily. "No, Fang. No. We saved up years to get that house, it's the first house we lived in, our first house, it's our home. We can't leave, we've made it too far, and we'd just gotten settled with everyone. No." I buried my head in my hands.
"Max, we have to," he said sternly. "There's nothing we can do. We've been uprooted before. I know it's not right, and I know it's not fair, but somehow, someone found out where we lived, whether it was Nudge or not, and I really believe it was. The point is, we'll get through it, just like we got through everything else."
I glanced into the backseat at the younger kids. Gazzy was asleep and Angel was on Fang's laptop. Come to think of it, I didn't know why Angel was on there so often, but she was clearly up to non good. I mean, this is Angel we're talking about.
"Fang, it's not just that. It has a lot of special memories. Birthdays, explosions, you and I had sex," I hissed quietly, even though I knew she could read my mind. I probably had so much in there that she didn't even flinch anymore, but I was still kind of embarrassed about it. "I can't just leave it. We…we…we could have had kids, Nudge could have come back…what happens now?"
"I know, I know. It's important to me, too. But you are my family, and I'm doing what's best for you, not what's best for a house full of memories, okay?" I nodded, and he glanced back over his shoulder. "Goddamn, what's that kid doing with my laptop?"
Angel POV
I heard Max and Fang's conversation, and I was only mildly scared about where we were going to live and what happened to us. I was more concerned, for the moment, of coordinating my plan for Ella. It was carefully organized, with craftiness, quick wit, and secrecy. It was the best freaking plan of all time, and it was all mine.
I'd like to take a moment to point out that I am just that freaking good.
You see, the plan had many stages. Phase one had commenced, that Ella had gotten pulled pranks on without really knowing that someone was out to get her. Phase two involved her getting a small inkling, and that was the deal.
Once it got past seven o'clock tonight, a bucket of lake water was scheduled to rain down on Ella when she opened her bedroom door. There were snails and piles of dirt under the bedding on her mattress. All of the Converse shoes on the middle shelf of her closet were filled to the brim with dried mud. I had glued the top and bottom of her Nintendo DS together. There was a confetti cannon in her dresser drawer. Justin Bieber's music was rigged on chipmunk version, infinite loop on her CD player.
Okay, so maybe I took it a bit too far. But really, she had done something almost unbelievably horrible. I promised that that bitch was going to pay, and I keep my promises. Well, most of the time, anyway. I was especially excited, because, despite the drastic situation, we were all getting dresses –well, all except Fang and Gazzy, so just me and Max- for the movie premiere, and we didn't even have to steal them. I was going to get something white, something that made me look, well, angelic.
I glanced over at the clock. 6:48. Ella, Iggy and Dr. M were probably just getting done with dinner. Sometime soon, she would walk up to her room and get the surprise of her life. I would make sure of that.
Nudge POV
"You're getting ready for the movie premiere later today," my agent said as she walked into the hotel room where I was watching TV intently. "I'll take you shopping."
"Now?" I asked, looking up. "Right now? Can't I even have some time to relax, between telling the insane guy where my family lives and the photoshoots and magazine issues, along with the talk shows?"
"Yes, fame must be so difficult for you," she said with fake sympathy. "Well, 'the insane guy' is funding it all, so we're going to shop 'til we drop, and you better be getting a $1000 dress and a diamond necklace, bracelet and earrings. And we'll even throw in a purse and an expensive perfume."
"Damn, you really hate this guy, don't you?" I asked as I slipped my shoes on. "What'd he do to you? I know it can't be just 'cause of me. Did you ever date him? Did he break up with you? I mean, I understand, sometimes guys like younger women…"
"I happen to be thirty-one years old," she seethed, "and he's my stepfather."
"Ooooh, ouch," I winced. "Uh, sorry about that."
"It's fine," she brushed it off. "But we gotta get in the limo and go. It's only in a couple of hours and you have absolutely nothing to wear."
I was shooed out of the lobby and into the limo, where I sat with a new iPod Touch and my feet up on the leather seats. "Don't you have any sense of glamour, or fame?" she asked.
"Glamour? In my family, I'm the only one. You should see all Max's outfits. They're all jeans, and usually a T-shirt or something, unless I've gotten to her, but she's kind of like the older sister, and I guess she is. Always really protective, you know. And Fang, well, his wardrobe's all black skinny jeans, black converse and a black T-shirt. Some things never change. He pretends like he doesn't care about us, but really, he cares a lot."
I went on, lost in my new memories. "Gazzy, well, he's the fun one with the wild hair and the tattoo that Max doesn't know about that says "badass". He's thirteen, but I think everyone will always think of him like he was 5-8 years old. He honestly doesn't care about the stuff that goes on between us older kids. He probably doesn't even know I'm gone."
"And Iggy…Iggy's classy. Like, he lights up a room when he comes in, and when he smiles, it almost breaks your heart. It's really special, and it's also really sad to see it wasted. …That's why I just had to leave."
"I thought there was a younger one."
"You mean Angel? Oh, she wears really cute clothes for an 11-year-old, mostly designer jeans and a cute layered T-shirt or something. She used to be really weird with her powers, but I guess she grew up some since then. Now, she's really responsible."
Somewhere Far Away
Dr. Martinez looked up from the book she was reading as Ella Martinez stomped noisily down the stairs. Her hair hung in her face, soaking wet as she glared at her mom. Confetti stuck to her damp hair and clothes, and fell quietly to the floor. A broken CD player was clutched in her hands.
"So…I'm guessing it's a bad hair day?" asked Dr. M helplessly.
Max POV
As we walked into the mall, into some random department store –probably JC Penny's or something like that-, Angel shot me a look, like I should be sorry that I wasn't squealing with excitement. Fang and Gazzy had left us to find whatever they were wearing, so I was with Angel in the older girls' department. "Don't worry, we'll find yours when I finish looking at these hideous dresses," I promised.
"They're really pretty, Max," pouted Angel. "Plus, you should try a black one."
"Ew. I never wear black. Fang and I would be like the emo couple of the century."
In the end I wandered through endless rows of dresses and finally settled on a deep blue strapless short dress with a black pattern. "Alright, let's go get your dress," I offered. We rode down the escalator and down to the department with Angel's size. She looked more like she was 13 or 14, so I temporarily forgot she didn't look like it, only thinking of her as an 11 year old.
We ended up riding back up and into the preteen section, where she bought a white halter top with small pink flowers and a big honking pink bow around the waist. I wondered just how much this was costing me. Er, Fang. I didn't work.
As we were walking toward the checkout, Angel grabbed my arm and yanked me back behind a rack of clothes. I staggered and fell backward into the rack and grabbed Angel's head to steady myself. She winced in pain and pushed me back. "What the hell was that about?" I hissed. "Is it your plan to kill me again so that you can be the leader of the flock, Angel?"
She frowned in silence. "Max, you know that was only for about a year. I was really weird back then, okay? You know I haven't tried to pull that on you for years."
"No, you haven't tried to pull that on me ever since we stopped going on missions. It was okay as long as we were all equal in the same house and I was your older sister again. You really hate me being the leader, don't you, you little shit?"
"Max!" she hissed. "Look!" She pointed straight ahead of us, at a tall woman in a business outfit and high heels. By her side was a slightly shorter teenage girl. And the teenage girl was Nudge.
"Angel, I'm so sorry," I began, but Angel immediately shushed me.
"Ok, I want a black strapless dress and heels, with a pretty necklace and matching earrings. I don't feel comfortable having a custom-made dress or anything fancy. I've always shopped at the mall, I don't care how much you wanna hurt your boss. Still, I've never really been shopping with Max, I always had to go on my own or with Angel, so I know where everything is. No, come over here!" Nudge gave an exasperated sigh and hauled the woman over to where Nudge and I had just come from.
"What are they doing here?" I asked Angel as I scooted out of Nudge's sight. "And who the heck is that?" I pointed to the uptight lady that Nudge was dragging away from us. She had a constant superior look that implied that something disgusting was under her nose. I wanted to slap it off of her arrogant face.
"It looks like Nudge wants a dress for the movie premiere, and the other one is her agent," Angel said evenly. "Nudge thinks that she's a stuck-up snob, but she kind of feels sorry for her, and Nudge's agent's just tired of carting around a spoiled brat."
"Well, they're right next to the freaking checkout line! How are we supposed to get out of here without them seeing us?" I started panicking. "I don't want to talk to Nudge until later! I-I'm not ready! I don't know what I'd say to her! Angel, what are we going to do?"
Angel waited a moment until I was breathing normally again. "Okay, first, calm down. I always have an evil plan, Max. Second, remember the good old days, when we were fighting for our lives and we had to steal everything, even food? It looks like we're back to that."
"But we have the money, Angel, it's not like we can't pay for it! It's morally wrong, stealing!"
"Max, since when have we ever done the moral thing?" Angel asked with a shake of her head. "No. We have to get out of here, and get out of here we will. With stolen dresses."
A dark shadow loomed over us, causing us to look up, a look of pure, unbridled terror on our faces. "You were saying?" the security guard behind us asked.
"Run!" Angel bellowed. I prayed with all my might that Nudge hadn't heard as I jumped up and followed Angel out of the store, running for my life. The security guard behind us was keeping up pretty well, I thought as I ran through the hallways of the mall after Angel, who clearly had no idea where she was going.
We ran with inhuman speed away from him, but he kept on our tails for a while before he had to stop to breathe. I took this opportunity to run even faster. My lungs felt like they were bursting, as they hadn't in years. And the scary thing was that I was doing all this for a dress for a movie premiere. I never thought I'd be one of those girls.
Fang and Gazzy swung out in front of us with their legally obtained clothes in legally obtained shopping bags, and were in for the surprise of their lives as Angel and I flung ourselves at them and dragged them quickly out of the door and into the minivan.
Nudge POV
I glanced up from the dresses that I was looking at. I was sure that I had just heard some small voice scream to run. I almost missed Angel.
Come on, Nudge, be happy. You're famous and in Hollywood, just like you always dreamed. Why did you even agree to settle for a sixty dollar dress when you could have a thousand dollar one? Sometimes you just don't think. Forget Iggy and the flock already. They're fine without you.
I was horrified at my own thoughts, and busied myself in looking for dresses. It wasn't hard to find, I knew I was only looking for a black strapless and heels. I could get in here and get out. And not ever worry about Iggy.
Angel POV
Max breathed heavily in her seat as Fang drove easily down the road. "So, let me get this straight," Fang mused, "you guys stole a couple dresses just because Nudge and her agent were near the checkout?"
"We didn't think it through! A security guard heard us and didn't give us a chance to explain before he chased us. Well, we were running from him, but still, he chased us! And we had to run fast, he kept up with us pretty good, and I didn't want to talk to Nudge because I'm scared to! I really want her to be safe and come back, and she won't if I don't say the right thing."
"Max, breathe!" Fang urged, and then laughed. "I think it's good that you guys stole those clothes."
"Why?!" Max practically screeched in his ear. He winced, and then gave her another crooked grin.
"Because you never do anything like that anymore. Five years ago you would have ripped the head off of something if it meant that you'd be able to save something important to you, like Nudge, and now you've kind of adjusted to a normal life. But sometimes I miss the old, take-charge, kick-butt Max."
She smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him. This may not have been a good idea, considering the traffic, so they almost swerved and hit a group of tourists. Well, they did swerve, but they didn't hit the tourists, thankfully. And that's what I love about Max and Fang. They may be hazardous to the rest of the world, but at least I feel like I have a family with love in it.
I, however, had more pressing matters on my hands then just making life hell for a few insignificant tourists. Wow, I sounded really dark overlord-ish right there, but whatever. Ella was still going to pay. My plan for her hadn't hardly started yet –again, overlord-ish- and would soon be put into full action.
Opening the laptop once again, I switched it to one-way video camera mode, or whatever you want to call it. Ella and Iggy were in her room, never a good sign.
"I don't understand all the stupid things that have been happening today. The itching I got earlier, the infinite loop of the chipmunk music on my CD player, the mud in my Converse, the bucket of water, the confetti cannon…is this someone's idea of a joke?"
"Dunno," Iggy said absently as he picked something out of his nails.
"Iggy!" she whined.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You happy?" he asked, mildly irritated.
"Of course I'm happy!" squealed Ella as she leaned in to kiss him.
Nuh-uh. No way. I pressed a button on the keyboard. Cue giggling that sounded like it was coming from outside the window.
"What the?" Iggy yelped as he jumped away from Ella and peered out the window. Of course, nothing. "I could swear I just heard giggling. Is someone watching us?"
"No, silly," answered Ella, slightly impatient. "There's nothing outside the window. Just kiss me."
"Okay," said Iggy hesitantly, and leaned in again."
Bad dog. How many times do I have to use the shock collar? I turned the giggling up. Louder.
"Gah!" Iggy jumped up. "I know there's something out there! I…uh…we…see you later, Ella!" he ran from the room.
Now I had her right where I wanted her. I had been wondering how well I could still use my powers. I hadn't controlled hardly any minds in five or so years. When I was seven, I couldn't control people's minds if they weren't near me.
I still couldn't control people's minds unless I was able to see them. But I could see Ella through the camera, so I put it to the test. I thought with all my might, and concentrated super hard on making Ella take one step forward; baby steps, you know. Slowly, her foot started to inch forward. Overjoyed, I leapt ahead, and tried to make her stand up. In a few seconds, without an ounce of hesitation, she did.
An evil grin worked its way across my face. Ella gasped aloud as her hand came up and struck her face, sending her flying back on the couch. I struggled not to laugh as Gazzy looked interestedly over my shoulder to see what was going on. Slowly, he got out his camera. Ella staggered off the couch at my command and threw herself into the wall. Then she got up and started bobbing her head and flapping her "wings" like a chicken.
That wasn't all. She walked over to the bed, peeled back the covers, where hundreds of snails –don't even ask me where I got them- were crawling all over. It was all I could do not to give an evil laugh as she picked one up, plopped it in her mouth and started chewing. Gazzy and I both shuddered. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this.
"Hey, Ella," Iggy walked back into the room and fiddled with his shirt absent-mindedly before he looked up again. As soon as he did, he doubled over in pain, for poor Ella had just kicked him in the balls. This was partly revenge on Iggy. No one does that to my sister.
"Shit!" he cursed, and fell out of the room. Ella slammed the door on him. By the time I had released Ella from my grasp, Iggy was already gone, and Gazzy had recorded the whole thing for YouTube.
"I've got revenge," came Gazzy's voice through the recording, a perfect imitation of Nudge. "And here it comes, bitch. Here it comes for you."
Max POV
If I could've been pacing back and forth, I would've. It's become a habit of mine, that I pace back and forth when I'm nervous, and I was extremely nervous. I didn't know how I was going to get Nudge back, and I needed her back. I wanted our family to be normal again, and it couldn't go back to the way it was without her. I didn't know how much of her memory she had back, but we would deal with whatever happens.
If I said the wrong thing, Nudge would run again. She was the kind of person that ran, I guess. She had run away from me years ago when she wanted her wings off, and now she was running again. It meant that she just couldn't deal with it anymore.
And it all came back to Iggy. He was the reason that she had run, she had obviously seen him with Ella. Iggy hadn't even agreed to come. He had wanted to stay with Ella. After all the talk of being with Nudge, all the talk of getting married and having children with Nudge, he was just going to give up? This wasn't like him at all.
As Fang pulled up to a gas station, I grabbed my cell phone and jumped from the car. He gave me a quick nod, understanding, and I walked away from the car slowly, dialing Iggy's number on the phone. I was praying to heck he would pick up and hear me out.
It rang three times before Iggy gave a hesitant, "Hello?"
"Iggy," I rushed through the words, "Listen to me, and listen good. I thought you said she meant something to you. I thought you were worried about her, and that you wanted to be with her forever. You would have jumped off a building without your wings if she had asked you to, and now you're throwing it all away."
"Max, why?"
"No!" I shouted into the receiver. "You slept with her, you moron! And she loves you more than anything in the world! You threw it away for that slut I call my half-sister, but she's nothing to me now that she's done this! Don't you see what you're doing? You're giving up the one person you loved more than life, the one person you wanted to be with forever!"
"I wasn't…I didn't…"
"Yes you were!" I screamed. "We need you, Iggy! Nudge needs you, and you're sitting on your ass doing nothing! Get your butt over here, and save this family, and the one girl that you love! I know you were confused, and lonely, and hurt, but give it one last chance before you lose her forever!" I sobbed. "Please, Iggy. Please!"
There was silence for a moment before his voice came through the phone.
"I'm on my way."
Aw! *cries tears of joy* Let me just say I have no idea where the story's going as I write it. I have no big plan for whatever's coming. I have some idea of the ending, but all in between is thought up on the spot. So, Iggy's coming, and it makes me so happy. ^_^
Anyway, REVIEW! :D
~Rachel