"She'll be okay, man." Iggy put a hand on his shoulder.
"I hope she will be." Was the only reply. "Come on guys, lets go downstairs."
They went down and found a big room loaded with beanbag chairs, couches, and chairs. Tubs and chests of toys lined the walls, and a TV was on one side of the room, a row of huge bookshelves was on the other. Kids of various ages, from as old as seventeen to almost four were playing all around the room. There were about forty or so of them, with more boys than girls.
"Oh, my gosh!" Nudge said, "Angel, look at all the stuffed animals!" There was a mountain of them in the corner, about eight feet high. Nudge went to them, burying her face in a soft bear. Fang almost smiled. Nudge would find more comfort in a stuffed animal than anywhere. Looking around, he found a secluded, empty couch and sat on it. Iggy and Gazzy sat on the floor in the middle of a group of boys who appeared to be having some sort of bragging contest.
"I once at fifteen worms in fifteen days!" A boy with sandy hair said.
"Shut up, you read that in a book!" A redhead through a pillow at him, knocking him over, "But I once dug a hole in the sandbox so deep, I saw lava!"
"Oh yeah?" Gazzy said calmly, "I fought mutant guys who turn into wolf-men to save my sister from going back to these scientists who would torture her, made a bomb, and flew all the way to California. Without a plane." He added.
"Nuh-uh, you never!" Said the sandy haired boy as Iggy rolled on the floor laughing.
"You don't believe him? I saw it!" They all looked at his cloudy eyes. Iggy laughed harder. "Okay, so I didn't see it...But I did it with him!"
"Lairs! Nobody can fly!" Another boy said.
"Oh, really?" Iggy said. "Gazzy, let's show 'em. We can do that, right Fang? I mean, the cat's pretty much outta the bag."
"Go ahead." Fang rolled his eyes.
"Yes!" Gazzy said.
"You guys might want to stand back. And duck." Iggy advised. "One...Two...Three, go Gasman!"
The pair of them unfurled their wings. Iggy's brushed the walls, and the Gasman's weren't that far behind.
"Holy crap!"
"No way!"
"Oh...my...gosh!"
Gazzy and Iggy slapped high-fives, tucked in their wings, and sat down.
"Told ya we weren't lying."
"How'd you get wings?"
"Who are the scientists?"
"Tell us about the wolf guys!"
The two started to tell the story of the flock's lives, but Fang stopped paying attention when Angel crawled into his lap.
"Is Max gonna be okay?" She asked, looking at him with wide, trusting eyes.
"Yeah, she'll be fine. She's Max." He put his arms around her small body.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Fang was telling himself that, but even he didn't really believe it.
"I wish I had Celeste..."
"Hey, Sting?"
"Yeah man?" Sting stood up. He and Soda Pop had come to get the flock.
"Could you go back and get Angel's bear? And bring Total back, he should know what's going on. Tell Soda's gran what's up, too."
"Sure thing. You need anything?"
A healthy Max. A freaking normal life. Assurance that Max would live. Yeah, he needed a whole lot of things...
"No, I'm okay."
"Okay, man. Soda, come with me, you can explain this better to your gran than I can."
Fang nodded. Angel was looking up at him from his lap.
"Fang?"
"Hmm?"
"What are you thinking? I've never seen you look like that?"
"Don't you know?"
Angel shook her head.
"No. Max said no reading minds without permission. Besides, you've got a lot of secrets in your mind that I don't need to know."
"Well, there not secrets anymore. Not really." Fang almost smiled. "I'm thinking about how worried we all are about Max, figuring the time we'll get out of here, and wondering when we'll eat."
"Oh...That makes sense."
"Yeah. But you know what?"
"What?" Big blue eyes looked up at him, trusting.
Fang leaned close, as if he was telling a huge secret.
"I think I sound too much like Max. I think I'm turning into a Max clone."
Angel laughed.
"You know what else?"
"What?" Angel giggled.
"There's a little girl over there looking like she wants someone to play with. She keeps looking at you."
Angel looked over her shoulder at the small girl with brown hair was looking shyly at Angel and playing with a little brown stuffed bear. She looked away quickly when she noticed Angel looking.
"I'm gonna go play with her, okay?"
"Go ahead."
Angel beamed at him, and then ran over to the girl with her bear. Fang shook his head. What would the flock do if Max didn't make it?
"Hey." Said the boy, Snape, as he sat next to Fang.
Fang nodded.
"Are you Fang? As in, from the blog?"
"Yeah…" Fang looked at him. Snape was holding a laptop and the page was open to the latest blog entry.
"Wow! I wish I could have helped with Itex, man, that sounded awesome!"
"It wasn't that awesome. It was terrifying. And we lost someone there…"
"What? All the flock is here…"
"I thought you kept up with the blog?"
"I do!"
"Then you saw the entry about Ari." Fang said, looking away.
"Oh, yeah. What happened to him?"
"He expired. His time ran out and he just…died. He was seven. That's what those people do. Nothing about my life is awesome. You're lucky the only way you know what happens to us is through that blog. Lucky that it doesn't happen to you."
"Oh… So, what happened to Max?"
"Long story. Basically, this uber smart Eraser escaped and took me hostage. He said if she beat him, we went free. If she lost, we all died."
"What decided who won?"
"The winner would live…"
"Oh."
Fang nodded again.
"Where's Max? Where is Max!?"
A small bundle of black fur landed smack in the middle of Fang's lap.
"She's upstairs, Total. Calm down."
"But…but…who's gonna tell me to shut my furry trap if I talk to much? Who's gonna make sure I get to sleep? Who's gonna feed me?!"
"Total! I can do all that. Besides, Angel can, too."
"But you guys aren't Max!"
"Calm down, Total."
"But-"
"Total…I said calm down."
"Okay. Where's Angel?"
Fang nodded his head in her direction.
"Angel!" Total ran to her, then licked her ecstatically. Soda followed him and handed Angel her worn, dirty bear. It really needed a wash…
Fang shook his head at the pair and checked on the rest of the flock. Iggy and Gazzy were still laughing with the gang of boys, Nudge had joined Angel and her new friend, and Total was with them. Sighing, he stood up.
Walking upstairs, he was nearly bowled over by a little boy about Angel's age who was sprinting down the stairs. The boy backed up, grinned, muttered "Sorry." and kept running.
Fang reached the top and continued down the hall to the door of the infirmary. He looked at the door, wondered what was going on behind it, and started restlessly pacing up and down the hall. His thoughts raged war in his head.
If Max didn't make it and he…left…the flock, how would they manage? They wouldn't manage much with him, though, if Max didn't make it. He'd be a shadow, more than he was already. He would be almost non-existent. He'd probably just fade away…something he never thought possible. Iggy wouldn't be able to keep the flock going by himself because they all looked to Max to do that.
Up the hall… Down…. And up again. A tireless motion, and Fang didn't know how long he was alone, save for his sprinting thoughts, walking back and forth.
"Fang…. Fang?" Tonks was waving a hand in front of his face.
"Huh?" Wow…that sounded so alert…
"Max is patched up." Tonks grinned. "Man, she took some work."
"Can we see her?"
"Not much to see. She's asleep. But, I think so."
"Well, Tonks, first we need to move her." Mary appeared behind her, retying her bun.
"Okay…" Fang was feeling like someone had taken the chunk of lead out of his stomach.
Max was in different clothes, clean blue jeans and a clean pink shirt. It was odd to see her in clothes that were so clean…Her hair had been washed, and it looked combed. There wasn't a trace of blood on her skin.
'She is going to hate waking up in a pink shirt…' Fang thought as he bent to pick her up.
"Where to?" He asked politely.
"Second door on your right, the room's empty." Lily motioned to it.
Fang nodded his thanks.
"Want me to go get the flock?" Tonks asked.
"Yeah, thanks."
Fang walked down the hall, finding the mentioned room. It was small, but it had a bed. He set Max down on it, found a chair, pulled it next to the bed and sat down. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Max was fine.
"Oh, my gosh, Max!" Nudge and Angel were sprinting down the hall followed by Gazzy and Iggy.
"Shhh. She's still sleeping!" Fang said, smiling. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't you guys need to eat something?" Tonks said.
"Well…yeah."
"Good thing you know me. Lily!"
"Yes?" Lily popped her head around a doorway down the hall.
"Could you get some food for these guys? Sandwiches. And please get as much as you can. They need to eat a lot to keep up their stamina."
"Oh, of course dears. Fang, if you could come with me to help-"
"I'll come Lily." Tonks offered.
"If you're cooking let me come." Iggy said.
A look of shock passed Lily's face but she let him come, all the same. Gasman soon followed.
"Fang, Nudge and I are gonna go help, want to come?" Angel said after about half an hour.
Fang shook his head, glancing at the pair from his chair. He had to wait for Max to wake up...had to. He clasped her hand in his, lacing his fingers through hers.
"Here." Tonks put a plate in his lap that had a sandwich on it. "Eat something. And that's not a suggestion!" She laughed as she left the room.
Fang looked at it, and then ate it in seconds. It would do for now. He never let go of Max's hand. His head sank lower and lower, his eyelids drooped more and more.
She's safe. Fang thought, before the welcoming blackness of sleep closed in.