A/N: Okay, if I get any reviews whatsoever for this chapter I will be more than pleased. I can't believe I went this long without uploading. Good news though is that I ended-up passing the dreaded English class, took the SAT, and managed to maintain a GPA that is eligible for Academic Excellence. Plus I passed Japanese 1 with an A+! Yay!

Disclaimer: I'm Not James Patterson.

Chapter Seven: Well, Coulda Saw THAT Coming…

Max POV

I waited anxiously as Nudge made a show of cracking her knuckles and settling down at the laptop in my bedroom and logging onto the internet. She zoomed to the top of the page and clicked on the bookmarked "Fang's Blog", then following a series of buttons she was somehow able to get to webmaster settings and onto a password sensitive blockade that needed about six different codes.

"Okay, so we got this far, now what? I mean, can we track him to find out where the last upload was made?" I asked.

Nudge gave me a look like I was totally oblivious. "I can make the computer do anything I want it to, Max. If I wanted it to wake me up with a personal greeting and read me my e-mail every morning then I could. Just relax and leave the rest of this to me." She finished her speech quicker than the usual Nudge drawl, but as long as what she was saying was true, then she could just take her time.

"And I hope you still remember my part of this bargain?" she added sweetly.

I rolled my eyes. How could I forget?

"Of course, Nudge. We'll go wherever you want…I promise."

"Aiee!" she squealed.

"Just get a move-on before we're bombarded with the rest of the Flock hanging over our shoulders!" I hissed.

"Okay, okay, okay. Shmeesh."

I backed up to sit on my bed while Nudge propped the laptop on her knees at the end of the bed. Her lips tightened into a snarl as she furiously punched the keys and number pad, her fingers seemingly not even connecting with the keys they moved so fast.

"Crap."

It had been about a minute, which was somewhat lengthy considering how great she had became at hacking.

"Something wrong?"

"He changed the final password from a different location, so I'm going to have to try harder to get into the last blockade. I've got past the first five, but I think he was prepared for me to do this, so he's swapped codes…"

Her brow was crunched in frustration.

"Knowing Fang it'll be something totally random that has nothing to do with anything." I say.

"He still has files on here?"

"What're you doing snooping around my computer!"

"Technically it's Fang's and you're the one telling me to hack into the website, so I'd say you're doing a fair amount of snooping yourself, Max."

"Don't get snippy little Miss."

"DDFFMMU."

"What?"

"Damn."

"What're you doing?"

"Alphabetizing his last documents on the computer to see if that is the code…maybe if I remove CAPS… Bingo."

"You're in?"

"Of course, why else would I say 'Bingo'? I mean unless I was at a retirement home and I won Bingo which would be so cool except for the fact that the only thing they can win are like, prunes and things."

"Okay, when or where did he last update?"

"Oh yeah, um…let's see…tracking…check...aha, California."

"Psh, figures. Hot babes on a beach."

"It was from an internet café around San Diego, a little on the outskirts, but same difference."

I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and began to pull on my combat boots.

"Max, what are you doing?"
I looked up to see Angel standing in the doorway.

"Uh, going for a spin." If he's that close I'll be able to fly there, find his sorry ass, and drag him back home before nightfall.

"He said not to follow or try to find him though, Max."

"When?"

"In his blog."

"Have ALL of you been reading this!"

"Pretty much, I read it to Ig, but other than that…"

"Oh, jeezum."

"You can't go, Max. If you don't do what he says he may never come back."

"If he doesn't just because—shocker!—Maximum Ride didn't follow orders, then he's done gone and knocked his head!"

Angel shrugged and walked away as Nudge hesitantly set the laptop down on the bed again.

"Will we still go shopping?"

"Yeah, soon, I promise."

"Oka-ay."

I pulled my hair into a tight ponytail and shook-out my wings, climbed onto the window ledge, and leaped out into the afternoon air.

Fang POV

I returned from the grocery store and internet café around 2 in the afternoon and put all my food in the mini fridge, then flopped onto the bed and turned on the television.

"Three more children have gone missing without a trace, police and families in the area are stunned that someone would take their children."

"Wonderful, more test subjects."

I turned off the news, it was never anything but bad news anyways.

Well, it's official. I am bored out of my mind and it's still the middle of the day. This can't be a good sign.

I left my room through the door and slipped my key into my pocket, walking off to somewhere I still hadn't decided where.

I'd already hit the internet and quite frankly was done with listening to fanmail and staring at a small, janky screen for hours on end.

I reached up and twisted the empty end of my necklace. I'd never owned a piece of jewelry in my life, and the one time I do, it connects me to Max. It's not as though I can just go off and replace the jaw, it just wouldn't be the same.

I shouldn't have told her twenty years. Maybe weeks, or months….but why did I have to write years?

My feet led me to the small local park, where I decided to sit and at least enjoy being outside than trapped in that hotel room.

I just wish she was here.

A/N: End Chapter Seven.

Thanks for reading, take care and stay tuned!

~hawkstar2