A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to write, I've busy studying for my driving permit. Anyway this chapter mainly focuses on Dylan and Ella and it helps you understand what happened before everyone was captured and leads you into what's going to happen in later chapters.
Thanks for reading this. Please review, flames welcome. Any and all suggestions are also welcome.
"Adi?" A hand shook my shoulder, but my eyes focused on the men staring back at me. They were well decorated in their military gear. The school said to ignore the group and continue with our work, because they were following protocol on something we weren't allowed to know. Usually I would do as I was instructed (shocking, I know), but they stared at me as if they knew me.
And I feel like I know them too. But one really stood out to me. He had short, military styled brown hair and bright green eyes. He was tall about 6 feet, his whole appearance was similar. And it was nagging me to remember something.
"Adi, what are you staring at?"
"Max, it's so good to see you again." He tore the glove from his hand quickly. I gave him my hand to shake and he kissed it gently. "It's been awhile. How are things?"
"Different, listen this isn't a social call this time. I need you to do me a favor."
"Anytime, you and your girl saved me and my team's ass more times than I can count. Whatcha need?"
"I need you to deliver a letter." I said, holding a white envelope in between us. "It's important. No joke, life or death important. You need to deliver it at an exact time, at an exact place, in an exact time. If not the letter is completely pointless. Understand?"
"Gotcha, letter is muy importante. So when and where?" He asked, tucking the letter into a safe pocket.
"Exactly two months, 9:36PM, at my mom's house, taped to the bottom of the cookie jar in the kitchen. Ignore the dog, but make sure he sees and knows not to open it. You need to out of the house by 9:40, be out of Arizona by morning. Make sure no one sees you." He nodded, writing down everything I said.
"Anything else?" He asked as we stood up to leave.
"Yeah, if you see me again anytime after you deliver the letter, don't come up to me, don't talk to me. Only if I come up to you and say the safe word to you then you can fill me in on everything."
"You know if anyone except you said any of this to me, I'd think they were crazy."
"I need to know I can trust you. If I tell you the safe word, then I need to give you one more thing that's equally important."
There was a moment's silence, and then, "What's the safe word?"
"ADIDDISON!" I blinked and turned to look at Mina's face. "God, are you still hung over?"
"Guess so."
"Yeah same, it would be worse if I didn't douse myself in Aleve this morning. Want some?" I gave her a look that said 'why the hell didn't you say anything earlier?' She threw her hands into her bag and popped two pills in my hand. I swallowed them dry.
"Let's hope it works." I said as we walked away from the court yard and to her car. She nodded, starting the car and heading towards my house.
"Are you sure your parents don't mind me staying with you guys?"
"Mhmm, my dad is still MIA and my mom will probably be getting drunk with her friends or busy working her ass off to even notice your presence." She nodded again and pulled into my driveway. I got out, dragging my bag after me. Mina followed me as I unlocked the door and dropped my bag on the ground.
"Adi? Is that you?" My mom yelled. I gave Mina a look.
"Or not." I mumbled. "Yeah, ma, it's me and Mina." She stepped out of her office and smiled at us.
"Oh, Mina dear, it's great to see you again."
"Back at ya, Mrs. R."
"Adi, honey, did you take your pills?" I nodded. "Good, it would be tragic if you didn't." She fiddled with her hands awkwardly. "So…I, uh, gotta call from work. I won't be home for the next few days. Mina, you're welcome to stay here with Adi if you chose. Okay well my flights leaving soon and Adi remember to take your pills."
I stared at the spot where my mom had been seconds ago. Mina touched my shoulder gently. "Out of curiosity, what happens if you don't take those pills?"
"Well mom says I could die."
"Is it true?"
"I dunno, sometimes I want to test her theory because I always feel like it's the pills that will kill me. I don't like drugs; I didn't take them when I come home with a bloody shoulder from hitting the reefs or when Josh accidently pushed me off that mini cliff when we went hiking."
"So just don't take them." I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Do you want me dead?"
"No! I'm just saying: not taking them for a day won't kill you."
"Eh, later in life we'll test that theory. Until then. I want chocolate ice cream."
"Sweet tooth." She yelled after me. I laughed grabbing the container of ice cream and two spoons before the two of us went up to my room.
Ella POV
"Dyl, please stop singing!" He clamped his lips together and sent me an apologetic look. "Not that you don't have a great voice or anything, it's just that I'm really not in the mood."
"Are you saying you don't like sitting in a cage?"
"I mean, it just puts me thinking. About before all this. Ya know? "
"Not really." I sighed, and leaned back in the large cage.
"Iggy always talked to me about living in the cages when they were kids, no freedom or sunlight or fresh air. Max talked to me about it once just saying how in a cage you feel like there's no hope, Nudge said a few things about it, but mostly avoided the topic. And I always knew that I could never really know how they felt, but now I'm here. I've never felt so close to them—"
"But so far away at the same time." Dylan finished. "Yeah, I wasn't in a cage either. I was made then a few months later I met Max. She's always been the center of my world before I even knew her, but when I met her I never realized how different we really are. She has parents and a sister, but lived in a cage with white coats and nothing to live by and when she escaped she didn't have time to be a kid. She had to be a mom and a friend, and a role model. I was made from a kid, who died, but I had Max as my hope and people to teach me right from wrong and only had to worry about me, myself, and I. Being together was supposed to be easy with the wings and all, but we didn't have history or the same point of view. And then Fang left—"
"And you thought you had a chance." He nodded sadly.
"Yeah, I thought I finally had my chance. But she was so upset about him leaving, that she forgot all about everything else. She wanted to look for him, he was always on her mind, and it was all about him. Then she got over it. Just like that."
"We had an intervention. Nudge, Angel, and I. We told her how she wasn't Max anymore, and how it was affecting everything else. That she needed to snap out of it and get back to teaching you how to fight and caring for the Flock and be Max again. So she went back to being Max, and we promised to never mention his name around her again."
"For the next month, we all acted as if he never existed and things started to fall back to the way things would have been if he was never there and it was just me. Iggy and Gazzy made bombs, Nudge warmed up to me and her and Angel told me all about their life in the 'E' shaped house, Total was still being a love struck puppy, you went in on with school, Dr. M hired us a home school teacher,"
"Oh my god, I remember the look on everyone's face when he showed up. HA! Priceless!"
"And Max focused on teaching me to be me." He looked at me and I smiled, telling him to go on. "She taught me to be me. I didn't have to be in love with her because I was programmed to be, she told me what she thought life was supposed to be like and—well basically she taught me to be my own individual. Then the second month came around,"
"The government came with it." We stopped for a moment remembering the heartbreaking thing that came next. "Nudge and Max went with them." I whispered. "We stayed in touch by a webcam call everyday at 6:45pm right before we started dinner. It was always on time, and at 7 they were gone again."
"I remember them packing, I think that was the hardest. I had really grown to like Nudge, like a little sister. And Max, well it was Max."
"I asked Nudge why she agreed. She said that she thought the real world would do her good. I told her about how she was going into war and living just like she was before. She looked me in the eye and said 'This time I'll have a roof over my head, and food to eat, clothes to change into, a shower to jump into, and a bed to sleep in. I'll have Max with me, but without you guys for a few months I think I may just finally grow up. If I go with them I'll get to be a hero, someone to be looked up at. I just think it's time.' And then we hugged, I watched as Nudge started to sling her duffle over her shoulder as she walked out the door. Max kissed my cheek earlier and was already waiting by the cars for Nudge. And then that was it, when the door slammed shut behind them and drove off."
"They were gone for 3 months, when they came back we threw a party. I remember exactly what they were wearing (Polyvore….com/cgi/set?id=33319653)Jeb was there, and their new military friends. For the next 2 weeks everything was normal. Then Max snuck out for a secret meeting she left with an envelope and a check list. Nudge and Max started to be real secretive, like they were planning something."
"You guys had been staying with Mom and me for a total of 6 months after Fang left, and then you guys were captured. Mom and I were captured a few days later in New Mexico after Max told us to run."
"And here we are. Two years later."
A/N" Okay so here's a brief little thing about what Ella and Dylan just talked about…
Week 1: depressed Max
Month 1: act as if Fang never existed
Month 2: government takes Nudge and Max
Month 4: Max and Nudge return after being gone for roughly 3 months
Month 5: Max has a secret meeting, Nudge and Max are planning something
Month 6: (toward the end of the 6th month) Everyone's captured