A/N: For the past week or so, ff-dot-net's doc manager has been on the fritz, and now the dividers won't work, but oh well, right? So, know that the "xXx"s are to serve as dividers.
xXx
Chapter XIII: Across the Sky
Fang now realized why people weren't usually made with wings. The airlines would go broke.
Trapped in a small, enclosed space with dozens of strangers for several hours was no one's idea of fun, while soaring through the air, above the clouds and weather, alone with their own thoughts, was many people's idea of heaven.
The entire experience made Fang twice with paranoia. Though he knew Alicia was a very close friend of Dr. Martinez, and that she wouldn't let anything happen to them, every move the other passengers made caused him to jump up, or hide behind his headrest, fearing to see the hard glare of an Eraser looking back at him. The women behind him kept coughing, and the man to her right talked too much for comfort.
Alicia could see how uncomfortable they were, and she tried to put them at ease with an endless supply of free food, but that didn't help much. No one really touched anything. Not even Gazzy, who could usually eat for days. The younger ones slept for most of the flight, and Max kept staring down the aisle in her weird, paranoid way. But Fang, despite himself, really couldn't blame her. Life had not been kind to them, and it was only a natural reaction to be alert to the people around them. Thinking of all the times they'd mistrusted other people, how many times they'd been hurt, Fang too had the urge to turn around and examine the movements of other passengers, but he restrained himself, because there was also the fear that if he did, red eyes would be staring back at him. Iggy, of course, immediately sensed how ill at ease his other half was, and sought to rectify that. He took Fang's hand and tried to make him laugh, though it only produced a few awkward chuckles. But Fang had to admit, he did feel just a little bit better.
Which was why the moment they stepped out of the terminal, Fang fell to his knees and kissed the ground. Max laughed and pulled him to his feet, reminding him that Alicia was waiting. So they got into the proper car, and started off, very slowly, through the D.C. traffic.
The car ride it's self was very uneventful, and only consisted of more sleeping on the Flock's part, and jabbering on her cell phone on Alicia's part. Apparently her sister was having a baby, and her boyfriend was spending their anniversary alone.
By the time they arrived at their hotel, it was almost four, and everyone was in a zombie like, half-sleeping state. Except Alicia, who was either on a caffeine high or had some form of reverse jetlag.
They met Dr. Bellmont's brother, Dan, and he showed them to their rooms. Two adjoining rooms, each with two double beds. It was dark, and they were warned not to make too much noise and disturb the other guests, so they came to the unanimous decision that it might be best to just crawl into bed as is.
Max, Nudge and Angel said their goodnights, or at least Max and Nudge did, Angel had fallen asleep and Max was carrying her to their room. Gazzy was only slightly better than his sister, and subsequently collapsed into the bed nearest to the door as soon as he stepped in the door. Fang dragged himself, and consequently Iggy, who had put a finger through Fang's belt loop in the unfamiliar area, to the bed closer to the window. Fang could barely be bothered to rip off the comforter before they both fell into the bed, and almost immediately, they were both out like a light.
xXx
Most hotels offer wake up calls for their clients, that way they don't miss their appointments and what not. Said calls are usually in the morning.
Dan had arranged for a call around eight, hoping that he might be able to take the opportunity to show the group around D.C., seeing as their fight wouldn't be 'till late. Unfortunately, eight came and pasted, and still no flock. Finally, around ten he knocked rather loudly on the girl's room until a sleepy-eyed Maximum Ride opened the door. She yawned and asked what was wrong, and he carefully explained it was ten and he was wondering if he could possibly show them around. Maximum politely declined, explaining this would be the best time to relax and take some time off. Though she failed to mention what the folders behind her back had to do with it.
So Dan left, called his wife and suggested a romantic dinner together. He didn't think twice, knowing the kids could probably take care of themselves after living alone for so long, and deciding if he came back in the next twelve hours, everything would probably be fine.
And that was fine, because Max had other plans.
Split across the small coffee table were six folders, each bulging with papers of codes and names and addresses and other things that made little sense, but in the last hour she'd managed to find the bits that did. Six addresses, and twelve names.
Angel woke up almost immediately, yawning and shuffling to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Nudge took some more time. Things were thrown, names were yelled, but eventually Max managed to see her to her feet and shove her off to get ready.
While the other two were getting ready, Max took this time to consider what she was going to do about Fang and Iggy. As much as she hated to admit it, Fang was fifteen, and Iggy nearly so. They could make their own decisions, and if she tried to force them to do anything against their will it was likely to backfire. She also knew Fang did not want to see his parents. It was fairly easy to pick up on. His reluctance to join in their fantasies about who their birth parents were, the way he defiantly clung to his old ways, it was pretty much an open secret. He also knew Iggy was fairly indifferent, and that he'd probably chose to spend the time with Fang, so it was no use to try to force anything on them. But things changed, obviously. Maybe Fang's opinion did too.
She knocked on the door between their rooms softly, and after a beat of waiting, she knocked again. She called their names, and Gazzy answered the door. He yawned and asked what was up, she smiled and told him to get ready, and that they were going to meet their parents. Immediately, he perked up and ran to comb his hair. He was still too young to understand disappointment, she supposed, or the overhanging dread of it.
All the time she was looking over their files, Max couldn't help but shudder every so often, she knew that in some cases, they'd been given over to the School willingly, and she also knew in other cases they were taken. But what if their parents had lost interest in finding them? And, more importantly, what if they wanted them back?
She'd found her own address, after much combing. But the set of names were specified as "guardians", not "maternal" or "paternal", like the others were. She wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but her heart was thumping with the possibility she would find out.
She'd already come up with several plans in case they needed to escape, and several more incase they were ambushed. She was paranoid and over prepared, but she felt it was necessary if they were to make it to Georgia the next day.
As she stepped into the room, a smile almost crossed her lips as she saw Fang and Iggy collapsed in one bed, sleeping peacefully at each others' sides. They could both sleep through an earthquake.
"Rise and shine!" she said brightly, throwing open the blinds and allowing the harsh sunlight to pour in. Both moaned distastefully, and Fang flipped her the finger. Which was met with a snicker from Gazzy who was passing through on his way to the girls room. Max rolled her eyes and dropped to her knees by their bed.
"Fang," she said in a half-whisper, "I'm taking Nudge, Angel and Gazzy to meet their parents."
"I don't wanna!" Fang moaned into his pillow, his eyes were still squeezed she against the light, as Max suspected they would remain for a few more hours.
"I didn't say you would want to, or that you'd even go. All I'm saying is that if you change your mind your file and Iggy's are on the coffee table in my room, along with cab fare. Now, I have to go, promise me you won't stay here all day?"
"Yeah, yeah whatever," Fang yawned, he curled onto his side, turning his back to Max. She smiled and left a pre-written note on their table, explaining a few minor details that Fang probably wouldn't be able to digest in his half-asleep state.
And so she left, Nudge, Angel and Gazzy following in her wake. She didn't think twice, Fang and Iggy could take care of themselves, they were big boys after all.
xXx
"So, we have the place to ourselves?" Iggy asked with a yawn. He and Fang had so far managed to lay in bed, yawn and shiver in the two hours since Max had left. Fang had suggested they catch up (in more ways than one), and Iggy had brought up the point of Gazzy. And just now Fang had managed to explain their encounter this morning.
"Yeah," Fang grinned broadly, pulling himself closer to Iggy. He leaned in to kiss him, but then was struck by a thought. An odd anomaly in it's self, but Fang decided to run with it. So he said, very slowly, "...unless you want to find your parents."
Iggy looked very thoughtful, which was not unusual, and then he grimaced, "Well, honestly, love, I kind of do... you know, what to see them."
Fang sighed to himself, this was what he was afraid of. But nevertheless, he knew that if this was something Iggy wanted to do, he was going to help him do it. "Okay then," he croaked softly, "When do you want to go?"
Oddly enough, Iggy seemed surprised, "Fang," he cooed, "You don't have to..."
"But I do!" Fang said shortly, "If you want to do it, Iggy, I'm going to help you do it."
"I love you," Iggy's lips broke into a small as he wrapped his arms around Fang's shoulders, "Thank you."
Fang smiled back and kissed Iggy's cheek, "No problem, but we'd better hurry. They'll be back before we know it."
Both rolled out of bed with surprising agility, brushed their teeth and dressed quickly. Fang looked over a small note Max had left them, they picked up the files and they were off.
Though Fang was careful to make note of the last line of Max's letter:
Remember, feathers are thicker than blood.
From the moment they stepped in the cab, though, Fang knew there would be trouble.
First, there was the traffic jam, which added to their fare, the fact that driver spoke non stop about his heavy metal band, (he even played them their tape, and honestly they could not carry a tune) along with the general state of the cab.
It reeked of cigarettes and cheap booze, it was sticky too. It was all Fang could do to sink down into his seat, his arm around Iggy's waist, and pray for it all to be over very soon.
He half wondered where Max was. He could see the others, Angel, Gazzy and Nudge with her. Finding their homes in posh neighborhoods with perfect parents who both understood their need to be with the Flock, but also wanted to make them feel like a family. They'd offer them cookies and milk, a place to stay, buy them new clothes, and introduce them to their equally kind siblings. They'd ask them if they needed money, and freely hand over a check easily worth a hundred dollars.
Meanwhile, here they were, heading through downtown D.C. They'd be lucky if they even found their parents around here. Actually, Iggy's parents. Fang didn't want to look for his. With any luck, his mother was a crackhead teenager. Just like Jeb had said. But then again, when had Jeb ever told the truth?
"So, uh, you guys from around here?" the driver asked when he'd tired of talking about himself.
"New York," Iggy answered. Which really wasn't that far from a lie. New York felt more like home than Colorado or California ever did. And in an odd way, Fang almost missed it. Because D.C. was definitely not a close second.
"Beautiful country!" the driver said, "I've got relatives from up there too!" From there, he began to explain his very complex, extended family. It was at that point that Fang tuned out, staring despondently out the window and wondering why the hell this was happening to them. It was true, he'd fantasized about moving somewhere warm, but now that it was actually happening he wasn't so sure he actually wanted to do this. All the moving and now there were adults involved... honestly, why were they putting themselves through this? They could go hide out in a hotel for a while, wait for everything to blow over... right? No, they couldn't. Fang knew that. He knew how dangerous it would be for them...
"You sure you want to do this?" Iggy whispered to him.
Fang shrugged, "Yeah."
"I'll understand if you don't."
"Really, Iggy, I want to."
"...If you're sure..."
Fang sighed and put a hand on Iggy's shoulder, "Baby, I'm very sure about this, okay?"
Iggy nodded, and they both went back to their silent thoughts. As downtown D.C. began to pass, the lawns became greener, and the colors more mute. The garages were all built for two cars, and the gardens were manicured with various colored tulips. Minivans sat outside the homes, gleaming in the sun under mobile basketball hoops and canopies of green leaves. It actually looked... nice. Maybe their parents weren't crackheads after all.
As they rolled through suburbia, Fang's heart stopped. There was a boy, about his age, standing in his driveway, bouncing a basketball while laughing with his friend, a boy with blonde hair, slightly taller than the one with the ball. As the cab stopped at a street corner, Fang whipped his head around, seeing both boys go into the house, where it looked like a middle aged woman in a floral dress was waiting.
Is this the life that he and Iggy were suppose to have? Playing basketball outside their mute colored, two story house while their stay-at-home mother waited inside? And if it was... what would become of them? And their relationship? Would they have remained bestfriends? Without the circumstances to bring them together... would they have even become friends?
Fang looked back at Iggy. He would do anything for him, absolutely anything. And he simply couldn't imagine life without him. But if they hadn't both become victims of the School... Fang couldn't even imagine they would have said two words to each other. They were too different to come together inside a highschool environment, and even if they'd lived on the same block it wasn't likely that they'd ever develop any type of... relationship.
Maybe they were, in some sense, lucky. Maybe the School's determination to fuck them up for life had backfired, and really this was the best way for things to turn out.
But Fang's thoughts were interrupted when the driver suddenly said loudly, "789, Magnolia Drive."
It was the address on Iggy's papers. The car came to a sudden halt, and Fang took one second to glance at Iggy and whisper almost inaudibly, "Are you ready?"
Iggy nodded back, and they both stepped out. Fang paid the fare, though he was quite sure he'd overpaid somehow, but no matter. They'd be leaving D.C. soon anyways.
And that's when Fang caught the first glimpse of Iggy's family.
As the cab pulled away, a teenage girl a few years older than them stormed out of the house. She had dark, auburn hair which fell down past her shoulders in waves, with bangs dropped past her eyes, almost completely hiding them as they trashed back and forth. Yet as she flipped her hair back, one's breath was taken away by her deep, shining, crystal blue eyes and long, black eyelashes. Brought out only more by a pale complexion and high, bony cheek bones. But then again, her whole body seemed quite bony. Her long, thin build with that nearly white complexion, she almost looked skeletal. Yet, despite all of that, she was quite pretty, almost model like. No, she was model like. In fact, she could have been on the cover of Vogue, save the fact she was screaming at the top of her lungs.
"YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!" her voice was shrill and angry, hard to believe it was coming out of that pretty little body, "ALL YOU ARE IS MY FUCKING ADOPTIVE STEP FATHER! THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHIT! MY REAL DAD LIVES FIFTEEN MINUTES AWAY, AND HE WOULD NOT STAND FOR THIS!"
The man who followed after her was dressed in a suit and tie, with small, piercing hazel eyes and sandy blonde hair, "YOUR FATHER IS NONE OF MY CONCERN! AS LONG AS YOU ARE LIVING IN MY HOUSE-"
"IT'S NOT YOUR DAMN HOUSE! IT'S MOM'S!"
"I PAY MORTGAGE EVERY MONTH!"
"ONLY AFTER YOU REFINANCED IT TO PAY FOR YOUR BENTLEY!"
"THIS IS NOT ABOUT MY CAR, THE HOUSE OR YOUR MOTHER, JANIE! THIS IS ABOUT YOU AND YOUR HABITS!"
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST SAY IT?" Janie looked close to tears as she threw her hands up in frustration, "Your adoptive daughter is a stoner! Okay? How do the girls at the Country Club like that?"
"Maybe we should go," Iggy whispered softly to Fang. Both sets of eyes, once small and hazel, the other watery and blue, fell onto them with quizzical expressions.
Both looked at a loss for words, and there were many awkward starts and stops before Janie finally managed to get the words out, "Who the hell are you?"
xXx
A/N: Oooh, what? Teen angst! Yup, we're going to be seeing a lot more of Janie now. Only a few chapters left!