A/N: I believe next in the poll was Gazzy…? So here he is. He was really difficult to write since JP doesn't really give you a lot of information on him, but…..I did my best.

One: The Gasman used to wonder, cramped in his cage at the School, what it was that he had done wrong. Why was he being punished? What had he done wrong? Because he must have done something to be stuck here. Good kids just aren't stuck with wings on their backs and nearly no food. People who are good aren't tortured everyday.
They don't have to watch as their sister is dragged off for another painful experiment, watching you with big eyes, waiting for you to do something.

The worst time was before they were taken to a room with what would be the flock. It was just him and Angel, in a room the size of a closet off of a tiny corridor. A scientist had opened the door, letting in a strip of light that hurt the Gasman's eyes after being in the dark for so long. He covered his face with one hand and turned away from the door.

"Specimen 11," the scientist read to himself off of his clipboard. Gazzy cracked open one eye. That was his sister. What did they want with her? They had never taken her before. She was only a few months old.

Then the scientist's voice changed as he figured something out. "Oh, my god, this is the hybrid that everyone's been talking about in the break room! We haven't even had a chance to test it at all yet. I can't wait to see what qualities they'll find in this first test…" He trailed off, checking the label on Angel's cage. "Yep, this is you."

He knelt to unlock Angel's cage and Gazzy opened both eyes, squinting against the light. The man's back was to him, but he could tell that he was lifting his baby sister out from her cage and placing her in a different carrier. She didn't deserve this. She couldn't even talk yet.

So what had they done to deserve it? And had Gazzy done something to condemn his sister?

Two: Gazzy will probably always feel guilty that he can't shield his sister from everything. She's the only blood relative that he has, and he's lucky to have her. He should be protecting her with his life!

So when she was taken by the Erasers, it felt like his heart had been torn out of his chest, leaving this huge hole that he couldn't fill up. It was practically unbearable. He should have done something, he should have saved her, it was his fault, and all those thoughts kept rushing through his head. It was horrible, having to watch that helicopter carry his only sister away back to a place where she would be torn apart.

It was even worse when Max wouldn't let him come with her. Angel was his sister, not Max's, not anyone else's. If anyone had a right to save her, it was him. But did he get to go? No. He had never been angrier at Max – not when she had taken away TV for a week for something stupid (shredding a pair of jeans – they were just pants!), and not even when she wouldn't let him build bombs with Iggy because she had thought it was way too dangerous for a six year old.

Well, he showed her.

Three: He knows that Max calls him her 'trooper'. Well, what else can he be? There are people older, of course – almost everyone is, except for Angel, so it's not like he has to do anything like lead. He's the youngest guy, though, and Iggy and Fang are as old as Max, so they're ancient. Guys are supposed to be tough. They can't cry. They have to be able to hold up in whatever it is. So he has to, too. He has to prove himself. Just because he's eight doesn't mean that he's weak or that he can't do anything. He can be just as good as any of the other older flock members – maybe even better, someday.

And plus, he has to be strong - if he breaks down, he's not sure that he'll be able to keep going.

Four: Iggy might be his best friend in the whole world, but it's Fang that he looks up to the most. He's never really tried to get closer to him, because he doesn't want to seem too clingy or anything – he's perfectly fine, and he knows that Fang doesn't need anyone to be okay.

That's exactly why he looks up to him. Fang is tough and silent and can take anything that's thrown at him. Gazzy, on the other hand, is strong, but not tough, he thinks that he talks too much, and if he had to do what Fang dealt with all the time, he would probably be dead. He wants to be able to be like that – strong and silent.

Well, maybe not too silent.

Five: Even though he still wonders what he did wrong to deserve being experimented on, he wouldn't be normal if you paid him a million dollars. All the stuff that normal people had to do was just too stupid to worry about. Like school. Who wanted to waste their time five days a week sitting in a classroom listening to grown ups drone on about South America and division? Not him, that was for sure. It wasn't nearly as bad as the School, but still.

And then there was the whole parent issue. He wasn't like the rest of the Flock, who wanted to meet their parents. Ever since Angel had dropped the bomb that their parents had been paid to give up their children, he decided that he didn't need parents, not even adoptive ones. They made you do too much. Like chores. Fighting an Eraser is a chore. Making sure the supports on your house aren't eaten through by termites is a chore. Everything that parents make you do is just annoying. Like cleaning your room. Bo-ring.

No, he's definitely staying different. It's the only thing he knows how to be.

Six: Probably his deepest, darkest secret is something that Angel told him the day after she revealed the truth about their parents, when they were in the park in New York.

She had called him over to sit by her on the tree branch, and said in a whisper, "Gazzy…I have another secret about our parents. But you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially not Max. She's really worried right now, and I don't wanna make it worse." Her voice ended really quietly, and she coughed, the movements shaking her thin body. The Gasman's fists clenched with anger. She still looked horrible from being at the School. The bruises on her cheek and arms hadn't completely healed, and it left her entire left side looking greenish yellow from the healing bruises.

"Gazzy, I'm okay now," she said, reading his mind. "Now can I tell you? Do you promise?"

He nodded solemnly. "I promise, Ange. Not a word."

She nodded, accepting that. "They sold us to the School…to help our brother."

Gazzy couldn't help it. His jaw dropped and his whole body went numb. "Our brother? We have a brother? Well, where is he? Is he still at the School? We have to save him!" He said all of that in a hushed whisper, used to being shocked and having to keep quiet.

"Yeah, he's at the School," said Angel. "But, Gazzy, listen. He's not an experiment. He's human."

Gazzy froze.

"What?"

Angel took a deep shaky breath. "He's a lot older than us. Like, thirty something. But he got a job at Itex around ten years ago, I think. Awhile after he got the job they said that they wanted people to make some new experiments, but they needed donations or something like that." Gazzy still couldn't talk. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"So he volunteered our parents. They didn't have a ton of money, so he said that the School would pay them a lot of money if they gave us up."

"Why?" Gazzy burst out. "That's just crazy!"

"He doesn't even know what they did with us next," Angel said. "That's the worst part. He doesn't even care."

Gazzy felt like he needed to scream. First his parents, and now his brother. What was it about them that made them so easy to forget about?

"It's okay," Angel said. "Don't feel bad."

But that just made him feel worse, because he was supposed to be the older brother, so he should comfort her.

"I'm fine," he said. "Thanks for telling me, Angel."

"Gazzy? Angel?" It was Max. She was peering at them from the next tree over, concern lining her face. "Are you guys okay?"

His throat tightened. No, he thought, I'm not okay. I'm mad and hurt and I want to go home. But we don't have a home right now.

"Yeah, Max," he answered. "We're fine."

Seven: He wishes that he had a better power than the one that he has. The mimicry is cool, and really useful, but the other one is just okay. Seriously – everyone else has really cool powers. Max has super speed, and geez, just look at his sister. And then there's him – the Gasman who produces a cloud of stink.

When he first got that power, he thought it was awesome! But then he had time to think about it. Everyone else could probably use their powers in a fight, except Iggy. What could he do? Maybe blind them in the cloud or temporarily distract them with the stink. But in a bad fight, that probably would hurt him more than help him.

He's only ever told Iggy that he feels – well – a little useless sometimes. He knows that the flock would never, ever trade him for the world, and he loves them all. But sometimes he wonders how he ever helps them. Fang is a great fighter and Max's second in command. Angel reads and controls minds – very handy. Nudge can hack into computers. And Max is well, Max. But what does he do?

Iggy assured him that he knew exactly how he felt.

Eight: Gazzy tries so hard to just deal with everything that he's been given and not complain. Angel's told him that Max is always worried, always stressed. He doesn't want her to feel any worse, so he tries. He's probably the most stoic eight year old in the world.

But sometimes, he slips. He shows that it's not the easiest thing in the world to keep going like this, never knowing when he's going to eat next or when he's going to sleep. And then, he feels guilty. He shouldn't make it harder for Max. He has to keep any bad feeling inside.

He doesn't realize that most of the time, that's exactly what Fang is thinking, too.

Nine: The zoo was amazing, when they got to go. He had never seen any of those animals before, and it was so weird seeing them in real life. He had never imagined that elephants and giraffes were actually so big. He knew they were big, but not that big. He had had a blast, and even managed to forget about the reason they had come to the zoo – to get away from the Erasers chasing them.

But then, after they had left, he really got to think about it. Was it okay to keep the animals in the zoo? The people – and he had, too, he had reminded himself – had just gawked. It was fun, but at the same time, those animals could be him.

He swore never to go to another zoo.

Ten: Besides Max and Fang, he thinks that he had it worse out of everyone when the flock split up. On the one hand, there were Fang and Iggy. Iggy was his best friend in the entire world, and there was no way that he was leaving him. Not ever. And he looked up to Fang like the big brother that he never had. Leaving him would be almost as bad as leaving Angel.

Angel.

She was what made it hard.

I have to go with Max, she had thought to him that night. I have to, Gazzy. She's like my mom. I can't leave her.

What about me? He demanded. Angel, I can't lose you again. But… he cast a painful glance to where Iggy and Fang were standing, waiting for the two of them to choose. I don't want to lose them either. I don't know what to do.

I'll miss you, too, Gazzy, Angel thought, reading his mind to see where his thoughts were leading toward.

He shook his head violently. No. No, I can't leave you. It's not right. You're the only blood relative I've ever had.

Well, it's the same for me! Gazzy, it's okay. Just do it. I know you want to. I'll be with Max. I'm fine.

A small corner of his mind had already recognized defeat. He knew what he had to do. He stepped toward Fang, and he could see the pain in Max's eyes and the briefest flash of relief in Fang's.

Besides, were Angel's last mental words, Who wants to hang around with a bunch of girls?