.: Sorry this took so long to upload - work and health got in the way! Hope you enjoy - it's a little shorter:.
Max refrained from kicking the boy out of frustration. They were only trying to help! Taking a deep breath to calm her shaking hands, she looked at the other. "You're in Washington D.C. and you're here because my brother's here saved your ass." She was being short with him, and she knew that, but he didn't even say thank you! Moving so that the boy could see her, she nodded her head. "I'm Max." After introducing herself, she introduced everyone in the room in turn. After the brief introductions, she finally turned to the boy. "And who are you?" She perked her eyebrow at the boy, before crossing her arms, instantly going on the defensive.
"I'm..uh.." He faltered for a moment, his face scrunching in thought. "My name.. is.. Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki." This was strange - why couldn't he remember his own name? He let off a sigh of frustration, before talking. "I'm sorry... I'm just... really confused." Max's face softened at the words ever so slightly. So the guy wasn't just an ass then, and she felt a pang of guilt for being snappy to him. She supposed she should've been expecting a reaction to the one he just gave - she would be the same. If she woke up in an unfamiliar place, in agony and surrounded by strangers, hell... she'd be worse. She wouldn't have backed down but fought tooth and nail until she was free again. But then, he probably didn't grow up quite the way she did. He probably didn't grow up in a cage, poked and prodded by scientists. From his general demeanour, he grew up relatively normal. A sharp, painful pang of jealousy hit Max - but right now wasn't the time for such petty things as jealousy.
Kneeling down to the orange-haired man, she took in a breath. Maybe now wasn't an ideal time or situation to do introductions, but then... now was as good a time as any. "Let's try this then - I'm Max." She pointed a finger at Fang casually. "And he's Fang. We're here to help you." Her brows softened, as did her voice. Now she felt total sympathy for the boy. "We're sorry that you're in this mess, but we won't get anywhere unless you calm down. Can you do that for me?" Ichigo just stared at her before nodding silently. What a strange bunch of people. His body gave a shot of pain, right up his spine..and went somewhere he couldn't explain. Groaning, his hands instantly moved to see what was on his back, but his hands were constricted. Letting out a huff, he turned to Max once more. "Alright." He steadied himself. "But just...what the hell happened?"
Oh man. This wasn't going to go down smooth, but she took in a lungful of air and explained the best she could. "Iggy and Gasman found you in the School, covered in bandages. They busted you out and brought you here. The good doctor Valeria Martinez here," She pointed to the still scowling doctor. "helped put you back in one piece. Someone had obviously been busy." She shrugged. "That's all we know. But, we'll help you find your answers." It wasn't in really normal for Max to take someone in so freely. No-one got in that she didn't know every dark secret of. Afterall, she couldn't put her family in danger because she felt bad for someone. Standing up tall, she stretched, before yawning. "It's late. Get some rest. We'll get you up and on the move tomorrow, but try and get some good rest, okay?" She smiled, trying to lighten the increasingly heavy atmosphere. Ichigo simply nodded, obviously still in shock. Nodding to herself, she walked back into their 'bedroom', dragging Fang along behind (who was still half-asleep.)
As they finally settled down to rest again, Fang finally spoke up. "I don't know if we can trust him." Max sighed. "I don't know either. I don't think he's an Eraser... But, I saw some feathers though. You don't think...?" She left her sentence hanging, with Fang quickly cutting in with, "No. It can't be. He'd need to be totally reconfigured, and his genes re-defined..." The possibilities buzzed through their heads until they finally passed out once again.
Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.