Fang was staring at me. I could feel it. I glanced over at him, nodded and looked straight ahead again. I knew what he

was wondering. He was wondering if I was ready for this. It had been so long since I really had to take lead, to really

fight hard. Well, he was about to find out very soon. They all were. Max was back in command. We were headed

back to Miami Fls. Yeah I know the new Itex was in Mass. And yeas, Jeb was on his way back to Arizona. But I had

heard, well read on the laptop, tht Itex had rebuilt their lab in Florida. The one in Mass was the headquarters but the

one in Florida was also doing some bio-engineering. And that was something I had to stop.Of course it takes a lot longer

flying somewhere when you have a 6 pound baby to tend to that gets hungry more times than Nudge. But finally we

had made it.Itex was just below us.We circled and watched for an hour then went to find somewhere safe to land.

"Okay, Nudge, you and Angel are going to have to stay here and watch Ridge while we take out Itex. I am sorry but it

isn't safe for him. " I said as I fixed Ridge a bottle.

"We get to babysit? Yesssss!" Angel cried out.

"Cool" Nudge said, taking another bite of ravioli.

"Igs, you and Gazzy are with us. We get in, do a little snooping,FAng and I check out the experiments while you and

Gazzyset the bombs in place.And be sure you set them to go off two hours after we get out, got it? I want to get Nudge,

Angel and Ridge and be well on the way before Jeb knows anything, got it?" I said. The guys nodded.

When everyone knew what they're roll was in the plan, I played with Ridge for a while as the sky began to darken. Fang

came up to me."You ready to do this?" he asked.

"Are you kidding? This is what I was made for. Let's rock." I replied and kissed Ridge on hte head then handed him off to Nudge.

"Time to fly boys" I said and we were off. Itex was only four miles away. We were there in a flash, landing on the

rooftop. "Ok, remember two hours guys.Meet us back here in 20 minutes, And DON"T GET CAUGHT" I said. We high fived

and then I led the way in, followed by Gazzy, Igs then Fang.

i just shook my head as I walked from lab to lab seeing those poor children. Some were dead already, just left in their

cages for hte night crew to dispose of like the trash. Some were about dead. Four were alive, but scared to death. All

curled up in the backs of their cages. They each had lizard eyes, scales for skin, long tails a forked tongue but human

hands, feet, legs. I winced at the sight.Fang looked at me, nodding once. We opened the cages. The kids wouldn't move

at first. I held my hand for the youngest, looked to be maybe five. She slowly took it an dcrawled out. She was bone thin

and looked to be dehydrated too. I let go of her hand. "You are free. Run while you can" I said, not sure she even

understood. But she motioned for the others and then, nodding once at me, she led them out of the lab and down the hall.

"Hope they make it" was all Fang said. We finished looking around, dogding 3 security officers and two whitecoats along

the way and met the fellas on the roof.

"Everything set?" I asked. The guys nodded and we took off. Peice of cake, right?

I had decided that we would stay in the forest that night. It was already dark and when we got back to where Angel

and Nudge were, Nudge was asleep. Angel sat cooing at Ridge. I got Iggy to cook up some rabbits Fang had caught

and was passong out a treat the others didn't know I had. It was late. Itex had blown up. And we were safe, for now at least.

"Honey buns! Awesome" Nudge said.

"Where did you get those?" Iggy asked, taking another bite.

"Itex breakroom" I said with a grin. FAng just looked at me and smirked.

Just then it hit. A brain attack. My hands flew to my head. My eyes squeezed tight. Fang immediately took me into his

arms, rocking with me as the pain became unbearable.

Maximum, Maximum. You have been a busy little girl. A voice popped into my head. Only not The Voice. Jeb.

I must admit, I am rather imressed. Just having a baby and already up flying around, destroying my property.Not nice Max.Not

nice at all. Now you have to pay.

Yeah, I am kinda proud of myself at that. But pay, I don't think so. I thought it was quite appropriate considering you

had me kidnapped, almost killed my baby , was going to have me raped by your dog freak --yeah one blown building

doesn't even cover it Jeb.

Now Max, you know it is nothing personal. I have always loved you. It is just business.

Then you wont take it personally when I came kick your ass. I thought.

Fighting me is futile Max.I've done a lot of thinking. You were right. I should never had tried to abort your child. just think of

what a spectacular specimen it must be having you and Fang for parents.It would be an honor to study it. i mean, the first

true human-avian offspring...

"You'll never get your hands on him Jeb. I will kill you first." I screamed out loud. Theflock all jumped and stared.

We'll see Max. We'll see...Oh by the way, how is your mother doing now? The last part Jeb said with a cynical laughter.

Which meant he had done something. Oh God. Mom.

"He wants Ridge. And he has mom. We have to et back to Arizona pronto." I said and the flock immediately began to re-

pack. Fang looked at me, seeing the terror on my face.

"Hell never get Ridge . We wont let him. You take Ridge, hide out. I will take care of Itex." Fang said

"No. I said we would never split up again. And we aren't. Now pack. We leave in fifteen" I said, cradling my son.