Sorry for the lateness. Or maybe you don't think it's late o.O

Once again, please let people know about this story, I would really appreciate it if you spread the word. I think I was a bit redundant in this chapter, but it turned out alright. I redid about 1/4 of it becaus I wasn't happy with it but whatever. Here it is now.

I know alot of people hate it when new characters come into the story and alot of people like reading about sick things -you should be ashamed... - shot but anyways, this fanfic, I've worked very hard on it and its those people who are close-minded that I dont give a crap about and I don't want them to read my story if they're just going to bash about it or bash to other peole about it so that they don't read it either. So yah. Leave me be. It's just as fanfic for pete's sake.

Thank you and happy reading

Chapter 4

It felt like forever before I came to. Somebody had put a jacket over me and I pushed it off, exhausted. I could barely lift my hands to rub my temples as I began to straighten up.

"She's awake!" I heard Angel say.

My eyes started to open and I squinted against the bright ray of sunlight that hit me through the willow's maze of branches and leaves. As everyone gathered around me, I suddenly remembered the last thing that happened before I passed out.

Aero.

For a second, my heart sped up and my eyes frantically searched. Then, I saw her. She was standing at the tree's hanging branches, her back to us. I wasn't sure how to talk to her, but we had to do some questioning, get some answers.

"Don't worry," Fang said. "We handled it. She seems safe enough, but you're the leader. What do you say?"

I trusted the flock's judgement. And I knew Fang wouldn't easily trust anyone without getting some straight answers. My head still throbbed a bit from the explosion inside, but I was fine now. I carefully got up and made my way toward Aero. No images or headaches this time. I figured it was safe.

Aero turned her head to me slightly, then resumed her original position.

"Rain," she said simply.

I hadn't noticed, but it had suddenly begun raining. Hard. So we were stuck under this willow tree for now.

"Don't change the subject," I said to Aero. "I have questions, and you are going to give me the answers. Is that clear?" I made sure my voice was firm and unwavering. I meant business.

"Crystal," she replied as she turned to face me.

I couldn't tell the expression on her face. It didn't seem annoyed or angry or sad. But I was a bit annoyed by her one word responses.

As we all got used to the rain, I stirred up the conversation. And Aero patiently told me everything I asked. It turned out, she was a lot like us. She had no idea where she had come from or who her parents were. I inquired about her relationship with Ari or any of the whitecoats from the School and found out Ari had fought with her on many occasions and Jeb involved her in a lot of experiments, but was strangely kind to her. At this, I tightened up. Just hearing Jeb's name was enough for me to blow a vessel.

Aero said a lot of things were fuzzy to her since a lot of times they injected morphine into her or made her take new, untested drugs to go to sleep. I guessed her avian genes were the only thing helping her survive. A normal human couldn't take all that torture.

"Wait a sec," Iggy interrupted. "What happened to all those mutants you took with you after we escaped the Institute?"

"Well, I took care of them for a while and made sure they'd be ok on their own since, let's face it, I won't be there all the time to take care of them," Aero said. "And the other winged girl you set free in New York, Owl, agreed to look after them when I'm gone."

"Owl?" Gazzy asked curiously.

Aero laughed. "She's only ten, but she could devise a plan good enough to steal the Constitution without leaving a trace of evidence. Must make the Police feel stupid that they can't even catch a ten-year-old girl."

I couldn't help but to smile. It was weird. We had only been talking for about half an hour, not even about normal things you would usually talk about, and yet I felt like we'd been friends with this girl as long as the flock has known each other. I felt like it was the right moment, so I decided to make a crucial arrangement.

"Uh, Fang," I said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Fang's eyes glanced over at me and he reluctantly got up as I tapped the back of Iggy's hand, letting him know to do what he needed if Aero did anything funny.

As soon as I was sure the rest of the kids couldn't hear us, I told Fang, "I think we should let Aero into the flock."

Fang looked at me, a bit of surprise rose in his usually stone calm face.

"Why?" he questioned.

Honestly, I didn't know. It just kinda came to me and it felt right. Aero seemed like she would be a great addition to our group. And she probably had more information about the School that we don't know. It seemed like she could be trusted and she didn't seem to have anywhere else to go.

"It's my gut feeling," I said. "I've given it a lot of thought, I really have. And you know I wouldn't have made this decision without confirming it with you if I wasn't serious."

Fang's eyebrows furrowed and he closed his eyes as if in deep meditation. At last, he sighed and said, "You're the leader."

I smiled. And once again I don't know why. I felt like a teenage girl who finally got her dad to agree to let her get her ears pierced. A weird scenario to think about.

We made our way back to the group and I was acting a bit too happy, it even scared me a bit. Stay in character Maximum, I said to myself.

"Aero, do you have anywhere to go?" I asked as soon as everyone noticed we were back.

Aero replied with a bit of hesitation, "No, not really."

I nodded. This was the right thing to do, I assured myself. I loosened up and looked her right in the eye. "How would you like it, if we asked you to join our flock?"

Everyone was taken aback by my proposal, especially Aero. I knew she probably couldn't make it on her own even if she was strong for her age. And for some reason, I felt a strange sympathy for her. I knew how she felt, lost and alone with no past to go back to. We were all in this together.

"That's," Aero finally said, still a bit of shock in her voice. "That would be great, but . . . "

Uh oh. There was the dreaded "but". There was no word I hated more than the word "but". I had a feeling that all my good judgement was about to go down the drain.

"Actually," Aero continued. "The reason why I left the other mutants in the first place was to look for your flock."

"Wha — ," I tried to say, but nothing would come out. Maybe she really was looking for the school. Maybe they trained her tohunt us down. Maybe they taught her everything they know about us so that she can psych us out or fool us with kind words. It all made sense.

Suddenly, a strange feeling surged through my body. I couldn't decipher what this emotion was, but it made my mind rush and my arms tense.

"Wait!" cried Aero. "Before you jump to any conclusions, hear me out. I came looking for you guys because I need your help."

I wonder if that was a good enough cliffhanger... hmm... Read & Review!

-E-Kuririn