Whoot, Five already? I'm either finishing 11 or in the middle of it, I can't tell, it's already 4 pages long. XP It's pretty sad, probably not in the way you're thinking. Look up the song: Remembering Sunday by All Time Low. That's a big portion of the chapter right there. That's my only spoiler for you.

Challengers:
Thank you Anony, Myrah, and SilverwingedShadow for your contributions, all those things I find hard to see Fang do... well... except be sappy, I can see him being pretty sappy... So my random/never-expect-Fang-to-do thing is: pull out a guitar and say "Can I help you enjoy that snickers?" And sing the snickers jingle...

You know... that's what I get for sitting so close to someone who sings it during PreCal...

toodles!

Create A Chain

Chapter 5:

The Linking Chain

"I saw that you broke your last one." I told Fang a few hours later when I came to give him food, Fang nodded at the wilting plant. I pulled out another plant from my pocket as soon as I placed the food tray down. "Take care of this one, I asked a favor of you."

Taking the dying plant off the ground I left, knowing well that Fang was petting the leaves like I had done hours before. I tossed the dying one in the trash and washed the dirt off my fingers, no one could know I brought a plant in.

I wonder if I should tell him, that he's only here until the White Coats forget about him, should I? They don't know I'm working with an experiment anymore, they just think that it's something secret Jeb assigned me.

When I entered my room I saw Fang pouring some water from his rubber cup into the plants dirt. I smiled to myself; did he want to be needed that badly? He ate little of his food but at least he ate.

Iggy frowned for what seemed the billionth time in that week. He was in charge just like a few months ago when Fang and Max didn't exist. Fang said he was going to get Max back and Max had left for some unknown reason or another. But that wasn't what he was frowning about.

There had been no Erasers for the past two weeks, which was odd because they saw Erasers every other day. But he decided not to wait for the two anymore, the flock had to move because the busy streets of New York was not welcoming poor teens.

"Iggy," Nudge tapped Iggy's shoulder and he turned at the sound of her voice, "there's a farm down there, you think we can crash there, I see a barn and everything."

A barn and everything? Iggy thought to himself, he vaguely knew what a barn was but 'everything' was too broad. Iggy nodded, signaling Nudge to lead the way. They needed somewhere to crash for the night, that Iggy knew, his wings were tired and he could no longer feel the sun shining on his face.

Iggy suddenly heard sounds of a horse neighing and a cow mooing. If I could faces to these things, Iggy thought sadly as he sensed the ground drawing nearer.

Where were they? Iggy could only think as Nudge creaked open the large barn door, Angel's a mess, Gazzy's being overly strong, and Nudge… Nudge is quiet. She's been afraid because she thinks I'll snap because I can't handle making split second decisions.

"Angel, Nudge," Iggy said, catching the two's attention, "go have a look around to see if there's food around." He heard their hair moving and thought it a nod before he heard retreating footsteps. "Gazzy, help me explore this place, we need to find exits and safe hiding places.

"There's a ladder that goes to a second floor and there are a ton of windows up there from when we were flying outside of it." Gazzy told Iggy, Iggy nodded as Gazzy tapped the wood where the ladder was, he followed the sound before steadily climbing up. Iggy felt around for a wall before propping myself against it. There was hay on the second floor, and there seemed to be a wide-open space in the center from the sound of the flow of wind. It was large enough but would it provide a good hiding place?

There was a whoosh and clatter as a window burst open. Iggy heard Gazzy leap to his feet and slam the window close. "It was unlatched." Gazzy laughed feebly. The wind whistled harshly through the wooden shutters, it was getting windier by the second, the two should come back. A distant roar of thunder caught Iggy's attention.

"Gazzy, make sure all the windows are shut tight and they won't burst open. It's going to be a rough night."

"Hey Iggy! We're back! We couldn't look for food 'cause it was too windy, I could hardly flap back!" Nudge called out. "Where are you?"

"Up here!" Iggy called back. He heard two pairs of feet drop onto to platform. "Angel, can you help Gazzy in checking the windows?"

The wind howled harder.

"Hello?" A female voice echoed through the barn as a hard gust of wind was let in through the large door. "I saw some people come in here. Hello? This is my barn." Everyone froze then Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge looked at Iggy. "I don't mind you staying here, just let me know who you are." Iggy crawled to the edge of the second floor and looked below as if his eyes were following the sound. "Oh, hello." Her voice was cheerful. Soft footsteps and Angel peaked her head over the railing as Gazzy tried to pull her back. "There are more of you." The woman seemed surprised. "So young, if you want, you can stay in my home, I have extra rooms, and surely enough food for everyone."

"We don't know miss, we eat a lot." Nudge's voice carried to the woman below.

"I promise I won't do anything bad, just shelter." A kind smile played on the woman's lips. Iggy sighed, they did need better shelter and food. "My name is Anne."

"Captain Terror." Iggy nodded, climbing down. "If I hear a single thing about you hurting my family or find you the least bit evil, we're gone." The woman seemed to laugh at Iggy's name.

"I can promise you, nothing bad will happen, now lets get out of this drafty barn." The flock climbed down and followed Anne to her large house.

"You'll need a bigger pot soon." I told Fang, I blinked behind my goggles. Fang looked from the plant and to me.

"I know." Fang assured me, his gaze falling on the artwork. He stretched out his wings, something he'd been doing as of late, probably because he hated it pressed tightly, and I knew I would. It had been at least a few weeks since I gave him the now prospering plant. "What does she talk about, the White Coat that brings you here?"

"Samantha?" I asked, Fang nodded. "She talks about you a lot but I guess that's because you're her charge but when she's not she's talking about her baby, a little girl she calls Angel. She tells me sometimes that she misses her family and how much she would like to go back…" I trailed off, tears pricked my eyes. The tug at the pack of my mind was shocked and at the same time attempting to calm me. I willed the tears away, I couldn't do anything that might make me remove my goggles.

"Then tell her to go and find them."

"I did, she said it's not that simple." I looked away, not wanting to continue the conversation. Fang sighed as I dared a glance.

"Any predictions?" Fang asked me, catching me off guard.

"A vague one," I lied, too familiar with them to distress about it, "there were shapes and pictures but it blurred too fast for me to understand."

"Eye recovering?"

"Yeah," I nodded cheerfully, "but it's taking forever to heal. The scientists say it might take another month or two for it to heal completely. These goggles are sooo boring, I bet you that I have those lame line marks right now." Fang seemed to laugh at the thought and I looked over the room and saw a few fallen feathers. "That's freaky, you're molting. You're just kinda leaving it everywhere."

"You just want a feather." Fang held up a ink black feather between his fingertips.

"Yeah, sure, I'll use it as a quill and write love notes when I'm bored out of my mind. Or, even better, I'll dress up as an Indian in scientist clothing and instead of doing the boston tea party I'll let all the experiments free- no, they don't let me out that much…"

"You're weird." Fang shook his head at me.

"Thank you."

"Again, not a compliment."

"Lame!"

This woman, Anne, has taken over the leadership of the flock with a possible intention to. She created false names for us and gave us food, shelter, and clothing. She told us that she works with the – U.S. and she convinced us to go to school. Yeah, I know a little bit, probably enough to be a freshman in high school maybe less but I'm going as a senior. Nudge a sophomore, Gazzy a middle schooler, and Angel still in elementary.

Anne's agreed to take care of us because we have nowhere to go and she's treated us nicely. She's gotten used to the fact that I'm blind and convinced the school that Total was my seeing eye dog, he just likes to come to school because of sloppy joe day.

So I'm in school, like Fang and Max used to be, they got to live most of their lives in this thing and it's only slightly better than the School.

Gas and I have already gotten in trouble with the principal twice, something about no dung bombs on campus and that I should have read the school book because I'm the oldest and it doesn't matter that I'm blind. Sure thing, you know you put the 'pal' back in principal.

"Now I know what she meant by the slow life." I muttered remembering Max mentioning something at the Wendy's a couple of months ago.

"Icarus!" The teacher called my school name. "Have you been paying attention in the least of what I've been saying."

"Yeah, what of it?" The click of her heels told me she was fuming.

"Would you mind telling me what we were discussing?"

"Not a problem." I flashed a smile in the direction of her voice. "You were describing the difference between democracy and a monarchy which you would later dive into the Russian history on the Romanov's being thrown from their throne before a socialist party and then communist party came to power and was until the fall of the Berlin Wall in -I believe- 1985. You were about to discuss what type of government it has now but you called on me." I had just summed up a forty-minute lesson into one very long sentence.

"Yes, right." I could sense the obvious distaste in her voice. I don't really care she doesn't like the blind kid; she'll have to suck it up.

I dragged Fang down the halls of the school, my flats tapping on the tile lightly as Fang's made heavy thumps from his boots. I was running down them, knowing well that all White Coats on duty today were to remain on the first floor with chemicals. All Sundays were like that.

I ran up the steps, still dragging Fang behind me and burst out onto the roof. The sun was on the waning side, preparing for a sunset in an hour or so. "I could fly off." Fang told me.

"Nope, you're molting, some of your feathers aren't back yet." I replied as I leaned against the railing.

"I could throw you off the railing and expose you."

"And then Jeb would cover it up."

"Dear old Dad covering it up?"

"He has to, he made the deal." A bitter smile crept to my lips.

"Deal? What deal?" Fang leaned against the railing.

"If I could tell you, I obviously would." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Why are you acting like Jeb?"

"Like Jeb?" I raised a brow for a moment but I brought it down, remembering my newfound memories. "Great, now you're making me feel nostalgic." I frowned at Fang and he laughed lightly. "What, too big of a word for you?"

"No. You're just Max right now."

"You'd think I'd forget?" I asked, rolling up my right sleeve to reveal the black bracelet and remembering how it created the hand stacking in the flock. "Here I have to be cold, playing face is a hard thing." I told him for the first time in the month or so he's been at the school. "I am still Max, I drive your truck to work everyday, see it there in the parking lot?" I pointed to old truck. Fang saw it and looked at me in mild distaste.

"Obviously I got it repainted and tuned up since then, I might've put in a new engine but who really cares? It's still the truck we went on late night drives in, we sang at the top of our lungs in, the truck we raced Ol' Ernie in." Fang smiled at that.

I moved away from the railing and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as I folded my arms across my stomach. "But," Fang gazed at me, sensing my seriousness, "I have to give you up." My voice almost lost to the wind.

"What?" I shivered from the wind but maybe more of Fang's voice and how confused and lost it sounded.

"I am allowed to live in memories, Fang, Nick, but I am not allowed freedom. In time the School will forget about you and when they do, I have to send you to the flock and then come back. I'll give you your old identity back so you can buy a home and everything, you can get a job and other stuff. I'm trading my freedom from this place that the flock hates so much for yours and I suppose that's all I can really tell you. I've already told you a lot and I basically just spilled everything. I just have to stay here." There was more, Jeb had explained the deal in full detail days after I left and I could only nod to them.

"But you're Max, you're the Sam I grew up with, who couldn't take no for an answer, who fought back at everything, who thought of freedom above anything else."

"And you're Fang," I said coldly, "you're the Nick I grew up with, who was as talkative as me and as of late doesn't talk at all. You always stood by me through everything, you're the best friend that helped me vandalize stop signs when we were thirteen and I got grounded for a month because of it. Told you we should've run faster." I grinned a little. "It doesn't change anything."

"But there's a connection!" Fang snapped in frustration. I felt the tug grow frustrated and angry.

"Connection?"

"When we were five, they put us in a room and this purple light came on, it hurt you Max, don't you remember?" I looked at him blankly.

"If it hurt, I'd imagine I suppressed it." I told Fang quietly. "Even if I was given my memories back, suppressed memories don't come with ease."

"But you have to remember!" Fang grabbed my shoulders firmly causing me to look up at him square in the eye. His eyes were hurt and I heard a small amount of urgency in his voice.

"We share a connection, that tug in the back of your mind, don't you feel it? Right now you're scared, you're sad, and you want to do something badly but I can't tell what it is because you've been trying to close it off. And I know you know what I'm feeling, you don't even have to look at me." I looked away, feeling the tug. It was sad like me, frustrated, urgent, and needing. It wanted something and if Fang was really the tug, he wanted me. I jerked my head back to look at Fang as an image flashed through my mind, we were kissing on the rooftop.

"You were thinking that?" I asked, pulling myself from his hold. I watched him nod slowly.

"If you let me in then we could talk, we could have conversations like you shared with The Voice."

"Would it hurt like The Voice?" I asked, the thought of a brain explosion was something I'd rather not do.

"I don't think so."

"This connection, why did you keep it quiet?" Fang took my hand.

"I couldn't exactly tell you I was physic." I nearly laughed at the thought.

"I would've laughed my butt off if you did. So this connection…"

"It's only between us, Angel can't invade on it."

"Does distance matter?"

"I don't think so, when I was at the School and you went to Disney World for the second time, I still felt your happiness."

"I wish you'd stop doing that." I rubbed my forehead once again.

"What?"

"You keep sending images. You should know better, this is the School, if someone come up here then I'd get in trouble, I'd probably get fired, Jeb surely can't cover that up."

"Then just tell me," Fang began, leading me away from the railing and to the other side of the roof, "did I really just pass the time for you? Were you really that bored with life you had to hang out with me and then pretend to love me?"

"No," I told Fang, "I said that so you wouldn't look for me but that backfired when you were captured. You never just passed the time. You made the time that passed unforgettable." I beamed, suddenly noticing that he brought me to the side the sun was setting.

"Just don't forget, the second we're back inside that school, I'm the cold hearted White Coat again."

"Whatever you say Ms.Crazy." Fang shook his head, a irremovable smile on his face, it was small but I knew it was all he could really keep.

"Thank you." I beamed.

"Wasn't a compliment, Ms. Daisy." He changed my name as he ruffled my hair, I scowled at him, my hair a complete bird's nest.

"Really? That bites."

"I was half expecting you to say lame." I laughed to myself, remembering answering that way two times before.

What? Done already? Sheesh, give me a break. Nah, just kidding. So... how's the weather? (That's actually a serious question people, I'm curious)

Challenge(is bolded): hmm... a toughy... Why is Moby Dick so damn hard to read? ... no no, that's not the challenger... ahem... in your opinion how does Romeo and Juliet relate to the story?... Ooo, we should do extra credit. As in: is this story categorized in: romanticism, realism, trancedentalism, Calvanism, etc. etc. ... nah... too hard.

Preview:

Chapter 6: Birthday Invitation

"Happy Birthday." I set down a cupcake beside the potted plant that had grown over twice its size. Fang nodded as I stood there with a clipboard in hand.

Thanks.I looked at him wide eyes and he smiled calmly. You've finally opened your mind to let me in.

Then, I thought, can you hear me? Fang nodded. Crazy…

September 21st, Fang's birthday and almost four months since the road trip began, seems like we've made a pit stop, I thought to myself. I smiled a little as Fang ate the chocolate cupcake.

"Not my best you know, I can't really cook for the life of me." Fang nodded, hey! You weren't supposed to agree! He shrugged, an amused look in his eyes.

"I woke you up that day I left, didn't you?" I asked quietly, 'causing Fang's eyes to flicker up at me from his seated position. He didn't answer but I knew it was yes. " I remember a tug at the back of my mind trying to comfort me as I left the tunnel and then I remember feeling distressed in my mind and trying feebly to comfort it but that was you, I was trying to reassure you…" Fang's eyes remained trained on me.

Adieu
Nightwing