A/N: Hey everyone!

No, I wasn't dead! I fell a little behind, but now more chapters and on the way! *Not really, but bear with me here.*

I finished Emma, so now writing is my top priority. Gotta keep grinding out those fics!

Okay, I'll stop ranting.

Enjoy!

"And be sure you don't get out of bed, okay honey? I know you don't like casts, but it's for the best."

"Sure, Mom."

"See you this afternoon, I have a pregnant Bernese about to deliver, but other than that I think my afternoon is clear."

"Whoa, TMI. See you then."

"Bye, Max."

I gave the phone to Fang. "Great. I have to stay on my bed all day," I sighed. Fang (surprise) said nothing, and put the phone down on the night table where I could reach it. I stirred my leg with its heavy cast.

"I hate this damn heavy cast," I muttered.

"Don't tell Iggy that, he was so proud he got to set it," Fang said.

I sighed falling back into my pillow heavily. I opened an eye and saw Angel peeking out from the doorway. She hopped into my room and climbed onto the bed.

"I'm gonna tell you a story so you don't get bored!" she chirped. I blocked my mind and smiled, so she wouldn't see how much I really didn't want to hear her story. She put a thick storybook onto her lap. She opened the first page, and Fang edged out silently. I envied his ability to escape.

"Long ago, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a girl named Cinderella. Cinderella was kind, smart, and beautiful," Angel began.

FANG

I edged away quietly, leaving behind the adorable scene of Max who was trying hard not to scream in pain as Angel sat on her injured leg, and Angel happily oblivious, telling her a fairytale she sure as hell didn't want to hear.

I had to find my clothes. I was wearing some old ratty makeshift pajamas, and I needed to get dressed, pronto. It just wasn't fair. Nudge loses a mascara wand out of the fifty she owns, and she throws a tantrum and sends the flock to an emergency archeology expedition. Fang loses all his clothes? Meh, Max's injury is more important.

Actually, maybe my one true love's broken leg does count for something. I ran downstairs, looking for the stray flock member to interrogate. I saw a fascinating display: the wild Nudge in its natural habitat, checking something on her phone.

"Where. Are. My. Clothes," I said, murdering grammar, but who really cares? Nudge's eyes widened.

"ZOMG, Fang, you scared me," she answered, not tearing her eyes from the tiny screen.

"What have you done with them?" I demanded.

"They're back in your room," she sighed.

"No voodoo rituals?" I said. Nudge gave me a weird look.

"No voodoo rituals." With a last warning glance, I ran back upstairs. I walked a little more calmly into my room, opening the door like a sane person. Then I threw myself onto the closet door and opened it.

Was it magically full of my awesome, black clothes? No, that would have been too simple. There was a note in lined paper again. I picked it up and unfolded it, tired of this crappy game.

It's not that easy, the note read. You have to win the game to get your clothes. I almost threw a temper tantrum like a toddler, but I'm Fang, and I'm dark and silent and powerful, yada yada.

Where did the game even leave off? It told me that the clothes were in Max's room. I prepared myself for whatever Max's temper would throw my way, and headed to her room.

MAX

"And so Cinderella married the prince, and they lived happily ever after. The end," Angel finished. It took all my willpower not to scream Thank God!

The doorknob turned and Fang appeared at the doorway. I almost sighed in relief and unblocked my mind. Angel smiled at me and I smiled back. She jumped off the bed, satisfied, and left Fang and I alone.

He opened my closet. "OH MY GOD!" he almost screamed.

"We have another Nudge," I muttered. He ignored me and started pulling out black clothes.

"These are mine!" he told me. "Why didn't you tell me they were here?"

"I had no idea," I said.

"Was it Nudge? Or maybe Gazzy?" Fang thought aloud, stacking on his arm black pants, sweatshirts, t-shirts, jackets, socks, and whatnot.

"Can you throw me a hoodie?" I asked him. Not looking up, he hurled something at me. The hoodie landed on my bed, and I pulled it on. Behind his stack of clothes, Fang turned and looked at me.

"Now we can both be emo together," I joked, pointing at my black hoodie. He rolled his eyes and started towards the door. "Can you get Iggy?" I called out as an afterthought.

"Sure," he yelled back. Sure enough, five minutes later a certain tall, blind mutant was in my room.

"You called for room service?" he asked politely.

"Yeah. Bring me whatever food you've got," I said with feeling.

"That'll be three dollars," he said seriously.

"Really?"

"Really." Grumbling, I fished a few bills from my pocket and handed them to Iggy. He grinned widely. "What would you like?"

! #$%^&*

Iggy heard the squeak of sneakers and recognized the regular breathing of the Gasman. "Gasser?" he half-whispered.

"What?" he asked, walking over to Iggy.

"I just finished bringing Max her bagels, and now I'm bored."

"Bored? Like, prank bored?" Gazzy asked, his eyes glinting. Iggy nodded, an evil smile taking over his features.

! #$%^&*

"Oh. My. God. The boys are so dead," Nudge said to herself. They'd crossed out the eyes on all her One Direction posters and had used paint to paint on clown faces and rainbow hair. Smoke was practically coming out of her ears.

She ran downstairs, and they were sitting down on the couch, innocently watching or listening to TV. "GASMAN! IGGY!" she shouted.

They looked convincingly startled. "What?" Iggy asked, standing up.

"MY POSTERS!" she shrieked.

"What about them?" Gazzy asked, standing up too, behind Iggy. Nudge clenched her fists.

Iggy stuck out his tongue, and she shoved him so hard he smashed into the wall. "Ouch," Iggy muttered, not getting up. Before Nudge could either apologize or hit him now that he was down, Gazzy plowed into her.

She fell onto a small table and broke it, falling into the pieces of wood. Gazzy had fallen on her, and they were both too hurt to get up yet.

"Gazzy and Nudge, huh?" Ella asked.

"What?" the Gasman asked, not getting what Ella was implying. Nudge was blushing furiously.

"When did you get here?" Nudge asked, still underneath the injured Gasser.

"I don't have school," Ella said with a wide yawn.

"El! A little help over here?" Iggy called.

"Iggy?" she was suddenly concerned.

"Oh, so now you care about our injuries," Nudge muttered, pushing Gazzy off of her. She got up slowly and painfully. Ella came over to her.

"What hurts?" Ella asked.

"My arm," Nudge said, frowning. Ella felt it carefully.

"I think it's broken," Ella said.

"My ankle hurts too!" the Gasman wailed.

"It might also be broken," Ella said. "Iggy broke a rib. You push hard, Nudge." Nudge responded with a weak smile.

A crash echoed around the house. Ella rushed over, the bird kids with broken bones, not so much. Fang was lying at the bottom of the stairs brokenly.

"I think I broke a leg," he said, wincing.

! #$%^&*

"Okay Mom, I know this is going to sound crazy," Ella started.

"Life with the flock is by definition crazy. Fire away," Dr. Martinez answered.

"Everyone has broken bones," Ella said in one breath.

"What?"

"Not me, though. Fang broke his leg, Gazzy his ankle, Nudge her arm, Iggy a rib, and Angel tripped and fell when she heard all the pain in everyone's thoughts. I think she only sprained a ligament."

"Wow," Dr. Martinez breathed.

"Yeah, wow."

"Well, hold down the fort for me. I think I'll be back around four, the puppies were born, five of them, all healthy."

"That's great!" Ella exclaimed.

"I have to go. Good luck, sweetie!"

Ella put down the phone and sighed. This would be one long day.

! #$%^&*

"Ella! Can you read me a story?"

"Ella! I'm hungry!"

"Hey, El? You can come over if you want to, you know, hang out?"

"ELLA! Oh, hi. Can you paint my nails? I have this cool new nail polish I just bought the other day, and it has sparkles, and it's magnetic. Do you think it would be ugly if I had a French manicure, with, like, purple tips? 'Cause, you know, I love that color…"

"Oh, Ella! Go tell your boyfriend to pass me the Inferno XYZ. He'll know what I mean."

"Did you get any news from Mom?"

"EL-LA! Celeste fell and I can't reach!"

"Do you have any juice boxes?"

"ELLA! Oh, wait, I forgot what I was going to say."

"I'm bored! Ella!"

"Hey, you can hang out over here! Ella?"

"I remembered! No, sorry, not anymore."

"Ella?"

"Ella!"

"ELLA!"

"STOP!" Ella shrieked. The various complaints from different rooms suddenly stopped. "I'm going to spend my day in Iggy's room. Everyone else… just suck it up, okay?"

There was dead silence for a moment. Then someone said, "Yeah, yeah, go to your boyfriend."

Ella took a deep breath and walked calmly into Iggy's room, then slammed the door.

"Someone has a temper," Gazzy said.

"Tell me about it," Nudge answered.

"Fang? Are you still in your room?" Max called out.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Come to my room," she told him.

"Don't tell your mom," he said, and hopped out of his bed. He hobbled along in his cast and pushed the door open to his room. He was surprised to see Max wearing black, then he remembered she was wearing his clothes.

Max moved over to one side and Fang crawled in the other. "So," Max started. She looked over to Fang. He was doing his weird half-smile. "What?"

"Nothing."

Max leaned back into her pillow, sinking in. "I'm actually tired," she muttered.

"Me too," Fang lied just to get an excuse to hold her. She snuggled into him and Fang held on to the soft fabric of his own hoodie. Though he was nowhere near tired, Fang closed his eyes as he felt her drift off to sleep.

! #$%^&*

DR. MARTINEZ

"I'm home!" I called out. Angel walked down the stairs, her white wings spread out behind her.

"Hi, Dr. Martinez," she said sweetly. I smiled at her.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Max and Fang are sucking face," she said casually. "And so are Iggy and Ella."

My daughters were not exactly being a great example for the poor little six-year-old. I had to have a talk with them.

"I'm not poor, or little. I've seen a lot," Angel said so gravely I almost laughed. She hesitated, and looked at me wistfully. "Will you read me a story?"

"Of course," I said. She smiled brightly and ran upstairs. I hadn't read a story aloud since Ella was little. I had to see how good I was.

Angel ran down, trailing a heavy book. I sat down on a couch, and she settled on my lap. She opened the book to the story she wanted, Snow White. I cleared my throat and began to read.

"Long, long ago, in the winter-time, when the snowflakes were falling like little white feathers from the sky, a beautiful Queen sat beside her window, which was framed in black ebony, and stitched."

A/N: Review.

I'm out!

~greysky3