It had been two year. The idiot scientists had left us alone, besides performing a few tests. But Nudge and Iggy never went out together alone again. I smiled at Fang. I was happy. I barely remember that lady. I hadn't even seen Brigid. We were happy. They even let us out of our cages to go play outside in a giant caged in thing. Of course, the erasers would hurt us, then laugh. But that was always going to happen. I was five or six now, and Nudge was 3. So I think I'm six. But I'm not sure. Another bird kid had stayed with us a little while, but they didn't feed him anything but birdseed so he died. Nudge says he looked a lot like me. Fang wasn't talking. At all. He hadn't said much for two year now. I could probably count every word he said on all my fingers and toes. It worried me. Actually, he hadn't said anything for a couple months now. I poked him on the back.

"Fang, you've been quiet for two years. What's wrong?" I asked. He just stared at me. I stared back. He sighed, then made a few motions.

"Fang, I don't get it. Say something." I said, determined and scared.

"I love you, Max. But I love my thoughts, too." He said. I sighed. Why was he so quiet?

"Fang, you can lean on me." I said. It reminded me of a song Jeb used to sing to us.

"Lean on me, when your not strong. I'll be your friend, somebody to lean on." I sang quietly.

"Oh, lean on me, when your not strong, I'll be your friend, somebody to lean on. Lean on me." Fang sang quietly. I smiled a weak smile at him. Then, Jeb came in. I think he heard us singing, because he was smiling at me.

"Guess what Max?" He said.

"Something horrible and awful happened. I'll bet your wife died. Or Dr M and Ella are in the hospital." Fang said. I was shocked that he had said so much. Nudge giggled and burst into tears at the same time. Iggy just sat there, looking like he was going into himself. I just got pissed and tried to hold back tears at the memory of Dr M and Ella. If it had been just me and Fang, I might have cried. But it wasn't, so I didn't. Jeb just sighed, then grabbed our cages. I closed my eyes tight, then opened them again, and stared at Fang. He stared back. They dropped me and Fang into a room together. It was set up with doors. It looked like a house. Jeb had told me all about houses. But this house was our size. We were in a bedroom with a bed that would fit me and Fang. There was a door, and I walked through it. Right into a long room with more doors and stairs. I walked into the nearest room, to find a little girl's room. Across from it was a baby's room, then a little boy's room. There was also a bathroom. And clothes. And other things normally in a house. But the only people there was me and Fang. But, the bed in the little girl's room was Nudge sized. We walked down the stairs, to find more rooms. A kitchen, a dining room, etc. etc. I heard a thump, then another thump. It came from upstairs. I ran up, but heard a little girl's scream. It sounded like Nudge. I heard multiple 'Max? Fang?'s from a girl and boy's voice. It was Iggy and Nudge! But I also heard a baby crying. I ran into the baby's door. Huh. It didn't open.

"Fang! It wont open!" I shrieked. I heard the baby cry louder. I banged into the door again. I banged it once more, then the door opened and I fell in. Fang just grinned at me. He had figured it out!

"How'd you do that?!" I asked, wide-eyed. He pointed at the thing attached to the door, then made a turning and pushing motion.

"Oh." I said, then walked up to the baby. I was leaning over the baby's crib, when it farted. Then it giggled. It STANK! I ran out, coughing. Fang ran out and slammed the door shut. Nudge burst through the door, then ran into the baby's room on accident. She ran out screaming "GAS MAN! GAS MAN!"

"That's a good name for it." I said.

"What?" Fang asked.

"Gasman. It's it's name." I replied. Fang made an 'oh' face. I heard Iggy yelling for us, then a crash. I opened Iggy's door, to find him on the floor, with stuff surrounding him. He screamed when I opened the door.

"IGGY! IT'S OK! IT'S ME, MAX!" I said. He stopped screaming.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I don't know. I think it's a house." I said.

"Oh. Let's see if it's got a back yard!" he said. We all ran, trying to find a door.

"I found one! I found one!" Nudge yelled, then ran outside. There was a fence, and grass, and a blue sky! We all started running around. It was huge! There was a tree house, and a play hut. There where two tree houses, one for girls, and one for boys. Me and Nudge ran for the girls one. There were stuffed animals and a tea party thing. We started playing, when Fang and Iggy came in with a gun. Nudge started screaming bloody murder, and I ran out and opened my wings after I jumped off the porch thing. I was about 25 feet up, and I started falling. I started plummeting to the ground, but I heard Fang yell. I started flapping, but I was still falling. Just not as fast and in a more controlled manner. I landed, stumbled, then fell. Iggy and Fang still had those guns. And Nudge was up there. But I didn't have time to find the ladder again. I kept my wings out, running towards the fence. But instead of jumping over a fence, I ran into a wall. I started running in the other direction, the jumped and flapped. I started flying! Higher and higher! I was almost to the tree house, when I heard a bang. I started to fall. But there wasn't any blood. My wing just wasn't working. I was falling. I saw Nudge jump out, then spread her wings and flap. She was fine. She darted towards me, but I yelled at her. Fang darted down and caught me, then Nudge darted down to help. I saw Iggy jump, then fold out his grey wings. He flew down to help, too. Together, we landed on the grass. Iggy and Nudge dropped me, then Fang helped me stand. I then raced up to the boys' tree house, and took all their guns. I went, then locked it in a closet. Then, I went upstairs to check on the baby. His room didn't stink anymore, so I gave him a bath, then fed him. I put him back in his bed, he was tired. I read him a story, Jeb had taught me to read a few months ago. Then, I sang him a lullaby. I sang one I made up. I always sang one to Nudge. It helped her through any nightmares she would have if I didn't sing one. I know, once they took me away for the night, and Iggy said Nudge woke him up crying about a nightmare she'd had because I didn't sing a lullaby. So he had to sing one to her. After Gasman fell asleep, I went into the room they had dumped me and Fang into. There was a closet with FANG painted on it and one with MAX painted on it. I opened the Max one. I found clothes. Lots of clothes. Mostly jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, coats, socks, and sneakers. I put on a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Then, I went back outside. Nudge, Iggy, and Fang just stared at me.

"Whatcha wearin, Max?" Nudge asked.

"Clothes! Real and actual CLOTHES! Like the scientists and erasers wear! You guys have some too!" I said, excited. They ran inside. I ran up to help Nudge with her things. She decided to wear a dress with leggings and a pair of flat shoes that wasn't sneakers. We walked out, to see Fang and Iggy. They where wearing normal people clothes, like me. I grabbed Gasman and we went back outside. I put him in this little chair to roll him around in. After about a half an hour of playing with Gazzy, we got bored, so I rolled him inside. I tried to make a snack. It failed, so I just grabbed some chips and baby food. I found a box with a screen and a little portable box. I picked up the littler box and pressed the on button. The screen on the big box lite up and started talking to me. I screamed. Then, it asked me a question. I answered, but it just kept talking. So, I screamed some more, then ran behind the couch with Gazzy. I ran to grab the baby food, then ran back fast. I fed it to him, then ran to grab my chips. I started eating them, occasionally peering at the box. Eventually, Nudge came inside because her clothes had started to get dirty. She heard the box, then came in and saw, then she started screaming too. She dogged behind the sofa with me and Gazzy. We played with him a while. I shared my chips with her. Then, Iggy came in. He noticed the voice too, then automatically ran, screaming, behind the sofa. I told him to shut up.

"Maybe we can give it the baby! Maybe then it will go away!" Iggy said. I just smacked him upside the head. Then gave him some chips. Then, I noticed the tiny box nearby, on the floor. I quickly crawled out to get it, then pressed the 'off' button. The screen turned black again and there was no more noise. I peered outside and saw Fang building a bird kid army attacking erasers in the sand box. It looked dark outside. I went to the door and yelled to Fang.

"Fangy, it's time for bed! Come inside!"

"I'm comin', Maxie!" He yelled, then grinned at me. He got up, and ran towards me. I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He grinned again. I went upstairs to get clean. In a shower! I took a nice, long, hot one. Then, I got in some pajamas. Then, Nudge took a bath. She played with some plastic dolls she had found in her room. I knew this was an experiment, but I wasn't going to ruin it for the others. After Nudge got out, I took her out in a towel, and let Fang take a shower. Nudge squealed when Fang saw her in the towel. But I led her to her room and got her in her PJs. Fang was outside Iggy's door, in his PJs, waiting. Gazzy was already asleep. I had told Nudge she could put her dolls to bed but she had 15 minutes. I smiled at Fang. Then, I noticed he looked annoyed.

"What's going on, Fangy?" I asked.

"Iggy won't let me in, Maxie." Fang said.

"There's a key in our room, Fangy." I said. He ran to go get the key. Then, he opened the door. Iggy stood there, naked besides a pair of tighty-whiteys. I giggled when I saw him. He blushed. The screamed.

"MAX! TURN AWAY! TURN AWAY! MAX!" He yelled. I turned, giggling, and went into Nudge's room. She turned to me, hiding the undressed dolls.

"Max! Dey need der privacy!" she said.

"Yeah, well, so does Iggy!" I said. She just looked at me, then we started giggling together. Then, I put her to bed. I walked out at the same time as Fang. We walked into our room hand in hand, then fell asleep in each others' arms.

See! Little kid Fax! I know it's weird, but it'll all make sense when they get to the E-house. And, yes, Gazzy WILL have a phobia of TVs for the rest of his life. He can still watch them, it just scares the crap out of him every time one gets turned on.