"This is Fang, Fang this is Dr. Martinez" I officially introduced them. She smiled at him and he blushed remembering the run-in from a few moments ago. Well, it was actually more of a fall-in, but who's countin'?

"It's nice to see you on your feet," she said jokingly. He turned even redder and stared at his feet. I got right down to business.

"Dr. Martinez, I can't thank you enough for taking in my flock. I know I only knew you for a few days, but there was no one else I could trust, and I had to know they'd be safe. I'm really sorry for dumping them on you and imposing on you guys, and we'll definitely leave as soon as possible, I can even round up the flock now and-"

"Max Dear, calm down!" snapped Dr. Martinez cutting off my Nudge-worthy ramble. "It's okay dear, honestly. You will always be welcome at our house, and you're flock too. Ella loves the company and we're both still grateful for the way you helped her out last time." Dr. Martinez tried calming me down.

"But-"

"No. You are not imposing," she added, knowing what I was about to say, "In fact I'm holding you hostage and until I feel you guys are ready to leave, if you ever choose to." What? Did she really just offer what I think she did? "The two of you look famished and exhausted." She said glancing between Fang and I. "Now, let me make some dinner, so we all can eat…your stomachs sound like they're ready to murder the next passerby, gees." She waved her hand in dismissal, and that was the end of that conversation. She is by far the greatest woman I have ever met.

"Wow." Said Fang as we turned the corner into the living room where the flock had been lounging, waiting for us to wake up I suppose.

"Told ya she's awesome," I said with a laugh. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the side of his mouth turn up slightly, but it just as quickly became extremely tense. I looked up to see the flock staring at us; they were watching some movie on T.V.

"Max?" I looked over to Angel who was sitting on the floor leaning against the couch under Iggy who was sitting on it. I just glared at her.

"I'm really sorry Max, I didn't realize…I thought it was something we should know." she said beginning to sob.

"Angel you have to stop poking around in peoples heads. Do you honestly think I would withhold vital information?" I asked her.

"No, but I-"

"No Angel, there are things people would rather keep to themselves, and you can't go digging in their minds and force them to tell; it's just wrong Angel. I need you to promise me that you'll stay at of our heads." She had to understand, this was important, and I wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"I'm really sorry Max, but I'll try. It's just hard sometimes; I can't always control it…" she said sobbing again.

"I know sweetie, but next time just keep it to yourself." I said managing a small smile.

"Okay Max, I promise."

"Good, now what're you guys watching?" I asked trying to lighten the mood.

"MTV" answered the talking dog. Great, I thought sarcastically rolling my eyes. Fang sat down in a big arm chair and without even thinking about it, I sat on the floor in front of him leaning against his legs.

Gazzy tilted his head looking at us skeptically. "That's what Angel was talking about before in the kitchen!" he finally spoke out causing all heads to turn in our direction.

Finally realizing what he was thinking I jumped up from Fangs legs with a soft "Oh!" and a blush. Fang jumped out of the chair as well running his hand through the back of his hair looking down at his feet.

"You guys are together!" yelled Nudge, "I knew it, God it was so obvious I can't believe I'm just realizing this now. I mean the way the two of you were acting at the table, and-"

"Nudge!" Gazzy yelled cutting her off.

"Sorry."

"So…?" said Iggy turning towards the two of us awkwardly fidgeting.

"Umm…yes?" I offered.

"Hah!" yelled Gazzy suddenly, "Oh, Igmeister," he said in a sing-song voice, "tomorrow should be interesting." What?

Iggy turned a shade of red and said, "No way! I wasn't serious when I said that!"

"Doesn't matter, a bet's a bet, and you lost…I already bought the outfit." Said Gazzy with the biggest of smiles on his face.

"You can't make me…you wouldn't" said Iggy terrified.

"What are you guys talking about?" I finally asked.

"Me and Iggy made a bet about you two being together a while ago. Seeing as you guys are now together…Iggy lost. We'll finish this tomorrow." He added at the end seeing Iggy about to protest.

"Fine, but it's not over."

"Fine." Well that was weird.

"Dinner!" came the melodic voice of Dr. Martinez from the kitchen. Oh, thank god. I was about to pass out form the suffocating awkwardness of the situation.

We all filed into the kitchen absorbing the extremely aromatic scent coming from the oven, mmm.

"Max!" said Ella running around the corner.

"Ella!" I yelled grasping her into a tight bear hug, "How are you?"

"I'm great Max! What about you?" she said squeezing me tighter.

"A lot better since I got here" I said smiling.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here now, we were all so worried."

"Me too," I said pulling apart. She glanced at Fang her eyes widening and a small blush came to her face.

"Oh, Ella this is Fang, Fang this is Ella." I introduced them.

"Hey Ella" said Fang managing the smallest of smiles.

"Hi" she said in a little squeaky pitch, her voice cracking slightly. She blushed again and finally looked away saying, "I'm going to go help my mom." That's odd, she's normally so outgoing. Angel stepped up behind me and tugged on my shirt sleeve.

"She thinks Fang's cute…I honestly couldn't help but overhear." She whispered in my ear, giggling.

"Oh…" that explains it.

"Apparently, she thinks you're a cutie." I whispered in Fang's ear poking him in the side.

He blushed elbowing me back and whispered, "Sucks for her, because I'm all booked up," in my ear. I smiled and was about to reply when Nudge cut in.

"Ew, Oh My God! Could you guys like not flirt while we eat please…it's creeping me out. I think I have to get used to this." Both Fang and I blushed taking a seat around the table. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a knowing glance from Dr. Martinez. She broke the tension and came over with three giant homemade pizzas. She walked back over to the oven and came back with three more. She left one more time returning with another three.

"Wow, this looks amazing, Dr. Martinez!" said Nudge.

"Thank you so much," I added.

"Not a problem at all, I love cooking." She smiled, and with that we all dug in.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Wow, that was awesome," said Gazzy simultaneously letting out one of his more prominent belches.

"Gazzy!" we all chorused, but laughing none the less.

"I'm tired," said Angel, rubbing her eyes.

"Me too," Total chimed in.

"Alright bedtime guys, we'll talk in the morning." I ordered. They nodded their heads without the slightest of protests and grabbed their plates to dump in the sink. Fang and I stayed where we sat not quite ready to go to bed.

"Good night Max" Angel said coming back over, "I love you."

"I love you too sweetie," I said, giving her a hug. I kissed her forehead and she left the room.

"You too Ella." Dr. Martinez said looking at a very dreary eyed daughter.

"Aw, can't I talk to Max a little longer?" she asked.

"Not now baby, you have school in the morning."

"Fine" and she kissed her mothers cheek and left the room, leaving the three of us sitting at the table. We had pretty much explained most of everything that had happened to us in order to clarify why both the flock and I were here; only leaving out a few parts.

"I'm really glad you came here Max; I'm glad I got the chance to meet your flock." I looked up at her, her words meaning more than she knew.

"There are no words to tell you how grateful I am." I told her. Fang coughed and I looked over at him. He bent over the side of his chair as his coughing increased, and I remembered the blood he had been coughing not so long ago. As if on cue I saw the blood on the back of his hand.

"Oh my god, Fang are you okay?" I asked feeling a sudden rush of panic.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I'll be right back."

As he moved to get up I grabbed his hand and he looked down at me. "Fang, she's a vet," I told him. He glanced between my pleading gaze and her truly concerned one and finally decided to sit back down, giving me a, you-better-be-right look.

"You're coughing blood?" Dr. Martinez asked him.

"Just a little, I'm fine really." He said hoping we'd leave him alone.

"Well, I if I remember correctly you guys have extremely advanced healing systems and if you're still coughing blood…Than I don't mean to scare you, but I wouldn't say you were fine." Oh, she's good. Fang looked dumb-founded and said nothing in reply. "I'll be right back," she said after taking one last glance at Fang.

She came back a minute later with a first-aid kit in her hand. "Now, I need you to tell me what happened." Oh god here we go again. Both Fang and I tensed. She sensed our hesitation and put on her softest look.

"Clearly something happened that's tough to explain, but this is really important. I'm sorry, but I need to know if I'm going to help you." She did sincerely looking apologetic and I knew we had to tell her for Fang's sake.

I reigned in all of my emotions and put on an empty mask similar to that which I've seen on Fang since I can remember. In a solid flat town I said, "They shocked him." Fang paled and tensed even more in memory of the pain. I grabbed his hand, and looked up into Dr. Martinez's shocked face.

"Oh, my, that's horrible…I'm sorry but I have to ask this. How many times, or h-how long did they do this - shocking?" she questioned looking at a now very pale Fang.

"Uh, umm…" was all he replied.

"A lot, they almost killed him." I decided to answer. Her expression became full of disgust and her eyes filled with sadness at what she was learning.

Something registered on her face and she looked at me, "then…then you saw this?" she whispered. Perceptive. I just nodded my head and looked at Fang whose hand was clenched tightly against mine. His other hand was now covering his tightly shut eyes in attempt to disguise the emotions he was feeling. I'd only seen him do this a few times before. I looked back at Dr. Martinez whose face was now filled with anger.

"Those dirty bast-low lives, you're just kids…" she whispered under her breath realizing the extent of the situation. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean…I just had to know what I was dealing with here." And with that she dropped the conversation not needing to know anymore; she wasn't nosy, and I liked that.

"Okay, I'm going to need you to take off your shirt." She said to Fang, switching the topic and lightening the mood. I pulled his hand off his saddened eyes – their look breaking my heart - and smiled to reassure him. He did as he was told and my eyes widened. The last time I'd seen Fang without a shirt his stomach had been a mangled mess, but now…now it was perfect. His wounds had almost completely healed revealing the naturally chiseled abs that had once been hidden beneath blood and gore. Although he still had the diagonal scars left from the claw marks he'd endured, they only added to his ruggedness making him that much more appealing. He noticed me staring at him and he couldn't help but let a slight smirk rise to his face.

Dr. Martinez pulled out a stethoscope and once again the atmosphere became tense. Fang flinched and moved back slightly at the sight of the glinting metal.

"Fang, it's okay, I promise" said Dr. Martinez trying to calm him. He took a deep breath and moved forward slightly, letting her know it was okay. She proceeded to do her doctorly (no, it's not a word, but I like it) business, while we sat in silence.

After a few minutes of poking and prodding on Fang and asking him to cough and tale deep breaths, she finally sat up. "I noticed you have a few ribs out of place…" she said almost accusingly.

"Probably should have mentioned that, huh?" I said with a slight smile hoping she wouldn't be too upset.

"You too? Gees, they really did a number on you guys. And yes, that may have been a good idea, but I think they're alright as long as they're not causing you pain." Both Fang and I shook our heads.

"Okay then, I think the reason you're coughing blood is because there's a lot in your lungs. When they shocked you the inside of your body suffered serious burns, burns that probably would've killed a human. In fact I'm surprised your recovered this quickly, even Max didn't recover this quickly when she got shot." She said looking rather amazed now.

"Supposedly as we evolve the rate at which we're able to heal increases," I said remembering what I had heard Jeb saying.

"This is amazing, you nearly die form third degree burns and about two-three days later all you have to show for it is coughing some blood…not that that's not bad it's still serious…I could only imagine the pain." she added. Fang tensed, I grabbed his hand, then we both just shrugged.

Getting back on topic, she continued. "Right sorry, well, it seems that when you received the burns the inside of your body probably began to breakdown, hence the blood in your lungs. But with your ability to recover, your immune system was able to react in time and began rebuilding what had been broken down. Hopefully you're healing right, and if you are the blood should be gone in a few days I would imagine. If not…we'll probably have to run some x-rays to see what's not healing properly."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, let's just wait and see what happens." Said Fang, speaking for the first time in a while, probably because he heard the word x-ray.

"I agree, but please tell me if anything changes," she said with determined eyes. I looked at him, and seeing my look he nodded his head. "Alright, then I'm heading to bed, long day tomorrow." She zipped up her first-aid kit and stood up from her seat.

"Thanks again," I said.

"Never a problem Max, remember that," she said, and turned to leave the room leaving me and Fang still sitting at the now vacant table.

"I wish you would have told me you were still coughing blood." I said glaring at him, feeling slightly annoyed.

"I didn't think I still was, and plus I didn't want to worry you." He said looking up at me from behind his bangs, with those paralyzing deep onyx eyes. I suddenly forgot why I was angry.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, you?"

"I'm fine." After a pause I said, "We have to decide our next move."

"I know…any ideas?" he asked.

"A few," I said, suddenly feeling sad at the possible prospect of leaving the Martinez's soon. I loved it here, and I loved them. No one ever treated us the way they did, and I hated to tear the flock form their welcoming arms. Noticing my sudden change in mood Fang stood up and pulled me up with him.

"Why don't we discuss it with the flock in the morning?" he suggested.

"Good idea…I don't really feel like going upstairs yet" I suddenly blurted out. I really wasn't that tired after that nap we'd taken this afternoon.

"Me neither," he said smiling a mischievous smile and his eyes blazed. This time I recognized that look and was able to react fast enough.

"Fang!" I scolded stepping back from him, "we're in the kitchen!"

"And your point is?" he asked with a smirk slightly advancing, and yes, still with his shirt off, slightly dazing me.

"I don't know" I replied, not really knowing my point, but I just couldn't let him keep taking me off guard like this. "Put your shirt on Fabio" I ordered.

"You don't actually mean that." he said, relishing in his newfound cockiness, stepping forward and closing the distance between us.

"Um…y-yeah I do." I said trying to keep my composure; he just looked soo good with his shirt off.

"This is payback for the pooh-bear stunt." He said in his huskiest voice, and I remembered back to when we were in the cell and I'd seduced him into kissing me and breaking his threat. Crap! Now he was doing it to me, and doing a good job if I may say so.

Remembering my words from the cell he said, "You'll never last…" and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me to him.

"Y-yes I will…" I said stammering against his penetrating gaze and bare chest.

"No you won't." He said confidently, beginning to kiss my neck.

"Y-y…oh fuck it," I said remembering his exact words and bringing his head up to kiss his lips. He laughed and backed me up against the counter. He slipped his tongue between my teeth and my heart pounded. I did the same to him and moved my hands up through his messy hair. He lifted me up placing my butt on the counter, and stepped between my legs deepening the kiss. He placed his hands around my waist slipping them up under my shirt the tiniest bit. I shuddered against the warm touch of his skin on mine. He broke apart looking at me, afraid he'd crossed some invisible line.

"Quite the opposite," I whispered in his ear and moved my lips to his neck with a newfound boldness. He smiled and placed his hands back under my shirt on my waist. I moved my lips down the side of his neck and up the other, reconnecting with his mouth. I heard a slight moan escape his lips at the reconnection and smiled against his mouth. He deepened the kiss then moved his lips across my jaw line and down my neck, and his hands up my waist. I waited impatiently for him to come back to my mouth and as he was just about to reach the awaited destination something completely awful happened.

"OH MY GOD! Oh My God! Oh my god! Oh…my…god…"

Fang instantly took his hands out from under my shirt and stepped back. I looked up from my horrifyingly embarrassing spot on top of the counter to the extremely shocked face of Nudge. Holy Crap! She looked form me sitting with my legs spread on the counter, to Fang who stood shirtless, to Fangs shirt hanging off the end of a chair.

"Nudge!" I screeched, "I thought you went to bed!"

"OH MY GOD YOU GUYS!" yelled Nudge.

"Nudge?" Came Iggys voice from around the corner. Shit. Snapping out of his shock Fang grabbed his shirt and began pulling it on as Iggy walked in the room. Iggy stood confused, waiting for some to explain what had happened, while Fang pulled on his shirt and I jumped off the counter.

"Nudge, why were you screaming?" he asked, although I think he already knew. "I walked in on them! And they were…ah! That was way too intense and totally not worth getting a drink of water!" she said glaring at us in total disgust. Neither Fang nor I knew what to say, we just looked back at each other than back at the other two.

"Oh God, in the kitchen? Sheesh you guys, you know there's two empty bedrooms upstairs. Why don't you go release your pent up sexual tension there? This is way too weird, come on Nudge lets go upstairs." He said completely laughing his ass off.

"Suck it." I said.

"Fuck you." Said Fang

"You are so lucky you're blind," said Nudge to Iggy as they walked out; this just made him laugh even harder.

It was silent for a while as we both stared at the ground. Finally I said, "Well that was beyond embarrassing…"

"Iggy's never gonna let me live this down." he replied.

"Neither will Nudge…"

After a few more silent, intensely awkward moments I grabbed his shirt and said, "C'mon, let's go upstairs".

As we walked into the bedroom I shut the door behind me and pushed him down on the bed. He looked up at me in surprise while I sat down on top of him, straddling his waist. "That was definitely worth it though," I whispered in his ear, wrapping my arms around his neck. He grabbed my waist and we fell back on to the bed.

"I'd have to agree with you on this one," he whispered back as I lay my head on his chest. And we both fell asleep.

…Faxy, no? Review, Review, Review!!

Lots to come…