You see, this is what happens when I procrastinate my English vocab words until last minute. I end up writing fanfiction.

Disclaimer: This always makes me feel depressed, but I still don't own Maximum Ride.

"I came here like so many did,

To find the better life.

To find my piece of easy street,

To finally be alive."

--Bon Jovi

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Chapter 8:

We're baaack!

I felt like some villain from a horror movie or something, about to get to the climax of the plot. All I needed was an evil laugh.

We were parked outside the Griffith's house. Jeb was waiting for my signal, which was a smart move on his part. But I definitely wasn't ready to do this.

Out of no where, Fang put his hand on my shoulder. I looked towards the back of the car where he was sitting, leaning forward in the seat. The worried look in his eyes was asking me all sorts of questions but only one really stood out.

Are you really going to do this?

"I'm fine," I lied, and Fang knew it.

"Max?" Jeb asked, and I tried not to look at him.

Last night, after Jeb had come back to our hotel room with the food, we ate dinner with a minimal amount of conversation. Fang and I had opted not to tell Jeb about the whole wing disappearing thing, it was probably better to wait to ask Mom about it when we got home. But every time Jeb talked to me, I felt oddly guilty. Like I was lying to him or something.

But whatever, I knew I couldn't trust him. Not yet anyway.

"Max?" Jeb repeated.

"Let's just go," I said quickly before this turned into a mushy-gushy conversation.

I shrugged off Fang's hand and opened the car door. I marched up the walkway for the third time in my life, and rang the doorbell without checking to see if they were behind me.

They were though, and when Iggy's mom answered the door, she didn't look particularly happy to see neither Fang or me. She quickly glanced behind us towards Jeb, whom she had never met and her face went completely blank. Behind her, stood Mr. Griffiths.

I put on a polite smile, which felt strangely out of place. I should really be grinning evilly before punching their brains out after what they did to Iggy.

Okay, okay, that might be a little harsh, but still.

"Come in," she said and I couldn't deny that I saw a sad look in her eyes. "We've been waiting for you."

We walked into the living room, where I haven't been for a good year or so. Ever since we left Iggy. And now he was leaving us all over again.

Jeb introduced himself by shaking hands with both of Iggy's parents. We then sat in uncomfortable silence. No one said anything. It wasn't my place to start off, even though I desperately wanted to.

"I heard our son is coming home," Mrs. Griffiths said, in an accusatory tone. I figured it was time to play innocent.

"That's right. The U.S. government thinks it's better if the children live with their biological parents for the remaining of their childhood. To have a more normal life," Jeb explained as I winced at some words like "U.S. government" and "children."

The Griffiths exchanged a look before Mr. Griffiths spoke up.

"We had no idea that the government was so involved. We've been seeing sightings and articles and news stories all over the place."

"The government has been moderately involved. Not very much before, but they want to help," said Jeb. "As for the pictures and press coverage, well, that was more accidental," he said, looking in my direction. I just stared back at him. Like it was my fault there were our faces plastered all over the place.

OK, maybe it was.

"We didn't want people to know about us, though," I said, starting to get defensive. "Once people started noticing us, it just went downhill from there."

"But James left us. He didn't explain why. He just ran away. We had accepted him. He was supposedly happy here. We had no idea…" Mrs. Griffiths said sadly.

"You were planning to sell him out," I said gently, not wanting her to get mad and explode. "He didn't want you to tell people, but I guess he must not explained that well."

Her eyes filled with pain, but she didn't say anything. Mr. Griffiths' mouth fell into a hard, thin line, but he didn't respond either.

Fang nudged my shoe, as if to say chill out, but when I glanced up at him, his face showed nothing.

"The press found out about you kids anyway, shortly after James left us. What's the difference?" Mr. Griffiths asked, his tone strained.

Okay, well, one, we weren't kids. Minors, yes, but not kids. Second, the difference was we weren't planning to make ourselves circus freaks. It just happened.

Of course, I didn't say any of that.

"That was accidental," I said, in the same strained voice. "We had just gotten ourselves into a sticky situation and there was no way out. It wasn't like we had walked up to a magazine company and said, 'Look, we have wings!' It wasn't like that."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang wince slightly. I bet no one even noticed.

Then I remembered how he did go up to a magazine company and almost said, 'Look, we have wings!' Right after he left me.

It seemed like everyone was leaving these days. I quieted down and didn't pay attention to what Jeb said next and whatever was Mr. Griffiths' response.

"Look," Jeb said, when I was paying attention again. "When Iggy comes back, you cannot make this public. No one will know where he is staying. No one except the Flock and the government. They have been taking special care of this delicate situation and how to proceed. These kids have been hiding for nearly a year now and especially since no one had noticed, the government would like to keep it this way."

I knew the familiar look on Jeb's face. He was extremely angry but was doing a pretty good job of covering it up. I was getting pretty annoyed at how everyone was calling us kids all of a sudden. It wasn't like we were kids.

They were quiet, both of them not speaking. I looked over at Fang, who stared at me straight on, his face calm and smooth.

Finally, Mrs. Griffiths sighed. Then she looked at each of us, her eyes incredibly sad. It hurt to look at them, but it hurt even more to know that Iggy was leaving us. Again.

"James is coming back home?" she clarified.

"Yes," Jeb said. "Iggy is coming to live with you."

The Griffiths both smiled and I watched Mrs. Griffiths start to tear up. I had the feeling they were holding back a lot.

"Are you guy's hungry? I can get you something to snack on. I know how much James like to eat," said Mrs. Griffiths, playing nice hostess.

Fang and I looked at each other, a little surprised. I guess if I just found out that my son was coming home I would be a little kinder to the people bringing him back to me, too.

"Uh, sure. That would be great," I said painting a smile on my lips. She smiled back and disappeared into the kitchen.

Fang placed his hand unexpectedly on my arm.

"You okay?" he asked very quietly.

Acutely aware of how all of a sudden my arm was on fire, I nodded and sat back a little into the couch. Fang still looked at me, but I didn't bother to figure out what was going through his mind.

Iggy's mom returned into the living room, carrying a medium sized bowl of pretzels and some drinks. She set them on the coffee table and then sat back down next to her husband.

"Thanks Mrs. Griffiths," I said reaching for a cup.

"Oh, please call me Susan," she said and she seemed pleased by something.

I smiled and nodded.

And that was villain Max's first attempt at a formal meeting with the Flock's 'rents. I thought it went pretty well.

Except, of course, for the gaping hole that was left in the middle of my chest, not seeming to get any smaller anytime soon.

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So sorry for the incredibly long wait and the incredibly short chapter. The next one will be longer, quicker, and a hundred times more interesting. Have a wonderful holiday!