Hey guys! I'm back with yet another chapter! So… read on! I feel soooo dumb right now. This is the actual chapter… not the last one. (I hope)

Max's POV

"How do you not have birth certificates? I adopted you guys! How is that possible without birth certificates?" Mom ranted. I sighed; I wasn't going to get a word in edge wise.

"Max! Answer me!" She yelled.

"Mom,"

"Don't use that tone with me!"

"Mom," I said again, my patience running thin. "We have birth certificates. The only problem is that they're at the school."

"The location shouldn't matter!"

"Well, it does! Mom, the school gone! No birth certificates! Besides, they illegally experimented on people. Do you think they would give any information on 6 runaway failures?"

Her voice was soft, "You're not failures."

"According to them, we are. Listen, we have Angel. She did a perfect job convincing the people at Jefferson."

"You're sending Star and Sky to that school?" Disbelief colored her voice.

"Yes, Mom. This kind of thing would have happened at any school. We really like this place." I paused, and my mom didn't respond. "Mom?"

"I'm still here." She took a deep breath, "I called to get a few things cleared up, and that's exactly what I did. I have to go now. Bye."

Fang's POV

"You're mom will be fine. Just give her time." I said, brushing the hair away from Max's face.

"That was in June. It's September, and she still won't talk to me about it."

"She'll come around. Now come on, today's an important day." I tried and failed to sound enthusiastic. Max smiled and tried not to laugh. Taking her hand, I pulled her closer to me. The moment was ruined shortly after it began. Sky was pulling on my pant leg.

"Let's go! Not gonna be late!" I grinned. My daughters still had horrible grammar. Oh well, that's what school is for.

"We're going!" Max smiled and announced; throwing her hands up in mock surrender.

~Later~

"Go on," Max pushed the girls in the doorway.

"No!" Star cried. She's not a real people person.

"Don't leave yet!" Sky demanded, as soon as we were all through the door.

"We won't." I promised quietly. People intimidated me as well.

"Mr. Ride, Mrs. Ride. So nice to see you again. Star, Sky." Mrs. Hendricks greeted sweetly. A little boy with brown hair and hazel eyes runs up and tugs on her skirt hem. She smiles and kneels down to the child's level.

"Gabriel, this is Mr. and Mrs. Ride. Say hi, Gabe." Gabriel; this is her son. He looks just like her.

"Hi," He says, looking down. Mrs. Hendricks doesn't seem to notice. "And Gabe, these are their girls. Star and Sky are going to be in here with us."

"Hi, Gabe," Sky waves weakly. Star just kind of backs up behind my legs. I pry her off my leg and she looks close to tears. I pick her up and hug her close to my chest. Whispering reassurances in her ear, she takes a shuttering breath and lays her head on my shoulder. She's overwhelmed and my heart goes out to her; it really does. But she needs to learn how to interact with other kids. I search for Max's help, but she's talking to Sky, constantly glancing at the teacher's desk. Odd. Finally, Sky bounces off with a final wave and starts to talk to a little red head.

"Can we go?" Max asks after Mrs. Hendricks has left hearing range. Gabe still stands a few feet from us, but he's examining his shoes. Must be the shy type.

Star takes another shuttering breath, and Max seems to notice her on my shoulder for the first time.

"What's wrong, baby?" Instead of replying, she buries her head into my shirt.

"She's shy," I answer simply. Max makes an 'Oh' face and silently takes Star. A few minutes later, she's set on the ground, now clinging to Max.

"Go on. No reason to be afraid." Her mom coaxes. She takes a step and looks back. A few steps later, she looks back again. We nod, encouraging her forward. She smiles bravely, and stands next to Gabriel. They're talking so quietly that someone without super-sonic hearing wouldn't be able to make out their words. Luckily, Max and I can.

"Hi," Star says, staring at the ground.

"Hi," Gabe replies, looking briefly at my daughter. Then, he slowly turns his gaze back to his feet. They're silent for various moments. Finally, Gabriel says,

"You… wanna go play?"

"Yeah," Star is startled, but recovers quickly. She takes his hand and soon they are lost in the sea of other little preschoolers. I turn to Max, smiling brightly, but she doesn't turn my way. Her eyes are fixated on something else. Something on that stupid desk.

"Max," I place a hand on her shoulder. She jumps slightly.

"What?"

"What's wrong?" My eyes are probing her's, looking for answers.

"Nothing," She says quickly. When I say nothing, she adds, "I just want to go. Can we go?"

"Max," I sigh, "Is this about your mom?"

"No!"

"Then what?" Her response is mumbled and low; I don't catch it. "Come again?"

"THE PICTURE! THE PICTURE ON THE DESK!" She explodes. Everyone looks our way. Mrs. Hendricks assures them it's nothing, and then makes her way to us.

"Mrs. Ride, you have a problem with a picture on my desk?" At least she's straight forward. A good quality, if you ask me.

"It's nothing." She answers through gritted teeth.

"The picture of me and my husband?" Mrs. Hendricks is talking to herself now, "No, that's not it. The picture of… oh." She addresses my wife once again, "You knew Dwayne?" Dwayne? Who's Dwayne? Max cringes at the name. Words flow freely from her mouth.

"He and a group of guys were trying to beat me little sister. One took a shot and nailed me in the shoulder."

"My brother was always getting into trouble. A lot of people knew him from that stupid gang he was in."

"Was?" Something flickered in her eyes. Hate? Spite?

"He was killed a few years back. The girl he," her voice lowered, "raped, got revenge. She killed him and, um, cut his…penis."

Max gulped, "I'm sorry," she played with the hem of her shirt.

"It was years ago, and he deserved it. Just be glad that neither you nor your sister was hurt too badly." And with that, she left. She melted back into the crowd of parents and preschoolers. Max fled the room. I waved a meek goodbye to my girls and ran after her. I caught up with my wife outside of the school on the cement. She was on her knees sobbing. I rubbed her back, between her wings, until the tears subsided.

"That could have been me, Fang. He could have raped me, or even Ella."

"But he didn't."

"Not us, but there are innocent girls out there who were victimized by him. Michelle was." She added quietly.

"Who?"

"Mrs. Hendricks. You could tell by the way she showed no remorse for his death."

"That makes no sense!"

"Think about it. Gabriel looks nothing like her husband. He looks just like Michelle and Dwayne. They had to have been half siblings or step siblings or something. Fang, Dwayne raped her. He got her pregnant with Gabriel. Fang, she could have killed him."

"I'm sure she wasn't the one who did."

"No, but I'm sure she wishes she was the one who killed him." Her voice wavered, and she flung herself into my arms. Now I could do nothing but hold her tight in my arms and wait for the crying to stop.

Holy crap.

~Faxisthegreatest123~