A/N: Sooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry about how long it's been taking me to update lately! Especially since that last chapter was super-duper short! We had to re-boot our computer because there was this whole virus thing we couldn't get rid of so sorry! Now our special guests! For Maximum Ride we haavvve….. Max herself!

Max: YOU CANNOT HOLD ME HOSTAGE LIKE THIS FOREVER! I AM THE INVINSIBLE MAXIMUM RIDE! AAAARRRRG! WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?

Me: Errr…. I don't have a job at the moment. I'm just keeping you here until I'm finished with the chapter. It's an honor, really. Now from NCIS…GIBBS!

Gibbs: ….*Gibbs slaps me*

Me: YES! I'VE BEEN GIBBS SLAPPED BY GIBBS HIMSELF! This is quite the honor.

Max: Are you INSANE?

Me: *gasp* thank you for noticing! Now will one of you please state the disclaimer so I can continue writing the story in your company?

Gibbs: *raises his eyebrows* Gpeach6 does NOT own me, Max, or any of the other characters mentioned in this story. She does NOT own Maximum Ride or NCIS, even though they've been on her Christmas list for quite some time.

Me: *GASP* SANTA?

Around that time, everything seemed to go in slow motion. I heard a loud gasp and was surprised to find it had escaped my own throat. The next sound to reach my ears was the thud of footsteps as the rest of the Flock thundered into the room. When the thumping stopped, several more gasps sounded through the overwhelming roar of blood in my ears.

This is another test. Of course, because everything is a damn TEST! I remember clenching my fists and wanting to shout, because anger was the easiest and most familiar emotion for me to handle. Anger at the School for starting this whole mess, at Jeb for leaving us when he did, at whoever left this defenseless baby on the front step of a special agent who had met us by pure coincidence…

But nothing is a coincidence. Then fear crept its way into my head. Whoever is after us has to know where we are, and they sent this baby to us as a test. My breath quickened, and I darted out the door, careful not to step on the sleeping baby. In a fighting stance, I searched the perimeter of the house for a potential threat. When I returned to the front door, I felt more exhausted than anything else.

"Whoever left the kid is gone now," I stated glumly to no one in particular.

"Wh-What are we gonna do, Max?" Gazzy asked, fear evident in his clear blue eyes. I don't know!

"About the baby? Well, we certainly can't just give her back, considering we don't have any clue where she came from... sooo..." I took a deep breath, ready to make a decision but was interrupted by my little chatterbox.

"We're gonna keep her?" Nudge squealed, jumping up and down excitedly. "OMG! We should name her Elizabeth! Then we could call her Lizzy! Wouldn't that be sooo cute, Max?" I held up one hand in the universal "stop" signal.

"Woah, woah, woah! Don't go naming it! Then we'd have to keep it!" Fang exclaimed from somewhere in the shadows. Iggy raised his eyebrows at him.

"So now the baby's an "it"? She's a girl! What happened to your maternal instincts?" he exclaimed, unexpectedly ticked off. What is this world coming to? Nudge giggled, turning to Iggy.

"That was freakishly sensitive for you, Igs," she commented, causing Iggy's cheeks to turn a light shade of pink. Angel smiled at them, leaving me to wonder what the hell was going on. Gazzy cleared his throat obnoxiously, shaking his head at his best friend, though it was lost on Iggy.

"So what are we going to do about the ba-" Nudge gave him a look. "-Elizabeth?" I heaved another heavy sigh before answering.

"I guess we can keep her for a little while until we find something to do with her," I answered. Fang, who'd been having a hushed arguement with Gibbs during this whole conversation, turned to stare at me like I had just said something like, "Okay, guys, we can keep the genetically mutated evil monkey as a pet".

"What the hell, Max? What if it's dangerous?" he yelled. I glared at my boyfriend.

"'It' is a baby, Fang!" I yelled back, putting air quotes around the word "it". I was suddenly furious. "How could you even say that about this poor, defensless baby?" The impassive look swept back over his face again, and I knew I had touched a nerve.

"I am thinking clearly! Whoever is after us sent us this baby, which makes it potentially dangerous!"

"Okay, so what do you want to do with her, huh? Throw her out on the street and wait for her to die?" When the tension between us was about to break and turn our heated argument physical, Gibbs decided it was time to interfere. He stepped in between us, so I could no longer see Fang's infuriatingly emotionless face.

"That's enough." His voice was as hard and cold as metal. "This arguing is going to get you all killed. Max is right; we will keep the baby until something can be arranged."

That night, I slept about 5 minutes, lying as far away from Fang as Gibbs' small couch would allow. I couldn't believe how insensitive he was being about this whole situation. For some reason Gibbs had kept a crib in his attic (I couldn't think of why a special agent of NCIS would need a baby crib. Maybe things like this happen all the time at NCIS?) which we put in his room for the baby to sleep in.

I was just starting to relax and fall asleep when I heard light footsteps slowly descending the stairs. My whole body tensed up as I listened. They stopped at the foot of the steps, and I didn't relax until I heard a small voice whisper my name.

"Max?" called Angel. I let out a long sigh of relief as Angel's cute face appeared from behind the wall separating the stairway from the small living room.

"Angel, sweetie, what's wrong?" I whispered back, sitting up on the couch.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied, curling up in my lap. I let myself smile slightly as I kissed the top of her head.

"Why not, Honey?" I asked, now stroking her lovely blonde curls.

"The Baby-Elizabeth- keeps talking to me."

A/N: OOOOO! Spooky! Again sorry for the length of time between updates! Microsoft Word doesn't like me anymore, but I figured it out, no worries! Oh, and sorry about the lack of Gibbs in that chapter. I wanted to focus on the flock more since this story goes more with there lives.

Gibbs: Why am I still here?

Me: 'Cause I'm not finished yet!

Max: But you said all you had left was the author's note!

Me: This is the author's note!

Max: Well, when is it over?

Me: Not until one of you asks my readers to review! Politely please!

Gibbs: Please review her story, so I can get back to my team. There. Is it over now?

Me: Yes. Bye-bye!