A/N: Please, don't murder me! I know I've taken forever to update lately, and it is absolutely my fault. I hope this chapter is to your liking.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own NCIS or Maximum Ride. However, I do own seasons 4&5 on DVD and books 1, 3, 5, and 6!
"Nudge! Nudge! Slow down and tell us the whole story, Honey," I suggested as softly as I could manage in my utter frustration.
After we received her vague warning back at the mall, we had run out of there like hell was following us, which might not have been too far off. We hadn't bothered to question either of them until we were safely home, and the little chatterbox went off like fireworks on the Fourth of July, rambling on about Erasers and Itex and babies. It had been almost a half an hour, and we still didn't have the story straight. In case you haven't yet caught on, her recollection of things was extremely difficult to follow. She took a deep breath and started over, more slowly this time, wincing as Iggy prodded at the wound in her cheek.
"Well, I had to pee really bad, so Max sent Ziva with me to take a potty break, ya know, for safety reasons. Ouch! Iggy, watch it! Anyway, while I was washing my hands and poking fun at Ziva, an Eraser came, like out of nowhere! Then he started talking all big and bad like they always do, and I got mad and tried to punch him. Then, he scratched me, and this whole fight broke out. But what was really freaky was- Iggy!" she screeched. He was putting that burny alcohol stuff on her cheek. Apparently, it hurts. I wouldn't know, because I never let him touch me with the stuff.
"I'm sorry, Nudge, but I have to disinfect the cut before I put in the stitches," he told her, sighing.
"Stitches?"
"Yes, Nudge, stitches. You're cut pretty deeply. Just close your eyes, and please, for goodness sake, stop talking." He took her hand in one of his, and she stiffened for a millisecond before calming down considerably. As he started sewing her skin back together, Ziva took it as her que to continue with the story.
"She handled it quite well, considering the circumstances. We had taken down about five of the creatures before we left. They wanted the child. One of them mentioned your father's name, Max," she explained, and I almost asked why we hadn't just asked for Ziva to tell us what had happened in the first place.
"What about my father?" I asked instead, because it was more important and made me sound like I actually cared.
"He said it was Jeb's baby, Max! Lizzy's your little sister! Isn't that, like, totally crazy?" Nudge burst out. "Ouch! Iggy! That hurt!"
"Well, I wouldn't have hurt you if you could just sit still for more than two seconds! Now, don't move," he replied angrily. Nudge huffed but didn't argue further. Ignoring the two of them, I tried to process this new information. I have a baby sister, too? Bombshells like this usually didn't end well for me. I found out Ari was my brother; he died. I found out Jeb was my biological father; he turned out to be an untrustable traitor. I found out the baby we saved is my little sister… I guessed I'd have to find out and probably soon.
The whole group was watching me now, anxiously awaiting my response. My eyes traveled around the room to meet those of my family and the two new people who were supposed to protect us. Then, I put on my brave, leaderly, game face.
"Well, this was nice while it lasted, but they found us. We can't stay here any longer." The younger kids' faces fell dramatically. Angel looked up at me through her long lashes.
"But-"
"No buts. I told you we could stay until the first sign of trouble. Well, what happened back there wasn't exactly a good thing. Was it?" I snapped. The look on her face made me sorry for being so harsh, but I was the leader. I had to do what was best for the Flock. If that meant crushing their little dreams of being normal kids, then so be it. Plus, we'll never be normal kids. We have wings for goodness's sake. They know that, right?
Sounds like you're the one that needs convincing. I groaned internally.
Get out of my head. I so don't need this right now.
Ah, but you do. Think of your dream, Max. Uh-oh. Not this again.
What dream? My dream of becoming the world's first Avian-American Top Model? Or the one where you leave me the hell alone? I knew exactly what the Voice was talking about. He/she/it had mentioned it before. Me? I was just being difficult.
I'm in your head, Maximum. You can't keep things from me. Think of the dream. They're chasing you. Ahead of you, there's a cliff. Jump, unfurl your wings, and push down hard.
That's your advice? That's total bull crap. Voice? Voice? That was just like the Voice. Give me something totally worthless and walk away. Or just disappear, considering Voices can't walk. I sighed.
"Max? Are you even listening?" asked Ziva, waving a hand in front of my face. I blinked.
"Oh. Er, no. Sorry, I was just arguing with the Voice," I stated bluntly. She looked concerned.
"The Voice?" she asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, the voice inside my head that gives me advice. How do you think I knew to trust you guys? Well, sometimes it gives me good advice, but most of the time it's just crappy fortune-cookie nonsense. Like right now." After that possibly disturbing explanation, the Flock, looking considerably less worried, chimed in.
"What did it tell you?" asked Fang, who had been standing right beside me the whole time. I couldn't help but notice how totally hot he looked when he got all serious.
"Something about jumping off cliffs. I think the Voice is malfunctioning. It's sending me on suicide missions." Shooting me an oh-so-sexy smirk, Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome ran a hand over my back so lightly that it sent shivers down my spine.
"I don't know. I mean, you do have wings. Maybe we should all go out jumping off cliffs," he muttered in my ear. I smiled. Gazzy let out an exaggerated cough that meant our little moment was over.
"Don't you think there's a poetic meaning behind the cliff-jumping? Maybe it means we should take a chance and try staying here for a while. One little mistake shouldn't drive us off our path. Nobody was hurt, except a little scratch," said Angel hopefully. I knew where she was going with this.
"Try telling that to my freaking stitches," muttered Nudge, rubbing her cheek pointedly. Angel ignored her, continuing her speech.
"Maybe we could stay just a little bit longer and go to the school and stuff. Please, Max? Just for a little while? We can't just not trust anyone because things didn't work out last time."
"Last time? Things never work out. That's why we need to be careful with who we trust," I replied, trying not to get too angry at the hopeful little girl.
"Max, we need to get over the past, and jump off the cliff. Take a chance. We've got wings to hold us up." Angel smiled, satisfied with her argument. Suddenly, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. We could meet new people, try new things, and hopefully it will all help us save the world, one step at a time. Looking back now, I find it suspicious that I changed my mind so easily to fit to what the little mind-controller wanted. But in the moment, I genuinely thought I'd made the right choice.
"Alright, we'll stay here just a little bit longer and give the school a try. Who knows- maybe we'll actually learn something along the way."
A/N: I know. I took forever and this was a crappy filler chapter, but it had to be done. The next chapter will hopefully take place in the new school, and fun things happen. Things you shall not expect! Muahahahahaha! Okay, well, R&R! Next chapter should be up super soon!