AN- Hey everyone. Thank you all for the awesome reviews for this fic. You guys make my day every time I see a new review in my inbox!

We've finally crossed into MAX territory! The best Faxness ever occurs in this book, I also get a big old smile on my face when I read it.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Dawn was approaching. Fang ran a hand through his hair, his eyes wandering over to Max. She stood by the window, tense with worry and trying to keep herself from charging off. He really wanted to go to her, to wrap her in his arms and take it all away.

He wondered if she secretly blamed him. They had been away when this happened. They'd been having a secret rendezvous in the desert when her mother was taken from her. He knew what she must be thinking. There were too many people close to her. There were too many people to protect.

He wondered if things were over between them, before they ever had a chance to begin.

He closed his eyes and thought back to the desert. Max's lips, soft as usual, under his. Their arms tight around each other, lying in the cool sand. The way she made him feel. He didn't want to let that go. He didn't want to lose it.

But, what choice did he have? He couldn't force her into anything. He would wait and see. Hopefully, once they rescued her mother, things good be good between them.

"You should go make sure the Flock is ready to go."

He jumped slightly. He wasn't sure she was even aware of his presence in the room. She turned briefly away from the window to look at him and he nodded, standing up and heading to the stairs. He could feel her eyes on him the entire time.

Nudge and Angel were fast asleep in the first bedroom he checked in. With a small smile, he crept quietly down the hall and peeked into the next bedroom. Iggy and Gazzy were packing as many explosives as possible.

"If Max sees those, you're dead."

Gazzy jumped. Iggy continued packing. "She won't see them, because they were be in our packs, our pockets and anywhere else we can stick them."

"Gazzy, go downstairs, make sure Max is okay." Fang said.

Gazzy blinked. He was eight years old. The older ones never requested things of him like this. Wasn't it Fang's job to check on Max?

"Yeah, go on, Gazzy. I'll keep packing." Iggy said.

With a final look to both of them, Gazzy left the room and Fang waited until his footsteps died away before speaking. "Everything's messed up."

"Yeah. Dr. Martinez is, like, amazing. Why would anyone kidnap her?"

"Max is worried. She blames herself, I can tell."

"Why though? It's not like Dr. Martinez was here and got taken. You guys were out on a recon mission, right? I mean, why would she......you guys weren't just flying around, were you?"

"No, Iggy."

Despite the fact that Max's mother had been kidnapped, despite the fact that things were extremely tense in the house, despite all the bad stuff that had happened, a wicked grin spread across Iggy's face and Fang knew he was in for it.

"So, what were you doing."

"You know what we were doing, Iggy."

Iggy's eyebrows shot up. "I do? Why, I have no idea what the two of you could be doing. Except, you were gone for a while. Perhaps you had enough time to do, oh, I don't know, it?"

"It? What's it?"

"You know. The big IT? Hanky-panky? The horizontal mambo? Sex."

"What? Dude, we're fourteen!" Fang hissed.

"So? You guys don't look like you're fourteen. Just ask Brigid that."

"Dr. Dwyer." Fang corrected.

"Right, Brigid. So, I'm guessing it was just a hot and heavy make-out?"

"Yeah. She kissed me back this time, Ig."

"Really? It seems the plan is working."

"What plan?"

"The plan. The Make-Max-Jealous-By-Flirting-With-Brigid plan. She's obviously realized how she felt about you." Iggy grinned. "Good idea having us do that final show in Mexico City. You know, because Brigid was meeting us there."

"That's not why I did it. Max didn't want to let her mom down." Fang shrugged. "I decided to be nice."

"Right. So, you two have kissed. Dating usually comes next."

"Oh, yeah. We'll go see a movie, get some dinner, get attacked by the evil robots. You know, normal teenage stuff."

Iggy smirked. "Sounds perfect."

"It's not going to happen. Especially if she blames me for her mom getting kidnapped, which I think she does."

"Why?"

"Because, we weren't here when the call came in. She was out enjoying herself while her mother was in danger."

"That's dumb." Iggy said, bluntly. "She can't blame you for something that happened a million miles away."

"Maybe she thinks if she'd been here to get the call, instead of you-"

"Iggy didn't take the call." Gazzy said, walking in the room. "Max is fine. She gave me a big hug and thanked me for being to sweet, but, other than that, she's fine."

"What do you mean Iggy didn't take the call? How did he know it was Ella?"

"She was hysterical. Everyone could hear her." Iggy said, quickly.

"No. She was actually pretty calm. It was funny. Nudge answered the phone and when she said 'Hi, Ella" Iggy reached for the phone but missed and knocked it out of Nudge's hands instead. Nudge hit him while he dived for the phone and he pushed her away as he started talking to Ella. That's when we found out Dr. Martinez was gone and Nudge ran upstairs to make sure you and Max were okay. But you were gone. That's when we panicked and turned on all the lights."

Fang ruffled Gazzy's hair. He had to admit, during their brief time as a trio, Fang had grown found of the little guy. He truly felt like a big brother to him. It was nice.

"Didn't mean to worry you, Gasman." he said, quietly. Then, he turned to Iggy. "So, you dove for the phone? Sounds like you really wanted to talk to Ella."

"I don't know why." Gazzy said. "He emailed her like a gazillion times while we were in Antarctica. I know, I had to type all of them out."

"Gazzy!" Iggy shouted. "Why don't you go wake Angel and Nudge?"

"Okay." Gazzy said, cheerfully.

"A gazillion times, huh?" Fang asked as Gazzy left the room for a second time.

"Shut. Up." Iggy said, through clenched teeth.

"I think it's sweet." Fang said, innocently. "Really adorable."

"You keep this up, forget any advice about Max." Iggy warned.

"I don't need any advice. I'm doing pretty well myself. Maybe you should ask me for-"

"No. Go wait with Max or something."

Fang clapped Iggy on the back. "Alright then. Later, Ig."

Iggy heard his footsteps go toward the door and then stop. "And, don't worry, I'll bring my laptop with us on this adventure."

He heard Fang's quiet laughter down the hall.

Fang, Iggy thought, was a dead man.

AN- Whoo! Another chapter done! I hope you guys liked this one. I'm guessing there will be only one or two chapters left, then the fic is over. So, enjoy this one for now, I'll try to bring the next one out in a couple of days.