Capri's Note: Thank you for reviewing and I'm sorry that it took me a while to write. I wrote this chapter and it didn't feel 'right', so I re-did it.

Here's a little note to some of the reviewers that either bothered me or caught my eye.

Vicki: This is a teen rated fic, so that means there's going to be some cussing and if it bothers you, tough. Have you even read the Max Ride books? James Patterson curses more than I do, so if the cursing offends you, I apologize but you're going to have to deal with it.

Carly: Either knock off the attitude with the other reviewers or get off my review board all together. I don't like it when reviewers bash other reviewers. Mouse is entitled to her opinion and I appreciate you trying to 'help' but it's totally unnecessary and not welcome on my fic.

Mouse: Thank you for your criticism, I appreciate it. I'm a very critical person myself, so I understand where you're coming from. But I do have a few things. You made a comment about the Shadows being a little too fantasy while the Erasers are sci-fi, but are flying wolves not a little fantasy as well? Or kids with wings? I do appreciate your criticism and I'm glad you're finally enjoying the story. Thank you.

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Chapter Seven

She knew he wasn't coming back to camp. At the time she didn't care if he came back or stayed away. It made no difference to her. She almost snorted at the lies she was telling herself as she lay awake in the bed of Fang's truck. The rest of the flock didn't want to sleep in the cold, so they put down the seats in Rae's SUV and squished together. They offered Max a spot, but she refused and went to sleep in his truck.

She thought she'd feel relieved after finally telling him what she wanted to tell him for the past four years, but she wasn't. She felt like she left something else, like there was something else that she wanted to tell him but couldn't comprehend it yet. As she thought more about leaving him back in the small woods, she became worried because the only sound she could hear was the rustle of the trees in the wind.

It was making her a bit paranoid. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, but it was just a little too peaceful and quiet for her taste. The only sound drifting into her ears was the eerie breeze in the old trees.

Why the hell did I decide to sleep out in the truck? She thought angrily as a chilling wind rocked her body. She pulled her sweatshirt even tighter around her body, but the chill wouldn't go away. She jumped as a large roll of thunder cracked through the sky. Wrapping her arms securely around her middle, Max curled up on her side, placing her cheek against the cool metal of the truck.

"Max?"

Max sat up to see a shaking Nudge standing at the foot of the truck. She moved over so Nudge would have room to crawl up next to her.

"What's wrong, Nudge?" Max asked, smoothing back her hair and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"I can't sleep," Nudge yawned, making Max grin.

"Join the club."

Nudge climbed into Max's waiting arms and yawned again. "Why can't you sleep?" she asked wearily.

"Just a lot on my mind," Max shrugged. "It's been a long few days."

"You can say that again."

"It's been a long few days," Max grinned and the two shared a bit of laughter.

"Hey Max?" Nudge asked, feeling a bit uneasy as she fidgeted with the edge of her blanket. Max's silence was a cue for her to continue. "What do you think of Fang being back?"

Max sighed and took a minute to answer. "Honestly Nudge? I don't know. I can't decide if it's a good thing, or if it's a bad thing. Right now he's keeping us safe and out of harm's way, but that can only last so long. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"I'm glad he's back," Nudge said hesitantly. "You're...Max again…with him here. Not the whole Max, but a little part of the old you is back…"

Max didn't know how to respond to that, because she didn't believe a word of it. She didn't believe that she had changed at all in Fang's presence, much less in a good way. If anything, it made her crankier and put her in a bad mood. She refused to believe that Fang had any affect whatsoever on her as a person since he'd been back. It was simply idiotic.

"Max?"

Nudge and Max both turned to the bed of the truck, where Gazzy stood, yawning. Max chuckled and patted the space next to her. Gazzy plopped his tired body down next to Max and snuggled up against her side.

"What's everybody doing out here?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Don't cha know?" Nudge smacked his arm. "This is where the cool people sleep!"

"Then I guess I came to the right place."

The three of them looked up and snickered when Iggy slapped Gazzy's leg for him to move so Iggy could situate himself on the other side of the three. Gazzy grumbled and kicked Iggy halfheartedly as he scooted closer to Max. Max smiled as she looked around at her flock—minus one, maybe two—surrounding her. They hadn't gotten much time to be together in a long time. It was nice. Regardless of the fact that they weren't talking because of lack of sleep, it was still nice.

"Whose bright idea was it to sleep out here?" Iggy shivered and jabbed Max in the ankle.

She poked him back. "Whose bright idea was it to join me out here?"

"Ours," they answered her in unison, causing her to break out into a small fit of laughter.

"We couldn't leave you out here to freeze by yourself," Nudge reasoned, smiling up at Max.

Max hugged her tightly and sighed out of content. It'd been a long time since it'd just been her and her flock without the TV running or someone screaming at the top of their lungs because someone pulled the other one out of bed and onto the floor. Max felt warm all except for the cold spot on her legs. Angel. Why had they all woken up except for her? And Rae? Angel was always the one to claim the spot on Max's lap, and it felt weird to have the four of them sitting there without Angel. Oh well. She didn't want to wake up Angel just to have her sleep outside with them and freeze their butts off. She was worrying about nothing.

"Max?" Iggy whispered.

"Yeah?" she lowered her voice to a whisper when she saw Nudge and Gazzy sound asleep.

"Everything okay? When you came back you seemed pretty pissed…"

Max inwardly groaned. Could she not escape from thinking of him for two seconds? Yes? No? Maybe?

"Well I was pretty pissed," She admitted. "We finally had it out and what we had to say wasn't pleasing to either of us."

"What'd he say?"

"Basically that he left because he was tired of being on a team," Her dry throat threatened to betray her, but she kept her voice steady. "He wanted to experience things on his own without putting us in danger or being nagged not to do it because we wanted him one piece and to be okay. We were holding him down. I was holding him down. So he left. He left and he came back to keep us, me, safe."

She could feel the anger radiating off Iggy as he clenched his hands into fists at his side. She reached over and squeezed his shoulder, which calmed him down a bit.

"Ig?" she asked slowly. "What does Rae think about all of this? Fang?"

Iggy sighed and laughed without humor. "You know Rae. She still doesn't completely understand why we had to leave and what it has to do with Fang no matter how much I've explained it to her."

"What about Fang?" Max didn't want to hear what Rae thought about Fang; Rae had a wandering mind.

Iggy hesitated. "Rae…she doesn't get Fang. Or you, for that matter. After four years of being one of your best friends, she still doesn't really get you. She doesn't get…the whole you and Fang thing."

"What doesn't she get about it?"

"I don't know, Max," Iggy rubbed his sightless eyes with the palm of his hand. "You know Rae. She's irrational and crazy. Her mind gets set on things that are totally ridiculous and untrue."

They sat for a moment. Iggy couldn't be more right. Rae's mind was an odd one. She thought for a minute about the up and down sides of telling Iggy what Fang had said about Rae not being able to come along anymore. Better late then never, she decided.

"Iggy I don't think Rae can come along from here."

"What?" His blank eyes flipped towards her. "What are you talking about? I thought she wasn't in any danger from these people."

"They weren't," she told him. "But Fang thinks it's best she stays behind. Come on Iggy, you know she can't go along with us for very long without getting hurt. If we have to abandon the cars and fly, she can't come along. If we get in a car crash, we'll most likely sustain very minor injuries. Rae could be seriously hurt or even killed. Do you really want to risk that? Risk her life because you don't want to leave her behind? When all this is over, you can go back for her. If I know Rae she'll wait for you. She loves you too much to just give up on your relationship because you sent her back home for her own safety."

Iggy pondered it. He didn't want to send her back home, but he'd rather wait a few months to see her rather than have her get seriously injured or worse.

"I'll talk to her in the morning. She can take Fang's truck back because we obviously need the space."

Max grinned and awkwardly leaned over Gazzy's sleeping form to give Iggy a side hug. Iggy punched her softly in the arm and closed his eyes for the night. Max tried to sleep, but couldn't. There was too much on her mind for her to even think about sleep. The irony caused a small laugh to flee from her lips.

She scanned her surroundings out of hold habit. The wind had stopped a few minutes ago. Not even a small breeze disturbed the water in the lake before her, which she found odd because just minutes before the wind was softly swaying through the trees. Something movie a few feet away caught her eye. A small figure was moving towards the woods. The soft blonde hair blew in the wind, giving away who it was. Max disentangled herself from the three sleepy bodies around her and leapt over the side of the truck.

"Angel!" she yelled in a whisper.

Angel turned to look at her and put her finger to her lips, annoyed.

"What are you doing?" Max reached her and crouched down like Angel was.

"I thought I saw something," Angel said, peering into the trees. "It looked like…"

"Who?" Max turned Angel to face her. "Who'd it look like?"

"Total," Angel glanced to the ground, sighing.

Max's face saddened. She knelt down in front of Angel and smoothed back her hair. "Angel…Total's gone sweetie. He died a year ago. You know that."

"He didn't die!" she yelled, tears flowing from her eyes. "He fell! He could still be alive!"

"Maybe you're right," she smoothed back Angel's hair and pulled her into a hug. "Go back to sleep Angel. It's been a long day and--"

Max froze when she felt Angel stiffen. She pulled back and glanced up at Angel. Her eyes were wide, hands clenched at her sides. She looked like she was in pain.

"Angel?" Max gently shook her shoulders, but Angel wouldn't move. "Angel, what's wrong?"

Angel let out a scream and buckled over into Max's lap, clutching her head.

"Angel!" Max screeched. She wrapped her arms around Angel and held her close. Angel was crying and wailing in Max's arms. It looked exactly like what Max felt like doing whenever she got a brain attack.

"No!" Max yelled. "Not her! Stop it!"

Leave her alone! Max mentally howled at the voice, wherever it was. Not her!

"Max!" Angel screamed, gripping onto Max's shirt.

"What's going on?" Gazzy, Nudge and Iggy ran over.

"I don't know!" she shouted back. "Angel, look at me! Look at me!"

Angel's strained eyes met Max's, her breathing coming out in rasps. Her face was pale and sweat was rolling down her face. Her tiny body was curled up, shaking like a leaf as Max held her.

"What's wrong with her?" Gazzy said weakly. "What's wrong with my sister?"

"Max…" Then Angel slipped into unconsciousness.

"Angel? Angel!" Max hugged her body close, anger waving through her.

She shakily got to her feet, hugging Angel closely.

"What happened, Max?" Iggy asked when Max gently passed Angel over to him.

"I don't know," she snapped. "She said she thought she saw someone in the forest and thought it was Total so she got up to look. The next thing I know, she freezes and starts screaming and holding her head."

"She said she saw someone?" Nudge held Angel's small hand in her own and had an arm wrapped around a crying Gazzy.

"I'm going to find Fang," Max let out a breath. "Pack up everything up in the SUV and someone stay with Angel. When I get back, we're leaving."