Capri's Note: I'm back. Review please, and there is more to come. I promise.

Chapter Eleven

Sweet home Texas. They'd made it to Fang's safe house, a fact he only revealed once they were pulling onto the dirt path that would lead them there. Max was curled up in the back seat with Angel, sound asleep and unaware they had arrived. While the rest of the flock grabbed their bags and made their way into Fang's save house, or barn as Gazzy immediately called it, Fang gathered Angel into his arms and nudged Max awake.

"Mmm," she mumbled. "Where are we?"

"My safe house," he replied, pulling the seat up for her to climb out. "In Texas. We'll stay here tonight, and take off tomorrow morning for Mexico. The others are already inside."

"What is this place again?" Max stopped a few feet away from the door, and looked up at the old, run down barn that Fang called his safe house. The once red paint was faded into an almost brown color, and the wood looked rotten. It was surrounded by trees, and glancing back at the path she didn't really see how the SUV could have fit on such a small path.

"My safe house, been living here for years." Fang pushed open the door and allowed her to step in first.

The outside may have looked old, but the inside was a different story. It was amazing. Max looked around in awe. He had a kitchen built into a far corner, and next to that a very high tech looking work station. He even had a TV mounted on one of the walls, with a couch below it. It was all very intriguing, and very Fang. The upstairs, which could only be gotten to by ladder, was stocked with food, clothes, and even weapons. He'd obviously taken a lot of time and put in a lot of effort to make this place as safe as possible. As she wandered around, curious, she saw that the stalls were made into make shift bedrooms, each with a bed and small dresser. There were six of them, including his own.

"Fang?" she called, looking at the rooms. "Why are there six rooms? Were other people living here with you or something?"

"No," he cleared his throat, a tad embarrassed. "There's one room for every flock member. I, uh, decided to make it that way in case I ever found my way back, and somehow convinced you guys to come here, or in case of a crazy emergency like the one we're in."

That melted her heart just a little. He had missed them, and thought about them. She found herself smiling as she saw the flock make themselves at home. Gazzy, Nudge and Angel plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. Iggy made his way to the kitchen, and after a few minutes of feeling where everything was, he set to work making as much food as he could. He knew they were all starving.

Max continued to explore. She found herself wandering into Fang's room. It was messy, not like she expected anything less. There were articles and print outs stapled and taped to one side of the room. She scanned them until she found her way to his dresser. She froze when she saw the pictures he had taped above it.

Her eyes fell over the faces of the flock, old pictures, back when they were still a family, before anything went wrong in their lives. She picked up the picture he had laying on the top of his dresser. It was of the two of them. It was more recent, a few months before he left. It was one of those close moments between the two of them that was rare, but Nudge somehow managed to capture. She was leaning into his arms, their foreheads touching. They were smiling from ear to ear, looking right at each other. The first time she saw it after it was taken, she remembered thinking how cheesy and lovesick they looked. She remembered that exact moment perfectly. The flock wanted to go to the lake, so they all packed up and went. While everyone else was swimming and diving off the dock, Fang and Max were talking amongst themselves on the bank, and Fang spontaneously pulled her close.

That seemed like ages ago. She didn't even recognize the girl in the picture, who was so full of life and color. Her wings were so full and beautiful. It brought tears to her eyes thinking about how she used to be, and what she had become. She set the picture down before anyone caught her reminiscing and made her way outside to where Fang had the hood of the SUV popped open.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just making sure everything is okay, and will be okay when we leave it here for who knows how long."

"So we're really flying from here on out?" her wings twitched.

"Yes ma'am." He stood up and slammed the hood. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "Look, Max, I'm sorry about what happened at the diner. I was out of line, and I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." She offered him a small smile, which he returned.

He hopped up onto the hood and nodded towards the barn. "What do you think? Not too shabby, huh?"

"It's very…impressive." She relented. "How long did you work on it?"

"About three years, after I finally got away from Banks and the Shadows. It was hard work, but I like the turn out. Everything runs on generators, and it's completely off the grid, so there's no way of them finding us here."

"You sure about that?"

He gaped at her. "Are you really doubting me?"

She smirked. "Maybe."

He shook his head, grinning. "So little faith."

"Can you really blame me?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "No, I guess I can't."

She crossed her arms and nodded behind her. "Shall we? I can already smell Iggy's cooking and I want to beat the others to it before there's nothing left."

"I'm with you on that one." He hopped down and walked beside her back into the barn.

With him walking there, by her side, she couldn't help but smile at the familiarity of it all. She didn't know what would happen once they left, but she did know, and was finally able to admit to herself, that she was content, maybe even happy, with Fang there.