Hello Starshine! The Earth says HELLO!

Okay that was from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and its cool, kay? Sorry for the long wait, but the marking period was ending/I was lazy/I had no inspiration, ect. Yeah, so enjoy, and if you can REVIEW, that'd be awesome. But read and enjoy!

Oh and if its a bit confusing, it should be cleared up by the next chapter. Hopefully.

I was dimly aware of Fang's strong, lean arms holding me as he trudged back to our cell, guards in tow. I opened my eyes, previously closed simply because it was too much exertion to keep them open, and squinted at the brightness. The light reflected off of the suspiciously clean white walls, and I was relieved when we entered our still white but less light filled room. I heard an Eraser grumble about some "weird scientist," and "visiting," and "I don't know why we're bothering, one'll be gone by the end of the week," and then the door swished open and four pairs of footsteps pounded on the linoleum tile.

"Max! Fang!" Angel screamed, and I looked weakly toward her, still being held by Fang. He gently set me down on the floor, and I swayed but did not fall. Both of us were immediately embraced in the world's best group hug, and I couldn't help but be happy. Even for just a second, my family was together and happy, and that's all that I could ever want. Total was spinning around and nipping at our feet, saying "Hey guys, maybe we four-legged friends want in this hug too?" Iggy scooped them up, and we stayed like that for a while.

After hugging for minutes, but what only seemed like seconds to me, I pulled away and set myself on the floor. The Flock followed suit. A silence followed, broken by-who else?-Nudge.

"I'm so glad that Jeb made sure that we can stay with you two. Well, at least until…" Was the Nudge Channel off? Already? Ironically, I had wished millions of times for this moment, but never under these circumstances.

"So you two are just going along with Jeb? Like you can trust him?" Iggy was skeptical, of that I could tell. I had to say, I agreed with him. What if they just wanted one of us out of the way, so that they could use the Flock to their advantage?

"For now," Fang replied, his voice betraying no emotion. Only I could see the anxiety in his eyes. Angel scooted closer to me and plopped down on my lap. I began stroking her golden locks, limp with all the dirt from the capture just a day-was it only a day?-ago.

"But how can we stay together without you two? You're like our parents; we can't stick without you guys," Gazzy cried. My little trooper. He put up with so much, yet complained so little. Tears welled up in my eyes as I was overcome with the fact that I may never see my family this happy again.

"C'mon guys, we can't just give up! Max and Fang are not going to die, and we can be sure of it." A wide smile was spreading across his dirt streaked face. He had a plan. As eager as I was to hear it, I couldn't risk putting the only people that I had ever really and truly loved in danger.

"Guys, I don't-" I began, just as Gazzy said, "Let's hear it!"

Iggy explained his plan in full detail, and with each word, I felt more and more comforted. No one would need to be hurt after all. Well, unless the scientists didn't corporate, but he had an idea for that too. He had actually thought this true, and as far as I could tell, this was the best shot that Fang and I had to get out of here alive.

I looked at Fang and saw that he saw the same thing that I saw-hope. We could get out of this. Suddenly, I was jubilant, and happiness flowed through my veins. I embraced my Flock in another group hug, and we settled back to the floor.

Once we sensed that it was getting late, the little ones snuggled closer to Fang and I. We chatted about different things-the weather, how much evil scientists get on our nerves, whether we should go back to school or not-until one by one, Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Total, Akila, and finally Iggy fell asleep. I snuggled against Fang's warm chest and watched my family sleep peacefully.

"Do you think that Iggy's plan will work?" Fang murmured into my ear. His voice sent shivers up my spine, and his hands circling on my back were making me crazy. I leaned in closer and turned my face to his.

"I know it will," I stated confidently, and I touched my lips to his. He pulled me even closer to him, until there was no space between us, and deepened the kiss. I eagerly agreed, kissing him until we feared we would wake up the kids. Now that would have led us into an awkward situation.

As we were being dragged outside, I felt more and more confident that our plan would work. I was overjoyed-Fang and I could both stay with the Flock! Only a few things had to fall into place, and we were going to make sure that they all happened.

"Weeeeeelcome back, folks, for the second event in the Mutant Olympic Games! Today's event will be a show of strength and perseverance. Are you ready to show some muscle?" Yeesh. The emcee was really having a ball with this event. You could practically see the excitement beaming from his matted fur coat.

At that instant, I was practically shoved into a corner by about 10 Erasers. I knew better than to fight back, and saw that Fang was pushed into the opposite corner of me. Next to us were some weights-but not just your average, everyday 50 lbs. or so. No, these were about 250-850 lb. weights. And Fang and I were expected to lift these?

"Okay, please take your seats because the lift-off is about to begin! Get it? Life off? When they're flying, they take a lift-off, and now they're-mmmph!" It seems that someone else was getting as annoyed with the announcer as I was. I chuckled to myself and braced myself for some heavy lifting.

Both Fang and I easily lifted all the way up to 550 lbs. That's when I started getting tired. I can't give up yet, I thought, they might suspect something. I kept lifting as hard as I could. When I caught a glance of Fang, I could see the perspiration beading down his forehead, his ebony hair plastered to his hair. He looked absolutely beautiful-and also flat out tired. I decided enough was enough.

We were at the final weight-850 lbs. Fang lifted his with some difficulty. And then it was my turn. I gripped the rod, pulled upward…

And fell face down on the floor, the weight under me. I had no idea what I had done, but Fang had won the contest.

"Well, folks, it seems that Fang has won this one. Last event tomorrow, and it should be a showstopper!" Fang staggered over to me and leaned down so that his face was just above mine. I rolled toward him.

"Good job, Max. Hopefully tomorrow will go just as well." Fang whispered in my ear before getting up and yelling "Max, are you okay?"

I grinned to myself and got up. "Fine, Fang, thanks." The Flock came and joined us and, sharing secret grins, we walked back to our cell.

Part one of the plan had worked with no flaws. If Part two worked just as well, Fang and I would be home free.