A/N: Yeah, I know, it's been a while. Feel free to yell at me. On the plus side, I do have the next chapter typed out.

My awesome reviewers:
What? - Thanks! :)
YourMoosyFate - Yeah, everything was so exciting with the Wolf guys. And you'll see who sent the message in the next chapter, I think...
Shahz- Seriously, thanks for still supporting me. And you'll just have to wait and see what's going to happen... ;)
Fang Raven - Yep, I sometimes feel the need to whack my friends with something too. And let me know if anyone's out of character, because Fang and Max's POV are actually the hardest for me. Thanks!
Toxic Rain42 - Before. It was supposed to be the reason Fang left. Sorry that part wasn't very clear. :)
JASPERxHALE-YES - You'll have to wait and see... :D
Purple Nails - Thank you so so much! I believe you are my newest reviewer! And yes, Fang did see the note before he left. I think this is a long chapter, but my chapters tend to shrink when they're moved from Microsoft to here.

Okay, onward to Chapter 8:

Nudge's POV

Angel had wanted to sneak into the boys' room during the night, and I had kinda wanted to too, but I didn't want to hurt Ella's feelings. Or worry her with a sudden disappearance.

Angel and I had woken up early out of habit, but Ella was still asleep, when suddenly we heard Iggy yell some very bad words. The kind of words that wouldn't have been said if Max was around.

"So what?! The BLIND guy is in charge now?! Well that's just freaking great!" Iggy continued to shout. What was wrong? Fang was in charge, did something happen to Fang?

Ella sat up groggily, very different from the way Max trained us to wake up in emergency. "What's goin' on?" She asked sleepily, alarmed.

"I don't know," I said already running toward the room, Angel at my side. Oh God, we already lost Max, what if Fang was gone too? I didn't know what we'd do. Iggy was really awesome and strong even though he was blind, but he was never really a leader type of person.

Angel and I burst through the door, and Iggy turned toward us, looking really angry.

Scanning the room, I took note of everything, like Max taught us to. The window was open, but it didn't look like a fight had been in here. Total and the Gasman were just sitting on the bed, staring at Fang's laptop, and Akila was sitting by Iggy's feet. Fang was gone.

"What happened to Fang? What's wrong Iggy?" A horrible thought crossed my mind. "Did Fang decide he didn't want to stay with us? Did he leave?"

That couldn't be true. Fang loved us, like Max, although he didn't say it or show it like Max did. But why would Iggy be so mad?

Angel just looked at Gazzy. It must be so nice to read minds and know what's going on instantly.

"Someone tell me what's happening!" I demanded.

"Fang went off to save Max!" Iggy answered angrily. "And of course we'd only slow him down. Of course we'd only get in the way. 'Cause Fang is Superman, able to do everything himself!"

Wait, whaaat?! "Fang went to save Max, by himself? He just went off alone? But how would he even know where Max is? Why wouldn't he at least tell us?"

Total barked angrily. Total must be really mad, since he's barking, not talking.

"I thought we were passed this splitting up thing," Iggy muttered.

"I say we go after him," Gazzy said unexpectedly. Dr. Martinez and Ella suddenly showed up, wanting to know what was wrong, but we ignored them.

"Fang will probably need our help, whatever he thinks," the Gasman continued. "And we should be there. The coordinates are here, in the message. It shouldn't be too hard."

"Fang's gone?" Max's mom asked us sharply.

Iggy smiled slowly, startling us all. "Yeah. And we're going to be right behind him."

Iggy's POV

The five (we convinced Total to leave Akila) of us were sitting in an plane, heading to the capital of North Carolina. Angel already knew the drill, thank God: Convince everyone it was normal for a dog to have its own seat and meals, get us all three meals each, make sure none of the passengers were trying to kill us, etc. Good thing, 'cause I wouldn't have thought of all that. Dr. M had actually paid for our trip. How had she gotten the money? From Jeb apparently. So I wasn't complaining.

Okay, so I was a little nervous. I was in charge of the younger ones, and although Angel and Gazzy were very supportive, I could tell Nudge was a little reluctant. Speaking of Nudge, or more like Nudge eternally speaking-

"Isn't that so weird though? How the message is just like the one Fang got before? Like, it's untraceable and we can't respond to it and all. So is it from the same person? Although they were wrong before because Angel wasn't actually a traitor. What if they're wrong now?"

Then we were screwed.

"Nudge, can it, please," I said shortly.

Look, I wasn't an expert at this being in charge business.

Nudge huffed loudly in annoyance.

I felt a flutter of panic. What was I even doing? I was blind, for heaven's sake! I was leading the kids plus a dog to help out Fang. Heck, Total would probably be a better leader than me. I was probably going to run into Max and Fang on their way back, looking like a complete idiot. Who was I going to rescue?

"You're doing the right thing," came Angel's reassuring voice. I sighed. I was being comforted by one of the kids I was supposed to be taking care of.

"Max has doubts too, you know," she went on. I snorted. Yeah, Max not knowing what to do. Right. She always had a plan.

"And lies when she doesn't have one," Angel said in a softer voice so the others wouldn't hear us. "Remember that day on the beach? When Max had cut herself? She isn't always a perfect leader."

"Yeah. She was stressed though, because she's always the boss, and on top of that, she's supposed to save the world," I said back to her, but that memory still bothered me. Max was usually so tightly in control, that hardly any of us realized how much everything was getting to her. Max was always just there, taking care of us.

I was starting to respect Max more, the way she handled things, but there was no way I'd tell her that.

"And you won't tell her either, right Ange?"

"'Course not, Iggy," the little mind reader said sweetly.

Right then, a familiar scent, or more like stink, drifted across the interior of the plane. Nudge groaned, and I heard passengers start to complain.

"Gasser," I hissed. Couldn't he like, hold it in or something?

"Sorry," he answered sheepishly, while Total growled in irritation.

This was going to be a long ride.

Max's POV

I couldn't sleep, as I'm sure you can imagine. I was banging my head against the wall, doing this sort of "My flock is safe" chant, trying not to go insane. Or maybe I already was. Did it really matter?

The flock is safe, the flock is safe, I repeated over and over in my head. I was interrupted by a robot entering the room. So, the 24 hours were over, were they? Just a guess, because sadly, the 'bot wasn't carrying any food with it.

I was once again escorted to the Director's room. I performed my usual scan, but I doubted there was anything I could use that could penetrate that weird skin.

The Director gave a big smile as she saw me, her 'skin' bending strangely around her mouth. "So, Max, I assume you've given some serious thought and consideration to the offer I presented you with?"

Uh... if performing a listless chant means giving 'serious thought and consideration'…

"Yes," I said as professionally as I could. "But if I am to work with you, I need to agree with what you're working with. I need to know what your plan for the world is."

What can I say? I was a curious little birdy. Maybe if I could find a way to escape later, or somehow contact Fang, I could let them know what was going on.

Fang… I felt my throat tighten, but carefully arranged my features so I looked interested in the whole 'destroy the world' plan.

The Director smiled in a satisfied way. "Of course. It's very simple and similar to other plans before mine. Those that are strong enough to live are the ones that will live. I am sure you have heard of the term 'survival of the fittest'? Those who are weak will perish."

I was getting extreme déjà vu. The former Director had the same ideas: perfect world with perfect people yada yada yada. So Steel Woman had a slightly different idea. Still completely insane.

"And the ones who deserve to live will be able to live, without being dragged down by pathetic humans," I said as smartly as I could. I was an amazing actress. It was almost kind of fun.

The Director nodded in agreement. "You see the brilliance of my plan."

More like lunacy.

"So you see Max, if you help me, we can own the world, make it better. We would not destroy it. We would live freely and strongly. We'd be powerful."

What, so we could conquer the aliens?

"Maximum Ride," the Director said, looking at me with her creepy black eyes. "Will you help me?"

A/N: Oooh, so what will Max say?

And hey, hopefully you all have already, but if you haven't SIGN ST. FANG OF BOREDOM'S PETITION against Kristen Stewert and Robert Pattinson playing Max and Fang in the movie. They're both too old and don't look the part.

But anyways, review please! Or go to Saint's profile and sign the petition. Or do both, that would be nice.