Thunder: Back Through the Rain – Chapter 18
By MyNameIsCAL
---Iggy's POV---
It's been a month now since Fang refused Jeb's house. He and Max have fallen back into being a couple again, or so it seemed most of the time. From time to time, Max would cross my mind, and I worried about her, but there wasn't much I could do. I could always rely on Ella or Nudge to distract me from thinking too much.
"A movie?" Ella raised an eyebrow. "But you can't see."
"So?" I replied. "It doesn't matter to me. I just gotta get out."
"Oh ok, well I'm sure Mom can drive us."
And in the next five minutes we were in the car, trying to decide which movie we were going to. The next few Friday nights went like this. Something I could look forward to each week.
---Max's POV---
I could see it in Fang's eyes that he was suffering. It had been his choice, firmly, that he wasn't going to be the reason that any of us would be put in danger. Whenever I tried to talk about it, I would get pushed away or the conversation would end in argument. We had gotten this far now and I didn't want to end up at square one again.
A month had gone by. Things seemed to be flowing smoothly again. Ella won Iggy back, Angel seemed to be staying out of our heads, and Gazzy was back to blowing things up. None of them seemed to be really concerned about Fang's condition or Itex possibly coming to attack us. Perhaps it was better that way.
As much as Fang was suffering, he seemed content with the way everything was happening. I got a half a smile out of him every now and then. There were a couple of occasions where he actually gave me a full genuine smile. It was like he was trying to make himself believe that nothing had happened at all before.
But we couldn't ignore the past.
A picture of Jeb appeared on the news one night as I sat in silence with Fang.
"Holy shit." Fang sat up straight.
We stared at the screen. Jeb had been killed. No doubt Itex was behind it. And Jeb was carrying Itex information, which the FBI now had a hold of.
"This could be our big break!" I pointed at the screen. "If the FBI finds out about Itex…"
Fang cut me off. "But the government was in on Itex's plans. What makes you think they won't cover this up?"
"But it's gone public now," I tried to reason.
He thought for a moment. "Maybe."
---Fang's POV---
I lay awake, Max tucked under my arm, head on my chest. My leg kept me up most of the time. But tonight, it was my thoughts keeping me awake. Jeb was dead. Would things have turned out differently if we had gone along with him? Or was Max right? Maybe his death wasn't a lost cause. Maybe it would open the public's eyes to everything.
Maybe I could get fixed after all.
I wouldn't get my hopes up though.
---Max's POV---
The FBI showed up the next day. I let the agent in and showed him to the kitchen.
"Are you Maximum Ride?" He asked as we made our way down the hall.
"Yes, I am."
"And you knew Jeb Batchelder?"
"Yes, I did."
He sat down at the table and opened up a file. "He left this for you."
The agent handed me a file, Jeb's scrawl with my name and Mom's address on it.
"Can I ask you something?" I put the letter down.
"Sure."
"Why are you really here?"
The agent laughed. "Well I thought you might want to open the letter first, but if you'd rather here hear why I came, then I'll tell you.
"Please do."
Fang appeared in the doorway. It looked like he had just woke up, leaning on his crutches heavily. After a moment, he took a seat next to me. The FBI agent didn't question Fang's presence.
"Jeb had a lengthy file, written with a lot of things about this organization called Itex. There was a letter at the end. It seemed like he wanted to send it out to someone to get help and I think he's lucky it ended up in my hands," the agent paused to examine our expressions. "We're leaking information about Jeb's killers, who we've determined are from Itex, hoping public disgust will help battle whatever government power that's helping Itex. In that letter I found on his computer, he also said to tell me to give you that envelope, which as far as I know, no one has read yet. He told the reader to find you and tell you that something is going to be done to stop them."
I had to process that for a moment. Fang spoke first. "How can we trust you?"
The agent looked taken aback. "Well, it's okay if you don't. I'll be in touch later. If you need anything, call me at this number."
He handed Fang a business card. "Keep an eye on the news."
And then the agent was gone.
---Fang's POV---
"Open the letter," I said to Max.
She picked up the envelope and opened it. The first page was titled Directions to Fang's Cure.
"Where is everyone?" she asked.
"I think Iggy is out with Ella and…"
She interrupted me. "We need to go."
"Go where, Max?"
"To get the one thing that's gonna stop your pain and suffering, Fang."
And then she was off, running to find the flock.
So this story was going a little slow. Perhaps it's time for just a little more action before I find someway to round it off to an end. And yes, I did read Fang. I believe someone asked me that in a review. It was, interesting, in many way. I have lots of thoughts on that book, heh. Anyway, thank you for reading.