Hey! I meant to update sooner, but I've had a busy weekend. Sleepover + finally watching the epic finale of Doctor Who series six (AHHHH!) = tired, late updater.

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, I should probably mention that the ideas for my CC stories were conceived pre-Fang, so if you notice any incongruities between the canon and my story, then just know it's supposed to be like that.


6 – Blind Recollection

After practically scouring the entire state of Arizona looking for Ella, Iggy and Gazzy had fallen into a rut in their search-and-rescue plan. They had absolutely no idea where the Collectors—that's what people had started calling those big, dark super-soldiers—could have taken Ella. Heck, she could be on the moon for all they knew. The Collectors had a few little offices/bases scattered throughout the area, where they could fuel their trucks and received orders from their superiors, but none of them were built to hold prisoners long-term. Also, there weren't any computers in the Collector dens, so they didn't even have a network they could hack into.

They eventually gave up on that route of investigation and started following the Collector's trucks around, hoping that they would lead them somewhere useful. Some of the trucks stayed within a fifty mile perimeter, patrolling the area to keep the peace, but many of them, Iggy and Gazzy noticed, drove much farther than that, driving hundreds of miles away from their points of origin—all of them heading west or north-west. It was one of those west-bound trucks that they were following presently, hoping that it would lead them closer to Ella.

As they flew over the vast countryside, it became greatly apparent how much the world around them was changing. Gazzy described to Iggy everything he saw, from the air and from the towns he visited for supplies. Not only were the Collectors "collecting" people, but they were also taking things like weapons and computers, storing them in guarded junkyards until they could be destroyed or taken away. As well, civilians were now forbidden from driving cars, and Collectors were drafting people into large task forces that went from street to street, stripping any vehicle they came across of its tires and engine parts. The only vehicles allowed on the road now were the Collectors' transporter trucks.

"They've put up big chain link fences, like, everywhere," Gazzy observed, "it's like we're flying over a giant grid. They've even torn down buildings to put them up, like they didn't even care if someone's house or a school was in the way. And the sky is all blue and crackly; I heard people say it's 'cause there's a force field covering the entire continent." Each of those little grid squares was called a 'sector', and you weren't allowed to leave your sector unless you had permission from the Collectors—or you were a prisoner in the back of their truck. It seemed the Supremacy's strategy was to divide and conquer. After all, Iggy mused, if people can't move around or communicate, how are they supposed to organize and stand up to these psychos? And if there really was a force field stopping anyone from leaving the continent or coming to it, then there was little chance of the outside world intervening.

According to Gazzy, who ventured into nearby towns when they needed supplies and information, everyone's lives had been turned upside down. Most stores and businesses had been forcibly closed down, so the only employment available was with the Collectors' task forces, collecting illegal items or building new factories and facilities that were part of the Supremacy's "new civilization" plan.

"These Supremacy people have totally taken over with their clone army," Gazzy told Iggy, "it's like you can't even sneeze without getting arrested."

"Let alone go around being blind," he had muttered in response. The transporter they were tailing had seemingly stopped for the evening at a small outpost, so Iggy was setting up camp in the nearby woods while the Gasman flew to the nearest town to steal some food. He hated having to out in the woods while Gazzy ventured out on his own, but it was too dangerous for him to venture out into society now. There was a reward being offered to anyone who reported a "citizen with unique needs" to the Collectors, and considering how fast the average quality of life had dropped over the last few weeks, Iggy knew the towns' inhabitants would have little hesitation in turning him in.

With nothing to do and nobody to talk to, Iggy passed the time by aimlessly sifting through the contents of their backpacks. His and Gazzy's had almost the exact same stuff in them: clothes, blankets, first aid supplies, and a few explosives supplies. You know, just in case. Ella's had the same emergency supplies (minus the bombs), as well as some hygienic products that were more feminine in nature, but she'd also packed a few personal items—heirlooms and mementos and such. The kind of stuff you'd take with you if you were leaving home and not coming back.

The corner of Iggy's mouth quirked slightly as he ran his fingers over each item as he pulled them out of Ella's pack: family photos, a few shells and rocks, an old stuffed animal... Just then his fingers brushed against a velvety box sitting at the very bottom of the backpack. I wonder what this is. He pulled it out and opened it up, grasping gently at its contents. There were three rings inside of it, and after a moment of feeling them over Iggy recognized what they were.

The first one was Ella's grandma's antique engagement ring—Ella had shown it to him a couple times, gushing about how much she adored it. The other two, even though he had handled them far less, Iggy would recognize anywhere: they were Max's rings. The first one was the ring Fang had given her on their fifteenth birthday, the one with a birthstone in it. The second ring had also been given to her by Fang, but it wasn't a birthday present; it was her engagement ring. Iggy knew Max loved these rings—she loved just about anything Fang gave her—but she was always hesitant to wear them, scared they would get lost or damaged in an unexpected fight. Ella must have hung on to them for safekeeping when the Flock went to Seattle.

Iggy smiled as he put Ella's things back into the backpack. Max might've scolded Ella for taking up so much room with knickknacks and trinkets, but he didn't say anything when he had helped Ella pack her emergency bag and she passed up on adding extra supplies to leave room for a few keepsakes. It was something he'd always liked about Ella: she didn't always nitpick about what was impractical or unnecessary. The stuff she'd packed wasn't just about surviving, it was also about living. There was a difference between the two, as Iggy had learned over the years. That was one of the biggest differences between Ella and Max: Max always had survival at the front of her mind, observing and calculating and guarding her thoughts and emotions. Ella, on the other hand, just... lived. She wasn't afraid to relax or share her feelings or to just have fun. Iggy liked that about her; maybe he even envied her a little.

After all, most of his childhood had been spent just trying to stay alive, something that, compared to the rest of the Flock, Iggy wasn't the greatest at. There had always been pressure on him, on all of them, to be tough and efficient and to not let their weaknesses show, which is a lot harder to do when you have a major handicap. But being around the Martinezes, as well as having a peaceful spell this last couple of years, had made him realize how much he could do. He was good at just living; he could cook and play cards and crack jokes and goof off, just like any normal (albeit blind) teenager. It made him realize he wasn't as inferior as he'd always thought, comparing himself against a human scale of success instead of a mutant superhero one. Max and Fang's absence had only served to further his sense of self-sufficiency, since it meant they weren't around to assist him out or tell him what to do, and everyone else was too sullen and distracted to help the blind guy.

Iggy felt a pang in his heart. Max and Fang. They'd been gone for months now, and Iggy was beginning to wonder if they'd ever turn up. It was hard, not knowing what had happened to them. Fang was his brother and fellow dude, and Max… she was the mother he'd never had. She'd been the one who kept them alive when Jeb abandoned them, the one who always took the least food so the others would have more. She was the one who made them feel loved and kept them from going insane. He'd never loved Max the way Fang loved her, (if he had, Fang would've ripped out Iggy's kidneys and force-fed them back to him in a jealous rage) but ever since he was little Max had been a light in his ever darkened world. A world without Max seemed… impossible. At least, it had six months ago.

And yet here he was, standing on his own two feet. No Max to dictate his life to him, no Fang serving as co-enforcer, just plain old Iggy thinking and acting all by himself. It scared Iggy to even fathom it, but maybe… maybe he would be okay without them. Maybe he didn't need someone to parent him anymore. He was independent now, with a life outside of Max and the Flock.

Just then Iggy heard something swoop down over the tree tops, rustling branches. Wings folded, and a pair of footsteps landed heavily on the ground in front of him. "Hey Gazzy," he greeted, "Brought food?"

"Yeah," he replied, tossing Iggy a couple of plastic packets, "stole them from a Collector truck delivering supplies. These ones are made for the Collectors and not humans, so they got enough calories for us."

"Cool." Iggy tore open one of his packets and took a bite out of the chewy slab. It was bland and meaty—kind of like the Collectors who ate these things.

"I think they're getting suspicious," Gazzy said in between chews, "I mean, I've been trying to spread out so that I'm not taking supplies from just the towns the transporter stops at, but I hear them putting out warnings to look out for anyone unusual. I kept out of sight today, but just barely." A flicker of a grin filled his voice, "Boy, what I'd give to have Fang's stealth power right now..." then he grew quiet, realizing he'd just spoken on a taboo subject.

Iggy smiled slightly. "It's okay, Gazzy," he assured, "we should talk about them. I was thinking about them before you came back, actually."

Gazzy heaved a heavy sigh, sounding more stressed than a kid his age should be. "Sometimes I forget they're even gone. Like, I'll be doing something I shouldn't, and then I'll wonder why Max isn't getting after me, but then I remember…" he was quiet for a moment. Then, finally, he asked, "Iggy?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Max and Fang are alive?"

There was a painful seizing in Iggy's gut. "I really don't know anymore, Gaz," he admitted, "They've never been missing this long before, and then everything's gotten so messed up so fast with this Supremacy takeover stuff." Max never would've let something like this happen if she was okay.

"I know," Gazzy murmured disheartenedly, "I just… I wish we knew something. I hate not knowing what happened to them."

Shuffling over so that he was sitting next to him, Iggy put his arm around Gazzy and said, "Who knows, maybe Max and Fang will make a big comeback and save the world again."

"And if they don't?"

"Then we'll have to save the world for them." Iggy gave Gazzy a lopsided grin, and he swore he could hear him smiling back. "Things'll get better, Gazzy," he told his young friend, "They always do."

"Thanks Iggy," Gazzy said, sounding encouraged. Things stayed comfortably silent after that.