A/N: Phew! Hey everyone! Sorry for the lateness of this chapter!! I've had writers block and I just kept putting off writing this, but I thought 'what the hell, its nearly Christmas,' Thankyou everyone who reveiwed and everyone else who keeps reading 'Freak'! (oh and woot for 100 reveiws!) Too many people to thank once again! It's not my best work but read it anyway! :P Merry Christmas all!
"Angel? You called her Angel!" Kith snorts, before letting out a hoot of laughter.
I feel as if the wind has been kicked out of me. My heart is racing and my cool, well constructed exterior is breaking up around me. The Flock, my Flock… are in cages next to me! Only a few walls of stone separated us! Questions swirl around in my head like a miniature tornado of thoughts. What are they doing here? Why did they come? Do they know I'm here? Is Max…? Oh god, I feel lightheaded.
"You're face is turning blue," Pup whispers to me.
Okay, breathing is good too. Deep breathes, Fang. In. Out. In. Out-
"It's none of your damn business, firball!" Iggy shouts at Kith, who sniggers lightly. I lean on the wall again, trying to get a grip. Pup stares at me anxiously. He has never seen me like this before; not a lot of people have.
During the last five years, I'd learnt to tame my emotions and calm the rage of my inner wolf. It isn't that I am a machine, void of all feelings; I'm just more careful. I have to be. My line of work doesn't exactly allow for a lot of sentiment. But mostly, I do it for myself. It gives me back the sense of control that I seem to lose to my lupine side.
"I like my name! There's nothing wrong with Angel, is there?" Angel asks, obviously turning to her cell mate questioningly.
"No sweetie, it's a lovely name. It suits you," Nudges smooth voice reassures her gently. I smile to myself, softly. Of course, they are both five years older, but they sound almost exactly how they had when I'd last spoke to them. Nudges voice was smoother, maybe; and Angel's a bit less high pitched. Other than that-
"Cooler than Ki-even. What kind of name is that, dogbreath?" a cracking voice sneers from the cell next to ours. It sounded as if the kid's voice was breaking. Is that… Gazzy? The realization dawns on me and sends my head spinning again, and I force myself to sit- or rather collapse, on the bench again.
I try to gain some composure, for Pup's sake. My unease seems to be putting him on edge. I give him a reassuring smile, and he returns it attentively. He turns away and wraps his hands around the bars of the cell, trying to get a better look outside.
"Watch it, lightweight. This puppy's bite is worse than its b… HEY! How come they stuck me in a cage with a dog?" Kith shouts seriously. "Look at this thing! It's barely even a mouthful! This puts a whole new spin on the term 'dog chow'. They do know us lupines eat regular food, right?"
"You better hope so, mate. No ones taking a bite out of me," a familiar gruff voice growls back. Even Total was here! As I stare down at the dirty stone floor, faint memories of the last time I'd seen them all together drift into my mind. The night after Ari's funeral; my last Eraser-less night.
"Holy be-jebus! It friggin' well talks!" Kith cries out, breaking my train of thoughts. I hold back a snort of laughter, and grin up at Pup whose eyes widen. I hear Total huff, and his toenails click on the stone floor as he trots away.
"Your dog talks?" Pup pipes up in awe.
I glance up at his face, and I realize he'd never seen a lot of other experiments. The base he'd grown up in only contained Erasers, and he'd never been deemed 'worthy' enough to join in on a retrieval mission outside of the facility. Save for me, he's never seen another experiment produced by Itexicon. No wonder the story of my Flock always fascinates him so much.
"Yes, I talk. I also speak for myself! And, I'm an important member of this team, damn it!" the black terrier huffs out self-righteously. Pup's face lights up with excitement.
"Wow! Do you fly with them as well?" Pup calls out.
"Of course I do! I have my own wings." Wow, new development. When did Total grow wings? Last time I'd seen him, he'd still been catching rides in Max's jacket. Things sure do change a lot in five years.
"You call those baby stumps wings? I've seen bigger feathers on a pigeon," Kith mutters cheekily and I hear Total growl at him, before mumbling something about them needing to unfurl.
Suddenly, our curious conversation is intermittent by a groan and a shuffle of feet.
"You're awake! Oh man, I thought they overdosed you!" the Gasman mutters, relief evident in his deep voice. I frown perplexedly. Who is he talking to? That was defiantly a male voice groaning. I hear a deep chuckle.
"They don't go easy on the tranqs. I'm good, Gas," a new voice from next door mutters reassuringly. The voice is familiar to me; I try to remember where I recognize it from. There is a sharp intake of breath from Amity's cell, and I glance up at her questioningly.
Rage shrouds her face and the knuckles on her fists are turning white on the bars she is gripping. Her usually calm composure loses out to her anger, and a low growl reverberates throughout the row of cells. Her normally warm navy blue eyes are now sending an ice cold glare directly into the cell next to mine.
"What are you doing in here?" she snarls darkly.
