I'm so sorry for the horribly late update... Last week was like a disaster week for me – everything went wrong!
I hope people like this chapter!

Fang POV: Nine months later, also

My eyes wandered and found Angel's big blue ones, that were staring intently at me, through the tears in her eyes. Beside me, Max was clutching tightly to Gazzy who was shaking with sobs and Angel was clutching to Iggy's hand as though it was a life preserver and she was sinking in the ocean. Only I was alone. My hands were clenched into fists as I breathed in the crisp, fresh air around me and let my thoughts shift to a topic I had forbidden myself to think of when surrounded by people, no matter who those people were: Nudge.

Today was the year anniversary of her death and we –The Flock- had flown to the meadow where we had the, uh memorial service (?) for her last year. The sky was blue and clear, hopefully a sign for the year ahead. We were all dealing with her death in our own individual ways; Angel and Gazzy spent more time just with each other or just alone, just thinking, as Angel had told me once. Max mothered them more now, as if she wanted to protect them every second of the day (I couldn't blame her... I felt that way too) and she sometimes would look lost with a foreign expression of longing and sadness visible only in her eyes.

Iggy would deny it at any cost but I knew the truth, he had loved Nudge. Even now, he had dreams about her and would wake up sweating and with a crazed look on his face, as if he had seen her alive but in a terrible place. I knew he was dreaming about Nudge by the look in his eyes, the intense love for one person, so much love that you would do anything just to keep that person safe and happy. I kept quiet when he woke from these dreams, knowing from experience that he would try and brush it off and scoff at me, saying I was 'imagining things' and to 'go back to sleep and leave me alone!' His hands after these dreams would be clenched into fists and his body tense and stiff, as if he really had seen terrible things believed the dreams were true.

My mistake once was asking Angel what he saw in these infamous dreams, if they were really about Nudge. She had come away shaking and crying, whispering softly, 'He can see her, Fang. Like, really see her, like he's there... In the School with her, suffering along with her, believing she's alive.' I had gathered her into a hug and explained that Nudge really was dead, though my mind had sped away from logic and started coming up with ridiculous case scenarios where Nudge had actually survived.

I stood there, in the meadow with the perfect weather and scenery, and opened the floodgates of memories involving Nudge. The result was crippling, my mind overflowed with thoughts, mental pictures and treasured memories of her. I let out a cry and dropped to my knees, burying my head in my hands, trying to extinguish the pain that came with remembering. It's not that I didn't want to remember... Just if I had thoughts of Nudge in my head all day, I would get lost in them, and drop my guard, making us the perfect target for any of our enemies.

At least one of us had to be alert all the time and I had silently stepped up to that job, vowing to always protect my family from danger. I had sworn to myself, after that night, I would save the others from everything, to do what I had failed to do with Nudge. My shoulders shook as I let my emotions out silently, trying to remember exactly what brand of shampoo had been her favourite, what shade of pink she had wanted to decorate her room, determined not to let any tiny details escape my minds. I felt Max's gentle touch on my back and I slowly stood, shaking off the feeling of misgiving that had settled on my conscience whenever I thought about that night.

The others looked at my closed off face that showed dried tear tracks and seemed to disintegrate at the sight of me losing control. Angel and Gaz broke down into sobs and ran to me, clinging to me as I picked them both up, one in each arm. Iggy and Max moved close and suddenly we were all crying, for the sister we had lost far too soon, all of us together as a proper Flock. All mashed together, I realised something... That no matter how far apart we would ever be or how many other people (humans) get added into our messed up equation, it all comes back to just us. The Flock.

We slept in the meadow that night, too sad and empty to fly back to Dr. M's house. I wouldn't call it home. Home was back in the E-house, all of us together, when things were simple and no complications messed up our lives. We crashed in the trees that surrounded the meadow and it brought me back to when we were on the run, when Nudge used to fuss and rant about having no hot showers for days, talk constantly and fix any holes we got in our clothes with a little handy sewing kit she had practically worshipped. I stared at the stars, wishing things could go back to normal, where kids like us didn't have to deal with whitecoat murderers and wolf men who will come and kill your little sister, messing up your whole family, in a second without batting an eyelid.

But for us that will never be the case. We are freaks born and bred, destined to a life as outcasts and misfits, never to fit into society. Ugh... Why is my life so messed up! I was finally granted with the gift of a dreamless sleep and, thankfully, a secure branch that did not break under my weight.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of deliciously greasy fast food. Perfect. My stomach rumbled as I tumbled out of the tree and ran unsteadily towards the food that was screaming at me to 'eat me, eat me!' I couldn't let all the perfect food down, so, being the perfect citizen, I shovelled a good few hamburgers, lots of fries and a couple of milkshakes down without any guilt. We sat around out 'camp' for around an hour in silence, waiting for someone to make the tiring decision to head back.

At last Max slowly stood, her eyes weary and full of pain, 'We should head back guys, I want to be back before dark.' Her words were carefully said and heavy with regret. Regret about what had happened and regret for the future, the future without Nudge. No one moved and my dark eyes met hers beautiful brown ones, seeing right through the carefully calculated mask she had arranged, seeing right through to her soul. I glanced at the others, taking note of the immense sadness and pain in their faces that was barely concealed, and stood up too.

Max didn't resist when in one swift movement; I had her in my arms. I kissed her full on the mouth, letting out all my emotions, and just holding her tight to my body. I felt her pain radiating out from her soul in agonizing waves, her silky hair was tumbling down her shoulders in glossy waves and she smelled like Max: a hint of vanilla ice-cream, mixed in with creamy chocolate. She was mine.

I glanced up and saw Angel and Gazzy talking quietly, their heads bent towards each other. Iggy was staring straight ahead, tears spilling over his blue eyes, his hands clenched in fists. I motioned at him to Max and watched her eyes become clouded with worry and her forehead crease with worry lines. 'We're just going for a quick walk, okay?' I called out, the others nodding numbly in agreement. I grabbed Max's hand and practically dragged her into the surrounding woods, my legs working quickly to cover distance.

I finally stopped, collapsing from weariness on a tree stump, pulling Max onto my lap as I sat. She gazed quizzically at me as I started to speak, but did not interrupt. 'I'm worried about Ig...' I finally blurted out, 'He seems so much more different and I think he may believe Nudge is still, you know, alive after all this time.' My word rang out in the small forest, making me cringe back from them; they seemed so much more real and solid in the mid-morning air.

'I know what you mean. I've noticed it too, hell, how could you not notice it? I don't know what to do about it without hurting him... It's so hard on all of us, but, Iggy... He takes everything differently.' Max's hands were nervously playing with mine, her eyes closed in frustration. I dropped my head into her hair and sighed. It was all happening too fast and I was getting left behind.

Just as I opened my mouth to speak, a scream of pure terror split the cool afternoon air. Angel. Another yell of fear joined it and my heart almost skipped a beat as I recognised the Gasman's voice, and then my heart really did skip a beat (or three) when I heard their screams be cut off suddenly. In the space of two seconds, Max and I were on our feet and full out sprinting towards the meadow, not even needing to look at each other. I pushed my stride out, willing myself to go faster. To prevent the same thing from happening. I couldn't let that happen, not again. I'd never be able to live with myself again.

My heart was literally in my mouth as I heard Iggy curse like crazy and Angel's screams of pain. My feet were flying over the ground, my eyes focused on one thing only: Save my family. I could feel Max's body beside me, her breaths coming out in short gasps, her hair flying out like a golden cape behind her. My eyes were full of murder and my body ready to kill as I burst into the meadow, my mouth set in a steady line, my heart hardened and in battle-mode.

I stormed into the meadow, which now looked more like a battle-field to me, and felt Max freeze beside me. The sight was so wrong and different to what it had been just twenty minutes ago, it made me choke and want to scream and shout with pain, anger and resentment for them and my life. They had found us. Once again, we had been added into a twisted equation without knowing. I hate my life.

They're here...

Nudge POV:

The world was black. My hands fiddled with wires and I was leaning against a tree trunk. My eyes felt open and I could feel a cool breeze blowing, making my eyes sting when I tried to force them open to see... But I was still seeing black. My body was moving without me having to think about it and as I messed with the wires, my mouth began to hum a soft tune. I must have known the song, as my hands put down the wires and stuff and started to drum the air.

What the H-e-double-hockey-sticks (A/N: Sorry... I couldn't resist!) was going on?! Why wasn't I in control of myself? How did I escape the School? Where was Collin? Was I blind now? What th-

Then it hit me... I was (somehow) in Iggy's head. He loved that tune; he used to hum it everywhere. Well, until I decked him one time because it was getting on my nerves (For the record, he punched me back and we got in a fist fight that Max had to break up with the help of Fang). It explained the blindness and the whole not-having-control-of-anything thing that seemed to be going on. But how did I get here? I didn't even want to be here, I hated the Flock, they betrayed me. I wanted nothing more than to be back with Collin, even if that meant back in the School.

I decided it was a dream and decided to try and wake up. After several moments of chanting 'Wake up, wake up, wake up...', I concluded that I was stuck here until my dream ended. Great... I had been Iggy's mind for around an hour, just counting down the minutes till it was all over, when things suddenly changed. I heard a weird buzzing and what seemed like thousands of footsteps, which was odd, seeing as I had only heard two other sets of footsteps before. What was going on?

Iggy jumped to his feet, his mouth barking orders I didn't listen to. I was focused on the fact that I could hear Angel whimpering and Gazzy shifting from foot to foot. Then, I felt myself (which really was Iggy...) being grabbed from behind and I started screaming. Iggy's mouth opened and instead of a terrified scream, a flow of swear words came tumbling out like a waterfall. The mystery people pinned my arms behind my back and shoved something into my (Iggy's) stomach.

Angel and Gazzy started screaming then and I felt an immense pain blooming in my gut. My heart was breaking, I hated them but I didn't want them to be hurt. I wanted them to be hurt emotionally, not physically. I wanted to hurt them. I twisted and fought to get out of Ig's mind, I didn't want to 'see' them go through this. I wanted to still be mad at them and hate them, not end up in one of their minds and be trapped there while who knows what happened.

I was screaming and crying, kicking and punching at nothing. But then nothing became something and the light came back. I felt myself being restrained and I screamed louder, glad I was back again. 'Wh-Nudge! Stop fighting me, it's me. Nudge!' My hands flew out and caught his shoulders, gripping them so tightly my knuckles were aching.

I stared at his face without really seeing it, still half in the dream. 'Iggy? Iggy! Iggy...' My reaction was unexpected, to both me and the boy. My fist swung back on its own accord and caught him in the jaw, my other one already punching him in the stomach. I tried to leap up, only to be stopped by a crippling pain in my head. 'Wha- my head!' I collapsed back down and curled into a ball, moaning and clutching my head. I was surprised to feel a bandage going the whole way around my head, another on my outstretched wing.

The boy scrambled over me, checking the bandages and babbling on at me. I couldn't hear his words though, I was captivated by his face, the face I had mistaken for Iggy's that was gazing worriedly down at me now. His jaw was already beginning to swell and I could see numerous other bruises and cuts along his body, his torso (he was shirtless) was muscled for his age and his hair was tousled, making him look all bad-boy. 'Nudge... Do you know who I am now?'

'You're... You're... Collin. That's it, that's your name.' I felt really dizzy and the room was rocking and spinning. Weird... Collin started to help me over so I could lean against the wall but something was troubling me. 'Collin... Iggy! Where is he?' I needed to see Iggy, to be able feel and touch him with my hands, to make sure he was alright. My heart was screaming at me to find him, but my mind was reminding me that he betrayed me. Iggy left you here... He doesn't care about some worthless loser... Leave him alone... Focus on your own life... You swore to hate them... I did though. I hated them with all my body and soul but somehow, a tiny piece of me still longed for Iggy.

'Nudge... I think you're getting confused, we tried to escape yesterday but we got caught and you got knocked unconscious with a giant metal bar –sorry about that- but Iggy' He spat the name out like it was poison, 'has never been here. You must have been having some sort of weird dream... Are you okay?' I nodded yes and relaxed against the wall. My head was killing me (hopefully not literally) and I could feel my bones complaining at me.

Collin had just settled beside me and we were sitting in silence, not the awkward one you have with strangers but a comfortable one, when the door flew open. I didn't even have time to react I was so exhausted, but Collin was in front of me within a second, his body shielding me from the trespassers. Before they had a chance to speak, it was obvious from the looks I was getting that they were here for me, Collin cut in. 'No.' They laughed a bit and went to dodge him, heading straight for me.

I whimpered in pain as the big one caught hold of me, watching almost in slow-motion as Collin reeled round and caught him in the back with a savage kick. The whitecoat yelled in pain and whirled around to face my hero who resembled a scrawny puppy beside him. 'No.' Collin repeated, 'Take me instead, just leave Nudge here and don't hurt her.'

I went to protest but the second whitecoat spoke up, giving the other one a look. Like, a look look. 'Okay, you want to come out and play with the big boys? Fine, just remember it was your choice...' He swung Collin onto his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and started to march out. I screamed and tried to stand, ignoring the dizziness and pain. I managed a few steps and ended up on the floor again.

'Nudge! Nudge, I'll be fine... Don't worry. Hey! You won't hurt her will you? Will you?!' Collin's voice went all scary at the end and he started to punch and kick the shoulder he was draped across.

'Fine, we won't hurt her... this time. We can't say the same for you though!'

'No! Collin come-' But the door was slammed in my face and my pleas were desperate. Now everything I had was gone. If they didn't bring him back, there would be hell to pay... In my weakened state, I tried to conjure up the purple flames that had once destroyed a whole wall. I only managed to light my finger alight with the purple energy. The energy fizzled out fast as my energy faded and I felt the emptiness that always came when the beautiful gift left.

I needed Collin more than he could ever realise, he was my only reason for staying alive in this place. That, and revenge....

Well... How was it? I'm sorry if it's too depressing, I started out with the intention of making this a happy chapter but when my fingers touched the keyboard, somehow it changed!
Thanks for all the amazing reviews... Imaginary cookies and pancakes to all the awesome reviewers! I'm having a small bit of writers block so please REVIEW and tell me what you liked/disliked/want to see more of... I really need your help!
I'll try and update as soon as possible but reviews make me go faster!

Peace out fanfiction-ers!