Iggy POV:

I heard Max's wing beats before she reached us from my position on the ground. They sounded... slightly off, like they weren't in sync with the rest of her body somehow. I frowned, a feeling of unease settling in my empty stomach, my ridiculously hungry stomach. Something just felt wrong. I mean, apart from the unconscious part of our group.

Then I heard his voice, it sounded weirdly familiar. That kid from... the prison room thing! What was his name? I racked my brains, still slow and sleepy from the after effects of whatever Jeb was pumped into me. Co-Collin! I gave myself a mental pat on the back, I normally don't give a crap about random-ers' names, but obviously this dude was important if Max hadn't killed him yet.

Then I registered what he was saying. Well, screaming more like. Jeesh, does the guy have to be so freaking loud?, a tiny part of my mind was shouting, but it was drowned out by the rest of my head screaming danger!. Luckily, I always listen to the danger! part. When the guy finally shut up for long enough for me to think clearly, I heard the familiar sound that practically was the definition of danger for us birdkids.

'Erasers!' I yelled hoarsely, my voice dry and cracked. My fingers scrambled desperately across sharp rocks and dirt until they found their target: Nudge. I swept her up into my arms, clutching her tightly to my chest like she was a lifejacket, and I a drowning dude. Yeah, that's how much I need her. I calculated quickly how far away the Erasers where by concentrating on the echoes and other sound stuff... We still had time. Barely.

My feet pounded off the ground as I jumped straight into the air, taking no chances of Nudge getting hurt. I'd lost her once, and I didn't plan for it to happen again. Ever. I faintly registered the sound of Gaz and Angel rising up to join me as I hovered above what I assumed to be trees, but no Max. Crap. Then the harsh sound of fighting reached me, the thud of flesh against more flesh, the grinding of bones as people fell, the harsh grunting caused by extreme effort. This was really bad. I screamed Max's name in panic... why wasn't she following?

After too long, Max panted up to me, as if a great weight in her arms, her voice shaking as she called out my name, 'Iggy...' She was this close to weeping, her breaths shuddering and strained. I immediately flew to her, my blind eyes calculating where hers would be, looking her more or less in the eyes. 'T-take Fang and give me Nudge.'

Take Fang? Couldn't the dude fly by himself or was I just imagining the last fourteen years? But my question was answered when Max dumped this ridiculously heavy body in my arms, carefully extracting Nudge before she could become squished, leaving me to become accustomed to the new weight. Unfortunately, I had no idea what was going on, so I blanked and my wings froze for a few seconds.

I dropped a couple of metres, evidently coming into the sight of the Erasers, who started shooting at me with what sounded like a couple of machine guns. I snapped out of it fast, straining to lift me and Fang up to where the others were, a bullet grazing my leg. I struggled up to Max, confusion and pain written all over my face, blood trickling down my leg.

'I'll explain later, Ig, for now just follow Collin, guys!' Max ordered, seeing the question in my eyes, a slight tremor to her usually unbreakable voice. I cast a desperate glance over to where I could hear the Gasman's low breaths, but then, getting no reply, I just tried to focus on not dropping out of the sky. Every second was a struggle to stay airborne, every beat of my wings making me more and more weary. And we hadn't even started to fly anywhere yet!

I heard Gazzy activate one of our bombs through my haze of pain, a small smile appearing on my tired face as the boom! echoed through my sensitive ears. The heat of the blast seared my face, though it felt soothing to me, clearing my mind, making me gasp with the sudden energy that flowed through me. Explosions made me feel... strangely alive. I was ready.

'Bank right, Ig, and stay west. Let's go guys!' We set off at a fast pace, one that I struggled to keep up with. Fang was lifeless in my arms, heavy as heck, and as silent as... well, he's always pretty quiet, so nothing was really different in that aspect. I rolled my shoulders, my arms cramping from holding Fang under the arms for around an hour. I really hoped he didn't wake up when we were in the air; he was going to be seriously freaked if he opened his eyes and saw his feet dangling into space.

On the other hand, if he did decide to let his consciousness make an appearance, he could fly himself... I retreated into my thoughts, fantasising about fast food, milkshakes, hot girls (mainly Nudge... okay, all Nudge), and more fast food. I was yanked out of my food fantasies by the Gasman yelling in my ear, trying to be heard over the wind that whipped around us constantly, 'We're landing now!'

I nodded once, listening to hear Max's body start to angle downwards, copying her movements. I dropped Fang the second I hit the ground, feeling my arms tingle with pins and needles. Thank God, I was afraid I was gonna drop him in mid-air or something. I heard a groan a split second after he hit the ground, a pained moan that made Max stop in her tracks; she was on her way to look out for Collin.

'Fang?' I asked carefully, getting a grunt in return. There was silence as Max threw herself down beside him, practically crying with relief. 'You mean I carried halfway across freaking America, and you were fine? You jerk!' I yelled at him, dry humour in my voice, but mixed with actual disbelief. 'I can't believe you,'

Max smacked me upside the head as she stood, after checking Fang over for any fatal injuries, going to look for Collin, satisfied that Fang was marginally okay. 'I'm sorry, Ig. If I had been conscious, I would have flown myself, man,' Fang croaked at me as I searched my pockets once again for any morsel of food. Dang, still nothing...

'Damn straight, you should be sorry. You owe me, dude,' I sighed heavily, running a hand through my hair that was sticking up unnaturally. Just as I was about to start foraging for nuts and berries, that's how hungry I was, Max's footsteps came walking back into the clearing, along with what I assumed were Collin's. I turned slightly, concentrating, trying to visualise what this "Collin" guy looked like.

He sounded kinda tall, heavy footsteps, his breathing indicated the fact that he was fit, his stride practically screamed confidence... and, let's face it, the fact that Max hadn't beaten him up yet showed that he had something to contribute. 'Fang! Are you okay, man? I mean, we fell a pretty long way, and then you weren't moving, and Max was freaking out, and then the Erasers came and—things were just crazy...' Collin gushed, his voice deep and worried.

'I'm fine.' Came Fang's short reply, his voice slightly strained. I cast a questioning glance his way, not that I would be able to see his response, heading over to Nudge's side. I sat down beside her thin body, smoothing down her wavy hair, remembering how it used to be an uncontrollable explosion of frizzy curls. My long fingers found her slender hand, and I held it, waiting.

There was silence for a few blissful minutes, before Max went off to the nearest town to buy a load of food with Collin, after finding money in of his pockets, leaving me to bandage up The Gasman and Angel's various cuts and scrapes. I even forced Fang to let me check him out, finding only a long cut that oozed blood on his back that was quickly bandaged. When he offered to wrap up my bullet wound and my other cuts and stuff, I refused him, turning away so he wouldn't see the pain I was in.

Then I gently checked Nudge, bandaging the cuts I could feel first, then consulting Angel to help me with the ones I couldn't. Finally, I wearily wrapped half of my t-shirt around my leg, wincing as I tied it tight, to make sure no more blood would escape.

By the time Max and Collin arrived back, the other girl, Lindsay, was stirring too, going into a panic until Collin ran over and whispered in her ear, holding her in his arms. My arms twitched towards Nudge, longing to sweep her up in my arms and hold her until she woke, but something seemed to hold me back. What if she loved someone else? Was there something happening between Nudge and Collin?

I wolfed down a couple of hot-dogs absentmindedly, taking the loaf of bread Gaz threw at me and shovelling it down, not even concentrating. Max nagged at me to act like a normal human being, but I just grabbed another bottle of a random fizzy drink, downing it in a minute, my unseeing eyes never leaving the place where I could feel Nudge lying beside me. The others joked and laughed, all ecstatic that we made it out alive, Lindsay never leaving Collin's side now that she knew he remembered.

Occasionally one of them would try and include me, trying to make me feel a bit better, but I ignored them, trying to picture the flames that danced around in my mind. I wanted to shake Nudge, to throw water on her, to so anything to get her to wake up so I could tell her how I feel. My hand squeezed hers, desperate to do anything to help her.

I heard Fang's footsteps heading my way, he sat down heavily beside me, ignoring the way I turned my head to indicate that I wanted to be alone. 'Go away,' I growled, tossing an empty soda bottle at him. He punched me lightly on the leg, clearing his throat softly.

'How's she doing?' He asked quietly, passing me a chocolate bar. I ran my fingers over the packaging, feeling the bright blue logo and the black print that I couldn't see. I shrugged, tossing it back to Fang, my appetite gone. Fang moved closer to Nudge, feeing her pulse and noting the bandages I had made from bits of my shirt. 'You love her, don't you?'

I just stared at him, my eyes showing the answer. He patted me on the back, and then left me to my thoughts, heading back to the others. Night came fast, with me offering to take first watch, despite Max's worries that I needed sleep. I promised her that I would wake her when I got tired, but we all knew that was a lie. I was going to stay up until Nudge woke up... however long that took.

So that's how I ended up lying on the soft grass, looking up where I assumed the stars must be, holding Nudge's hand as everyone else slept. I lay there for hours, my mind numb, my eyes dry, and my ears listening for any sounds that might indicate someone waking. Just as I was about to stand and stretch my legs, she moved.

I was frozen, unable to move as Nudge rubbed a hand over her eyes, her body shifting slightly. I listened as she slowly came round, murmuring to herself as she sat up. 'Nudge?' I whispered, hardly believing that this was really happening. I got a moan in response, the sound of her voice making me want to scream with joy.

'Ugh... Iggy? Is that you?' Her voice echoed around me, and I wrapped my arms around her, breathing in her wonderful scent that brought back memories of long ago, of my childhood, and of everything I loved about life. I breathed her name, loving the way it sounded in the crisp night.

And then I kissed her.

Max POV:

I woke up to the smell of bacon. My groggy mind registered the smell, and heard the sound of laughter and just general happiness. I sat up, seeing Iggy poking a dying fire, the rest of the Flock and Collin and Lindsay roasting marshmallows and making smores around it. I staggered over to them, still sleepy, before plonking myself down beside Fang, grabbing a marshmallow from one of the many bags that were scattered around us.

'Where did these come from?' I asked, noticing the way Nudge was casually leaning against Iggy, her eyes flickering towards him every few seconds, beside me. I made a mental note to grill them about it later, my mind focused on food first. I hugged Nudge briefly, glad she was okay, feeling her arms reach up and hug me back.

'We used the leftovers of the money Collin had in his pockets,' Lindsay said quietly, Collin's arms wrapped her, her blue eyes sparkling like diamonds. Her jet black wings were protruding from her loose hoodie, the feathers bloody but healthy looking, completely relaxed. Angel and the Gasman were messing around and joking with each other, Gazzy mushing a melted marshmallow into Angel's hair as she screamed and tried to push him away.

I sighed, playing with Fang's hair as Iggy whispered into Nudge's ear, making her burst out into an unfamiliar laugh. My heart gave a twinge of pain as I studied her, her blood streaked hair, her tall, skinny body that had changed so much, the way her face changed into an expression that I had never seen on her before. She had changed so much.

As I looked at my Flock, noticing the flakes of dirt and blood that covered them from head to foot, I made one of my snap decisions. 'Guys,' I said suddenly, loving the way Fang's arm snaked around my back and squeezed me tight, 'We're going swimming.'

Every head turned to me, confusion in their eyes. 'What the hell, Max?' Iggy asked, clearly questioning my sanity.

'I second Max's decision,' Angel said quietly, giving me an angelic smile as she pinned her brother to the ground. I winked at her as I started on my second smore, ignoring Gaz's cries for help.

'Look, basically you all smell. Really bad. And you're covered in blood and dirt. There's a lake a couple of km away, so I think it'd be a good way to get clean and have a bit of fun at the same time...' I trailed off as they all started to jump up and gather their things, excited. I grinned as I put out the fire, looking up and catching the glance Nudge and Iggy shared for a split second. I really needed to talk with them...

As we took off, Collin running beneath us, I kept an eye on Lindsay, making sure she knew how to fly. Thankfully, she knew exactly what she was doing, spinning and twirling around in the sky with Nudge like a graceful hawk. I swooped around in the sky, feeling like nothing could possibly stop me, leading the way to the lake I had spotted earlier.

It was deserted when we got there, the Gasman immediately pulling his wings in and dropping out of the sky, hitting the water with a loud splash!, soaking us all. We all screamed as he came shooting up towards us again, shaking his wet hair in Angel's face and dragging her down with him. She squealed, letting herself be pulled into the sparkling water with a tinkling laugh.

I smiled, watching my Flock all jump into the water, Collin and Lindsay fitting right in with them, everyone unwinding and just having fun. I dive-bombed, using my super speed to smash into the water at an incredible speed, my eyes shining with joy. We played games of tag and, for those of us who had developed the ability to breathe underwater, had an elaborate game of hide and seek underwater. Then we floated on our backs in the cool water in silence, wishing this day would never end.

But, like all good things in my life, it did, and we dragged our tired butts out of the water, collapsing in a circle, too tired to do anything. Finally, I sat up, shaking out my wet hair like a dog, and started to make a fire. We then finished the last of the marshmallows, a low hum of conversation surrounding our fire. I studied Nudge for a few minutes, noting the way she reacted to Iggy's light touch as he ripped up the last of one of his shirts to make more bandages, which he distributed amongst us.

I carefully wrapped the Gasman's cut from where a sharp rock had jutted into him, watching how Iggy insisted on checking and redressing all of Nudge's wounds, leaving his own until last. There was defiantly something going on there. I caught their eyes, jerking my head to indicate that I wanted to talk to them. We walked until we reached a tree stump, where Nudge sat, pulling Iggy down with her. I saw that look in her eyes again, the one that reminded me of how much she had changed since we'd lost her.

'We need to talk...'

So... What do you think? It took me ages to write this chapter, but I think it's okay... There's probably only going to be one more chapter, so if you have any suggestions, put them in a review and I'll try to include them :) That part at the end, where they went swimming, was for TheBoyWithTheBread who suggested it!

Thanks to the following for reviewing the last chapter:
HeartfeltAngel
TheBoyWithTheBread
nequam-tenshi
MaxandFang101
Sheenny
Howdy
lunareclipse3
You guys make me go really hyper when I get your reviews!

Peace Out,
addicted-2-oxygen

PS. I posted a new one-shot a couple of days ago, so check it out if you want to!