Oookay, SeaSaltChoco here, with some shout outs first:

Veggie1.0– I apologize. Profoundly. (am I a geek or wat?) anyway. I suppose u could say "everyone's doing it!" ever since the famous Diary of a Lovesick Mutant. Next time I'll go wallow in pity while munching on ice cream, it is summer after all. Send me a pint of Ben 'n' Jerry's and wondrous things could happen… :)

beaverperson – Sorry. I'm just writing without thinking. When I read I always store interesting or funny or whatever parts in the back of my mind and when I write a lot of them come out without me realizing it. So, I guess I'm sorta kinda copying…. But not really. :)

minnesota413 – yeah, sorry so sloppy. Its hard catching all the mistakes when a) the mess-up actually is a word so spellcheck doesn't catch it and b) you expect it to say something so to your eye, it does. Thanks for writing me! :)

mayllotypego689– thanx. Really. You're the only person who really told me to "keep going"… it means a lot to me. :)

sorry i'm being so picky– um, yeah, about that… I'm sure JP or whoever would have come up with a totally cooler and Max-like way to deal with it, but my excuse is: mebbe since Max was just talking to Fang, when she heard the voice, she automatically responded, while subconsciously knowing it wasn't him. I mean, if you had stopped to ASK her, "hey Max, was that Fang?" she probably woulda been like, "wait. No. …HEY! Its my Voice!" but yeah. :) hope that makes it a bit more understandable….

TWENTY BILLION CARTONS OF BEN 'N' JERRY'S FOR YOU ALL WHO REVIEWED! (supplied, kindly, by aforementioned "veggie" – isn't that sweet of her? Mwa-ha-ha!) I REALLY APPRECIATE IT, WHETHER YOU'RE TELLING ME I SUCK AND NEED TO FIX A, B, C, D, E, F, G AND H PROBLEMS OR WHETHER YOU'RE TELLING ME TO KEEP IT UP! THANK YOU!

I 3 long reviews too, so... if you're up to it…. +waggles eyebrows+

So, without further ado, ENJOY!

Oh wait. I forgot. What should I call myself? "SeaSaltChocolate", while one reviewer said it was a good name ( thanx, you!) is insufferably long. Soo… your new goal: help me come up with a nickname!

-SSC

Oh yeah, the disclaimer: I. Do. +munch munch+ Not. Own. +chew chew+ Maximum. +swallow+ Ride. (ps, I was eating ice cream. 10 points if you can guess what brand.)

Chapter Two

I think it would be appropriate to say, all dramatic-like, that "I couldn't sleep that night", but in reality, I was deep in dreamland. My Voice was back! Oh okay, okay. So it's back. I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. I need to get my beauty rest.

The next morning, I wasted no time in telling the Flock about my Voice's reappearance (or re-soundance, if that's a word.)

"So," I began, tearing into a piece of hot bacon dripping with grease, "last night, after I washed out my head wound-" –Gazzy and Iggy snickered here, and I shot them Max's Glare Of Doom – "-my Voice came back. He said we need to leave home as soon as possible." I finished my bacon and had started into a stack of pancakes about a foot high before noticing that everyone had fallen silent. "What? What?"

Nudge had what looked suspiciously like tears in her eyes. "Max, we have a HOME. We have a FAMILY. We're, like, normal. How can we just… just… give it up?" I was shocked, partly because number one, Nudge spoke only four sentences before willingly stopping, and two, weren't we already a family?

"Nudge…" I said slowly, "WE are a family. Me and you and Angel and Gazzy and Iggy and Fang. I mean, yeah, of course Mom and Ella are family too but… We can always be a family together- the six of us- the Flock. Can't we?"

Mom added, "Don't worry Nudge, if you do decide to leave, you can always come back after kicking some Itex butt." I think it was Mom's "kicking some Itex butt" that got to Nudge the most.

"Yeah, you're right Dr. M. I just… just…"

I smiled knowingly and walked around the table to give Nudge a hug. "Didn't want to lose it?" I finished for her. She smiled and nodded. Turning and looking at the rest of the Flock, I raised an eyebrow. "Well? Whaddaya say? Ready to go 'kick some Itex butt'?" Angel smiled, Gazzy and Iggy high-fived and whispered something about testing a new chemical compound – I really didn't want to know – and Fang sat there and looked cool. Ah, that was my Fang. Cool, calm, and collected. Emotionless brick wall – usually. But I knew there was something else under that layer, something stronger. Love.

We all stood and I put my fist in the middle of the table. The rest of the Flock stacked theirs on top and we all tapped. I turned to Mom.

"Mom…" she was smiling, a sad smile, but one that said she understood what we had to do.

"Max, I know you. I know you're going to go into this full force and do what you have to do. You'll meet it head on. You'll risk your life if you have to. But Max… please, don't take unnecessary risks. I'm so glad you came and saved Ella on that day; otherwise, we might never have met. I love you, Max." I felt tears spark. No. I don't cry. I will not cry. I ran to Mom and smashed into a hug.

"Love you too, Mom. I promise we'll be back." She hugged me tight to her, and I felt her sadness in it. We broke apart when I heard light footsteps behind us. It was Ella.

"…Max? You're leaving?" she started at me from across the room, eyes wide and accusing. "Max, you're my sister! You can't leave! You practically just got here!"

"I'm sorry, Ells…" and I was. I felt bad about leaving her behind, I really did – Ella was almost part of the Flock. But that was the problem: the almost. She didn't have wings, and I knew she couldn't come with us. It broke my heart.

"You said- you said-" she sniffed loudly. "You said that you'd be my sister forever!"

I started walking toward her. "Ella, I AM your sister, and I always will be! This is just something that the Flock and I need to do. Please understand!"

She backed away from me.

"Please, Ella! You're one of my best friends; I can't stand leaving knowing you're mad at me!" I saw, to my horror, tears welling up in her eyes, spilling over.

"You PROMISED, Max! You SAID!" And she ran from the room. I stood, frozen in the doorway. What had I done? Was this the right thing to do? The Flock was willing, and Mom said she understood, but….

Don't worry, Max. You're doing the right thing. I promise.

Oh, shut up, Voice. I really don't need this right now. I rubbed my temples. Why can't you ever come when you're needed instead? There was no response.I traipsed upstairs and, after getting no response when knocking on Ella's door, turned into my and Angel's room to start packing. She was nearly done.

"Are you okay, Max?" she asked, looking up at me sweetly.

I smiled. "Yes honey, thanks."

She zipped her backpack and stood. "I'm going to go say 'bye to Dr. M. She's really sad." I nodded. She walked out of the room, looking more like a dancer with her easy, light steps than the mutant bird kid she was. I sighed and started to pull clothes from my drawer and stuff them in my bag. There was a light knock on the door, and then it creaked open. I sat on the bed and began putting my "liveables" into my pack. Pocket knife, check. Hair binder, check. Hey, a girl's gotta keep her hair outta her eyes while flying SOMEhow. I was examining my can opener when it suddenly disappeared from my hand. Looking up, I saw Fang. My heart stuttered oddly. Shut it!

"Yo," I said, attempting to sound casual. "All packed?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yep." I plucked the can opener from his hands and our fingers brushed lightly. I felt my face heat up. Crap, crap, crap. I hastily began shoving the rest of my stuff into random pockets, trying not to look at Fang. Suddenly, he spoke.

"Max." I jumped.

"What?"

"Don't worry, Max. You're doing the right thing. It's gonna be okay. It IS. Alright?" My breath caught in my throat. How had he known those were just the words I'd been needing to hear? He could read me so easily. To my humiliation, I felt tears gather in my eyes.

"Are-" my voice caught and I had to start over, "Are you sure? It's just that Ella's all upset, and Angel said Mom is really sad, I and I know Nudge doesn't want to leave, not really, she's only doing it because she knows we need to-" Here I stopped, because Fang had clamped a rough hand over my mouth.

"You're starting to sound like her." He paused and flashed me a small grin before continuing,

" That's why we do something, Max. Not because we want to, because we need to. Did we want to go to the School to get Angel back? No. But we had to, to get her back. Did we want to go to Europe to stop Itex? No. But we had to: the situation was perilous. Did we want to go into a tiny, cramped sub that made us really claustrophobic? No, but we wouldn't have gotten your mom back otherwise.

"You see, Max? We need to do these things. We have no choice. You haven't led us wrong before, and you won't now. We have faith in you, Max." He paused to take a breath, and I realized it was one of the longest speeches I had ever heard from Fang. Somehow, it helped. Helped immensely. I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them, everything looked bright and clear again. Did I really just say that?

"Right. Yeah, you're right. We need to get going." On impulse, I leaned over and gave Fang a great big hug. For a second he was stiff, but then he relaxed and hugged me back. "Thanks, Fang."

Standing, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then walked briskly out of the room, backpack in hand. I poked my head into Nudge and Ella's room. Ella was sitting on the bed, as though she had been waiting for me. She started to talk, and it all came out in one big rush.

"Max I'm really really sorry I was so mean I was just jealous I didn't mean it I'm just going to miss you all so please please forgive me?" I laughed.

"Of course, Ella. And we're really gonna miss you too. Hug?" We hugged quickly, and when I pulled away I saw she had tears in her eyes. Hm, I thought, must be spreading. "Love you! Bye!" and I turned and ran from the room. In the kitchen, the Flock was assembled, waiting for me.

"Alright guys, lets do this!" everyone cheered, and we walked toward the door. I was the last one out, and right before taking off, turned around and saw Ella and Mom by the door, leaning on each other. "Bye!" I mouthed, "We'll be back!" and with that, I leapt into the air, unfolding my wings and pushing hard to get up to where the Flock was waiting for me in the bright blue sky.

End of Chappie 2

Sorry for stealing the whole "Glare of Doom" thing, but it seemed to fit right in with the story so perfectly… please don't give me flack about it, +ahem+ DOALM person… jk. And yes to anyone about to ask I DO chew my ice cream. Its usually freezer burnt, what with my bro and sis leaving it out alla time… and hopefully next chappie things will *spice up* a little.