Final part guys! Thank you for sticking with it for so long~ I hope you enjoy this last part. Also I thought I would tell you now but after this is finished, I will be starting a new story involving IggyxFang but in a CIRCCUS AU. Thanks again, Xaphrielle :P
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"I don't get it. Why do people say that funerals are nice? They're just sad." Fang rolled on his side towards Iggy and stoked his cheek before planting a kiss on his mouth.
"I don't think people meant it wasn't sad" said Iggy thoughtfully, returning the kiss. "Just that it was nice so many people came. You know, all Dr Roberts scientist friends, all the environmentalists and all. Maybe it made his mom feel better that he had those friends."
Fang recalled the broken little figure of Dr Robert's mom at his funeral. The flock had stayed for his funeral, not the memorial thing after. They were wary and edgy and had taken off soon after to come to this non-descript motel. It was perfect. Anonymous and ordinary.
"I don't think his mom will ever feel better" Fang said with certainty. "He was her son, she's always gonna miss him"
Iggy didn't respond, he just rolled onto his back and faced the ceiling.
"Oh crap – sorry Ig" Fang felt bad. "I didn't mean your mom and dad – I don't know, they're probably over it –not that they've forgotten you…" he was babbling.
"Hey it's okay" Iggy turned towards him. Apart from Max he was the only one who had ever tracked down his actual, probable parents. It hadn't gone well. Iggy smiled faintly.
"Anyhow, meeting my maybe mom and dad taught me something about my real family." He reached out a hand and stroked Fang's hair.
"Yeah?" Fang queried
"Uh huh, it taught me that my real family had been with me all along." Iggy leant forward and found Fang's lips with his own. Fang leaned into the kiss. Iggy pulled back a little and murmured,
"You've always been my family Fang, always."
"I love you Ig" breathed Fang.
"I know" Iggy replied, responding to Fang's kiss.
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Much later Iggy rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
"I'm gonna shower, you should too." He said reaching out a hand to feel his way across the room. "Max's mom will be here soon."
Fang watched him sleepily. Iggy was gradually making his way to the bathroom, partly from memory and mostly by feel.
"The door is more to your right" said Fang
Iggy altered his angle a little and found the bathroom, disappearing inside. Fang rolled back over for a few minutes more sleep.
He woke to Iggy shaking him gently.
"Hey Fang, we gotta go man" Iggy's hair was damp. Fang noticed groggily that it was getting really long for Iggy, almost to his shoulders. It no longer stood up in damp peaks.
"You need a haircut" he murmured
"So do you" countered Iggy
Fang's trendy New York haircut was long gone. His black hair now hung way past his shoulders, half way down his back.
"I know" Fang sat up and rubbed his eyes "Give me a minute to shower"
He suddenly realised that Iggy was walking around with no t- shirt on. His wings were half unfurled.
"Hey Ig" Fang said, "Be careful where you get your wings out" He glanced at the window, it was getting dark outside the light was on in the room. Someone might see in. He got up and pulled the blinds down.
"Damp wings" Iggy replied flapping them gently, he looked like a grounded angel. "Not comfortable if they're all damp Fang"
"I know" Fang kissed him briefly on the cheek. "Just be careful is all"
He headed for the shower and missed the confused scowl that Iggy sent after him
"Be careful of what?" he said crossly to Fang's retreating back.
Dr Martinez was meeting them in a diner further along the highway. The flock walked down, it was too obvious to fly here, and was still too early. There were lots of people about, the diner was crowded which was good. Far less obvious than if it had been half empty.
They crowded into a booth and ordered a stack of food. No point in being hungry. Dr Martinez looked tired and sad. Max wondered if she knew how Dr Roberts had felt about her, if she had felt the same. They would never get to find out now.
"What have you got?" Max asked as she ate her burger.
"This" Dr Martinez tapped a few keys on her laptop, a web page came up.
"What?" said Iggy
Fang read out what was on the screen to him
"Coming Home – Rehabilitation for offenders. What is this? Some kind of charity?"
"Uh huh" Dr Martinez nodded "It may be something or nothing, but it came up over and over. A Christian charity that takes ex-prisoners, for education, drugs programmes and such."
"Come Home to a loving and prayerful place with the Lord" Max read some more "It's not my thing, I admit. But why is it bad?"
Dr Martinez shrugged. "It might not be. But Dr Roberts…" she paused "Dr Roberts and I tracked prisoners that had gone missing, or not signed in for probation. There's a lot of missing people out there, but these ones….they all had things in common. All young, all male, all without families, and all of them spent time at this Coming Home place."
"You think it's a cover for our invisible friends?" asked Max
"It makes some sense" said Iggy "Those guys were just ordinary"
"No one to miss them, nowhere to go" added Fang "Perfect for experiments."
"That's horrible" said Nudge "Poor guys. Maybe they thought someone cared about them at last." Of all of the flock she was the most sensitive.
"We need to check it out for sure" said Max. "We need a way in"
"Their headquarters is back in New York" said Dr Martinez
"Back to the Big Apple so soon" observed Iggy.
"I'll go" Dylan volunteered at once. "I'm the oldest – kind of."
Fang looked at him pityingly, "Dyl no one will believe you are a young offender with that face."
"It's true" Max agreed. "Dylan you're just too – healthy looking."
Dylan's perfect brow furrowed into a scowl.
"Then it's me" said Fang
"I don't like the idea" Iggy said at once
"Ig we don't have many options do we? Gaz is too young."
"I could wear a fake beard!" said Gazzy hopefully
Iggy slumped back frowning. No one needed to say it, he couldn't do it. Not on his own. Being blind sucked sometimes.
"I still don't like it" he said defiantly.
Fang squeezed his hand. "Besides, I'm more dangerous looking than you." Which was true of course. Fang was beautiful, his narrow dark face and flowing black hair gave him the look of a fallen angel. He was beautiful like a vampire might be beautiful, and he could kill with about as much speed and accuracy. Anyone looking at him would easily believe that he could commit a crime.
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To Iggy's relief they returned to the apartment in New York where they had stayed before. It meant that he could skip the whole finding his way round thing. He remembered the layout from their last visit. They had flown themselves, arriving discreetly someway upstate where no one could see a whole flock of bird kids land. Then they took the train down into the City. As soon as they were settled in – which took about five minutes Iggy went to find Gazzy, he had his own little room. The only difference from last time was that now Fang shared Iggy's room, something he would never get tired of being pleased about.
"Gaz?" Iggy knocked on his door
"Yeah?" Gazzy dragged the door open
Iggy made his way carefully inside the room, experience had taught him that there was no room messier than Gazzy's .
"Hang on I'll move some stuff I er- kind of left out.." there was the sound of hurriedly gathered things being tossed into a cupboard or wardrobe.
Iggy moved cautiously to the bed and still managed to stub his toe on a large book left on the floor.
"Ow!" Iggy sat down cradled his injured toe "Gaz you need to be tidier man. Girls hate mess you know, when you get older these things are going to matter to you."
"But not yet!" said Gazzy firmly "Nudge was in here before nagging at me don't you do it too"
"It's not what I came for" Iggy reassured him he grinned in Gazzy's direction "We need supplies Gaz, don't you agree?"
"Yeah, totally!" Gazzy responded enthusiastically "Let's go now!"
It had bothered Iggy that for some time that he and the Gasman had not made any bombs or well…anything. If there was going to be a fight, and it looked like there was, they needed to be prepared.
"Let's see if that hardware store is still open" he got to his feet "I'll just get my stuff"
Five minutes after that he and Gazzy were walking several blocks to the hardware store, the old fashioned kind that was left over from some other time, when New York was a bunch of little neighbourhoods, when this now fancy part of town was poorer and people needed to fix their own stuff not call in a repair man.
The owner was an old Spanish man who was delighted to see them again.
"Ah! My young friends where you been? You come for new supplies huh?" He was under the impression that Gazzy did a lot of science projects for school.
"Hey Mr Gonzalez, we've been on vacation" lied Gazzy, well they sort of had really, the San Diego bit anyway. Not so much the invisible assassin bit.
"I got some great new things in" Mr Gonzalez waved expansively round his dusty shop. It was probably 1980 since he really had any new stock, he just moved it around a bit.
"An how are you?" he asked politely to Iggy "You helping your brother on his new project?"
"Ah, yeah sure" Iggy smiled in his general direction, he felt just slightly bad about fooling the old man, but they needed the supplies, and they would actually pay. Max had handed over a considerable sum of money out of the flock savings to Iggy when he asked for it. She knew as well as he did that they needed to be ready.
Gazzy took him round the store and they spent a happy hour arguing about what exactly to buy. Plenty of electrical tape and wire, they disagreed about what would make the very best detonators but in the end Gazzy bowed to Iggy's superior years and experience. They came out carrying several heavy bags each.
"Come back soon" called Mr Gonzalez after them happily, he had made more profit today than in the past few months combined, probably since last time they came.
Back at the apartment they took over the kitchen, Nudge protested loudly, she was trying a recipe for a face mask that seemed to involve boiling up various herbs, to Iggy it smelt like a mud patch and he told her so.
"Well don't come crying to me if you get a spot and want some help!" she huffed as she stomped out of the kitchen
Iggy felt his own face, "I don't have spots do I?" he asked Gazzy worriedly
"No, anyhow you'd feel them if you did Ig, Max had a ginormous one the other day, like an extra head growing or something" he said wickedly, she was nowhere around or she'd have killed him.
Iggy chortled and slapped a high five with Gazzy, if Fang were here he would just go all silent.
"let's get these bombs sorted" Iggy reached out a hand and felt across the table until his fingers found what he was searching for "Now this wire- we need to cover it in that plastic coating we got"
Gazzy handed him the thin plastic tubing and sat happily watching as Iggy expertly began to assemble the first bomb.
It was several hours later when tired but happy, they rose from the table, by now both Nudge and Angel had been in demanding to use the kitchen for it's proper purpose. Iggy was satisfied; he helped Gazzy stash away the products of their labour. Then he made his way over to the oven checking inside the refrigerator on the way.
"I'm gonna make a soup" he said pleased with the handfuls of vegetables he found inside.
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Once he had finished making his soup, Iggy went to look for Fang. He hadn't been with him all day. After he had checked their room, the lounge and the den, Max suddenly remembered that she had seen him go out. Iggy had a pretty good idea of where he had gone.
"You want me to come with you?" asked Max as she saw Iggy headed for the door, jacket on, cane in hand.
Iggy shook his head "No, I can do it."
"Sure" Max wouldn't push it, it was for Iggy to say when he wanted help.
Iggy headed down the street. He could make the few blocks on his own, he had done it a few times with Fang. He concentrated on keeping a measured pace, his echolocation helping him keep to the middle of the sidewalk and not wander into any walls or anything. It was very quiet, deserted even, just a few blocks had taken him into a less good neighbourhood, and although Iggy didn't know it, many of the buildings were semi derelict or under renovation.
The tap of his cane sounded loud in the quiet street. The traffic a distant hum several blocks over. Iggy was fairly certain it was very dark. The sounds had a different quality at night. He wasn't afraid of course. No one with his history could possibly be afraid of being alone in a dodgy neighbourhood at night. He reached a kerb and turned sharp right, checking that there were no obstacles in his way. He was maybe only a block from one of Fang's other favourite places.
Footsteps suddenly hurried behind him, half running. Iggy stopped and swung round as the man was almost on him.
"What do you want?" Iggy challenged
"Give me your money!" a young male voice replied, almost hissing with anxiety
Iggy smiled with relief, just a mugger "You're not invisible are you?" he asked
"Wha? Er – no! Just hand over what you got!" came the panicked voice "I got a knife!" the mugger added, suddenly realising that the blind kid wouldn't know.
Iggy nodded "Which hand?" he asked, almost politely
"Wha?" the mugger was flustered. Why wasn't the blind kid crying? Peeing himself in fear and emptying his pockets?
"Right hand, why? It's a wicked blade" He said threateningly "Want to feel it?"
"No thanks" said Iggy
The mugger was entirely unclear what happened next, but his blade was suddenly lying on the ground, and his right arm hung limply at his side. About a second later the pain hit.
"Fuck man!" he screamed "You broke my arm!"
Iggy sidestepped as he lurched forward. "Yeah I know. You were trying to attack me so it's your bad"
"Fuck! You nutter!" The pain was coming in waves. The mugger scrambled for his blade and picked it up with his left hand. "I'm gonna carve you up!" he snarled lunging at Iggy again.
Then Iggy wasn't there. Somehow in a heartbeat, less, the blind kid had got behind him. There was a sickening crack which the mugger realised was the sound of his own leg breaking. He crumpled to the sidewalk, the pain was so bad he threw up right there. He screamed in agony.
"You want me to call you an ambulance?" Unbelievably the blind kid was bending over him. He sounded concerned. The mugger couldn't speak as he rolled around weeping in pain.
Something was happening. A figure was coming down from the sky. Black hair flowing, black wings blotting out the one crappy street light. In some other life when the mugger wasn't a mugger, but a sweet boy with brown curls and wide brown eyes, he had been a catholic. So he knew what he was looking at, the Angel of Death had come for him. And he knew he wasn't hallucinating from the pain because the blind kid turned his head towards the angel,
"Hey" he said as the figure landed almost silently next to him.
The mugger whimpered in fear and confusion. The Angel of Death kissed the blind kid on the mouth. The blind kid didn't look like he was dying anytime soon, just kissed him back.
"Let him call you an ambulance" The angel advised.
The mugger nodded weakly and closed his eyes to block out the sight of the terrible beautiful angel leaning over him. He could hear the blind kid on his mobile calling 911. When he dared to look again, the blind kid had taken the angel's hand.
"Let's get out of here" he was saying
Then with no warning at all, he spread his own huge white wings edged with grey. The mugger let out another strangled whimper. He got it now. He was being given a second chance by this blonde angel, today was not his day to die. The young man turned his face to the sidewalk and wept. He muttered the only prayer he could remember.
"Hail Mary full of grace…"
He was going to get patched up in hospital; he was going to get clean; he was going to go home to his broken hearted mom and make everything up to her. He would be the best son a mom ever had, and he would be kind to his kid sister, and he would go back to Mass…and….Blue lights flashed and a siren wailed.
Unaware of the epiphany on the street behind them, Fang and Iggy took off into the night.
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Fang took Iggy a few blocks to a derelict apartment block. It was surrounded by a high wire fence .
"Fence about twelve foot high" Fang said "Razor wire on top"
He watched a little anxiously as Iggy took off and skimmed accurately over the top before coming down to land neatly on the other side.
"I know how high to fly Fang" Iggy said through the fence to him, guessing what he was thinking. "Have faith man"
Fang dipped his head acknowledging Iggy's complaint "Yeah, sorry"
Fang whipped over the fence himself and landed next to Iggy. Iggy reached out and took his hand, it was almost completely dark he was just a shadowy figure in the overgrown courtyard of the block.
"Where'd you want to go?" asked Iggy
"Here" Fang moved cautiously through the tumbled masonry, the broken glass and the weeds to the edge of an old wall. Iggy moved confidently with him, the dark of no consequence to him of course. He reached out to feel the edge of the wall and jumped up on to it sitting precisely on the corner.
"This is nice" he said and raised his head sniffing the air. "Smells like Nudge's face mask"
"What?" Fang was puzzled
"Weeds and mud" replied Iggy which still gave Fang no clue to what he was talking about.
"I just like the quiet" said Fang, "And the view"
Another view, this time out over the Hudson across to the Jersey Shore. Lights winked in the distance, planes came in low to the airport, and the river flowed rapidly past. Something splashed in the muddy river below them. Soon this whole area would be redeveloped and the little piece of wild garden would be gone.
Fang discovered and collected these places wherever they travelled, spaces to be alone, or to sit and think. Sometimes he only got to use them once, other times, like this place he came back over and over. Iggy knew some of them, and he knew what they meant to Fang even though he couldn't appreciate the views himself. He knew that Fang was most likely worried when he sought them out.
"So?" he asked quietly
Fang didn't say "So what?" he and Iggy were too old friends for that, as well as lovers.
"I'm going to that Coming Home place tomorrow" he said "Max and me, we discussed it earlier; you were building your bombs. Besides it's agreed anyhow." He meant there was nothing for Iggy to argue about.
Iggy nodded, Fang could barely see it.
"I wish I could come" he said instead
"I know you do Ig, but.."
"But I can't, I know" finished Iggy his frustration evident in his voice. "I just – I just…" Iggy paused thinking of how to say what he wanted to say.
"Does it bother you Fang?" Iggy asked at last "Being with me? Spending all your life with a blind person?"
"Don't say that!" Fang snapped angrily. "Why would you even say that? Ig, I did notice you were blind, before and after we got together actually. It doesn't bother me. It's just you."
"It's just" Iggy paused again "Sometimes I worry that you know- you'll get tired of working around it all the time. Wish you had a boyfriend that could do all the things you do. One that didn't need guiding everywhere. You know –just stuff, seeing stuff…"
"Yeah, I know what you mean" Fang said.
Iggy held his breath.
"It's like sometimes I worry about being a weird mutant hybrid freak. You know that you might prefer someone normal. Someone whose ass is not always nearly getting killed. Maybe you would like a boyfriend without giant wings" Fang went on "A guy with a regular family and who actually knew his own name. Not one he gave himself out of a vampire comic. It's weird what you worry about."
Iggy put his handover Fang's mouth to still the flow of words.
"Okay, I get it" he said, smiling somewhere over Fang's head.
"Ig, we are what we are" Fang said "We are mutant freaks, and you're a blind one on top of that. No one gets me like you do. No one ever will. That's enough for me."
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Fang walked up the steps of the old run down looking brown stone building. It was not one of the better parts of the city, but then any project which set itself up to deal with young offenders wasn't likely to have plush offices on Fifth Avenue. It was finally getting cold, the first proper chill of fall, Fang pulled his thin jacket round his shoulders. He had dressed for the part, wearing one of Iggy's rattier t – shirts a pair of faded jeans and a scruffy over- sized jacket that hid his wings. He wasn't going to pull off being a homeless kid just out of prison if they caught sight of them.
The reception area was dreary, tatty chairs and pale brown walls with a few supposedly inspirational posters tacked up. Trust in the Lord. My Rock and My Deliverance. He was in the right place.
"Can I help you?" The woman at the desk was as drab as the walls, weirdly dressed in the exact same shade of brown. She pushed her glasses higher up her nose.
"Erm –I- well my erm friend said I should come here." Fang had worked out his cover story beforehand.
"And who is your friend?" she sniffed and shuffled some papers on her desk.
"I er- I don't want to say" He scowled at her "He said you wouldn't ask nothing.." He turned as if to leave, calling her bluff
"No! Please sit down Mr er-" she said quickly. "Your friend is absolutely right we are here to help not to judge."
"Nick, just Nick" Fang slumped on a chair
"Okay, well Nick you just wait there a moment, we'll have someone out to see you right away." The woman picked up her phone dialled an internal number. "Hi it's Marge here, there's a young man here looking for the Lord"
"I'm not" Fang cut in he didn't think it likely that the usual clientele of this place would come fully paid up to religion. "My friend said you did food, a place to crash and stuff"
The woman smiled at him in a slightly patronising way.
"We do" she said "but we are all looking for the Lord whether we realise it or not"
"Whatever" Fang scowled.
He didn't have long to wait. Within a few minutes, as promised another door opened and a young man not much older than Fang himself stuck his head round the door. He was thin and unhealthy looking with pale skin covered in a fine rash of spots.
"Nick, come on through"
Fang followed him down a short corridor and into another smaller room with a couple more ratty chairs and a little table in it. There was already someone there, a young woman with limp brown hair glasses, and the same slightly patronising expression as the receptionist.
Fang sat in the chair the young man gestured to.
"Before we start" he said seriously "Christine and I want to pray"
"Er Okay.." Fang blinked, this was already giving him the wiggins. Were these people for real? They seemed like they were. He watched them bow their heads and ask the Lord for guidance and the strength to help him. Either this place was in fact the real deal and Dr Martinez had got it spectacularly wrong, or they were the world's best actors. Another thought occurred to him. What if they were the real deal, but the whole set up was phoney? Actually that made perfect sense. What better cover than to front up with people who really did think they were helping poor lost souls?
"I'm Ben" the man smiled at him in a sincere but slightly creepy way, "This is Christine. We're here to listen to you Nick, to hear your story." The pair of them sat back and smiled at him some more" Take as long as you need Nick"
"Well I don't have a story" said Fang "I was just told that you could give me a place to crash for a bit that's all. If you can't I'll go"
Ben raised a hand to stop him. "There's always a story Nick. But you can share what you want. Tell us why you're here."
"I told you. I want a place to crash"
"No, Ben means why New York? You have people here?" asked Christine.
Obviously not or why would he be here? Was she stupid or what?
But he stayed in character, bowed his head. "I had people here." He said "I guessed my mom might still be around the neighbourhood. But I went up there and asked and no one could say. It's not like I've seen her for like ever. It's no big deal" Fang frowned at them. That bit was actually true, he had never seen his mother.
Christine's face softened into lines of compassion, still patronising but she did seem genuine.
"It's Okay Nick. We've all been alone."
"You don't need to be anymore" added Ben "When I came here myself I didn't think that I could find a way out. But with love and the support of my friends here, I did." Ben smiled lovingly at Christine. "And I found a wife, can you believe it?"
Ben had come here from prison? That was news, and he hadn't been experimented on in some evil way then. Fang pondered this. He was beginning to think that Dr Martinez couldn't have got this right. Now his most pressing problem was going to be how he could get himself out of the situation. He could hardly say that he had just remembered an urgent appointment when he had just told them he knew no one and had nowhere to go.
"Perhaps I could just crash for the night?" he asked hopefully "Think things over?"
"We have something better for you Nick" Ben smiled benevolently "You've come at the exact right time. We have a bus taking the guys up to our country place tonight."
"You'll love it there Nick" Christine said" There's so much space, fresh air. It's beautiful upstate."
"What kind of place?" Fang queried. This brownstone wasn't the whole set up?
"It's our educational facility Nick." Ben went on "Sometimes a guy just needs a clean break you know? Out of the City, away from the drugs" he smiled creepily again "I know what it's like Nick. We can give you a fresh start, you can put the past behind you, get a job, anything you want."
Fang nodded "Can I think about it?"
"Have your evening meal with us Nick, the bus leaves at eight you can be on it."
Fang found himself sitting in their dining area not long after. Someone had made the effort to clean the place up a bit. The walls were painted white, there were plastic topped tables around the room and a serving hatch against one wall. He looked round, there were four other young men in there with him. Three looked like Ben, pale and hard bitten as if they hadn't had a good meal in ages. The last one a young and quite gook looking African American man seemed a bit drugged up, he had blood shot eyes and muttered fretfully to himself the whole while. He caught sight of Fang watching him and shuffled over to sit at the table with him.
"Food's alright man…" he said friendly enough. Fang flicked the briefest of smiles, he didn't want to actually encourage him.
When Fang went up to get his meal the man shuffled up to the hatch with him and came and sat right back down.
"You comin on the bus?" the man asked
"Dunno – maybe" Fang took a bite of the nameless brown mess on his plate, stew? He couldn't be sure but he had never been a fussy eater.
The man glanced around fearfully "You wanna run man" he advised in a whisper "get outta here while you can"
"Because?" Fang asked quietly, he didn't think the man was crazy or anything, maybe he just knew something.
"Because bad stuff will happen." The man nodded to himself. "Way bad you'll see."
"Are you going on the bus?" Fang asked
"Yeah, I'm goin this time."
"Why, if it's so bad?" Fang wanted to know
"Cos there ain't nothin for me no more. My cousin he went up there." He jerked his head in a northwards direction."An he don't come home, know what I'm saying?"
Fang thought he did. "Your cousin got….."
"I think he did yeah. He was like my brother man and I know he would come back if he could've. My mom, it broke her heart, she couldn't take no more. An I promised her an now she gone, I'm gonna keep that promise." His red eyes filled with tears. " I ain't don nothing with my life til now but I'm doin this" he nodded again, forgetting Fang was there.
Okay this changed things.
"Well" Fang patted the man's scrawny hand "I don't have that many choices right now myself so let's see what we see."
The man tugged his hand away. "An they say I'm crazy" he muttered.
Fang had an immediate problem as he gathered with the others to wait for the bus. He needed to let Max know that he was about to head upstate. No time or excuse to dash back to the apartment for an emergency planning meeting. He tried to send a text to Max from inside his pocket but Ben was hovering around and would hear the tell -tale beep of the sending signal. Besides what possible reason could Nick have for texting someone? He had already cleared his phone of every number and every contact in it before he got here. He didn't want to lead a trail back to the flock.
Instead Fang concentrated hard and sent the most focussed thought he could to Angel. Leaving New York right now- education place for invisible assassins?- tell Max.
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Since Fang had gone into the building earlier in the day Max had had the rest of the flock on a rota watching the building from the roof of the apartment block opposite. All day one or other of them had crouched on the roof hiding from view and staring at the door, waiting for some signal from Fang. As it got later the youngest kids were relieved of the duty and sent back to the apartment to be fed by Iggy. He was also relieved of Fang watching duties for obvious reasons.
Right now Nudge was huddled miserably behind a low parapet getting colder and getting hungry. Then for the first time all day there was action below. Nudge peered cautiously over the edge of the roof. A small group of people waited around by the front door, Nudge could clearly see Fang right at the front, clearly wanting to be seen. He knew one of them would be up there. As she watched, a small red bus pulled in to the sidewalk and all of the group climbed on board. Fang got on board last taking his time to look around and make sure Nudge had time to see the quick hand signal he sent her.
-Heading North- Tell Max to follow-
Nudge flew back as fast as she could to the apartment. By the time she arrived everyone else was sitting in the main room discussing their action plan. Angel had picked up Fang's message.
"Dylan you and Iggy follow Fang" Max said
"But.." Dylan went to protest, he wanted to stay with Max
Max shook her head silently and frowned at him.
"Iggy you've got enough stuff to take the place out if you need to?" She meant could he bomb the educational facility to smithereens if needed.
Iggy nodded, he was already on his feet and headed for the window. "Sure" he said "Dyl come on, no time to lose"
"What about you Max?" asked Dylan.
"We need to check out this place here first, see if it really is just a cover. I need Gazzy just in case. We'll follow."
"But.." said Dylan again.
"Dyl- we have to go!" Iggy was at the window his wings spread wide.
Dylan gave up the argument reminding himself that after all Iggy and him had totally saved Fang and Max once before. They could do stuff by themselves if they needed to.
"Okay" he pushed past Iggy and jumped spreading his own dark wings as he did so. "We need to go high and fast Ig" he called back "Don't want to be seen"
Iggy angled up steeply following the sound of Dylan's wings.
"Dyl- we need to go North" he reminded him, as Dylan's wing beats veered off towards New Jersey.
"Uh – yeah." Dylan replied dropping down to fly next to Iggy "Um which way is North Ig?"
"This way" Iggy angled round and headed the right way. It was too easy to forget that Dylan's knowledge was limited to just a few years experience in the world. "You just let me know when you can see the highway" he reassured Dylan "Remember Nudge said the bus was red, keep a look out for it."
They flew on for a few more minutes. Iggy was conscious that if they flew too high Dylan would never see the road, but if they went too low they could be seen themselves. There was no real danger that they would hit a skyscraper, even without Dylan Iggy could have flown round them on his own. But there was every chance that someone looking out of the window of a skyscraper would get the shock of their life.
He was relieved when they had left the city behind them,
"I see the highway now" Dylan called across, before it had just looked like a jumble of city roads to him.
"Can you see the bus?" Iggy hoped they hadn't overtaken it.
"No –yes! I think so!" Dylan said peering down. It was now dark and the lights of the cars were easy to follow not so easy to tell the colours of cars trucks and buses though. Fortunately Dylan had excellent eyesight, the best of anyone in the flock in fact. He dipped a little lower and narrowed his eyes. Yes it was definitely the right bus he was sure of it. Inside someone flicked a light on and the whole bus lit up for a moment, Fang was clearly visible. Of course he had done it, to give whoever was following the advantage. The light went off abruptly. But it had been enough for Dylan.
"Yeah, I got the right one" Dylan reassured Iggy
He looked across as Iggy flew strongly just a breath behind him. He wondered what it must be like to fly so fast totally in the dark, he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do it.
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The bus never stopped once on the way upstate as if, Iggy thought, they didn't want to give anyone on board the chance to change their mind and make a run for it. So he and Dylan were not exactly tired when the bus finally pulled off a country road and up a narrow track to the educational facility but they were hungry and ready for a rest. They had flown for several hours straight.
"What do you see?" Iggy called over to Dylan, they were circling in great slow loops over the side of a heavily wooded mountainside. Iggy could get a sense of the trees and the height of the slopes from his echolocation but the building was not as clear, the trees messed with the sound of the building below.
"It looks like just some big building" Dylan told him "Kind of run down, but quite modern, you know one of those places that's all glass and thin walls." Dylan considered his description. "It looks like a school" he finished unhelpfully.
"Okay" Iggy sighed "We're not going to be able to stay up here all night. Can you see anywhere we can rest up?"
Dylan looked round, from their vantage point he had a good view of this whole side of the mountain.
"Yeah" he said "There's like a clearing or something a way off, we can see the school from there." He narrowed his eyes "I think there's a hut or something in the clearing"
He angled down, Iggy followed more slowly waiting until he could actually hear Dylan land. It gave him the angle and distance he needed to land neatly, if it had been one of the others he would have trusted their directions but not Dylan, the guy probably didn't even know what an angle was.
Iggy reached out a hand towards Dylan, tilted his head and listened for the bounce of sound that told him where the hut was.
"This way?" he asked as he took a few steps.
"Yeah" Dylan took his arm and they walked together towards the little cabin. Dylan tried the door, to his surprise it opened, he had totally expected it to be locked.
"Hey, it's got bunk beds, a table, chairs and stuff" he flicked his torch round. "Even candles, great!" he moved to the shelf and went to pick a candle up.
"No candles!" said Iggy quickly, "We don't want anyone to know that we're here."
"Oh right" Dylan nodded "Sorry, I kind of forgot."
"Don't worry" Iggy moved further inside "We'll probably only be here a night. We can make do until we get the signal from Fang."
Iggy began to feel his way about the cabin getting the layout sorted in his head. Dylan watched him, keeping out of his way as Iggy trailed his hand along the walls feeling for the few bits of furniture. He wasn't sure how best to help him, he hadn't known Iggy all his life like the rest of the flock. Iggy seemed to be doing fine by himself though. He ran his hands across the bunk beds and the thin tatty mattresses.
"We can sleep here" he said satisfied
Dylan wrinkled hi nose "It's not very clean Ig, and there are no blankets or anything"
Iggy actually laughed at that. "Dylan you have to toughen up man! This is paradise compared to some of the places I've slept"
"It's cold though" complained Dylan
"That's what wings are for Dyl" Iggy stretched his out careful not to knock into anything. "Best insulation ever" he flapped slightly. "Don't tell me you never just slept under your own wings?"
Dylan shook his head forgetting that Iggy wouldn't see it. "Don't forget Ig I was brought up differently from you. I was well –looked after you know. Always had a great bed, good food.." he trailed off remembering "But I'll learn!" he added quickly "I want to learn!" Nothing mattered more to him than being part of the flock, even if it meant sleeping on a cold filthy mattress.
Iggy grinned at him "Of course you will Dyl" he reached out his hand and moved towards the door. "Come back outside with me, I want to be sure that you can see the institute from here."
They stood on the beaten up veranda "We have to wait for the signal from Fang" Iggy tilted his head listening hard "It might be anything."
"How will we know?" asked Dylan
"We just –will" said Iggy which confused Dylan more.
They sat outside long into the night and ate the sandwiches that Max had thoughtfully packed for them. Iggy carried another bag which he placed very carefully next to him where he sat. Dylan eyed it nervously, clearly bombs.
"There!" said Iggy suddenly. Dylan had started to doze and woke with a start.
"What?"
"The signal" said Iggy with conviction
"What?" repeated Dylan
"Hear that?" Iggy asked
Dylan listened "I don't hear anything" He really concentrated "Nothing, just trees, wind. What's that, an owl?"
Iggy shook his head "Not a real owl"
"How can you tell?" it sounded real enough to Dylan
Iggy smiled faintly in his direction "Dyl I'm blind I can hear like you see. I don't make mistakes about what I hear."
"Yeah, right" Dylan acknowledged.
"Fang wants to talk" Iggy stood up, spread his wings wide and simply leapt into the air.
"Wait Ig!" Dylan called as Iggy circled above him.
Dylan pounded across the clearing his wings beating frantically, he just about got enough lift to clear the tops of the nearest trees. What he would give to have wings like Iggy's.
Iggy led the way homing in on the repeated owl calls. He flew easily round the tress that edged the woods but wasn't sure as he dipped lower towards the institute if they could be seen, for all he knew they could be flying into a floodlit playing field.
"Will we be seen?" he called across to Dylan
"What?" Dylan was confused again
"I can't hear people, but are there lights or anything?"
"Uh no, it's dark Ig and we can land on the roof- I see Fang!" he said suddenly.
Iggy let Dylan guide him in, landing neatly on the flat roof a second after.
Iggy could barely breath as he waited for the sound of Fang coming towards them. There was a flurry of wings, Fang hadn't flown as much as taken a running jump towards him.
"Hey" Fang took both his hands and pulled him close for a kiss. Iggy melted against him and rested his head on Fang's shoulder.
"How are you?" Fang kissed the top of his bent head
"Okay" murmured Iggy "What about you?"
"Have you seen anything weird" asked Dylan. He was hanging back trying not to rain on their reunion parade.
"Not yet" Fang looked up "we only just got shown to our rooms a while ago, had to have a pep talk first about turning our lives round and getting a new opportunity and all." He pulled a face "At least we have our own rooms" he had been worried about how he would share a dorm with four other guys and hide the fact that he had fourteen foot wings, they squished down pretty tight but not so tight that he could wander around without a jacket on.
In response Iggy smiled and spread his own wings wide again and flapped them gently, "You must be beat, I know I am. That was a hard flight I thought they'd at least stop for a comfort break or something"
"Yeah" Fang nodded "No chance of getting off the ride. Listen," he let go of Iggy's hands," You get some rest and I'll do the same. Tomorrow I'll get a good look round the place. Come back up here as soon as it's dark and I may have more to tell you. I think this place is either totally the real deal, or there's something bad waiting to be found. Either way I'll know by tomorrow"
Iggy didn't point out that he had no idea when it got dark, Dylan could sort that bit out. Instead he leant back towards Fang for a last kiss, "Be careful Fang"
"You know I will" there was another flurry of wing beats as Fang disappeared over the edge of the building.
"Come on Dyl" Iggy took off and circled high while Dylan took a run off the roof.
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Fang spent a frustrating day not getting the opportunity to snoop round the institute like he would have hoped. First they had a breakfast, which was really rather good, Fang had seconds then thirds, no one seemed to mind. After that they all had to troop through to a big classroom for another pep talk. Another of the Coming Home staff, this one less weedy looking than Ben, a huge mean looking guy called Phil wept what seemed genuine tears as he told them all about how he had done murder and been a drug runner before coming here, and how he had now got his high school diploma, and was getting another diploma from college and was now working part time doing up people's gardens. It seemed weirder and weirder to Fang that this place was some cover for evil scientists, everyone he met seemed insanely happy and eager to convert them to the Lord.
Then there was lunch and in the afternoon he went with the others to do some tests. Not the evil experimental kind either, just reading, writing stuff like that so they could see what was the right group to put him in for the educational stuff. Fang deliberately fluffed as many answers as he could, he had a suspicion that he may do too well otherwise. Although none of the flock had much education, the odd bit of schooling aside, they were made to be smart. They could pick things up in no time. That was why that one time Iggy had had extra support for just one term at the high school he had learned to read Braille and Nudge had learned to speak fluent French after just the same term.
"You've not had much of an education" Christine smiled at him, she had been scoring the tests
"Uh no, not so much" Fang shrugged "I mostly skipped school you know"
"Yeah, well that's not going to be a problem" Christine smiled again, it was mostly her permanent expression "We have a class that's right for you. Like a beginners class."
"Okay, fine" Fang didn't care, he just wanted to have a bit of time on his own.
No chance as it turned out. He went straight to the class Christine mentioned, she was teaching it herself and spent an hour patiently going over the alphabet with him. Then it was dinner. The same African American guy from New York tracked him down and came and sat with him.
"How you getting on?" he asked amiably
"Okay" Fang replied carefully, he wasn't sure of this guy at all, but he did seem like the only one that might know what was going on. "I wish they'd just let us be though" he added "I mean I've not had any time to myself or anything. It's all classes and pep talks you know. " Fang yawned "I'm tired man"
The man nodded sympathetically "They won't" he said with certainty "Let you alone I mean" he looked round craftily "They keep you busy man, so you don't go poking around in case you don't like what you see"
"Like?" Fang pressed, but the man shook his head, he was scared.
"I'm jus looking for my cousin, like I said, if I get him I'm outta here. You should be too man."
"Why are you telling me this?" Fang asked
The man shrugged "Dunno, I jus like the look of you I guess. You remind me of myself, before – well everything. I'm Jude by the way."
"Nick"
"Well you jus take care Nick that's all" Jude flashed a brief smile and wandered off.
It was just before supper when Fang finally found the opportunity to sneak off. Probably figuring that the guys were exhausted from the endless round of classes and talks, the staff had gone off to a prayer meeting leaving the newly rehabilitated offenders watching the one ancient TV in the communal area. It didn't get any of the cable channels, and seemed to be stuck on public service TV. The others were too far gone to care and happily sat down on the various uncomfortable sofas and chairs to watch something about animal rescue in Australia.
Fang wandered out "Just need the can" he said to no one in particular.
As soon as he was out of the communal lounge he ran lightly down the corridor. At the end he ignored the stairs that led up to the bedrooms, he had been up there. Similarly he wasn't interested in heading back right towards the classrooms. To the left was a door that led to another wing of the institute, it was in darkness, and Fang decided to check it out.
"Can I help you Nick?" Phil had materialised out of nowhere
Fang yelped in surprise he had not heard him at all. "Just looking for the can" he said quickly
"That way" Phil pointed to the way he had come back towards the TV lounge
"Ah, Okay thanks. It all looked different in the dark" Fang headed back. When he glanced over his shoulder Phil was watching him with a very unchristian look on his face.
"There's something going on alright" Fang leant back against the door that led up to the roof. Just in case someone decided to come up onto the roof for some reason. "That Phil definitely did not want me poking around"
Iggy nodded thoughtfully "And there's the information Jude gave you, he is certain something happened to his cousin" He moved close to Fang took his hand, "This place is not all it appears to be"
"What will we do?" Dylan sat on the edge of the roof his wings tucked in but ready to fly. He was more anxious than usual without Max.
"We look round" replied Iggy with certainty "Right now".
The three of them glided silently down to the wing of the building Fang had already tried to explore. It was still in darkness. Even though it was now very late there were still lights on in other parts of the building. This wing, for some reason wasn't lit up.
"I reckon I can get this" Iggy felt across the locked door that led inside from the grounds. He produced a piece of wire from a pocket, jiggled it about a bit inside the lock, it snicked open.
"Woah, where'd you learn to pick locks?" Dylan was impressed
Iggy gave him a smile scowl "I could pick locks when I was five Dyl."
They crept inside the building and headed down the silent dark corridor. Iggy trailed a hand along one wall head tilted to catch any sound at all. Fang and Dylan were a step behind him.
"It's just empty" Dylan said
"No" Iggy corrected him "It's not, can hear people. Sleeping I think, not far from here. Someone is snoring" he paused suddenly "Someone's coming!"
Even the others could now hear footsteps heading round the corner. They melted back into the shadow of another doorway. Fang peered round the corner of the doorframe. There were footsteps alright, but he could see no one to whom the footsteps could belong. He tapped Iggy's hand to let him know something wasn't right. Iggy nodded and before Fang could stop him he stepped right out into the corridor.
"Hullo?" Iggy held out a hand and waved it about a bit in a confused manner, he frowned and took another step. "Is somebody there?"
There was a hissed intake of breath "You shouldn't be here! Get Out!" came a man's voice.
"I would" Iggy replied "But I don't know where I am. I'm blind…I got lost…" As if to prove his point Iggy randomly reached out both hands and groped another step forward.
"You're blind?" the man said
"Uh huh." Iggy nodded "I can't see anything at all. Can you help me?" he contrived to put a little tremor into his voice
"Then you don't know?..."the man trailed off "You think I'm a regular…"
"What?" Iggy frowned and lied through his teeth, "I can't see you man I don't know what you mean."
The man took Iggy's arm "This way quickly, I'm in so much trouble if they find me out here, and more if they see you."
"Why?" Iggy pretended innocence and manoeuvred himself so that he was holding on to the man's arm instead. Behind him he could hear Fang and Dylan begin to follow at a discreet distance. "Why are you in trouble?"
"Can't say" the man hurried on "Just be glad you're blind or I couldn't let you go"
"Huh?" Iggy concentrated on the feel of the man's arm under his fingers. As he expected, he was just an ordinary guy, a bit skinny, nothing weird or eraserish.
"Nuthin" the man replied and then smiled to himself "This is my very last chance you know that?"
"For what?" asked Iggy
"To talk to someone like I'm a regular human being you know" said the man
"Ah" Iggy squeezed his arm "I'm happy for you. Though you're confusing me" he added "Is something bad going to happen to you?"
The man snorted with a bitter laugh, "Something bad already did"
"I'm sorry" said Iggy sincerely
They walked further along the corridor, they were nearing the end, Iggy could hear that the door was getting close. But the man walked more slowly, wanting to keep talking.
"You're one of the Christians?" he asked
Iggy figured he wouldn't pass as one of the young offenders still.
"Well erm – the Lord is giving me strength to help people less fortunate then myself" he improvised. "So I'm one of the Christians here – yeah"
"Less fortunate?" the man queried disbelieving
"You know – people who have er lost their way." Iggy wasn't doing very well
"You lost your way" then man pointed out, "and you're blind. I'd say that was pretty unfortunate."
"What? Erm no" Iggy shook his head in denial "Well I mean I did get lost but being blind is well…" he paused, this was turning into a weirdly intimate conversation.
"Being blind is just what I'm used to" he said honestly "It's just normal for me you know. I don't think I'm unfortunate."
"If you say so" the man drew to a halt. "This is it, just through this door, turn left up the stairs to the dorms or right to the TV lounge."
"Thanks" Iggy let go of his arm and reached out to feel for the door.
"Hey" the man said "Will you do something for me?"
"Sure if I can" replied Iggy
"There's a guy here – my cousin. I saw him arrive just yesterday, he's called Jude. You know him?"
"Yeah" Iggy lied, though not entirely a lie, Fang knew him
"Can you get a message to him for me? It's why I'm out of bounds, trying to find him. But if you can do it it's safer for him."
"Yeah, I can do it" Iggy nodded
"Tell him Michael says to get the hell out of here. Tell him it's all up with me. Tell him….Just tell him I'll never forget him okay?" he sounded close to tears.
"But er Michael" Iggy didn't know what to say to comfort the man. "There's always hope right?" he finished lamely
"No, not for me" said Michael firmly. "You can't see what they did to me. Just trust me when I tell you I can't just step back into a normal life. Tell Jude those things I said. Promise!"
"I do" Iggy reached out for the man but he backed away "An you get the hell outta here too kid!"
His footsteps receded and Iggy waited for Fang and Dylan, in less than a minute they came quietly along the corridor towards him.
"Okay" Iggy felt for Fang's arm. Fang began to guide him back the way they had come.
"Here's the thing" Iggy said "This place isn't just full of evil guys after all. There are Christians who really think they're doing the right thing, an other people who were lied to and experimented on, guys like us Fang."
Fang nodded understanding "Yeah I know" he owned
"So we can't just blow the place sky high Fang"
"I agree, don't worry I have a plan" Fang grinned at him.
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Fang, Iggy and Dylan sat on the veranda of the beaten up cabin, dawn was juts breaking. Iggy heard the sirens of the fire engines finally arriving. It had taken a long while to reach this remote part of the mountain. The insitute was mostly burned down, Iggy's bombs were good ones.
"Can you see the people?" he asked
"Don't worry" Fang assured him "They're all down there" They were, all milling about wrapped in blankets. They had had plenty of time to get out, what with the fire alarms and all.
Iggy nodded satisfied. They had set the fire alarms off a full twenty minutes before he detonated his first bomb. Fang's idea.
"Hey, I can see Jude!" Dylan said suddenly
Fang followed his gaze. Jude was standing by the edge of the trees just below them, gesticulating at no one. He seemed to be arguing. If Iggy concentrated really hard he could just hear the man's voice drifting up to them.
"I don care if you invisible Michael, you still my cousin an I'm taking you home wi me!"
And Michael's reply "People'll think you crazy talkin to no one man!"
"They think I'm crazy no how anyway" Jude would, not be dissuaded "So what do I care. You comin right now!"
Fang and Dylan watched as Jude hustled his invisible cousin down the track away from the institute and back to some kind of life.
"Think he'll be okay?" asked Dylan
Fang shrugged "As okay as anyone I guess"
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The three of them walked back in to the New York apartment. Angel and Nudge were sprawled on the sofa watching TV. Gazzy sat on the floor a grin on his face. Marge, the receptionist from the Coming Home offices was on TV talking into the camera and sniffing into a handkerchief.
"We don't know why it happened." She was saying "We're only trying to do the Lord's work, I just don't understand!" She dabbed at her eyes. "It's a miracle that no one was hurt, luckily the fire alarms all went off and we were out in the street. A bomb! Who'd have thought!"
"Hey" Max was sitting at the table she looked up as Iggy, Fang and Dylan walked in.
"Any food? I'm starving" Dylan headed for the kitchen
"Not so much" Gazzy told him "No Iggy means no grub man. There might be a bit of cold Pizza"
"What're you doing?" Fang wandered over to the table. Max had spread out a load of leaflets in front of her on the table top.
Iggy followed him and reached out a hand to feel across the table. "What are these?" he asked as his fingers touched the nearest leaflet.
"Holiday." Max replied
"Holiday? "Fang asked
"Yeah, we're having one." Max nodded assured "A proper holiday, for all of us. No invisible assassins, no adventures. Just sitting around on a beach and getting a suntan."
She picked up a leaflet. "I'm thinking Hawaii"
Dylan came back from the kitchen a slice of cold pizza in hand.
"Great" he said "I'm up for it"
"We all are" said Nudge
Fang took Iggy's hand and squeezed affectionately "What'd you think Ig?"
Iggy smiled "Can't complain Fang. Hawaii it is."
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