Chapter 5, huh...

Well damn. This thing's almost over. I don't even know how I'm going to start the next chapter, let alone end it. ... That's a lie. I so know how it ends. But how it starts escapes my deranged mind...

But uh, you get Flock time in this one! Though I'm pretty sure I wrote them OOC, I hope it's ok. Especially Iggy cause... he gets his own damn scene with Hexx and I think my brain was dying when I wrote that. I think my brain was dying when I wrote most of the ending half actually.

It was just so horribly Awkward. And Hexx needs to train her stomach. And... damn, I forgot Total. Just... he's really quiet? Or was... bonding with the neighbourhood dogs? Something...

Thanks to Bird That Flies At Dawn for the review~.

Standard Disclaimer applies. I only own Hexx, Archer, and the ones that really didn't appear in the actual books.


The scent of baking cookies woke her up. Not that she was complaining per se. It was better than waking to the smell of blood or a decomposing experiment the scientists had yet to remove. But that wasn't the matter at hand. Why was she waking up to the smell of cookies?

The last thing she remembered was talking to that girl-what was her name? Max? Yeah, that was it. She had been talking to them and then... she had walked away... and then it went black. Hexx held back a groan and cursed herself internally. Why did she have to be so weak all the time?

Hexx sat up, a wave of dizziness passing over her. She cradled her head in her hands as her vision swam and resisted the urge to collapse back onto the bed she sat on. She felt horrible. Utterly horrible.

"Mom! She's awake!" Hexx jumped, head snapping to the doorway where Ella stood, reminiscent of a few weeks previously. Hexx glanced away from Ella's smile and turned her attention to her hands, twisting them in the blanket over her lap.

Bruises decorated her skin, turning it from a pale colour into a sickening mixture of yellows and greens. Hexx frowned lightly, letting go of the blanket in favour of tracing the patterns. Ella sighed from the doorway, and then made her way further into the room. She stood at the foot of the bed and fidgeted slightly, wanting to say something. Hexx glanced at her and then back to her hands.

"She's awake?" Both girls looked to the doorway, a smile lifting the corners of Ella's mouth. Hexx shifted slightly under Dr. Martinez's scrutiny. "How are you feeling dear?"

"... Fine." Hexx mumbled, eyes flicking to the doorway and then the blanket on her lap once more. She didn't want to be here.

"I doubt that Hexx." The tone of Dr Martinez's voice caused Hexx to look up. The dark haired woman was frowning, hands on her hips. Hexx flinched, but didn't look away. "Quite frankly, you're lucky to be alive. You're even luckier Max and the others found you and stopped those boys when they did."

Hexx shrugged, and then sucked in a breath; the movement jarred her wounds. Her eyes flicked over to the doorway once more and her fingers curled tighter around the blanket.

"They can come in if they want." She muttered, a frown on her lips. The other two seemed confused by her words. Ella moved around her mom and to the door, pulling it open with a surprised 'ah'. Dr Martinez glanced at Hexx questioningly before gesturing for the group outside the room to come in.

"I could hear them breathing a mile away." Hexx mumbled shifting under the stares she was receiving. There was a momentary pause and then the girl Hexx remembered as Max opened her mouth to speak.

"Why can't I read your thoughts?" The small blonde from before cut in, looking confused. Everyone looked to her and then to Hexx. The black haired girl blinked, taken aback. The little girl was a mind-reader? Maybe that's what she had been trying to do when Hexx awoke the first time.

"You're a mind-reader?" Hexx asked, stalling. The girl-she must have been Angel-smiled, nodding and causing her curls to bounce.

"So why can't she read your mind?" Max had her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes narrowed into a slight glare. Hexx looked up at her, eyebrows rising at the attempt to intimidate her. She had survived Archer's 'Go-fuck-yourself-and-die-in-a-hole' glare; this girl needed to work a bit harder if she wanted to scare her.

"I dunno." A straight up lie. But like hell was Hexx going to tell them the truth. She only knew two of their names and had no urge to spill her life story to them. Ignoring the disbelieving look Max was sending her, Hexx swung her legs out from under the blanket, wincing at the jolt of pain that went through her.

"Ah, Hexx! You shouldn't be moving around!" Dr Martinez reprimanded, stepping forward. Hexx looked up at her before sighing, twisting her ankle around.

"I don't want to be any more of a burden than I already have been Doctor." Hexx paused, glancing at Max. "And I don't think I'm welcome any more."

To her credit Max didn't flinch at Hexx's words, though her frown deepened. She knew the girl was injured, sure, but she had also come from Itex which would put her mom in even more danger. Besides, if Ella's recount was right then the girl-Hexx if she remembered correctly-could heal quickly.

But... as she moved to stand there was a tightening of her features that spoke of masked pain.

"Max..." The brown haired girl looked over at Nudge's voice and wished she hadn't. She had those 'puppy eyes' trained on her. Glancing around at her Flock, they all seemed to have the same opinion. Max sighed.

Damn them and her hero complex.

"It's fine."


"God dammit! Move Havoc, move!"Growling Archer shoved the brown haired boy in front of him, green eyes fighting to see through the smoke. The sirens wailing throughout the building did little to mask the frightened sobs escaping Havoc and Archer growled again, hand forming an iron grip around the boy's wrist.

They had found out. They had fucking found out. How, he could only guess at, but that wasn't the problem. What they had then done was what annoyed him. They had taken Havoc in for another fucking experiment on his god damn eyes. Hexx was going to have his head.

Archer froze, Havoc stumbling to a stop behind him. Geez. The one promise he ever made to keep and he couldn't.

"Archer!" The yell came from his left and he spun to face it, keeping Havoc behind him. A blonde broke through the smoke, coughing and pulling a young boy after her. Archer relaxed, but kept his iron grip on Havoc.

"What?" he asked, continuing to drag Havoc through the smoke. The blonde followed, the boy she was with jogging to keep up with the pace he was setting.

"The E-hall's down and there's 'xperiments running round everywhere! And Scales disappeared god knows where, probably off to see if Death is gonna make a break for it-his due date's tomorrow and all. And I'm not sure if-!" Archer shot a hand out, silencing the girl immediately. The smoke fluctuated around them, threading its way into their lungs. Havoc's choked breathing mixed in with the screams and yells around them and Archer shut his eyes, free hand fisting at his side.

"Candy... take Havoc and run." His jaw was locked and he pushed Havoc towards the blonde, turning to his left. Havoc let out a surprised grunt as he collided with the shorter girl, the younger boy steadying him with one hand.

"Archer?" The black haired boy grunted, mind running through calculations. Why didn't anyone just listen anymore? Was it that hard to take an order at face value and go with it, no questions asked?

"Five Erasers. Two scientists." Archer spun on his heel, shifting his centre of gravity as he did so and flicking a hand at the trio accompanying him impatiently. "Go left after ten paces and keep running. Scales and Death are almost at the meeting point."

Havoc made a noise of protest, grey eyes open and scared. Candy shot a frantic look around, but could see nothing through the smoke. The young boy-Hexx had named him Felix if he remembered correctly-was the only who was willing to listen to Archer's instructions, pulling at Candy's sleeve to get her moving. The blonde started and wound her fingers through Havoc's, with one last glance into the smoke before she walked into the smoke.

As a howl reached his ears Archer scowled, green eyes snapping open and then narrowing into a glare. Time to fight.


Awkward.

That was the one word floating around Hexx's mind at the current moment. Why had Dr Martinez thought it was a good idea for Hexx and the Flock to have some 'bonding time'? Ella had been sent off to school-hopefully a better one than Hexx imagined-and Dr Martinez was at work which left her stuck in the house with a bunch of experiments she didn't even know the name of.

"Hey, you're names Hexx right?" Blue eyes flicked to the boy who had spoken up. He was second youngest judging from appearance and probably brother to that Angel one.

"Ah, yeah..." Hexx nodded, glancing away out of habit. The dark skinned girl opposite her sat up straighter, face brightening at the start of conversation.

"Your name's so cool! Did you choose it yourself?" Hexx blinked, taken aback slightly by the girls enthusiasm.

"Um, no... Someone gave it to me." Hexx looked away, fiddling with the hem of her jumper.

"Well they have really good taste in names then. I chose my name I think, but I can't remember why I chose it. It's Nudge by the way." Hexx nodded slowly, eyes flicking around the sitting room. Nudge pouted, wanting a response and this got a chuckle out of Max.

"I suppose you need to know our names at least." Hexx fidgeted in her seat, fingers moving to tap restlessly on her legs.

"I guess." Hexx worked up the nerve to actually look at the person addressing her and Max began motioning at the others in the room.

"Right. Well, this little cutie's Angel, and the boy next to her is Gazzy. Nudge introduced herself, and the guy looking like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth is Iggy, but don't let the innocent front fool you. And then self professed Mr Cool over there is Fang." Hexx's eyes flicked between the faces as they were introduced, setting their appearances to memory. However, when Fang was introduced a flash of green surged in her mind and she gasped, a sudden pain wrenching her heart.

Doubling over, Hexx forced herself to breath, even as she was shot several worried looks. Wrapping an arm around her stomach and raising her other hand to cover her mouth she stood from the sofa. Max voiced a question and Hexx shook her head, almost running from the room. She hated remembering.

"It's nothing!"


Archer gagged, dark liquid spurting from the Erasers onto his face, into his mouth, making him want to retch. It wasn't even blood -he could stand that- it was oil. When the hell had they gotten upgrades into tin cans?

A fist swung at his face, another aimed for his ribs and he ducked, twisting to one side. A knee caught his stomach, he doubled over gasping and winded. Then a hand was yanking his bloodstained hair and his head was snapping up, his neck making an ominous noise. Archer winced, grabbing the arm to loosen the tug. Twisting his body around he used the momentum to hurl the Eraser into the ones approaching.

Another explosion shook the building and Archer forced himself to focus. His breath came in short pants as he moved away from the fight scene. His hand met with a wall and he sagged against it, eyes shutting. He had to make sure the others were out. He kept his promises.

Candy... Havoc... Felix... Death... They were out, good. Hexx would break his legs if they died here. But-why the fuck wasn't Scales with them?

A claw raked at his face and Archer yowled, instantly lashing out with a punch. A hand rose to his face and he would have scowled had it not been so damn painful but it was so he settled for growling and lashing out with a kick that most likely hurt him more than them but damn if it didn't make him feel better seeing them get thrown into a wall.

"Archer!"


Hexx groaned, slouching over the toilet. Her mouth tasted horrid. Ugh, she was never, ever going to throw up again. What the hell were bulimics thinking? Stomach acid tasted like shit. Damn, if she ever started dieting she'd get someone to stab her.

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway and Hexx froze, a flush arising in her cheeks. Turning her head, she saw one of the older Flock members in the doorway, Iggy if she remembered correctly. An awkward pause followed and then Hexx swallowed, pushing away from the toilet.

"Uh..."

"Max wanted to be sure you were okay-well not Max per se, Nudge wanted to be sure-so they sent me to check up on you. Uh, sorry if I wasn't meant to hear that." Hexx blinked and then shook her head.

"It's fine. I... I just felt a bit sick." A smile twitched the corners of Iggy's mouth upwards.

"Yeah, Fang's face tends to do that to people." Hexx smiled, standing up from her position on the floor. She stepped forward, and then frowned.

"Damn it." Iggy's smile turned to confusion and he looked to where he had heard the curse from.

"What's wrong?" Hexx's frown deepened and she tilted her head to look up at Iggy. Oh, he was blind. Somehow that just made it worse. Her stomach twisted again, but she pushed the feeling away.

"You're taller than me by like, a whole head." Iggy smirked at Hexx's words and he turned to leave the doorway. A chuckle escaped his lips as he spoke over his shoulder.

"Guess that means I can call you Shorty now."

"Don't you dare!"


Archer tore down the hallways of the School, jumping over the fallen bodies without a second thought. Scales had taken his place in the fight and normally that would piss him off. But not now. This was probably his last chance to escape. The black list of extermination candidates would be full by the time clean up began.

He had no problems thinking he'd be number one on the list.

Scales did however. Which was why he'd forsaken his freedom to let Archer go. A scowl began to crawl across his face but was stopped by the shockwave of pain it sent through the still bleeding wounds on his skin.

"Archer, I swear to whatever fucking deity you believe in that if you don't leave these pieces of shit to me I'll rip your intestines out myself! How the hell do you expect any of us to tell Hexx we let you die? Who the hell's gonna take care of Havoc?"

Then, he was outside. The smoke was clearing and he kept running, heading for where he knew the others were. A lingering Eraser tried to claw at him but a swift kick to the groin knocked him out.

"I don't have time for this bullshit."

With all the grace of a wounded hyena, Archer slammed into the next obstacle, knocking them both over. Panting, he scrambled to his feet. Blood blocked the sight of his left eye but he didn't need it to see where he had to go.

Out the hole in the fence. Five metres left of his current position. Straight into the woods, two metres from the hole. And then left, right, straight on. Casting a thought back, he smirked, Scales had finished with the Erasers and there was a clear path for him to make it out.

Only because Archer had worn them down first. And cleared the way.

"Archer!" Stumbling to a stop, the black haired escapee looked up, a smirk on his lips. They'd made it out. Havoc, Candy, Felix, even Death. It was a shame about the twins but... He had a crew to lead. He'd remember them later.

"It's good to be free."