Total jogged out of the den barely withholding laughter.
"What's so funny?" Max said stacking her dishes on the counter by the sink.
Total jumped onto the chair beside Angel, who put some bacon and eggs on a smaller plate, just for him.
"I feel so sorry for your boys..." He laughed and shook his head, "Your mom just gave them THE talk."
"What?"
Angel laughed and Total shook his head.
"Angel, why don't you and David go and get the mail?" Dr. Martinez stepped into the room smiling calmly.
"Okay, come on, Dave, I'll show you how to do a roundhouse kick," She winked at Max as they walked outside.
"Max, would you Ella and Nudge come into the den for a minute, please."
"Oh! I have GOT to hear this!" And Total scampered ahead of them.
Just as they disappeared into the den Gasman crept back into the kitchen and piled a napkin full of bacon then started toward the steps. Just as he passed he heard Nudge shriek;
"OH, MY GOD! EW-EW-EW! That is SO gross! I mean EW!"
Total literally barked with laughter.
Gazzy wondered why Nudge was saying 'EW', if ANYTHING was disgusting it was that terrible thing that happened to girls every month.
He shuddered and ran up the steps chewing on his bacon.
"ELLA! ELLA, YOU GOT A LETTER!" Angel squealed excitedly and rushed into the den waving the envelope about an hour later.
Ella disentangled herself from Iggy, who had a red cheeked drunken grin on his face. She sat up, still straddling him and took the letter from Angel.
Angel cocked her head to the side and probed Iggy's mind then scowled and shook her head, "If Max knew you were thinking things like that she'd kick your behind!"
Iggy nodded, "I'll give you a quarter if you swear not to tell."
"Show me the quarter," Angel cocked a hand on her hip and tapped her foot impatiently.
Iggy sighed, "There's one in my desk drawer you can have it if you swear not to tell Max."
"I want one quarter a day or I spill."
"Can you believe this?" Iggy grumbled up at Ella who wasn't paying a bit of attention, then sighed and flung his arm over his eyes. "Fine, but weekends are only five cents."
"Cheapskate."
Ella suddenly screamed happily and jumped over the back of the couch running upstairs, "OH, MY GOD! WE GOT INVITED TO LYNN-DEE'S HALLOWEEN PARTY!"
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I know you, Iggy, Fang and Max all have more in common than you've let on."
Aaron dropped himself across the folding bed he'd been sleeping on for the past week and threw his arm over his face. He cleared his throat to loosen the muscles and took off his glasses, staring at them for a moment before dropping them unceremoniously to the floor.
He heard the little clicks of Total's feet in the hall and raised his head to watch the little black talking dog poke his head into the room.
He lowered his head and stared at Aaron silently for a moment then spoke under his breath;
"When are you going to tell them?"
Aaron stiffened, "What are you on about?" He whispered in a very small, child's voice.
Total merely stood there, his head lowered and glared, "I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I can smell, pal. And I finally figured it out."
Aaron bit his lip and flopped onto his stomach. He fiddled with the edge of the pillowcase.
"You're not who you say you are," Total said, still not moving.
Aaron glanced up at him frightened, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play Do-Do with me, Aaron ... Just like I told Fang, you guys smell ... I can tell by a person's scent when they're lying ... And, bud, you reek."
Total looked threatening with his head down like that, as if at any moment he'd roll back his lip and lunge at Aaron's face. Aaron stiffened and stared down at the little dog. Part of him wanted to shout for Angel to come and collect her pooch but he stopped himself.
"What else can you smell?"
'' I know you, Iggy, Fang and Max all have more in common than you've let on."
He nodded again and raised tear filled eyes to the little black dog before him, "Do they really have to know? I mean, this place is great, they don't treat me different here. If they know everything will fall apart."
Total sighed and trotted into the room jumping up onto the bed with Aaron, "Kid, they need to know. They don't deserve to be lied to."
Aaron bit his lip, "If I tell them they will hate me ... They'll be angry because I lied. Oh, God, Nick will never forgive me," He stifled a sob and buried his face in the pillow.
Total licked the boy's hand, "But you're part of the flock, Max will understand ... So will Fang and everyone else. Just tell them WHY."
"But they'll hate me. They won't get it, they won't understand ... Its not my fault, Total, its not!"
"I know that it isn't your fault ... Angel will understand, in fact, I'm surprised she doesn't know already, being able to read minds and all."
Aaron raised his head and rubbed tears from his eyes.
Total smiled and licked Aaron's chin. "So ... Are we going to tell them?"
"We?"
Total scoffed, "Do you think I'd let you do it alone?"
Aaron shook his head, "Let me have a fag and we- Stop sniggering, a CIGARETTE. Is that better?"
Total nodded and jumped off the bed, "So, in the morning?"
Aaron nodded and scrounged around in the desk drawer for his cigarettes. "In the morning."
Exactly like Dr. Martinez said, Fang found a way to talk to Max in private without going into her room after sundown.
He positioned himself directly outside her window then made faces at her through the glass to get her attention.
"What, you finally decided I'm worth talking to again?" She scowled at him as she opened the window and climbed part of the way out, sitting on the sill and staring out at the spectacular red sunset.
He grinned, "I found out why my throat was so sore."
She nearly fell backward through the window. "Oh, my God, your voice changed!"
He rolled his eyes, "In more ways than one ... Aaron explained it to me ... Apparently the Avian DNA kind of delays puberty for a while in boys..."
Max shrugged, "So that's why Gazzy still sounds a lot like Angel."
He choked on a laugh and turned away, his cheeks red.
"Yep, don't worry, mom gave us the sex-talk too."
He buried his face in his hands, "Was that embarrassing or what?"
Max giggled, "Learned a few things you could have gone a lifetime without knowing, huh?"
He nodded vigorously. "Did she whip out the pictures on you guys too?"
Max shuddered, "Oh, yeah ... And all I have to say is..." She stuck out her tongue squeezed her eyes closed and shivered violently.
He smiled, "Well, that's a shock ... You find the male body repulsive ... After you practically gave me a bath the other day?"
She growled, "I was wiping the mud off of you, you were really dirty."
He gave her a tightlipped grin but didn't say anything about how much of a dirty boy he was...
She eased herself onto the roof beside him and hugged her knees. "So ... You finally reached puberty."
He rolled his eyes, "Oh, yes, make fun of me, that's real mature."
"What did you do to your face?" She pointed at a slightly bloody looking spot on his jaw.
He sighed and touched the spot, "Your mom made Aaron teach me to shave ... But he did a piss poor job of it I cut myself three times and he sprayed shaving cream all over the place then said 'Don't panic! Don't panic!'" He mocked Aaron's accent.
She made an, 'Aw, ain't him special!' sound in her throat.
"Shut-up."
"Make me."
He stared at her, and she thought for a moment he WAS going to make her and her heart caught in her throat.
That same, charged sensation settled over her and she wondered absently if she could trust Fang ... She wondered if she could trust herself around him...
God, he's gorgeous ... I wonder what he'd do if I kissed him for a change...
She leaned in slightly her lids drooping but he turned away from her staring out over the yard.
Max felt rejected and she settled back against the windowsill with a sigh.
The porch light came on and Fang heard the door open. He saw Aaron storm out into the yard smacking a pack of cigarettes against the heel of his hand then scratching his chin and throat.
Then the door opened again and to Fang's surprise Nudge ran out in her fluffy green house shoes and robe.
Max shifted on the roof and watched in silence as Nudge jogged to Aaron and gently laid a hand on his arm.
"Hey, can we talk a minute?"
Aaron lit his cigarette and exhaled a ring of smoke into the night air. "I just finished a fascinating conversation with the dog," He sighed and turned to her, "You can talk all you like, but you know my answer already."
Nudge hugged herself and turned in profile to the porch. Her deep chocolate eyes were shining and for some reason, even though she had her super-curly hair in two braids on either side of her head and a pink bandana tied over them, to Max and Fang she appeared to be shining. Her arms crossed elegantly over her chest.
She smiled and Max wondered where Nudge learned to smile like that...
"I know what you are, I saw it when you touched me back in the desert, and I can feel it now ... I know what we-"
Aaron hissed and turned to her his cigarette dropping to the gravel path. "I know what you saw ... I saw it too damn it! I can FEEL it too, and it scares the hell out of me!" He shook his head and his hands trembled at his sides.
"But, its OK ... It's RIGHT!"
"It is bloody well NOT 'OK'!" His voice was strained and he was trying very hard not to talk louder than a whisper. His hands shook and he buried them in his own hair, pulling back the jaw length reddish-brown locks so his face stood out starkly against the darkness surrounding him. He closed his eyes and growled in his chest a sound nearly identical to the one Fang made when he was severely annoyed.
"You're only fifteen years old, Nudgie!"
"And you're only sixteen!" Nudge spat.
Fang's blood ran cold.
Aaron clapped his hand over Nudge's mouth and his voice changed. He was still British, but his voice was no longer that of a twenty-year old. "You ninny! What if someone hears you!"
She pulled his hand away and glared at him, "Why did you tell Fang you were twenty? You don't even look twenty ... You're not Fang's older brother, you're his twin, and you lied to him! That's why you couldn't teach him to shave this morning, because you'd never done it yourself!"
Aaron's hands curled into claws and he stood there shaking for a moment before he dropped his hands to his sides and sat heavily on the ground. He propped his chin in his hand and started tossing small pebbles down the path.
"Fine mess I've gotten myself into," He mumbled and Max was startled at how much he sounded like Fang, and how unstrained his voice was now.
Nudge sat across him and held her knees. "You should tell them."
Aaron tittered, "That's exactly what Total said ... He's got it in his head that I'm going to tell everyone at breakfast."
"Well, why don't you?" Nudge elbowed him gently and came to her knees, fixing the mussed strands of his hair.
He laughed, "Right, THAT would go over well. 'Good morning, All, lovely day! OH, just thought I'd let you know that I'm NOT twenty-years-old, I'm actually about to turn seventeen and I'm Nick's twin brother! Could you pass the bacon?' " He hung his head in his hands then snatched up the cigarette he'd dropped and crushed it out against a rock.
Nudge started playing in his hair again and he let out a contented little sigh.
Max could feel Fang trembling beside her but she didn't dare turn her head and look at him.
Nudge hugged Aaron tightly still petting his hair, "I understood."
Aaron sighed and lifted his eyes to her staring deeply into her face. His hand slowly raised, gently cupping Nudge's cheek. He leaned in and gently kissed her...
Fang growled and lunged off the roof snapping out his wings. He seemed to roll forward, onto his hands and knees and dove right at Aaron. Eyes reflecting some kind of red light.
Aaron turned his head and stared. He made a frightened squeaking noise, leapt to his feet, threw out his wings and shot straight up into the air.
"Fang! Fang, NO!" Nudge screamed and threw off her robe, lunging into the air after them.
Max took a running leap off the roof and flew upward.
Fang had his hands wrapped tightly around Aaron's throat and Aaron was trying to pry his brother's fingers away choking and coughing, his blue eyes pleading.
They flew upward in this fashion, Fang clinging to Aaron's neck then Aaron forgot to flap and they started falling, cart wheeling through the air wings out like Max had seen fighting eagles do on nature programs.
It was beautiful their bodies silhouetted against the night sky. And, yet, because Fang was trying to kill him it was the most frightening thing she'd ever seen.
"Fang, STOP IT!" Max grabbed him by the arm and pulled. Nudge grabbed Fang's other arm and they managed to pry his hands away before Aaron lost consciousness.
His white wings began beating frantically and he crashed into the yard, skidding on his stomach coughing both hands on his neck.
Nudge and Max forced Fang to the ground and pinned him, holding his wings closed but still he fought, trying to get away and get to Aaron.
Max was panting and her heart hammered in her chest, she heard Fang mumbling and leaned down to catch his words,
"Sonofabitch! Goddamnyou! Fuckingliar! FUCKINGLIAR!" Then his words dissolved into gut-wrenching sobs and he went limp his face pressed into the grass.
Aaron crumpled in on himself his wings curling around him, hiding his face, but Max could hear that he was crying too.
Dr. Martinez ran out of the house, followed by Iggy, Gasman, David, Angel, Total and Ella.
"What the hell is going on!"
Fang raised his head and stared at Aaron his lower lip trembling, "Why didn't you just tell me? Why the hell did you lie to me?"
Aaron forced himself to sit up and he wiped his eyes, a dark bruise shaped like Fang's hands beginning to form around his neck. "Because all the paperwork and identification I have says that Aaron Bond is nineteen years old..."
"But you're not Aaron Bond, are you?" Max felt herself say.
Aaron shook his head, "Aaron Bond was the young man that helped Dad rescue me ... He died trying to get me out of the London Institute and Dad used his identification as mine so we could fly to the US. It was the only way to get me out of England since I didn't know how to fly and Dad didn't have wings. And we had to get back immediately because they were going to kill David, we didn't have a choice...
"Aaron Bond was sixteen at the time I was rescued and didn't have a passport or photo ID. So it was quite easy to pass me off as him. Dad got the glasses to make me look older and a priest got a Passport over night, don't ask me how ... Probably granted absolution to some Government worker or the like...
"But Dad and I didn't have enough time before he left to procure an American ID for me as he'd done for David, so I've just continued to use Aaron Bond's..."
Fang's face fell back to the grass, "That's no excuse ... You should have told me ... You should have told me, I wouldn't have cared..."
Aaron stifled a sob and looked up at Max and Nudge, "Let him up ... If he wants to beat the mortal crap out of me let him do."
Max and Nudge exchanged glances and let Fang up.
He didn't move at first, but then he slowly climbed to his feet and walked forward, his hands curling into fists. He stood over Aaron shaking his lips pressed together so tightly they almost disappeared.
Aaron looked up at him and wiped his eyes, he slowly climbed to his feet and stood there looking up into Fang's face preparing himself for blows he knew were coming.
Rage ... He'd never been so hurt in all his life, but as he dove and grabbed Aaron all that anger faded, replaced by compassion. And his grip around Aaron's chest loosened, changing from a tackle to a hug and they hit the ground, skidding on the wet grass for five full feet.
All the air woofed from Aaron's lungs but he didn't fight back, he deserved a beating ... But Fang wasn't beating him ... He was hugging him tightly...
Fang snuffed back tears and rolled to his knees.
"I'm sorry I lied, Nick ... I'm so sorry."
"Shut-up."
Aaron sat up, his lips pressed together. He waited with baited breath.
Fang drew back his fist and punched him hard in the shoulder.
Aaron grunted and grabbed his arm, falling sideways into the little flower bush growing by the steps. He sat up, tears rolling down his face prepared to be hit again but Fang only shook his head and stood.
He held out his hand to help Aaron to his feet and sighed, "You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do."
Aaron nodded and took Fang's hand letting his brother pull him to his feet, "I'm up for it, if you are."
Total shook his shaggy head, "I've always loved happy endings."
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