Aaron stumbled into the kitchen followed by Fang and the rest of the extended Flock. He sat down heavily at the table and let Dr. Martinez look at his throat, which had turned a miraculous shade of purple.
"I'll get some ice, and you start explaining..."
He nodded and rubbed gingerly at his arm waiting for the others to sit or take standing positions around the room.
Dr. Martinez returned with an icepack and handed it to Aaron, who instead of putting it on his neck, pressed it to his arm where Fang had punched him.
"I ... I'm not sure where to begin."
"How about with your name? Your REAL name," Nudge whispered and rested her chin on folded hands.
Aaron cleared his throat, "I-I don't really have one ... The scientists at the Institute called me Constantine, after the historical figure ... I'm not quite sure why though ... I think it was because of my abilities..."
"If we were born like this and Avian DNA wasn't purposefully implanted in us then how did you get abilities?" Fang said and leaned against the stove his arms crossed.
Aaron smiled, "You forget that they DID implant Avian DNA into mum, they gave her abilities so the same things they did to her carried on to us."
"Okay ... What are your abilities?"
He sighed and scratched at his head a moment before he continued, "Well, I've got the touch thing ... But I don't know what to call it, I'm also able to mimic any voice I hear, just like Gasser. And I've got a knack for making the females weak in the knees. That and I can talk to birds."
"You can talk to birds?" Iggy scoffed.
"Yeah, and I'd be willing to bet Nick can if he were to try."
Fang's mouth went dry again. Was it possible? Could he really have an ability? "How will I know if I can do it or not?"
"Well, if you can look at a bird and think 'come here you little bugger!' and they come to you then you've got it down I suppose. I can't really explain it."
"So its like mind control?"
Aaron shook his head and chuckled, "No, because sometimes they'll say 'piss off!' and fly away."
Fang nodded and decided that tomorrow morning he WOULD find a bird and see if he could talk to it. No matter how stupid he looked.
Max bit her lip and spoke, voicing the question burning in everyone's minds. "Are you and Fang really twins?"
Aaron nodded.
"If you two are twins, then why don't you look anything alike?" Gasman said loudly.
Aaron sighed, "Because we're not identical twins ... I take after mum and Nick takes after Dad."
He had a relaxed smile on his face and Max wondered how she could have gone so long without knowing that Aaron was only sixteen. He didn't look any older than Fang without his glasses.
Fang's face slowly crumbled and he looked at the floor, "How long was it after we were born that the whitecoats got us?"
Aaron shook his head, "I don't know ... Dad wouldn't tell me, he just said that all our secrets are safely hidden under our hats."
Fang's head snapped up and he stared at Aaron, "What did you say?"
Aaron's eyebrows scrunched together and he repeated himself, "Dad said that all our secrets are hidden under our hats. I thought he'd misspoken at first but he insisted that what he said was right. Our secrets are hidden under our hats."
Fang started frantically digging in his pockets. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and unfolded it.
Max recognized it immediately as the letter from his father, but she noticed something else in it this time. A picture of David and Aaron with a dark haired man who looked startlingly like an older version of Fang.
"He said that in the letter," Fang whispered. "'You'll all be safer if we keep our secrets under our hats.'"
Aaron leaned forward, trying to see the letter for himself, "That's the letter?"
Fang nodded.
Aaron grinned, "Would you give me a lemon, Ella?"
Ella's eyebrows shot up and she opened the fridge removing a bottle of lemon juice and passing it to Aaron, "Why do you need lemon?"
Fang stared at him for a minute that curious expression on his face.
"Nick, would you please give me the letter?"
Fang hesitated pulling the paper closer to his chest as if to protect it.
For a moment Max expected him to hiss and scream, 'MY PRECIOUS!' but he didn't. He slowly handed the letter to Aaron who laid it flat on the table and completely covered it in Lemon juice.
They all leaned in and stared in awe as brown letters started forming on the paper, letters that hadn't been there seconds before.
"Are you ready to see how deep the rabbit hole goes?" Iggy mumbled, quoting a line from a movie. Max elbowed him and he was quiet.
"Meadowlands National Bank, Greenwich Village New York, safety deposit box 0187B. Father Donovan has the key."
"Wow..." Angel whispered and stared up at Aaron and Fang her blue eyes wide.
Fang cleared his throat, "I guess it's back to New York."
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They landed in a very familiar part of the park at close to midnight and bedded down in a slightly denser thicket.
Fang perched himself in a tree and stared out over the park feeling a little more nostalgia than he would have liked to admit. He pulled his jacket tighter around himself not used to the chill of the northeast and turned his head, spying the flock, all huddled together for warmth.
It had taken a five whole days to fly cross-country, but of course, they had an extra passenger. One who had somehow weaseled her way into coming even though she had no part in the quest.
Fang scowled at Iggy, who was lying on his back in a nearby tree the interloper sprawled ontop of him.
Ella sighed contentedly in her sleep and snuggled against Iggy's chest.
How she had managed to talk her mother into allowing her to come along was beyond Fang, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Angel had something to do with it.
Max hadn't been to excited about the idea at first, but had been dragged on board when Ella flashed her driver's license and a credit card. Again, Fang suspected Angel was involved...
Fang sighed. At least Total had stayed home with David. David hadn't wanted to come, he was too interested in school and his Best Friend Bobby.
Besides, all they had to do was go to Greenwich Village, find this Father Donovan and the Meadowlands National Bank. It wasn't like they were trying to sneak into another secret lab.
He hoped not anyway...
He shifted against the limb and his mind wondered. Was Pale Male still around? If he was, would he know that Fang was back? Would he remember that night when they'd flown together?
Fang swallowed hard. He'd been unable to get close enough to a bird since that night in the kitchen to try and talk to one, and that had annoyed him terribly ... What if he found Pale Male again and the falcon did remember him? What if he COULD talk to birds?
What would the big raptor have to say?
"What are you thinking?" Max's voice floated on the wind and she looked down at him from a limb above his head smiling sadly.
Fang shrugged, "Just stuff..."
Max sighed and climbed down on the limb beside him smiling out at the clearing her brown eyes shining with withheld emotion.
"I remember that night ... When that falcon came and we flew with him..." She bit her lip, "I've never felt so free..."
Fang nodded but remained silent.
Max edged closer to him, "Have you tried talking to a bird yet?"
He shook his head.
"Why not?"
He shrugged.
"I thought we'd gotten past this silence?"
He shrugged again but gave her a smile.
"I'll keep watch if you want to go out for a few minutes ... Just keep a look out for those Wizards ... We haven't seen them in a while, but I know they're still out there somewhere watching us."
Fang nodded, "Thanks," And he soared out of the tree, zooming around the park twice looking for nothing in particular, but hoping all the while that he'd see a familiar pale shadow flying beside him.
The moon glinted off something to his left and his head snapped in that direction expecting to see a Wizard flying toward him at full tilt but instead he saw something different.
Golden eyes connected with his and for a moment something like fear jolted his chest. But that fear suddenly melted into joy as a pale bird flew at him, head down golden eyes flashing.
Fang swallowed hard, working past a lump in his throat, he took a shuddering breath and thought to the bird, trying to push the words forward hard enough to be noticed but gentle enough not to seem threatening.
Hello...
The falcon banked sharply to the right and circled above him, then dove down at him with an impatient screech, slashing with its talons.
Pain lanced across his left wing and arm. His wing buckled, but he was able to straighten it, aiming himself at the ground to land, the falcon diving at him again and again, slashing.
He didn't know why but he found himself apologizing again and again through the pain.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry!
He landed hard and fell to his knees arms flung up over his head to protect his face.
He heard the raptor land not very far from him and clack its beak impatiently flapping its big wings.
He heard Max calling behind him, "Fang, are you OK? Fang, answer me!"
He parted his fingers and stared out at the big bird. It was Pale Male, but he looked pissed.
Its because I'm not a kid anymore ... I smell different, I'm a threat.
(QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE; DAMN YOU PUBERTY!)
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I MUST HAVE 8 VOTES OR I'LL SWITCH TO ONE CHAPTER EVERY TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for reading you guy :D