Trust

Unknown POV

Max, Fang, Angel, and I were running for our lives. The ground was covered in snow making it impossible for us to cover our tracks. The harsh, freezing air around us bit into our skin as we ran through the trees. Ari was on our tails and had been pursuing us for three days straight. Somehow, Ari didn't seem to be showing any signs of tiring or slowing down his chase. On the other hand, we were exhausted and felt like collapsing on the spot, but we had to keep going or risk being captured...again. We might have covered more distance if we had been flying, but there was no way we would still be conscious if we had continued using our wings. We might have more stamina than the average human, but Erasers have even greater stamina and energy reserves then us bird-kids. It also doesn't help that we haven't had the chance to eat ever since Ari found and started chasing us.

76 hours earlier

"Max, I'm hungry. When are we going to eat?" I asked. We had been flying for about an hour now and my hunger was making me whiny.

"We just ate two hours ago! And I'm pretty sure you ate more than Fang and I put together." Fang smirked and rolled his eyes at me as we kept flying.

"Here we go again," I heard Gazzy distinctly whisper from behind me. Suddenly, a chorus of laughter erupted behind me.

"But Max, that was TWO HOURS AGO! And you're exaggerating I only ate six hamburgers, two large fries, three milkshakes, and two ten piece chicken nuggets. Oh, and a large water. I think Gazzy ate more than me," I defended myself. Gazzy looked at me with an accusatory stare.

I did get him to order some extra food for me to eat. But I have a fast metabolism, even for bird-kid standard.

"I said no." stated Max

"But-" I started to argue back

"No"

"O, come on, it'll onl-"

"Kiki, we're not stopping until we make it to Missouri and that's final!" Max said with a scowl.

"Agh! Whatever!" I complained. I was still hungry and wanted something to eat, but I knew when the conversation was through, so I dropped to the back of the Flock behind Angel and flew there pouting.

We flew for another two hours with everybody in their own worlds.

Angel and Nudge were talking about some kind of fashion thing they heard about on TV. I heard something about beehives trending and how a guy name Channing Tatum was to die for, not that I had a clue as to who he is... wait, aren't beehives dangerous to mess with?

I tried to tune out the rest of their conversation, to save my ears from hearing anymore of that girly crap. It was literally killing me. I turned my attention to two very suspicious bird-kids flying next to me. I assume it was about the next bomb they were planning on making if they hadn't already. As soon as Gazzy realized I was listening to them, he tapped Iggy's foot, and they silenced immediately. Iggy's lips curved into a mischievous smile and gave me a slight wink, while Gazzy looked over at me innocently. Boys.

I shook my head then looked at the head of the Flock at out fearless leaders, Max and Fang. They seemed to be in a deep conversation, and judging by their body language it was personal enough that they didn't want the rest of the Flock to hear. I debated whether or not to let them have their privacy; in the end my curiosity won over my manners, not that it mattered. I attempted to read their lips and could only decipher a few phrases saying 'It's not your fault' and 'Jeb is evil' and a few non-Angel approved words coming out of their mouths. I decided to give up on the conversation after five minutes of unsuccessful concentration.

Out of boredom, I decided to scan the area we were flying over to entertain myself, and you know what I saw? Nothing, just a bunch of useless corn farms that bored the crap out of me. I mean, is it really too much to ask for a vending machine or street vendor every few miles? This is why I like New York the most. At that thought my stomach began to growl and I let out a heavy sigh.

I look up and see the Flock looking back at me (well not Iggy, him being blind and all). I guess I'm not the only one who heard that I thought. Angel started giggling and I then remembered she could read minds. I glared at Angel and then glanced at Max, hoping she would take pity on me and find a restaurant soon. She looked back at me and released a long sigh of defeat.

"Alright guys, we're gonna stop and get something to eat." Max declared.

Gazzy and Iggy erupted into cheers, Angel giggled, and Nudge and I exchanged hi-fives with each other for getting Max to cave. Fang smirked knowingly at Max, who just rolled her eyes in response.

I died and went to heaven. We entered a restaurant that held an all you can eat buffet and the managers didn't care how much food we ate. Another bonus was the place had an All You Can Eat Buffalo Wings $20 on Wednesday special and lucky me it was Wednesday. (Ok, I know what you're thinking 'this girl, who has wings herself, likes to eat chicken wings?'And I would like to reply 'uh, duh.')

I ordered the hot wings special with Sprite. Max got the steaks from the buffet, six roles and three salads and a Pepsi. Gazzy and Angel got three plates of spaghetti each with a couple baked potatoes and two bowls of chocolate ice cream and a Root Beer for each. Nudge made four salads and had Fruit Punch. Fang had three slices of pizza, four rotisserie chicken thighs, and two steaks with Mountain Dew. Gazzy helped Iggy get three dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, a couple slices of baked ham, popcorn shrimp, and three slices of meatloaf with a Big Red.

As I was finishing my third plate of wings, I suddenly felt a chill go down my spine. I looked around at the rest of the Flock and they didn't seem alarmed so I shrugged it off. Suddenly, I heard a high pitched squealing sound in my head and I gasped in pain. I clutched at my head to try and drown the sound out, but as I looked around at the Flock it seemed like I was the only one hearing the noise. Max was next to me in a second and trying to figure out what was wrong, while the rest of the Flock took up a defense position around us. Max hurriedly rushed me out of the restaurant and the rest of the Flock followed searching for whatever seemed to be causing my pain. After a few minutes in the alley, the noise started to dull to a slight ringing, and my head didn't feel like it was about to explode anymore. I opened my eyes slightly to see six worried bird kids staring at me with concerned faces. GreatI thought, How am I going to explain this. What was that? Why am I talking to myself? Kiki are you ok? What, who is that? Oh right Angel...

"Angel, please get out of my head" I said in an aggravated and tired voice. As I started to get up, I looked at the Flock around me and looked at the position I was in. I was clinging to Max and huddled into a small tight ball. Wow, my ego and pride have just left the countryI think as I attempt to extricate myself from Max's arms in a rush.

"So, what's up?" I tease them, wincing as I sit up too fast. None of them seem to relax at my weak attempt at humor. To be honest I'm not that funny to begin with, so that was probably a bad idea.

"Kik, what happened?" Max asked.

Well, there's the million dollar question, Max I thought, but instead said, "I don't know, one minute I'm enjoying my meal and the next I feel this chill down my spine and suddenly this high pitched screeching sound comes out of nowhere."

I shrug and act like it's no big deal, but inside I'm ecstatic to finally feel important to people who aren't trying to test and use me

Max looked at the rest of the Flock and seemed to be having a telepathic conversation, through Angel, that I wasn't invited to. I decided to "investigate" as to what they were talking (thinking?) about.

Hey guys, what's up?! I sent them telepathically. For a second the Flock looked startled at the occurrence of the new voice in their heads, then all heads turned towards me in shock.

"Kiki, since when have you been able to read minds?" Max asked me with a wary and shocked expression.

"Um, I'm pretty sure forever. I mean as long as I can remember. which may.. not.. actually be forever..." I said as I got lost in thought. The Flock stared at me and I could tell Angel was trying to search through my mind, so I put my mind blocks back up and gave her a warning look.

"Why didn't you tell us? Why did you keep this hidden?" Max asked confused.

I looked away embarrassed and rubbed the back of my head, "Well, I only met you guys two weeks ago and..we were kinda distracted with the whole 'Erases chasing us deal' and well... I mean... you guys aren't the only ones with trust issues, ok?" I rambled out in a hurry.

I saw Fang and Max exchange wary looks and could tell they were preparing for 'fight or flight' mode as I was making excuses. Great I had just gotten into their trust circle I thought.

"Whoa whoa" I said holding my hands up in surrender trying to diffuse the situation. "Don't worry I've never read any of your minds, I don't usually use my powers."

"How do we know you're not lying to us? What if you're spying for the School?" Fang asked.

With that comment, I felt my anger rising and stood up abruptly as my anger pushed me to the verge of going into a rampage. At this sudden display of pure hatred, the whole Flock to gather around Max into attack mode and prepared to take me down. Before anyone could make a move, I let out a loud snarl at them.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD THINK I WOULD SPY FOR THE SCHOOL! One minute you're worried about me, and now you find out I have special powers I suddenly work with the monsters that created me?!" I shouted at them trying to keep what little restraint I had left on my emotions. I started breathing hard trying to calm myself down. Breath..Breath..In ..Out, don't blow up at them they're just being cautious no need to bite their heads off. I glance around at their glaring faces. Oh no, what have I done now their definitely going to kick me out of the Flock. What will I do, I'll be so screwed. What if the Erasers find me alone. What if...

The Flock was at a loss for words. While I was motivating myself to stay calm and get a hold on my enraged emotions, Flock had just stared at me. Then they watched as I seemed to go into panic mode in three seconds. They all seemed perplexed by my attitude. One minute I look like I'm about to rip somebody's head off and the next minute I appear to be on the verge of tears with worry and panic resonating off my persona.

"Look, I didn't tell you guys about my powers because I didn't want you guys to freak out, like you are now." I attempted to justify my reasoning to them. Angel was the first to speak up.

"You knew we had powers, so why would you be afraid to tell us about yours?" I stared at the ground afraid to look any of them in the eye.

"What are you hiding from us, Kiki?" asked Max skeptically. I looked up at her and could see she seemed more worried than angry at me, but she was still on high alert in case I decided to attack.

I bit my lower lip and considered whether or not to tell them all of my secrets. I decided to try trusting them, at least with most of my secrets. "Do you remember when you found me in the park in Utah?"

They nodded.

"Yeah, we had just escaped the School and rescued Angel. Then we spent the night with the hawks and ate disgusting desert food. Then we left the cave and started flying to Washington D.C. to find Iggy's parents and then got attacked by these new flying Erasers, causing us to crash-land into the Zion National Park and found you hiding in a tree from like a hundred Erasers who were chasing you and we kicked their butts and let you join our Flock after we found out about your wings. And -mph" Iggy finally stopped Nudge's excruciatingly detailed recap.

"We got it Nudge, we ran into Kiki and then added her to the group. What's your point Kiki?" Max said exaperatedly.

"Well, didn't you find it weird that they sent so many Erasers after one escaped experiment?" I looked at the Flock and saw they were still confused.

"Actually, if you think about it now, a hundred Erasers for one escaped experiment is a lot" Angel reasoned, "I mean for us that's not much but we have each other and were trained to defend ourselves, so it makes sense to send that many against us. But as far as we know Kiki had no training and we found her alone."

"Exactly, well" I said, "There's a reason they sent so many Erasers after me. I was, well am, the second most important experiment they have created. Second only to you, 'the Great Maximum Ride'." I explained theatrically and watched as the Flock processed the information I was giving them.

"Though, unlike you, Max, I didn't have a Flock to give me support. After making Iggy, Fang, and you at the same time, the whitecoats wanted to test a theory. From what I picked up, they created me a year later to see which would be easier to control and more efficient; a group of hybrids that were dependent on each other and easily manipulated by threatening the weakest one or a single hybrid with a variety of skill sets that is completely dependent on their.. uh care." I said with disgust.

"Of course they weren't going to stop creating experiments just because they created me, hence the fact Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel were added to your group. Long story short, after you guys escaped the first time, the whitecoats took extreme measures to ensure that I wasn't able to escape and my torture in that place increased tenfold. They crushed my hope of ever escaping and broke me. When you guys were captured and then escaped a second time I found my opportunity for my own escape through all the chaos and took it. You found me, and I felt indebted to you guys, so I promised myself I would repay it." I said trying to keep my voice as impassive as possible and not get pulled into the memories.

I looked around at the Flock and saw more pity stares aimed towards me. I started shifting my weight uncomfortably from their staring. Please stop staring at me like that I thought to myself.

Max was the first to speak up "That still doesn't answer what you're hiding from us."

I sighed, "Let's just say their 'one man band' theory worked...to an extent. I have at least two or three abilities that the School programmed into my system and am very powerful. I can become invisible, read minds, teleport, and fly of course. The only problem is they put in a failsafe to keep me reliant on them; I can't use too much of my powers without it sucking away at my energy reserves. They would give me these shots, I think adrenaline, that boosted my energy and prevented me from being affected by the powers sucking at my energy."

"That would explain why you eat so much. Even for mutants like us." Gazzy said off-handedly.

"Ok, I understand you wanting to hide your powers from us, I mean we hid stuff from you until we thought you were trustworthy enough to join us," Max reasoned.

I started feeling hope build up in me and my mouth started to rise into a smile when Fang spoke up, "I agree that I understand your reservations to what you shared with us, but I don't think we can trust you anymore. I pointed out earlier, you could be a mole the School created to make us trust you and then double-cross us when Erasers come for us."

My smile fell again as I thought about his words and a way for me to gain their trust again. Everyone, except Max and Fang, sat shocked because Fang had spoken twice within these last hour and both times exceeded a ten word count. After a few minutes of deep contemplation I came to the only solution available to me; the only problem being that it made me severely vulnerable and I was scared to death to let it happen. After fighting with myself for a couple seconds, I decided that if I gain their trust back, then the sacrifice will be worth it. I took a deep breath and told them my suggestion.