AN: So at the start of my last MR fic, I said it would probably be the last. Obviously, is was not, so let's just forget I said that. This story is POST-FANG, so I would suggest reading the book first. The flock has been staying at a safe house for the past two years with Dr. Martinez and Ella. There will be at least four OCs in this story, making up Fang's flock, and I claim them as my own creation. While this first chapter is a tad slow, I assure you that it will not all be like this.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the first chapter of...

The Battle of the Exes

Summary: Two years after Fang left, he's back, with his own flock, on Jeb's orders. Chaos ensues, as Dylan fights for Max, Max wreaks havoc on Fang and his new 'girlfriend', and Fang attempts to execute his own plans without revealing his ulterior motive for returning.

Chapter One: Careful What You Wish For

The world looked so peaceful at that moment from my usual seat on the back porch. The wind played in the grass, making it dance. The trees swayed to the unheard rhythm. The sun winked at me from behind the single cloud decorating the blue sky. The breeze caressed my face and I wanted to close my eyes, but I didn't want to miss a moment of this beauty.

A butterfly sailed by on the gently moving air. I heard newborn birds chirping in their nest somewhere, waiting for their mother to come back from her flight. She landed beside me, giving me a curious look. What are you? she seemed to be asking. Friend or foe? Predator?

I smiled at the little bird and she chirped back at me. Then she swooped into the grass and came up with a worm wriggling in her beak. I watched her soar into the tree where I'd heard the baby birds. They chirped excitedly as she gave them their meal, and I couldn't help but grin to myself. Ah, the ways of nature.

The trees, the birds, the grass, the insects, the flowers, the people even. Nature.

And then there was me. The opposite of nature.

Nature was a pure force with a will and freedom of its own. Nature couldn't be controlled or harvested, stuck in a tube and artificially recreated. No, nature could never be that. I could live forever and nature still wouldn't be that. Nature still wouldn't be me and I would still never be of nature.

When you had been taken from your mother and mutated, that wasn't nature. That was science. Of course, in this case, science was synonymous with the main cruelty of the human race.

I'd seen it my whole life: the effortless cycle of nature, and the precisely controlled nature of science. Who knows how they came up with that phrase, because the two words couldn't function together in my book.

For a moment, I wished for something I shouldn't have. I wished for someone to share it all with, but not just any someone. No, this was a very specific someone. Someone whose very name had practically become a taboo in my family.

It had been two years since I'd seen him. For a long time, I had just fallen into a painful silence, letting everything slide away from me. But lately, I'd been making my come back. I was okay. I was over it and jumping back onto my feet. I wouldn't let the circumstance hurt me. No way. That was me, trying to play it cool.

Of course, one can only pretend so much. My artfully crafted mask provided no way to disguise my true feelings from the ones who had backstage access into my thought. (Curse that little mind reader.)

But still, no one knew what was really going on in my head. I was leader again and they still followed me faithfully. After all, it was better than being bossed around by a nine-year-old mind reader. Imagine Hitler. Now, imagine him equipped with the ability to know exactly which of his citizens didn't like him. That was Angel, 'leading' the flock.

When I had regained my composure, the flock had happily let the reins fall back into my lap. And I'd gladly accepted them.

We were still six, the lucky number we'd always been. Three hormonal seventeen-year-olds, a chatty fourteen-year-old, a manic eleven-year-old, and a power-crazed nine-year-old. Of course, the dark and brooding member had been traded out for the one that looked like an angel and acted like it a lot more than the one that was named Angel.

Still. We were six.

After…my first and only ex had left, Dylan had pretty much officially joined. His flying skills had improved massively, and everyone loved having him around. Sometimes, I had even felt like I could talk to him, like I was close to him. But then I looked into his eyes, the color of the cleanest ocean, and realized that they weren't the dark, hypnotizing ones I'd always confided to.

I sighed to myself and leaned back so that I was slouching across the steps. Wish you were here. Those silly, cheesy words ran through my head way too much for my liking. But I guess, in a way, it was true. I did wish he was here.

And then the anger kicked in.

I would remember the words he had written in that stupid letter, the way he had dared to pull out the "L" word. And I would be angry beyond belief. In the immediate days after he had left, I had been twisting the little ring he had given me for my birthday around my finger. He'd had me wrapped around his finger. And I'd run downstairs, outside, ripped the ring from my finger, and thrown it into the backyard I was looking at now.

A couple days later I'd been crying again, finishing the last of the ice cream in my mom's freezer, and yearning for his touch. I had alternated between the episodes of rage and the episodes of the broken-hearted teenager. I had gone back out to the backyard and started combing the grass for the ring, just so that I could hold something he'd touched. I hadn't been able to find it. After a week, I'd stopped looking.

I closed my eyes for a second longer than a blink. Something smelled yummy. My stomach growled, but I hushed it. I wanted to stay just until the sun set.

I thought about Ella. She had turned sixteen a couple months ago and thrown a big party downstairs. The whole flock had been invited, but after the first fifteen minutes, I'd retreated to my room. Dylan had been getting a bit too close for comfort.

But I had stopped being afraid of closeness. After that, I just gave up caring.

Back to Ella. Ever since we'd been around with some sense of permanency, I'd seen her making googly eyes at my previously third-in-command, promoted to second. Of course, Iggy hadn't been able to see the expression on her face whenever he walked by. But he had soon picked up on the affectionate tone she often used with him. And then, just a month ago, he'd startled me by asking my permission to date her. Iggy dating my sister? Now there was weirdness for you.

I'd told him to go for it. That night, when I'd seen Ella, she'd had a spectacular glow about her, and a huge smile plastered on her face. She'd confirmed my suspicions, but asked me to not say anything; she didn't want to have to face our mom's wrath if she found out.

So no grown-ups knew about the two of them. I was amazed at the affection Iggy could show for someone he'd never seen before, for someone he had known for barely three years. But I could tell he really cared for her, and I didn't want to see them fall apart.

I flashed to Nudge. She'd also had her eyes on Iggy for a while (the ladies' bird kid, I guess), but, armed with the attention span of a squirrel, she'd strayed away from that soon enough. She was the only one of us (besides Ella) that went to a public school. That kid always wanted to learn and be around people. So she did just that.

Another step down the ladder, and you got Gazzy. He had turned into the sorta loner of the flock, always kinda distant, but still there. He made fireworks for us every holiday, while Iggy had wandered away from the pyro stuff and more towards the culinary arts, now that we actually had a decent kitchen to work with.

Angel was still the little demon she'd always been. She could often be found drawing up plans for her conquering of the world, and her accomplices (the so-called dogs called Total and Akila) were always found with her. I didn't think she'd ever change.

And then there was Dylan. I had some—okay, a lot—of thinking to do about him.

I wished again for the forbidden wish: the wish of his company and advice to help me. He'd have known what to do. But actually, if he was still there, I wouldn't have had to be thinking about what to do about Dylan.

But that didn't mean that I didn't want his company. Even if it was just for the briefest moment. Just someone's company, someone to watch the sun go down with me.

Unfortunately, I got my wish. The back door opened, interrupting my reverie. It was Dylan. He sat down next to me, tracing my gaze.

I didn't really want company anymore.

"Dinner's ready," he whispered, as though the silence around was extremely fragile. It didn't matter though; his words still shattered the silence.

My stomach growled again. "Okay. I'll be in in a sec."

"I'll wait."

I frowned. The purpose of that message had been to send him away.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded without turning to look at him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just dandy."

And I stood up and walked inside, leaving my poor suitor to watch the sunset alone.

AN: If you've read my work before, you know that I post once a week and never more, usually Fridays, with the occasional Thursday and/or Saturday. You would also know that I live off of REVIEWs. If you didn't know that, well, now you do. Therefore, I would very much appreciate if you would take the time to write down your opinion and send it in.(: REVIEW!