This idea will never leave me alone. I'm sorry if your heart breaks.

Disclaimer: I would never have made Fang leave if I owned the Maximum Ride novels.

Expiration Date

By: Coqui's Song

Prologue

Fang sighed as he gazed around at the dark, damp street and crossed it quickly to his apartment. He couldn't resist a slight peek at the gray, cloudy sky, as if he'd see extra-large birds flying above him. Such a thing was unlikely, but not impossible. Max could find him. He just hoped she wouldn't.

He missed Max and the rest of the Flock with an agony so great he could not even try to begin to put it in words. But he missed Max the most. But he also knew that they couldn't be together… not yet, anyway.

He swaggered up to his apartment, opened the door, and went to bathroom to take a shower. Steam curled around him as he got out, drying himself.

Fang peered at the mirror, the steam obscuring the reflection of him. He impatiently wiped the wet surface with his hand so he could see his own face. He frowned as he saw a black mark on the far side of his neck, almost completely covered by his hair. He'd just taken a shower. He'd made sure he was clean. He rubbed it. It didn't come off. How peculiar.

He turned his head to see it from the corner of his eye in the mirror. What was that? It looked like… like some sort of writing. Numbers. A date.

The ground spun below him as Fang realized this wasn't a smudge that could come off. It wouldn't be able to, and it meant one horrible thing: He was going to die, and soon.

Crap.

That was the only word his mind could muster to think. It was a massive understatement, but it was all he could think.

He felt dazed and nauseous at this revelation. Fang couldn't believe that his expiration date was going to kick in… in less than a month, too! He felt like puking.

Fang stumbled out of his bathroom in shock, and sat down to calm himself. What was he going to do now? He couldn't just die, with no one knowing. And what about Max?

The thought sent a blow to his mind, and he flinched. Max! She'd be waiting for him, on that cliff where they'd learned to fly like hawks. She wouldn't know he'd died. Well, him not coming might be a clue, but he didn't want Max to not know the circumstances of his death.

But still he hesitated. He hadn't seen Max in years; they were twenty-one now. And maybe she'd already gotten together with that Dylan, her "perfect other half". Anger surged through him now, replacing the shock with the familiar hatred of Dylan.

Dylan had and doesn't have any right to Max. As far as Fang was concerned, he was Max's true love.

Then prove it, he told himself.

Fine. He'd prove it. He loved Max more than anything or anyone in the entire universe, and he'd prove it.

Fang's goal was simple: Find Max before his expiration date kicked in.

Stop, wait! Don't kill yet. I want you to understand that the stupid plot bunny would never retreat from my mind. I tried. It wouldn't go away. And just so you know, I hate myself for this. I'm going to kill Fang, yes. I hate myself for that.

I also hope I kept Fang in character.

You may kill me with your angry reviews now.

~Coqui's Song