A/N: OMIGOD I am SO sorry it's been so long... Life ate my soul. I was in a musical, then for two weeks i was eaten alive by my sims (tonight I plan to make the flock... becuz I can 3)

Plus, I am in love with this story. I'll marry it and make little winged babies. :3

Warnings: Angst, a little more crude humour, and snogging! Woo!

Disclaimer: As previously stated, all I own is this insane plot.

REVIEWERS! Holy cow, 24 in one chapter? I think that's my record! I should really leave huge gaps between updates more often!

TheSmartypants: haha, I tried to have him lightening up gradually... I'm not used to writing for mopy characters, they all get ooc-ized.

dot dot dot: Well, I sure as hell can't resist a good waffle... -takes waffles and hides them in hat- Sorry about the sock D: brothers suck (I know for a fact... mine turned nine a few months ago x.x)

And warm faxy thanks to: hxcb, xxApocalypsexx, MAUS:Ulysses990, btvsfifi, hawkiesbaby0703, Katie-3llen, Myrah, Dreamer948, caitlin (you have the same name as one of my cousins!), meepisms, AnonymousChic14, Tremma, Crimson Scarz, n/a, Sargelle, yada yada that what people..., missskitz, DivideByNegativeZero, Mew-Sahara, lovelyxangel, Punkcorn-Friday13th, and silvershadow37. I LUV JOO ALL!

Switching Sides

I awoke the second day of our switch, feeling like my head had been bashed in. Oh god, someone please make it stop. And then...

Good morning, Max. Sorry about the pain, it'll fade once your body... Fang's body gets used to this.

'What the hell are you doing in my head?' I thought furiously, already the pain was fading.

I'm here to help. Yesterday... Well... It didn't go exactly as planned. You and Fang were already supposed to be back in your own bodies. So today, we're sending in some help.

'Help? What help?'

In approximately half an hour, Erasers will arrive here. I will tell you exactly what to do leading up to that, and be warned. If you don't do things just right, you, Fang, and everyone else will die.

I shuddered. 'I'm listening...'

Five minutes lately I had dressed just how the voice told me, and sprinted to my room... Fang's room... whatever. I crashed open the door, to find Fang right on the other side.

"You heard?" I said urgently. Our issues could wait. He nodded, and together, we ran out of the room, directed by the voice as to who should wake who in what order. I had to get Nudge and Iggy, Fang had Gazzy and Angel. We dashed through, waking who we were supposed to, and dove straight through a window, wings snapping out to soar up, above our house. Both Fang and I were having trouble getting used to the feeling of different bodies and wings, but the others just seemed to interpret this as nerves. We led them over, the house, to the edge of a forest nearby with a road running neatly along it, and waited. Sure enough, not ten minutes had passed when a black car drove past. We leaped on it, smashing the windows and sending it skidding off. A bunch of Erasers leaped out, swearing and glaring at us. In the lead was a larger one, and he was different. He grinned wolfishly.

"Hey there Max." He said to Fang. "You've grown since I saw you last."

"So have you." I said astonished, recognising his voice despite the growliness. This was Ari, Jeb's son. Impossible! He should only be seven years old!

"Ah, Fang. Great to see you." He gave me a look. He knew! So why was he playing along? Ari stalked up to Fang, every inch of him smirking.

"Max..." He said almost... seductively? and I felt immediately protective of my body. Something wasn't right here.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled, and slammed my fist into his jaw. Ari stumbled and spat out some blood, glaring at me.

"Up and Away!" I heard Fang yell to the others, and I felt the whoosh of air as they all took off. Glaring Ari down, I stayed on the ground to fight. The other Erasers didn't seem to care, nursing their own wounds. It was as though Ari had been ordered to take out Fang and I, and the others were just decoys.

And then we both lunged at once, Ari running at me just as I swung out my foot, which he ran into full force. I heard an 'oomph' as the air left his lungs, and Ari staggered. I took the opportunity to land another crashing blow on his side, and bring my elbow down onto his back. I placed my foot on his head, grinding it into the ground. Ari was done for.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you right now." I whispered menacingly, wondering just how cool I looked right now. This whole thing was really doing wonders for Fang's reputation.

"I can give you two." Ari grunted, and to my horror, a pair of huge wings burst from his back, knocking me off him. He took off, and I flew up to meet him, as the other Erasers released their wings too, and took to the skies.

"Ari." Fang hissed from behind Ari. Yep, he was pissed. The others were occupied with the other Erasers, and I glanced off in time to see Iggy and Gazzy plant a minor explosive in the mouth of one of them, blowing his head inside out. I smirked. Those two would never change.

"Ah, the switchers. Too bad you won't get the chance to go home." He hissed, and lunged at me. We both dropped all pretences, in the hopes of fighting better.

"Fang!" I called, dodging a blow, and kicking Ari between the wings. "I found a way to get back! It seems stupid..." I dropped under Ari's next attack, but this directed it straight at Fang, who parried just in time.

"Tell me, Max!" He demanded, kicking Ari in the stomach as I had done, though not hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

"There was an episode of some Sci-Fi show, written by Jeb." I yelled, dodging Ari's next blow, and almost having Iggy and Gazzy's most recent victim fall on me. "The same thing happened, and..." I blushed, dropping my guard for a second, and Ari smashed into me, sending me hurtling backwards. I hit into Nudge, who was almost beheaded because of it. Still... she poked her eraser in the eyes, hard, sending blood spurting all over her hands. I returned to my own battle, to find that Fang had temporarily subdued Ari.

"What the hell do we do?" He demanded, glaring at me. I couldn't think of a way to explain it, so I just dragged Fang to me, speaking shakily.

"Fang... I love you." I whispered, and pulled him to me, mashing my lips to his. Around us, I practically felt the battle freeze, and knew the entire flock, and all the remaining Erasers, were staring at us. And then... pain. The most horrendous, soul-wrenching pain imaginable. I felt myself being torn from Fang's body and screamed in agony, though no sound came through. I felt myself travelling along the point where our lips met, and knew Fang was as well. The next thing I knew, I was back in my own body. Oh, and I was falling. I remembered to beat my wings, and brought myself up to face Fang, who was shaking, examining his fingers. And then I was locked in a tight hug from him, which I returned happily, pressing my cheek against his shoulder, happy to be myself again. I could tell he was feeling exactly the same way. And then, a voice cut through our happy moment.

"Aww, how cute." Ari sneered. "You finally owned up to it. Too bad you won't live to enjoy it." He managed to look tough despite his injuries, and I let go of Fang for now, glaring at him.

"Ari?" I said sweetly, smiling my most sadistic smile. That was something Fang never would have managed; nobody did theatrics like me. "Go to hell." With that I slammed into him, practically ripping the kid's wing off, and sending Ari spiralling to earth, his strength spent. The other Erasers flew after him, leaving me alone with my flock.

"Max..." Iggy said slowly. "What the hell just happened? Because I'm pretty sure I missed something." Nudge meanwhile, bloody and grinning, tackled me in the best hug she could manage midair.

"Max and Fang kissed!" She squealed. "But what was up with that?" She turned to Fang, who backed away slightly further than where he had been, brooding to the flock's right. "You kept calling Max Fang, and Max called you Max!"

I sighed, patting her shoulder. "When Fang hit his head in the kitchen the other day..." I looked at Fang, who nodded slightly, indicating I should go on. "Well... that wasn't all that happened. Somehow we switched bodies... I've been Fang since yesterday. When we kissed though..." I looked down, blushing. "It reversed whatever happened, sending us back to normal."

Angel nodded. "I knew about it, because I read their minds straight away." She smiled innocently, and I eyed her. That kid can really be creepy sometimes.

Iggy seemed to be thinking. "So last night... That was you I was talking to?" He asked.

I nodded, blushing. "Yeah."

"Oh man." He seemed crushed. "Sorry Fang. I thought it was you, man. You guys are good actors."

"It's okay Iggy, Max must have just waited until you were asleep before confronting me. She came crashing in, and yelled about it. Thank god for soundproof walls." He said drily, which reminded me... oh yeah, I was mad at Fang. It had sort of gotten lost in the craziness of the morning.

"Iggy." I said hoarsely. "Can you take these guys back to the house, tell them to pack some stuff. It's not safe here anymore. I need to talk to Fang."

Iggy nodded. "Come on guys, you heard her." He ushered the others back to the house, leaving me alone with Fang.

I flew over to him timidly. "Fly with me?"

Fang nodded, and we set off over the countryside, wings beating in sync at a leisurely pace. We flew silently for ten minutes, before I piped up.

"So do you or don't you like me? Because I frankly don't care anymore, you know how I feel."

"You weren't joking then?" He blinked. "I was sure you were just trying to reverse the bodyswap."

I shook my head. "Dead serious. Your turn."

Instead of answering me, he turned around abruptly so that I flew into his arms, and pressed his lips to mine. I whimpered pathetically; it felt so good... so RIGHT to be kissing Fang. When his tongue touched my lips I parted them without question, and allowed his tongue access to my mouth. He delved it expertly, making me wonder if he and Iggy had been practising or something... Banishing those strange thoughts, I returned to reality, where Fang was kissing me, and it felt damn good. When he finally pulled back for air, I looked deep into his eyes.

"You sure?" I asked seriously, though there was a playful gleam I knew was there in my eyes.

He nodded. "Absolutely. Let's go back and get our stuff, before the others get suspicious." I nodded in agreement, and we flew back together, our wingtips lightly touching, synchronised once again. When we landed at the house, Iggy and the others were done packing, and Iggy had even thought to fill a chilly bin with food.

"Thanks guys." I smiled. "We'll just pack some stuff, then we can hit the road. Does everyone have everything they need? Because we might never come back."

They all nodded, jaws set, and I found myself marvelling at how amazing these guys were. They were ready to up and drop their lives, just like that, because I told them to. I smiled warmly, and ran off to pack. When I was done, Fang and I emerged from our rooms at the same time, and everyone was ready.

"Okay guys. Got your bags?" Four nods from the flock, and a rebellious look from Fang. "Then let's go." I raced out of the door, propelling myself into the air, and I could feel the others doing the same behind me. There was a near-silent swoop behind me, and then Fang and I were side by side once again. The others appeared to have guessed what had happened in our conversation, and weren't saying a thing. Thank god. Because otherwise I'd have to kick their butts. Instead we flew along in peaceful silence, leaving everything we knew behind.

000

"We'll camp here tonight." I said, as we landed in a crack on a cliff. Because we had the food, and it was morning when we left, we had made good progress, and found ourselves on a cliff with some hawks. Fang had introduced us to them, and now we were all set for the night. Indeed, everyone but Fang and I collapsed straight away, snoring their tiny heads off together the moment they hit the stone floor. I wandered to the edge where Fang was sitting, and sat next to him, feet dangling off the edge.

"Crazy day, huh." He commented, chewing on a strip of beef jerky. I nodded, staring out at the hawks. Both Fang and I had hawks wings, while the others were all other kinds of birds I had never identified. Or had the patience to identify. Nonetheless, I could tell that this was somehow where Fang and I belonged. We were like the hawks, and it was dizzying to think that. We were just like these strong, powerful creatures, who swooped and soared magnificently. I turned to Fang to voice my thoughts, but he just grinned at me, and launched himself off the edge. I watched contentedly as he joined the circle, immediately fitting in with the hawks.

"Come on!" He called, and I took off too, flying up to meet him. The hawks accepted me happily, and I revelled in the feeling of flying as Fang and I copied the hawks, trying to fly like them. By the time the sun set, and we returned to the cave, both of us were already much better at flying, and there was a strange feeling of connection between us. Fang smiled at me, and gestured to the sunset. "Come on. Consider this a first date." He grabbed my hand just as I was landing, and dragged me up, to the top of the cliff. The view from there was spectacular, and we stared in awe, as the sun sank below the horizon, turning the sky all shades of pink and orange. I sighed happily, leaning my head on Fang's shoulder, and he put his arm around me, stroking my shoulder, then moving up to play with my hair. I smiled, and lay down fully, my head in his lap, simply enjoying the sensation of someone playing with my hair. Once the sun was down we jumped back off the cliff, spiralling gently downward, to land back in our cave. I smiled, putting my arms around Fang's neck to kiss him goodnight, and sighed into the feeling of his hands resting on my hips, his lips and tongue entwined in mine, his body pressed against mi... I broke off, blushing.

"I think you need a shower." I said solemnly, and he blushed, scooting to the edge of the cliff. Then, with a smile, he leaped off, flying down to the lake below. I followed, and together we hit the water, fully clothed.

Fang sighed. "That's better... though the sight of you in a wet t-shirt isn't exactly helping." He grinned. I blushed and splashed him.

"No bad thoughts. It's only our first date." I smiled. "In fact... I don't think I should kiss you anymore at all, since kissing on a first date is taboo, right?" I grinned innocently, and he gasped in mock shock.

"But what are we supposed to do now? I spent all that time practising with Iggy for nothing!"

I froze. "Okay... Please don't tell me that actually happened. If it did I may have to kill myself."

He shrugged. "We were curious. It happened once, never amounted to anything." He gave me a serious look, then switched it to a 'you're-dumber-than-I-thought' look. "Of course not. We're both guys. Straight guys." He added. "Not in a million years."

"Thank god." I breathed out in relief. "Because I couldn't decide who to murder; you, me, or Iggy. Might have to be a double-homicide slash suicide." I grinned at him, and he grinned back, and splashed me. Before long we were having a splash fight, with no way to tell who won. Which, of course, progressed to making out in the lake.

It was my fourth time kissing Fang, and it didn't seem to be getting any less interesting. This time we were slippery, and tangled up in each other, so it was hard to tell who was who. One of his hands was cupping my right buttock, the other was tangled quite literally in my hair, while my hands were on his back and chest alternately, and my legs were wrapped around his waist. All in all, it was a compromising position, and neither of us seemed to mind. Until we heard it.

"Aww, charming." Came a sneering voice from the shore. We both whipped our heads around to look, and there was Ari, looking as healthy as ever.

"Ari!" I shrieked. "How can you be fixed already!"

"Wonders of modern medicine, kiddo." He glared at me, wading out towards us now. I hurriedly detached from Fang, prepared to fight.

"What, no flunkies this time?" I growled, just waiting for Ari to reach us.

"We can't let him know where the others are." Fang muttered, and I nodded. I had had no intention of telling him.

Ari reached us at last, and I celebrated by kicking him in the face, breaking his snout. Ari clutched his nose, bleeding and shrieking, and I kicked him in the ribs. Hard. Fang, meanwhile, had flown upwards somewhere, and I knew he was waiting to come down on Ari like a tonne of bricks. With this knowledge, I was able to plant both of my feet in the middle of Ari's chest, kicking him right across the pond. Seeing his chance, Fang flew down out of nowhere, punching Ari repeatedly in the stomach. But wait... Something wasn't right. Ari was on top of Fang now, ripping away at his belly. I shrieked, rushing over to them, and kicking Ari off. Fang was looking bad... very bad. Scarily bad. This time, in my desperation, I actually broke both Ari's wings and one of his arms in my hurry, and raced over to Fang, taking off my shirt for lack of cloth, and applying pressure to the wounds. Fang's eyes opened blearily, and he muttered, "Nee' 'elp." coughing up blood.

"Come on Fang... live." I knew there were tears streaming down my cheeks, and I honestly didn't care. "You can't die now... I need you. IGGY? NUDGE!" I yelled desperately for the rest of the flock, knowing they were light sleepers. "FANG'S HURT! I NEED HELP." I screamed, all the while pushing on Fang's wounds like... well... my life depended on it. I almost died of relief when I saw Iggy and Nudge flying towards me, carrying our first aid kit. I let Nudge, our resident nurse, take over saving Fang's life, while I cried on Iggy's shoulder. He patted my back soothingly, but I couldn't get pictures of him and Fang kissing out of my head, no matter how hard I tried.

"Fang's gonna be fine, but we have to find somewhere he can rest. A doctor or something." Nudge announced, wiping Fang's blood off her hands. I looked at my own hands, realising for the first time that I was soaked in Fang's blood, and I was topless. And clinging to Iggy. Boy was I glad Fang wasn't awake right now. Wait, no I wasn't.

"I think I saw something that looked like a doctor's office in the town we passed. There's no choice; we have to take him there. Max, can you and Iggy carry him?" Nudge went on, and I almost giggled at how much like me she was acting. That girl would make a dynamite mother one day.

I nodded. "Nudge, can you get the others, and our stuff? Iggy and I can start now, since we won't be able to fly as fast as usual." Nudge flew off, and Iggy and I picked up the heavily bandaged Fang.

"Are you okay?" Iggy asked, once we were flying over the trees again. "What happened?"

"We were attacked by Ari. Fang and I decided to go for a swim, and Ari showed up." I said in a voice far more calm than it should have been.

"Oh." Iggy nodded. "Explains everything."

"Yeah..." I faded into silence, but Iggy wasn't content.

"How come you were swimming?" He piped up a couple of minutes later.

"First date. Fang's idea." I rolled my eyes. "We were gonna go to bed, but Fang decided last minute he needed a cold swim."

"Ah." Iggy nodded, and I blushed. Why the hell was this so embarassing? Hell, Fang and I had only admitted we liked each other this morning, and already we were the subject of gossip beyond anything I'd seen in the flock before.

Iggy and I flew on in silence after that, joined after about ten minutes by the others, all of whom looked pale and tired. They were undeterred though, and we made it the the doctors office, which turned out to be a vet's. Still, better than nothing. And who knew? Maybe a vet was less likely to report us to the government or whatever. We touched down out the back, and carried Fang in hurriedly. The only person on duty was a kind-looking Mexican woman, who seemed shocked to see us.

"I'm Dr. Martinez... what happened to him?" She asked worriedly, checking Fang over.

"He was attacked by a wolf..." I said, not feeling the need to tell her everything. "I think it punctured um... one of his air sacs." I blushed.

"Air sacs?" She blinked. "You mean lungs? Because it did." She was talking and working at the same time, not even bothering to move Fang off the floor.

"No, um..." 'oh boy...' I thought. "Air sacs. We have them. Like birds. Our hearts are also faster and our bones are lighter. And we have these." I spread one of my wings a little bit, and watched her eyes widen. It felt weird to be telling her, but she needed to know if she was gonna treat Fang. She stared for a moment, then returned to fixing Fang.

"Yes, I see now... it hit one of his... air sacs." She was trying to act like this was normal, and I respected her for that. She was also quick and professional, and before long she had put Fang on a too-small bed, and he was opening his eyes hazily.

"Max." He croaked, and I rushed over to him.

"Fang! Are you okay?" I gasped. He nodded slowly, then moaned.

"I'll be fine. Where am I?"

"A vet's office. We had to take you here... you were going to die." I said, and with that I broke down, and cried all over Fang's chest. Now, I never, ever cry, but for this I was ready to make an exception.

000

"Is he your boyfriend?" Dr. Martinez asked, after the rest of the flock had gone to sleep on the floor. I nodded slowly.

"Kinda, as of this morning. It's a really long story."

"The rest of them?"

"My siblings, I guess. We were experimented on by geneticists. We all have wings, and Iggy's blind, from when they tried to help him see better, Angel can read minds, and Gazzy... well... we don't call him the Gasman for nothing." I smiled slightly. I had no idea why I was telling her this, but it felt good to talk to someone. "The other girl is Nudge, that's Fang over there on the bed, and I'm Max." I smiled. "We all named ourselves when we were really young."

She chuckled. "I bet you'd all choose different ones now, right?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, I guess I'm happy being Max. It stands for Maximum Ride." She nodded.

"You've gotta be happy with yourself, no matter who or what you are." She said, and I nodded slowly.

"Is it okay if I go to sleep now? We'll leave in the morning, Fang should be better by then. We heal really really fast." I added at her confused look. "I just wanna know if anyone else'll be in here."

She shook her head. "I'll make sure of it personally. If um... Fang isn't good enough to fly by morning though, I'll have to keep you here."

I nodded. "Sure. Just don't tell anyone about us. At all."

000

By morning, Fang was up, and when the bandages came off, there was nothing there but pink scars. I hugged him hard, planting a few desperate kisses on his neck.

"I was so worried about you... don't ever do that to me again."

"I'll try not to." He smiled warmly, putting his arms tenderly around me.

"We've gotta get going now." I let go of him, wiping my eyes. "Thanks so much Dr. Martinez. We'll remember you."

She smiled. "It's not a problem. If you're ever in the area again, feel free to visit. I live in the house in the woods; my daughter Ella would love to meet you."

"Come on." I whispered to Iggy as we left. It was still twilight, and noone else was up. "Let's give her a treat, guys." We had planned to take off in the woods, but Dr. Martinez deserved a look. So, I took a running leap off the steps of the vet's, launching myself into the air. Fang followed me, then Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. We waved from midair, all grinning upon seeing the look in her eyes, and flew off again, back towards the cliff with the hawks.

A/N: That went a bit further than I had meant to, but it was irresistible. So. Fang and Max are going out, Ari's a jerk, and something's seriously up. This ends the bodyswap section of this story, and now we're getting into the actual plot; so far, that was all setup. And now, just to piss you off, here's another preview.

I threw myself straight into the fray, hoping Fang did the same, and began to fight myself in. I managed to glimpse Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy, all fighting their hardest, my little troopers, but there was no sign of Angel until I was near desperate. After kicking one Eraser so hard in the head I think I broke his neck, I saw Angel's hair and heard her scream as she was shoved into a bag, passed down through a chain of Erasers, until she reached the outside. I chased after it, but I almost stopped when I saw Fang. He dove into the battle then, wings fully extended and in use as weapons, knocking Erasers around by the dozen. He pounced on the Eraser with the bag at the same time as I got there; poor guy never had a chance. He was gone, but so was Angel, we whirled around to see that while we were attacking, he had passed her to another Eraser, and she was now on... a helicopter? When the hell did that get there? As they were flying away, Erasers were dissipating around us, and I saw the top of Angel's head emerge confusedly just as they turned to fly off.

I couldn't help it. I opened my mouth, turned my head to the sky, and screamed.

"ANGEL!!!"