I know that this plot had been done so many times before, when the Flock finds their parents and leaves Max all by herself and then some major stuff happens and they all get back together and they live happily ever after.
Well, this is a different twist because Max had already found her parents so this is like what would happen if the Flock all had parents. But you have to keep reading to find out if they do get their happily ever after.
Disclaimer: I do not, in any way or form, own Maximum Ride or any of it's characters.
"When's everybody's in, and you're left out,
And you feel your drowning, in the shadow of a doubt,
Everyone's a miracle in their own way
Just listen to yourself, not what other people say."
--Bon Jovi
Chapter One –Max POV
Here I am again. Just sitting here, waiting. Not like that will change anything. I'm always waiting. But every time, it's the same answer.
I'm so sorry guys, he'll say. Nothing this time. I'm not giving up though. I promise. The same phrase he said so many times before that I lost track.
So I'm stuck here, in Mom's living room, waiting around with the Flock, plus Total, Akila, Ella and Mom. I was sitting on the couch next to Angel who had Total in her lap, snoozing softly. Fang was typing something on his laptop, Iggy and the Gasman were whispering something across the coffee table, something about explosives, I think, and Ella and Nudge were sprawled out on the floor watching some show on MTV. Mom was in the kitchen baking cookies from the smell of it.
It's been a few months since we've taken down Itex making it a total of one year since we left our E-shaped house in Colorado. All the psycho scientists are either jailed or dead. So now Fang, Iggy, and I are fifteen, Nudge is twelve, Gazzy's nine, and Angel is seven. We're hanging out at Mom's house at the moment, anxiously waiting for Jeb's return that hopefully brought some good news this week.
I personally did not want to hear it but the younger three did and I respected that and played along. Iggy already knew, and Fang didn't want any part in this. We've talked about it before.
Basically, we're back in hiding. It's a lot like how we were living before all this on the run stuff, before Angel was kidnapped and before our lives got turned completely upside down.
It was a different kind of hiding though. The government knows about us now, and they're working to protect us. They decided that it would be best if the public knew nothing about us, after much persuasion from our side of course. So that school those government wankos built for us? Yeah, it's gone. Fang's blog? That's gone, too. The goal is to hopefully make everyone think that this was just some joke or something, that there really are no flying bird kids. Its working pretty well, much to my surprise.
Of course that means we're under special surveillance, like annual house visits and education requirements. Mom and Jeb had gotten the six of us pretty much gotten us caught up in our schoolwork.
Mom and Jeb are the Flock's temporary guardians for the moment, until the government tracks down their missing parents. Not like that matters in the long run because I doubt anyone will ever find them. But I'm keeping my big mouth shut on that topic.
"Max? Can you come in here for a sec?" Mom called from the kitchen.
"Yeah, I'm coming," I said, as I unwrapped my arm from around Angel. Fang glanced up from his laptop as I lifted myself off the couch and stepped over Akila. I felt his gaze on me as I walked into the kitchen.
"What's up?" I asked walking over to the table. I peered into the mixing bowl filled halfway with raw cookie dough.
"You okay?" she asked, giving me a sideways glance while placing a clump of dough on the tray.
I rolled my eyes. We went through this conversation almost every week.
"Mom, I'm fine. Honestly."
"Okay, sweetie. I'm just worried about you. You never know what Jeb might say."
"I know, Mom," I said, a little aggravated. "I've thought about that. But really, I'm fine."
"Okay, okay. You obviously don't want to talk about it." She smiled then pointed to a tray. "Just take those cookies off the tray before them stick."
I grabbed the spatula and scrapped the edge of a cookie. I wasn't lying when I told her that I had thought about this before, a million different scenarios running through my head. I was lying when I said I was fine.
"You don't think he actually found something, do you?" My voice was a little shaky.
She rubbed my arm. "You never know, Max."
She left a few minutes later to go put in another load of laundry. With six additional kids living in the house it had been getting a little demanding.
My back stiffened. I gripped the spatula tighter, but I continued piling cookies onto the plate as if I didn't notice him there.
"What's up?" I asked Fang, who had entered the room.
"Not much." He shrugged and took a cookie. "Still getting emails."
My eyebrows rose. "Still? You were supposed to stop writing blog entries," I said, semi-accusing.
"Doesn't mean people still try to reach me."
"Well, aren't you popular," I muttered. I had never liked his blog and it bothered me that people were still trying to get in contact with him after several months after the no-contact rule.
Minutes later we were both in the living room with a prepared plate of chocolate cookies which Fang placed on the coffee table. We sat back down but I could still feel his gaze on me. I gritted my teeth. Couldn't he just leave me alone? Did he have to watch my every move? Of course he did.
"Hey, Max?" Nudge said, practically bouncing up and down, "do you think Jeb actually found anything? Why isn't he home by now? Shouldn't he be? Right? I mean, it is kinda late and all."
"Nudge, relax. I don't know when he's gonna be back but it will probably be soon." I was trying to be convincing but I don't think it worked very well.
Angel and the Gasman were watching out the window for his car to pull up. I heard Fang close his laptop and Ella had muted the TV.
"He probably didn't even find anything," Fang said, only loud enough for me to hear him. He had moved behind me, standing up behind the couch.
I turned around and looked at him. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear I said to him, "That's what you said last week."
He almost smiled.
Fang looked very calm, despite what might happen in the next few moments. I, on the other hand, was tensing as random cars drove by.
He looked down at me, his face very smooth and blank, but his eyes swirling with emotions I couldn't quite make out. We had gotten closer these past few months, friendship wise, nothing major. He hadn't tried to, like, kiss me again, which I was mostly glad about, and we hadn't talked about anything like that either.
I knew I loved him, but I loved everyone in the Flock. But there was this something about him, this something that made butterflies swarm in my stomach, something that made my heart pound louder and faster, something that left me breathless, something that made a flush creep across my collarbone, something that made my cheeks turn red and my eyes look away.
Something that told me, not only did I love him, but maybe, I was a little…in love with him.
Maybe.
"Max," Iggy said, breaking me from my thoughts. "He's here."
Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy looked at me with some much hope in their eyes that my heart felt heavy. I gave them an encouraging smile.
Ella, who was sitting on the arm of Iggy's chair, called out to Mom, who was still in the laundry room, that Jeb had arrived.
"Oh, my God, I hope he found something! I can't believe how… how close I am to—"
"Nudge. Relax. Breathe." I demonstrated with a deep intake of air and she took a shallow breath and returned her eyes to the window.
The door opened and Jeb stepped through with several, large manila envelopes in his hand. He started to talk but the words didn't make sense. It was like his mouth was moving but all I could hear was gibberish.
Then I couldn't hear anything at all. I could see the Flock's reactions; excitement and shock. I could see Iggy's face get paler and Fang's eyes shine with something I had never seen before.
I heard Jeb's words replaying themselves over and over in my head. They weren't hard, big words to understand, but somehow they seemed incoherent.
I repeated to myself the words that he had said last week, with a totally different expression on his face and a totally different reaction from the Flock.
"I'm so sorry guys. Nothing this time. I'm not giving up, though. I promise."
I compared that to what he said this week, the heart shattering response that had me in a mummified state for all of two short seconds that seemed like two long hours.
I was brought back to reality, Jeb's words playing on a loop in my head finally making some sense as I realized that he has kept his promise.
"We got it guys," he had said, with everyone's eyes staring at him. "We found the files. We found your parents."
I hate to end off with a cliffhanger, but I couldn't think of any other way to end it. Now go click that little purple button. You know you want to. Flames and constructive criticism always welcome :
PG