Disclaimer: I do not claim any right to the Maximum Ride universe. I've had this idea in my head for a while and I've finally found the time to put it down on paper. Please review and much love.

Though he tried to be less than obvious about it, Fang found himself glancing up at the sky more often than not as he and the others waited for Max to rejoin them. Each minute that passed without a sign of her caused the knot of worry in the pit of his stomach to tighten just a little more. His efforts to engage with the rest of the group were distracted at best.

For one rare moment he could tear his eyes away, he glanced over at the kids that had been his family for the first fourteen years of his life. Gazzy held on to his still unconscious sister with Nudge at his side while Iggy moved around them, disinfecting, stitching and bandaging their various wounds. Dylan stood close by, still awkward, but definitely a part of the group as he handed Iggy whatever he needed.

Turning his attention to his own crew, Fang found that he couldn't have been more proud of them. Kate sat with Holden, scowling as he dabbed at the cut on her face with a cloth wet with his own blood. They had discovered that his blood healed them nearly as fast as it healed him. Maya and Ratchet lounged behind Fang with Star between them, her limbs shaking with exhaustion and the others handing her packets and packets of energy gel to replace some of the calories she had burned.

Fang had allowed Maya to wrap his broken ribs, but had forced the others to tend to themselves first. He was no stranger to being caked with blood, guts and dirt, so he could handle being grimy for a while longer so that the rest of them could clean up a little.

It was a small comfort that Dylan was much more obvious about his concern for Max, voicing his concerns every few seconds, even asking Ratchet if he had heard anything from her. Fang could see the expressions of the others starting to fall further into despair as Dylan kept worrying aloud.

Even as he felt a stab when Ratchet shook his head, Fang finally stood and faced Dylan. "It's Max, Dylan," he said with a confidence that he did not feel. "She's not just going to lay down and let them take her. We wait another ten minutes and then get out of here. She'll meet up with us later. That was the plan."

"Good to know someone actually cares what the plan was," a wry voice called from across the clearing.

Fang managed to control the jolt that went through him at the sound of her voice, instead letting Dylan run forward to check her over. Taking a deep breath, he turned to face her and felt the bottom drop out of his stomach.

Max strode across the clearing looking every inch the warrior he knew her to be and better than he could have ever imagined. She was spattered in blood from head to toe and her clothes were torn all to hell. The bare skin of her arms, neck and face were striped with thick, red welts that looked as though they'd burst with the slightest pressure, one of them running over her right eye and swelling it shut. Her knuckles were laid open and her lip was split, but she was already grinning as she saw the rest of them clustered together.

Dylan stopped in front of her, his hands outstretched and hovering just over her skin as he took in the extent of her injuries. Her eyes were warm as she looked up at him and carefully patted his cheek. With a worried smile, he pressed a light kiss to an unblemished spot of her forehead and stepped back to let Nudge and Iggy have their moments with her.

She waved off Iggy's sensitive fingers and gently pressed Nudge to her side, doing her best to mask the pain in her eyes. Her gaze flickered over to Fang, but darted away just as quickly as if she couldn't stand to look at him. She moved quickly over to Gazzy where he sat clinging tightly to his sister.

Pressing a kiss to Gazzy's forehead, she smoothed back Angel's tangled hair and smiled down at them both. "How's she doing, kid?" she asked, her voice thick and hoarse.

He shrugged up at her. "I don't know. She hasn't even moved yet."

Max felt for Angel's pulse, her expression betraying her relief as she felt the strong pulse of the girl's heart. "She'll be okay. It's not the first time we've been put under." She stood and ruffled his hair before facing the rest of the team.

"We need to get out of here. The whitecoats won't be long in tracking us down and we should be long gone by the time they do." Her eyes finally met Fang's directly and he nearly felt at his chest to make sure his heart was still beating, the emotions in her gaze were so strong. In an instant, her eyes were blank and he was left half wondering if he had imagined such deep pain and longing reflecting in the darkness.

"I really think that you all should come stay with us for a few days." She glared at Fang to stop his habitual protest. "I think it will be good for us to recuperate a little and it'll be help Angel if you're there when she wakes up. She's going to need comfort and you two were always close."

Avoiding Maya's look of panic, Fang nodded in agreement. He couldn't abandon Angel again just yet. They wouldn't stay long, but he had to make sure that she was going to be all right. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, he looked over his team.

"Just a couple of days," he warned Max. "Then we're gone. We've got stuff to finish, too." He hated to see the quick flash of despair in her already pained gaze, but he had to make it clear. It wouldn't be good if she found out that it was just as hard for him to be around her as it was for her to be around him. He still wanted to rip Dylan apart for having been "made for Max" and when Gazzy had mentioned that Jeb had suggested Max and the other boy head for some resort to get close and - Fang shook his head. Thoughts like that would only get him in trouble.

Max shrugged as if it didn't matter. "Sure thing, just as long as you're there when she wakes up." She gave each member of the flock a squeeze and a kiss, even Dylan, and stepped back. "Okay. Gazzy, you ride with Angel in the car in case she comes around before you get home and Nudge, you be navigator from the air. Stay in touch and don't get caught.

"What about you?" Iggy said, suspicion thick in his voice.

She tucked her thumbs in her pockets and rolled her eyes. "I'll be along. I just need some alone time after all that. I'll catch up, what with the super-speed and all."

Apparently satisfied with that answer, Iggy shrugged and jumped into the air, his mottled wings snapping out to catch the breeze. Nudge fixed the earpiece of a purloined walkie-talkie set onto her ear and quickly followed. Fang helped Gazzy get Angel to the car and got them both settled in between Kate and Holden in the back seat. Star slid into the driver's seat and Ratchet climbed in on the passenger side. With a quick wave, Maya took off and then only Fang, Dylan and Max were left.

Fang watched the SUV drive off and tried really hard not to listen to the argument Max and Dylan were having about her going off on her own.

"No, Dylan. We've been over this. We are not meant to be together simply because you were 'made' for me. If you think that you'd have any chance at all with me if you keep trying to be my keeper, you've got another think coming. Go home with the flock and I'll catch up with you later," Max snapped, complete and utter irritation coloring her words.

Dylan looked as though he wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her, a sentiment with which Fang was very familiar, but he was too afraid of hurting her to even attempt it. "I can't just leave you here by yourself when you're in such bad shape. I doubt you can fly at regular speed with that wing, much less this super speed."

Fang's gaze snapped around at that and he saw that the second joint her left wing was twisted at a slightly off angle. A frown nearly crossed his face as he realized that she definitely wouldn't be able to fly with it like that. The knot of worry in his stomach tightened suddenly. How had he missed that?

"I don't care what you want or don't want," Max said, setting her feet in a slightly wider stance. "You will go with the others and you will make sure they get home safe. That is the best thing you can do for me right now. So, go!"

Fang let a small smile cross his lips as Dylan tried to protest again, but Max set her jaw in that special way and even Dylan could recognize that he'd been dismissed. With a scowl he nodded.

"Fine," Dylan said, his shoulders sinking in defeat. "But I'm coming back for you if you're not at the house in twelve hours." He carefully traced the curve of her cheek with his fingertip and pressed an extra gentle kiss to her lips. "Be safe."

Feeling out of place, Fang snapped out his wings and prepared to take off.

"Fang, wait."

Dropping his wings in surprise, Fang turned to face Max again.

She looked odd, nervous almost when she spoke. "Will you stay a minute? I need to talk to you."

Dylan stood behind her and moved close to her back. With an eye roll that only Fang could see, she shook her head. "Bye, Dylan."

The boy's hands curled into fists at her quick dismissal, but he unfurled his wings anyway and launched himself into the air. Both Max and Fang stood where they were and watched him until he disappeared over the tops of the trees.

"He's really improved," Fang said, his voice dripping with sarcasm and disdain. He looked over at Max, expecting her to have some sharp retort ready to fly and was taken aback when he saw the tears welling in her good eye. All of a sudden, the pieces of the puzzle came together in his head and he was cursing himself for not seeing it sooner. There wasn't anybody in the world who knew Max better than he. His voice lost all inflection as he said, "You're not coming back, are you?"

Slowly, she shook her head and his world crashed down around him.

He'd heard others say that their lives flashed before their eyes in moments of life-threatening events. He'd never experienced it himself until that moment and even then, it wasn't his own life he saw. It was hers. He saw her laying on her side on the floor of a dog crate with a strained smile on her face trying to reassure him that the electrode burns didn't hurt. He saw her spreading her wings for the first time and jumping off the roof of their house. He saw her sitting next to him on the ledge of a cave with her bright hair shining in the moonlight and looking more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

"Why not?" he managed to grate out.

Max sighed. "Because it's for the best."

He stalked up to her and got in her face. "Yeah? For the best? You think they're going to take you and leave the rest of us alone? You think they're actually going to honor any deal you attempt to make with them?"

She tore her gaze away from his face, unable to look him in the eye. "I don't really have a choice with this. If there was any other way, don't you think I'd be trying that first?"

"There is always a choice, Max."

The fire was back as she glared at him. "Like there was a choice when you took off on us and DIED? Like there was a choice when you left for good? There is no choice this time, Fang. I will not make them watch me die."

Her words hit him like bullets, tearing through all the softest parts of him and leaving him watching the blood seep out. "What are you talking about?"

She laughed, the sound bitter and sharp. "I'm talking about how I will not be alive much longer and I need you to help the rest of the flock until they can stand on their own."

He grabbed her biceps and shook her hard. "You can't die."

She cried out as welts burst under his hands and her knees gave out from the pain. She collapsed against him and he let go of her shoulders to wrap his arms about her waist to keep her from falling. As carefully as he could, he lowered them both to the ground.

"Where?"

Max put a shaking hand to her side and pulled at the hem of her shirt. "The jellyfish kid had a stinger, too. Venom."

"Are you kidding?" Fang gently inched her shirt up so that he could see her side and the sight nearly made him empty his stomach. Instead of the smooth, toned flesh he remembered, her skin was mottled black and blue around a puncture wound the size of a dime. Every artery and vein extending outward was a deep, dark purple, standing out in relief against skin so pale it was as if she had been drained of blood. Even as he watched, the poison pumped through her body, killing off the live tissue with every beat of her heart.

Anger filled him. How could she have been so reckless, so selfish? His heart pounded in his chest and air was getting difficult to come by. "You should have said something! Holden-"

"Couldn't have done anything. I was already gone when I got here," she gasped and knocked his hands away. "Don't touch. Venom might transfer." Even so close to death, she was clinging to the illusion that it was no big deal.

With his brain in a riot of emotion and stalled thoughts, he just watched as she scooted a little ways away to lean against a fallen tree. Her skin was ashen and she rested with her eyes closed so long that he was worried she had gone. Relief spiked through him for a brief second when her eyes opened again and focused on him.

"You have to take care of them, Fang. Iggy's not ready, Dylan has no clue and don't even get me started on Angel," she said quietly. "You are the only one that can possibly make sure they make it to their next birthdays. They're sitting ducks without one of us there."

The words sounded stupid even as they left his mouth, "Why me?"

Her breath hitched and she did her best to keep her composure. "Because there's no one else." Her voice broke on the last word and the mask finally crumbled. Tears rolled steadily from her eye and her body shook with the force of her sobs.

Fang was at her side in an instant, pulling her against his body despite her weak protests. Gently, he stroked her hair and held her until the flood waned. She tried to push away from him, but he refused to let her. If she was going to die soon, he was going to hold her for as long as he could. This was one time he wasn't going to let her do whatever she wanted.

"You should go," she mumbled into his shirt, already too weak to move away.

He shook his head and cautiously shifted her so that she sat across his legs. "I'm not leaving you."

She snorted. "I've heard that before."

Emotion flared through him and he pulled her away from his chest so that he could force her to look him in the eye. "I left to protect you, to give you and the flock and your mission the best chance at survival. I never stopped loving you, Max. I never will." And, mindful of the welts striping her face, he pressed his lips to hers.

When he released her, a sad smile twisted her mouth. "See you on the other side," she whispered and her body went completely limp in his arms.

Maximum Ride was dead.

Fang wasn't sure how long he sat there, cradling the body of the greatest warrior he had ever known, the only woman he ever had and ever would love. He was unaware of the tears streaming down his face and of the soft footsteps of twenty armed men creeping into a circle around him.

Another slipped through the guard and knelt carefully next to him. "You have to let her go, Fang."

When he got no response from the mourning teen, Jeb Batchelder reached out and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and got a swift elbow to the ribs. Grunting as he fell over and certain that his ribs were at least cracked, he said, "We're taking her whether you like it or not. She belongs to us."

Fang lifted his gaze to Jeb's face. "Over my dead body. You destroyed her!"

The scientist flinched away from the freezing cold fury in Fang's eyes, but his still held firm. "We don't want to hurt you, Fang. The rest of the flock needs someone to lead them in her absence. Jut put her down and back away."

"Fuck you."

Jeb sighed and got to his feet. "Have it your way."

Fang heard the soft pop of a gun and felt a sharp sting in his shoulder. Almost instantly, his vision began to swim and he started to lose feeling in his hands and feet. He tried to stand, but the toxin was moving too fast and soon his entire body had gone numb. Jeb motioned two of the team forward and they lifted Max away from him, carrying her out of his sight.

When he woke several hours later, all that was left of her was a single white and tan mottled feather clutched in his bloodstained hand.