I know that I should let my writing do the talking, but you might get confused if I don't give you a quick introduction here. The characters have all aged (Max, Fang, and Iggy are 17, Nudge is 14, Gazzy is 11, and Angel is still 6), and the characters haven't done all of this travelling (such as to Antarctica, Africa, etc.) Angel is still angelic, and Fang never left. They never met some characters, such as Lissa, Sam, or Brigid, Anne, or Dylan. Other than that, you should be able to figure out other details, such as what powers they have, as you read. Basically, take my word for what I say, haha.

Thanks to my beta-reader, Silhouette The SANVAE.

(Maximum Ride is belongs to James Patterson, but the plot and OCs are mine.)

Now, without further ado, enjoy!

Chapter One

I hugged my knees to my chest as I sat amongst the pine needles under the inky black sky. The rest of the Flock was a couple of yards behind me, stretched out on the ground and sleeping, all snoring softly. I knew that if I looked back at them I would see Angel – my baby Angel – sleeping with her tiny hands clenched in fists. I sighed and ran my hands roughly through my hair. How many horrors did a child need to see before she slept waiting for a fight?

A twig snapped behind me, causing me to snap my head around and see a dark shadow come closer: Fang. "You're going to wake the whole state if you keep sighing like that," he said when he was right beside me. I rolled my eyes as he laid down, propping up on his elbows casually, his shirt stretched tightly across his chest and his hair falling out of his eyes.

"So long as you don't start snoring I think the residents of Connecticut are safe," I teased back, looking down at my right-wing man. He was smirking up at me, his eyes laughing. He was still the same quiet Fang, but as we got older he had slowly begun to be more open around me, which I was grateful for. It was a lot easier to talk with someone who actually, you know, responded.

"Sure Max, because I'm the one who snores." He shook his head, a smile on his lips. "Anyways, what are you doing way over here? It's a lot warmer with the rest of the Flock."

"I just wanted to get away for a minute. I'm starting to feel suffocated by them," I replied, looking down at my hands, guilty. The Flock was my family, but I was seventeen, and I hadn't been able to get a day to myself since forever.

"Yeah, you'd think Gazzy would have out-grown that by now…"

I laughed quietly, careful not to wake the kids, and pushed Fang's shoulder. "You know what I mean." He didn't respond for a minute, staring into the forest.

He sighed. "Yeah, I do. But I don't think either one of us is getting a day off until the world is saved."

"And Itex is gone."

"And that," he agreed. He turned to face me, leaning on one elbow, his face sincere. "Look, Max, I was thinking about that. We've been trying to save the world for what, three years now? And we haven't been able to destroy a single Itex building."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I retorted, crossing my arms. "It hasn't exactly been easy."

"That's not what I meant, Max," he continued, ignoring my glare. "We haven't been able to defeat Itex, but maybe Itex isn't the problem."

I looked over at him, surprised to see that he wasn't joking. His eyes were wide and honest, boring into mine. I let out a laugh. "Itex not the problem? It's the reason we have wings!"

"I know: they created us. But by creating us they created the things that will save the world-"

"-by destroying them," I finished for him. He shook his head, and his bangs fell back in his eyes. He shoved them out of the way, frustrated.

"Max, just think about it. They do a ton of terrible things, sure, and they need to be defeated. But maybe that will happen as a result of us saving the world."

I looked at Fang incredulously. Was he seriously suggesting that we forgot about Itex? Of course I'd love to forget all about them – if it weren't for the tiny little fact that they still continuously sent killing machines after us. Just two weeks ago Nudge broke her wrist in one of the fights, and Iggy had to set it for her in a make-shift cast. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, if we fix the corruption in the world, the destruction of Itex will naturally follow. Maybe all we need to do is change how people think."

"Yea, 'cause that will be so easy. There are only, what, six billion people in the world? A billion a day and then we'll be done in a week, and even have a day to rest," I replied sarcastically.

He ignored my sarcasm. "It's a domino effect, right? Help a little old lady across the street, and she'll give a homeless man a dollar, and he'll rescue a cat from the tree, and-"

"-and Itex will be destroyed? I'm sorry Fang, but I'm not seeing the connection here."

He sighed heavily and pushed himself up, standing tall above me. "Look Max, I know it's hard to think that anything other than defeating Itex can change the world, but there's a lot of evil around, and we can stop it. And if we do, then maybe things will be all right. If we do, maybe…" He stopped and shook his head, closing his eyes and turning away from me. My chest squeezed tightly and I moved to get up as well, but he spoke quietly with his back still turned, stopping me.

"It's fine, Max. I'm just sick of living on the run is all. I always thought that we'd have a home by now, and that you and I could be together." I looked up at him in shock at these words, but he continued as if he hadn't said anything important. "I was just being stupid. No one ever wins the heroine until the battle is won, and at this rate the battle is never going to end."

"Fang…" I had never thought he still thought of me that way. Ever since that first kiss he hadn't made another move towards anything other than friendship, though sometimes I could see that he was working hard to hold himself back. Did he really think that after saving the world things would become normal? That we could be actual teenagers? I couldn't see how we could ever be anything more than Mom and Dad to a bunch of misfit kids. A life after that… well, I had always assumed that any life after that would be spent six feet under.

"Get some sleep, Max. I'll take my watch early."

I stared after him silently as he headed back over to the rest of the Flock, carefully stepping over Iggy and Gazzy and sitting down where I wouldn't be able to talk to him without waking everyone else as well. He quickly faded into the shadows, his black clothes and hair blending in with the dark night. I fell back against the ground and brought my palms to my eyes, confused beyond belief. It seemed impossible to think that anything but destroying Itex could save the world, or that Fang and I could… No. It was impossible.

As I began to drift to sleep, I heard Fang take a deep, strained breath, and I turned my head away from the sound.