A/N: I'm only posting because I wrote this in Science and I wanted to, I didn't have anytime at all this week, my teachers are piling up homework so high its taller than the empire state! And I ended up doing my math homework wrong so I had to do it AGAIN! All my hard work gone to waste, but my teacher told me that this was my one free pass for the year- meaning he's letting me do it again for full credit instead of half. YIPEE! But now I can't do that again, so yeah. Not like you care but I wanted to rant. R&R :)

Summary:
Max is gone, kicked out. Only the flocks are trying to find her. But then one news report sends their search to an end. Max. Is. Dead... Gone. Only she isn't. She faked her death for their safety. But what happens when all the School ever wanted was her dead so they could get to the flock? Now Max has to work with the FBI to try and keep her family safe without them knowing. But the flock's not stupid, they've survived this long, they're obviously not stupid. So when they start getting suspicious of the girl next door, will Max's cover be blown?

IDNOMR! Now read...please?

The cold air was sharp with shards of snow dancing around the bustling city. Piles of dirty snow was piled on the curb, the bare trees shivering in the wind, windows frosty and fogged up, car creating black puffs of smoke as they slowly move past, the traffic was worse today. She cursed at herself for not taking the easier way, the only place with no traffic, colder sure, but less crowd and less traffic- the sky.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets, her hands balling around the slim cold metal of the ring Fang gave her. She memorized everything about it and could tell you exactly where the engravings were before she had them smoothed out. She memorized every edge of the smooth metal and was going to miss it once it was gone, but she did was she had to do. She was selling it. She didn't want them to be able to find her; it was safer this way, with them not knowing. It's safer for them not to know where she was, it was safer for them to have Maya instead of her, because the scientists only wanted her. Angel was just a trap and now that she was found they had nothing to reel her in.

Nothing but the flock.

So it was just better if she cut all ties to them and burnt every bridge leading them to them. She even thought of cutting off her wings, but she shut down that thought immediately. Never, she thought, would I ever cut off my wings, the one thing keeping me sane in this crazy world. If the whitecoats thought that she no longer cared for the flock then they would be free and untouched, supervised, yes, but left untouched.

She had to watch them be tortured for about a year before the whitecoats realized that she wasn't coming to save them this time, they realized that she had 'moved on'. But in reality she still (secretly of course) kept tabs on them.

She rubbed her thumb along the edge of the ring and swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She's doing what she has to do, it's only reasonable that she's doing this. It's for their safety. She stopped for a second before the angry protests of the New Yorkers got her moving again. She could keep it, just as a reminder of the good times, and sell another tie to them. But she shook her head sharply, no. This was the biggest tie to them, other than the wings of course. She let out a long breath, white puffs of air forming at her lips. To any onlooker she could be smoking, only she absolutely despised those little sticks of death, as she called them. Her face scrunched up in disgust as she thought of herself standing on the corner, a slim white stick in between her middle and index finger, slowly bringing it to her lips… she shuddered a little. She never knew why it bothered her so much, but she just hated those little things… She hated anything that kept her addicted, drugs, alcohol…flying. She hasn't flown in a while. She wouldn't be surprised if she no longer knows how to, it would be best that way and she figures if she stops long enough it would no longer come naturally and she would have to learn it again. Good, she thought, stubbornly hiding the aching pain in her chest as she thought of never flying again, never truly being free again. That was another way to cut off all ties from them- no flying. That way they never met up in the sky.

The cold wind caressed her froze cheeks and she remembered his gentle calloused fingers tracing patterns on her face, making her feel like the most beautiful thing in the world. She would miss them; she does miss them, but she shouldn't. This is best.

She burrowed her hands deeper in her pockets and bent her head down, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to herself. She was careful not to leave one trace of her existence anywhere just in case they found it, but sometimes she would leave a clue here, a clue there. Then she would mentally smack herself and hide alone in the middle of no where waiting to find out that the flock has been taken again.

She was debating if she should actually sell the ring, what if it fell into the hands of the whitecoats or worse…the flock? Then they would have something to go off of, they would know where to look, if they were even still looking.

About a year ago she faked her death after she found out that they were on her trail just one mere step behind her. She needed to do something drastic to make them forget about her, so she made it known where she was going to be on her 'birthday'-a whole in the wall club just outside of town- and burnt it down. She didn't have the heart to actually kill someone that looked like her so…she took matters into her own hands and found an already dead body that had the traits that she had even after a fire and burnt it down with the body in it. The next day on the news, her face was plastered on the TV. She was smiling and it was obviously from her first job after she was kicked out. The smile was forced and you could see the strain in her eyes, she was hiding tears, holding back her pain.

After that she never saw the flock again. She assumed that they gave up, believed that she was dead, but you never know when it came to them. They were very stubborn. She taught them well.

A small smile danced on her lips as she thought of Gazzy's brave face, telling her that he should go with them to save Angel. Or when Angel and Nudge chose her over Fang, or when Fang teased her after she admitted she loved him when she was high off of valium. A small bubble of laughter floated past her lips and she quickly plastered both of her hands on her mouth, looking this way and that, as if it were illegal to laugh.

She only ever laughed when those beautiful memories flitted through her mind like butterflies flying in a field.

She reached her destination and hesitated. Do it or don't? She let out a breath and turned away from the door. They could find it. They could trace it back to her. They weren't stupid, she taught them better than that.

He sat on the sofa, the others huddled around him. They were so close to finding her, he could practically hear her laughter, her snarky comebacks, and see her sparkling eyes in the snow. Maya wanted to watch the news, heard something about a fire and wanted to see what was up. Angel said that it was more than that and made everyone curious so here they were, snuggling up on the hotel couch, watching the horrible news.

"A tragic accident has occurred at Bob and Tommy's Bar. A horrible fire spread throughout the club, engulfing everyone in smoke and flames. Luckily only a few were injured. Only one died. A girl named Maxine Ride died. Some say that she was the cause of the fire, but no one knows. Everyone says the same thing 'it just happened'."

Then the T.V changed to another woman standing outside a burnt building, explaining what's happening. "Maxine Ride, an eighteen year old girl out partying with friends on her birthday died in the fire that just happened." A picture of Max flashed on screen. She was wearing a plain black shirt with a chain around her neck, but they couldn't see the charm because it was hidden beneath her shirt. Her hair was down, a few strands falling into her face, her brown eyes no longer held the fire that was there years ago and her smile was forced and painful to look at. To anyone else she would've looked bored and nervous, to the Flock she looked stressed out and depressed. Something was obviously wrong.

"Ms. Ride lived with her two friend, Bianca Trese and Shelby Hart, here they are now." The woman walked over to a pair of crying girls huddled together, comforting each other. Iggy pressed the mute and we watched their lips moving, the tears streaming down their face, the anchor woman nodding everyone once in a while as if she actually cared about what had happened to Max.

They stopped looking for her after that. The kids were depressed for days, forcing brave smiles here and there, barely eating and barely making it by. It was an accident what had happened. Angel slipped on her words and Nudge tried to fix it, but the damage had already been done, they had kicked Max out. She begged for them to let her stay, but they just went with it, suddenly coming up with a billion reasons for why she should be kicked out. She would open and close her mouth in defeat. Then she set her jaw and nodded stiffly, turning to the door and marched out. They never saw her again.

She sat down on the old plastic-covered seat, tapping her fingers impatiently on her leg while the lady readied everything. She looked in the mirror and said goodbye to her long, straight blond hair, her brown eyes twinkling sadly. He loved her hair- no, she wasn't going to think of him, not now not ever.

An hour later she was walking out of the salon a different person. Her once-long hair was cut short to a couple inches above her shoulder and was dyed a dark black. She had bangs now, too, with an electric blue streak down the middle. It would cause attention, but she got it last minute, thinking that if you blend in too much, you're bound to be seen.

She walked around some more, taking in the beauty of New York City. She liked it better at night, with all the lights mixing with the stars, you can never tell where the sky starts. Right now you could see all the smoke mixing into the clean air, dirtying it and staining the sky.

She stopped in front of a shop mirror, staring at her reflection as people shoved by. She needed new clothes. She let out a sigh and pushed through the doors. She looked around a little, finding things that she would've worn around the house way back when. Then she found something that Nudge would've begged her to wear and let out an amused laugh. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to try on the ridiculous piece of clothing. She put it on and stared at her reflection. She was never good with fashion and had always let Nudge care about that, she had other things to worry about. She turned a little, examining the shirt and skirt from different angles. It was all the same to her, short and made her vunerable. But she needed something to make her less noticable, but still noticable. Wearing a skirt in the middle of winter in the snow is definitely noticable, too noticable so she'd wear it when she left to California, by plane of course.

She stepped out of the skirt and walked out of the dressing rooms, going over to the cash register. The woman gave her a look asking her why she would wear a skirt in the winter. "I'm going to Mexico for the summer," She lied easily. The saleslady nodded a little and scanned her white blouse and black skirt. Max paid and walked out of the little shop and back into the throng of people, pushing her way past.

At the airport she easily navigated her way to her gate. Once there, she sat down and pulled out her book. It was something that she came across a couple of years ago in a little run-down shop near the border of Canada. She's read it a million times and each time it's better than the last. She wondered how many times she could read it before it becomes boring.

She read for about twenty minutes before she heard the robotic lady's voice ringing in the speakers overhead, telling her that her flight was now boarding.

She hated planes. She hated anything that she couldn't fly away from, such as planes and submarines. She hated planes more, though, because she could fly and she wasn't flying for herself. It was like trying to drown when you know how to swim, awkward and uncomfortable. She was afraid that her instincts might jump in and that she would start flying like a swimmer would do when drowning.

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, letting out a long breath, waiting for the ride to be over.

They were in California. They didn't want to live in a house that Max used to be, they didn't want to have to pass by her empty room knowing that she would never occupy it again. So they packed their bags and here they are at the LAX airport waiting for Jeb to come pick them up. It was funny how they swore to never befriend scientists, to never trust a scientist and here they were living with and trusting a scientist. What would Max say? She would throw her head back and laugh at the thought and they would all join in, just like old times.

"Hey guys!" Jeb called and Fang turned to see Jeb running over to them, his glasses threatening to fall off of his nose.

Valencia beamed at Jeb and gave him a hug, the others just stood there, awkwardly watching this scene. Fang's gang stil didn't really trust Jeb, but they kind of had to as long as they were under Fang's command, they had to.

She pulled away and kissed his cheek lightly, they were getting along better now. "That was the worst flight ever," Angel moaned and Nudge rubbed her back, right in between her wings where she had a major cramp.

"What am? Chopped liver?" A small boyish voice yelled from the floor and Angel smiled widely, forgetting about her cramping back.

"TOTAL!" She squealed happily and threw her arms around the black Scotties neck.

"Total, what did I tell you about talking in public?" Fang hissed, giving the dog a stern look. In reality, Max told him, but they all agreed to just say that Fang did everything Max did, that she never existed. It was easier that way. It was hard in the beginning but now it was just easy.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, today's an exception." Fang rolled his eyes at the dog and Maya laughed a little at the two boys, dog and man. It hurt the others to have to see Maya everyday, thinking it was Max only to find out it was her clone, but they got used to it, they didn't like it, but they got used to it.

"You guys ready to go?" Jeb asked, turning to the kids.

There were a chorus of yes's, "Then let's go!" Jeb said happily, turning to the front doors.

Max was walking toward the exit when her phone rang. She sighed and stopped, shuffling through her purse as a large group passed her, talking about all the good things that they were going to do. A small black dog barked and she smiled a little at the little girl that picked him up, whispering how she could never forget him. It seemed like he was actually answering and Max remembered Total, the talking dog. A small smile danced on her lips as she took out her phone. She didn't know who it could be, but there was only one way to find out. Answer it.

"Hello?"

"Maximum Ride?" Max gasped and almost dropped her phone. No one has called her that since...since the day she was kicked out.

"Yes, this is she." What can you say? Curiosity killed the cat. Good thing she was a bird kid.

"This is the CIA-" Max scoffed and rolled her eyes, cutting the man off.

"Listen, sir, I'm in the middle of a crowd and I really want to get home, could you please call back later?"

"We'll meet tomorrow, Apple Cafe, two streets away from your new apartment, at three, don't be late." Max opened her mouth, ready to argue, when suddenly all that filled her ears was the annoying sound of dialtone, signalling that they hung up on her. Jerks! She thought, angrily stuffing her phone in her purse. What could they want from her? She has nothing to give them, no information, no nothing. Nothing but the Flock... They couldn't... They wouldn't... maybe they would? She shook her head and sighed, she'd deal with it at three tomorrow in the Apple Cafe, preferably with an iced mocha in hand.

A/N: Ahh, the joys of posting :) Sadly its a new story, I'm putting some stories on hold, such as... Maximum Ride: Neighborhood Witch, The Party, Bad Connections, and Brought Together, Forced Apart. I'm thinking about ending the last two on the list, I'm not sure yet. Anyway, tell me what you think. R&R

Dream Beyond Infinity

"Look beyond the picket fence"

Jade