Note: Takes place after MAX (and before FANG)


Chapter One: The Discovery

It was just your classic story of the boy next door… well maybe with a little twist. You see, I've known him my whole life. At the School, our cages were placed right next to each other. Once we escaped, he was my right-hand-man, my best friend. Somewhere along the way, he started becoming more. My soul mate. My true other half. And now, he might be dead.

o.O.O.O.o

"Fang!" I screamed, running wildly towards the crumpled heap in which he lay. He was a fallen angel- that is, if angels wore all-black. He was beautiful despite being gravely injured. His limbs were bent in unnatural positions; his usually sleek, black wings were crushed beneath him.

"Not Fang, not Fang, not Fang," I repeated over and over to myself as I sunk to my knees on the cold, hard concrete. He was out cold and struggling for breath. He looked as though he was just barely holding on. He needed help. Soon.

The others were just now catching up. As the Flock swarmed around us, I jumped into action.

"Iggy! Help me lift him- we've got to get him back!" I commanded, my voice noticeably distraught. "Nudge! Fly ahead and get Mom!" They obeyed without question.

Angel and Gazzy stood off to the side, watching. Angel, who was an unusually stoic seven-year-old, was crying quietly. These kids have gone through so much and it takes something major, like this, I thought to myself, to shake them up. Of course, seeing Fang like this was a shock to us all, especially now that we weren't currently running for our lives.

With some difficulty, Iggy and I lifted Fang's limp and broken body from the ground and rose awkwardly into the air. Nudge was already on her way home, and Gazzy and Angel took our lead, following us up into the cloudless sky.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" I heard Gazzy whisper to Angel.

"I don't know," Angel replied. "Max seems really worried." No, really? Was it that obvious? (Note the sarcasm.) Well, she was a mind reader after all...

"I'm sure he'll be fine, sweetie," I reassured them, even though I had no idea. Why Fang? Why does it always have to be Fang? I wondered, wishing it were otherwise. I looked down at his beautiful face, which was beginning to turn kind of lumpy. His lip was swollen and bleeding, he was starting to get a black eye, and he had a long, jagged cut along his cheek. His dark shaggy hair was tangled and matted; plastered to his forehead with sweat. His breathing was still labored. "Who did this to you?" I murmured.

"Ok guys, this is it," I said in a stronger voice, mostly to Iggy, as we neared my mom and Ella's house. I glanced at Iggy, whose sightless eyes were concerned, worried. So was I. Mom was waiting for us just outside the back door. Nudge and Ella were close beside, talking in hushed tones.

A moan escaped Fang's lips as he was jostled by our not-so-gentle landing. I tried to stay calm for the kids, but it just about killed me seeing him this way. I was practically screaming inside. Mom rushed toward us, worried as well. Still carrying him, Iggy and I took him inside and laid him on his bed in the room he was sharing with Iggy and Gazzy. God, just let Fang live. Let him be ok, I prayed silently. Although I've never really believed in a God, if one was gonna show up, now would definitely be the time.

I held Fang's hand as she examined him. He looked pretty bad to me, but he has had worse. Like when Ari kicked his butt at that beach in Virginia. I thought we were gonna lose him. If we didn't take him to the hospital… I shuddered, remembering. Now he was hanging in there, and for that I was grateful.

"How is he?" I asked Mom. "Will he be ok?" My voice was frantic.

"I think he'll be ok," she responded after an impossibly long second.

Boy, was I relieved to hear that. I started to cry harder, weird, I know. But this time, they were tears of joy. I wasn't going to lose him.

"I can't be sure though," she continued. "It just looks worse than it really is. I'll have to do some X-rays, but I think his arm and leg are broken too. And his wings. It looks like he fell on them quite hard..." That was nothing, as long as he was going to live. Plus, we do heal quickly.

"But when can he fly?" I asked, my concern getting the best of me.

"I don't know, a few months? As long as it takes for the bones to heal," she replied. So really like only a week or two.

I looked up to see Ella and the rest of the Flock huddled in the doorframe. "She thinks he'll be ok," I informed them, smiling through my tears, "but he might have broken his arm and leg. And his wings are pretty messed up too, so it looks like he won't be flying for a while, but then again, he'll be up and about in no time." A chorus of relieved sighs ran through them as my words sank in.

o.O.O.O.o

Fang stirred as my mom was almost through bandaging him up. Even though his wounds weren't nearly as bad as they looked, the thought of seeing him in pain, of losing him, scared the hell out of me.

"Hey," I said, smiling. The dried tears made it feel like my face was cracking.

"Hey," he said, as his gorgeous, dark eyes found mine, making my heart skip a few beats.

"You scared the hell outta me," I told him, my voice far more controlled than it had been moments ago, yet still full of emotion.

"Sorry," he mumbled, smiling slightly at my tone.

"So what happened?" I asked, worried.

"That should be good," my mom interrupted before Fang could even get a word out. "Stay in bed and give yourself time to heal- you'll be fine. We'll take you to get X-rays tomorrow." Turning to face me, she continued, smiling, "And since my work here is done, I think I'll leave you two alone." Her voice was thick with implications.