A/N: I suppose I should blame Fuzzylogic. I thought I was done with fanfiction forever. I thought I was burned out, creatively drained, and determined to focus on my own publishable work. However, upon getting officially published, I received a review from Fuzzy asking me to explain the Angel arc that I tried to put in Way Back When but couldn't fit. In explaining the arc, I realized…how fantastic…a sequel that would make.

And so here we are.

Updates won't be regular because I am going to focus on my other work at the same time. Also, this is my junior year at high school and I'm not gonna have tons of time. But I'm starting this, and you know my policy: I don't start something unless I aim to finish it.

My dad's gonna kill me.

So, without further ado, I give you Point of No Return.

Onwards!

Disclaimer: I don't claim.

Final note: I AM NOT AN IGGY/ELLA OR IGGY/NUDGE SUPPORTER. He's 14, they're both 11ish. That's just creepy. Any tenderness on anyone's part is purely friendship.

Point of No Return

Chapter One: The Simple Things In Life Aren't Free (Max)

Hey all! Welcome back to the Max Channel, running non-stop from baddies and featuring high-action fight scenes performed without stunt doubles. We specialize in stress, blood, and anger with a healthy dose of potential death but not to worry folks! In fact, don't worry about anything at all because today, we are…

Taking a break.

Yes, you heard correctly. The great Maximum Ride, whose alter ego is one of those tightly scrunched stress balls, is cashing in her vacation days for a few weeks of luxury at Chateau de Mom.

I smiled, tipping my head to the sky, stretching my wings out wide to glide on the nearest breeze. The sun was warm against my back. The scrapes and bruises I'd earned from our latest run-in with Erasers were already healing. I felt pretty ok.

Pulling my legs to my chest, I tipped my wings and rolled over, belly-up in the air. Craning my neck, I peered behind me to survey the Flock.

My family.

Angel was nearest, wide blue eyes tracking my every move. Since the Incident, as I liked to call it, she'd been clingy to the point of suffocation. I'd had to resort to stealth tactics sneak out to use the bathroom. It was understandable, though. I had been asleep for two weeks, leaving the Flock to fend for themselves. As the youngest of the bunch, Angel had lost her mother figure in a bigger way than the others, and over the past few days she'd clung to me, desperate for attention. I gave it gladly. How could I say no to my baby?

As I looked over at her, she smiled brightly and whirled, ballerina-like, in midair. I grinned and clapped before continuing on my survey of the troops.

Iggy and Gazzy were the further back back, heads together, voices too low for me to hear over the wind. They were plotting something, I could tell. Iggy shifted slightly, tossing his overlong hair out of his face and highlighting the greenish marks on his neck. My stomach clenched as I replayed Fang's moment of madness, then shoved it violently from my mind. We were past that now. It was over. It had to be.

Speaking of madness…

My gaze slid to him next. Fang. Dark and brooding and oh so handsome. And when his eyes flicked up to meet mine and I felt like I was going to drop out of the air unless I remembered how to breathe, there was no doubt in my mind.

Fang was bad for everyone's health.

I remembered the two scorching kisses we'd shared after the Incident, and I shivered. To any and all benevolent deities: please please please let those not have been a fluke. The way he'd held me, like I was the only thing that mattered, had made me feel safer than I had since Jeb was around. The way he'd looked at me like there was nothing else on this planet to see…

A lot like how he was looking at me now, actually.

It was taking all of my considerable willpower not to shoot over, grab Fang's face in my hands and-BAD MAX. VERY BAD.

I wrenched my gaze away and felt my heart stutter back into motion. We hadn't talked about the Incident yet, Fang and I. I hadn't really spoken about it to anyone. Through a combination of my crazy-good -mind-blocking-skills and the Voice's not-so-welcome interference, Angel hadn't gotten anything out of me. I would talk when I was good and ready, and that wasn't now. Not out in the open, and so exposed.

I was haunted by what one of the flying Erasers had said when my family was fighting their losing battle prior to my awesome comeback.

"Our job is to exterminate you all: the five erroneous creations. Then we are to take Maximum Ride back to the School. We will succeed."

Of course, just after that, I jumped out of a cave and kicked their collective furry butts, but that's not the point.

The School had ordered my family's extermination.

And I'd be damned if I was going to let that happen on my watch.

Which was why we were en route to Mom and Ella's house.

…That and the fact that Nudge, for all her inner strength, was badly hurt.

Searching the group, it took me a moment to find her, flying lower and farther back than the rest. Her face was pinched and her wingbeats irregular. Worst of all, she wasn't talking. I bit my lip. We'd been flying for three days as carefully as possible to avoid jarring her broken ribs. It wasn't helping. Iggy had offered to carry her the first day when she began to (loudly and frequently) complain, but she snapped she wouldn't trust him with a pair of Jimmy Choos (whatever those were), much less her infinitely more precious self. Iggy had sulked off and Nudge had stopped speaking. That was when I knew she was way more hurt than any of us had anticipated, even our resident bird doctor, and that called for medical intervention.

A trip to my mom's it was.

We were nearly there now, but Nudge didn't look like she'd be airborne much longer. I didn't think she was going to make these last few miles on her own wingpower, but hesitated broaching the subject.

A whiskery tickle on the back of my neck caused me to snap upright and around in a panic, until a muffled voice grumbled, "Great, now I have hair in my mouth. Thanks, Max."

I laughed shakily. "Sorry, Total. I forgot I had a passenger today."

"Yes, forget the dog! He's dispensable anyway. Why don't you just kill me off and eat me for dinner? I'll die happy knowing I was of use to you for once…" Total sighed dramatically, and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be stupid. We'll be at my mom's for dinner, and whatever she makes will taste way better than you. I'll keep Fried Mutt on the back burner for leaner times, though."

"Fried Mutt!" I felt my backpack press harder into my spine as Total bristled inside it. "I'll have you know I'm a pedigreed flying dog of the highest regard-!"

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted, "Can it, Entrée. I have better things to do than listen to you bark."

Silence. I winced.

"Ok, that was harsh," I amended.

"Yes, it was. But I forgive you," Total answered sniffily. "I am the forgettable mongrel, after all." There was a pause, and he murmured, "But if you're not going to pay attention to me, pay attention to her."

I nodded and, making a decision, swooped over to my chatterbox's side.

"Hey, Nudgie!" I said cheerfully, "How you doin' back here?"

Nudge's eyes slid over to mine and there was a long moment before she replied, "Fine."

I narrowed my eyes, wishing once again that I was capable of X-ray vision. Nudge was never monosyllabic. Never.

"Sweetie, can I ask you to do me a favor?" I started. She frowned. 'Sweetie' was a term reserved for Angel, or really back situations, and Nudge knew it. Gritting my teeth, I asked, "Can you lift your shirt a little so I can see your ribs?"

Now it was Nudge's turn to scowl. "No."

I wasn't one to walk away from a challenge. "Nudge. Up. Now."

"No."

"We can do this the grown-up way or the baby way. It's you or me, Nudgie, and you aren't winning this one. Do as I say." It was a command, not a request, and Nudge knew it. Puffing out her cheeks in frustration, she moved her hands to the hem of her pink top and slowly raised it about an inch. I tried not to scream with fury. "Yes, you have a nice stomach. Higher, Nudge." A growl, and Nudge wrenched her shirt up to the middle of her ribs.

From behind me, Total whispered, "By all the best kibble in the world and then some, that's not pretty. Are people supposed to be those colors?"

I couldn't speak. Purple and green bruising mottled Nudge's mocha skin, which was lumpy in places where the bones weren't, well, in place properly. I fought the urge to vomit and managed, "Why aren't you wearing your bandages?"

That opened the floodgates. "They were itchy!" Nudge sounded panicked, her voice rising with each word. "And I couldn't breathe with them on. Well, I still can't really breathe now but I'm doing ok, and we're going to Dr. Martinez's anyway and she'll fix me and I'll be fine, so there's nothing to worry about! I'm fine Max, just like I told you, and it only hurts a little bit so-" Nudge paused to take a gulp of air, and screamed.

I caught her as she started to fall, having anticipated that any breath larger than a sniff would cause some serious pain. What I hadn't considered was what would happen if she couldn't stop screaming and wasn't getting any more air, for a reason I couldn't figure out.

Well crap. Moving on to Plan B.

I whirled to find the Flock hovering behind me, horror painted on all their faces. This was bad.

"I'm taking Nudge the fast way!" I shouted, "Fang, get everyone to Mom's ok? I'll see you there!"

I barely waited for his nod before I spun around and with a fierce stroke of my wings, I was streaking through the sky, clutching my suffocating sister in my arms.

"C'mon, Nudge," I whispered as I flew, "Breathe, babygirl, breathe!"

No response. Her lips were turning blue, her eyes had rolled up in her head. I choked on a sob, my eyes blurring with tears. Blinking them back, I saw it ahead.

Home.

Praying that the front door would be unlocked, I angled into a steep dive, going faster and faster until I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to stop normally. As the ground rushed up to flatten me and my precious cargo like a fly to a wall, I flung open my wings and shrieked as they were both wrenched from their sockets. I slammed into the front lawn and my knees buckled. Curving my body around Nudge, I did a full face plant into what I now discovered was mud.

Perfect 10.

As I staggered dizzily to my feet, the screen door screeched and a familiar voice said something like my name. I felt hands on my face and then they were tugging at Nudge, trying to take her away.

"No," I gasped, "Mom, she has to help her-"

More muffled noises and I stumbled forward. "Mom…"

Dimly, my mom's voice penetrated my fog. "Max? Oh my God what's happened to you?"

"Not me!" I croaked, "Nudge!"

A low cry and Nudge was wrenched from my grip. I fell forward helplessly and someone yanked me upright, like a puppet on a string. My vision went white as I cried out in pain.

"This way, Max," the familiar voice said, close to my ear, "Come inside…"

I don't remember much of what happened next. There was a lot of sitting. It was quiet for a while, but I was aware of my mom running back and forth, shouting orders to Ella, who I had now put together with the familiar voice. Some time passed- I don't know how much-and suddenly there were many more voices in a confusing jumble running through my head. I winced, putting my hands over my ears.

Which is why I had no warning when my first dislocated wing was popped back into place.

I screamed, blinking clear my vision in time to grab a pillow off the couch I was sitting on and muffle the stream of curses that spewed from my mouth.

A low laugh from behind me stemmed the flow. "I warned you," Fang sounded utterly amused.

This was so not funny.

"You did not," I grumbled into the pillow. He understood me perfectly.

"Consider yourself warned," he replied, then shoved my second wing back into its socket.

I screamed again and whirled to smack him, only to fall forward as the room spun.

"Easy," Fang rumbled, "Your mom said you had a pretty bad concussion."

"Figures," I whispered, then stopped short.

How could Fang…rumble?

If I was lying against his chest, that's how.

I didn't know whether to be mortified or deliriously happy. Since I had the delirious part down already, I stuck to the happy part. But I also had priorities.

"Nudge?"

I discovered Fang's arms were around me when they tightened against my sides. "She's pretty bad."

"Yeah, I know. How long has my mom been working on her?"

A shrug. "Couple hours?"

I moaned and closed my eyes. The next instant I was lying down on the couch, and Fang was pulling a blanket over me. "Rest. Iggy'll wake you to check the concussion. I'll wake you if something changes."

I struggled weakly against the fog clouding my vision again. Squinting, I could make out a black blob that could presumably be Fang's shirt and glared at it. "But-"

"No buts. You need to sleep."

"Fang…"

"Sleep, Max."

And I was out.

Not for long, though.

Did you know that if someone has a concussion, you're supposed to wake them every 2-3 hours and ask them simple questions? I didn't.

I do now.

The first time Iggy shook me awake, I had barely cracked an eyelid before he asked, in his most professional tone, "What is your name?"

I resisted the urge to smack him. "The Easter Bunny."

There was a sigh and low curse. "I'd better get Dr. M. Crap."

"Wait, Iggy! It's Max, I'm Max, don't bug her, what are you talking about?" I tried to sit up and failed. Iggy laughed and shifted the blanket back around my shoulders.

"Don't scare me like that, Max. Answer the next question correctly, ok? Otherwise I'm gonna have a heart attack."

"Sure, whatever." I was already sinking back into unconsciousness. "Iggy," I managed, "how's Nudge?"

His answer sounded far away, as though he was speaking underwater, and before I could repeat myself, I was out cold.

Two hours later, Iggy was once again shaking me, asking me what day it was.

"I wouldn't even know what day it was if I hadn't hit my head, Iggy, now leave me alone before I KILL YOU!"

He didn't bug me again after that.

I woke much later to a dark, empty living room. I sat up slowly, listening. Hearing voices, I stood, wrapping the blanket around my shoulders, and followed the sounds.

I entered the brightly lit, warm kitchen and groaned, throwing a hand up to block the light. My head throbbed and I swayed slightly. The voices faltered, then stopped. Not looking up from the linoleum, I grumbled, "What's a girl gotta do to get some food around here?" and held my breath.

There was a beat, and then-"MAX!" I staggered backwards as I was hit with ninety pounds of Ella to the stomach. "Max, you're ok! I'm so glad! I was soo worried about you when you showed up in our yard and I was really scared that someone had seen you but we got lucky and then everyone else showed up later and they didn't get seen either so it's all ok! Hi, Max, hi! I'm so glad you're here!"

"Wow, Ella, did you take a Nudge pill tonight?" I joked weakly as she dragged me over to the kitchen table and forced me into a chair. A tense silence fell. "Ah." I said wisely, "That was a bad topic to bring up, yes? Max will go and bang her head against the wall now." I started to get up, but Ella pressed on my shoulders to make me sit, and I gasped in pain.

"I'm sorry!" Ella cried, jerking her hands back.

"It's ok," I whispered through gritted teeth. I tried to wait, but patience was never my strong suit. "How is Nudge?"

More silence.

I looked around and realized that only Iggy, Fang, and Ella were in the room. "Where're Gazzy and Angel? And Mom?"

"Gaz and Ange went to bed about an hour ago. Total's with them." Iggy spun his empty glass on the tabletop. "Your mom's with Nudge." The glass slipped from his grasp and he lunged for it, knocking his plate to the floor with a clatter. He swore again and made to pick it up, but Ella reached it first. Hastily picking up the dishes, she dropped them in the sink with an equally loud rattle.

"Good thing they're plasticware, right?" She laughed nervously, then stood and fidgeted, leaning against the counter.

I slammed my hand on the table, and she jumped. "Will someone please just tell me how Nudge is?"

"You're shouting," Fang said mildly.

"I don't care! I want to know-"

"How Nudge is, yes, Max, I think the entire neighborhood heard you." My mom walked into the kitchen peeling a pair of rubber gloves off her hands. I watched silently as she dropped them in the trash, then walked over to the fridge, pulled out a plate with three slices of cold pizza on it, and set it in front of me. Grabbing a clean glass, she filled it with water from the sink and took a long drink before looking at me over the rim. "She'll pull through."

There was a collective sigh around the table and Iggy dropped his head into his hands. I slumped backwards in my chair, running a hand through my tangled hair. "Thank God. Thank you." I stood, the pizza untouched, and crossed the room in one stride. Then I stopped short. I knew what I wanted to do, but I still barely knew her…

Mom smiled and wrapped her arms around me. I sighed and rested my head against her shoulder, fighting back the sudden tears. I was Maximum Ride. I would not cry. That was unacceptable.

"She's going to have to be here for a while, though, even by your standards. The bones broke in several places and setting them was difficult. She also punctured a lung, which is what stopped her breathing. Nudge has a lot of healing to do, but she'll be alright. She's a fighter. You all are." Mom smiled at Iggy and Fang, both of whom shifted uncomfortably. I snickered.

"Maybe this'll be a good time to talk about what happened." Fang spoke quietly, almost as if he didn't want anyone to hear. But if he hadn't wanted to be heard, he wouldn't have spoken. After all, this was Fang.

Disentangling myself from Mom's extraordinarily fantastic embrace, I stalked over to the kitchen table, glaring so hard I was surprised I didn't start a fire in the mood ruiner's dark hair.

"You. Outside. Now." I growled. Not checking to see if he'd follow. I stormed onto the back porch.

Fang sidled up next to me, leaning on the railing and looking out into the dark yard. I could see light from the houses surrounding us and hunched my shoulders. I hoped no one was looking outside. A cold wind blew my hair into my face and I tossed it back impatiently before facing Fang.

"I'll talk when I'm ready." I fought to keep my voice even. "You know I'm not ok with all of this."

"You wanted to talk before." Fang stared into the night and I took the opportunity to memorize his profile. The bangs falling into his eyes, the slant of his nose, the cut on one cheek.

"That was before. This is now." I know, a very persuasive argument.

He turned and met my gaze then, and I thought very hard about my family sitting just inside the house, in earshot. "When are you going to stop running, Max?"

I sighed, and turned my head. "When it's all over."

Fang stepped forward and instinctively I stepped back. His mouth twisted and he stopped short. "I'll see you inside," he muttered, and started to turn away.

"Fang!" I reached out and grasped his wrist, then tipped forward against his chest. "I'm sorry," I breathed.

Slowly, Fang lifted his arms and pulled me close. I gripped his shirt in my hands and closed my eyes. "Sometime while we're here," he ordered, "Promise me you'll talk about it. Those three weeks, Max," I felt him shudder slightly. "They were bad."

I hesitated, then nodded. "I promise."

Maybe I wasn't the only one who needed to talk.

We stayed together for a few seconds longer, and then my stomach rumbled. I flushed, and Fang smirked. "Let's go inside."

I nodded again and followed him into the house. Iggy and Ella were doing the dishes while Mom put them away. For a moment I stood in the doorway and watched how easily they all moved around each other and how careful they were with Iggy. It was natural. Like a real family.

Noticing me, Mom smiled. "I put your pizza in the oven, Max, since we had a few minutes. It should be ready by now."

"You didn't have to do that, I like it cold," I flashed a grin before poking on the oven light and peering inside. "The cheese is bubbling. Does that mean it's done?"

She laughed and I caught Iggy rolling his eyes. "I saw that!"

"See what, Max? I didn't see anything-"

"Yes, Max, it's done." Mom hastily interjected before I could whip the nearest potholder at the comic in the corner. He wouldn't see it coming. It was so tempting…

"I'll get it. She'll probably burn herself." Fang reached past me and pulled the pizza out with ease, dumping it on a plate and handing it to me. I glared, but it smelled so good that I dug in as fast as possible, surrendering pride for hunger's sake.

"Oh, ow! Hot! HOT!" As I danced around the room, waving my hand in front of my face, I wondered what it'd be like to have this all the time. Not a burnt mouth, obviously, because that sucked. But what it'd be like to have a house. An oven to heat food in. A place that Iggy could get to know well enough to walk around in without hitting stuff. Where we could have friends and Total could go for walks and Nudge could throw parties. Where everyone, from Fang to Gazzy to Angel would fit in. A place where I didn't have to lead. We'd had the E house, once. Would we ever have something like that again?

I thrust the thought from my mind. Of course we couldn't. Staying here would put Mom and Ella in danger, and Jeb couldn't take care of us anymore. I was in charge, and we'd be on the run until we'd destroyed Itex and saved the world. That wasn't looking like any time soon, either.

But for the next few nights, I could pretend like it was an option, staying here. Like this life was normal for us. Like we belonged.

And maybe I could start coming to terms with exactly what the Voice had put me and my family through for three weeks. Maybe I could start to find the end.