5

Remember the plan, just remember the plan...

4

Come on Max, just like you practiced...remember the plan...

3

We've done this like a thousand times, why are you getting so worried now?

2

Stop getting distracted, just focus! It's almost time...

1

"NOW"!

With a deafening crash that is so totally sure to give away our position, we burst through the window with the cascading glass falling around us like snowflakes – very sharp, possibly going to shred me into mince meat snowflakes - but none the less the point stands. The five of us momentarily free falling down the side of the 15 storey office building before snapping out our wings. Oh, did I forget to mention that part? Yeh we all kind of have wings...just deal with it!

We rose with the air currents, trying to put as much distance between us and the 'soon to be burnt to the ground' office building behind us – a little shout out to Gaz and Iggy there, when they want something blown up they go all out, just so you know!

For all you travel lovers out there, one words of advice ' Stay. Away. From. The. USA'. Ok, so that was five words- but it rhymed so I hope that excuses me! It's not that I hate America or anything, I myself am American born and bred – well at least 98% was! My advice, just stand clear until, and I quote 'The six armed, winged felons are brought to the appropriate justice are cleared from the streets'. It could get a bit messy! When I saw the headline in the paper this morning I couldn't help but cipher a giggle – good luck to them with getting people to phone in who have seen children with six arms and wings, whoever they are! DANM It Max, you're getting distracted again, focus on the mission at hand here please, preferably before you tell complete strangers your life story!

We landed after it felt like only a few minutes, but my aching wings and pounding headache told me otherwise. I looked at my watch "Ten past eleven, 4 hours flight time, not too shabby guys" We had landed behind the derelict looking motel bungalow I had put a deposit in for just two days ago. Once inside I did my rounds, locking every door and window in sight, closing curtains, shutters and drapes, and even making Iggy help me push the mini fridge in front of the door – call be paranoid, but trust me it keeps my family alive...the part that's still with me at least.

The motel suit we had consisted of 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a large lounge area. "Ok guys, hit the sack, up and attem early tomorrow!" We all staked fists and began to yawn a bit.

"But Max, I'm not even tired yet" a stubborn little Gazzy informed me.

Our previous mission was nothing too special, 'blow up a suspicious looking building infested with white coats' was on our usual agenda, but it had been a long flight and the bags under Gazzys eyes told me a different story.

"I didn't say in a minute Gazzy, I said now" When it came to law enforcement, no one dares mess with the 'Did-you-hear-what-I-just-said look'. Without another word Gazzy and Ig went off to one of the adjoining bedrooms, Nudge and Angel to the other, leaving me with a room all to myself. The memories of the person who would usually be sharing that room with me flooded my mind but I pushed them out abruptly, slamming the bedroom door closed behind me.

'Hey Max' a low, smooth voice came from behind me and I spun around.

There he was. The same as the day he left, just a bit taller. He put a hand through his black hair as he waited for my response – we was going to have to wait a long time. The silence in the air could have been cut with a knife as we both just memorised each other's bodies

'Max, I..." He took a step towards me. Before I could even think I sprung at him, pinning him against the back wall, my pocket knife at his neck.

"DON'T" I yelled, inches away from his face. "Just...don't..." My words were barley whispers now, trailing away as I stared into the eyes of the boy who was once my world. Once.

My sudden aggression stunned him, but then anger replaced his calm face, he shoved me off and I staggered backwards a few steps, knife still in hand. "Is this how you greet a family member" he fumed, "Well it's nice to see you too Max!"

"Family Member?" My laugh was Ice cold as I stared him down. "Good joke".

"Look Max, I ...I just want to talk, if you could just...please... put the knife down" His hands were up in a sign of surrender. Good. I had him worried. It was the least I could do to get a little of my own back.

"This is how its going to work...Fang" I almost spat his name out. "You are gonna turn around, get out of this motel however the hell you got into it, then fly without another glance in our direction you hear?" My eyes were barley slits by now, but he stayed strong, disobeying my order with a shrug.

"No, Max, I'm stay-

"YOU LEFT Fang, you left us, so whatever you did to bash your head and think that you could just come walking back into our lives, FORGET IT!" He took another step closer, challenging me once again. He spoke very slowly but forcefully. "I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere"

I scoffed at him "Yeh, well I've heard that one before!"

'Look Max, I get that your pissed at me-"

"Well give the genius a medal –

"But I left because I thought that was best! For everyone"

This time I stepped towards him and straightened my shoulders my voice filled with venom. "Best? Sure, I can see how you would think that. Because the best answer is always leaving your family, with no explanation, no warning, making us worried sick something's happened, and all you can do about it is leave me a note. You didn't even have the balls to say it all to my face!"

"Would you rather me have done that Max?" He voice was filled with the same venom "Have said 'Hey Max, by the way I cant stay with you anymore!' I did it that way so I didn't hurt you"

"Well you really succeeded in that department didn't you" I was yelling now, not even caring if the kids in the other rooms could hear or not. 'How dare you think that you can make me forget the pain I went through, what we ALL went through when you jetted off to replace us!'

"I could never replace you-

"Yeh, well you dang hard tried, tell me, I mean Maya I say howdy! You can't hide what you paste all over the internet Fang!" I threw my arms over my head 'What did you think was going to happen, after your little 'play time' with Max II, you could just come back here and play house!" I screwed my hands into fists, momentarily forgetting about the knife in my rage, blood began to drip to the floor. Fang noticed.

'Max, please, just calm down...drop the knife hon-

"Honey? No. Only the Fang I knew gets to call me that...not some ass that looks like him." Finally the pain in my right hand seeped to my brain, and the knife clattered to the floor in a puddle of red, I tried to ignore it.

As soon as I was without a weapon Fang sprung from his side of the room and wrapped his arms around me. I pushed as hard as I could against his chest, but his hold on me was unmoveable.

"My max, how did I let myself do this to you" He began to shhhh my sobs as I stained his shirt with tears and blood – not a good combination might I add!

"You know I love you right? I said that to you..." he whispered into my hair, his arms still pinning my against his toned chest. That combination of the pain in my hand, and in my heart made me snap and I finally broke free from the hug. I stared him in the eyes. 'You never said it, you were too cowardly to say it! You wrote it down if that's what you mean, in a way that you would never get hurt from you lying, manipulating, cowar-"

Suddenly his lips were on mine, smothering any more insults that escaped my lips. And thats when I forgot. Forgot about the fighting, forgot about the pain in my hand...the fact that he left. Because right here, right now, it felt as if he had never left, as if the whole thing was a far off dream, or a forgotten memory. A bad wound that had healed over time, with only a small scar as reminder of what happened- but something people forgot about.

And so, in my moment of weakness, I forgave him, and let him kiss me, one hand in my hair, the other holding me protectively at the waist – I couldn't leave even if I wanted to, which I didn't for the record.

But then my bran clicked into place and I saw the situation for how it was. A lie. It took all the strength I could muster to break away from him, the force our bodies apart into two solitary figures.

'no'...the word slipped out of my mouth so softly I hardly heard it myself.

"what do you mea-

"I said no Fang, I can't do this...not again." I backed up, my hands reaching for the wall behind me, Fang just nodded once, retreating to the far wall and sliding down it into a sitting position across from me. His eyes didn't meet mine but he was smiling softly, almost as if to attempt reassuring me.

His eyes were full of sorrow and pain despite his smile and something inside me tried to tell me that everything he had said was true. That he wasn't going to leave again. Even if that fact was a lie, for the time being I was willing to believe it, just to have this moment with fang- like old times.

"The days when you left were...unimaginable. I didn't eat, sleeping felt like death and everywhere I looked I would find things that reminded me of you..." I very rarely said any personal things, but Fang had broken down every wall protecting my fragile heart – and so the consequences were that now they were all flooding out without my control.

"...can it see the others?"

"No. It was hard enough to get them to try and forget you. To tease them with you now would be cruel" That remark left a foul taste in the air, and Fangs body coiled slightly into itself. I was fiddling with my hands not wanting to look at him.

Now the real battle begun... who would break the ice first?