What happens when Max's expiration date shows up? Set after the seventh book.

I was showering.

I know, I know. Who are you and what have you done with Max? But it was me. I was taking a shower. Mainly because I hadn't for quite a long time.

I was a tangle of feelings, a couple weeks after the big DG showdown. I wished Fang was still with me, and still reeling from Angel's death. My baby… I only had three of them left with me. Nudge, Gazzy and Iggy. Dylan doesn't count.

I grabbed my towel and rigorously dried myself. A quick glance in the mirror told me all I needed to know about the sad state of my hair. I grabbed a comb and attempted to tug it through the snarls. No luck. Giving up, I swept my hair into a messy ponytail. But something caught my eye on the back of my neck. I leaned in for a better look. It had better not be a weird mole or I was going to kill somebody—

It was a string of numbers.

I think I stopped breathing there for a moment. My mind had shorted out. I wasn't thinking anything. I leaned on the sink, looking at the reflection of my demise.

My expiration date.

"What's wrong, Max?" Nudge's face was concerned as she turned away from the laptop. She'd been researching into the Doomsday Group as I'd instructed her. "You look kind of pale."

I was still in shock, but I gave her a weak smile. "I'm fine. Found anything out yet?"

"Not much. Just that they're regrouping, and some rumors I'm trying to figure out," Nudge replied unhappily.

I lay down on the bed, not really listening. Still brooding on the date on the back of my this how my life was going to end? A date circled on the calendar? How was this even happening to me? I remembered Ari's death. The way he'd just kind of looked… confused. Like he had no idea what was going on. He'd had a date on the back of his neck too.

I touched it again. Did the entire flock have expiration dates? I sure hoped not. I glanced around. Iggy and Gazzy were huddled together, talking in low voices. Something fishy? You bet. Yet I didn't move.

A gentle hand touched my shoulder. Dylan. Yep, he was still hanging around. Still as handsome as ever. He looked at me. "You okay?" He looked like he wanted to help. And in that moment, I wanted to say it. I wanted to say my expiration date had appeared. I felt so lonely, suffering this pain by myself (Wow, I really was getting softer!). I wanted to be comforted.

I don't know why I didn't tell him. Maybe I just didn't want them to worry. Maybe I wanted them to enjoy the rest of the time they had with me, and worry about this later. Maybe I was just a coward.

Whichever it was, I just said, "Yeah."

Do what you need to do, Max, The Voice told me vaguely.

Thanks for the tip, Voice, I thought back sarcastically. I'm going to die soon, and that's what you have to tell me?

The Voice offered no reply.

I closed the house's door quietly behind me. Dylan and my flock did not need to know about this. I unfurled my wings and flew powerfully, using my warp speed to get far away. Then I landed in a familiar tree and pulled out my cell phone. Dialed Fang's number.

My hands shook as I waited. I wanted someone to know. But that person had to be Fang. He was the one who had to take care of my kids once I was gone. My hands shook harder at the thought of my expiration date.

"Yo."

I swallowed hard at the sound of his voice. "Fang?"

A brief pause. I plunged on. "It's me, Max."

"I could tell." There was a questioning note to his groggy voice, silently asking why I was randomly calling in the middle of the night, especially when I was still mad at him.

"Look, I have to tell you something," I said, struggling to keep my voice sounding stable. "It's urgent."

"Are you okay?" Fang asked. He sounded curious. Not concerned at all. I felt angry all over again, but kept it in check. This was business. I could not confuse business with my feelings.

I clutched the cell phone to my ear with two trembling hands. "The thing is, Fang, um… I found something out the other day. About me."

"What? What was it?" I couldn't decipher his tone now.

"My expiration date showed up." It came out in a rush, and just like that, by saying it out loud, I was admitting it. Admitting defeat. And now reality rushed at me; I was going to die, really soon, and there was nothing I could do about it. This realization nearly made me drop the phone for some reason, but I managed to grip it.

Dead silence. Then: "What?" He didn't sound tired anymore. Wide awake now.

"I… I know." I swallowed back tears. "And so I just… I just want…" My voice broke, and I tried to pull myself together. I failed miserably.

"Max, are you serious?"

I swallowed again. "Yeah."

Dead silence on the phone.

"I want you to take over the flock once I'm gone," I said, congratulating myself on how steady my voice sounded. "They'll need a leader."

Fang sighed. "Max."

I shivered at the sound of his voice. I'd tried my absolute best ever since he'd left in France to lock down my emotions—I'd long realized that Max + happiness = no one else happy.

He sounded pained now. "This is bad. Really bad."

"You think?"

"Have you told the flock?"

"No. I'm not going to tell them."

"Why in hell not?" Fang asked angrily. "Don't you think they deserve to know?"

I blinked tears back again. "I just want them to be happy."

Silence. Then, "You think too much about other people's happiness, Max."

I was angry again. How could he say that? I'd wanted him to stay with the flock—that had been for my happiness. And yeah, it might make me a bit less sad to know that I wasn't the only one knowing about my soon-to-come death, but I knew this was something that would only put the flock into more sadness. Especially after Ange—

"Look," I said quietly. "I want to meet with you guys. For the last few days. But you're not allowed to tell them anything!"

"You're not in charge of me, Max. The kids deserve to know. Does Superboy know?" He demanded.

"No!" I retorted. "Dylan doesn't know. He'd probably throw himself off a cliff."

"He'll do it either way," Fang said, with a smirk I swear I could hear over the phone.

"Let's not talk about that," I said. "I just want us all to be together again, for one last time." I gave him a time and place.

He sighed heavily. "I'm not happy about it," he said. I wasn't sure if he was talking about the time and place, or my expiration date, or my refusal to tell the flock, or maybe just about me.

"See you then," I said, attempting casual and failing, mainly because my voice broke again.