Fangs POV

Max and I were walking together, side by side, on a sidewalk in New York. No one else was around. It was just us. She looked at me and smiled, and I couldn't help smiling back. She opened her mouth to say something, but then, all of a sudden, she was gone. She wasn't standing next to me anymore. Wha-? I thought, until I heard her scream. "Fang!" I looked around, but she wasn't anywhere. Then, there! I saw her! She was ahead of me by about a couple hundred yards. And then I saw why she was screaming.

And Eraser had her.

"Fang!!" She screamed again, her hand reaching out to mine. The Eraser was walking really fast, so she was quickly fading away from my view.

I started to run to them, but the faster I run, the farther away they got. Max was screaming by now, and, even though she was punching and kicking, she couldn't get the Eraser to drop her. I was starting to panic – what if I didn't get to her in time?! What if the Eraser got away with Max before I could do anything?!

And then, suddenly, Max stopped screaming, and looked up at me. Even from so far away, I could still see her face clearly. There was an expression on her face, one I didn't recognize. She said something, but I didn't hear her, and then she was gone. The Eraser got her. "Max?!" I screamed. "Max?!" But she was gone, gone for good. And that's when I realized, I wasn't getting her back.

I gasped, sitting upright. I looked around myself, and saw that I was still in the cave the Flock and I had decided to camp in for the night. It was just a dream, I realized. Just a stupid dream. And then all the memories of New York came flooding back, and with it, the memory of that Eraser capturing Max. I shuddered, thinking about how the Eraser had died before he could get away with her. But what if he did get away with her?

I decided I wouldn't think about that.

Being the paranoid mutant I am, I looked around myself, making sure the Flock was all here. Iggy and Gazzy were on my right, and Nudge and Angel were on my left. Total was in Angel's arms. But where was Max?

Panic suddenly flooded me again as I looked around the cave. Nowhere. I couldn't see her anywhere.

Oh, God, please, no.

I was torn between waking up the Flock and having us all search for Max, or going and looking for her by myself. But where would I look? If the Erasers got her, then they could be anywhere by now! I desperately hoped to myself that I was wrong.

I was about to leave, deciding to go look for her myself - even though my chances of finding her were slim, I had to admit - when I heard it: The soft beating sound of wings flapping through the air. I looked up, and there she was, flying up in the sky, illuminated by the moonlight.

Relief flooded through me, and I decided to go up with her. I stood up, dusting off my pants, and started running. Then, when I got near the edge, I jumped, letting my wings out.

It was a wonderful feeling.

I guess Max had seen me, because she stopped midair and waited until I caught up to her. Then, together we were flying.

A few minutes of silence passed, then Max asked, "Is something wrong?" I made the quick decision to lie – no reason in telling her I had a nightmare, right? "Nothing. I just couldn't sleep, so I thought maybe I could fly for a little. And then you were already here, so..." I let my voice trail off, knowing I didn't have to finish the sentence for her to understand. She looked at me harder, her eyes scrutinizing. "You sure?"

I looked away. These were the times when I hated the fact that Max knew me enough to know when I was lying. "Yeah," I said, keeping my face away from hers. I thought she would pressure me into telling the truth, but instead she said, "Ok, then." And let it drop.

I silently thanked whoever was listening. Max and I flew in silence for a few minutes more. Then I asked, "How about you?" Max shrugged, saying, "Same as you. I couldn't sleep." I nodded my head in understanding - none of us were great sleepers.

Then – I just couldn't help myself – I asked, "Max, are you feeling ok?" She gave me a look that said "Why are you asking?" But instead said, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I shrugged, knowing that I should drop it before I gave away too much.

She studied me again, then asked, "Why? Fang, is something wrong? Did something happen?" I shook my head, saying, "No, nothing. Nothings wrong, Max. It was just a question."

"Fang," She said, giving me a look that said "Tell me what's wrong right now, or I'll beat it out of you."

Damn.

"Nothing," I repeated. "Max, trust me, nothing is wrong." Then, before she could say anything else, I flew ahead of her.

Even though she could catch up to me within a millisecond thanks to her power, she didn't, giving me some space. Then, after a while, she caught up to me, and we flew together for about an hour before we went back to the cave. The entire hour was spent in silence.

We landed, and she made her way to Nudge's side, at the edge. Once again, being the paranoid mutant I am, I went over to sleep next to her. I was too afraid that maybe, just maybe, something would happen. And if something did, I wanted to be as close to Max as possible.

She lay down, facing away from me. "Night, Fang," she said, so soft that I almost couldn't hear her. "Goodnight, Max." I said back, just as soft. I waited until I could hear her even breaths, letting me know that she was sound asleep, then I myself closed my eyes, knowing the sound of her breathing would keep me at ease. I feel asleep quickly, having only one dream this time:

Max and I were flying to freedom.