Title: Broken Wings
Rating: PG-13ish. Violence, language, you know.
Fandom: Maximum Ride/Alias crossover.
Pairings: Fax of course, as well as Sydney x Vaughn, and a bit of Iggy x OC.
Chapter Summary: Max and the Flock recieve a mysterious phone call. They're promised answers...and given warnings.
Notes: Uhm. Well, I haven't read the newest Maximum Ride book yet, and I haven't seen Alias in forever, so sorry if a few things are off here and there. But this story is totally going to be very, very AU anyways. Oh, and Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson! And Alias belongs to JJ Abrams, ABC, and all that. Here we go..

--

"ICE CREAM!"

I was almost knocked over as Gazzy charged ahead of me, target in sight: the bright blue ice cream truck parked on the nearby street. The ice cream man was looking kind of freaked out by the ravenous eight-year-old running at him, but business was business.

Of course, if our wings hadn't been carefully hidden by our baggy sweatshirts, I'm betting he would have been even more freaked out.

This was the only way we could go out in public. Even in a city as crazy as Los Angeles, mutant bird kids weren't exactly the norm. But I had to admit, the Flock needed some fresh air. We'd been staying in an abandoned building a few blocks away. Not my first choice of housing, but so far it had proved to be safe.

But all of us were getting restless, and it felt great to be out in the sun again. I probably would have been a little more uptight about it, except that, that's why we were here: to see the city. Nudge loved L.A., and while we were flying over it a couple of days ago, she somehow convinced me to stop. It was only supposed to be for the day, but the rest of the Flock were really enjoying themselves, and you know what? We all needed a break.

It felt weird to actually be able to take one, though. We've been on the run for so long, and now...well, nothing. For months, we haven't seen even one psychotic mutant or robot--the ones that, you know, try to kill us every so often? Yeah, they're gone. And the voices in my head, or the crazy scientists that keep trying to take over the world? They're gone too. The only fighting that's been going on around here are Nudge and Gazzy's little squabbles over who's the better flyer.

It was making me really nervous. Something just wasn't right.

But the Flock, besides Fang, didn't seem to notice anything. Right now, Angel was tugging on my hand. I only just realized that she was trying to get my attention, and snapped out of my trance.

"Max," She said eagerly, "Can we walk through the park?"

I looked out over the park across the street as Gazzy came hurrying back with a ridiculously tall ice cream cone. It didn't seem like a bad idea, actually. I looked around at the others, who didn't voice any objections, and then I smiled down at Angel.

"Sure, sweetie. Let's go."

We ended up spending the majority of the day there. The sun was setting now, and the park was beginning to clear out. It was actually kind of peaceful when it was quiet like this. It felt safe.

"You know, this isn't so bad. I wouldn't mind spending the night out here." Iggy commented from his perch in the lower branches of a tree.

Nudge looked up at him and nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Under the stars and everything. That'd be cool. Like camping!" She agreed.

We come to Los Angeles, and they want to go camping? I sighed. Sleeping out here didn't seem like such a good idea. It felt...I dunno...exposed? But seeing as there hadn't been any incidents in what felt like forever, I guess we were getting cocky. Taking risks that we shouldn't have been taking. I frowned.

As if he could sense what I was thinking, Fang sat down next to me. For the majority of the day, he'd been quiet as usual, but now it seemed like he wanted to say something to me.

"It's weird, you know?" He spoke at last. "This...quiet."

I stirred, looking over at him. "You feel it too?" I asked, knowing that I shouldn't have been surprised. Fang picked up on these things all the time, sometimes quicker than I did. "It's just," I added quickly, "I didn't want to say anything. The kids were having fun. I didn't want to ruin it for them."

Fang was one of those rare people I could confide in. I guess it's because he understood me--probably better than anyone else I knew. Even now, he was nodding as if he knew exactly where I was coming from.

"Definitely weird." He repeated quietly.

We sat like that for awhile. Just...together. Fang had this way of comforting me just by being there next to me. I mean, I've never actually said that to him(God forbid), but I think he knew anyway.

Then, suddenly, a noise made us all jump. I looked around, confused. That was one of the last noises I'd expected to hear...in fact, I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard...

Brrring, brrring!

"Pay phone." Iggy announced instantly.

Sure enough, there was a pay phone right over by the path near where we were sitting. We all stared at it blankly. There was just something that felt really off about that phone.

I tried to block the ringing out of my ears. "Probably I wrong number." I assured the Flock over the noise. Eventually, the phone stopped ringing. There was a moment of silence. Then,

Brrring, brrring!

"Max?" asked Gazzy warily.

"Don't answer it." said Fang at once, before I could do anything. "If someone knows we're here..."

"It could be important." Iggy pointed out.

"Or it could be a trap."

"Fang, if someone needs to reach us, I mean...they could need our help."

I was barely listening to their argument. My attention was fixed on the phone. There was something about this call, I could feel it. My instincts were usually right about this kind of thing, but the problem was, I couldn't tell whether this particular feeling was good or bad.

The phone stopped ringing again. There. It didn't matter.

But before I knew it, it was ringing again. I stood up, my eyes narrowed.

"Max!" Fang growled immediately, rising beside me.

"I won't say anything." I assured him impatiently. "Not until I know who it is." I couldn't explain what drew me to the phone, but it was almost as if I couldn't control my actions. Slowly, I walked over and picked it up. I listened silently. And then, came a voice that nearly made my heart stop.

"Maximum Ride."

It wasn't a question. They knew who answered the phone. The voice was gravelly, but distinctly female. And she had some kind of accent...Russian, maybe?

I was too shocked to do anything but reply. "How do you know my--?"

"We know your whole Flock, Maximum Ride. There's no need for any sort of pretense here." The voice said coolly.

I was quickly recovering, and within seconds, I was on defense. "Yeah?" I replied steadily, "Then who are you?"

There was a pause. "I, directly, am not important. I work for a group called K-Directorate. We have been watching you for some time."

"Watching us?" I bristled immediately, and glanced back at the others.

"Keeping you safe." The voice assured. "As you've noticed, I'm sure, you haven't been attacked in some time."

Yeah, she had me there. But I wasn't going to let my guard down even for a second. "So, what. You're with the government?" I asked her suspiciously. We'd done enough work with the government to last us a lifetime. I was beginning to wonder what they wanted now, but the voice let out an annoying chuckle.

"The government? We aren't interested in enlisting you to 'save the world', if that's what you're asking. No, my people have been interested in you for quite some time. We have the answers you're looking for. The truth about where you all come from, and the extent of your abilities."

I rolled my eyes. I definitely wasn't buying this. "Yeah, I've heard that one before. Listen. If you're so interested in us, why wait until now to contact me?" I demanded.

The voice was immediate. "Because until now, we have had no reason to. But now...the little one. Angel?...She is in danger."

I almost dropped the phone. Slowly, I looked over at the tree where Angel was sitting. I hoped my expression was unreadable.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my throat dry.

"There's something wrong with her. It could spread to the rest of you if something is not done." The voice explained. "It is too dangerous to discuss over the phone. Even now, we are being traced. My people will be at the top of the Hampshire Building at nine o'clock tonight. The roof--there is a party going on there, but the roof will be safe. If you come--all of you--you are obligated to do nothing but hear me out. Consider."

And just like that, she hung up. I felt frozen to the spot. After a moment, I hung the phone back up, and forced myself to move.

"What was that all about?" asked Nudge when I returned.

I was useless. I just stood there, unable to take my eyes off of Angel.

"Max?" Fang called gently. "What happened?"

I glanced at him. Taking a deep breath, I relayed the conversation to the rest of the Flock. By the time I was done, they were staring at me with just as much shock as I was feeling. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel even looked scared.

"So," Iggy said at last. "It's a trap. Right?"

I bit my lip. "I don't know." I sighed, "We believe her, and we're taking the biggest risk of our lives. But if we don't?"

"It's Angel's life on the line." Fang finished at once. "Look, Max. We need to think about this. I don't trust this any more than you do, but we have a chance to find out exactly what they're talking about."

I stared at him, surprised. Out of everyone, I figured that Fang would be the least likely to go alone with this. He always manages to surprise me.

Angel stepped forward. "But I don't feel sick, Max." She told me, her eyes wide. "How would they know about me?"

"They knew about all of us." I said grimly.

"We need to find out who these people are, and what they know." Fang stood firm. "Worst case scenario, they pull out guns, and we fly out of there. It's a rooftop."

Iggy seemed to be thinking this over. "They know about our wings, obviously." He said. "But what could they try in a building full of people? If there's a sponsored party going on..."

I nodded slowly. "We need to know exactly who we're dealing with, here. Friends or foes. If we don't go, they'll probably just keep tracking us." I pointed out. There was still something holding me back, though. This didn't make sense.

"Max," Angel repeated softly. "I want to go."

Silence.

"This is probably the stupidest thing we've ever done." I muttered at last.

Gazzy grinned. "Oh, not even close!"

Okay then. Party time.