~ Starts off from the scene in book two. The first few lines are direct lines put into Fang's POV. After that it's all my plot lol! =] ~
Disclaimer- I do not in any way, shape or form own maximum ride- do you think I would still be in school if I did??!!
"Fang- if I'm changing, if I'm turning into something… bad- will you deal with it?"
My eyes connected with hers in a long, silent stare.
"If I turn into an Eraser, will you deal with it? To protect the others?"
I couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Couldn't do anything other than stare into her familiar eyes which were clouded with alien fear.
"Yes," I said, causing my heart to break into a huge, empty pain. "I'll do what has to be done."
I stood up and squeezed her shoulder. "You'll be okay, I promise." It was a promise to both her and me. I kissed her forehead tenderly, a comfort and reassurance to both of us. I left the room with my eyes stinging caustically.
That was the first time my role as Second in Command was ever put into words. The first time we verbally acknowledged the duty I was tied to in the position I held. If things went pear-shaped, I would be the one to step up to the plate. If Max died, I would be Leader. If Max went "bad", I would have to kill her. I promised to do 'what had to be done' and I hadn't lied. She thought that I would kill her if needs be, but I wouldn't… I couldn't. I would do what had to be done alright, I would do what had to be done to save her every time. I was Second in Command- Max watched everyone else's back, I watched hers. She saved the world, I saved her. The day would never come that Max would not be there for us, but if it ever did I was first successor. It was a precautionary title- a worst case scenario constituency plan.
That day, in Ann's Virginian home, we openly acknowledged my duty as Second in Command… and I wished, with every fibre of my being, that it would never be acknowledged again.
But it was. And if I thought the first time had broken my heart… It had nothing on this. The Voice had decided to play a nice little visit- during the middle of a flight. One moment Max had been coasting along on a pleasant breeze, her hair flicking about behind her. The next, she was gone. Wings folded in, limp in the air and falling fast. I swore in my mind as panic took me over. Going straight into a dive, I plummeted towards her, sweeping her up in my arms before she came in contact with the nearing ground. My heart was racing unpleasantly, fear and panic at what we had just avoided causing adrenaline to flood my veins. Dropping to a soft landing with Max wrapped in my arms I called her name softly. She was unconscious but breathing, her cheeks were warm and I brushed her hair away from her face as I tried to call her back into waking. She stayed unconscious, and I carried her to a nearby cave in the clearing- it would be cool in there, she would be out of the sun and I could keep checking on her.
Three hours later, she woke screaming. A shrill resonance piercing the air. The Flock was positioned around a make-shift camp in the clearing eating the small rations we possessed. I had just begun to gingerly lift myself off the ground to run to her side, when Max appeared at the mouth of the stone cave. Her face was stony with that familiar determined furrow appearing in between her eyebrows.
"Fang," she said. "I need to talk to you."
I obeyed sombrely, following her silently into the dark depths of the trees surrounding our little camp. Iggy knew enough to immediately take charge of the Flock. Max looked exhausted: her face flushed and eyes dull with tiredness. But she stood proud with authority. When she spoke she was serious and weary.
"Fang," she said quietly as we sat down on two logs facing each other. "I need to know… I need to know that if anything goes wrong, you will always be there for them. That you will never leave the Flock, that they can always depend on you…"
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Answer me, Fang. Will you stay with them? If anything happens to me will you step up as Leader?" she repeated with a hint of desperation in her voice.
"Max, you don't need to ask that. I would never leave. What brought this on?"
"The brain attacks are getting worse, Fang. We still don't know what they mean, for all we know I could be… Dying. You saw what happened to failed experiments at the School."
I wanted to interrupt and tell her not to say things like that, I wanted to reassure her that we would live forever- but I knew we wouldn't. I wanted to tell her that I would protect her no matter what- because I knew I would… but right now she needed to talk, and I was better at listening.
"I just need to know that if I do… you know… I just need to know that the Flock will be okay. I need to know that you'll take over and take care of them. It's not a job, Fang, it's a life. You don't get days off, you get to rest or quit. You watch them constantly, you protect them and love them, care for them and feed them, concentrate on them all the time and think about them every minute of every day. You do what it takes to keep them alive and happy." She took a deep breath, pausing for a second.
"I need to know that you'll worry about them," Max continued, "that you'll be just as paranoid and alert as I am. I need to know that they will okay. I have to know that you would never stop fighting for them, never stop loving them and never stop protecting them. If I know that you can do all that, if I know you can live up to the responsibility then I won't be scared of whatever happens. Please Fang, please tell me you can do it- tell me that you will do it. Please."
Her eyes were glazed with unshed tears. He flushed cheeks were highlighted by the milky paleness of the rest of her face. She was begging for me to give her an answer. She needed me to say that: yes, I could do it; that I would be only happy to do it; that I would never give up and never give in; that I would always be there for them no matter what…... But I didn't want to.
Not because the job or responsibility scared me, not because I couldn't do it. I didn't want to answer because there was a slight chance that if I did, she would stop fighting so hard herself. The Flock was her life, more so than even I knew up until now- she lived for them, for us. The Flock was her life, no ifs or buts about it. Constant dedication and commitment were the proof of her love for her family. And, if I said yes, I wasn't sure if that would be the truth… I wasn't sure if I could do it without Max. I could do the job, I could be there for the kids, but without Max my life seemed empty. I wouldn't be me without her.
And her eyes still begged me for an answer. So I did it. I spoke. Even though I didn't want to, I was Second in Command, I was Maximum Ride's Right Hand Man and my duty was to be there for my Leader. And my Leader needed an answer.
"No matter what happens I'll be there," I said softly, "Till the end- I'll never stop fighting… for any of us."
I looked deep into her wide eyes. "I will never stop worrying, never stop protecting and never stop caring for any of the Flock. Including the selfless, self-sacrificing Leader. You aren't alone in this Max, and I know you won't leave me alone in this either. We'll fight, we'll care for them, and we will never back down, give in or give up. It's not a job, it's a life." I cupped her face in my hands. "It's our life."
She gave a smile through the brimming tears that we both decided to ignore, and in silence we walked back to camp, trying not to acknowledge the roles we both knew we held and the duties that burdened us beneath the surface. Ignorance is not bliss, but sometimes, neither is knowledge. The acknowledgement that gets buried at the back of your mind to plague you in the darkness of a cold night, is sometimes best kept hidden and untouched.
This was our life: Mine and Max's with our Flock... and I would do everything to protect that. I would do everything to protect Max- she was, after all, the glue that held us together.
I would never stop fighting for the Flock, or for her. And as much as I didn't want to acknowledge it, my duties had been realised now... I just hoped that the day would never ever come when I would have to embrace those duties. I would hide the acknowledgement, but it would plague me always. That was my duty as Max's Second in Command.