A/N: Quick three-part, supposed-to-be-a-oneshot story for a close friend of mine's B-Day... Not telling you the pairing unless you read all the way through to the end. :P
Disclaimer for THIS STORY (not just this chap): I do not own Maximum Ride, that belongs to James Patterson. I only own this plot and the few pages of writing I've done. :)
BTW: For all y'all out there who might get confused at a couple comments made in this fic - In this story, Angel turned her back on Max and joined up with Jeb and Anne. Later, she came back with Ari to capture the Flock, but in a rage she tried to kill Max. Ari dove in the way and took the blows, dying instead of his elder sister. After he was dead, Angel turned her attention back to Max. When she attacked, Fang got between her and Max; and Max, in a rush, dove in front of Fang and delivered a lethal kick to Angel's jaw, snapping her neck and thus killing the avian-girl.
Please R&R!
Enjoy!
Max whimpered confusedly as she stumbled through the woods, rubbing her hands at her eyes in an attempt to clear away the tears that were gathering there. God, how she hated fighting with him – but he needed to understand why she couldn't just ignore the Voice and its constant telling of her that she had to save the world. She'd yelled at him during this most recent fight, stating that he couldn't know why she couldn't turn away. She'd said that maybe if he was leader and he had a Voice in his head twenty-four-seven, telling him to save the world he'd see the situation a little differently. His reply, of course, had been that maybe he should be leader and that Max could relay messages from the Voice to him. Max had responded vehemently with what the Voice had said to that. She's said she had to be the one to save the world, and that he wouldn't be able to lead the Flock because he wasn't their Mother.
It had been what he'd said next that had driven Max to flying off on her own, into the woods in the dead of night, with a Storm Watch already active in their area. When she'd landed, she hadn't stopped, crying to herself as she stumbled around in the dark, not caring that the trees were slowly tearing her apart; ripping her skin from her bared arms and legs piece-by-piece.
She didn't know when the clouds had appeared to cover the stars and the moon, blocking her only source of light. She didn't know when it had begun to rain, soaking through her layer of clothes and drenching her to the bone. She didn't know when she'd stopped running and slowed to a walk… and she really didn't care. At the moment she felt… well, nothing. It was numbness. Not the numb caused by a low temperature (although, she was that numb too…), but an emotional and mental numbness. Like everything had stopped. Her mind had gone blank in an attempt to save her from the pain, a defense mechanism of sorts. In an attempt to distract her further, her body was pushing itself to the limit as it moved itself forward, going on until her legs collapsed from exhaustion and she fell down in a heap, falling limply into the grass. It was then that the walls finally broke and a sob tore its way from Max's throat as tears gushed down her cheeks. Desperate, Max rasped the grass and curled up into the fetal position, resting her cheek against the grass as she stared into the darkness, her heart shattered into dozens of pieces; her eyes seeing nothing as they clouded over with tears.
She remained that way until he found her.