The Second Generation
What happens when the person you depended on most is suddenly gone? And when life has finally reached that normal you were aiming for, what are you supposed to do when the past comes knocking?
The Second Generation is set four years after Fang left Max and doesn't take into account anything that happened in Angel.
It's not strictly my usual style of fic, especially for Maximum Ride, but give it a go and let me know what you think!
-H
They say time is the best healer when it comes to a broken heart. They say that over time you begin to re-group and regain some control over your life, though you never forget the hurt. They say that it's not impossible to go on. But they also said that true love would last forever.
That's why I don't put much faith into romance novels or teen magazines. You see, besides the obvious point that the stories in them are fictional, they just don't take into account real life or real feelings. Your heart doesn't break literally when the guy you were convinced was your soul mate leaves you, it's more like it slowly decays until you feel hollow and even then the gaping hole where it should have been aches like there is something dark in there trying to claw its way out. And time isn't really the best healer because the hurt festers. I found that amputation –in the metaphorical sense before you all panic- was the best cure for me, and even then it didn't really cure me. I had to shut down the part of me that loved and yearned for Fang because he was gone. He wasn't coming back. And the flock and I had to try and pick up the pieces and move on.
I didn't do a very good job in the beginning; in fact I was downright pitiful. Nudge spent hours with me as I cried myself into fitful, nightmarish naps. In the four years since he left I don't think I've slept a full night soundly. But I pulled myself together and took over again as leader. I put on a face and made the right decisions for the flock and that's how we ended up here, in rainy ol' Scotland. Far away from the hullaballoo that followed us everywhere in America.
I consider myself scarred, or as having a disability. I don't function at the same rate I did before when things were simple and Fang was just my best friend, but I can function. I refuse to let it ruin me. I suppose a few incidents across the years made me wake up and realise I couldn't mope because my flock would suffer. And they didn't deserve that. But more on those horrific incidents later.
So we're living in Scotland, Glasgow to be precise. Fang and his new gang are all over the news to the point where we don't even watch the International stuff anymore, just the local stations in case I hear something like "Max they've discovered where you are and are coming to get you!" or the weather guy announces, "a storm of evil corrupt scientists is about to hit the area searching for previously famous mutants" or something less dramatic of that sort. You see we realised, the entire flock that is, that living in the limelight was just too dangerous and my old-fashioned "under the radar" technique was actually pretty effective and we live alright. While Fang and his mutants kick-butt and save the world in front of the world we have a small yet cosy flat right in the centre of the city. Being eighteen Iggy and I are now old enough to work and the most fame we get is the growing excitement about the restaurant where Iggy is the "blind-chef". It's not world-class food but it's pretty darn good and the flock and I eat for free most nights. I work in an old book store that smells of leather and history. Sounds kinda corny but there's a cute little teashop next door and the old lady that owns it is happy to let me practically run the business for her while she sits and reads her way through decaying copies of old books. I'll read anything that comes through the shop, except the romances. Call me quirky but I prefer the horrors and old fantasy books. The rest of the flock kinda love it here too. Of course Scotland is a lot rainier than I'd like but that's why anyone tracking me that has a clue about me wouldn't think to check the UK. I'm really a sunshine and beach sorta person, but I've found that living here can change a girl. It all sounds very namby-pamby but there's something about the adorable cobbled streets in Glasgow and the country's capital Edinburgh that really makes you think of the past and what the cities, that are much smaller than those in America, must have looked like when the streets were full of horse-drawn carriages and tobacco merchants in grand old houses. The whole flock has developed a real love for history which surprised me as you all know how my attempts at making them learn went previously. Anyway, Nudge really loves it the most here. She does online school because absolutely nothing would convince me to let her go to any of the local ones but I did agree that she could join a theatre group that she fits in perfectly with. Last year I had to spend three gut-wrenching weeks without her as she travelled the country as part of their musical production of Cats.
Now I don't care if it's all part of culture but as someone who is part bird I'm not overly fond of cats, and I had to endure the show three times! Which was complete torture. At least this year the musical is something I wouldn't mind watching, the soundtrack to We Will Rock You has been playing in our flat for a month now and we are all word perfect. She even has a leading role as the part of the Killer Queen. Call me overly maternal if you like but casting a fifteen year old in the role of an evil dominatrix who has a strange thing for leather cat-suits is a little odd, but she has the voice for it and after reading lines with her once or twice she's actually pretty good. I guess all the experience of dealing with evil overlords really gave her the background knowledge she needed to play the part convincingly. Gazzy surprised us all by signing up for the theatre group too. As it turns out the boy is pretty nifty on a guitar, though he was disappointed when none of us wanted to put up with drum lessons. He's going to tour with Nudge and the group this year as part of the band. Aren't we all very talented? Last but not least, Angel, my baby. Yes so maybe in the past she made a couple of bids to become flock leader and overstepped the line a little. But since Fang left and she was almost kidnapped to be taken into the world of underage sex trafficking she's really sobered up to letting me tell everyone what to do and has stopped fighting me at every turn to become the sweet ten year old she should be. Oh yeah the kidnap thing I'll explain a little more later as well. That's one of the 'horrific incidents' I was talking about before. Now Angel does online school and is learning to speak three different languages over the internet. All in all we are surviving on our own with no fights to the death and plenty of food and comfort and I couldn't be prouder of my flock.
Oh but Dylan you ask? Well he's no longer with us. Not as in he's no longer breathing and kicking about somewhere which I'm sure he still is, but he's not part of our flock anymore. Another incident that had a particular effect on me, I'll tell you. But you must be wondering why I'm bothering to tell you all this. I mean without the fights and the daring rescues and escapes how interesting can our lives actually be? No one wants to hear about in detail how good Gazzy is on a guitar or what drama Nudge is facing with a few of the other actors from school. The reason, my hopefully still faithful readers, is because this peaceful lifestyle has to be just too damn perfect to last. Yes, I am still Maximum Ride. Yes, I'm still in love with my best friend that left us. And yes, I am still just as paranoid as I was on day one. Something is stirring in the winds that funnel down those cobbled alleys in the city and I know its coming to hit us. Whatever it is I want to be ready and I'm hoping you'll stick with us long enough that I can keep you up to date, that is, if I live to tell the end of the story. Fang and his new flock have been nicknamed the Second Generation and according to the headlines I saw walking down the street this morning they haven't been seen in a while. Either whatever evil I'm feeling in the air has nabbed them already, or they are racing it here. I'm going to have to face both of them at some point, so, are you with me?
This was just a teaser to give you the gist of what the story set up might be, so I'm being kind and putting the second chapter up right away... I want to know what you think, pretty please!