I do not own Maximum Ride or any other brands or names mentioned/discussed in this story.

Ch.1

I sank my teeth into the warm, soft, gooey center of Heaven. I chewed it slowly in my mouth, savoring every flavor of the numerous that were prancing around on my taste buds. It's so good, it's almost sinful.

"Homemade cookies are the best things any one will ever eat. If you meet someone who says otherwise you can just tell them that they can suck my-"

"I'm gonna cut you off there, Iggy", I said holding my hands out in front of me in a 'stop' positition as I swallowed my first bite. My mom and Ella had invited the Flock and I over for the weekend before our next big CSM mission. They treated us with baked lasagna, caesar salad, and breadsticks, with homemade choclate-chip cookies for desert. Rest assured, we were in bliss.

"Well, Iggy, I'm glad you like them. I'll be sure to make more for you all to bring with you to Miami.", Mom said with a smile. Gazzy and Iggy slapped high-fives and exchanged cries of relief and excited-ness. Our next CSM mission was going to be an Air Show at the Miami Zoo, an air show like we did before. I just hoped it would turn out differently and not end with a bang. Punn intended.

"Thanks, Ms. M.", Nudge said from across the table with a spunky little smile, "We always appreciate what you do for us."

"It's no problem at all, sweetie. Anything we can do to help you guys out. I know Ella is spreading as much as she can about the CSM at her school and Girl Scout Troop. And stopping Dr. Gunther-Hagen is top priority as well.", my mom said encouragingly.

"Yeah!", Ella chimed in. "Please just tell us if there's anytthing we can do! Especially you, Iggy." Ella added making a kissy-face at Iggyat his spot at the table next to her. They had decided to become a couple a few weeks ago, wich I had no problem with or objection to. If only they had told me. I'm happy for them, but it kinda wierd; Iggy's like my brother and Ella's my half-sister..

We finished all of our cookies and headed up to bed and I tucked in the little ones then headed into Fang's room wich he was sharing with Dylan. That ought to work out well, huh? I just wanted to share with him my plans for the Air show before we took off for Florida tomorrow. I knocked softly on the wooden door and opened it after I heard him say, "Hey.". I closed the door and sat on the comfy made-up bed and looked at Fang. He was changing into his pj's and I watched as he buttoned up his flannel top. I could see his washboard stomach growing and shrinking with his calm breath. "What's up, Tiger?", he said, staring at me with one of those rare smiles he has.

'Tiger'? I realized he had slowed down and reversed his buttoning process when he noticed me staring. As he stood there looking at me, I tried to think of something clever to say as a comeback but I just couldn't. "What? No snide comeback?", he asked, teasing me. I shook my head and lied, " I just have a lot on my mind. Let's talk about the Air Show."

Fang sat down on the bed next to me and took my hand, shaking his head. I looked at him as tears filled my eyes. Why was I doing this again? I have many reasons to cry but I'm Max; I'm not supposed to cry! Do I like Dylan? Do I like Fang? the answer to one of these questions is 'yes', but I don't know which one. One minute Fang loves me, the next he's in love with a clone of me. One minute I'm crazy about Dylan, the next...well, I just don't know.

He put his hand on my cheek and kissed me. Oh great. I kissed him back for as long as I could, wich wasn't long because my face just had to explode with tears and great big sobs. "What can I do?", he asked, breaking away from me. "Is it me? Dylan? What can I do to help you?"

"I j-just n-need to t-take a-uh break.", I sputtered between sobs. I pushed myself off the bed and headed for the window, I just needed to get out. I opened the double-paned window and climbed onto the sill, pausing to take a breath. Fang stood up and opened his broad, black wings, "I'm coming too", he said, "I'm not letting you go alone." I shook my head and pulled my hair out of it's ponytail courtesy of Nudge. I launched off of the window sill and into the air, feeling my wings snap open and catch on a gust of the cool night's wind.

I heard several other windows open and little bird-kid feet patter on the wooden panels, then rustles of feathers fly through the wind behind me. "I thought I tucked you all in.", I said looking back at my disobedient flock lit by the stars and the moon. "You thought you could take a midnight-flight without us?", Gazzy called playfully. "You must be off your nut.", Iggy finished.

I smiled and brushed away my tears with my sleeve, as I let my powerful wings carry me higher and higher into the starry night sky. "You'll have to pardon the absence of my common sense,", I called back, "If you're gonna come with me, you're gonna have to keep up." And with that, I tilted up my right wing and sent myself into a speedy downwards spiral towards the trees and fields of wildflowers however-many feet below us. I inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of pine and maple deep in the mountains of Colorado. I glanced back and upwards at my flock to do a headcount, Fang, Dylan, Nudge, Iggy, then Gazzy, with Angel and Total bringing up the rear.

"Who brought the backpack with the matches and stuff?", I called.

"I got it, Max.". Iggy called. "And it sure is heavier than I thought.."

"Oooh that's 'cause I put my book in there.", Nudge said, "I found something that might interest you, Max. It regards the Flock in full, I think."

"Oh great.", I said. Let's find a spot to land and we can set up a nice little fire."

The Flock agreed and we continued our descent and leveled out, soaring just above the tops of the dense forest canopy until we came across a grassy glade and decided to land there. Gazzy and Iggy set up a fire and we all sat down around it. Fang sat to the left of me and Dylan to the right. Nudge handed me her heavy textbook that my mom had found in her closet at work and given to Nudge when she stated to everyone that she was now interested in Genealogy. She had since been reading it almost religiously.

"It's bookmarked.", she said with a worried look on her face. I opened the book to her purple satin ribbon-bookmark and read from the top of the page in my head. I looked up at Nudge in disbelief as what the book said rang in my head; 'Ch.1 Jounal Entry- Jeb Batchelder, The Begining of The End. Avain/Human Hybrid Experiments.'