A/N: Woot! My second story today! My fingers are about to fall off from all of this typing.

Disclaimer: I no ownie.

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The Flock and I were in a hotel somewhere along the Mississippi near Lousianna.

"Everyone's just so nice here," the Gasman whispered as yet another total stranger smiled and waved at us. The first couple times it'd happened, I totally freaked, but now the paranoia had subsided somewhat. I guess some things take getting used to. Well, there's a first time for everything, including culture shock.

I put on my best we're-totally-normal smile and walked up the clerk.

"Now what can I get for ya'll?" she drawled. Oh, so that's what a Southern twang sounds like.

"Um, we need two suites, right next to each other, erm...please," I tagged the "please" on as an after thought. Maybe manners are contagious. Either way, I knew the Flock would soon be laughing at me for my new found politeness.

"I'm sorry, sugah, the two suites we have open are on two different floors." The strange thing was, she looked genuinly sorry. Weird.

Angel, I thought. Your turn.

"Hi, miss," Angel said sweetly. I must say, she looked like an Angel in her little white sundress. I might have been decieved if it wasn't for the fact that I knew that in less than a second, she would be manipulating the poor lady's mind.

"Well, aren't you precious! My word! You have the sweetest little sister!" The woman exclaimed, directing the last part to me. I grinned. This was going to be easier than usual.

"Well, my family and I really want two rooms right next to each other. And we want our dog with us, too. Maybe you could work something out?" Angel asked the clerk as sweetly as she could. And trust me, it was pretty sweet. "Please miss," Angel checked her name tag, "Jan?"

Jan looked rather taken aback. "Well, hun, I'll see what I can do."

So two hours later we were sitting in a hotel suite together with the key to the second in Iggy's pocket. Nudge suggested that we go check out the complimentary buffet downstairs.

"Sure, sweetie," I agreed. "I'll be down in a minute." I needed to brush my hair, but I'd never admit that to the Flock. Too girly.

They all smiled at me and made thier way to the emergency stairs. Fang lingered a moment.

"Anything wrong? The Voice?" he whispered once the others were out of earshot.

"No, Fang. I'm fine. I'll join you in a few minutes," I assured him. He looked mollified and followed the others. I dug a hairbrush out of Nudge's backpack and walked into the bathroom. Humming, I began to attack the worst of the tangles.

But then I caught my reflection in the mirror. It began to shift, to change. To morph.

"Oh no," I breathed.

"Miss me, Maxie?" The Eraser in the mirror asked with a fake cheeriness in her voice that made my blood run cold. She grinned, the wolfish muzzle splitting in two.

"No, no, you're supposed to be gone!" I reeled backward and hit the wall. I leaned against it for support.

"But I'm not, am I? You've been having a good time out there without me," she continued like we were finishing a conversation from long ago. Suddenly, I knew. The Eraser was no longer me. She was her own etnity.

"Oh no, Max. We're still the same. I'm just much stronger now," ERaser Max answered my thoughts.

"No! I learned my lesson! I respect my enemies! Blah, blah, blah. Go away now." I sounded pathetic, and I could barely keep the tremble out of my voice.

"Oh, but that's the glory of it. I'm still here!" she repeated, this time with more force.

"All I have to do is scream and..."

"And what? Your precious Fang will come riding in on a white stalion and save you? I don't think so, honey." Her voice was filled with so much menace. So much loathing.

"We're stuck together. Forever. You might as well abandon all notions of getting rid of me now." The hairbrush I had not realized I was holding slipped from my hand. "We're one. Ying and Yang," she told me softly.

"Guess which one you are," I snarled. There! That was more like it.

"The point being," Eraser Max continued. "that we are one and the same, and you'll never be rid of me for the rest of your miserably short days," she stated, grinning maniaclly.

I began to shake. No. She was lying.

"And pretty soon, I'll be the one in control."

Say what? "Never," I whispered. "Never!"

"Hmm," she said in mock confusion. "Who should I kill first. The baby Angel, or Fang?"

"Don't touch them!" I shouted at her.

"Oh, I won't, Maxie. We will," she told me smugly. She was so confident. Obviously she had never met Maximum Ride before.

"Never!" I shouted. I rased my fist and smashed the glass, right were her face was. The shards cut my hand deeply. I hissed in pain. Then, I realized that one shard of glass had slit my wrist. I sank to my knees amidst the broken glass. How long until the Flock found me? They'd probably think I was suicidal.

"Max?" I heard Fang's voice from the main room. "Where are you? Max!" I think I called out to him.

"Max!" Fang yelled again when he saw me kneeling there. It was like the beach again. Only this time, I knew he was too late to save me.

"Damnit, Max! Why?" he asked me roughly. His hair fell into his eyes. I brushed it away gently with my fingertips.

"She's gone now. She can't hurt you," I mumbled. I don't know if he was more shocked by my words or my touch.

"Did Eraser Max come back?" His words were more gentle this time.

"I had to stop her. She was going to hurt you." I fell forward, no longer strong enough to stay upright. Fang wordlessly caught me and held me close to him. I tood a deep breath. I was dying, and I knew it. It was now or never.

"I love you, Fang, and I always will," I told him as I sunk into blackness. "I always will."