Hello, just wanted to thank you for reading! This is my first fanfic, and I hope that it is up to standards.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own any characters, yadda yadda. James Patterson owns all.

"Maaaaaax, I'm hungry!" a voice called from behind me. I rolled my eyes and flipped around in the sky, which is a lot harder than it sounds. We had been flying for a few hours now, just to make sure that no one would track us after our recent escape from the Lerner School for Gifted Children (a.k.a. the Mutant House of Mutants for Mutated Kids). I still didn't know where we were headed, but I was following the directions given to me by the voice, which had been suspiciously silent after we had taken off.

I couldn't blame any of the kids for being hungry though-we hadn't eaten a proper meal for us Avian-Americans for a couple of days. And plus, flying burns off our energy. Fast.

"Okay, Gazzy, we're going to land in a few minutes. Just hang tight for a bit, okay?" I said, exasperated. As I spun back around to take the lead, my eyes met a pair of cool black ones. After a moment, Fang faced ahead again.

Things had been awkward between us since the…thing. You know, when I accused him of "throwing himself at everything wearing a skirt?" Yeah, that's the one. We had sort of gone back to the way we were, but I still caught myself staring at him once in a while. Okay, a lot more than once in a while. But I'd never let him know that.

I found a nice clearing with a lot of forest surrounding it. "Let's land here, guys," I shouted into the wind, and immediately began to descend. The flock did the same around me. I landed on the ground and began set camp.

A few hours later, after a fulfilling meal of almost-perfectly-cooked sausages (courtesy of Iggy), the Flock laid down for sleep. I decided to take the first watch. I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, what with all the Fang on my mind-

What? Did I just think that? Maybe I do have some stuff to figure out…

I sat on the lowest branch and began scanning the area for immediate danger to occupy my mind. Just then, I felt a cool breath on my neck. "Can we talk?" Fang asked. Without waiting for my reply, he lightly jumped down next to me.

"What?" I asked warily. I have to admit, I was a bit suspicious about the fact that Fang wanted to talk. How often does that happen?

"I need to know…" he began. It was obvious that he was struggling for words. "I need to know how you feel about me. He was getting to that? AGAIN? You have to hand it to the guy, he's persistent.

"Fang, I'm not really sure. I mean," I blustered. Augh, why couldn't I just tell him? I liked him, but what would happen? I couldn't tell him how I felt without putting our family in jeopardy. "What about the Flock? What happens if we don't work? I don't want us splitting up again."

"Max." He spoke my name softly, but with power. "I would never leave you again. I could never leave you. I…think I'm in love you." He said this all in a matter of seconds, but it felt like hours. Time seemed to freeze. Fang loved me? Fang loved me! Was this good? What would happen between us? Oh, right, he was expecting me to say something!

"Um," the Great Maximum Ride replied. Seriously, that was ALL I could think of. But Fang must have been able to read the emotions in my eyes, because he tentatively cupped his hand under my chin and lifted my head up so that I looked him in the eyes. They were cool and impassive, as usual, but only I could detect something stirring underneath. He slowly drew his lips closer to me, and we kissed.

Electricity flowed through my body, and I felt more alive than I ever had. It wasn't like the other times that he had kissed me; then, he had been unsure and tentative. Now, he was gentle, but I knew he wasn't letting me go again. And somehow, I didn't want to be let go. I just wanted to stay like this for a while longer.

He pulled slightly away, only to whisper in my ear, "I don't want to lose you again, Max." I looked up into his eyes, ready to finally speak.

"Fang-" I began to say, but was cut off as I fell limp in his arms.

Great. Just great. I finally convinced Max that I was the one for her, and now this. I can't believe that I didn't see this coming. Nothing can ever go right for us, can it?

Speaking of this, what exactly is happening here? I gently placed Max's unconscious form on the ground and stood in front of her. I had just gotten Max-I wasn't going to lose her to some ambush. As I placed her on the ground, I noticed a small yellow dart sticking out of her shoulder blade. Crap. They had tranquilizers. I slowly rose and faced my enemies.

Man, was I surprised. They were Erasers. They were back. I snarled as ferociously as I could, but I have to admit, I was scared. One raised a gun at me, ready to put me down.

With the few seconds I had left of consciousness before he shot, I scanned the grounds, looking for the Flock. Unfortunately, they were being led away by other Erasers. How had they snuck up on us and been able to chain the Flock in their sleep. And why were they only targeting Max and me? It seemed that they were just taking the Flock along for a ride.

Suddenly, the head Eraser smacked it down. "Wait, Jim. I want to play with this one." He smiled this horrible smile that made me wish I was already unconscious. But then I saw Angel's face pleading with me as she was being shoved into a truck. Right then, I knew I had to fight. I lunged at the head Eraser and heard a crack as my fist connected with his nose.

He screamed and clawed at my side, but I was left with only a minor scrape. I kicked his shin and brought him to the ground crying. I punched the next one in the chest and twisted its arm around in a circle. He yelped in pain. I thought that I had this fight in the bag, until I looked around.

I was surrounded by at least twenty Erasers. There was no way I could win. But I had to keep fighting. I jabbed the Eraser I was currently working on with my elbow. He went down without fight, but three more came over and began ganging up on me. As I kicked one Eraser in the one spot on a guy where it would hurt the most, another bit my shoulder. I felt blood dripping down, but I kept on going. The third one clawed at my side, and I felt feathers fall of my wings.

Then the leader came up to me. As I fell to the ground, I couldn't help but be proud of my work. His entire face was disfigured, and his eye had a mottled bruise above it. He looked angry.

"When are you going to learn, Bird-child? You'll never win," he snarled at me as he punched my face rapidly and with force. I saw Max being dragged away, her beautiful face covered in dirt. I looked over at her body, and was relieved when I didn't see any damage. At least they hadn't hurt her and the Flock, I thought. Another Eraser came over me with a gun, and I fell mercifully into blackness.