Summary: Max and her Flock are tight, like birds of a feather. Later, they find a mutant that's just like them. They decide to take her under their wing. (Flock humor for ya!)

The mutant, Rayne, starts to blossom and becomes friends with the Flock, especially Fang. Little do they know that Rayne is trying to get rid of Max, so that she could be leader. What's the meaning of this, who is behind this, and what will happen to Max?

Yes, this is my first story, ever. So go easy on me, mhkay? (:

I do not own any of the characters, except for Rayne.

I update daily, and I leave the awesomest cliffhangers for you fellow readers to ponder over. (Geez I sound so professional. Bonus points!)

Reviews would be awesome, and cookies for all who read it.


You already know me by now. If you already know about the Flock and me, do skip the next three paragraphs. But those who are new on this Freak-a-Boat.. I'm Maximum Ride. I have freakin' wings that allow me to fly, yadda-yadda. I can fly up to 200 mph. (I bet you're impressed already. I would be.) The Flock and I are the far most successful experiments the stupid whitecoats did. For the first few years of our miserable lives, we lived in dog crates. C'mon. Way to treat the most successful subjects!

Fang, Iggy, and I are around fourteen. Nudge is maybe eleven, and Gazzy is about eight. Angel, the youngest, is six. Total, our talking dog, is God knows how old. He's already a pain in the ass. Shh, don't tell him that I said that. Then he's going to wet my bed, again.

Since I'm only a few months older than Fang, I get to play leader. Now, now, it's not like Follow the Leader how little kids play. No, we're actually on the look for danger. We barely get enough to eat, but recently, I found out that Dr. Martinez was my MOM. I still can't get over that, how many times I turn that over in my head.

Alright. You guys know the definition of love? Some might say that it is sweet poisen. Others might think that it's this warm feeling you feel inside whenever you're near that special someone. Uck. I don't have TIME for that kind of stuff.

But lately, things been kind of different.

Welcome to the Freakshow.

The Merry Family of Normal People were eating breakfast at the dinner table. Seriously, how can you eat breakfast on a dinner table? It doesn't make any sense. Augh, maybe it's pointless to think about this. Let's just move on.

Nudge was having fun attracting metal to herself, her huge brown eyes (the same eyes that could make Bambi's eyes look like an imitation) widened everytime her fork flew into her hand. The Gasman rolled his eyes and stabbed his scrambled eggs in a violent manner. (Eww, I just had a vision of exploding Erasers for some reason).

"Dude, Nudge, that clinking sound is so annoying," Iggy said, his sightless eyes glaring where Nudge is.

Nudge shrugged and dropped her fork in mid-air. "I'll never get tired of it," she said, shrugging and her smile disappearing. I hated to see my Flock disappointed, so I glared at Iggy, who was oblivious to my glare.

Fang pierced his bacon with his fork and in one swift movement, he plopped it in his mouth and swallowed. How does that guy do it? I wondered, narrowing my eyes and snickering, He's always the 'silent' type, but I know how he's been feeling inside, just like all of us. Except he's like a closed book. Dude, I'm getting really poetic.

Mom wiped her lips on her napkin and stared around at each person, or mutant in this case, with an almost frightening wide smile. "Any plans for today?" she chirped, like a song bird sticking out in a flock of boring crows.

I made my brown eyes turn into slits and stared at my mom. Gazzy scrutinized her face intently, "Did you have any.. strange substances at all, lately?" Nudge kicked Gazzy under the table and I heard him mutter something unintelligable. Damn you, Iggy, I thought, gritting my teeth. He's probably teaching Gazzy some stuff that a normal eight-year old wouldn't want to know.

Angel looked at me from the diagonal-ish of the table and half-grinned. Max, Gazzy researches stuff, she said, the thought floating lazily in my head. I snickered.

Mom paused and laughed lightly, reaching over and ruffling Gazzy's fine blonde hair. "Not at all," she said, then her face took in a more serious look.

Uh oh, I thought automatically, meeting Fang's intent glance across the table. We both nodded wordlessly and turned to Mom. The rest of the flock sensed the tension like good ole' children and straightened up.

"Itex hasn't been attacking you guys lately, correct?" Mom looked around at all of us, and I avoided her eyes. True that, true that. I was expecting Itex to hand deliver a bomb with a lovely red bow wrapped around it like a brand new Christmas gift.

I nodded. "So," Mom continued, "Don't you guys want to go on vacation for a while? I heard Florida is beautiful in the summer."

At once, five heads, six if you're counting Total, swiveled their heads to look at me. Hey, HEY, cut me some slack here. MY answer affects everyone else's decision, they say, Augh, sometimes I just want to tear off my wings and be a normal kid, except with two gaping wounds in my back. Ew, ew, that was gross! Moving on.

I looked down at myself in my pajama boxers, raggy tee shirt, and uncombed hair. I looked back up at the flock, drumming my fingers on the table. "Umm," I started. Good job, Max. Way to go. "Wait," I said suddenly. "What about you? What are you going to be doing?" Suspicion in my blood started to slowly climb up. Why did she want all of us out of the house all of a sudden?

Calm down, thought Angel, looking at me right in the eye, innocent blue eyes clashing with fierce brown eyes. She just wants to kick back and relax. She thinks her job is really killing her.

I admit. Being a vet could be hard work. Not that I ever WAS one, just.... nevermind.

"Think about it," Total pointed out, bracing his front paws against the table and put his little black head up high. "Florida beaches. Disney World. Home of the Miami Dolphins." Since when did Total watch football?

But the metion of Disney World made me shot a look at Fang. We saw Ari at Disney World once, and that felt like many, many lifetimes ago.

Angel sat up straighter. Here we go. "We could go to Sea World, Max. I've always wanted to hear what Shamu likes to think about." Great. I shot a glance at Fang and he smirked, and it said 'You decide'.

"Musuem of Natural History. That could be fun," popped in Nudge.

Gazzy nodded in agreement.

I'm losing this fight fast. I always lose.

Oh no.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

BAM. Bambi eyes from Nudge.

See, the point is, whenever Nudge flashes her uber-cute Bambi eyes, (I don't think I've ever used the word 'uber' before. Besides very epic and life threatening situations like 'uber-disaterous' and 'uber-death-attack',) I can never, ever say no. Maybe I should get myself a pair of protection glasses that are specifically made to protect me from Nudge's deer-eyed stare.

"U-ummm," I stuttered, looking at Fang, then at Mom.

Fang gave me a half smirk that said 'Sap.' Gee, thanks a lot, right-hand man.

"Fine." I said, and the flock bursted into whoops and hollers like a bunch of western people in the West.

Yeah, don't blame me if blood-thirsty Erasers or Flyboys catch us, I thought, watching Iggy and Gazzy slapping eachother high fives. I don't know how Iggy does that, maybe it's just instinct.

Total lept seven feet in the air, barely knocking his little skull against the ceiling. (I just had an image of Total's skull going splat.)

"Alright, alright," I began, finishing the bacon by swallowing it whole. Ouch. "We pack up today, and then leave tomorrow around noon. It's expecting to rain tomorrow morning."

Iggy pumped his fist in the air. "Field trip!" He and the Gasman crowed, and they bolted toward the hallway at the same time, pushing eachother to get to their room. Fang stood up and glanced at me for a second, and walked after them. Gee, thanks for cleaning up after yourselves. One day their gonna start licking scum off of their feet and to say no to soap. Ewww.

The girls helped me clean up the table. While I was washing dishes, Angel handed me a plate and gave me a smile that made my heart swell twice its size. You're probably agreeing with Fang. Aww Max, you sap.

See, there are only about eight people in the world I care about (not counting Total, don't metion this to him if you happen to see a dog with wings walking along the streets). If something happens to even one of them, well, let's just say I wouldn't be going to Florida to see freakin' Shamu jumping through hoops.

Max, what about saving the world? You're just going to leave the fact that the world is practically dying in your hands?

Ahh, welcome back, Voice. I haven't heard from it since.. Since I thought it was permentantly gone. Which was a month ago.

Shut up, Voice. I just want the kids to have a good time for once, ya know, without having anyone trying to KILL us? I stopped scrubbing a plate for a second while I thought this, scrunching my eyebrows together. Angel looked at my face, her little features concerned, as she read my thoughts. A little kid like her shouldn't even be worrying about me.

Maximum Ride, said the Voice. Then it happened.

The headache.

"Max!" shrieked Angel as I slumped to the floor and curled into a fatal position. Right. Max the Tough One. Just imagine a really bulky wrestler sucking a lollipop. That's kind of like me, but in a different situation.

The pain is really hard to describe, but basically it feels like a bunch of knives and needles piercing into your skull and you don't have any choice but to endure the pain and hopefully die.

I heard rapid footsteps from the hallway. Probably the boys. I could distinctly hear Mom shouting my name.

Mom, I wanted to say, but the stupid headache won't allow me to speak. My God, this was even worse than Gazzy burning my hand with a cigerette lighter and a piece of stick.

Just then, I felt arms supporting my shoulders and head. Max, a voice whispered in my ear. No, not the annoying Voice. Fang's voice.

His voice broke into the fogginess in my mind, like a spear cutting through jell-o. Augh, now I want some jell-o, but not right now because clearly I'm writhing in pain in Fang's arms. Way to be the leader, Max.

My wings were crushed against Fang's arms, and they hurt like crazy. The throbbing in my head finally slowed to a mild pain. I had no clue what that headache was about. I just wanted to take the kids to Florida to have some fun... but was it okay to take a break from saving the whole freaking world?

Max, can you hear me? I recognized that it was from Angel, and I groggily cracked my eyes open.

And when I did that, it felt like I was waking up from a twelve year long nap. Oh shit.

Sixteen pairs of eyes were gazing anxiously at my face. Well, except for Iggy, who said in a mournful voice, "Well.. did she die?"

I snorted weakly and struggled to sit up. "I love you too, Iggy," I muttered. Fang gently held me down. "Don't get up," he said seriously, but I could sense a tint of relief in his voice.

Everyone was relieved that I was well enough to joke around. "Max..?" said Nudge, taking hold of my hand.

Ya know, it makes me feel better that my Flock was concerned about me. I guess Mom was the most concerned, because she was wringing her hands in front of her as if Jeb just proposed to her. Now don't panic, that isn't true. If it was, I would've drowned myself in a pool of iced tea.

I smiled painfully at Nudge. "I'm fine," I assured her, squeezing her hand. Bet ya ten bucks to say that she wasn't convinced.

Mom was still wringing her hands as she knelt to her hands and pressed her palm against my forehead. Like that would make the pain go away. "Honey, what happened?" she asked, her voice upset. If she felt the same pain, then she would understand that it was too intense to put into words.

Fang looked up at Mom with his arms still supporting me and answered, "She just had a massive migrain." Massive migrain was wayyyy too simple. I felt like death right then and there.

Nudge looked like she wanted to say something. Bet ya ten more bucks that it's about Florida.

Total lept up onto my lap and butted his head against my arm. I patted his head absently. "Max," Mom said hesitaintly. "I don't think you should go to Florida right now."

The kids frowned and I thought I heard Nudge sniffle. No, I can't put down the kids.

For those of you who have little and/or older siblings at home, you might like to put them down as in:

Big Brother: Dude, sorry man, We're not going to Dutch Wonderland. (snickers behind palm).

Little Brother: ..... (sniffles and runs into his room)

Big Brother: (pauses) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Mom: Bob! Stop feeling yourself!

....Okay. That was really pathetic. But the point is, the Flock has been through so much. They'd already had to run AND fight for their lives, have needles stuck to them, hunched in a dog crate for a few years in a row, etc. I could go on.

So really, I want them to be happy and try to forget about their miserable past. Well, of course they won't permentantly forget it. But I just want them to be like a normal person.

I don't spoil them. If I do, they'd be living in mansions, sipping on drinks, and barking orders to their maids.

Shaking my hand, I tried to sit up, peeling away Fang's hands. "No, I'm fine," I insisted, looking at Mom in the eye. "This used to happen when we were... on the run."

Mom looked uncertainly at all of us, and got up from her kneeling position. There were wet stains on her knees where my soapy hands smeared the floor. "Max," she sighed. She looked at me with worried eyes and exited the kitchen.

The Flock was quiet for a moment as we all sunk into our thoughts, Total lept off of my lap and climbed into Angel's instead, sighing. Fang was sitting so still that he disappeared completely. I had to brush my hand against his arm to see if he was still there.

"Well, what now?" said Iggy.

I turned my head towards him. "I dunno," I admitted. "But I guarentee you that we're still going to Florida tomorrow."

Iggy shook his head and pointed at Gazzy. I fall for this everytime, since Gaz has the ability to mimic voices flawlessly. Heck, he could mimic Britney Spears and I would be like, "Holy shittocki mushrooms."

"Even though we're going on 'vacation'-" I put quatation marks on vacation, "-we still have to be on guard for danger. Got it?" The Flock nodded.

I lept to my feet and everyone else followed suit. "Okay, Let's pack and get plenty of rest." I held up my fist and the Flock stacked their fists on top of mine. We tapped eachother's fists and broke apart. The Flock filed into the hallway and disappeared into their respective bedrooms. I was about to go into mine, but then Fang stopped me in the hall. He looked at me so intently that I avoided my eyes, flushing.

"What do you think happened?" he asked quietly.

Fang, that's a really dumb question. What happened was that my brain was about to explode for the fifth time that year.

"The headache came back," I whispered, finally looking into his dark eyes. His eyes look so.. black. It suits his personality perfectly; mysterious and solemn.

"Did the Voice say anything?" he countered, suddenly taking a step foward. Whoa there, pal. I would give you a piece of bacon if I had it, but sorry, I don't.

I stepped back, alarmed. "Um.. It just said if it was the right thing to do to take a vacation and putting the 'saving the world' scenerio on hold."

Fang's eyes suddenly had a look of longing and concern, and he looked like he was about to say something else, but he walked past me, brushing his shoulder against mine. "Good night," he said, and shut the door to his room.

Okay-y-y, then.

I stepped into my room, gazing at particularly nothing. Each bird kid had their own room, which was good. My room was not big, not too small. It's really cozy, because Mom hung pretty purple curtains over the windows and put lime green carpet on the floor. I didn't really like a wood floor in my room. I mean, what if I fell off the bed while I was sleeping and- you know what, nevermind.

After I packed up, I threw the bags in the closet and flopped onto my bed. The bedside lamp was sitting on a wooden side table, so I turned off the lamp and lie there in the dark, looking at the ceiling. So many thoughts were swirling my mind, and one is centered on the headache. Why did it come back?

Max, are you okay? Angel. I thought she was asleep,

Yes, sweetie. I'm fine, don't worry. I fought the urge to speak them out loud.

Just wondering, By the way, what was up with Fang?

Angel, you should know. Did you get into Fang's head?

I felt confusion, longing, and concern. He really cares about you.

That's good. I care about him too. And the whole Flock.

Me too, Max. I'm going to crash now. Good night.

Night, Angel.

After the short mind-conversation, I continued to stare up at the ceiling until my eyes eventually started to fog up and close. My last thought was: Was the Voice trying to kill me?


What do you think? (:

Review if you like. I'll try to hustle up with the next chapter!