Heya! This is my first Maximum Ride fanfic!! I tried my best to keep everyone IC so plz be nice to me :3 If you didn't already know from my 70 other fics, I LOVE to write fluff. So even though its the best IC-ness I can do, I am giving you fair warning now, THIS. IS. FLUFFEH! X3
Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride :[ Or anything else mentioned that obviously isn't mine. (Except Fang. He's mine...bwuahahaha).
Just Relax
"Max, can we stop soon? I'm sooo hungry!" Nudge complained.
"Me too." added the Gasman.
"Me three." Total cut in from Iggy's arms. "I could eat a horse!"
"Thanks for the images." I said dryly. "I know guys, we're all hungry." As usual. I thought. I mean, what's a mutant bird kid gotta do to get some chow around here?
The flock and I were soaring somewhere over the lovely United States, and the cloud games and flying technique practice had ended about an hour ago when the first complaints of hunger had begun. It only takes one hungry avian-hybrid kid to say something about fish, and the next thing we knew, we were all starving.
I glanced over at Angel, who gazed back with those big, blue eyes. She didn't even have to tell me through my mind; I knew she was starving, but she was holding her own. That's my girl. Sometimes I think she's more mature than most of the others.
Fang was off and back to my right, his handsome jet black wings were sleek and powerful, and I caught myself staring and looked away quickly before he noticed.
We had just fought off a new wave of Flyboys, but got away with just scratches and bruises. Total got his paw stepped on while furiously doing his notorious ankle-biting routine and he'd only quit whining about ten minutes ago.
I glanced down below us again, and my raptor vision allowed me to see past the fluffy white clouds to the world below. There was a highway directly below us, all the cars zipping around like tiny colorful ants. I spotted a Burger King and was about to suggest going down to eat when I noticed a small forest off to the side. I slowed to a stop in midair and hovered and the others did the same as I made one of my all-too-famous-and-sometimes-stupid-but-sometimes-amazing snap decisions. "Okay, here's the deal. Fang and I will go down there," I indicated the small patch of green. "We'll see if we can find somewhere to crash for the rest of today. Just wait here till we get back, it'll take two seconds." I assured them.
"Okay but make it fast!" The Gasman said. "I think I'm gonna start gnawing on Iggy pretty soon."
"Not if I blow your tongue off." Iggy grinned back evilly.
"Oh yeah and that reminds me." I added. "None of that 'exploding-clouds-cause-it-makes-it-rain' crap." I told them firmly, remembering how they had dropped a small bomb into a cloud and watched it blow into a cascade of water. Even though it was a perfectly sunny day in the middle of May, let's just say some, poor, confused pedestrians told their families they swore to God it was raining.
"Got it." Gazzy agreed, though I was still suspicious since he had given in so easily.
"Keep an eye on them." I murmured to Nudge and she nodded with a giggle. "BRB." I addressed the rest of them, and then me and Fang were off, tucking in our wings and dive-bombing straight down towards the forest.
I enjoyed the wonderful feeling of free-fall, the wind whooshing past me, sending my hair into a frenzy behind me, filling my ears with ringing sounds and making my eyes water slightly. As the treetops came rushing up towards me, I unfurled my wings and tilted slightly, slowing down a bit as I floated down between the branches and hovered about 20 feet up from the ground, waiting for Fang who appeared seconds later.
"Let's split up." He suggested, taking the words right out of my mouth. He must have guessed what I was going to say once he saw the way my mouth had started to open and then froze. He smirked. I scowled and slammed my mouth shut.
"Right." I said.
"Left." He replied.
"Meet back here in 60 seconds. This place isn't that big so it shouldn't even take that long." He nodded and just like that had vanished into the trees. I shuddered at how creepy it was that he could do that and headed off in the other direction.
I flew low, keeping my ears alert for anything other than the distant buzz of the highway. Like the buzzing of those stupid Flyboys.
I was just about to reach the end of the woods, having seen nothing we could have used as a refuge. I angled my winds to start heading back to meet with Fang when something down below caught my eye. My curiosity won over my nagging instinct to 'stay alive and get out of there ASAP', so I spiraled down cautiously.
I landed lightly on the ground and looked closer to see that the little black shape was a bird; and a dead one at that. I recoiled at the smell and the flies zipping around it and I took a step back, wrinkling my nose. I was about to do a U & A when I spotted another dead fellow avian. As I glanced around I noticed that there were actually several little bodies littering the ground. Geez. Does this town have a major cat problem? Like, a freaking Puma? I shivered.
I spread out my wings and was about to kick off back into the air when I felt the back of my neck prickle. I was about to whirl around when I heard his voice.
"Max, what the Hell are you doing?" My heart was halfway up my throat as I jumped and spun around to come face-to-face with Fang.
"Dear God, don't do that!" I exhaled, placing my right hand over my frantic-chipmunk-beating heart.
"You're 60 seconds late." He informed me. "I found an abandoned shack at the other end of the woods." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. Then he seemed to notice the scene around up. "What the Hell happened here? A freaking Puma?" He asked.
"God only knows." I sighed. "Alright, abandoned shack it is." I decided. We kicked off from the ground and snapped out our wings. I had to move several feet away so my thirteen-foot wingspan and Fangs fourteen-foot wingspan wouldn't smack into each other.
In a matter of seconds, we were high above the trees and back into the blue, blue sky and back to our awaiting flock. Gazzy was flying around in impatient circles, and when he saw us he cried,"Geez, guys! That wasn't 'two seconds'! That was like… a LOT of seconds!"
"Hey, just be grateful you'll get to sleep with a roof over your cowlick head tonight." I told him. Everyone's eyes lit up at that statement. Nudge and Angel slapped high-fives of triumph and Total couldn't help from letting out a whimper of relief.
"Alright, can we go eat now?" Iggy asked anxiously.
"Hmm, I suppose so." I said sarcastically. "You guys go. I just want to see this shack for myself first." I glanced at Fang, asking with my eyes if he minded showing me where it was instead of going to eat with the others. He shrugged as though he didn't give a flying fig, but I knew he'd be going nuts with the others if he let me go alone.
"Okay, okay whatever." Total snapped. "Let's just go!" He wriggled around and Iggy loosened his grip on him with a sarcastic, "Oops!" Total yelped and the rest of us smirked a bit.
"We'll come to you guys in a few minutes. If anything happens, meet up in the mountains." I told Iggy and he nodded. But I doubted that any Flyboys would show their ugly mugs with this many people around, and especially after the total butt-kicking we had just given them an hour ago.
"Yes! Food!" Nudge sang joyfully.
"I'm going to get 6 jumbo cheeseburgers, 4 large fries, and 3 milkshakes." Angel announced and I smiled fondly after them as I watched them go down.
Suddenly, my vision blurred as though someone had put a misty piece of glass in front of my eyes. My wings suddenly felt weak and I forgot to flap for an instant.
"Max?" Fang's voice snapped me back into reality and I caught myself before I had sunk a foot. I shook my head as my eyesight returned. What the- "You okay?" he asked, his dark eyes burning with concern. He had seen what had happened to me with the headaches, but this wasn't nearly as bad. I nodded.
"Yeah, fine. Now about that shack…" He stared at me a moment longer and I shivered, feeling as though he were looking into my soul. Then he folded his wings and headed downwards again into the same free-fall as before. I copied him and let myself drop like a rock, watching the world jump up at me.
Then it happened again.
My vision blurred and my wings went stiff, like they'd been frozen. I suddenly couldn't muster up the strength to move any part of my body and panic seized me. The trees were jumping up at me way too fast, and I knew I should have opened my wings seconds ago if I had any hope of not ending up as a Max-pancake. Everything happened so fast and I closed my eyes, somehow managing to cry out past the wind. "Fang!" Branches whipped my face and arms and my body felt like deadweight.
Then I felt Fang's arms around me. He must have flown up towards me since he had gone before me, because he caught me in an awkward, midair, bridal style. I felt my wings being crushed underneath me and I cried out in pain as Fang struggled the last few feet towards the ground. He laid me down on the grass and knelt down over me.
"Max!" He shouted because my eyes were still closed. I was panting hard because I couldn't feel any part of my body. I wasn't sure if there was air going into my lungs or not so I frantically sped up my breathing, anxious to feel the oxygen fill my body, but I couldn't. It was like my throat was clogged with cotton.
"Max!" He yelled again, and I could picture the worry on his usually stoic face in my mind. I was scarcely aware of his hand over mine, his fingers pressed against my wrist, checking for my pulse. I was hyperventilating now, my eyes squeezed shut painfully, and I felt as though every time I inhaled I got less and less air.
"MAX!" Fang's outcry caused my eyes to fly open so fast I would have fallen over if I wasn't already on the ground. Then I could feel the air in my lungs again, and I heard my heartbeat pounding in my head, making my temples throb. There was a spark of relief on his face but the concern outweighed it by 97 percent. My breaths gradually became slower and fainter, until I no longer had to pant through my mouth. I swallowed several times, trying to get my bearings. With one big, final exhale I felt my heartbeat slow down. One of Fang's hands was squeezing my wrist slightly and the other was resting on my left shoulder. When he felt my heartbeat lower he slowly took his hands away.
"Max, what was that?" He demanded.
"I…I don't know." I shook my head slightly and winced at the movement. "I just felt… really weak and my wings wouldn't move." I finished breathlessly. His eyes searched mine for a moment until he seemed to understand something. "What?"
"The birds." He mumbled. "It must have been that thing going around. The Bird Flu. And you must've picked it up from those dead birds back there." As he spoke the words, the whole puzzle filled inside my head.
"But why not you?" I asked, weakly, my eyelids starting to close on me.
"You were there longer." He reasoned. "Or maybe I'm just too amazing." He added and I would have liked to punch him if I could move. But he did manage to get a small smirk from me. "Hey, don't fall asleep." He ordered. I let out a shaky sigh and tried to obey, but my eyes were just too heavy…
Pain erupted throughout my body as Fang slid his arms underneath me. My wings were still out and I was too numb to pull them back in. My eyes snapped open and I gasped as he touched my wings. I wanted to howl in agony, but the tiny ounce of pride that I had left wouldn't let me, so I bit my lip until I tasted blood instead.
"I'm sorry, Max." He murmured as he stood and lifted me with him. I cringed and choked on my blood, my body shaking with coughs and by the time it was over my lungs were burning. Fang stroked my feathers as best he could, trying to comfort me and calm me down. "Breathe." He told me. "Breathe, Max." I tried my best and it was a few more moments before I finally stopped panting like a half-drowned dog.
Exhausted, I went completely limp in his arms, and I felt totally pathetic, like one of those damsels in distress from the Disney movies. But I'd beat myself up about it later. Now, all I was aware of was that Fang was flying, carrying me and darting through the trees. I don't know how long we flew, but when he landed I knew where he had taken me.
Instead of putting me down and opening the door to the shack, Fang decided to be a gentleman and kicked the door in.
So much for a warm place to sleep tonight.
My eyes remained closed until I felt him lower me onto something soft. Oh God, it was a couch! It probably would have felt even better if half my body wasn't numbed from some stupid bird disease.
One of my wings was draped over the couch and the other hung off onto the floor. I heard Fang get up and walk away, and I almost thought I understood how Iggy felt. I still couldn't open my eyes and it took everything I had, every shred of determination and will-power not to give in to the unconsciousness that beckoned me.
Fang was back a minute later and I heard him sit down quietly on an armchair next to the couch, only about a foot away from me. I felt his hand on my wrist again and I slowly cracked one eye open, then the other. The shack was pretty empty and dusty, like it had once been a clubhouse or something, because there was one other couch and four armchairs I could see.
I glanced at a small table next to my couch; a glass of water sat there and my lungs were suddenly on fire again. I tried to feel my arms and push myself up, but my they only wound up shaking violently and I fell back down onto the couch, hitting my head on the armrest. I moaned.
"Idiot."I heard Fang mumble. Then he reached forward and I felt his strong arms around me again. He half pulled, half dragged me up into somewhat of a sitting position. He kept one hand on my back to support me, which I leaned heavily against and his other reached for the glass of water. He handed it to me and I forced my hands to stop shaking as I grasped it. Damn, I was so pathetic! I was so angry at myself for being such a pansy, but my torturous desire of thirst was killing me and I brought the glass to my lips.
I sucked in the water too quickly and I hunched forward, dropping the glass that Fang somehow managed to catch and place back on the table. I coughed up a mouthful of water mixed with some blood, and my lungs only cried out even more desperately. My mouth was so dry and the pain in my throat only made it worse.
As I continued coughing, Fang patted my back, stroking my hair soothingly. "Shh," he murmured. "Just calm down. Take a deep breath. Or eight." I sucked in several huge breaths which ended in ragged wheezing. Fang tucked some loose strands of hair behind my ear and I shivered a bit at his touch. My hands were still shaking madly and he placed his free hand over mine, squeezing them tight, sending me silent reassurance. I heaved one more huge breath and then looked up at him tiredly, my eyes sending him my gratitude. He gave me one of his rare, light-up-the-world smiles and I felt lightheaded again.
After another moment of harsh, rasping breaths, he released my hands from his grasp and I silently wished he'd hadn't. Reaching for the glass again, he asked me, "Want to try again, you spaz?" I glared at him and gave a weak nod and he handed me the glass.
This time I drained it like nobody's business and didn't nearly choke to death. What an accomplishment! Fang placed the empty glass back on the table and I sighed, the burning sensation in my throat and lungs having been doused.
Still leaning heavily against Fang's arm, I attempted feebly to move my wings. Which ended in complete failure. They lifted about half an inch before falling limply back to their prior positions. I looked at Fang helplessly, until I realized something. I could move my wings. My body wasn't numb anymore! Well, most of it anyway; my legs were still frozen.
"Don't try to move yet." Fang told me. "That Flu thing may have killed those birds because they were all bird. But since your 98 percent human it only did this much to you. You should rest and relax, just build up your strength again."
"But…the flock…" I trailed off, panic and fear rising in my chest.
"Don't worry about them. I'm sure Iggy'll realize something if he sees that and he'll have enough sense not to go down there." Every word he spoke stabbed my pride like a knife but I knew he was right. I sighed again, going limp against his arm as he held me up. He gently laid me back down onto the couch. "How about you take a nap until they get here?" He suggested.
I stared at him as if he had 3 heads.
"Are you nuts?" I rasped, sounding a bit like my old self. "I have no clue what's lurking around in these woods!"
"Can't you trust me?" He asked unexpectedly. I felt my cheeks blush and covered it up with a cough. Suddenly, the lightheadedness got to me again and I moaned. "Max?"
"You'd better not go anywhere while I'm asleep." I mumbled, fading fast, my eyes already closed. They flew wide open a second later when I felt Fang reach over and stroke the feathers of one of my wings. I stiffened and my heart sped up again, and then his other hand soothingly started stroking my hair. I flinched in pain as his fingers danced over the bone in my wing, which was sore and felt like it had been hit by a truck.
But it just felt – so nice. The pain began to ebb away slowly and I let my eyes close and very gradually, I let myself relax. I felt like I was in Heaven, just having Fang touch me so gently and soothingly. I finally was able to breathe normally, evenly. Something inside me screamed that this was wrong, but it was overrun by some other emotion that made my heart flutter like a butterfly every time we made contact.
I felt a bit embarrassed as I realized that Fang could probably hear my heartbeat with his super-amazing hearing, which only made it pound faster. Then, his hand ran over my hair and rested on my left shoulder again, where it stayed for a moment, as though he knew it would make me uncomfortable. Now my heart was hammering against my ribcage and I was breathing a bit harder.
"Max." he said. "You're so tense. Just relax." He told me. I hadn't realized that my shoulders had stiffened again and slowly, I forced them to loosen up. Then he continued his calming strokes on my hair and feathers and my deep breathing soon made me go completely still. I tried to relish his touch, the gentleness as he traced smooth patterns on my feathers. I must have only lasted a minute longer, because after that, I was completely out.
"Max." I felt someone touch my shoulder.
Immediately awake and full of alarm, I sat up quickly, gasping rapidly. It was like whenever I woke up from that same dream about being chased by Erasers, leaping off that cliff…
I straightened up and glanced around to see 6 worried pairs of eyes staring back at me.
"Max?" Angel asked in that innocent way of hers that earned her her name. It was times like these when it was hard to believe she was a mind-manipulating 6-year-old mutant bird-kid.
"Max, are you okay?" Nudge asked fretfully from Angel's side.
"I feel like I was hit by a bus. And then trampled by a herd of buffalo. And maybe an elephant. But other than that, I think I'm good." I said with the slightest bit of sarcasm. But I gave her a smile to reassure her and she smiled back.
"Max!" Angel cried and threw he arms around me in a tight hug.
"Oof!" the soreness in my joints and muscles just rose, like, x10, but I still managed to give her a pat on the back.
"Hey Angel, lay off a bit." Iggy spoke up. My savior! "I can practically hear her bones creaking." He added and I instantly lost my gratitude towards him. Angel slowly let me go.
"Sorry." She said. "You we asleep for a couple hours and I was just worried."
"It's okay, sweetie. I'm fi- wait hours?!" My voice changed pitch.
"Yeah." The Gasman cut in. "You were passed out when we got here and Fang told us what happened."
"But we saved you some burgers and fries." Nudge added.
"Thanks." I said, glancing out the window and my eyes widened at how dark it had gotten. "Alright, how about you guys get some sleep now? We'll probably split after some breakfast tomorrow. Fang and I'll take first watch." I informed them.
I got nods all around and we tapped fists before they all walked off towards the chairs at the other side of the room. Iggy and the Gasman each took one chair for themselves while Nudge and Angel squeezed into one; Total jumped up and settled down in between them.
For the first time since I had woken up, I noticed Fang standing off to one side and I had to turn my head to face him fully. He was staring directly at me, his dark eyes hard and unreadable. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and was shocked when my arms didn't shudder like I had hypothermia and collapse underneath me.
Slowly, I tried moving one wing, then the other. They both lifted almost all the way up until they started trembling and dropped again. But hey, it was a whole lot better than just the half-an-inch of the last time I had tried. I bent both my legs experimentally and then straightened them again.
Conclusion: I was pretty much all better except for my stiff wings and my lightheadedness. Sweet.
I barely noticed Fang as he moved closer to me and I looked up as he held out a cheeseburger. I noticed there were about 10 more on the table and I felt pride for my flock bubbling up inside me.
"Eat." He said, tossing it to me.
Okay, I know that you know that we all needed at least 3000 calories a day and I hadn't eaten anything since that morning, (which had been a bag of popcorn and an apple), yet somehow I didn't feel all that hungry. Yeah, yeah run-on sentence, I know. Bite me.
I stared down at the cheeseburger and, instead of my stomach rumbling from famine, it actually clenched and twisted a little bit. Must have been an after-affect from the whole Bird Flu thing. I could feel Fang's eyes boring into me as I just stared at my food and I knew he'd be all over me if I didn't eat it.
Slowly, I lifted it to my mouth and took a bite, chewing like a turtle. I thought that the flavor would wake up my taste buds, but instead it just made me feel worse. I forced myself to swallow it and almost hacked it back up as it slithered down my throat like a rock. I put the burger back onto the table and had to look up when I felt Fang's intense gaze right on my face. I raised my eyes and pouted a bit when I saw the utter shock and disbelief on his face, which was really freaking rare, let me tell you.
"Max," he said slowly. "You haven't eaten all day. You got sick and passed out. You're exhausted beyond belief, but you're not hungry?" Well when he put it that way…
"I don't know." I said helplessly. "It feels like I'm gonna hurl." I explained, clutching my stomach. Ugh, just thinking about food made me woozy. Damn, I must've been reeeally sick.
Fang stared at me a moment longer, his expression unreadable as he contemplated what to do with me in his mind. In the end, he wound up giving a tiny shrug and then he walked closer to me.
"Can you pull in your wings?" He asked. I blinked at him.
"I'll try." I said.
I decided to go one wing at a time. So first I lifted my left, which was draped over the couch. I got it high enough for it to slide down the couch and down to press against my back on its own. It might be a bit tough to fly with at first, but once I shook it out a bit, it'd be fine.
Then I lifted my right, which was lying on the wooden floor. I got it into the air, but trying to fold it was a whole other ball game. It fell back to the floor with a light thud. I clenched my teeth and tried again, but as soon as I tried folding it, the bone cracked loudly and I yelped, letting it fall again.
"Max!" Fang called softly as I writhed slightly. He knelt down onto the floor and gently traced his fingers over the bone in my wing. I flinched. "It's not broken. Just really sore." No crap, Sherlock. "You can lift it, but not fold it. But I think if you can just bend it enough, the tenderness will go away." He concluded.
"This is gonna hurt, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. Blunt much?" I asked dryly.
He stood up next to me and waited for me to lift my wing. I raised it above his head and stretched it out all the way, feeling the joints snap and I clenched my fists, digging my nails into the couch. I bent it as much as I could, but didn't get very far. Fang reached out and caught it before my wing slumped back to the ground. I grimaced. He glanced at me for permission and I nodded, bracing myself.
Very slowly, carefully, Fang bent my wing in towards me. I winced a little, arching my back, then nodded for him to go on. He inched it closer to me and then smoothly bent it all the way and I held in a painful breath the whole time. When it was about a foot away from me, the bone popped so loud that Total's ear twitched in his sleep.
I hissed out the breath and squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to shriek out loud and wake the others. After that, the soreness was gone, like bam, as if it had been sucked away by one of those 'amazing' paper towels or something. It folded in easily after that and I gasped, letting myself fall back onto the couch. "Ow." I rasped.
"Sorry." He said, stroking my feathers before he let them slide from his hand as I pulled them all the way back. "How, 'bout you get some sleep?" He suggested.
"Don't need to tell me twice." I exhaled. I shifted, lying myself back down on the couch again, resting on my back, staring up at the dark ceiling. Now it was almost completely dark outside, but my vision was still amazing, so there. Then I suddenly remembered how Fang had gotten me in here in the first place and I turned my head to see that the door had, for the most part, been fixed, aside from its odd slant.
"What?" Fang scowled. "You thought I was stupid enough to leave a gaping hole in the wall as we slept?" I sighed and rolled my eyes, feeling too drained to argue with him right now. My eyes widened as Fang sat down on the floor next to the couch and leaned back against it, resting his head practically on my stomach.
"Um-"
"Just shut up and sleep." He cut me off. "I'll wake Iggy at midnight. Enjoy it while you can." I opened my mouth but whatever I was about to say came out as a huge yawn. And the next time I blinked, I found that I couldn't open my eyes again.
I lifted my arm up and slid it off the couch next to him, making a weak fist. He bumped the back of his hand against mine, and I tried to pull my arm back up onto the couch, but just gave up and let it dangle, my fingers uncurling. I felt Fang's head resting on my stomach, feeling totally self-conscious that he could feel me breathing. I tried to breathe shallowly, which didn't work out too well. Instead I decided to try slow and deep, as if I were already asleep, but every time I exhaled, it was shaky as if my lungs were frosted over.
I heard Fang chuckle lightly next to me. I would have snorted, and possibly punched him if I had been half-conscious. Then, I let out a huge sigh as Fang's hand softly grasped my wrist. My heart thundered and I knew he could feel my pulse and I probably blushed.
"Max, you've really got to learn how to Just Relax." He murmured.
Then I felt his lips kiss my hand and I stiffened a little bit before I obeyed him and relaxed, letting a smile cross my lips as I faded into sleep at his side.
A/N: Soooo? Whatcha think? Fax Fluff = :D right? Yeah, I thought so.
Please review!!