A/N

Hello. I loved Fax and just finished the book FANG. The story starts off from when the flock kicks Max out. (I felt so mad at them for doing that to Max!) This beginning part will sound an awful lot like the book, but it will all be original soon. This is all my writing, with some phrases from the actual scene.

I'm not going to beg you for reviews like usual. If you like it, I hope you'll review.

Enjoy~

I felt like someone had punched me in the gut, and I was flying through the air choppily, tears streaming down my face. You would expect me, Maximum Ride, to be toughing it out, to be thinking logically on how to reconcile with my traitorous flock and convince them I cared for them as much as I cared for Fang, but my thought process was more along the lines of "OMFG-I-CAN'T-BELIEVE-MY-OWN-FAMILY-WOULD-EFFING-KICK-ME-OUT-AFTER-EVERYTHING-I'VE-DONE-FOR-THEM!"

I knew no one could hear me, considering my being over 10,000 feet, leaving me to yell as loud as I wanted. And so I did: I sobbed so much my tears made sure I could hardly see where I was flying and I screamed and howled until my throat was raw and I thrashed around in the air and blubbered something around the lines of, "Ohhh-my-god-thiisss-hurtss-sooo-much!" How could the flock have told me to get lost? To beat it, hit the road, because they didn't want me anymore? I had been spending an awful lot of time with Fang and less with them, which I regretted, but had they ever heard of working things out? Apparently not.

I flew unsteadily but at an unnaturally fast speed, just wanting to get away from everyone as far as possible, my wings dipping to each side unexpectedly as I wept. I wiped my face in my sleeve as I stopped flying altogether, hovering high above a patch of green underneath me, presumably a forest or park of some sort. My heartbeat quickened to see a familiar dark shadow across my left wing, and I looked up.

I imagined I must look like hell, with my tear-stricken face and bleary eyes. There was also the matter of my mangled blond hair, but finding a comb was currently the least of my many problems.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said, his dark eyes reaching mine. My expression must have betrayed I had a lot of questions bundled up inside of me, because he recounted, "They're okay. Jeb wants to take over the flock again, I left him and Angel to duke it out."

I hoped he hadn't seen my meltdown. It had been a pathetic, messy sob-fest that I wouldn't want him too witness.

Be strong, Max. You're supposed to be strong. That wasn't the Voice, but me. I forced myself to say: "So, are you… going back?" My voice cracked as I spoke, and my heart leapt to see Fang shake his head.

"Nah. I figured I'd rather hang with you," he said, wiping a tear from my bloodshot eyes, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "You know how I feel."

Relief flooded through me before he kissed me, his silky black hair grazing my forehead as our lips touched. It was a short lip-lock, and soon I was just staring at him: his obsidian eyes and his sharp, angular face…

Fang had chosen me; Fang had chosen me, as opposed to the rest of the flock. This, above everything, comforted me. Made everything a little less painful.

We were still suspended, stationary, in midair, and on a sudden impulse I flew again, going downward at a comfortable speed of about 100 miles per hour. Fang trailed behind me, and we reached an isolated park, settling on a tree branch, our fingers intertwined. "Where do we go now?" I asked, feeling some content when I realized I didn't have to be the leader at the moment.

"I was thinking… Las Vegas," Fang said, tracing my cheek with his finger. I felt coolness where there had been a stray tear.

"Las Vegas?" I echoed.

"Yeah, I figure – not to far off, plenty of freaks for us to blend in with…"

I smiled and my breathing relaxed a little. "A great idea."

We took off to the skies, heading for Nevada.