Disclaimer: Sadly, James Patterson owns everything Maximum Ride, but this idea is mine )

Damien( Fang):

The train screeched to a halt. A gurgled and barely audible message announced the next stop. People bustled about, squeezed in tighter, like sardines in a can. Luckily, I was one of the people getting off and out into the fresh air. My shoulders were killing me and my scars were practically burning my back. I needed to be outside, to see the blue sky and sun.

Stupid public transportation, I thought as I climbed the stairs out onto Union Street. At least the train I had to take was actually functional today.

The cold air was refreshing compared to the stuffiness of the subway tunnels and I rolled my shoulders, wincing at how tightly wound I was. Crowded places always had the same effect on me. My jaws clenched, body went rigid, and shoulders cramped. Paranoia would slowly creep up on me and I'd constantly glance over my shoulder. It was surprising that more people didn't call the cops on me, the way I looked and acted.

My cell phone started vibrating in my pocket and I glanced at the new text. Tally. I sighed. I was late, I knew that, but that girl needed to cut me some slack. It's not like I was actually her brother anyway, I was just as close to one as she'd get. And she never let me forget it.

1:17- almost 20 minutes late and the show was an hour long. School plays are the epitome of hell on earth. Overly-proud parents cheer on their talent-less kids as they stumble over three sentence lines. Plus, all the enclosed spaces, people jam packed into one auditorium.

But then again, it is NYC. Crowds are not to be avoided. Living here all my life had taught me that much at least. Among other things.

But as usual, some feeling of responsibility in me made me check the time again and pack on the speed. I practically ran down the busy streets, darting through traffic like a hummingbird between flowers. Fast for a kid my age, I knew I could make it to her school in five minutes and then there was the question of whether they'd still let me in or not.

I made a sharp left and slammed into a girl probably around my age and knocked over some street seller's cart. He yelled after me and my eyes had just enough time to wander up and down the body of the girl I had pretty much rammed to the floor.

\There just wasn't enough time in the day for girls or to apologize to angry old men.

Liv(Max):

"Hey!" Whoever said that New York City is the most polite city in the country is seriously mistaken. In the less than an hour that I'd been there I had been jostled, bumped, pushed and evidently groped by a very frisky old man but nobody else seemed to notice that little fact. Or care…

"Yo! Get back here! Hey, Punk! I better not see your ass around here again!" A man shouted as he stooped and gathered his strewn merchandise, knocked over by the same kid you had knocked into me. Well, at least someone else found it annoying.

"Come on, Liv! Keep up…" Aunt Kay was the reason- among other things- I was spending the next two months in New York. My parents called it tough love, I called it freedom.

Well, it wasn't entirely my fault I had been expelled from the high school back home- one year from graduating. So, I may have broken someone's arm and nose and cost the school thousands in court fees…. But I swear that boy had no right treating a girl like that, and that girl wasn't even me! How, I ask you, do you expel a girl for defending her fellow females? Sexist pigs…

I trailed behind Aunt Kay, watching her fiery red hair bounce up and down with each step. She looked just like my mom, same kind brown eyes and pale skin. Too bad I inherited all my traits from my dad.

My shoulders kept cramping up, like they always do in crowded places and I could feel my scars tingling. When I was little I apparently fell into a glass coffee table and as a sweet reminder of happy days, I have two long scars running between my shoulder blades. And people wonder why I hate wearing bathing suites and tank tops. I feel like I might die of over exposure.

"Naked cowboy coming up", Talk about over-exposure. "Time's Square tradition if you ask me" my aunt pointed out and sure enough… there really was a naked cowboy- not entirely naked but enough to leave the hint.

Left and right there were things to see, and I don't say that in the cheesy narrative tourist way, just in the girl from a small town in a big city way. I was waiting for my eyeballs to pop out of my skull and my jaw to drop of its hinges. Maybe I'll save that for the view from Aunt Kay's apartment.

We had just turned onto Broadway when I felt it… or them. Eyes digging into my skull. I whipped around but it was pointless. Spotting a creepy stalker in NYC was like looking for a firefly on the sun.

But I could still feel them. My shoulders cramped up even more and I rolled them to loosen the muscles. One good thing about living in the Midwest, I never felt trapped, like I did just then.

I started to sweat and my heart beat faster. Jitters took over and I jumped at every horn and shout. What was wrong with me? This never happened…. Or not since three years ago at that Christmas party for my mom's company. It was too clean in there, too sterile and florescent. She might as well have stuck me in a cage and I'd probably be happier.

Suddenly a firm hand grabbed my elbow, yanking me to a halt. I yelped and turned abruptly, way too close to the edge of hysteria for some freak's own good.

But when I got a look at just who that freak was…. Well let's just say that I know how Beauty felt when her Beast turned into a prince.

"Uh…." Wow… smooth, Liv. Why don't you drool on his shoulder while you're being all eloquent.

He was gorgeous, Abercrombie- no, better than Abercrombie and that is saying something. He was tall, tan, and toned with wavy dark hair that flipped at just the right spot above his dark green eyes. But as I looked into those eyes something clicked in my head, something I didn't recognize…..

I recognized him… Alarms went off in my head, not the fabled ones that meant you'd found "the one" but entirely different alarms. Blaring, dizzying danger signs….

Apparently, my mind was telling me that the god before may not be so heavenly. As I'd later find out… my mind was right.


Reviews would be cool! Meaning...REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW! And I'll get up more if ya'll like it.

Just to clarify- The Flock got separated after their memories were erased. I changed their names because they were supposed to be normal and you can't exactly pull off a name like Fang, can you?

Those scars they all have are from where their wings used to be. Sad, I know, but again. How exactly can a normal kid go to a pool party with wings? Maybe a Halloween party….. but besides the point. They have different stories about how they got them, just to cover it up.

Anyway, I think that's it… the rest will pretty much explain itself. Sorry if it was kind of confusing at first. It made sense in my head, but that's not saying much!