A/N. Yeah, so I've got exams and instead of studying, I'm writing. It's like a stress reliever, really. My brain's been on overload lately so I needed this. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You have no idea how much your support helped me through these past few days. It's really appreciated.


-Guardian Angel-

Chapter 2: The Local Hero


MAX

Normally, I don't do the whole save-me-I'm-a-damsel-in-distress! thing, but now a little help wouldn't hurt. I mean five against one with the five having crow bars and baseball bats, come on, in what world is that fair?

They're grinning at me, probably thinking they've got me. "Come on, baby, let's play," one of them says, showing off his crooked teeth.

I scowl, "Play? Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like a game of tag right now."

It's almost comical how their bushy eyebrows scrunch up together. "Tag?"

"Yeah," I grin wickedly, "You're it." Then I launch a kick at the nearest guy's chest and he falls back. Before the others can react, I shove the heel of my hand at another one's nose, effectively breaking it.

I'm about to throw another punch when both my arms are yanked behind me. They're holding on so tight I think I'll have bruises on my upper arms tomorrow. I try to use my current disadvantage as a way to kick the guy coming towards me, but he grabs my foot and drops it back down.

They pull me back roughly and shove me against the wall. My head hits the wall hard and my vision blurs slightly. I don't even see the guy with a broken nose come at me with a clumsy right hook. I hear the sound of a baseball bat or two clatter to the floor as they head towards me.

My upper teeth sink into my bottom lip and I taste blood. Great.

Through the haze of pain I manage to register that the guy's smiling. Blood from his nose is covering his teeth as he continues to smile that horrible smile at me; I've never seen anything so creepy. My blood's practically boiling at this point.

I try to move, but their grips are like iron. I cannot believe that I'm going to a victim. The mere thought of what's about to happen makes me want to puke. I can barely believe that this is it. It's going to happen to me. The tough badass in school couldn't take care of a couple guys with bats and crow bars.

They can smell defeat and I know they're waiting for me to cry, to beg, but I won't. I refuse to give them that satisfaction. I swallow hard and close my eyes tightly.

My heartbeat sounds so loud to me, I wonder if they can hear it. It's steady du-dum du-dum comforts me slightly. Then I hear a drop. It's faint and I doubt anyone else heard it, but I did. Something—someone is here.

Silently, I pray it's help. I don't do the damsel in distress thing, but even I know when I need help.

Next thing I know, the two guys holding on to my arms are thrown down. As soon as I am released from their grip I stumble forward, releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding. I spit out some of the blood in my mouth and watch in satisfaction as the two guys go down. Hard.

The other two run like the cowards they are. What kind of men creep up on a girl in a group?

The guy who just saved me moves fast, his reflexes like lightning. Wings out and decked out in all black, I instantly know who he is. Before I can fully process that the town's local hero is right in front of me, I see one of the thugs heading towards him. He'll never see it coming.

I pick up one of the bats they dropped when they grabbed me. As he tries to sneak up on Mr. Savior over there, I swing as hard as I can, feeling satisfied as the bat knocks him out.

The local hero whips in my direction immediately. I was right, it's him. Fang. News reports flash in my mind of him saving a store owner from robbers, taking a kid out from a burning building, and more. I've never seen him in anything but pictures before and the pictures have always been this blur of darkness in the sky as he flies off.

I'm surprised by how young he is. He can't be much older than me. His features are mostly covered by a simple black mask, but I can tell he's handsome. He towers over me by maybe five inches, but what distracts me the most is his wings. They're huge and black as midnight. Beautiful.

"You okay?" he asks.

I grimace and touch my left side, hissing from pain, "Little banged up, but I'll live." I wipes some blood from her lip and look him up and down again, still not quite believing that this is the guy from the news. "Thanks, for the save. Those guys were lucky they outnumbered me five to one; otherwise I would've done a lot more damage to them than you did."

He has a ghost of a smile on his face that seems vaguely familiar, "Don't doubt you for a second," he says without a hint of sarcasm.

"So," I say, "you're the famous Fang, masked vigilante, our very own local superhero." I don't tell him Fang is one of the strangest superhero names I've ever heard, but hey, my knowledge in comics and superheros begin and end with Batman and Superman.

"I guess so, minus the Spandex and the cape, of course," he shrugs.

I laugh. "Of course," I repeat. I pause, not sure if I should comment on his wings or not, but the words slip out of my mouth. "I've never seen your wings up close before."

He shrugs and I almost ask how he got them, but I know that wouldn't be a good idea. Asking someone who just saved your ass, Hey, how'd you get those anyway? seemed slightly inappropriate.

"It's so black that I almost didn't see them, they just seem to blend in to the background, like you I guess," I muse. "They're nice."

He's uncomfortable talking about his wings, I can tell, so I change the topic. Mostly because ever since he appeared on the news I've been interested in knowing more. Someone spending their nights saving people seem like someone that would be good to get to know, right?

"I made a promise to myself that I'd ask you this if I ever met you, so did you read too many comics growing up or do you just have a hero complex?" I joke. Actually, that was Angel's question to me just a few nights ago. Maybe now I can give her the answer.

He laughs, "Something like that."

One of the guys starts to wake up and attempts to sit up. He uses his foot to bring him back down and he doesn't try to get up again.

"Not much of a costume though, a mask, black cargo pants, and long sleeved black t-shirt? It's not exactly very creative," I tell him.

"I was aiming more for discreet than creative, I can't exactly run around wearing neon pink, can I?" he says.

"Yeah," I agree, "Neon pink would definitely not suit you." I start running my fingers through my hair in an attempt to get rid of all the tangles. I should be heading home soon, Angel and Gazzy will worry. "Thanks again for saving me," I say.

"No problem," he replies.

I turn around to pick up the back pack that I dropped when I was attacked and just before I head home, there's one more thing that's been bugging me about him. "It's strange, you seem familiar. My name's—" I don't get to finish my sentence and I've realizes he's disappeared, flew into the night just like the news reports always said.

"Max," the words die on my lips. I watch him fly through the sky, once again nothing but a dark blur.

I grin slightly and head home as if nothing ever happened, knowing full well I have a lot to talk about when I get home.


A/N. Tada! Max's point of view on their fateful meeting. I hope you liked it. As for the rest of the Flock, they're going to appear gradually as the story progresses.

On a totally unrelated note, is anyone else excited for the new Boys Like Girls album?

Question of the Day: What's your holiday plans? (Mine is basically to chill at home with my family)

-Indy