A/N: Okay, so this chapter is dedicated to Metal Flowers for going out of her way to get me to write this chapter :) Thank you for the inspiration Metal Flowers! And thank you for everyone who reviews and reads my stories, each reviews makes me feel amazing. :) Oh and sorry if it is short my sister kept yelling at me to get off the damned computer so I had to end it somehow. (^_^)

IDNOMR!

She tapped her fingers impatiently on the brown table, looking around for the millionth time. She lifted the empty clear plastic cup to her lips only to remember that it was empty. She let out an agitated sigh and looked at her watch, silver and thin, to see that it was more than half past three. I thought these types of people were always early. She thought bitterly to herself and stood up, not wanting to look like an idiot anymore, and threw away her empty cup. She proceeded to the door, walking as slowly as possible. Sure, she didn't want to talk to them, but she wanted to know what they wanted, why they had taken the extra step to stalk her to get her attention. (Sound familiar anyone?) She was almost at the door when a man pushed through it. He was in a gray suit with a black tie and black dress shoes. He looked like a flustered official man. He spotted Max and smiled apologetically at her. She gave him a hard look, letting him know that she did not appreciate waiting for him.

He frowned a little and quickly passed her, "Come on." He said it like she was the one that was forty-five minutes late.

She plopped down in the exact seat she sat just a mere two seconds ago and he sat across from her. He looked at her expectantly and she raised an eyebrow at him. "If you have nothing to say… I have places to be…" She trailed off and started to get up when he stuck his arms out, yelling at her to stay.

She sighed and looked at the door longingly, "Fine," She muttered and sat back down. "What?"

He let out a breath and she winced a little, scared that he might, possibly, be a male version of Nudge. "We need your help." She easily hid her confusion, learning enough from the one and only, Fang, and leaned forward a little, telling the man that he had her full attention.

"With what?" She asked simply and he looked anywhere but her.

"Maybe I should get us some coffee first." She shook her head firmly, "I already had some, you know, in the forty minutes you made me wait."

He gave her a sheepish smile and she forced herself not to roll her eyes, "Sorry, I-I kinda forgot…" She gave him a once over and shook her head again.

"Tell me again why they hired you?"

He looked startled, like a scared puppy, shaking a little with wide, innocent, unknowing eyes. "My dad…" He whispered and ran a hand through his hair. He looked old enough to be in high school and even acted like one, the quiet kind, not the loud jock kinds.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, looking out the window behind him. "An iced mocha, please."

He gave her a surprised look, "What?"

She rolled her eyes and looked him in the eyes, "You wanted to get some coffee first? Well, I'll have an iced mocha."

"Ooh, um, sure." He stumbled out of his chair and went to wait in line. He seemed too nervous and jittery to be in the FBI, but you never know…

He came back around five minutes later mumbling about the service and how horrible it was. He handed her the iced mocha she asked for and she said thank you and took it. She took a small sip from it, scared that her stomach wouldn't be able to hold it down. She was also nervous, only she did a much better job at hiding it, because she didn't know what they wanted and they could be working for the school, or worse, the flock. They could be trying to find her still and she didn't want to be found.

He took a sip of his hot coffee and looked at Max. "We need your help."

She nodded a little, "You said that already."

He gulped and played with the cardboard wrapped around the cup so it won't burn you when you hold it. "You're family, the-the flock, they're being targeted." It was a simple sentence, yet so complicated at the same time. She repeated the words in her head over in over again but couldn't wrap her mind around it, it was too…too coincidental? Right when she needed to forget them, they come around and smack her in the face. Make sense?

She nodded slowly, zoning out the window behind his head, slowly sipping her mocha. "So how does this involve me?"

He gave her a look and she felt stupid, like when you ask an obvious question and the whole classroom bursts out laughing at your stupid question. "They're your family, Max, that should be reason enough."

She shook her head at his stupidity. "Were. They were my family." He raised an eyebrow at her, asking her to elaborate.

She sighed, "You've made mistakes, you made one today, everyone does. But there is that one mistake that ruins your entire life like finding out your pregnant, only with me, I don't know what the hell I did wrong. One day they just," She made some hand gestures and continued, "Dropped the bomb and said that they wanted me gone, I was the trouble magnet and I was outnumbered, one to ten, so I did the reasonable thing and left. Haven't seen 'em since." She shrugged nonchalantly, easily hiding her pain. She placed the straw on her lips but limply placed it back on the table, unsure of her appetite.

He nodded a little and took a long swig of his coffee, "So what you're saying is that you're just going to sit around and watch?" She nodded and fingered the ring on her chain that still resided in the middle of her collarbone, weighing down her heart.

"That's exactly what I plan on doing, John." He choked on his coffee and she smirked at him. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth.

"Ho-how'd you know my name?" The fear in his voice caused her stomach to turn and she suddenly regretted saying anything. She didn't mind the bad guys fearing her, but she didn't want the good guys to hate her too.

She leaned forward and used her index finger to tap his plastic name tag that was clipped to his blazer pocket. His cheeks tinted pink and she chuckled a little, shaking her head, "You need to be more aware of your surroundings."

He nodded a little and sipped his coffee, getting back on topic. "Funny, I never thought that you would be one to sit on the sidelines."

She shrugged and sipped her mocha again, fingering the necklace, still not meeting his eye; she couldn't bring herself to look into his past. When the Flock kicked her out, the whitecoats found her and did something to her eyes, the same thing they tried to do to Iggy's, only she was a success. If she looked into your eyes long enough she would know everything that happened in your life, every pleasure, every failed test, every regret, every happiness, every death, everything, even more than you would think to remember.

"You don't know me," She said in an odd tone, sad and disappointed but also…distant and lost, almost as if she regrets him not knowing her, the real Maximum Ride, the one that cries at night and wakes up with puffy eyes and a runny nose, the one who prays and wishes for a miracle bringing her back to her family, the one that wants to be able to fly just one more time, the one that hasn't changed from the start, the one that still believes in miracles and paradises, the one that still believes that Jeb will always save her, the one that hasn't fallen for Fang yet or gotten her heart broken yet, the one that didn't have to chose between Fang or Dylan, the one that still holds onto the day that Angel wanted to go pick strawberries, the one that was the annoying, bossy leader that everyone secretly loved no matter what they said, the one that wasn't afraid of anything, the one that could never be touched or hurt. She missed her, the girl that she used to be.

"But I've heard stories."

Max scoffed and turned in his general direction, trying to turn off her power for a second or two, "You of all people should know not to believe rumors." He nodded a little and she sighed, losing her previous spunk. He brought back horribly painful memories of Fang and his signature move- the shoulder shrug.

"You're not going to watch them get killed, Max. You seem to nice to be able to watch it."

She glared at him, and hissed. "Then I'll close my eyes." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Max…"

"John…" He let out a sigh and looked up at Max.

"If the answer's no, then I'll leave, no need to waste anymore time here, right?"

She let out a sigh and sipped her mocha only to find that she emptied it a long time ago. Another heavy sigh escaped her lips and she looked at him. "What's in it for me?"

He grinned at her, "You get to shoot at people." All tension from before shattered and she laughed. She missed laughing, it used to give her these horrible happy cramps in her sides but now that's all she wanted—happy cramps that brought tears of joy to her eyes.

She rubbed her forehead and stared at the file again. "Absolutely not."

The five men sighed for the umpteenth time and sounded like whiny little five year olds. "Why not?"

"I'm not going to date him!" One vital piece of information that John just so happened to leave out—they were supposedly "dating".

John rolled his eyes, "I'm not that bad."

She shook her head, "Okay, I'll cut my hair, dye it, wear contacts, wear make-up and skirts, heels even! But I'm not going to date him. I'm a horrible actor." Which was a big lie. She could act her ass off if she wanted to. How do you think she made it this far? She acted. All her years and practice of lying finally came in handy.

One of the men gave her a look, "Maximum Ride, the queen of lies, can't act?" Damn, how'd he know? "And you already dyed your hair."

"Lying and acting are two different things." She crossed her arms and glared at him, secretly glad for something so familiar. She missed being able to give people her famous death glare pose with crossed arms and attitude buzzing off her. You could tell, at times like these, the kind of her person that she used to be, stubborn and bossy, the kind of person that never backed down. It was like a breath of fresh air to her.

He shook his head and rubbed his face, "Why won't you date him? The truth this time." She froze, was she really that bad at lying now? She's only been out of practice for what? Two years?

She shrugged, "It seems wrong to fake something like that."

"Well, if you can easily lie, then this will be no problem," Another man hissed and she ran a hand through her hair anxiously. If they wanted the truth, they didn't get it. She had lied…again. She didn't want anyone to think that she moved on, because she was still stuck where she was two years ago. She was happy then, that's how she wants to remember herself—happy and alive.

"Fine," She muttered and crossed her arms angrily. She was used to winning, but needed to know that she had to get used to losing. The man, Kent I think, that had asked for the truth smiled happily at her, too smug from her view, and dismissed the meeting.

*)*)*)*)*)*)_(*(*(*(*(*(*(*

They lived by a café, it was a few streets down, it was called Apple Café, and they all loved it. It had warm red walls, dim brown, red, yellow, and orange lights with little tables meant for two, and good service if you came at the right time. Angel begged to share a room with Nudge, but Nudge wanted to share a room with Kate, and Kate wanted to share a room with Star. So Fang said that Star got to choose. That only caused more chaos, though. Star was very indecisive and couldn't choose between Maya and Kate, Kate being her best friend whereas Maya being the part-leader. So then she passed on the judgment to Maya, who said she didn't care.

Angel's big blue eyes were brimmed with tears at not being chosen, to be the last pick and wouldn't talk to any of the girls until after they promised she could chose the room, so of course she chose Nudge, her first ever roommate. Then Star chose Kate, her trustworthy friend, and Maya was left out. Only after that did they realize that they didn't have enough room for Maya to have her own room so she shared with Star and Kate. Fang and Ratchet ended up in the same room with Total because Valencia didn't want the girls staying up late talking to him. There was a lot of complaint about that, but after some persuasion and chocolate chip cookies, they agreed and grumpily nibbled their cookies. Iggy, Gazzy, and Holden shared a room because they all got along and the two adults shared a room. All the kids groaned when they decided that and Star muttered that she better not hear moans in the middle of the night. Val has never been more mad.

Now they were all lounging in the living room, sitting in cramped couches as they waited for Jeb to come home so they could go to the beach. "Why couldn't we get a bigger apartment again?" Total groaned as he circled over Angel's legs again, trying to find a comfortable sitting position.

Valencia sighed and leaned her forehead on her palm, how did Max deal with this? She couldn't help but think. "Because we're not billionaires and CSM can't provide another safe house, not after Iggy and Gazzy bombed the last one. They don't want to have to keep providing houses when they know that that house is going to be blown up." She gave Iggy and Gazzy a hard look, mostly Gazzy and they gave everyone sheepish looks.

"Sorry guys," Iggy mumbled and Gazzy laughed hysterically.

"I swear we won't blow up this apartment if it means getting some more space."

"Claustrophobic here!" Nudge sang, pointing at herself and everyone rolled their eyes.

"Nudge, you have the most space," Maya pointed out and Nudge humphed, crossing her arms angrily, a very Max move. I guess she'll always be with us, Angel thought bitterly and sighed, running her fingers through Total's tangled black hair. It was so soft, but the tangles were getting to her.

"Yeah, we all are, Nudge," Fang added making Ratchet crack a smile, but got no other response. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Iggy hired the volume and they all intently watched Blues Clues, some sang just to humor the others, but nothing could crack their boredom.

"Wanna go for a fly?" Nudge suddenly suggested only to be shot down by Star.

"Not all of us have wings, genius." Nudge rolled her eyes and crossed her arms again.

"You guys could stay," She mumbled angrily and fingered her hair. She wanted it just be the flock, but she would never say that aloud, she didn't want to be lectured. Times like those she really wished that Max came back to back her up, telling them that this was the flock a club exclusive for those with wings only. Something that only they had, like it used to be. She sighed and Fang gave her a look.

"Max would never leave her family behind," Iggy piped up, shutting everybody up. Fang took a big intake of breath and Maya stiffened. They swore to never mention her again, it was too painful, but old habits die hard.

The tension was in the air like a cloud of smoke, so thick you could almost see it. "Sorry," Iggy mumbled and his cheeks heated up, of course he would be the one to break their vow, be the one to mess up. It was always him. At least, now it was always him. He was too stuck in the past, wanting things to go back to how they were, but something's (as Fang puts it) are better off forgotten.

"Max is dead." Angel's small voice brought everyone back into reality and Fang hissed, Gazzy choked on his spit, and Nudge gasped dramatically. They knew it had happened but no one ever said it to clarify it. Not until now. "She died, right?" Fang nodded stiffly and she nodded a little.

"B-but, I feel like she's not." Ratchet nodded a little.

"Maybe her ghost is haunting you," He joked, but it did little to actually get rid of the tension, in fact, it made it thicker. Angel shuddered a little.

"Do you think this is her payback?" Angel was staring at a spot on the wall as her mind wandered, her mouth speaking for her.

Fang swallowed the lump in his throat and Maya cleared her throat, clearing out some tension. "Angel, sweetie," Max would always call Angel sweetie, "she's gone, as much as we all want her back, some things just don't work like that," She shrugged sadly, "Some things happen even if you don't want it to, and you learn to deal. That's the only way to get over life, deal with it." Angel nodded meekly and gave everyone an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, I-I wasn't thinking." She smiled weakly and the door burst open and in came a very happy Jeb.

"HEY KIDS! WHAT'D I MISS?" He shouted, throwing his arms in the air like he just won the lottery.

They all had sour looks on their faces and his happiness dimmed a little. "What'd I miss?" He asked in serious tone and Maya shrugged.

"Not much, can we go now?" Angel gave her a thankful smile and Maya shrugged easily.

"Sure…." Jeb watched each child carefully, observing their every move as if one move could tell him what exactly he missed. He gave Val a look and she shook her head, now is not the time. But there was never really a time for that. There is never a time to discuss the death of a loved one, never, no one wants to believe that someone that they love is gone forever. If only they knew that she was coming back and a whole lot sooner than they thought.

A/N: R&R :) Hope you enjoyed that. I didn't really edit it so sorry for any mistakes! :)

Dream Beyond Infinty

"Watch you take the fall, laughing all the way to the hospital 'cause there's nothing surgery can do when I break your little heart in two"

All Time Low

"What do you do when you're stuck, because the one that you love, has pushed you away, and you can't deal with the pain"

Pixie Lott