AN: Yay! I love you guys who didn't abandon me! And I'm quite surprised that most of you like Mab. I know I don't much like her. I did base her off of Max, and how I think Max would've turned out if she had grown up pretty normal. Same with Behitha and Fang, except giving Fang...feminine parts and more normalness. While Beth usually chooses to stay silent and unemotional, she isn't a rock like Fang. She expresses emotion more frequently than Fang did in his youth, but is still pretty distant. Mab is a rebel, which is how I'm sure Max would've turned out if there were rules standing in her way.

Anyway, now I'm rambling on about unimportant things. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!! (See, now that wasn't unimportant.) Okay, I should finish typing now. Enjoy!

Maximum Ride: Passing the Torch
Sequel to MR: The After Years

Summary: Much has changed in the flock after fifteen years. At their second reunion, secrets lurk at every corner and disaster strikes, upsetting the delicate balance of their new lives and thrusting their fate into unprepared wings. SEQUEL TO MR: THE AFTER YEARS!

Chapter Two: How I Came to Be

Jackson Household, Phoenix, Arizona

"Alright, Mab, Behitha. Your father and I have some news."

I wiggled anxiously, knowing it was good news when I saw Mom and Dad smiling instead of frowning. Mom looked to have just gotten home from work, still wearing her suit and such and pulling her hair out of its professional-looking bun. She was standing in the kitchen, on the opposite side of the counter from where Beth and I stood. Dad stood right behind her, his chin resting on her shoulder, his hands on the counter on either side of her.

"What news?" I asked, trying to stay calm and not go ballistic.

I looked to Beth for encouragement, but she was just standing there, looking more than a little distracted, her poker face sturdily in place.

Dad smiled. Mom told me that, once upon a time, he never smiled. I found that quite hard to believe, because now it's all he'll do, at least when I'm around.

"Calm down, Mab," he said, "We'll explain ourselves soon enough."

I looked to Mom.

"Okay, guys. You remember your aunts Monique, Ella, and Ariel, right?"

I nodded. My aunts were impossible to forget, though they rarely visited and it had been about seven years since we'd seen them last. Monique was a famous Hollywood talk show host who could never shut up. Ella was one of the coolest people I'd ever met. And Ariel was…well, Aunt Ariel was more than a little creepy. Of course, they aren't all actually my aunts. The only one Beth and I are actually related to is Ella, who is Mom's half sister.

"What about your uncles, Jeff and Zeke?"

This time, Beth beat me to the nod. They were also impossible to forget. Uncle Jeff was a blind pyromaniac, though he didn't seem at all blind. He's married to Aunt Monique. Zeke is also a pyro, but he's not blind or anything. He just has MAJOR gas issues. He's married to our only real aunt, Ella, making him our only real uncle (Dad says he doesn't have any siblings, but that he's always considered Jeff a brother).

"So then you guys definitely remember your cousins, Hawk and Gisli?"

"Yes, Mom. We remember our extended family." I rolled my eyes.

"Fine, fine. Just making sure." She paused, as if expecting me to comment again. "Anyway, we all get to start our summers early this year. Next week will be your last week of school. Then, we'll be taking off for Lake Tahoe."

My face lit up. "You mean literally taking off? As in, we get to fly there?"

Dad frowned. Mom smirked.

"Sorry, kid. We're taking the car and not our wings," he said.

I grimaced. "Whatever. Why are we going to Tahoe anyway?"

Mom smiled again, a big, wide smile that showed off all her white teeth. "You remember how we've told you that, about fifteen years ago, your father, your aunts and uncles, and I all met up and hung out for a while? You know, the reunion."

Ew. Major EW. Our parents had told Beth and me about this reunion plenty of times. It was because of this reunion that my parent's confessed their love for each other and ended up having sex. Hence the birth of us, their lovely daughters, a few months later. This was why I didn't like to dwell too much on that reunion.

I know other stuff happened besides them making love. That was at the end. Other stuff happened, including Mom and Monique getting in a huge fight before Jeff and Monique ran off together (causing Gisli to be born), Ariel yelling at Mom, Dad watching Mom kiss her ex, Ella and Zeke becoming 'interested' in each other, and Jeff finally fixing things up and making them all famous in the process. Come to think of that famous part, my parents had never shown Beth and I the tape of their day on Monique's talk show.

Hesitantly, I nodded. Beth looked just as uncomfortable as I did.

"Well, we've decided to have another reunion. Except this time, we're bringing our kids!" Mom looked ecstatic.

Behitha and I exchanged that knowing twin look that clearly declared our parents' insanity.

"So, we leave for Tahoe next week. Get ready, girls." Mom then turned to Dad. "Oh, Fang! Isn't this gonna be wonderful?"

Dad smiled. "Yes, love. It's going to be very wonderful indeed." I saw Dad lean in before I realized what they were doing. Quickly, I covered my eyes.

"Ew, gross. Mom, Dad, could you please wait till Beth and I have left the room before you make out?" I scurried out of the kitchen from which Beth had already made a silent retreat (as usual).

-_-_-_-_-

I was absolutely ecstatic. I could tell Fang was, too, but he just didn't let it show too much.

Ah, our first reunion in over fifteen years. At the end of it all, Mab and Behitha would be turning fifteen. It was incredible that my baby girls were growing up so fast.

That night, I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned, trying not to kick Fang who was as silent as the grave when he slept. Apparently, I wasn't trying hard enough. I got him square in the shin.

"Ouch! Max, what's wrong?"

"Sorry! I just can't sleep! I was trying really hard not to wake you!"

"It's alright, love. You need anything?"

"No, but thanks, Fang." I searched for his face in the darkness and gently kissed his lips.

"No problem. Anything you want to talk about, that you gotta get off your mind to sleep?"

"No, just anxiety, I guess."

"What're you anxious about?"

"Seeing everyone altogether again. I just can't wait."

"I know how you feel, Max. I can't wait either. But we have to. It's just another week."

"Yeah, then we'll all be cramped up in the car for hours. How are we supposed to stand each other that long? You know how the twins get."

"Lots of rest stops."

"Can't we just fly it, Fang? You know you want to."

"Yes, I do. But we can't do that to the girls. They have trouble flying for three miles, and Lake Tahoe's a lot farther than three miles."

I sighed.

"Look, just think about Ella and Gazzy. They can only drive there because Ella has no wings and Hawk can't fly, no matter how much his name suggests. They don't have another option."

"Exactly. So why should we drive when we've got that other option, the privilege of flight?" I sat up in the bed.

"Privilege? Not too long ago, you thought it a curse, and you weren't alone in your opinion." Fang shot up in the bed next to me.

"That was long ago, Fang. We're not as young as we used to be, in case you didn't notice. Don't you think we should pass our knowledge onto them, because, whether we like it or not, they'll need it, maybe sooner than we'd like."

"Look, Max. I get your point. I just don't think it's safe."

"Fifteen years ago you wouldn't have had a problem about it! What's so different now?"

"Fifteen years ago I didn't have two daughters to look after! Fifteen years ago, you were the only person that mattered in my life! I didn't give a damn about anyone else! The whole frickin' world could've gone to hell, but if you'd stayed behind, I wouldn't have noticed! But I've changed in the past fifteen years; I've gotten smarter. I've watched two beautiful girls come to life and watched them grow, knowing that without me, they wouldn't have been possible. Don't you think I have some right to protect them from our pasts? What if the School finds out about them?"

"Fang, you and I both know the School no longer exists! And besides that, they're not gonna be your little girls forever! They're growing up! Can't you see? They're going to be fifteen in two months! They're not gonna want your 'protection' anymore! You can't keep them under your wing forever, away from the world! So you can take your 'rights' and shove 'em up your ass!" I shouted.

He looked at me, hurt obvious in his eyes, as if I'd just slapped him hard across the face. And then Fang did what I least expected. He rose from the bed, grabbed his pillow, and walked out of the room. "I'll just sleep on the couch tonight," he growled back at me.

"UGH!" I screeched, falling back on the pillows with a hollow thud.

Fang and I rarely fought. Usually, we just 'disagreed.' But even when we fought, we didn't raise our voices, we never threw out the insults, and we never, ever went overboard.

But I'd just broken that little tiny rule that had helped our marriage so much. And I could only pray to God that the damage wasn't permanent, that everything would be fine in the morning, or that I was, perhaps, just having some sick nightmare.

Too bad God doesn't always answer, "Yes," to prayers.

AN: So the good thing about this chapter: I snuck a bit of FaXNeSS in there. The bad thing: Max and Fang just had their first big fight after fifteen years of being married. Oh no! Will they ever make up? Boy, I sure hope so, or this is gonna be one lousy reunion. Enn-tee-ways...

REVIEW if you want Max and Fang to make up.

ALSO go check out the MR oneshot I just posted. :) (And REVIEW that as well.)