A/N: alrite, here's Fang. Dreamed this one last night which was weird cuz I don't think I slept… I haven't slept for days… Flashback is from the manga since I'm not flipping through the entire first book to try and find this scene when I've already read it a thousand bajillion times in the manga because the page is marked. Lol.

This is based… between somewhere and somewhere when Ari wasn't dead but after the first book and maybe after 'Max' but they're all still on the run. Got it? Good!

Rated T

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did. I think we all wish we'd thought of this first…

Fang

Ari. I swear I was gonna kill the guy. Well, not guy. Eraser. Same difference. I'm still gonna kill him.

Let's do a little flashback, shall we?

I threw my jacket over Max. Knew it'd bring her out of that little dreamland she calls her head so that's why I did it. There's a method to the silent madness. No one knows it though.

She pulled it off her head revealing her frizzed brown hair and two milky chocolate eyes trained on me. "Fang."

"The wind is cold tonight," I breathed, folding my arms across my chest. The clouds were wafting across the moon and the stars shone on the salt water. It was just the two of us. Everyone else was…somewhere. I'd lost track of them. Oh well. Max was my main focus for now.

Her gaze fell back to the sand. "'Kay…" She was definitely distracted with something.

We watched the ocean for awhile until my name came from her lips one more time. "Fang."

I turned back to her, a signal she'd take as my version of 'What?'

"A mutant freak and a hero…" she took a quiet pause and drank in the icy salt tasting wind around us. "…actually might not be that different…" Her voice trailed off again as she fell back into her thoughts.

Time to bring her back out again. I leaned down to sit next to her, easing myself down into the sand. "What's wrong? The voice in your head?" I asked, sitting Indian style.

"Not now," she murmured quietly, my new jacket across her shoulders.

She was still too deep in her dreamland. I pulled her head down onto my lap, knowing some comfort would do her good. "Then get some sleep," I suggested, leaving my hand on her head to run my fingers through her caramel strands of hair. "Don't waste your energy overthinking things."

Max was too tense for a second. I wondered if I had done the right thing until she relaxed and her eyes slid closed. Her hand rested on my knee and she stretched out more on the sand. "Guess that's a good idea." Her sigh brought me some peace of mind.

I stared at the water until I felt her sleeping against me. Her breathing became a rhythm and I took the first watch for her. I'd stay up all night if it would help Max. And not just because she's the leader.

Back to the Ari point. I keep running these memories through my mind whenever I'm on watch and remembering that me being with them is vital to their survival as well as my own. We're family. It's what we do. Keep reading. It gets better.

Woah, when did they get here? Crap. Erasers were everywhere around us. She'd shot up like a bullet when Ari had spoken. "Dammit…" I snarled. Man, why do all my special moments have to get ruined? Of course. Because it's me and Max. Whenever there's a good moment for us, something obviously just has to go wrong.

I'd apparently missed a little bit of them fighting because I snapped back into reality as his claws struck out at Max. My Max.

I moved just enough to get in the way and take the blow for her. Three neat slices were carved into my cheek and I could feel the blood pouring out. It spattered against the sand with a splashing sound. That is obviously not a good sign.

"FANG!" Her voice came out scared. I was pretty sure that wasn't her intention.

Ari roared with rage. "YOU LITTLE PIECE OF GARBAGE!"

Yup. Because genetic mutant freak isn't a good enough term for us anymore. I let myself breath evenly for a moment and I was about to reach up and feel the damage when Ari's hand came and smacked me across the beach into the crowd of Erasers.

I landed hard and struggled to take in air after that. It felt like my chest had collapsed in and my heart had stopped working. Too bad it hadn't. That would've been too easy for Ari. It would've been too hard on Max and the rest of the flock. Dying would've been the end of it all. It would've saved me from the life of torture.

"You think you're a knight in shining armor or something?!" Ari snarled as I pressed myself up again.

Max yelled to me again. "FANG!"

Yeah. Ari kind of hit it spot on. I was her knight in shining armor at that moment. I'd saved her from the scars. Blood ran into my mouth from the slits in my cheek. Coughing up blood, I had one of Max's infamous smart-ass remarks ready for him. It was wasted as he came over and kicked me hard in the stomach.

My throat closed in. I coughed more, tasting the sticky blood. So disgusting. I laid on my side, losing hope.

"FANG!" Nudge screamed from the air. Iggy, The Gasman, and Angel were with her. At least they were safe. They didn't need to see this either. I wished they hadn't been looking. I wished they'd all just left so I could suffer alone. I wanted the flock to be gone and out of harm's way. That was what they needed. They didn't need to see me like this.

"Don't come near!" I yelled to them. It was a torture I'd go through alone. I wouldn't let this conflict hurt the flock. I'd be fine. I would always be fine as long as we were all together.

Ari wasn't done with me yet. I couldn't get that lucky. He grabbed my shirt and I was lifted from the sand.

My body wouldn't work to fight back. I was too beaten. Trying would be hopeless and I was already finished.

"Ha. How very…" Ari was going for the dramatic effect of killing me. Yeah, just end it please! "…TOUCHING!" he finished with a howl.

The icy air whipping around me as I was tossed like a ragdoll against the face of a nearby cliff. My bones crunched and I felt the sharp, jutting rocks stabbing into my back.

I barely caught a glimpse of Max's face, eyes wide and fearful for me. She had tears on the verge of breaking. The girl could only keep a brave face on for so long.

My head hit the wall of stone with a jerk harder than I could've believed possible. It sent echoing agony through my system and it all shut down and I was sent into the darkness that I fought off like a swarm. It pressed in from all sides and I was desperate to stay awake and see what became of the flock.

A hand was pulling me off the sand and rock ground. "Fang, wake up!"

Max. It was Max. She was there, holding me. I could hear her heart beating in her chest and I was frozen still for a second. I wanted to open my eyes and tell her that I was still alive, but I couldn't. My life was drained and I wasn't sure whether I even dared to try.

Something moved behind me and my eyes darted over my shoulder. Just the wind, I assumed. Might as well look anyways. Not like I've got anything better to do. I rose to my feet. Go on. Watch the flashback. I'm gonna stare at Max for awhile since there's nothing in the stupid bushes.

"FANG! MAX!" the rest of our little family was coming down out of the sky.

Stupid black. Why did I always wear so much of it again? Oh right, because it means death specifically and I used to think death was a pretty cool thing because it meant the end of us and our lives and it'd all be easier because we'd be angels sooner, but we wouldn't need to earn our wings. We'd just have them.

"Fang… Wake up…" Nudge was crying and I could hear it. Her voice cracked easily.

I didn't need to freak. I'd be perfectly fine in an hour or two hopefully. Maybe by tomorrow. It was hard to tell. "Ugh." Yeah, it still hurt.

My brain felt like it was about to explode behind my eyes and my skull would shatter with the sheer force of the blow. The wounds in my cheek were searing with the pain. Sand had gotten in there and, I know I'm not a specialist or anything, but I knew that was not a good thing. Blood still streaked down my face and dripped into my mouth.

I knew Max was still holding me tightly against her chest. Her hand was tangled in my shorter hair and she was keeping me close, not wanting to risk Ari coming back for me. He probably wouldn't but better safe than sorry.

"He should see a doctor," Iggy suggested.

I wanted to kill him right there. Yeah. What do you plan to tell the guy? 'Oh, he's just got wings, no biggie.' I mean, really? That doesn't make any sense at all! Or better, 'It's just a costume.'

My voice was finally back. That was a good sign."No hospi'l."

"Fang!" I think they all cheered or something, but I was bent on hearing Max's voice above all the others. I needed her now just like she'd needed me to take the hit for her against Ari.

"How bad?" That was my Max. She was calm, but I could feel the panic breaking her impenetrable shield of

I was kind of assessing the damage myself. My face was on fire. My back was hurt real bad. Like blazing pain kind of bad. Not a good sign. I was feeling sick to my stomach. Ari was stronger than I'd thought, but I'd saved max from that torture. That was what really counted. Especially when I felt the real pain kick in. "Pre'y bad," I breathed, barely remembering that air was a necessity. I had to focus on my lungs and keeping them from exploding at that point. "Feel like crap."

Max was wiping the blood from my lips. That stuff tasted nasty. Why did I name myself Fang again? I have no idea. It sounds like a vampire name or something. Good thing I don't like blood at all.

"Fang…" The way my name rolled off her tongue just made my heart pick up to a normal speed again. She sounded so sad…

"Ow." Hurt. Pain. Ow. Max. Cut it out. It hurts!

Her voice got a little choked up. "Just live, okay? Live and be okay." Maximum Ride. She was worried about me. I was thinking it over, still working on my slight breathing issue. Air. Max. Worry. Air. Need air. Gonna kill Ari. Breathe.

Then I felt cool lips against mine and she was kissing me. Oh god, it was incredible. I could feel my head going numb and she was driving me crazy without even knowing it. That was the weird part. The girl had no clue what she was doing to me. As if the pain in my skull wasn't enough, there were emotions floating around in there too to make it that much worse.

When she pulled away, I thought I was going to die all over again.

Now let's do a re-cap. I'm currently fighting off a stupid raccoon that decided to try and eat my head. Moronic much?

I threw it into a bush and it ran away. Yeah, don't fight the guy with wings. I always win.

…scratch that. I forgot some of the fights with Ari.

Max had a dumb smile on. She's so cute when she smiles in her sleep. I mean, I just want to tell her I love her, but since I already know Angel has done that for me enough, I'm stuck wondering why my idiot best friend won't do anything about it. I sat against a tree, slipping back into my silent vigil. She was still smiling.

I loved her smile.

When you look back and see all that for the millionth time, I stare at Max and wonder, 'What the hell were you doing then that changes things now?!' She kisses me, all's right with the world. I kiss her, she runs and hides and acts like I'm poisonous.

Finally I felt myself fading into the background and disappearing entirely. What the hell is with Max? The world may never know. Stupid Tootsie Pop commercials.

A/N: those were my favorite parts of the manga that I recapped and I figured the raccoon thing just for the heck of the world. Why not bug him even more? It's fun! Review! I want to know if it's any good.

~Sky

P.S. I read all the books(finally finished 'Max' in a little under a day with school and all that). I have two questions:

1) can someone tell me what AU means?

2) who the heck is Dylan???? did i miss him in the books or is he coming in 'Fang'?

Someone PM me or review bcuz I am super confused!!! Thankiez!!

And again,

~Sky