Disclaimer: Max's flock, Fang and the concept of Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson! C:
At the sight of Max, standing confidently in front of her flock, Fang couldn't find his voice and it wasn't his usual silence either. Despite knowing that they were coming, Fang hadn't actually considered the real possibility of it. Surely Max and the others were still mad at him for leaving them. He snapped out of it in time to give Max one of his rare half smiles. "Yeah, it has," he said finally.
The awkward silence was broken by Nudge, who decided that now was as good a time as ever to express her own feelings towards Fang. She ran up to him and hugged him. Fang smiled. He had missed Nudge and her constant chatter.
"Wow, Fang. Did you like grow taller or something? Well, I guess you must've grown, but you know, like, not grown so much. Oh! Speaking of that, our house in Colarado shrank, but that might've been because of the bomb Gazzy and Iggy set off. Dr. Martinez sure was mad when she came home. And when we rebuilt it, I swear, it's shorter now! Do you drink milk to grow? Maybe Gazzy should drink some too! Oh my god! You will not believe how amazing cows are up close. They gave us so much milk that I was sure, if I drank it all, I'd be as tall as you!" Nudge paused, drawing in a breath and Fang knew that she would continue, if not stopped.
"Nudge! It's nice to see you too." He said quickly, easily falling back into the same pattern that had been missing from his life for the past five years.
Gazzy grinned mischievously at him and even Iggy snickered a bit. One look at the two of them told Fang to check them for explosives of any kind before heading into an enclosed space.
It was only then that Fang noticed a figure standing towards the back of the group. Dylan. He had remained silent the whole time, though he divided his attention between Fang, whom he glared at, and Max. Fang couldn't help but take a little satisfaction in the fact that Dylan was uncomfortable here. Sure, he could be the leader of a flock now, but who said they had to be mature? Just because Max tried to didn't mean he had to.
Anna cleared her throat softly, subtly reminding Fang of his new responsibilities. Fang beckoned her forward. "Guys? This is Anna." Then he proceeded to introduce each of the flock members to her. Anna smiled politely at each of them, though her gaze lingered slightly longer on Max.
"So this is the Max I've heard about," she commented, enjoying the rush of indecisiveness that followed from both Max and Fang. Fang, who was trying to decide if publicly punching her was acceptable and Max, who was trying to decide whether or not to feel thrilled about this and then proceeding to deciding if this was even true or not. Max flushed ever so slightly, having caught Anna's gaze.
She recovered fast, biting back a sharp remark. "Hey," she said and then turning back to Fang. "So, where's Jeb?" Fang shrugged. Jeb had only told Max's flock to meet Fang and his flock at the cliffs, choosing to exclude the details. Fang knew she wouldn't have come if she knew the real reason she was here.
Just then, a voice called from inside the cave. "Faanng! We're done pac-" Sydney stopped, having made her way outside and spotting the large group in front of her. "Oh. So we're not leaving then?" She asked, somewhat crestfallen.
"Hey, Fang! Where did you put your sleeping bag?" James voice also grew closer as he, too, discovered Max's flock.
Fang pulled them both closer. "This is Sydney," he nodded at the small girl, "And James." He turned to the two of them. "Guys? Meet Max, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Angel and Total. Oh, and Dylan too." Dylan looked pretty annoyed at almost being forgotten, but nothing was compared to the shock on Sydney and James' faces. They had never seen a flock so big. Okay, they had never seen another flock. But still, they could only imagine what it'd be like on long flights, how chaotic the formation would be and how easy it was to lost someone.
Max gave them a small smile and Nudge waved, happy to have more people around. She had always been a social type.
"Jeb might take a while, it's hard for a human to get to this cave anyways," Fang shrugged, not exactly resenting the hard-to-reach thing.
The sun was setting already, giving an orange taint to the once blue sky. Sydney's stomach grumbled and she felt her face go red as ten pairs of eyes turned their gaze on her.
"Let's eat. It must've been tiring for you guys to fly here all the way from Colorado," said James. Sydney shot him a grateful and somewhat smug look. Max, never one to turn down a chance for food, accepted and the rest of her flock nodded their agreement.
Dinner, which consisted of canned chicken noodle soup and some beef patties, went reasonably smoothly. Iggy offered to help with the cooking and James vehemently refused, stating that blind people couldn't cook. Eventually, with enough convincing, James agreed, but under his direct supervision.
"This is possibly the best canned food I've eaten." Sydney declared, patting her stomach. Anna rolled her eyes. "Maybe because it's the only canned food you've eaten," she said. Sydney flushed, though this time it was from outrage instead of embarrassment.
The sun had long since disappeared from the sky as night settled in, wrapping the mountains in a blanket of darkness. There was no way Jeb would come in the middle of the night. Reluctantly, Max decided that staying here with Fang's flock was the best idea. It was just too far to fly to and from Colorado.
"I'll take first watch and James can take second." Fang said, as everyone got ready for bed. Sydney and Angel were chatting quietly, having laid their sleeping bags close together. James nodded.
"No! I'll take first watch. I can't sleep anyways!" Max insisted. Once, she could've trusted Fang with her life, with her heart, but now? She didn't even trust him with her back. Fang, noticing this in her eyes, sighed, but backed down.
"Then I'll take second watch then. James can get some sleep." He said, leaning against the wall of the cave. There was no way he could sleep either, but he wasn't going to admit it was because of Max. As everyone drifted off into sleep, their breathing evening out and slowing down, Fang became increasingly aware that he and Max were the only ones awake. He had thought he was the only one who was aware of this, but then, something poked his arm.
"Fang? Can I talk to you?" Most of Max's usual brashness was lost in that one question, making Fang wonder what was up. Well, besides the usual anyways.
Author's Note: Second chapter is up! I finally got a plot! It's mostly fillers and boring stuff right now though. Bare with me! What do you think Max is gonna tell Fang? Review and tell me! 8D