A/N: Here you go, my wonderful fellow Twilight readers…I'll admit that I'm sort of happy with this chapter, although I am a tad bit nervous about possible OOCness.
Chapter Flashback (Ch. 1): The Flock is heading for their old house in the mountains, to see what is left of their old home and their old life, while Edward and Bella are still in Phoenix, as Bella is recovering from her horrific, vampire-induced injuries. Basically Ch. 1 just set up the characters and the setting.
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Disclaimer: I own Maximum Ride and Twilight….NOT. Just kidding. Please don't sue me.
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Chapter 2: Setting Out on a Journey
Max's POV
Inside my head, I was groaning so loudly that I was surprised that no one else could hear me. Besides Angel. Of course, I couldn't groan out loud, because that would give Fang way too much satisfaction. He'd be so darn pleased about being the 'strong and silent' one. Oh please. Wait, why's he looking at me like that? He didn't…hear me, did he? I mean, Angel's the only mind-reader here, right? But seriously, it always feels like he's the one with the creepy psychic powers…
"Max?" Fang interrupted my deep, philosophical ponderings (cough), by waving a hand in front of my eyes. I jerked back in mid-air (Is that even possible? Well, I guess it is. I just did it. So deal.), and then glared at him.
"Dude, get out of my face."
Fang rolled his eyes. "Well, dude, you were spacing out. Weren't you paying any attention?" It was only then that I noticed that Angel was flying next to me, and tugging on my sleeve. She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and, in a small voice, confessed something that I knew must have been bothering her for a while…
"Max, I'm hungry. Could we maybe stop somewhere soon?" I smiled and ruffled the feathers on the tip of her tiny dove wings. "Sure Ang. Soon." Angel smiled over at me, and then, her grin turned into something scary. Like, really mischievous, sinister, Hello-Kitty-Gone-Sadistic scary. Um, maybe that's a bit too specific. Let's just say it was scary and leave it at that. With a flick of her wings, she flew up so that she was flying above me, and then plunked down and landed on my shoulders, right above where my wings met my back.
Embarrassingly, I screamed. Really screamed. A 30-decibels-too-loud-pathetic-girl-who-just-saw-a-spider-scream.That's how surprised I was. I think I gave Iggy a migraine. I think I gave everyone a migraine. Including the Voice. Just imagine that: me giving a migraine to a Voice in my head. I think it's safe to say that, based on those pieces of evidence alone, I was, quite frankly, long overdue for a trip to the funny farm.
Grimly, I thought to myself, two can play at this game. I think Angel heard me, since she suddenly started struggling to get off of my shoulders. Too late. Abruptly, I folded my wings and together, we started falling. This time it was Angel who was screaming. My wings snapped out – ouch – and I streaked off, pouring on some speed at the same time. Together we went whizzing through the air, corkscrewing, diving, flipping, and a heck of a lot of other dangerous stunts. Angel kept screaming, and she wrapped her arms tightly around my head and over my eyes, struggling to stay on. Okay. I might be a daredevil, but I mean, come on, would I really go around flying blind like that? When's the last time I did something that stupid?
Don't answer that.
I spun around and flew back to where the rest of the Flock was hovering, watching us with open mouths. Angel was giggling hysterically, so I knew she was okay. I cracked a grin when I noticed that Fang watching me with narrowed eyes, and that Iggy was "looking" in my general direction with a flattering "Is she on drugs?" expression plastered on his disbelieving face. Angel jumped off of my back and flew over to hover with Gazzy. I could tell that he wanted a turn on Max the Roller Coaster, too. Oh boy.
I glared around at them. "Why the heck are we just waiting here? Let's get moving. Wouldn't want an Eraser finding us, right?" Pretending that nothing had happened, I flew off, a calm, very innocent (Stop snorting!) expression on my face. No one followed me; they still looked kind of shell-shocked. I looked pointedly back at them. "Well, come on." That got them moving, flying behind me in a loose, spread out formation.
I could just barely hear Fang flying behind me. He was always so unnaturally quiet, like a shadow come to life...a shadow with an annoying fondness for eye rolling, of course…
"Fang, stop rolling your eyes, it's rude," I said, without turning around to look at him. The long silence behind me told me that I'd been right in my guess. I didn't see the smile that flickered quickly across Fang's face. "Max, you know you're insane, right?" I ignored him. Fang, annoying nuisance that he was, did not deserve the honor of an answer from moi.
Fang sped up a little so that he was flying beside me. "So, we're stopping soon to get food for Angel and the rest of the Flock?" he asked for clarification.
"Yep. Angel looked pretty hungry."
"And what about you? You're all…red and sweaty…getting tired, are we?" He smirked. Damnit.
"No, Fang, I'm not. Go and bother someone else."
He actually listened to me, so I almost forgot to keep flapping. Angling his wings, he swung over to fly next to Iggy, and all I could do was glare after him. He and Iggy started laughing about something. You know what? I really don't want to know.
I sighed. Much as I hated to admit it, Fang was right, we were all exhausted, including me. We'd been flying for about 12 straight hours, with only 3 rest stops along the way. The first had been to get some much-needed delicacies from the nearest McDonald's. McDumpster's, more like. The second had been due to Total's sudden realization that, apparently, flying and eating at the same time didn't really agree with him. The third time…let's just say that it involved a hamburger, a bomb, and one's of Gazzy's wonderful 'gifts.' Trust me. I was not looking forward to the next rest stop.
But, we needed to eat. We were just getting to Arizona, and I knew that soon, we'd be in the School's territory, and there wouldn't be any time for breaks. So seriously, we needed food, and fast. Otherwise, thanks to our freakishly fast metabolism systems, we'd all drop right out of the sky, probably onto some poor, unsuspecting granny down below. The last thing I need is a heart attack victim on our hands.
I noticed that the Fangster was now flying above me with Nudge, the rays of the setting sun glancing off of their wings, one fledged with tawny feathers, the other with feathers of black. Light and dark, in more ways than one. I grinned, as I noticed the blank and detached look on Fang's face. Poor Fang, he was probably tuning out the Nudge Channel next to him; out of all of us, he was the easiest to drive insane with incessant chatter. Deep down, I was pretty sure that he didn't mind all that much. I mean, he loves Nudge just as much as I do.
Abruptly, there was a pause in the one-sided conversation above me; so of course, I craned my head up to look at the pair of them, gaping in astonishment. Nudge….had stopped talking. I waited for the crash of thunder and the ominous voice to come booming from the heavens, saying that the apocalypse was at hand. Nothing. I quickly snapped my mouth shut – it had been gracelessly hanging wide open – when I realized that Nudge was looking down at me. Looked like she wanted to ask me something…
"Max, where are we going?"
"Somewhere."
"Max, seriously!"
I hid a smile.
"Somewhere on the outskirts of Arizona."
"Why?"
"Because we are. Don't worry, Nudge. There's not that much longer left. We'll be home soon."
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Bella's POV
Keep running, come on, you're almost there. Run, run, Run, no don't stop, breathe. Edward, where are you!? Come back, I need you!…Run…Run…Run…
I woke up suddenly, gasping for breath. Stupidly, I tried to sit up, and suffered the consequences. Groaning, I fell back onto the hospital bed, only to be greeted with yet another stab of furious pain. I bit back the tears and squeezed my eyes shut. What had I been dreaming about? It felt important…all I could remember were…white walls…medical instruments…dog crates? I must, must, be doomed for insanity. It's the only possible explanation…
Something cold and rock-hard slid gently across my cheekbone, so I opened my eyes and smiled. Ow. The person sitting next to my bedside pulled his finger away and narrowed his eyes as he watched me wince and cringe in pain.
Edward was leaning over me, the too-bright hospital lights glancing off of his pale face and almost completely black eyes. I imagined that I could see the faintest sparkle on his skin, but knew that that wasn't possible. No sun, after all. I grimaced, as I noticed the blank and detached look on Edward's tight face. He smiled down apologetically, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Before I'd fallen asleep, we'd been arguing over the whole, me turning into a vampire and facing eternal damnation situation. But really, what could be so bad? Hell or purgatory or whatever it is that happens, they wouldn't matter to me, not in the slightest. Not if he was there with me, my own personal heaven. I could tell that he was still brooding over my apparently suicidal wish to become an evil, blood-sucking, mythical monster. Well, that's the way he saw it.
Even though I knew that I would never back down, would never stop hoping, at the same time, I loved him too much, so I tried to mollify him a little.
I reached out to grab his cold hand. "I'm sorry, Edward. It's…it's just what I want."
I cringed slightly as he glared down at me. Probably shouldn't have added that last bit…
Edward responded by sighing and running a hand through his hair.
"Bella, please don't. Not now. In a lower voice, he muttered, "I can't risk losing your soul, not when you have a life still to live." I couldn't tell if he was talking to me or to himself. He frowned slightly, when he realized that he'd unknowingly started arguing again.
I opened my mouth to speak. Ouch. I wanted to tell him about the peculiar dream I had had. Dreams can mean quite a bit, especially in Alice's case. I've learned from experience. Of course, Alice is always right, what with her "sight," the "dreams" that she has though she never sleeps, the dreams that tell her about the future…
"Edward, I–
Abruptly, he changed the subject. "Wait, Bella, there's something I want to show you."
After I nodded my head, he very carefully unhooked the IV that I really didn't need anymore, and gently picked me up in his very cold, very strong arms, careful not to jostle my broken leg in its cast. Leaning my head on his shoulder, I sighed.
He's just too perfect. This must be a dream.
If it is, I never want to wake up.
Edward glanced down at me anxiously.
"What hurts?" he whispered in a low voice. "Nothing. I'm fine." I whispered back, truthfully. Really. Then something occurred to me…so I looked back up at him, instantly caught by his eyes – they were still stunning even when they were being swallowed up by blackness.
"Edward, where are we going?"
"Somewhere."
"Edward, seriously!"
I thought I saw a smile flicker across his face, but he bit his lip to hide it. Somehow, that was comforting.
"Somewhere on the outskirts of Arizona."
"Why?"
"Because we are. Don't worry, Bella. There's not that much longer left. We'll be home soon."
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A/N: Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Uh…only 2 things that I'd like to say:
First, the action will pick up in the next chapter.
Second, hopefully you people noticed my used of parallelism (at the end of Max's POV and at the end of Bella's POV, the conversations were exactly the same).
THANK YOU REVIEWERS!