Well, here's chapter 2! Enjoy! Please let me know what you think =] Thank you for taking the time to read! Sorry for the confusion- this chapter got deleted and then reposted! There were some errors that needed updating! Apologies =P

Disclaimer- everything belongs to Jp! I own nothing... *sniff*


~Fang POV~

I was standing concealed in the corner in direct line with apartment 105.

Waiting.

I highly doubted that Max would actually let me past the front door, therefore I was just going to have to ambush her at the front door. It was a simple plan, but one could only hope that it would be effective.I could hear steps on the staircase a few flights down, a light tread- purposeful and determined. It wasn't long until I saw a blonde head of hair swish past and pause outside my target apartment. My breath caught in my throat and it was getting harder to calm the loud thumping of my heart.

Nice one, Fang, I told myself disdainfully. You can face an army of Erasers without a care in the world, but coming face to face with your best friend makes you want to run away in a haze of nervous perspiration.

The woman was slender with blonde, naturally highlighted hair cropped stylishly just past her jaw line. She wore light blue, ripped denim jeans and a white t-shirt. I hadn't seen her face yet but I knew that she was beautiful.

I knew she was Max.

Inhaling deeply, I put one foot forward, ready to confront her as she searched for her keys in her black rucksack. A deep breath was needed: I probably wouldn't have time to take one while Max was inevitably kicking my pitiful behind from here to the middle of the busy street downstairs. Before I could muster up the courage to actually move from my shadow-enveloped nook, a tall, burly man in a red baseball cap strode forcefully in front of me. He hadn't seen me, so I decided to wait until he began going down the stairs before attempting to move. Just in case things got ugly with me and Max. Or in other words: so that when things got ugly with me and Max, innocent civilians wouldn't be exposed to the carnage… Optimism truly was one of my most admirable traits.

But he didn't head for the stairs. He stopped at 105. Putting a muscle bound an arm over the door jamb, the stranger pinned Max in-between the door and his body. In typical Max fashion, she spun around in a whirl of golden hair and shoved him backwards. The man started forward menacingly, thrusting her forcefully against the wall.

Oh hell no. I don't care if we were fighting, there was no way some idiot was going to lay a hand on her. Max would probably try to kill me for attempting to help, but that was what I did. When Max was in trouble, Fang was the one who rescued her. Everyone knew that. It was a given, a core fact. Even if it had been a very long time since I had done anything but cause her trouble...This loser was going to get it. If not from me, then certainly from Max. It was hard to suppress a sardonic chuckle- the poor fool really had chosen the wrong people to mess with.

He turned around swiftly, checking if anyone was around. Satisfied, he grabbed Max by the throat. His filthy, unworthy hands wrapping around her neck. I didn't try to stop him though. I didn't move, I didn't help, I did nothing. I was too busy trying to control the thick red mist of fury that had suddenly clouded my vision. It was a storm of fiery anger that made me so livid that I was starting to shake. My fists were clenched so hard to prevent me from punching through the wall beside me that I was hurting myself. Tiny crescent shapes dotted the insides of my palms from my piercing nails. The man had turned and I had seen his face.

I was going to kill him. Kill him first for me, and then for Max and then for the Flock. I was going to kill him.

It was Ari.