Five…pairings (in the Maximum Ride fandom)…that never happened before (the time of writing as far as the author knows).

Maiyri

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Um, shortfic on LSD.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except rights as first writer to write some of these pairings. Someone's probably done one or two before, but if they have I haven't read it. Maybe we need one archive, instead of MRF and FFN.

Author's notes: Refer to above 'Fic on LSD'. Don't take this seriously.

--

It wasn't until after all of it was said and done that they'd met. The Lerner school was pretty much hated by all of the former...inmates of Itex's labs, but with everyone now knowing (because of Max, she'd ruined it all, but nobody said it) about them and what they were it was, for the first time in their lives, a place to be 'safe'.

There was the expected tension between the escapees and those who'd worked for Itex, whether brainwashed or not. Iggy thought the whole thing was dumb. There were enough people hating them without them hating each other.

And it was his business who he was seeing. It was not the business of the gossip mill. And it wasn't a secret. Just, nobody knew.

"Hey," he said softly, slipping into the room.

"Hello."

Iggy settled on the bed, reaching out to take the other's hand. "I'm sorry about earlier." He winced as he heard the sigh.

"We can't keep fighting each other, Iggy. It's just not logical. Our greatest odds of survival are in cooperation."

"I know," Iggy said, snuggling into the other boy's embrace. He reached up and stroked Omega's hair. "We'll beat the odds. Promise."

Iggy/Omega

--

"I hate them, I hate it all, and I hate you!" Max shrieked, storming through the door, throwing her book across the room. It hit the wall with a thump, and then landed on the bed of her roommate, who simply moved gracefully away from the heavy text as it fell.

"Calm down," the girl said, putting her own book down disapprovingly. "It is not as if the book ever did anything to you."

"The book was written by a sexist male pig who thought that just because I'm a girl I can't do anything!" Max cried, upset and angry about the hurtful things that Fang had been saying recently. She was no less capable than she was three years ago.

"I take it that we are no longer speaking of the book?" the other girl asked mildly. She quietly paced over to Max, and pulled her into a hug. Max resisted at first, but quieted as Mara stroked her hair. "You have me, Maximum, and I love you," she said softly. "We shall not speak of men and their views or the latest thing that annoys you."

Max sighed into Mara's shoulder. "Thank you for putting up with me."

Max/Mara

--

Jeb had only been back at the school for two weeks. The general consensus was that he was either a traitor, really stupid or both. He was an outcast among his colleagues, and the Erasers who hadn't minded his company before had shunned him.

He was late for a meeting, but he didn't care. He'd make an entrance, and them someone would acknowledge that he existed. He pushed past an Eraser, and went to turn the corner.

"You!?" The Eraser hissed in surprise. Jeb was equally surprised, someone was talking to him.

He spun on his heel. "What!" he snapped at the Eraser.

"You... You never loved me!" the Eraser howled, grabbing him and slamming him against the wall. "You just left me!"

"I was never any good at loving anyone!" Jeb murmured, surprised. "That's why they all leave me, in time."

"Why?" the Eraser's voice was heartbroken. "Wasn't I good enough?"

Jeb leaned forward and kissed his son's forehead. "I never knew how to love you like I was supposed to." He said quietly. "God, even now, you look so much like your mother," he whispered, tracing Ari's face lightly with one finger, overcome with memories. "Come with me?"

Jeb/Ari

--

Monique had grown into her looks well. Everyone said that she was beautiful, and the stares as she passed people proved it.

She needed a job. So it seemed that getting pictures into a couple magazines might be a good idea. Just until she had money for college, because that was what she wanted to do. Be a vet, with Doc Martinez.

But first she needed an agent. Nobody wanted to talk to a seventeen year old. And she wanted to be taken on for her, not for her wings. That was what she promised Max.

But it always came back to her past.

Another meeting. "Nudge?" said a curious voice. "Is that you?"

She turned to see a striking woman looking at her, interested, and in more ways than one. She was attractive, but Monique ignored that. Most women got jealous of her, couldn't stand her for long enough... "Excuse me?"

"You're Nudge, right? Max's sister."

"I don't know what you're..."

The other woman laughed, tossing her red hair over one shoulder. "Here for the job?" she asked flirtatiously. Nudge couldn't help but smile back. "I think we might be able to fit you in. How about lunch, first?"

Nudge/Lissa

--

I love the way she brushes my hair, and holds me close at night. I love the way she strokes my wings. I know she'll never really leave me behind, and I know that she knows I'm hers.

I wish that I could be more for her, be a true part of her life. I know that one day, as she grows up, as she gets more and more beautiful with every passing day, she might forget me. But I'll never forget her, I'll always be hers, my dark eyes will always seek her out when she's in the room. She is mine, my heart, and forever.

She is my rescuer.

That is not what made me love her. No, what made me love her was her trust in me. Her late night confessions, the ones that told me all her hopes and fears. I became more than just a refugee of fate, I became a confidant, someone for her to cry to, safe in the knowledge of being loved.

I know her so intimately, and so she knows me. She is my rescuing Angel, as I am her Celeste. There is no love like a teddybear for her mistress.

Angel/Celeste

We're calling it Angeleste.

--