Disclaimer: I own nothing but my soul and a shih tzu. I make no money from either of these fandoms.

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That night they were at Jax's house, and everyone was laughing and having a good time. Abel had been passed around, and was now snoozing in his bassinet, a little blue SAMCRO beanie on his head. Gemma had managed to get all of The Flock into actual clothing that wasn't ripped up, promising them they wouldn't need their wings that night. So, both boys wore jeans, SAMCRO shirts, and black leather jackets his mother had gotten them, Angel wore a dress and sandals, Nudge had her own fashion sense so she'd dressed herself in a long dress, and boots, and Gemma had dress Max in skinny jeans, Harley boots, and a dressy dark green shirt, that clung to her torso.

Jax found it funny, Gemma kept trying to get Max to hold Abel, but the girl wasn't having any part of it. Her eyes kept opening wide in fear every time Gemma looked at her. She'd told Gemma she'd never held anything living that small before, and had refused. The girl had raised Angel and Gazzy since they were two, but she was terrified of a baby.

Of course, the night couldn't continue in a happy mood. Tara showed up. Drunk.

"So, looks like everyone is having a GREAT time here tonight," she slurred.

"Tara, what're you doing here?" Jax had asked tiredly.

"That anxious to get rid of me, Jackson," she had smiled bitterly.

"Tara, you're the one who chose to end our relationship," he reminded her. The entire party seemed to be watching every minute of the interaction. Jax was grateful to see Donna taking her and Opie's two kids, and Gazzy and Angel from the room. Opie's kids and the two Flock kids were having a great time together. Opie and Donna had of course been let in on the secrets. Now Donna was mothering them as much as Gemma was. "I just agreed to it."

"That easy?"

He should not have to deal with this bullshit, he thought. She fucking breaks up with him, and then acts like it was all his decision. "Yeah I guess so." He heard Abel crying in the background. His mother was standing next to him, holding his hand as if to give him strength. And he had to admit, he appreciated it. His history with Tara was coming to an end, and yes, it was painful, but so was life. Abel was still crying, and Jax knew he needed to get to his son. What got his immediate attention though was the sudden quieting of his son.

Jax turned away from Tara and looked at the back of the room at the bassinet. Max had picked up Abel, who was staring at her in wonder as she smiled down at him. As he watched his son raised a chubby fist, towards the blonde's face, and she leaned in and kissed it. Abel smiled and giggled. Jax felt something clench and release inside.

"Oh my god," Gemma breathed out.

"Who is this?" Tara was loud as she stumbled closer.

Sensing she was being looked at, Max looked over at the group, meeting Jax's gaze with her moss green eyes. "He, uh, he was crying," she explained quietly. She hoped she hadn't done wrong by picking him up.

He nodded. He could feel the guilt oozing off of the girl. Like she'd done something wrong and thought she'd get in trouble. "That's fine, Darlin'." He managed, suddenly finding his mouth dry, and he smiled at her warmly.

Max sent him a beaming smile, and there was that clenching again, and then turned her attention back to the little baby she was holding. She'd been terrified of holding him all night. He was so small… what if she HURT him? But it was easy, holding him, and kissing his little hand, and he'd smiled and laughed. She heard the loud lady again, and looked up again.

"I said, Who Is This?" Tara snapped out.

Max could smell the alcohol from where she stood. She chose not to say anything to the woman. Gemma could tell her, or Jax, or one of the other Sons. She chose to focus on Abel. "Hello, Abel," she spoke softly.

"She's a friend, Tara," Jax turned his attention back to his ex. "A friend who was invited tonight, unlike you." He heard Bobby offering to take Tara home. "Let Bobby take you home. You don't want to drive drunk and get stopped, or get into an accident."

"She's why you don't care, isn't she?" Tara accused.

Jax's eyes flickered to make sure Max wasn't listening. "She has nothing to do with us, or with there being no us, Tara. You're drunk, and paranoid, and you're going to feel stupid tomorrow. Now, let Bobby take you home. We're done talking. We have nothing left to say."

Max was talking to Abel. "You're the very first baby I've ever seen or held." He smiled and giggled again. She looked up as she realized the confrontation with the woman was over, and Gemma had come over. "Gemma, he's so amazing," the wonder in her voice brought a smile to Gemma's face.

"He is at that," she agreed, staring down at her grandson.

Max giggled, startling Gemma who had never heard Max giggle before. She'd heard the younger woman laugh, but nothing as carefree as a giggle. "Look, he likes me," Max told the older woman as Abel gazing adoringly up at the blonde. Max was doing a natural rocking motion, moving from side to side slightly.

"You should go into his nursery and rock him," Gemma suggested. "Babies like to be rocked."

Max nodded, and went into Abel's nursery. She didn't see Jax and Gemma stand and watch her from the doorway. "I think you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," she told the baby. "And look at your beautiful room, Abel. They made it especially for you. They all love you. I love you too, isn't that strange? I haven't loved that many people before…. Well, I guess until recently. Would you like to hear a story?" Max sat down in the rocking chair and began to gently rock. "There was once a little girl named Max, she picked her own name, because she was never given one, and she lived in a silver cage. Every day she was visited by a man named Jeb, and every day she got to see the people who would become her family. Other children, Max's age or younger… but none as young as you. Max wouldn't have been able to take care of a little baby. One day, Jeb came, and opened the silver cage, picking Max up into his arms, and carrying her out into the night. He put her into the backseat of a big, black, car… there was a boy next to her, his name was Fang. And he held Max's hand the entire time they were in that dark car. There were four other children in the car as well. Max knew them all; Iggy, and Nudge, and Angel and Gazzy. Her family; she wasn't alone anymore. She had family that was just like her. Jeb began driving, and bright lights flashed on, filling the car with light. It scared Max, but she trusted Jeb, and Fang held her hand, so she knew she was safe. Jeb drove them for days. Drove them through towns and the desert. And finally into the mountains."

Jax looked at his mother and saw her crying. He kissed her forehead before walking into the room. Max looked up at him with that dazzling smile. "How's my Little Man doin'?"

"He's asleep again," she told him quietly.

"You handled him like a pro, Darlin'."

"Jax," she began, not looking at him. "Are we causing problems for you… by being here, as in being here in Charming?"

"No," he told her. "Just like I told Angel today. You all are right where you belong."

She nodded.

"So, I need to talk to you about something." He began.

"Is it about Juice liking Nudge," she asked, and looked up at him smiling a little bit.

Jax looked startled. "Yeah, actually."

She nodded. "I've known about that for a while. She likes him too. Blushes every time Iggy mentions the word 'juice', which he does quite often and on purpose. I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but keeping secrets in our group is pretty much impossible." Her tone was matter of fact. "It worries me. Not his age, or anything silly like that," she told him.

He was surprised she thought the age thing was silly.

"I don't think he would do anything inappropriate. If he did, I'd fly him up into the air, and drop him."

He blinked at the promise in her tone.

"No, it's just, Nudge has been mine to protect for a long time. And handing that responsibility off to someone else isn't easy. And, I don't know how to protect her heart." She told him, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "We've never had to worry about these things before. Our hearts were never at risk. It was only the six of us. We don't know how to flirt, or… well, Fang knew how to flirt, Iggy too I guess, but, the rest of us, it's like something you read about in a book, but never actually deal with in your own life." She focused back on Jax. "I want them to have everything. I want them to find someone who touches their heart. They deserve so much more than I've been able to give to them… until Gemma came along." She looked away again. "We never had anyone like Gemma in our lives before. Never really had anyone like you and the others."

He was kneeling down so she could talk to him, and her face was so earnest. "You're not alone anymore, Max. Because you do have us, and you have Gemma. We'll make sure you're protected. Everything is going to work out fine. Better than."

"Do you want Abel back?" she asked.

"We should probably lay him down," Jax murmured. He watched as the slip of a woman stood gracefully from the rocking chair, and took Abel to his crib. She was so gentle with him.

When she stood at the crib, hands on the railing, she smiled. "I think I like babies."

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Max was dreaming. She knew she was. She stood on the porch of their house in the mountains. The house that had been destroyed. Fang stood next to her and they both stared at the mountain peaks in the distance.

"I forgot how beautiful it was up here," she murmured.

"Definitely simpler times," he responded.

"I didn't think I'd see you again," she told him honestly.

He scoffed, "As if I'd let death keep me from visiting my family." Then he shrugged, "I guess if you take as much shit as we did, you get a few perks in the afterlife."

"I held a baby, Fang," she told him, pure wonder in her voice. "It was incredible."

Fang was nodding. "He's a cute kid all right."

They were quiet again.

"Look, Maxie, there are some things I need to pass on to you before you wake up."

It was her turn to nod, and she turned her full attention onto him.

"That woman, the drunk woman at the party, watch out for her. She doesn't like that she's lost the VP. And she's one of those that thinks that what she knows is best for everyone. Be careful of her."

"I feel bad. I feel like we split up Jax's relationship," Max murmured.

"Nah," Fang waved her off. "Events put into motion heralded the end of that fiasco. Be careful of the Nords," he went back to his warnings. "You stopped them before they could really hurt Gemma, and they don't like people interfering with their plans. Also, there's a Detective Stahl at the police station, she is with the ATF, and she's a big threat. This might be a situation where you use Angel's abilities. I know you don't like to do that, but… she's a huge danger to the Club."

Max nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Don't forget there are Erasers out there. Always looking. The School is determined to get you all back. You all were its most successful test subjects." Fang cleared his
throat. "This is the… awkward part. We both know, that growing up, we never knew all of the abilities or side effects we would gain or suffer due to the experiments."

Max's heart began thumping painfully in her chest.

"You're all evolving. In doing so it might have some effects on others around you. Oh, it won't change them into Flock, but it's almost like a chemical reaction."

"What are you talking about, Fang?" Max was slightly annoyed at him for beating around the bush.

He sighed. "Some birds mate for life. Your bodies are going through a change, a physical change. And when you find your mates, your bodies will know. It's like a mating imperative… I don't think I'm explaining this right."

She blinked at him in disbelief.

"You're already seeing it," Fang said softly.

"Juice and Nudge," she murmured.

He nodded.

"What does it mean?" she asked, a little bit frightened.

"There are a lot of great things to it. When it happens, they'll make each other happy. He'll protect her to the death. They'll stay true to each other. Unlike a lot human males, he won't go off looking elsewhere."

"And the bad?"

"If they fight it, it'll hurt. They'll get sick. Weak."

"Is this like some soul mate bullshit, because you know I don't believe in that crap," she snapped.

He chuckled, "Nah, no soul mate crap," he promised. "It's just your body's way of finding a suitable mate. Thing is, once it does, it stops looking."

"So, that's it? Our bodies find someone, says, hey this one's good, and it's done? No further choices?"

"Not exactly. Your body wouldn't just pick anyone. It will pick the person who is most suitable to you specifically. And that person would be attracted to you. No attraction, no mate."

"What about the other person, the human mate? Do they get a choice?" her voice was trembling somewhat.

"Max…"

"Do they," she stared at him hard.

"Yes," he said quietly.

She nodded. "Okay then."

"Max, when it happens, you can't fight it," he stressed.

"But I can, as long as I don't do anything that would make that person pay me any mind."

"You'll get sick…"

"You don't get it, do you?" her words were filled with unshed tears. "It could work for the others, but not for ME." Max turned and looked at Fang and saw that he was upset and worried. "I was not born, Fang. I was made in that school. The rest of you were BORN human, and altered. I'm a freak." She gritted the words out.

"Stop," he snapped.

"No, you listen," Max faced him, trembling. "I can't ever have a mate. I can't ever have children. I will NOT do that to another person. We don't even know if I could have children, but if I did, we don't know what they would turn out to be. And I cannot tell anyone about what I am. The mutations already set us apart. Knowing that I wasn't born…. That I was a freak… I promise, I will do my best to help the others."

Fang had tears in his eyes. He never knew she'd felt that way. It explained why she'd constantly pushed him away.

"If you were going to come bearing shit news, the least you could have done was bring chocolate chip cookies." She whispered.

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