Max's POV

It was a week after Fang didn't come, and four days since I had sent my recording of the song I wrote for Fang to a producer. Then-

Riiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiing! There goes the telephone. I lunged for it from where I stood sorting coats in the entry hall closet. Maybe it was Fang…

"Hello?" I said hopefully into the mouthpiece. A tinny voice sounded in my ear in reply.

"Hello, is this Miss Maximum Ride? This is Tony, the song producer…" It wasn't Fang. My heart sank a bit as I chided myself for thinking Fang would call me. Then I realized that Tony was waiting for me to reply.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"My people loved the song you gave us, and we'd like to start selling it right away." Yes! This was my chance for Fang to hear me!"

"Yes, yes I would love it if you produced my song!" I told Tony, fighting down excitement.

"Great! Do you have any other songs, maybe not as spectacular as this one, to back it up so we can create a CD?"

"Yeah, I have tons of minor ones," I could use the ones the Flock had toned down for extras.

"Good." Tony sounded pleased. "Maybe we could meet to talk business someday soon?" He asked.

"Sure. I'm free anytime." Sad, but true.

"How about Friday at four? Come to the building, and ask for Mr. Daskovitz." There was a slight pause. "That's me," Tony added as an afterthought.

"Sure, that sounds great! See you then," I told him, and hung up the phone. Now to tell the Flock.

Iggy's POV

I guess we took the news well. When Max told us she had purposely created an amazing song to make her famous and allow Fang to find her, I only swore six times. Nudge looked furious for a moment, but then sighed regretfully. "I guess it was asking a lot to let us destroy your songs for our own safety. Get famous with my well wishes."

"Nice speech, Nudge," Gazzy commented, blowing a citrus scented bubble with his gum. The Gasman hadn't seemed fazed at all by Max's betrayal. Neither did Angel, for that matter.

"Iggy?" Max asked me hesitantly. I probably looked grumpy, not to mention the whole swearing episode. . .

"It's fine with me, I guess. I would love it if Fang came back," I admitted grudgingly. Max flung her arms around me, causing all of the breath to leave my chest.

"Thanks Ig, you're the best!" she cried. I nodded modestly, and Nudge snorted at me. Suddenly, my wife's eyes lit up, and she grinned an evil grin.

"Max, if you're going to be famous, you need a makeover!" Nudge and Angel simultaneously squealed with joy and grabbed Max. They started gabbing about what they were going to do to her as Max's face morphed into a stricken expression.

"Ig? Gazzy? A little help please?" she wailed as the girls pulled her away. I shrugged, and Gazzy held up his hands in a noncommittal way.

"Serves you right!" I called. Max stuck out her tongue at me as Nudge pushed her into Angel's room, walked in and closed the door. I heard a clicking sound that seemed to indicate Nudge had locked poor Max in. "Max is so immature for a woman in her thirties," I complained to the Gasman. He popped another gum bubble and said,

"She may be 35, but she still is Maximum Ride."

Nudge's POV

Oh, this was going to be so much fun! We steered Max into the bathroom connecting to Angel's room, giggling as we went. I sat Max down on a little white vanity stool in front of Angel's counter, and ordered her not to move a muscle. Angel helped mess with her mind so she wouldn't budge, too. I put Angel in charge of picking out an outfit for famous Max, and dug my makeup bag out of my purse. "Max, you are THE most difficult victim!" I complained, as Max's eyes twitched yet again while I was applying eyeliner, causing the line to be uneven. She grumbled under her breath and attempted to keep her eyelids still. I quickly finished with the eyeliner, gently brushed on light blue eyeshadow, layered her lashes with mascara, and dabbed on a pinkish bronze blush. After I finished that, all left was her lips. Studying the rest of my creation, I decided on a shimmery ice pink lipstick. After I had applied that, I ordered Max not to touch anything, and went to go get the outfit Angel had picked out for her. She had chosen a teal dress with a knee-length, delightfully swishy skirt, silver high heeled sandals, and silver bangles with a matching pendant sporting a rose teardrop. I gave Angel the thumbs up and carried in the outfit for Max. We stood her up (Angel's mind control to make her sit still hadn't worn off quite yet) and helped her get the dress over her head without badly smearing the makeup I had applied. While Angel helped Max with accessories, I touched up the bits of makeup Max had managed to smudge, and styled her hair in silver barrettes.

When we finished, Angel and I stepped back to admire our work. I nodded approvingly and announced, "I have created a masterpiece!" Max turned and saw herself in Angel's full length mirror, and just gaped at her reflection. She looked down and fingered the skirt of her dress, then turned back to the mirror.

"I- I'm beautiful," she whispered, touching the surface of the mirror. Angel giggled.

"You'll do , honey," she teased Max.

"Let's go show Gazzy and Iggy!" I shouted suddenly, pulling Max towards the door.

"What? No, they'll laugh…" Max trailed off, firmly planting her feet.

"No, they won't. Come on," Angel told her softly. Max thought for a second, then relaxed, allowing us to gently tug her out the door…

Well, how was it? A tad bit longer than before, eh? Anyway, if you liked it, I would be really happy to know! If you feel like it, review! It will make my day…