Way Back When

Chapter Nine: Feelin' the Bruises

A/N: Hey, guys, just a heads-up. I will not be able to update over the weekend, I'm going to visit my cousin at NYU in the city and I'm so excited! Don't kill me! And now on to thank-yous…offhermeds: Fav Author and Author Alert! R4UL: review: well thank-you. BEABT: review: I didn't realize Fang and Max not letting go would be cute but yeah, I guess it is. Thanks! Destiny: review: thanks for the compliment! I actually didn't know if that chapter would work, but it did! And I'm glad I could get Fang and Max right. I'm doing my best! Let me know if I ever go astray, please. And I'll update as fast as I can, but please see note at beginning of A/N for weekend excuse. XP FTLOI: review: criticism is good! I need it, thank-you! And omigosh, is your foot ok? Wow… SilentFlier: review: I'll always answer questions :D. And if my link to FF works (it's being naughty and temperamental right now) I will read and review your story! Everyone else should, too! FH12: review: your wish is my command *cue creepy genie music*. VoicesInMyHead711: Fav Author, Fav Story, review: yeah I liked the "I caught you" bit too. He's so proud of himself. Wow, long A/N, I apologise.

Disclaimer: I can't claim…it makes me sad…

Onward!

The first thing I became aware of was a slow, steady beeping.

Beep…

Oh, that's annoying.

Beep…

Next came the strong antisepticky smell of, well, antiseptic, that set my nostrils on fire. Along with the rest of my body. Ow, I had really gotten beaten up.

Beep…

God, shut up! I'm in enough pain; I don't need the stupid beeping!

Beep…

Of course. I noticed I was lying on a hard surface. Probably an operating table, to get the bullet out of my wing. How long had I been out? Had they tied me down? Where was Fang?

Beep…

Oh. My. God. Shut. Up. Before. I. Smash. You.

Beep…

That's it. I wrenched open my eyes and looked around for the source of the beeping. It had to be close by, watching me, enjoying my torment-

Beep…

Aha! I sat up slowly, aware that the room was spinning. So they'd added these beeps, along with a freaking spinning operating room? Whaaat? Did they want a lunatic on their hands?

Beep…

Alright, you asked for it. I'm going to smash you.

I swung my legs off the (as I had thought) operating table. I was in one of those gross, open-backed blue hospital nightgowns. As I slid my feet to the floor-a good three feet away-I realized something else.

They'd taken my underwear.

Not cool, fellas, not cool at all.

The lunatic-creating demon decided to alert me to its presence once more.

Beep…

I snapped my head around, and gasped as the room spun faster. Ugh, this was not fun.

Then I saw it.

The lunatic-creating demon.

A machine that monitored my blood pressure...or something.

I considered leaving it, since it was probably expensive and maybe important to my health.

Beep...

Nah.

I jerked up my right arm to punch it-and cried out.

There was a needle.

In my arm.

And stitches along my forearm, like they'd had to open it or something.

But wait.

There was an IV in my arm! A needle!

I reached around with my left hand and yanked it out, wincing slightly, then tossed the needle and its cord onto the table, shuddering. Stupid needles. I wondered why they'd stitched my right arm. Had I gotten a cut there and hadn't noticed?

I was brought back to my mission.

Beep… The stupid thing was mocking me.

Not wanting to hurt my right arm any more than it was, I curled my left hand into a fist and brought it back. With a grunt I snapped it forward and smashed the machine, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. I ducked, and the pieces sailed right over me.

Of course, now there was glass everywhere, my knuckles were all scraped up, and I didn't have any shoes.

And I couldn't fly.

And I didn't have underwear.

Yeah, that was bothering me.

With a small sigh, I resigned myself to wait in place for a looooooooong time, but I actually shouldn't have worried. The smashing of the annoying beeping machine must have been kinda loud because all these whitecoats came rushing into the room, saw me, saw the glass, and all stopped with identical expressions of shock and amazement on their faces. It was pretty funny.

"What," I said nonchalantly, "you never seen a mutant bird kid before?"

That set them into action. Two women picked their way through the glass to me, and lifted me up on their arms, like a chair. I would have protested, but hey, I had to get across the sea of glass somehow. They set me down in the hall, and then before I could move, I was surrounded by Erasers, all fully morphed and leering at me.

Creepers.

I was escorted down the hall and we stopped at a plain, white door. A whitecoat disappeared inside for a moment, and then returned with new clothes for me.

Including underwear.

Score!

I took them and slipped into the bathroom next to the plain, white door. As I dressed, I surreptitiously looked to see if there was a way out of the bathroom to freedom.

Not even a window.

And it wasn't like I could really leave now anyways, not without Fang, and not without meeting the rest of the flock, it was just wrong.

You assume correctly.

Oh, great.

It's you. I said irritably.

Cheer up, Maximum, this is a friendly visit. The Voice sounded almost chipper, in its way.

Well, make it quick, fortune cookie.

Your time here with Fang alone is almost over. He is very close to attaching completely to you. I think one more scene with him should do it.

Scene?

Just keep acting as you are, Maximum. You'll be meeting another flock member soon enough.

Um, Voice? I still have a few months before the next guy comes along…

We'll be speeding forward in time, of course. Do not worry, everything is taken care of.

Taken care of? Was this planned beforehand? All of this?!

You should leave the bathroom now; the scientists are pounding on the door.

Voice! I yelled.

No answer.

I came back to reality, suddenly aware that there were heavy thuds on the bathroom door.

"Open up or we'll break this thing down!" Bellowed an Eraser, sounding muffled around his huge teeth.

"I'm coming!" I called back, and, zipping up my new jeans, I tossed the hospital gown in the toilet, flushed it with a grin, and loped out of the room, listening to the water gurgle, choke, and splash onto the floor behind me. "Sorry, I had to…go." I shot a whitecoat a winning smile, and brushed my hair out of my eyes with my right hand, then winced. It still hurt. Why had I gotten stitches, anyways? I'd have to ask the Voice that later, when I got a private moment. Which obviously wasn't now.

I was shunted down the hall, made a quick right turn, and found myself facing yet another plain, white door. The Erasers shoved me aside as a whitecoat walked past and unlocked it. I was then thrust into the room and into my cage faster than I could react.

Which was pretty darn fast.

Before I could get my bearings again (seeing as the room had decided to spin), the door was shut and locked, and I was left alone.

"Hey, you're back!"

I whirled, then clutched my head and groaned softly. "Fang?"

Silence.

Oops, I did it again.

I forced my eyes to focus, and saw his cage was actually right next to mine, and he was pressed up against the bars nearest me, his dark eyes searching, and guarded. I waited for him to speak.

"I don't know why you keep calling me that," he said slowly, "but I like it, so you don't have to freak out every time you say it."

I stiffened. "I do not freak out!"

"Yeah, you do," he answered, and a lopsided smile graced his face. It took my breath away. "Your back goes all rigid and your eyes get really wide really fast and then squint up like you're bracing yourself to get hit. Your hands clench into fists and you shake your hair in front of your face like a curtain."

"Wow," I said dryly, "what did they put you on while I was gone?"

He looked away, his eyes dead, jaw tight.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry," I whispered.

Silence.

It was then that I noticed the green and purple bruise ringing his left eye, and the scratch along his cheekbone. He had bound his ankle up again, tighter than I had the first time we'd had to fight. It must have gotten hurt again. What he'd gone through, to get to me before I became the first human/avian pancake, and here I was mocking him. So I shoved my pride screaming into a deep, dark hole and covered it over with bricks.

"Thank-you, Fang."

I held my breath. For a few seconds he remained staring out the front of his cage. Then, slowly, the tightness in his jaw loosened and he turned around, looking me right in the eyes. I let my air out slowly, and continued, "I'm sorry I asked you to fight the Erasers and put all that pressure on you back at the test with Mr. Nice Guy, it was wrong of me. I should have fended for myself-"

"Are you crazy?!" Fang exploded.

I stopped short. Wait, what did he want me to say? "Uh…"
"You're apologizing for asking me to save your life? For God's sake don't you know I would have done it anyways? I'm not a killer! You need me. And I'm not going to let you die," his voice abruptly dropped, getting quiet and intense, when before it'd just been angry. "I'm not going to let you die," he repeated.

I was totally, and actually, speechless.

Actions speak louder than words.

For once I understood what the all-knowing fortune cookie was talking about. I maneuvered my hand through the bars on my cage (only now did I notice it was a brand new, all-titanium cage that was slightly bigger than my old one) and curled it into a fist.

Fang stared at my hand, and then his eyes flicked to my face. I was beginning to feel stupid.

"Never mind," I muttered, and started to draw my arm back in.

Fang's fist stacked on top of mine.

Congratulations Maximum, you have your first and most loyal Flock member. He will always have your back, and be your right-hand man.

Shut up.

Our eyes met. I smiled, and he returned the gesture with a half-grin that once again made my heart melt. Pulling away, we lay down on the thin blankets that lined our cages. I curled my hurt arm to my chest, not daring to unfurl my wings. I knew that would be stupid, impossible, and cause me great pain.

As I drifted off to sleep, a whisper floated through my mind, in one ear, out the other, flitting in my conscious for an instant before dissipating.

"Good night, Max."

"……..Good night, Fang."

A/N: So yeah, it's kinda a cliffie but kinda not, right? I just hope all of my hints were obvious enough. Ah, well. I really like this chapter, it's sweet. Review please! And once again, I'm sorry I won't be able to write over the weekend. It's making me suffer as much (if not more) than you will because I will not have access to my computer! Wahhhhh! Oh wow. I think I used everyone's suggestions in the course of two chapters. I. Am. Good. Heh, heh, just keedeeng.