AN: Hello people. Not in the mood for a long AN today, so here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own MR.

(Max's POV)

Have you ever woken up to your wings cramping so painfully, it feels like they're about to fall off? Oh…right. Never mind. Well, let me tell you, it sucks. Especially when it's midnight on a Friday night and all you want to do is sleep. I guess it makes since though. I haven't flown for a while.

It'd been a month since I beat the living hell out of Jake, and Ella was doing well. She was acting more and more like her normal self. I've been much more open with the others, and I can tell they like it. I still haven't mentioned the wings though. I mean, I sort of want to, but, how would you bring that up in a conversation? "Hey guys, I just wanted you to know that I'm a mutant freak with wings because my parents are freaking idiots who didn't care about whether turning their daughter into said mutant freak would be a burden on her." Yeah. That conversation would go well.

My wings cramped again, the shooting pain snapping me out of my thoughts. I swore. It was supposed to storm tonight, but I had to go flying. I couldn't put it off any longer. I threw my covers off and climbed up to the balcony, and from there the roof. I took a running take off and soared into the air. I flew towards that old secret place I had discovered. It was usually were I went to on these flights.

Unfortunately, the storm really started. It was pouring down the rain, and I knew that I needed to land. I circled down, and was just about to pull my wings in to land when a strong gust of wind hit me from the side, slamming me into a tree, left wing first. It hit with a nasty crack, and an unimaginable pain flared through it, so strong it made me cry out. And this was me, Maximum Ride. I was conditioned not to scream, or even make a noise when I was hurt. I didn't even cry out when I was beaten by my other foster families.

I fell to the ground, hitting hard on my stomach, knocking the breath right out of me. I whimpered in pain, the rain still pouring on me. I got up and stumbled into the brush, which offered more protection from the rain. I grit my teeth from the pain, and made my way back to the house.

By the time I got back to the house, I was breathing heavily, and the pain that started out almost unbearable had spiked to a kill-me-now-and-put-me-out-of-my-misery pain. I used the spare key under the floor mat to open the door, and quietly stepped in. I knew I needed help, but I was reluctant to ask for it. Dr- I mean, Mom, was a vet, which was appropriate enough, but I'd hid my secret for so long, I just didn't know what to do.

The decision was made for me. "Max?" I heard a voice say. Thanks to the pain fogging up my brain, it took me several seconds to recognize the voice as Fang's. He and Iggy were having a sleep over with us tonight. Iggy was sleeping in Gazzy's room, and Fang was sleeping on our comfy couch. "Max, are you okay?"

He walked up next to me. It was dark in the house, so he couldn't see my wings. "Not really." I said, voice strained.

He must've heard, because he flipped on the light. His eyes grew the size of dinner plates when he saw my wings, and then they went to the one that hung at an odd angle. I avoided eye contact. "Max…what happened?" he asked. I glanced up at him. His face had gone from shocked to worried.

"I…went out flying and then it started to rain. I went to land, but a strong gust of wind slammed me into a tree, wing first. I broke it." I replied, grimacing. "You need to go get Mom."

He nodded, but first led me in the bathroom. He had me sit on the bathtub, with my legs actually in it, so I was facing away. I watched as he walked out of the room, and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. It didn't work. Mom was about to figure out my biggest secret, and no doubt the others would too. After all, it's kind of hard to hide a freaking broken wing. How could I be so stupid? I knew not to fly out in the storm! I should've just taken some pain reliever and waited until the morning! Damnit!

I heard them coming into the room, and then, all too soon, Mom and Fang were there. I didn't look at them, but I heard Mom gasp and whisper my name. Her voice sounded like a mix between awe and horror. Then, I felt gentle fingers on my broken wing. I sucked in a breath and instinctively arched away from her hands. I don't care if it was gentle, it still freaking hurt!

"Sorry." Mom murmured. I looked back at her and was able to brace myself this time as she put her hands on my wing, examining the damage. I grit my teeth against the pain, feeling like I couldn't even breathe. "You broke it pretty bad, Max." It made it even worse that no one had touched my wings before. Well, except for the scientists, but that had always ended up in painful agony.

When Fang realized I couldn't really talk, he explained what happened. Mom then went to setting my wing and patching it up. "That should take a couple months to heal." she said.

"So, about two and a half weeks." I murmured, accidently saying it out loud.

"No, I mean at least two months." Dr. M said, frowning.

I shook my head. "I heal very quickly. Part of the…" I trailed off before starting again, "mutations."

"So, you're a mutant." Fang said bluntly.

"Yeah." I shifted uncomfortably. They were both looking at me with these surprised faces. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Take a picture. It'll last longer." I growled, standing up. I was still a little shaky, and my wing still hurt like a son of gun, but I couldn't take them staring at me.

"Max, calm down. We're just a little surprised is all. You really need to take it easy, I mean, you are hurt." Fang said, grabbing my arm as I tried to brush past them.

"Max, how did this happen?" Mom asked worriedly.

I sighed and yanked my arm from Fang's grasp, running a hand through my hair. "I'll tell you tomorrow. But, I'll give you a hint. I told you my biological parents were bastards." I said before walking back into my room. I carefully laid down on the bed. I wasn't looking forward to tomorrow.

(Fang's POV)

There's one thing I have to say. The looks on the others faces when Max showed them her wings? Priceless. I thought their eyes were going to pop right out of their head. It was hilarious!

Of course, Max didn't really have much of a choice on showing them her wings. They were sticking out of her shirt. They were folded, but not up against her back, like they usually were. She said that it hurt for her to fold her wings in all the way with her broken one. Actually, she said it hurt too much to move it.

We were all sitting around the kitchen table. Max was eating some cereal. I had a feeling she was stalling, not wanting to tell us about her past. "Max." I finally said in a warning tone. Max looked up at me innocently. "Can you just tell us already?"

"Angel and Gazzy can't be in here." was all she said.

Angel pouted. "Why not? We won't tell anyone!" she yelled.

"Yeah! You shouldn't leave us out! It's not fair!" Gazzy added.

Max eyes turned hard, like they were when we first met her. Both of the kids instantly shut up. "Now." she said. They instantly scrambled out of the room. When I glared at her for being hard with the kids, she sighed and leaned back, wincing and sucking in a breath when she moved her wing. "Don't give me that look. It really is that bad." she said, returning my glare.

She ran a hand through her hair. It was a nervous habit for her. "Where do I begin?" she murmured. She paused for a full minute before finally starting. "My parents were geneticists. Except, they took it to the extreme. They worked with this company called Itex. They experimented on humans. Human children, actually. Sometimes, the child would be made in test tubes, or the scientists themselves would donate their own children for the cause. Other times, the children would be taken from hospitals, the parents told their children died, or adopted.

"My own parents donated me. They grafted avian DNA into me while I was still in the womb. It gave me wings, and my bones are lighter than a human's. My lungs are bigger, and I have air sacs. My heart beats faster, and I have to eat a lot. Up to 3000 calories a day. It was…painful. You think normal growing pains are bad? Try it with DNA that's not only not even yours, but isn't even from a mammal.

"And then there were the actual experiments." Max's eyes closed and she grimaced, probably from memories. "They were…bad. Torturous even. There were so many different kinds. Some of the scars I have are from my adoptive homes, but most are from those experiments. They tortured me for the first five years of my life.

"Then one day…well, my parents obviously weren't mentally stable. They were both way off their rockers. My father, Jeb just…snapped. He killed Margret, my mother. I usually stayed in a cage with rest of the experiments, but I was staying at their house that night. I'm not actually sure why. Jeb killed her right in front of me. The police found out and arrested him. During their investigation, they figured out about Itex. They whole place was brought down. Jeb was sentenced to death, and executed by electric chair last year.

"I hide my wings from them. Instead of taking me wherever they took the other experiments, they took me to the adoption agency. And then, it was just from one home to the other, until I came here." Max finished, spreading her arms out to emphasize the here part.

All the girls were crying, and we were all staring at her in horror. Max shifted uncomfortably under our gaze. She cleared her throat and looked away from us. It finally dawned on me how awkward this must be for her. Then, I did something that surprised all of us, even me. I stood up, walked around the table, and pulled Max into a hug.

She instantly stiffened up against me, and I wondered if I'd done something wrong. Then, she relaxed completely and wrapped her arms around me. From there, it went into this big group hug. I felt Max shaking against me, and I realized…

She was laughing.

After she just told us about her horrible past, she was laughing. I don't mean chuckling, but full out laughing. We all looked down at her and she finally stopped and smirked at me. "Geez. You've gone soft on me. I knew there was something beneath that emotionless brick wall of yours." she said.

I rolled my eyes. "Only you could be laughing after what you just told us." I said, shaking my head.

She shrugged. "You have to understand, I grew up with that. I didn't know there was anything different, so I just accepted it. It's painful to remember, but…" she trailed off, scowling. "I don't know how to explain it." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I guess it's just that I've accepted my past. It's part of who I am. I can't change it because what's done is done. But, at the same time, I can't let it ruin the rest of my life. Life's too short for that, you know?"

We all looked at her in surprise. I thought over it and nodded. It did make since. Max smiled at me and my heart fluttered, my breath hitching. What the hell? Am I sick or something?

"So, you can actually fly?" Iggy asked, touching her right wing gently. Max stiffened and her wing twitched slightly. It was kind of funny, almost as if they had a mind of their own.

"Not for the next two and a half weeks." she groaned, putting her face in her hands. "I hate not being able to fly. My wings cramp up."

"Why?" Nudge asked.

Max dropped her hands and looked up at her. "Imagine that you couldn't move your arm for two and a half weeks. Would it not start cramping up on you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Max was tired. Apparently breaking your wing didn't do much for your sleep, so she didn't get a lot of it last night. She excused herself, going back up the stairs, but not before leaving us with a very specific warning. We couldn't tell a single soul about her wings, and, if we did, she'd beat the living crap out of us. I was still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Max has wings. But she has fifteen feet of them to prove it. And what her parents did? I want to rip them apart! No one should have to go through all that.

I looked up the stairs, where Max had gone. Why did my stomach flip and my heart speed up every time I thought about her? I remember when I found her last night. Vulnerable and in pain. It just…wasn't Max. Max is strong, confident, beautiful. It just wasn't like her to be weak. And I didn't like it. Not one bit.

AN: Sorry if it's not very good. I knew how I wanted them to find out about Max's wings, but I wasn't very sure how I should finish. Oh well. At least they know now. Review, and tell me what you think! Also, any ideas of where I should go from here would be nice. But I'm not giving the rest of the flock wings.