This is the last chapter of Part 1! I finished it sooner than I expected! Next up, Part dos! It's called, "Mutant Call."

Chapter 14: Learning to Lead

FPOV

Max motioned with her head to the woods. She started to walk away, and I followed her.

When I fell into step with her, she began, "Fang, there is still a lot you don't know about being a leader. That's why I need to teach you everything I know about leading."

She looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes.

"Being a leader," she continued, "is knowing when to lead and when to be led. Being strong. Never giving up. It's about being the one that can make even the darkest situations seem better.

"You have to be able to pull a plan out of thin air. If you don't have one, let it come to you."

That was when we came to a small river.

We stopped and found a spot near the banks that had a group of large rocks to sit on. Max took one of the higher ones that reached out and overlapped mine.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

She gave me a sad smile. "I don't want you to fail your flock like I did mine. I'm trying to make that better now, but it's been a rough journey." She gazed off into the forest like she was remembering something.

Suddenly, her hand flitted to her stomach. She sucked in a breath so fast it was almost a whistle.

"What?" I asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

Max shook her head and drew away her hand. "Nothing. It's nothing."

Her tone wasn't convincing. But I shook it off. She probably just had a stomach bug or something.

There were many minutes of silence.

"Fang?" she asked in a small voice.

I looked up at her.

"Can I tell you something?" Her eyes were closed and her hand was at her stomach again.

"Anything," I whispered.

She didn't open her eyes when she said, "I made a mistake."

My heart began to thud wildly in my throat. "What do you mean?"

"About what I said earlier, about us acting professional…"

"Yeah…" I urged. My biggest fear was that she and Dylan had gotten together. That maybe she had forgotten what had happened three months ago.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have said that."

My eyes widened. "The great Maximum Ride is apologizing?"

Max opened her eyes and scowled. "Yeah, I am. I made a mistake by saying that."

I shrugged. "I understand. You want to keep your flock safe. I want to do the same for mine. A lesson I learned very well from you."

She gave me a patronizing smile. "Yeah. And… other reasons."

I looked up at her and frowned. "What do you mean?"

Max avoided my gaze. "It's nothing. Never mind."

A few more moments of silence.

"So…" I said awkwardly. "We're back on track?"

She looked at me, her face serious. "We can never be back to where we once were, Fang."

Silence.

"But we can try," she whispered.

We looked at each other and a feeling passed between us. It was a look of suppressed love, grief, anger, passion, lust, and frustration.

Max was the first to look away. "But I don't want to hurt the flock like we did before."

Fang, the Voice whispered, she is part of your destiny. You must gather her army, as you have done. Mutants everywhere have heard the call and are gathering. This will soon be the battle that will decide the fate of the world. It will decide the fate of Max. It will also decide the fate of another.

Who? I thought.

The Voice didn't answer.

"Fang!" Max's voice called distantly. "Hello? Earth to Fang! Come in Fang!"

I shook my head and blinked several times. "What?"

She was looking at me skeptically. "You zoned out for a minute."

I scowled. "Voice imparting unnecessary information. Please leave a message after the beep."

Max actually laughed. "They are annoying, aren't they?"

I nodded.

She smiled and stood. "Come on. They'll be wondering where we are."

We walked out of the woods, laughing and recalling better days.

When we were just friends and Jeb was our caretaker.

*sobs quietly* We've come so far in such a short time! I'll be updating Part 2 soon!

Peace, love, happiness, and Maximum Ride.

-A$h