Whoops I put 58 when I meant 158! Ha oh well you know what I meant. Last chapter of the night! I'm glad you are all pleased to see Max back in the game. Max happens to be my favorite character in the series although I wish she was portrayed in the newer books like she was in the first three. I miss the smartalec (how do you spell that lol) that she was then. But, sigh, you can't have everything you want. So, I'm going to try my hardest to make it so here! Where I'm in control! So please enjoy….

Maximum Ride 20 July 4

(Max Pov.)

I watched as Total swooped down and landed on the ledge of the cave. He walked forward and stared at something inside of it. I felt my heart twist and my chest tighten. Two different hands touched both my shoulders and I turned to see Max 2 crouching beside me on my right while Omega crouched on my left. Both of them were smiling encouragingly and I tried to force one back except I think it came out as more of a grimace.

"Don't worry Max," Omega said. His blue eyes were sympathetic but alight with excitement. "Yeah Max don't worry. They'll still love you and I bet they'll be overwhelmed to know you're alive," Max 2 said. I nodded but I wasn't all that convinced by their words. What if the Flock didn't want me back? It's been ten years since I've seen them after all. What if they've forgotten about me?

"Total's looking for us, that's our Que.," Omega said. He stood up and spread his wings then jumped over the top of the cave and swooped in with Max 2 by his side. That left me all alone...again. I shook these thoughts away and suppressed them deep inside of me. Now was not the time to think about that dark time. Now was not the time.

From inside the cave I heard a snarl and my heart leapt. It was Nudge. "It's Max's clone and Omega," she snarled with so much venom that she reminded me of...well, of me. I felt a smile cross my face. Good, they didn't think that Max 2 was actually me. I had been worried about that but Total had assured me they would know she was the clone. He said that they'd kept their eyes open for that right after I 'died' and before they split.

When I finally tracked down Total a few days ago at my mom's house I just couldn't believe it when he told me the Flock had split. Sure I'd figured they would have some issues but never once did it occur to me that they would break up. They were a family for Christ's sake! How could they do that to each other after what I did? After I died to make sure they could be together?

Okay so I was obviously not dead now. But that was a long story and though I knew I would have to explain I didn't look forward to telling the events of my life for the past ten years. They hadn't been pretty.

I looked up to see Omega and Max 2 standing on either side of Total. "What-," I heard Gazzy start to say, my heart lurched again, when he was cut off by the sun finally breaking over the horizon. "Show time," I muttered. I leapt up and whipped out my wings. In the next instant I was soaring down and landing on the ledge outside the cave.

The golden light of the sun shown around me casting my face in shadow and warming my backside. My eyes pierced the cave and though there were several people in it I immediately made out the five people I've wanted to see so much. They each had their hands raised above their eyes so that they could see and as I watched their expressions changed from those of rage to those of disbelief.

I looked at all of them hungrily, drinking them in. I loved them so much and had missed them everyday I'd been away. Each day I struggled closer to them. Each day I fought to be able to see them again. All this time, all that I've been through, all the pain, the hurt, the loss, was all worth it just to see their faces in this moment.

And though I was looking at them all and loved them all...I couldn't help but look at one more than the others. Fang. Ever since that day I've wanted to be with him. To be by his side. To see him, touch him, even smell his pine woody and windy smell. I've wanted to kiss him and hug him. To look into his eyes and tell him what I did the day I died. That I love him.

His mouth quirked then and I leaned forward. I wanted to run to him, to them, so badly but I couldn't make myself move. From the corners of my eyes I saw Omega and Max 2 casting glances at me. They knew how badly I wanted the Flock back, they knew what I'd been through to be with them again. Total was watching everything calmly but on the inside I knew he wanted to be with them to. Actually in his mind he was picturing flying at them and licking them to death then chastising them for not visiting him. Oh, the 'in his mind' part, well things have changed over the years. I'm not the same person.

"Max..." My eyes swiveled to Fang's and I saw my own want and love reflected in their black depths. But there was something else to...caution. "Fang...Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel." Their names rolled off my tongue easily. It felt so natural. Probably because it was supposed to be. They were, had been, my family. I really hoped we would be family again.

"This isn't happening," Iggy whispered. Angel must have been sending him mental pictures because the shock on his face mirrored those of the Flock. Huh, I'd have to fix that. "Max, Max is it really you?" Angel asked. I saw tears in her eyes and in her mind I could see she wanted to run forward and hug me and never let go. But she was smarter than that. She didn't know if I could be trusted. If I was the real thing.

I found that I could form words again and said, "Yeah Ange, it's me."

"But you're dead. We saw you die," Gazzy said, his voice was thick. I noticed that he sounded older, they all did, and looked older too. He wasn't a little eight year old anymore. He was eighteen roughly now. He wasn't my trooper...he was a leader and so were the others.

"Yeah, Max is dead. You're just another clone sent here to capture or kill us and our Flocks. Well you won't get that chance we won't let you!" Nudge snarled. She took a step forward and a man behind her who I knew to be Ty immediately flanked her. After a moment Gazzy stepped forward by her side and was joined by his girlfriend named Alexandria. Iggy was the next to step forward though he seemed reluctant. A man and a woman flanked him. The man's name was Mick and the girl was his sister Nikki. Both Nikki and Mick's eyes were narrowed and Nikki in particular seemed ready for a fight.

My eyes swiveled to the other bird kids, Bryce, Jordan and Braden who stood behind Angel watching curiously and Arianna who stood behind Fang with one hand holding his arm. They were looking at their leaders in anticipation. Waiting to see what they would do. For a moment everyone held their breath. No one moved. Then Fang and Angel slowly walked forwards but didn't take up a fighting stance.

Immediately Max 2 and Omega moved to the sides of the cave and Total took a step back. I moved forward as if in a dream. Fang and Angel continued to walk straight at me and I walked straight for them. It was like I was watching from outside my body. I saw Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy look surprised yet still distrustful. I saw their companions look back and forth between them and me. Fang and Angel's companions watched nervously. Arianna raised a hand but then it dropped limply to her side.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...we stopped two feet apart. I realized my wings were still out and slowly tucked them in along my back. Fang and Angel followed my every move but I didn't fidget. I was used to scrutiny. Nothing was going to make me waver or backdown. Never again.

I don't know how long we stood there. Gazing at each other. Fang and Angel kept their minds vacant and their faces devoid of emotion. I kept mine just as vacant, probably even more so. I've had a great deal of practice with not showing emotion over the years. It's one of the reasons I'm still alive.

Finally Angel spoke, her voice calm but layered with something else. "How do we know if you are the real Max?" Behind her the others stared in shock but then shook their heads in agreement. I looked down at Angel, I was still taller even though she would have been seventeen, and murmured, "How do you know I'm not the real Max?"

"You can't prove you're the real one," Gazzy snarled. His blue eyes were blazing and it hurt for me to see him so angry...at me.

Angel what's in her mind? A stray thought asked. I realized it was directed at Angel but I picked it up. Unintentionally my eyes swiveled to where the thought had come from. Iggy. He was looking at me with rage layered eyes but in his mind I could see he wasn't all to sure I wasn't the real Max. He'd suspected I was the real one from my message to him.

I looked back at Angel and saw her looking at me intently. Then her expression changed from one of calm intent to one of incredulity. Her brow furrowed and her lips pressed into a hard line. Why can't I get anything! She shouted in her mind. It's like there's a concrete barrier but I can't even see it. Not like Fang or Iggy's mind blocks. I can actually see them when they are trying to block me. But with her I get nothing...

I forced myself not to laugh. Angel didn't have a prayer of breaking into my mind. No one had been able to do that for four years. Not after the white coats...no don't think about that. That's all in the past. Concentrate on the now. You've got to prove to them you're the real Max. How else will you convince them that the world is about to be destroyed and that only together can they survive?

Angel let out a disgruntled huff and in her mind I heard her think out to everyone, I can't get anything from her. Or Max 2 and Omega. Oh yeah, I helped them with their mind blocks too. We had a lot of spare time together. Psssh...you have noooo freakin' idea.

Angel's eyes swiveled to Total and I realized she wanted to read his mind. I could have blocked her...but I decided to let her read it. Well, I'd let her see what I wanted her to see. As Angel began to read his mind I hid his thoughts about what I'd told him I'd been up to. Instead I let Angel see that he believed I was the real Max. It wasn't easy to manipulate the mind, and Angel's powers had gotten stronger, but I did it. When Angel finally exited Total's mind all she had found out was that Total trusted me.

Total thinks that this is the real Max. But I don't think I'm getting everything. It's like I push for something but it repels me subtly. I don't understand, she thought to the others. I watched as their eyes narrowed but bodies straightened slightly out of their fighting positions. Fang, who had his hands by his sides and hadn't spoken at all since he'd come to stand in front of me, finally spoke.

"If you are the real Max then you would know the answers to a few questions that only she and the Flock knows the answers of," he said calmly. His black eyes avoided mine and I could tell in his mind that he was avoiding my eyes incase he got sucked into their brown depths...that's what he said.

"Yeah, let's see if you can get the answers right," Nudge said. She walked forward but motioned for Ty and Carrie not to follow her. Iggy and Gazzy did the same and came to stand beside Fang and Angel. They let their fists drop to their sides but remained tensed.

I decided to throw them for a loop and crossed my arms over chest like I used to all those years ago. My face hardened and they flinched. "Have it your way," I said calmly, cooly. For a moment they were silent, each thinking of their own questions. Man are they lucky I'm the real Max, I thought. If I wasn't and could still read minds I'd know the answers and the questions before they even spoke them.

Finally Nudge asked, "What was the name of my favorite boy band when I was eight?" I rolled my eyes and said, "Nsync, you never stopped singing their songs even in your sleep." Nudge's eyes widened and the others looked to her for confirmation. She nodded her head. "Lucky guess on that one. But you won't get mine," Gazzy said.

"I always did like a challenge," I told him. Gazzy's blue eyes widened but he said calmly, "When I was six what did I take from Max's room and use to do what to the yard? Also what was my punishment?"

"That's easy. You took my favorite and only Mickey Mouse T-shirt and used it to make a long enough fuze for a bomb which you blew up half the yard with. Your punishment was to do the laundry and not eat any chocolate for a month. Which I know you ignored because Angel told me you had been sneaking stuff when I wasn't looking."

Gazzy's face was the picture of shock. I turned to Iggy who was watching me with more curious than angry blind eyes. After a moment he asked, "What did Max say to me when I told her I loved Ella?" My eyes widened but I smirked. "Nice try Ig., but you never told me you liked Ella. If you would've told anyone it would have been Fang. I would have probably called you a sexist pig and told you to stay the hell away from my sister. That is unless I thought you meant it."

Iggy's face looked identical to Gazzy's. His shoulders slumped and he looked at his feet. I turned to Angel and she watched me cautiously. She was thinking really hard about her question but finally she settled on one she thought would be perfect. "What did I tell Max her eyes looked like?"

"The chocolates we got from France which had alcohol in them. Gazzy ate them and puked his guts out so when you told me my eyes looked like the chocolates Gazzy ate I felt hopeless. My eyes apparently looked like barfed up chocolate. But you told me no, they looked like the chocolates before Gazzy barfed them up."

Angel glared at me for a moment and then her shoulders drooped and she nodded her head. At last I turned to look at Fang. His dark eyes were firmly latched to the floor and his hands were tight fists. He was several inches taller than me and he looked more muscled up. He had filled out but was still skinny and not bulky. His muscles were lean but clearly visible in his arms. He was wearing a black shirt and black pants...God he hasn't changed that much. His hair was cut shorter but he still had bangs. He looked so familiar, just older, that it made my heart ache.

Finally he looked up at me and his eyes met mine. His dark eyes were the most similar. In them I could see pain reflected but also hope. In those eyes I saw my Fang from ten years ago. Not the Fang the world saw now or then...but the Fang he had been around me. No mask, no casual non-wordiness. He was just Fang. My soulmate, my right wing man, my best friend.

We stayed like that for several seconds, each looking into the others eyes, and then Fang let out a soft sigh. "Max...," he whispered and I knew he knew it really was me. The others looked from him to me. In the next instant Fang had his arms around me in the tightest hug he'd ever given me. I hugged him back automatically and buried my face in his chest. I felt other hands wrap around me one by one and I knew that I had my family back again. At least for now, I thought.

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