Hmm...I cant actually remember the last time I updated this ^^; but i didn't have a completed update until today, so sorry if it was a little long between these updates.

Aww, no reviews to comment on. Aww well, enjoy =P

Part 24

As they approached the next beach over the water, Max was certain there was something very wrong with Fang. She wasn't sure what it was or it was something she'd done, but he was acting strangely towards her, and she didn't like it.

She didn't like it at all.

He wasn't flying as close to her as he usually did. Instead, he was flying a little way to her right, and a little down, like he had when they'd had the rest of the flock with them. Her wings pumped in open air, and after so long of flying with wings overlapped she felt naked.

She took a glance down and assessed her right wing man. He still looked like Fang, his shoulders moving powerfully and almost silently as he focused ahead of him. He still had the same hair, the same clothes, the same face.

Then she saw something strange. His facial expression. He relaxed his jaw when he flew, Fang's version of enjoyment as the wind blew in his face, or the feel of the wind beneath his wings. His jaw was relaxed this time, but there was something else.

He had a massive smile plastered across his face.

Max frowned. Even when he was happy he never had a smile like that, it was always that lopsided grin she loved him for. This one was wide and joyous, widening further as he rode an air current. It almost looked maniacal across his usually inexpressive face.

She pulled her eyes away and stared at the advancing beach in front of them. Miami. They'd stop and find some food here, maybe relax a few days while they make a better plan to get into Itex than just 'bust in and hope for the best'. They still had the credit card, they could stay in a hotel while they did so, like a small relaxation period.

But she wouldn't be off her guard, she'd be watching Fang closely. Especially if he kept acting funny. Her instincts were waving a big red flag in front of her, but she couldn't pin point the issue. Maybe she was just being stupid, overcautious.

You shouldn't always follow your instincts, Maximum.

Get lost, Voice. She creased her features in annoyance, glaring at nothing in particular. There's something wrong here, and I'm going to figure out what it is.

Silence. Max slapped herself a mental high five and smiled into an air current, feeling the refreshing breeze on her face as she let smugness swim through her brain. It was a few minutes later she furrowed her brows again.

Did the Voice just used reverse psychology on me?

Below her, Fang2 was grinning like a Mad March Hare. He'd never gotten to fly for more than a few minutes at a time before. The scientists let him try to make sure he could, and then still could before he was shipped out with those ghastly Erasers to track the bid kids. He'd never flown like this before, high up in the clouds, the thinner air making his head light and giddy.

He felt so alive.

Maybe they could forget about all this mission crap, forget about going to Itex and just disappear off the face of the planet. If he could convince her he was the real Fang, of course, or she'd never agree to it. It was obvious to anyone the second she figured this out he was getting his butt kicked to yesteryear.

If she can take me. He wasn't planning on dropping like a rock if she turned on him. He was stronger, faster on the reflexes. If he had to he'd drag her back to Itex unconscious before he got lost himself, away from the whitecoats and erasers and plans.

The old Fang was gone. If the whitecoats had any sense they'd have destroyed him the second his sorry bird behind was dumped on their doorstep. Of course, scientists wouldn't want to waste an opportunity to experiment, he was probably still alive and kicking. Literally.

If he got out again, it was on their heads.

His smile had fallen as he contemplated all of this, his face set unconsciously into a frown as ideas flowed through his head. Max already seemed a little put out, like she was noticing things that were wrong. He'd have to step up his game and hope she didn't completely click before he convinced her to abandon the Itex idea, or got her in there if she was as stubborn as he'd been warned.

He took a glance up at her, suddenly remembering his Fang act and flat lined his face. She was staring forwards at the beach ahead of them, a slight frown on her face as if she were annoyed with something. He raised an eyebrow just as she glanced down at him. She shook her head slightly before returning to focusing on the beach ahead.

This acting is harder than it first looks.

*~*~*~*

Fang was dragged out of his solitary confinement to take blood samples and heart rates before, during and after extended periods of exercise. Extended meant three hours on a treadmill with no water, on an empty stomach, imagining the belt was the scientist holding the cattle prod's face.

Not that he had to use the prod, even once. Three hours was nothing after what he'd been through before.

Dumped back in the silence of the white room with a piece of bread, he nibbled it very slowly, trying to make it last until he was removed for something else. At least they had the decency to let him keep his arms and legs free and use the bathroom, even if he had to be friggen' supervised.

Water apparently was still a no go area, considering he hadn't been given any with his bread. He was parched, sucking a finger to keep the saliva in his mouth running as he stared at the white room around him. It was odd. He was in a room on his own, no other experiments at all.

Maybe this is where you went to be exterminated.

He shook the thought from his head and moved to his thumb, his other finger getting wrinkled from being sucked too long. He didn't want thoughts like that running though his head, he needed to focus. To survive, and hope what Jeb had said was true. That Max was coming. Even if she wasn't he could try to think of a plan to get out himself.

What seemed like hours after he was left alone he was dragged up yet again, his cage hoisted onto a cart and wheeled through endless twists and turns of white hallways. Fang was beginning to feel sick from the swerving until finally they stopped outside an oppressive looking door.

To his dismay, he was tipped out of his cage into the room behind it, the door slamming and bolting behind him.

He pulled himself to his feet, he did a quick survey of the room. It had two doors, one at each end, and was about twenty feet almost square. One complete wall was a mirror, which was almost painfully obviously a two way observation window. He ignored it completely, cataloguing the sad lack of windows or grates to make an escape from.

Then a buzzer sounded, and the door on the other side of the room flew open. He didn't have any more time to survey as he was launched into a full scale battle with four Erasers, all snarling with glee as they attempted to rip lumps out of him.

Three rounds of buzzer followed by snarling wolves later, Fang was still standing. His chest heaved as he locked his jaw shut, trying not to survey the carnage and blot out the occasional whine and whimper from his fallen adversaries as he stared at the mirror wall. He hoped to hell he was scaring a few of the pale, geeky scientists behind the screen as he assessed the damage.

The major one was the large cut on his face, a reopening and an extension of the scar across his cheek. His eye was also a fantastically bright purple colour, swelling shut as he studied himself. Other than that all the injuries were superficial as he shook from the adrenaline still pumping into his veins. He stiffened his body and looked towards the door as it opened, setting a scowl on his face.

A pleased looking scientist with a clipboard was standing in the doorway, letting three Erasers file in through the gap as he jotted down something on the paper. He handed one of the mutants a syringe filled with a clear liquid before closing the door again.

An Eraser cracked his knuckles as they advanced on Fang. All they had to do was overpower him long enough to get the needle into a vein. Fang repressed a shudder and took up a fighting stance for the seemingly hundredth time that day, snarling right back at them. One flexed his fingers into a fist while the other just cackled. He didn't fight back as they jumped him. It was easier to let them pin him to the wall and plunge the syringe deep in his neck.

He'd need whatever energy he had left for their next experiment.

*~*~*~*

The more she paid attention to him, the more behaviours Max picked out that were odd with her partner. For one, his face seemed to be constantly flicking between being emotive and readable to being as impenetrable as a brick wall.

What's more, his eyes never told her what he was thinking anymore. They used to be her silent entrance to his emotions, his feelings. Now, it was blank. Like when he'd looked at her that week they weren't speaking.

It was frustrating, being unable to see what he was thinking.

On top of that, he seemed to have misplaced all his knowledge of their subtle language. Slightly head nods, eyebrow raises, wide eyes or quick glances. Anything they used to do to communicate without speaking seemed to confuse the hell out of him.

She sat on the wall, her legs crossed as she watched him studying the ice cream sign outside of a small little seaside café thing. He seemed completely stuck for choice, like he'd never had an ice cream before. He liked chocolate, with a wafer cone.

So why was he buying a mint and vanilla one?

Following your instincts, I see. If the Voice could be smug, it would probably be having a smugfest right about now. Max shifted on the wall and looked out over the ocean, even with her raptor vision barely able to see the coast they'd flown from.

Just to clarify, I was already being cautious before you 'suggested' doing so, she thought back hoping it would catch the tone she was trying to use. And yes, because he's barely acting like Fang at all.

Why do you think that? Did she really have to explain it? It could read her thoughts, it must have picked up all the weird little things he'd been doing that weren't normal 'Fang' behaviour.

Then what do you think happened?

Haven't a clue, but I plan to figure it out before we dive into Itex.

You know Fang better than anyone. No duh. Look closer and decide.

Look closer?

The Voice didn't respond, typically. Max turned her head to study Fang, who was now walking back to her with an ice cream in each hand. He had a small smile on his face, but it wasn't a lopsided one like usual, a proper two sided smile as he liked a little bit of ice cream off of the cone, where it had run down.

He studied the cone again, checking for any more, and that's when Max noticed it. Fang, her Fang, had little creases on one side of his face, where he'd done all that half smiling. They were just next to his lip, slightly visible even when he set his jaw.

The creases were gone. His face was as smooth as Angel's butt when she'd still been in diapers.

She furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she looked for any other subtle differences, studying him as he focused on his ice cream. His clothes were remarkably clean for all the nights they'd camped out, since his mum hadn't had time to wash their clothes. It was also kind of odd he didn't have any blood on them from clearing her up last night.

She couldn't see anything else. He was still skinny as a twig, his hair still slightly flopped over his eyes in a cute kind of way. Her thoughts flashed to his odd behaviour, his blank eyes every time she caught him with a set jaw, how frequently his jaw seemed to be relaxed and in a smile.

Then her eyes fell on another detail: His shirt wasn't ripped. She touched the part of her arm that he'd bandaged, feeling the small piece of material squashed under the bindings, holding the antiseptic soaked cloth to her skin.

This isn't Fang.

Bingo.

It was then Faux-Fang looked up from his ice cream. Max instantly pasted on a fake smile, shuffling sideways on the wall so he could join her as he handed her an ice cream. He licked away at his own happily, not giving her a second glance. He hadn't noticed her smile was fake.

Is he in Itex?

Silence. Max's blood boiled as she licked at her own ice cream, repressing the urge to scream so loud the beach would probably empty in seconds. They'd replaced Fang with a carbon copy. Did they seriously think she wouldn't notice her boyfriend wasn't acting the way he should be?

She wanted to have the boy up against a wall, hand around his neck, demanding to know where Fang was. But, she also wasn't stupid. He was the same build as Fang, right down to the wingspan and toned muscles hiding beneath his clothes. If she tried to overpower him, she'd probably end up unconscious.

As she finished her cone and licked a few escaped streaks of ice cream off her hand, Max had already decided on her next move. They had to break into Itex and find the real Fang. Every thing else was on hold until he was free and back by her side.

Then they'd deal with the fake Fang, and whatever the Voice wanted them to find in there