DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.

Hey guys!! This is NOT the last chapter and it is slightly longer. Anyways I won't keep you so enjoy!

MAX POV –

The Flock had our happy little reunion, everyone trying to embrace Fang at the same time. We were all so relieved that he was alive. I was giddy with happiness but our excitement was short lived as we heard the groan of the woman Whitecoat. She was still lying where I'd left her and we all glanced at her as we realised we weren't in the safest environment.

A silent agreement passed between the six of us. Within minutes we had pulled another daring escape and were soaring through the sky to freedom. For a long time we just let ourselves be swept up with the joy of the moment, being together as a family and free to spread our wings and coast the currents. But it wasn't long before we tired and had to stop for food and rest. It had been a long day, filled with kidnappings, deaths and physically and mentally draining emotional turmoil. Ah the bliss of being a teenage mutant bird-kid.

As we feasted on takeaway burgers we gave Fang a short version of what had happened after he'd passed out. He seemed less than surprised by what we said, his face remaining emotionless the whole time. I watched him carefully, confused. Call me crazy but I would be a little disturbed by the fact that I'd just died and then come back to life.

When everyone had finished eating, night had already fallen and the kids were holding back yawns. They were only young and yet they'd been through so much in their short lives already. I smiled at them proudly before nodding to the surrounding trees.

"Catch some zees guys," I encouraged them. "Fang and I will cover first and second watch. I'll wake you up Iggy when it's your turn."

He nodded and ushered them over to the nearest tree. They settled against one another snugly, wrapping their blankets around each other for added warmth. Tonight was unseasonable cold. I already had my blanket wrapped around my shoulders and pulled in tight to my hunched shoulders. I watched the four younger Flock members as they gradually nodded off. When I was sure that they were all asleep, I turned my attention back to Fang.

"So Jesus," I said, "How did you do it?"

Fang, who had been staring over my head at something I couldn't see, suddenly blinked and returned his eyes to mine. He shifted his blanket so it was tighter around his shoulders.

"Do what? Walk on water? Part the Red Sea?" Fang asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "That was Moses, Einstein, and no. I was referring to your miraculous resurrection."

Fang didn't respond. He just stared at me, his eyes – usually so open to me – were drawn and cautious. Silently he reached out for me and I willingly scooted into his embrace. He leant his lean frame up against the tree behind him. I sat in between his legs and lay back against his strong chest. Heat radiated from him as he wrapped his arms around me, adding the warmth from his blanket to mine.

"Was it the nanobots?" I asked tentatively.

I could feel Fang's heart beat faster at the mention of that horrible technology and he tightened his hold around my waist.

"I have no idea," he replied. I could hear the honesty and frustration in his voice as he searched for the answer. I felt his Adam's apple bob up and down as I rested my head between his shoulder and neck.

"After I closed my eyes I remember this... indescribable pain, like the Nazi's and British were fighting World War II in my veins. I couldn't even move because my muscles had seized up and I was struggling to draw breath."

I could hear the agony in his voice as he reminisced about what had happened back in the lab.

"Somehow I just knew that it was the nanotech that was doing that to me. I couldn't tell you how I knew, I just did," he continued after a brief pause.

"Anton, that Whitecoat, told us that he'd ordered the nanobots to kill you," I injected, shuddering at my own trip down memory lane.

Fang instinctively held me closer as I shivered but I pretended not to notice. He was quiet for a moment and I was suddenly worried that he'd closed up. I took his hands in mind, enjoying the warmth they held.

"That was probably what they were doing," he murmured. "It definitely felt that way."

"And you flat lined," I whispered hoarsely. That horrible noise would stay with me forever.

Fang turned his head and gently kissed the top of my head.

"I thought the nanobots were designed to heal you, not kill you," I said.

Fang made some noncommittal sound in his throat as he leant his head against the side of mine. He kissed my jaw line near my ear and it took all of my impressive willpower just to keep my train of thought. Fang continued to ignore me, trailing kisses up the side of my neck and all the way to my lips. Just as he was about to steal all rational thought from me, a realisation hit me.

I gently pushed Fang's searching lips away, ignoring the voice in my head that was shouting at me to just embrace him and leave the worrying for later. I turned slightly so I could look up into Fang's face, noting the way his eyes devoured me with insatiable hunger. I mentally shook my head.

"If I'm right," I began.

"Which you always are," Fang replied softly. I didn't fail to notice the sarcasm behind the remark but I wisely ignored it before continuing.

"If I'm right," I repeated, "And the nanobots were designed for the specific purpose of healing and that everything else was just programming" – he winced because he knew what I meant by everything else – "then that would mean that Anton's reprogramming was in direct contrast to what the nanobots were essentially designed to do."

Fang blinked, his dark eyes sparkling in amusement.

"I have no idea how you come to some of the conclusions that you do."

I rolled my eyes before thinking of a better way of explaining.

"They are healing nanobots; it's why they were created. The Whitecoats gave them another function, which was the programming. When Anton programmed in the kill command, he pretty much just told them to do the opposite of what they do best. So these nanobots get this message but become confused because of their contradicting orders. Do they kill you, just as the new programming tells them too or do they continue to heal you, like they were created to do in the first place?"

I was definitely warming to this theory.

"I think that the nanobots did them both. First, they killed you, just as they were told to," I said. "And then they would have healed you."

"You mean bring me back from the dead?" he questioned.

I frowned. "Well however you want to put it, it all means the same in the end."

There was silence as I watched Fang think through my theory. Finally, after what felt like forever, he returned his eyes to my face.

"I think you're only partially correct. I don't think that all the nanobots could override their original designs so they continued to heal me as others tried to kill me," he muttered. "I mean, why else would it have felt like a war zone inside me?"

He paused, took a deep breath and then continued. "I think that the nanobots ended up attacking each other instead of me. The healing bots would have seen the kill bots as enemies to my system so they would have sought to get rid of them before they could do me any harm. But the kill bots would also have fought back as they tried to complete their programming."

I nodded slowly. "That definitely makes sense. But then does that mean that the nanobots destroyed themselves?"

Fang shrugged. "Let's find out."

He felt around him and after a few seconds, picked up a stick. He held his arm out in front of him and suddenly pressed the jagged broken end into his skin. He let out a soft hiss as blood slowly began seeping out of the wound. Fang tossed the stick aside and we both stared at the cut, waiting for it to heal over.

It had previously taken the bots only a few seconds to heal one of Fang's wounds but this time Fang and I sat there for minutes. After five minutes, nothing had happened. I was getting fidgety with boredom but I somehow managed to stay still for another few minutes.

"I think you're back to normal," I said.

Fang grinned at me and I felt my heart squeeze in excitement.

"I think you're right," he said, "I don't feel anything even slightly nanobot-like."

I beamed at him as he kissed me, this time on the lips. I responded with delight before pulling away.

I snuggled back into Fang's embrace, feeling the cold bite of the wind flee from his warmth. I closed my eyes as I let the exhaustion come to me at last. Fang was alive, my Flock was together, the nanobots had destroyed themselves and I was sitting, reeling from Fang's kiss, dizzy with happiness. My life couldn't get much better.