I don't own MR
Max
Three days had gone by since the wall imploded. Three long, tense days of all of us being on edge. Even the slightest ticking noise made us look around wildly, searching for another bomb. It was insane to live like this, not knowing what breath would be our last, never knowing if we were safe, but we couldn't leave yet. We still had to figure out the safest way to get the chip out of Fang's arm.
Yesterday he had suggested to just slice it out of him and hope for the best, but I was no fool even if everybody took me for one. There were too many veins, and too many chances. If I lost Fang I don't think I could ever continue on.
I found it funny after yelling at him for even thinking about being so reckless, that one person could have affected me so deeply. It was like all at one, it hit me. Before Fang entered my life I could have easily risked slicing an arm open, not caring whether or not the person lived so long as they couldn't give up my location, but after I met him, after I fell in love with him, I realized that there was no way I could take any chances. Not with him. Not with my everything.
In all honesty it scared me to be so attached to a species that was so destructive. It scared me to love him, but I pushed that fear away every time he smiled his goofy smile and made a dumb joke because he was Fang, and he wasn't going anywhere. At least, I hoped not.
"Max, I've got it. I think I know what we can do," Iggy spoke up, gesturing for Fang to come over to the kitchen island. He had been sitting at the table, his feet propped on the wooden surface we had our dinner on, his muddy shoes leaving dirt all over the clean strip of wood. He stood up and swaggered his way over, staying quiet, his smile not quite reaching his lips. It was like he wanted to reassure me, but he couldn't even reassure himself.
"I think if we make a small incision here we can avoid the worst of his veins, and then if I keep my hand steady I should be able to pull the chip out with the only possibility of damaging nerve-endings being a couple fingers." Iggy grabbed Fang's hand and yanked it forward, palm up, causing him to stumble forward a bit until his stomach was against the countertop. He huffed as Iggy pointed the scalpel at the place where he needed to make the incision, and I thought for a moment before looking to Fang.
"I don't want you to lose your hand, or any of your fingers," I told him, but he only shrugged.
"Max, I don't want to be the reason they hunt us down. Do it Iggy, get it out of me," Fang answered the strawberry blonde firmly, who gave me a wary look.
"Alright, you ready to go, Captain?" He asked me, but I shook my head.
"Fang, don't you realize the risks?" I demanded. "There has to be a safer way,"
"Max," He spoke in the same tone, mimicking me. "don't you realize that we don't have time to find a safer way? If I lose some feeling in my hand I don't care. I just want you to be safe," my boyfriend told me, the honesty and desperation seeping into his voice and swirling around his dark irises. He needed to do this to feel content, and because of that I would let him no matter how much it bothered me.
"Okay, let's do this," I spoke in a strong tone that contradicted my feelings, knowing I had to turn back into the leader. I couldn't dissolve into a lovesick mess anymore. I had to be there to boss everybody around so they all knew what was going on. I couldn't waste my time making out with my boyfriend anymore. Everything was falling into a chaotic mess, and why? Because I finally got a break? Well I couldn't let my guard down anymore. Maximum Ride doesn't get breaks, not even if she needs them.
"Alright, I'm going to need Ari to tie off the arm right past the elbow to stop the blood flow, and I also need some sort of anesthesia to make the area numb." Iggy explained, not even bothering to look up at any of us. Ari ran off immediately to follow orders from where he stood quietly y the kitchen door, and I think he even managed to skip a couple of times. He was obviously excited to watch Fang get hurt and possibly die like the sadistic, over-protective brother he was. I rolled my eyes as he hummed a happy tune, and turned back to my boyfriend.
"We don't have anything to numb it," I told Iggy, looking into Fang's eyes. They swirled with a sudden fear, but the determination and desperation to keep me safe overpowered it.
"Well maybe-"
"It's fine. I can take it," Fang mumbled, but he couldn't. We both knew he couldn't, and I hated to know that I was about to see Fang at one of his weakest moments, and it was because he was worried about my safety instead of his life.
"Fang-" I began, but he just shook his head.
"Max, why don't you go to the store or something? I don't really want you to be here when this happens," Fang told me, and I finished the sentence he had never began. I don't want you to hear me scream or watch me suffer. I probably should have agreed, and since my hair was still dyed a chocolate brown color and I could easily shove in a pair of colored eye contacts it wouldn't be much of an issue, but at the same time I wanted to be here to hold his hand and make sure he was okay, so I shook my head.
"I'm staying," I insisted.
"Can you please just do this one thing for me and leave?" He asked, a sudden ferocity in his eyes I hadn't seen in awhile.
"Fang I'm not-"
"God Damnit Max! Just get out of here!" He yelled, yanking his hand away from Iggy so suddenly the scalpel cut right through his skin, leaving a trail of blood to splatter across my shirt and the walls behind me. I stumbled a few steps back as he took a couple towards me, an intimidating look in his eyes. I needed to listen, to go, but something kept me from doing that.
"Your wrist," I whispered, reaching towards it, but he shoved me away so roughly I fell to the ground. Once again my stupid emotions had shoved the leader right out of me, and after what, only a minute of trying to regain my pride?
"Fang!" Iggy exclaimed, cautiously approaching the young man I was stuck loving.
"Iggy, you take one more step towards me and I will break your neck," Fang warned in a deadly calm voice that held the icy blue eyed boy frozen in place. The threat wasn't empty, even if Fang wanted it to be, and all three of us knew it.
"Max, leave." My boyfriend turned back to me as I staggered to my feet, leaning against the wall as I watched him, waiting for a muscle to twitch in his arms, or one of his shoes to shift ever so slightly.
"Fang, calm down," I mimicked his angry tone, which only made him growl at me. A feral growl that held the warning he was going to hit me even before he did, or tried to anyways. I ducked and swung a fist out, his nose breaking as my fist made contact with it before I rolled over to his left and got back to my feet. He fell back and leaned heavily against the kitchen island, grumbling to himself as he held his nose. "Sorry, Babe, but you're kind of in monster mode right now and-"
"Max. He doesn't want you here. Just go," Iggy commanded with a flick of his wrist. Fang nodded once as if I should listen to Iggy, and I wanted to, but I also wanted to stay, and I should get what I want because I'm the leader- or I'm supposed to be anyways.
"Tell you what, I'm going for a walk, and when I get back I'm sticking around," I snapped before storming off to the front door and slamming it shut behind me. Standing on my porch, I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed, angry at Fang and angry at myself. I wasn't sure how much I liked our relationship anymore. It was either sickenly sweet or annoyingly trapped in some other emotion. There was no balance with us.
Groaning, I started to walk off the porch when I realized something. I was in plaid pajama pants, one of Fang's sweatshirts, and fluffy socks. Not nearly enough to battle against the light sheen of snow on the ground for longer than ten minutes. Well then, guess I'll be getting back sooner than Fang would like, I thought in frustration, before I began to trudge through the woods, farther and farther away from the cabin that was my home even with a huge hole blown into the wall.
I walked slowly through the forest that covered my house from view, glancing back every now and then to see if I could still see the frosted windows or dark wood. I couldn't. It all turned into a mesh of dead trees and crunchy leaves. I was alone, and I was too far away from my home to feel safe. "Oh Fang," I breathed out, "What's wrong with you? No, what's wrong with us?" Something had been off, and it took me a whole day to realize it. We acted like we were still in love but our connection had been stretched to its limits. We needed to bond, as much I hated to say it. We needed some time alone together. Time we couldn't afford to have.
The ten minutes I planned to be out there turned into twenty as the snow began to shower me in its cold embrace, leaving my vision practically useless as I tried to find my way back home purely on senses, but I was lost. Dead lost.
"My, my, my, what do we have here boys?" A low whistle met my ears along with an arrogant voice as I spun around, only to find seven beefed up men smirking at me like I was a delicious steak.
"The girl who's going to break your neck if you don't go back to whatever crib you crawled out of," I snarled viciously, attempting to keep my teeth from chattering. Ever since the snow had begun to fall the temperature had dropped a good ten degrees from fifty to forty, and I was feeling the change in weather in every layer of skin and bone. It livened me, and also made me want to shut down, but I couldn't.
"Oh how cute," one of the men began, "she thinks she can beat all eight of us," Eight? I wondered, counting them once again. I felt confused to notice there was only seven until the slightest crunch of snow and dead leaves behind me made my eyes widen in fear. There was one behind me, and before I could make any move he had an arm locked around my neck. They had captured me.
I was trapped.
Guess what everybody? I have written the epilogue for Fugitives and that means I KNOW HOW IT ENDS AND YOU DONT MWAHAHAHAHA
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