A/N: Alright! Let's figure out what the hell is going on here!

Love you all for giving me feedback. It fuels me.

WARNING: Consider this a blanket trigger warning for dark thoughts and overall depression themes. Max starts to get dark here, folks. Read with caution, I'll do my best with trigger warnings. This chapter isn't too heavy.

Disclaimer: James Patterson owns the Maximum Ride characters and universe. I just play with them.

M

Fang stops when he sees her.

Face red from crying, cheeks still wet and nose running. Fingers nervously twisting in front of her, barely peeking from her dirty sweatshirt. Eyes wide and uneasy, looking at him with complete devastation. She didn't think he'd be home. Fang sighs.

She's clearly been through a lot.

"Max."

She looks a mess, and when she sees Fang she breaks, covering her face and crying quietly. He gets close to her, all the way, covering the yard in large, urgent steps. She steps back a bit, tentative. He fills those steps and pulls her close. He wraps her into his arms. He's not thinking about much else except her. Her, here in his arms. Max is a real person. He has absolutely no doubts there. He knows her, through and through.

She's his person, and she's very close to falling apart.

"Are you okay?"

She doesn't answer, she's still actively crying into his jacket, only pausing to drag in a shallow breath every so often. She's quiet, but not letting up. Fang looks up and sees Iggy heading back inside, easing the door closed behind him to leave them alone.

Fang pulls away gently, just to check her over since she looks so wrecked. He runs his hands gently down her trembling arms, flickering his eyes up to check hers every so often. She's not really meeting his gaze, but her eyes are wide open, still, and he can tell the gears in her mind are turning rapidly. He readies himself for some sort of identity crisis.

"Fang, look," She mumbles it tiredly, cautiously, and he finally notices how exhausted she is. He continues holding both her arms in case she decides to pass out on him.

"Iggy told me, I saw the video myself," he hushes, jaw tight. "Are you alright?"

Max's face falls into sorrow again and she shudders a heavy sigh. His hand strokes down her hair, thumb reaching to wipe her wet cheek. He cups either side of her face, holding her in his gaze. She blinks, looking so deeply broken for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"Max, for what?" he dismisses easily, brushing a kiss to her forehead and whispering down to her, "Nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry this is happening."

"I didn't know, I swear," she stutters out through tears, eyes flickering down.

He nods confidently. "I know. I know. I'm so sorry."

She nods, sniffling, trying to stifle tears that keep coming. "I know. Fang…"

"Don't."

His eyes show his firmness. He shakes his head down at her with finality, his jaw set stubbornly. "This is weird. This is crazy. It's sad," he pauses, dragging his hands down to link fingers with hers. She lets him. Says nothing. "It's strange, Max, but don't let this erase everything else."

"I don't know who I am."

"I do," he retorts immediately. "We do."

Max blinks up at him, pulling one hand away to rub her wet eyelashes. After a moment, she gives a heavy sigh, seeming to choose against arguing. Fang continues in her silence, not done by a long shot.

"You're Max. You're the same Max that stepped up and took care of this family when Jeb deserted us. The same one who rescued Angel, and Val after that—the Max I fell in love with."

She grips his biceps, blinking up at him defeatedly. He's done, though, so she swallows thickly.

"You know I love you," she replies quietly. "I'm sorry, still. I am. Fang… I need to do something."

She steps around him abruptly, moving steadily toward the back door. Bewildered, he follows her, catching up easily because she's exhausted and clearly aching from something. Fang can't figure it out and tries to just keep himself calm until he has a solid reason to freak out. It's hard enough to keep cool as it is with everything going on with the case.

Inside, the other three are sitting quietly at the table, waiting patiently for the two of them. Gazzy, still reeling from the clone Max revelation, sits quietly at the table, watching her. He's bouncing both legs, one finger tapping on the table. Max glances around, looking wired, moving past everyone at the table and heading for the hallway. Fang moves to stop her, saying, "Max, don't. Hang on."

She grits her teeth, clearly frustrated—distracted. She yanks her arm away and frowns at them all, silent for a moment. Fang knows she's thinking but has no idea what.

"Max, are you okay?" Iggy asks softly.

She whines in a very un-Max way, chewing her bottom lip absently. Worried, Angel dips into Max's mind and catches a brief and horrific glimpse of Max's current thoughts. Including: If one more person asks me if I'm okay, I will go right back out to that mountain and finish what I started.

Angel chokes on a whimpering sound and says, "Leave her alone! Give her space. Max, what do you need?"

Max looks down at Angel to her right, looking apologetic. "Notepad and pen."

Angel promptly heads down the hall to the office to retrieve it. Max's eyes land on Gazzy who is eyeing her curiously from across the table.

"Gazzy," she says slowly, "Do you remember the toaster bomb?"

He makes a face at her, like, What does that have to do with any of this?

Of course he remembers it. It's one of his favorites. A bomb in a toaster. Pretty succinct concept, but he'd been proud of it. Plug that thing in and dial anywhere over 2 and a sizeable explosive device with a five-second delay reacts accordingly. He'd been a little less proud when he left it on the counter during a bathroom break and Nudge almost used it to make some very bad toast.

Gazzy nods, looking at Max sheepishly. "Yeah, I remember. Shouldn't have left that in the kitchen, Nudge nearly blew up the house."

Max looks unimpressed so far, completely unphased. The toaster bomb is clearly not the point, but it's anyone's guess where Max is headed with this line of questioning. Gazzy glances at Iggy and Fang for a moment, gauging their reactions, but they both seem stumped as well. Stumped and highly concerned.

"Right," Max says hurriedly, "so, how many other gadgets and devices like that have you made?"

His eyebrows come together in total confusion. "Huh? Max, what is going on? Did I do something?"

Angel gets back with the stuff Max asked for, so she stops interrogating him to flop down at the table with her notebook. Gazzy watches her incredulously, seeing Fang growing restless behind her. He seems ready to put all of this to bed right now, refusing to entertain…whatever this is. Angel backs away, staying silent, looking at Max with wide, worried eyes.

They wait. Max sketches something. It's a really basic drawing, from what Fang can tell, and he has no idea what it's supposed to be. Max shakes her head, drops the pen and slides the notebook to Gazzy. He looks down at it silently.

"Something like this? And people click it and vanish."

"Max, what the fuck is going on?" Fang demands. Max looks over at him, surprisingly steady, while the Gasman processes what she's saying. Fang looks near ready to drag Max to a crazy house. Iggy looks entirely confused. Angel is still silent and pale, watching Max. Max hates doing this and looking so crazy, especially right now, especially after everything else today. But she's got to know.

"Fang, give me a second. I know," Max says, sounding firm even in her exhausted state. "I know I sound crazy. One second."

Gazzy rips the drawing out of her notebook and turns without a word, heading upstairs. Max frowns and grabs the notebook back, beginning to scratch something else now. Words, notes. A list of…something. Fang can't tell what this garbled string of phrases is supposed to mean.

What the hell happened to her?

Fang moves into the kitchen and gets her pill from the package from the pharmacy, as well as two pain relievers from the pantry. He moves back toward her with a bottle of water and the pills, holding them out to her.

She looks over at them, looks up at him, and takes them without a word. He watches her swallow all three, glancing behind her to see the notes she'd written in her panic.

Older…how much? Same scar. Sweatshirt. Pen device—disappeared.

After swallowing the pills, she pauses, takes a deep breath, and finishes the water bottle. She looks at him sheepishly, then seems to realize something and snaps away from his gaze. She leans over to add another line to her list.

The pill.

Fang looks down at that curiously, and Max catches him reading over her shoulder after a moment. He shifts his gaze to her, still confused, and she sighs, looking back down at her list and tapping her pen rapidly on the pad of paper on the table, leaving him to wonder.

"Max, what happened?"

She shakes her head, shrugging. She looks like she's in shock. It's probable.

"Something insane. Gazzy!"

He comes rushing down the stairs a moment later, carrying his own journal and her drawing. He looks at her, expressing sincere caution and clearly trying to be intimidating.

"Max, if you've been going through my stuff—"

"I haven't, I swear, Gaz. What is it?"

"Nothing, I mean…your sketch sucks. But the closest thing I have is this…just an idea so far, I've never even tried to make it. It's dumb," he says, handing her a hardcover spiral notebook open to a much better sketch of a…pen? With a button. Next to the pen is a small circular device resembling a push pin. Max points to the small circular drawing.

"What is this?"

Gazzy blushes slightly. "I mean, seriously, guys, I just do this stuff for fun. None of it will ever really work—"

"Gazzy." Max's voice is suddenly very soft and gentle, instead of the harsh interrogation of before. She sighs, and says softly, "I love you, and I'm sorry because I know you're taking in a lot right now. But…someone just used this exact device in front of me and disappeared into thin air. What did you intend it do?"

He's gone completely pale at her words. The rest of the room is quiet. Angel peers around to look at the drawing, moving back around the table to quietly explain to Iggy. Max waits, and finally, he scratches his head and says something very quiet, mumbled unintelligibly.

"Huh?"

"Time travel."

Everyone stares at him silently, except Iggy who bursts out with a stunned laugh. Silence fills the room. The craziest part is that Max doesn't look disappointed or confused. She's nodding, her eyes wide. Something is happening. Fang has no idea what it is. He looks over to Angel, who is looking between Gazzy and Max with a wide open mouth of shock. Gazzy shakes his head quickly, noticing the looks.

"But…it's just an idea, Max. I just draw up ideas for new devices and weapons when I think of them, even if they're impossible. I have dozens in there."

Max is still shaking her head. She slides his drawing over to him again. "Not impossible. Tell me about it."

Gazzy's jaw clenches. "You're telling me you saw someone use this? Something like this?"

"Exactly! Gazzy, please. Tell me!" She's nearly shouting, her eyes wildly locked with his.

He sighs, looking down at the diagram. "I drew this a few years ago. I remembered this conversation Jeb and I had ages ago about time travel…I asked him once, at the house, if it was possible. He said he'd tried already. Jeb said there was a compound he knew he needed but couldn't find. I don't know if that's true, but… As you know," he shrugs sheepishly, continuing carefully, "Iggy and I have lifted quite a few agents and substances from labs around the world over the years. I don't remember the one Jeb said he needed. Maybe he never mentioned it, I was so little. He said he thought it was possible, with the right ingredients. He talked about it all so scientifically, not like it was some crazy unattainable idea." Gazzy looks away, rubbing his arm shyly like he used to when he was eight.

He shrugs again at the floor. "I figured, if it is possible, one day maybe I'd figure it out. So, I drew this. It's supposed to work with the active ingredient, whatever it is, to connect to the person through the circle thing." He points. "It's just a dumb sketch."

Max stares down at the design, fixated. She shakes her head.

"This piece," she says quietly, pointing to the small circular drawing. "Where does it go?"

"The person using it," he elaborates, scratching his head. "Theoretically they'd stick that into their skin. I always figured it would be—"

"—the back of the neck," Max says it under her breath as he says it, and he shakes his head at her ardently, eyes going wide. He's past pale, now, turning a slightly green color. "Max, you're really freaking me out."

"Yeah, maybe, tell us what the fuck is going on?" Iggy butts in, standing from his chair. He's gentle as possible with his tone, but his words are scathing. Max is unbothered. Fang doesn't know exactly what he was expecting upon her return, but it definitely wasn't any of this.

Iggy continues, moving closer to Max. "Are you losing it? Can we take a second to talk about what just happened?"

Max shakes her head. She grips Gazzy hands in hers for a moment and says quietly, "It's okay. Don't worry." She hands him back the notebook silently, and Fang takes that moment to swoop in and pull her towards the stairs, muttering about getting cleaned up. He moves with her across the room and up the stairs, holding her around the back and on the arm like she's fragile.

She moves steadily but sluggishly, and she's deeply quiet. Lost in thought.

Upstairs, he pushes open the bathroom door and she steps in. He follows, pulling the door shut. She looks at him expectantly. Her eyes are bright red.

"You need a shower and a nap," he says to her firmly. "Then we will talk."

There's no room for argument in his voice, and he's right about the shower. She looks at him and then the door pointedly. He notices and looks back at her with a hint of a frown. He doesn't want to let her isolate, but she's being so…weird right now. He doesn't know what's best.

Probably whatever she wants.

"Are you sure?"

She smiles weakly, fingering the edge of her sweatshirt. "I can shower myself," her voice soft. He nods, hesitating a moment, trying to hide his worry. He opens the door and slips out of the room, giving her a quick, reassuring smile before shutting her in.

Max sighs and leans against the counter in the bathroom, eyes shut so she doesn't have to look at herself. She's not sure she can handle that right now. She's not sure she can handle it ever again.

Not true.

Not if the Max she saw on the mountain this morning is really her from the future. Near future, from her appearance and lack of visible aging. If that's really her, then she heals. She heals enough to kick her own, miserable ass in the past for trying to kill herself in a split-second decision mid-panic attack.

This is why you don't fly and panic.

Feeling wretchedly guilty, Max reaches into the shower stall and turns the water on all the way to hot. She pulls off her clothes facing away from the mirror and stretches her wings out as much as possible, trying to get a regular breathing pattern under control as her mind races. After a moment, she steps in, letting the scalding water douse her fully. She turns it down in temperature just slightly, sighing as the water washes away what feels like the fucking worst day of her life.

She pushes everything else away. Everything. The way Fang looked at her, the way the others watched her with sorrow, the way Gazzy confirmed all her assumptions about the device. She pushes it out and makes her mind as empty as possible, putting her face under the spray of the shower and letting the sound of the water drown out everything else.