DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride. But I'm looking to buy the second book soon.
A.N. I don't know whether anyone's an IggyMax shipper, but this could be either IggyMax or FangMax, according to your interpretation...
The Meaning of Being a Leader
I thought life would be perfect. How could I not; the Erasers were gone, Jeb had met his own end by poetic justice, the School and the Institute were gone forever and the flock had found their parents. Surely we were all guaranteed our happily-ever-afters?
The torrential rain was flooding my senses. It wasn't until I opened my mouth to draw in a haggard breath that I let a little trickle of water sluice down my throat – and immediately, I recoiled, tasting the coppery tang of blood. Horrified, I brushed a hand over my face and started at the crimson that was splotched across my numbed skin. But it did not belong to me. I looked skyward again.
Between the clouds, lightening exploded with crackling force and the thunder pounded the atmosphere a few seconds later. But they ignored the dangers of the stormy skies. I winced as they tossed and turned in the rain, equally turbulent as the clouds around them. Another big globule of blood splashed against my cheek and stained my shirt. I shuddered – out of anger, just as much as terror – and, with a great sweep of my heavy wings, ran and leapt into the forbidding sky.
The rain, wind and air were all against me as I pushed upwards and towards them. As I got closer, I realised that they were dancing their war right in the eye of the storm. The lightening struck up a wall around them, sheets of rain fell in curtains surrounding them, containing them into a single world of blood, pain and determination to win. Never had I seen a friendship – a family – gone so terribly wrong.
And all because of you, the Voice accused me. I set my jaw and refused to give into the guilt and remorse that arose in within me as a result to that comment. There'd be plenty more time for regret and grief later.
"STOP!" I bellowed at the two boys furiously, trying as hard as I could to buffet my way towards them. "STOP!"
They actually listened to me and turned, mid-brawl to face me curiously in the wind and rain. Then, one of them took this sudden interruption as an opportunity to launch a fist at the other's face. The impact never came, as the other dodged with impossible agility and speed, twisting to deliver a countering blow to his offender in return. The dark-haired boy was caught, off guard, directly in the abdomen and he was forced to roll immediately to the right to avoid a swift jab to his chest. He ploughed viciously back through the pouring sheets of water to bestow an kick to the blond boy's stomach, missing by mere inches as the other boy whistled out of the way just in time. I only had a second to marvel at the paler boy's hearing and reflexes; then he was struck by a mind-jolting blow to his head as his opponent made a quick come-back.
"PLEASE!" I screeched, trying to contain my heart within the confines of my chest as it threatened to smash its way out. "STOP! STOP HURTING EACH OTHER! WE CAN WORK THIS OUT; JUST STOP FIGHTING!"
I was still futilely screaming when the Voice silkily entered my thoughts again.
It's time, now, it said cajolingly, They'll end up killing each other in the end. You have to do something…
I stopped shouting and just hovered limply in the air. A huge sob racked my chest as I spluttered with dreadful understanding, "I can't…"
It's either one, or the other. Or neither. You can't have both, Max.
I watched the two boys battering each other relentlessly, refusing to stop. They would end up killing each other. I couldn't let that happen. I was still their leader after all.
But which one? Agony thrummed in my blood and sliced through my thoughts like scalpels. How could I choose? How could I choose which one I loved more?
You're right, Max, you are the leader. And leaders have to make sacrifices. You have to sacrifice one of them, Max. A decision needs to be made…
My breath caught in my throat as one of the boys delivered a titanic blow to the other's chest, cracking the ribs with a force that was off the scale. The other boy stared in shock at the shards of bone that were jutting out of his chest, and he began to fall. It was at this time that I decided to act. Sacrifice, I told myself, being a leader is all about sacrifice…
My hands groped inside the pocket of my trousers. Finally, I fumbled my fingers around the cold steel that I had stashed away in the hope that it need never be used. I never imagined that I would use it in this way.
I levelled my arm in line with my vision.
Now, Max! the Voice yelled.
Sobbing, I took aim, whispering their names to myself…
And fired a single shot.
The explosion reverberated along my arm and the burst of sound caused me to shriek out. But I was already forcing my way over to where I had just fired the bullet. To whom I had just fired the bullet at.
I screamed his name as he plummeted down to the ground. I had neither the energy nor the speed to catch him before his body pounded the mud. I allowed myself to drop down after him, landing messily by his side as he took his last breaths.
"I'm so sorry," I cried, hysterical and mortified at what I had just done. I clutched his hands and touched his cheeks. The wound I had made in his chest was gurgling blood and his eyes were closed. Only his hand clinging onto mine gave me the reassurance that he was alive.
"I'm so, so, so sorry," I sobbed, squeezing his arm. "I just couldn't let you – I couldn't let you kill him – I –"
He coughed slightly, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. I bent over his head and kissed his open mouth, tasting his blood, his essence as I did so. I committed every one of his tastes to my memory forever. And it was there, lying in the rain, water dripping onto his face from my bowed head, that he took his final breath and died in my arms.
I wept. A huge swell of emotion broke the dam that I had built up to hide my grief. I cried and howled to the miserable skies and cursed myself for doing this. For murdering one of the flock. I was a killer. I had killed someone I had loved. And I didn't even get the chance to tell him I loved him. More tears leaked out of my eyes. What kind of monster did that make me?
Not a monster, Max; a leader. A leader that has another flock member to tend to, now that death has claimed the other…
I crawled over to the other fallen member of my flock. He was breathing unevenly, still alive, but fatally wounded. For the second time that night, I reached for a dying lover's hand.
"Max…"
I had chosen one of them, the one I thought I loved more. And yet, they both ended up dying in my arms.
Sacrifice.
So the former had died for no reason. I had shot him for no reason. Now, they both end up dead.
"You chose me over him…" My second flock member exhaled and became still.
You shot him for a reason, Max. He was killing the person you loved more…You made a choice, as we all have to; it just didn't end up as you wanted it to.
I had made my choice. I had sacrificed. I had done what a good leader would have done.
I had saved a bullet for myself.
A.N. That was my first angst oneshot. The pairing... well, I'll leave it up to you.
Please review (no flames) and thank you for reading.
Daygoner