"Are you ready to die?" he snarled at the boy, fangs extending to his chin. Surprisingly longer. Ace smirked at him."Boy, we're both assassins, and therefore we'll be evenly matched. We'll just see who's smarter." The boy smiled cynically. Then he stopped, and Max was suddenly in front of Fang.

"NO, Max!" Fang snapped, about to jerk her away.

"You're so lucky that I'm feeling exceptionally magnanimous today. I'm going to leave. To let you think of a plan- a game plan. Yes, a game plan. And you're going to play right. And you, Fang, are going to be a big part of this game, my assassin friend." Ace kissed Max's face, though she was too surprised to move. He felt her mind become faintly disgusted, but she was still a little too shocked to react on it. Her mind was unscrambling itself when he folded his wings in. He was still air born, and he pulled her into his arms.

"Are you alright?" She merely nodded into his chest, eyes wide with surprise. "You shouldn't have jumped into the fight like that. He could have shot you.""Fang, we can't kill him. I have to save him." She whispered, looking down. Her wings weren't flapping, so she probably felt nervous without her wings and being in the air. His mind was reeling. WHAT?! She wanted to save him?! She wanted to save the kid that shot at him?! She flinched at his angry mind, trying to pull away.

"No, it's fine. Just hold on one second." He hissed through his teeth. The flock was watching, but he really didn't pay much attention to it. It wasn't the important thing at the moment. The important thing was that Max was afraid of him, and that he was the cause of that fear. That she'd never been afraid of him- even when he extended his fangs. But he got angry, and she was scared. Had he squeezed her shoulders? Actually, he thought he did.

"I'm sorry- but I have to." He vividly remembered when he tried to convince her not to save the world- she ended up half way around the world, hurt, and he was unable to save her. So he nodded.

"I understand." But he knew that she knew he didn't. "But you don't agree.""I don't have to. I'm just here to protect you." He said quietly, at the same moment Iggy tried bringing in a breath. He was bleeding a lot- Fang could smell it, and was surprised to find that no one else's blood smelled as enticing as Max's.

"You're here because we love you, and because you're part of this flock." She snapped, sighing afterwards. He flexed his arms, telling her with his eyes what he was about to do. She nodded, and he threw her upwards as lightly as possible, so she could catch herself with her wings. She went about fifty feet up, then snapped her wings out and drifted down to them. "Nice throw, Fang." Gazzy complimented, grinning."Okay, everyone down. We gotta wrap Iggy, now." Max ordered, taking one of Iggy's arms to lead him downwards.

They landed in a park, an empty field, really, and Max pulled a shirt from her bag and started ripping it to shreds. She wiped the blood up first, then handed the shreds to Nudge.

"Okay, Iggy, this is most definitely going to hurt." She said, sitting beside him. "But don't worry, when it's wrapped up, it should stop bleeding. And your shirt sleeve…has…to…go." She said, ripping the sleeve off. He looked annoyed. "Max, can you rip the other one off, too?" He sighed. Max laughed a little- the noise was stressed- and ripped the sleeve off.

"Wow, Iggy, you look like a jailbird with a battle wound," she laughed when Nudge was done. He scowled at her, then flexed his arms.

"Does the look fit?""Tall, lanky blond bird kid with blue eyes. Nope, not at all. Let's not make it that way, either." Max said, licking her lips and jumping into the air before anyone decided to go check out the empty field. Fang followed, then Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Total, and Iggy. Akila yipped a little from Max's arms. She was having trouble breathing with the heavy dog in her arms. Fang took her, and smiled at Max. No one was fatally hurt, and they were all still together- so she smiled back. Nothing was wrong and that was a good thing. Except that she had to figure out how to give a portion of her soul away to some kid who was trying to kill her- and Fang, and Iggy, Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy. Probably Total, too, if he was counted as part of the flock- something Max did daily.

"Okay, guys, we have to agree on which way is the best way to go. I really, really don't want to have to go across the world again, in an airplane, so let's try not to do this." Max smiled a little. They grinned back at her, faces already dirty. 'Do we attract dirt? Jeeze…it's like we're dirt magnets…' Angel giggled, and Fang let out a low chuckle. It was strange, having two people be able to hear into her mind. Fang could only feel that her mind was sarcastic and slightly humorous, but still. Angel could hear exactly what she was thinking. So.

"Oh! Can we go back to New York? I really liked it up there! It won't be too cold- it's still summer! And we could see the Statue of Liberty! Did you know that it used to be copper colored, but the air and salt water turned it green, like when you find a really, really old penny? That's so cool!" Nudge ranted.

"We've already been to New York. Let's go somewhere we've never been." Gazzy suggested. Max nodded in agreement.

"Like where??" Nudge asked enthusiastically. They sort of glanced between Angel, Max, and Fang. Did they know who to look to anymore? Either Angel would say it strangely, Max would say exactly or vaguely where, or Fang would discreetly say that they should try to go somewhere.

"How about we just go north for a bit? See where it takes us." Max suggested, feeling that she was making the right choice. Nudge shrugged, Total nodded in that strange dog like way he had, Fang nodded vigorously, Gazzy shrugged, and Angel smiled. Max sighed, looking ahead again. She hoped that her "feeling" of what was right was…accurate. That she could get them all safely to…where ever it was she was supposed to take them. Fang's mind nudged hers reassuringly. She turned and beamed at him, and his face lit up.

"I'm fine." Max breathed, knowing that's what was bothering him. "Sure?""Of course- Maximum Ride is always sure." She said, loud enough for the rest of the flock to hear. Total cocked his ear towards her, obviously listening to their conversation. Angel tilted her head, and Nudge and Iggy inconspicuously slowed their pace.

When it was dark out, they stopped- finding out in a strange way from Fang that they were in Nevada, near the upper half- and they started to make "camp". Max had Iggy and Gazzy start a fire, Total, Angel, and Nudge gather fire wood, and Fang was to set out their things. She was reluctant to make him do anything too strenuous, in case he was still sick from the sickness he had. Okay, sure, she knew exactly what happened, why it happened, and when it died away, but she didn't really want to make it seem like she was treating him differently.

"Max." He said sternly when she just suggested he wait until they were set.

"Fine. Go help gather wood. Don't go too far." She said, as she had with the kids. He nodded mutely, face falling blank, and he left to go find fire wood. Iggy "looked" up at her, and while Gazzy was gathering tending to the fire, he stood up, brushed his pants and hands off, and walked over towards her. She grabbed his arm when he started to past her, and she smirked a little.

"What's up, Ig?" She asked quietly.

"What's up with Fang? He's like, having menopause. Either he's really happy, glad to be around you, or he's really…impassive, like he used to be. OR he's thinking a lot, and it's got me worried. If this keeps going on, he's going to get a brain tumor." Max stared and gaped at him in panic and surprise.

"From what?""All this thinking he's doing. It's just not healthy for someone of his intellectual inferiority!" Iggy snickered, but Max could see that he was actually worried about Fang. A stick came flying out of nowhere and hit Iggy in the back just hard enough to knock him forward. Peering down, Max realized it wasn't a little stick- it was almost a half a branch. She stared for a moment at it in disbelief. Then she remembered something and shook herself out."Iggy you have no room to talk." Fang snapped, dropping from a tree above them. He was grinning. He seemed totally better- playing with the flock, smirking and thinking about things other than Max and blood. Not that he'd only been thinking about that, it's just he'd had a hard time concentrating on much for the past few days.

"Guys, don't fight." Max scolded, laughing on the inside.

"We're not fighting- we're having a very politically correctful discussion." Fang joked, holding Iggy in a headlock. Iggy slipped out of it, and then kicked Fang's back- in a playful manner, of course. Max still flinched, but Fang caught Iggy's leg and dropped him casually to the ground. Max, Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy got in on the fake tussle, and Total observed with Akila, calling them idiots.

"Why do you always have to act like that? You're all really…childish." Total concluded. Max shook her head, tackling Gazzy and tickling him. He was giggling loudly and slightly girlishly when Angel jumped on Max's back, too, and started tickling her ribs. She squealed, and Fang joined the fight. "Not fair! You're all ganging up on me!" She squealed as Nudge joined in. She reached her hand around and grabbed Iggy's wrist. "Tag, you're in." She said, and like a rehearsed army the rest of the flock turned on him like savage, tickling wolves. She stood up, hands on her thighs, breathing heavily. She smiled at them and stood up straight. "Alright, guys, let's settle down, eat, and go to sleep. We've got a lot of flying to do." She ordered, watching them all settle and get ready to eat. Iggy put hotdogs on a stick while everyone groaned- not more hotdogs!!

After everyone was asleep, Fang walked over to Max, sitting beside her and curling his knees up to his chest. "So," he said, not implying anything, not quite impassive, either.

"So what?" Max asked, trying frantically to think of something to talk about.

"What's the matter? You're acting all weird around me now. Are you mad at me?" Max bit her lip.

"No, of course not. What do I have to be mad at you about?"

"Well…I tried to fight…or kill that kid. You didn't like that- I could tell." He looked at his shoes.

"No, I'm not mad about that. I just don't know what to say." She said in frustration, digging her palms into her eyes. Fang gently removed her hands and held them.

"You don't have to say anything." Fang said simply. Max looked at him for a moment, confused. Then she giggled. A little hysterically, but keeping it quiet so as to not wake the kids.

"Why not? I mean, we're sitting here, in the dead of night, and I have nothing to talk about with you. I mean, usually I have something to complain about, but…" Fang leaned back on his hands and spread his legs out in front of him.

"But it's different, now that I'm like this." He turned to her with his fangs out. "Sort of, but that's not completely why. I think it's because…well so far there hasn't been anything to really complain about- OH! I just had a thought!" She opened her bag, and shook a bottle of over the counter pain meds for Iggy. "I brought these in case, and look, Iggy's probably in a lot of pain from that shot." Fang nodded and kicked Iggy awake. He groaned and immediately his hand went to his arm in pain. "What do you want?" he asked in annoyance.

"I want you to take this, and it'll make your arm stop hurting." Max said quietly, kneeling next to him and shoving the medication down his throat. He coughed a little, then swallowed.

"Fine, okay, goth what is your PROBLEM?!" "I just wanted your arm to stop hurting. We all know what being shot feels like." Fang nodded in agreement, and Iggy rolled over to go to sleep. Fang surprised Max by suddenly picking her up and holding her close. She squeaked, surprised. Fang ran them away from the flock a bit, but close enough so that he could still hear them. "Relax, Max." He said calmingly. She leaned against a tree, shoulders relaxing.

"Okay. What's this about?" She demanded. He looked at his feet. "I wanted to know if it was okay if I…kissed you again-" she stopped his rant with her lips, pressed gently to his cold ones. To be bluntly honest, she never really noticed the coldness, while kissing him. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her to his chest. She put her arms around his neck, lightly. She was trying to be as close to him as possible while in the standing position she was in, and the slightly bent position that Fang was in. Sighing, he lifted her by the waist until her feet were off the ground, and he was holding her. The mind connection was never stronger than it was now.

Switches to Ace for a second

Growling, he watched Max and Fang hold each other beneath him. Ace was above them in a tree. He wanted to play more with them, but they hadn't felt him staring down. Because they were distracted. He felt a strange, hollow ache in his chest, but he just clawed it until it bled, then looked away. Maximum looked like someone he'd known. At some point, to some extent. Maybe he was just being stupid. He was taught that was punishable by death. And so he was never stupid where people could see. He jumped into the air and flew away, knowing Fang and Max were too distracted to notice his flapping.

Ace was about a mile away when something tackled him. A warm body, and he was ready to snap the neck of whatever it was before he saw her face. It was like Max's, only a bit younger, more beat up, ands he had her own features as well as Max. Ace tried to catch his balance, because their wings were tangled and they were falling fast. The girl kicked off his chest, catching herself in a flip. Ace did the same, drawing a gun in the same moment.

"Who are you?" he demanded, aiming the gun at her heart, then her wings.

"My name is Athena." Ace smirked at her, knowing that he had a "charming smirk" in the words of any female he'd ever met. He hoped to calm her down, see what she was doing here."And what are you doing here?" She had her eyes on his mouth, but then switched her green eyed laser gaze to the gun.

"I'm not answering questions for you." She snapped. Ace cocked the gun..

"Really? It looks like I have the gun." She raised an eye brow at him, then smiled brightly.

"I think Ihave the gun." And then the gun was in her hand, out of Ace's. He'd never been surprised like that before, not ever. He'd always been the one with the upper hand.

"And what do you want from me?" She made a clucking noise.

"You're still asking questions, even though I have the gun." Ace nodded, though stiffening. He could get out of this, but not without killing her. Not that he cared. He wanted to kill her.

"Yeah, I am. Come closer. Try to shoot me." Her green eyes faltered, and he knew that she couldn't do it. But she flew a little closer, and Ace found himself concentrating on The Power, summoning it to kill her. It was deep in his chest, and he knew that it could be used to do good, but it was just so much fun using it to kill. She grasped her throat for a moment, looking surprised.

"I am an assassin, same as you. I will kill you. I have no qualms about killing those who deserve to die.""And what makes you think I deserve to die?" He asked smoothly, knowing that he would get out of this- she was a good person. That meant nothing, though, in the future world they were building.

"Because…you've killed people. Now I will kill you." Athena snapped, cocking the gun. "Don't kill me." He ordered slowly, hoping The Power was working. She blinked at him, and he felt a leap of cold, pure, evil triumph. Then she burst out laughing.

"Okay, I won't, as long as you say please." She shook her head at him. "Dear God, who do you think you are? Telling me not to kill you- how many have begged you to not kill them?" Ace shrugged.

"Thirty- eight and a half." Athena raised a perfectly arched eye brow.

"And a half?" Ace grinned, viciously.

"He only had thirty seconds before I ripped his head off. He didn't really have the time to grovel."

"That's sick." He'd never been told that before- only Maximum Ride had ever said anything close to this before. But he couldn't make himself care that he'd killed other things. Because all it was was a game. He liked to play, and the scientists said that if he had fun with it, do it. And he liked killing all of these things.

"Thank you, very much." He smirked at her. "What's your name?" She snapped, as if wanting to gain the upper hand.

"Ace.""Ace…what a stupid name.""Athena isn't exactly the Mona Lisa of names, either." He quirked an eye brow, not phased at all by this girl. She looked and sounded slightly like Maximum, but something was different. While around Maximum, he cared. Something felt as if it was filling this hollow space in his chest. At least, it felt as if it was starting to feel. But once he was out of her presence, it was empty again. And he couldn't care less. Then Athena's eyes locked on his bleeding chest.

"…What happened to you?" Then she smirked, trying to hide the slight worry in her green eyes. "Guess you're not as invincible as you thought.""No, I did this myself. Why?" He saw her mouth the word "conscience?" but it was gone within seconds.

Back to Max and Fang

Max sleepily looked up into the sky. She was sure she'd heard voices. Then she jumped to her feet. Fang was awake, and his head was tilted towards the flock. They were back in their little camp thing, but she hadn't felt them move. She'd fallen asleep at some point. Iggy and Gazzy were sleeping near each other, and Nudge and Angel were curled in a heart like shape. Total and Akila were passed out near the dimming fire. Fang was staring up at Max now, watching her silently. Probably wondering what was wrong with her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, obviously feeling the panic and surprise in her mind. She nodded, calming down a bit. She'd been dreaming about the isolation tank. "Nightmare?" He asked quietly, and she sat in his lap again.

"Yes.""I figured- I kept getting strange, empty like flashes from your mind…it was almost scary, for you. You were terrified. I thought that I was completely in your mind, but all I kept getting was this hollow feeling." "Yeah. It was the tank. The isolation tank." She'd told him all about it. He nodded.

"I'm sorry that that happened to you. I don't know how they got in and got you without even Iggy waking up." Max now shook her head.

"They may not have. Even if Iggy woke up, he would have heard Max two say that it was okay. Plus, remember, I didn't even wake up until I was duct taped and in the van." He nodded silently, then stiffened.

"You should sleep." He said urgently, watching her face. She raised a quizzical eye brow.

"Why?" "Because I can take watch without getting tired now, so you should sleep." Something was up with him. What was the matter? Then she touched her neck. He was thirsty.

"Fang, if you're thirsty, then you should drink. It's good for you." Not to mention the fact that she liked the feeling of closeness when they could hear each others thoughts…

"No, it's bad for you.""I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You need it to survive. It's not bad.""So parasitism?" He asked, glaring at her with his still-red eyes. She found that she wasn't expecting them to go back to black any more, like she'd subconsciously been waiting for since they turned red.

"No, it's not parasitism, either.""Predation.""No, it's not that either.""I'm sorry, but I think that's the best way to describe it, at least.""Mutualism. You're benefiting by getting life essence, I'm benefiting by getting to be closer to you." Max finally snapped. Fang laughed at her, then nudged her neck with his lips. "Of course." His fangs slowly sank into her flesh- a lot slower than usual- and he formed an "O" with his lips. He moved them against her flesh, and she realized vaguely that he was pushing blood out that way. How strange.

She felt his mind, and saw that he had heard something, like someone talking above them. That's when she'd woken up and distracted him. He thought he heard people talking when they were deeper in the woods, which is why he'd brought them back, too. He couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but he knew that people were above them. Instantly, she knew that it was Ace and Athena. As if she knew all along that they would find them. Max made a strange noise, and Fang answered by running his tongue through the bites.

'Calm down. I knew who it was, too. They weren't bothering us, so I decided to ignore it. You said not to kill them.' She felt her heart warm at this little statement.

'Thank you, for that.' She felt that she wanted to say something else, but really, really didn't feel like embarrassing herself. Though she also forgot that Fang was literally in her mind.

'Yeah, me too.' She could feel the love in those words.

'Figured you just wouldn't leave that one alone.'

'Nope.' Finally he let go, and Max fell asleep curled against him, unable to keep her head up. He stroked her hair as she drifted, and finally she found herself dead asleep. Luckily, no strange unisex voices came, no dreams, no nightmares, no messages that she had to interpret. Just one word:

Sanctuary

"Max? Why isn't she waking up, guys?" Nudge asked in panic, watching Max sleep. Fang was awake, giving orders and keeping everyone from bothering Max as she rested.

"Leave her alone, guys. She needs to rest. She's really tired." He called out, eyes on Max's face. Mind focused. He was trying to make sure she stayed asleep. Nudge bit her lip.

"Why?" She questioned, dark eyes on Fang's face. He turned his head from her.

"Because she didn't get much sleep last night. Here's breakfast." That distracted her and she quickly rushed over to get her fill of pop tarts, eggs, and hotdogs from Dr. Martinez's house. Ah, the benefits of ADD children. Angel stared at him with wide, glassy blue eyes.

"What?" he asked sort of self consciously. Something it's hard not to be when talking or looking at Angel. Knowing that she could see into your most private thoughts made it that way. Max soon woke up, looking pale and shaky. She also seemed unexpectedly happy and chipper- or as chipper as Maximum Ride could be. She didn't yell at anyone, and played with the kids as much as she could while staying awake. She seemed tired.