Disclaimer: I do not claim any right to the Maximum Ride universe. Please review and tell me what you think of the changes.

My eyes flew open. Oh, my God. Fang!

"What was that?" his voice was low and he approached me slowly. I couldn't see him as I had my back to him, but I could hear his movements in the quiet darkness.

I pressed my face into the dirt. I wanted to die.

He touched my shoulder carefully and curled his fingers over the curve of my shoulder when I didn't immediately flinch. His grip slipped a little on my bloodied skin. He cursed

"Can you sit up?" he asked me.

I nodded, knowing that he could see me in the dark. With his help, I managed to get upright and I only had to lean on him for a few seconds while the dizziness passed. I was getting a little strength back each minute, but it would still be several before I could think about standing.

Fang scooted around to the side so that he could see me better. His eyes flickered over my scantily clad, blood slicked form. "What happened to your clothes?" To his credit, he didn't say anything at all about my face, though I'm sure he wanted to. He probably wanted to get me back to the house first

I looked around and spotted his shirt hanging from a branch. He followed my eyes and left me briefly to retrieve it.

"I was too hot," I croaked, my voice way unsteady. All that screaming. "Pants," I said and shrugged, hoping that he would understand that I had no idea where those were. "Sorry."

He scowled. "Yeah, cause the condition of my clothes is my top priority right now. You're not dying or anything." He tugged the shirt gently over my head. I was shivering.

I shook my head. "I'm not. The first time was way worse." I knew I had made a mistake as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Fatigue made my mouth loose.

His voice was deceptively calm. "What do you mean 'the first time'?" He would never let this go.

"Really, It's nothing. I'm fine." I tried to stand up quickly, but that backfired in a big way as my legs didn't want to support me and I almost did a face plant. Fang caught me before I hit the ground.

I shoved away from him as soon as I was certain that I wouldn't fall again. I glanced around and spotted the sweatpants. I stumbled over and snatched them from the ground. Thank god, I was recovering faster now. I could feel the gashes knitting from the deepest point up. I don't know if you've ever felt your body healing, but it's really weird. Trust me.

I extended my wings to jump into the air, but Fang was behind me in an instant, pushing my wings back in. I don't know if you've ever had someone else push your wings in, but that feels really weird, too.

Before I could react, he had scooped me into his arms and taken off. That's pretty impressive, considering how hard it is just to take off with your own body weight, never mind someone else's. I was in shock for the first twenty feet and after that it was pointless to argue 'cause I didn't want to get dropped. I hesitantly put my arm around his neck and relaxed as much as I could. Fang set me on my feet, his hands lingering at my waist as if getting ready to catch me again. I stepped away from him to prove that I could.

"Um, thanks," I said. I have to admit, I was irritated and thankful at the same time. I hated that he had just picked me up, but I'm also not certain that I could have made it on my own. Win some, lose some.

"What happened, Max?" he asked, sliding the door open for me.

He followed me inside and then stopped me with a hand on my arm when I would have kept going. His grip was loose, but he wasn't going to let go without a fight.

I started to get all nervous and twitchy. "Look, I really don't want to talk about it right now, okay?" I sighed. "I just want to wash the blood off and go to sleep." I was so tired.

He moved ahead of me and led me down beyond the kitchen and into the laundry room, which had a cute little adjacent bathroom. "Use this one. Less chance of the others hearing," he said, realizing just as he said it that it was a ridiculous statement. Every kid in the house had well above average hearing. It was silly for me to use the shower in the back just so that they wouldn't hear. That's how tired I was, I didn't say anything about it. He flicked on the light and moved back to let me in.

As I stepped past him, he suddenly reached out and grabbed my chin. The move startled me and I reacted on instinct. I smashed his hand away and had him by the throat in an instant. I froze and stared at him wide eyed as soon as I realized what I had done. I couldn't read the expression in his eyes.

I let go and slipped past him, too ashamed to face him. "Sorry," I said softly. This unpredictability could be dangerous. Maybe I should have stayed gone. I started shivering and wrapped my arms around myself. I was nearing the end of my rope.

After a second, he moved close and turned me around. He slipped his fingers beneath my chin and gently forced my head up. I carefully schooled my expression. I'd already been weak enough tonight.

"Don't," he said, his voice rough.

I blinked in surprise. "Don't what?" He actually looked upset.

"Don't lie to me. Don't pretend."

Ha. Nice one, coming from him. "Don't pretend what?" So I felt a little dumb tonight.

"Don't pretend that you're fine. Just…"

I have no idea was he was going to say because right at that minute, Iggy tapped on the door.

"Hey, what happened?" He frowned. "Why do I smell blood? Max?" He stepped in and grabbed Fang's shoulder. He turned his face toward me and his features expanded in surprise and contracted in worry. "Shit." He reached for me with one hand, keeping the other on Fang.

His touch was light and gentle as he tilted my face toward the light. His fingertips traced the claw marks down my cheek. He gently moved my face the other way, examining the purpling bruise spreading across the left side of my face. Oddly enough, he was reacting as though he could see me.

With one last gentle stroke he let go. "Was it Erasers? Looks like it. You kinda smell like them, too. Was Ari here?," he said.

I moved away from them and sank onto the edge of the tub, resting my forehead in my hands. "No, he wasn't here. It's kind of a long and involved story. Could it possibly wait until later?" I was falling asleep right here. My head rolled to the side and I looked up at the boys. They had really come into themselves since I left. They were never going to take orders again. I bet girls followed them in hordes.

I smiled absently at the image of the two fighting off dozens of not quite teens with braces and frizzy hair. An image of Fang with his hands on that slut from D.C. suddenly popped into my head and all my amusement vanished. Exhaustion does funny things to a person.

"Take your shower," Fang said. "I'll bring some clothes down."

I mumbled something and turned on the water.