Disclaimer: I claim no right to the Maximum Ride universe. Thanks so much for your patience and support. These last two months have been a trial. Keep reviewing. Also, if you haven't already please read the updated chapters 16 and 17. They've been up for a while, but I just tweaked 17 a little more. Much Love!

A strange electric buzz woke Fang from a light sleep. His eyes cracked open and he surreptitiously reached out to make sure that Max was still by his side. He couldn't help the immediate spike in his heartbeat as adrenaline flowed into his system. He lay still contemplating what to do.

"I know you're awake," someone said. The voice sounded almost like Max, but distorted and fuzzy, a metallic drone. "There's no point in pretending anymore. We need to talk."

Fang opened his eyes, squinting in the bright bluish glow. He sat up slowly, letting his eyes adjust before searching out the source. His jaw dropped slightly as he saw Max standing at the foot of the bed with her arms crossed, her wings out and a crackling blue aura outlining her body. Oddly, he noticed that she looked really good like that.

As soon as the thought entered his mind, she snarled and the light flared around her to blinding intensity.

He covered his eyes, turning away.

"You are just like the others. You only care about what her body can give you." Her voice rose until it sounded like feedback from speakers at a Rolling Stones concert.

Fang snapped, "That's bullshit, Max, and you know it."

The metallic whine subsided. "She cannot hear you." The glow subsided and he was able to look at her again. She had her head tilted to the side as she looked at him though eerily pale eyes. "Even I cannot reach her and I share her mind."

Fang thought of Iggy, but banished the thought just in case she pulled it from his head.

"So, the blind one did this? Good to know," she said. Max turned and meandered over to his desk, letting one hand ghost over the papers lying there. Her fingers moved slowly, gracefully, lingering over a worn black leather-bound book held together by twine. They stopped, her nails picking at the coarse string.

Fang sat still, praying that she couldn't see the words inside even as he knew that she could.

She said nothing. She tapped the cover and moved on.

"Why do you keep referring to yourself in the third person? What's wrong?" Fang asked.

Max hissed. "I am not your beloved. Do not think that the charms that affect her have any effect on me as well. I do not love you. I do not feel." The glow intensified again.

He got up and tugged the covers up to keep the warmth in the sheets. "Didn't mean to imply," he said. "so, if you're not Max, who are you? I know you're not a clone. That is Max's body." As energy crackled around her, realization dawned. "You destroyed the lab. The blast radius was from you."

Max smiled a humorless grin. "Lovely, wasn't it? They didn't expect me to wake up when they were cutting into her. Shock of their lives, I'd say." She chuckled, the sound harsh and grating on his sensitive ears. "Of course, I return to the deepest part of her psyche when my work is finished. She's so strong that I barely get out even when she needs me."

Fang folded his arms. "Then you can go back to wherever you came from. She doesn't need you anymore. She has us. She has me." He knew that she might take exception to his words, so he braced himself.

She narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I can tell. You've done such a good job of protecting her that even I can't find where she's gone."

"I will bring her back," Fang stated.

She snorted.

Max's alter-ego's attitude got under his skin like she never had. He closed the distance between them and grabbed her by the arms. Instead of the white heat he was expecting, her skin was cool and soft.

The light exploded, but neither he nor anything around suffered damage. "How dare you touch me!" she raged, the strident screech nearly blowing his eardrums. She struggled against him, but to no effect. She was as weak as a human to him. "What have you done? How did you take my power?"

He spun her around, crushing her back to his chest. With one arm he anchored her there, with the other he swept her long lovely hair to one side, exposing her neck. Despite her thrashing, he held her easily. "I cancel you out," he whispered next to her ear. "She doesn't need you anymore. Go away." He rubbed his cheek along her soft feathers and called up every memory of Max he had.

She shrieked and squirmed trying to escape.

He started at her shoulder and moved up her neck, kissing her gently, sometimes even nibbling a bit, murmuring to her. He flooded her brain with his view of her. Memories flowed through him as he forced them deep into her brain. He figured the alter-ego's ability to read minds could work to his advantage in this instance. He thought about the first time he saw her at the School, when she reached out through the little holes cut in the plastic crates and spoke softly to him, chattering to help him keep the horrors of the lab at bay. Her voice had been so soothing. Her eyes had been kind.

He thought about her slender fingers wrenching open the lock to his crate and her determination as Jeb had helped them escape. She grabbed hold of his hand and hadn't let go until they were well on their way into the Rocky Mountains. She had fallen asleep on his shoulder for a few brief moments and he had leaned his head on hers, loving the feel of her next to him.

Fang let her see his fear and despair the night she had disappeared. His panicked attempts to find her and the reluctant acceptance of her absence. He also showed her how he felt seeing her standing, dirty and pale, on their front porch only two days ago. How the bottom had dropped out of his stomach and everything had grown dim except for her.

He reached the spot just below her ear and realized that she had stopped struggling. "Max?" he whispered.

"Damn you," she rasped. "But she will be in strong hands. I will find a way to kill you if I ever get the chance."

"Good thing you'll never get the chance," he said.

Max's body jerked. The crackling blue aura seemed to be sucked into her and for the second time in twenty four hours, she went completely boneless in his arms. He sank to the floor, dragging her into his lap and rocking her gently. He rained kisses upon her face, stroked her hair and traced the small white scars on her arms. The stress of the last few days combined with reliving the last seventeen years of his life as it related to Max drained his defense reserves.

He sat on his heels, holding her in his arms and wishing that just once they could be together without drama. Her skin was still cold and pale. Terror suffused him. She should be waking up, blinking blearily at him with a shaky smile or one of her adorable confused frowns. Hell, he'd take a death glare right now if it meant she was awake.

"Come on, Max," he begged quietly, his voice no more than a breath because air refused to enter his lungs. He leaned over, letting his forehead rest against hers. A drop of moisture splashed on her cheek, followed by another. Soon his breath came in short gasps as he tried to keep quiet. Losing her once had nearly destroyed him. Losing her again would obliterate him entirely.

"Fang?"

His body shook harder. He was even hearing her voice. "God, Max. I'm so sorry. I thought I could protect you. I thought my love would be enough. I'm sorry I never told you."

"Seriously?"

He sniffed. "Duh."

A hand forced his head up. He froze as he saw her eyes open and looking at him.

"I love you, too, Fang. Always have. It just took a while to realize it." Her lips twisted into a small, tired smile.

"Hi," he said.

She giggled. "Hi."