AN: Here's another chapter. Sorry about the wait. I think I'm finally getting back into writing a lot, though I have a lot of homework tonight. If I can finish in time, I'll write and post another chapter.

I actually finished this last night. Something caused the family computer to lose internet access, though, so my mom went on a late lunch break today (she works from home) so I could use the work computer when I got home from school. I put it on a disk, so here it is. :P I'm going through a lot of effort to get these to you with no internet, so please review:P

DISCLAIMER: Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson.

CLAIMER: Any new plot ideas and characters in this story are mine, unless otherwise noted.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Fangs dark wings shadowed me as he suddenly appeared above my head, flying to the spot Gazzy was going to land. Fang's reaction made the rest of the Flock break out of our trances, and we all spread out wings and followed. I decided not to use my super-speed, knowing that, even though I could get there before Fang, he would have to be the one to catch Gazzy. Fang had been built to be extremely strong, not me. I wouldn't be able to catch Gazzy after the force of his fall.

Fang shot ahead, his stomach brushing the canopy of trees he was flying so low. Bits of metal from the Flyboys rained down around us, as we flew along behind. Fang managed to catch Gazzy in his arms before he hit the ground, wincing at the strain of pushing up with his wings. He beat hard to a minute, making sure that his wings wouldn't give out, then landed on the forest floor with a gentle 'thud.'

"Let me see him," Iggy said, pushing forward to get to his best friend. He crouched down and quickly ran his long fingers over the boy, determining where he had gotten hurt.

The rest of the Flock were all hovering around the two pyros, offering suggestions and answering Iggy's questions. I did a quick 360, out of habit, and spotted Fang standing by some trees, wincing as he slowly drew his wings in to his back. I frowned worriedly and walked over to him; Fang never winces.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly as I came up beside him. Fang's dark eyes glanced up at me, and his face quickly shed itself of all emotion.

"I'm fine," he said, managing to pull his wings in the rest of the way without a wince. "I'm not the one who got burned." I looked at him, my arms crossed stubbornly. He sighed.

"Fine, my wings are a little sore; it's hard to grab someone out of a hundred foot fall. But I'll be fine. Don't worry so much," he said.

I was about to argue some more when Iggy approached us.

"How is he?" I asked, looking over at Gazzy, who was still sprawled out on the ground, no bandages on his burned body.

Iggy looked down to the ground. "I'm not sure. His wings got scorched pretty badly. I need to soak them in cold water before treating them. And we'll need a safe place to rest; he can't fly in that condition."

I nodded solemnly. "All right." I walked over to the rest of the Flock. "We're headed to a hotel for a day or two," I told them. "Jayden will carry Gazzy there." I opened my wings, preparing for a take-off, when Fang argued.

"I'll carry Gazzy," he said, shooting a glare at Jayden, who was bending over to pick the little boy up.

"Not with your wings like this you won't," I told him, trying to keep my voice down to not worry the others. Having one of the Flock with injured wings was bad enough; they didn't need to know that Fang was hurt, too.

"Then let Iggy carry him."

"He's blind."

"So?" I turned to look at Fang.

"So Jayden will carry Gazzy. End of story. Let's go." I jumped into the air and hovered for a moment, making sure that Jayden would be all right with Gazzy's weight, and that Fang's wings weren't so badly injured that he wouldn't be able to fly.

Everyone made it into the late-afternoon sky without much trouble, although I could tell that Fang's wing beats weren't as regular as they should have been.

"Angel and Nudge can lead the way; when you two see a hotel, holler, okay?" I asked. They chorused 'okay' back, and sped off ahead of us. I let the rest of the Flock get in front of me, so I could make sure no one fell. We seemed to have a habit of doing just that.

I got ready to follow them when I felt someone's gaze on my back. I turned to see Fang, still standing behind me, waiting.

"You can go first," I told him, glancing warily at his wings.

"I could have carried Gazzy," he said, not moving. He looked at the Flock, who were a good twenty feet away now, then back at me.

I rolled my eyes. "If I let you carry Gazzy, you might have fallen. I'm not about to put him in danger if I can help it."

"Then why do you trust Jayden to carry him?" Fang shot back, glaring at me.

I looked away from Fang, breathing in deep, trying to calm down. "He's part of the Flock now, so I trust him. Get used to it."

"I can't get used to it! There's something up with that guy. You just love that fact that he likes you so much, that you are oblivious to it!"

"You're wrong," I said, my jaw tight.

"Fine, don't believe me. I guess you won't be needing me anymore, right? Now that you have the amazing Jayden," he said, spitting out the name as if it were poison. I looked into his eyes, trying to see if he really meant what he said. His eyes were hard with hatred, but when they caught mine, they softened.

"I'm always going to need you, Fang," I whispered back, flying closer and placing my hand around his. I squeezed his hand slightly so he would look down at me, wanting him to know that I meant what I was about to say. "I love you."

Fang shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. Without a word, he withdrew his hand and took off, following the Flock.

AN: I don't know if I should have done that...but I did, so deal. :P Please review!