Chapter 6
A/N: Well here it is at last. The much anticipated conclusion of Winged Disaster. Yes this is the end. This is going to be a short chapter, but I hope it makes up for the cliff hanger and the wait.
P.S. for updates(on what's going on w/ my writing/ life, check my profile. I update that more often than my stories.)
Anyway... On with the fun!( it's not all that fun really)
-------------------------------------------------------X------------------------------------------------------------------
'How am I alive?' Jeb thought as he came to. He opened his eyes and blinked groggily in the morning sun. Above him was a large silver-grey covering, that he first mistook as the ceiling. It was, in fact, the examination table he had been sitting at earlier, though he couldn't remember why he'd been there, or why the School was in ruins around him. A pile of rubble shifted, and produced a human figure. Jeb's first thought was Max, and that triggered his memory. Ari warning him that the perimeter had been breeched; Waiting for Max in the Experiment room; The Maxes bursting in to attempt a rescue; pouring his heart out to his daughter; Ari fiddling with the "supposed" detonator for the bombs Max had "supposedly" planted around the compound; Beeping; Max telling him he was going to hell(in more or less words); Then diving under the table as the bombs went off, and Ari hitting the ground beside him. The memories hit him in waves and he realized the figure in the rubble was not Max, but his son, Ari.
xXx
Earlier
"Stop the car!" Fang yelled as soon as he saw the cloud, and connected the dots on what must of happened.
'Max!'
Ms. Martinez slammed the breaks, out of pure reflex, and turned to look at Fang, who was already flinging open the passenger side door.
"No! Fang! We all go together, remember, we agreed on this." she said trying to sooth him as he clamored outside.
"Not fast enough." Fang practically growled. Without hesitation, he leaped into the air, and was quickly becoming a speck in the distance before anyone had time to react. Ms. Martinez looked at the other four bird children, their talking dog, and her own daughter, and started the car again. She wasn't about to let anymore of them dive headfirst into harms way, at least not without her to protect them.
xXx
Thirty minutes later
Jeb picked through the wreckage, towards the place he remembered seeing Max last, letting Ari struggle out of his concrete "straight jacket" on his own. As he neared the spot, he recognized the golden blond hair, that was showing through a gap in another pile of what had been the ceiling. Jeb began furiously digging at the heap until he uncovered, both Max and her
clone, though he couldn't tell which was which. He'd seen death before, but this he could not handle. Max, his baby girl, dead. Killed by the weapon that was meant to kill him. The sight of them laying there made him feel sick, and he turned away. Ari lumbered over to see what Jeb was so fascinated with and gasped.
"No. Not Max.' Ari reached towards the bodies, but Jeb called out roughly.
"Leave them alone Ari. And cover them up." Jeb removed his lab coat and handed it solemnly to his son. Ari took the coat, and began to gently place it over the bodies as Jeb started to walk away.As Jeb walked toward the perimeter fence, (through the now non-existing, wall) a flicker of movement caught Ari's eye and he paused, pulling back the coat just enough to see the faces of the two people he love most.
'I swear one of them just moved.' He thought, astonished. Jeb's harsh voice cut through the stillness, telling Ari it was time to leave, and he decided that he was only imagining things because of grief. He followed his father to a van parked near the bunkhouse and they sped off in the opposite direction. Toward Itex Headquarters in New York.
xXx
A few minutes later
Fang landed in a run. The landscape was dark, grey on grey on black, despite the morning sun. It was the sharp contrast of a bright white against the dust and dirt that drew his hawk eyes. He headed toward the white mound, like it was some sort of beacon, though it was probably just a dead whitecoat. As he edged closer, he saw that it was in fact a white coat, but that it wasn't being worn, rather that it had been lain over something. Something that was, "or had been." bleeding. He knew that he wasn't going to find a scientist under the bloodstained coat, he knew it would be her. Fang almost turned to leave, head back to the flock and try to figure out what to tell them, but something held him there. Maybe he felt like he owed it to Max to see her one last time, or maybe he wanted to be absolutely sure, but more likely, it was seeing the black embroidered letters on the coat's pocket, "Batchelder" and realizing he couldn't let that sick bastard be the last person to have seen her, or showed her kindness.
Fang knelt and began to gently remove the coat. A wave of nausea hit him in the pit of his stomach when he saw her, bloody and mangled. Cuts and bruises covered her face, and one wing was bent at an impossible angle. He was sure that those were the least of her injuries. Her eyes were closed but in his mind, Fang saw the beautiful blue jewels shining as she smiled at him, something she hadn't done in a long time, and never would again. Nearly choking on his own emotions, he drew her into his arms and cried. He cried for the first time in a long time, the first time he could really remember. He buried his face in her hair, let the tears fall, content just to hold her.
"My Max, my Max,"
"She died alone, and I wasn't here to save her. I should have been here! I never got to say goodbye, to tell her-" His mental raging was cut short as he heard a small, choked voice behind him.
"Fang?"
"Her voice! Now I'm hallucinating!" He was so convinced that the voice had just been an illusion from his broken heart, he didn't even open his eyes, or lift his head.
"Fang." this time the voice was stronger, more sure, and accompanied by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, expecting Angel or Nudge or Ms. Martinez, but what he saw brought new tears spilling out of his eyes. She was battered and bruised, but alive, and that's all that mattered
"I-I-I..." he stammered through his tears, as he set down the limp body he had been cradling, and allowed himself to be helped to his feet.
"It's ok Fang. I'm fine." she whispered, pulling him closer, and wrapping her arms around him.
"Max." Fang wrapped his own arms around her and took deep breaths, trying to capture as much of her scent as possible. She looked up in to his dark eyes, her blue ones even more beautiful than he remembered, a small, cautious smile crept to her lips.
"Max, I Love you. I think I always have, but I just realized how much. And it's more than I could take if I lost you." he bent his head into her neck, pulling her closer, but she pulled back gently. A spike of fear ran through him.
"What did I just do, She'll hate me now. Oh God, what did I do?" again his thoughts were interrupted, this time as she reached out and pulled his head down to her level, pressing their lips together. Instantly all thoughts of pain, panic and loss were forgotten and there was only this moment. They broke after a time and said nothing, holding each other, comforted by the others embrace. They stayed like that for a long while, until they heard a door slam, and the worried rustling of four pairs of wings.
Max pulled away and grabbed Fang's hand, intertwining their fingers.
"Lets go, they don't need to see all this," she gestured to the wreckage around them,
"It's all over, isn't it Max." Fang stated, rather than asked, holding her back just a second longer.
"For now, Fang. For now." She replied, and that radiant smile, that Fang remembered from so long ago, covered her face.
"Good, 'cus I'm never letting you out of my sight again, so no more running off to blow up the bad guys. Got it?" He said with mock sternness, though she could tell he meant what he said, to a reasonable extent, of course.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." she mumbled before she quickly kissed him again.
"Now that that's settled, your flock awaits." Fang dipped and awkward bow and swept an arm out in front of them. Max laughed, took his hand again and led the way toward the sound of the flock.
"It's over Fang." she whispered, almost to herself. He looked down at her and smiled.
"No. It's just beginning."
-------------------------------------------------xXx-------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: That's all folks! The end of Winged Disaster has come and gone. Hope you enjoyed it. I want to thank all of you one more time for your reviews and support, and apologize again for the wait, and for being a little emo with that last bit. (never mind, I don't know what I'm saying...well it's emo for me.) Anyway, I'll probably be writing another MR fic after the third book comes out in May, so, yeah. Tell me what you think, reviews still appreciated.
ENox