Through the Eyes of a Servant | Chapter 10 | by: Rachel / Chapter posted August 13th, 2010.

AU | Max/Fang | PG-13 / 3,782 words

Max, Fang - 17 | Iggy - 19 | Nudge - 16 | Gazzy - 14 | Angel - 13/ The original age ranges have been changed.

When Max accepts a job as a maid in Fang's household, will it be love at first sight? Or will anything and everything come between them?

The idea for this story is my own, and no one else's. Everything else belongs to Jame's Patterson -although I will be next in line for the throne when he retires xD-. I made no money for writing this story, I simply write for reviews.

Max smiled to herself as the autumn air blew her hair away from her face. The sun shone brightly down on her hair. It was the perfect day for walking to work, even if she had gotten up early. As always, Gazzy followed her, practically glowing with anticipation. Maybe it wasn't healthy that Angel was his only friend, but he enjoyed it, and that was all that mattered.

It had been a few weeks since the incident with Sam. He was still in town, as far as she knew, but she hadn't seen him anywhere around, and she wasn't looking forward to an awkward moment in the grocery store when they met again. She knew it would happen again.

She grabbed Gazzy's hand. He looked at her curiously, but she only smiled. And eventually he smiled, too. It was good to have his sister back, the sister that he remembered. She had changed a lot since she had started working for Fang. He hadn't been the only one to change. She'd changed for the better, too.

As they turned into the big driveway of the house and started to walk up the driveway, Max noticed one particular thing. Anne Walker was sitting on the front porch and watching her with a hawk's eye. But she'd never seen Gazzy; no one knew about him except for Angel, because he was always hidden away.

Max knew as well as she did that no one was allowed in the house besides the family and the servants, and that if she was caught bringing anyone along, she would be fired. She distinctly remembered a middle-aged woman being fired for bringing her children in when the babysitter was sick. She was fired on the spot.

She cringed as she walked onto the porch and felt Anne's eyes raking over Gazzy. She bit her lip silently. After three minutes of agonizing torture, Anne finally spoke. "Max, what is this?" she asked, not even bothering to look down at Gazzy, who gave an indignant huff. Max pointedly elbowed him.

And then she remembered something she'd learned from one of the other servants. As a child, Anne had been diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis, which was a disease that affected both the skin and other muscles, which could cripple a person if not treated. It caused severe weakness in the hands and joints, so strong that those diagnosed with it would have trouble opening pens and walking up stairs.

So she made up a lie on the spot, something that would get Anne not only to warm up to her, but to allow Gazzy inside the house. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Walker," she said in a sorrowful tone, "But I have to take my brother everywhere. Ever since we moved into town, Gazzy's been dealing with his dermatomyositis. And today, my father has a job interview."

She smiled to herself as she saw Anne's stare weaken, and a smile spread across her face. "Max, why didn't you tell me that he had this disease? I had it, too, as a little child, you know." A worried look crossed her face. "Terrible, what it does. Does he have a doctor?"

Max contorted her face into a frown, lying through her teeth expertly, as she'd been doing for years. She was delighted to find that she hadn't lost her touch, and she didn't regret it one bit. For the evil, it was always worth it to cheat them. "We had health insurance, but it's difficult paying for the medications, as my father is no longer a doctor."

Gazzy was laughing maniacally in his head. They might just be able to swindle the prison warden out of a few bucks. And every penny that was going into Iggy's college fund was a precious one. He remained silent through it all, doing his best to look pathetic and weak, slouching a little for good measure. And boy, was Anne buying it.

"For God's sake, Max, if anything like this happens again, don't hesitate to tell me," she said sympathetically. "I always allow exceptions for medical reasons, maternity leaves and everything." Lie, Max thought smugly, nodding her head. "Thank you," she said humbly.

"No, no, don't leave yet," Anne stopped her. "Expect a raise in your salary, Max. I promise we'll help him find a cure." Max had to fight the grin that was coming. Gazzy offered an angelic smile at her, and how could she resist? She crumbled. "Take care, you two," she nodded, and walked off toward the garden.

Once inside, the two slapped high-fives. "You were awesome, Gazzy!" Max whisper-hissed, picking him up and spinning him around, even though he weighed a good twenty pounds more than she did at his age. "She didn't suspect a thing! And that smile of yours, man, did that throw her off the edge or what?"

"You were the awesome one," Gazzy smirked. "Little miss 'oh dear, my poor brother has a mortal illness'!" He gave her one last hug, but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a voice behind him.

"Gazzy, Gazzy, Gazzy," Angel smirked. "Someone's getting coal in their stocking next Christmas," she laughed, and he sighed with relief. "Hey, Angel," he said, and she ran over to hug them. Max chuckled with amusement at how red his cheeks became when she started making kissy faces behind Angel's back.

"I can see you, Max," Angel said without looking back, and Max cursed mentally. Mind reader, I forgot about that. I'll be talking to Fang about that later. "Dang, forgot," she said, ignoring Gazzy's look of confusion. "Guys, I have to get into my uniform and clean Fang's room. See you later."

"Good, it really needs a good cleaning," Angel wrinkled her nose. "Bye, Max," she waved cheerfully. She turned back to Gazzy quickly. "Alright, so what do you want to do today? Game room, or home theater?" But she knew before he answered. I so love being a mind reader, she smirked.

Standing on her toes to get to the top of the blinds, she ran the feather duster along the top row, clearing off the mountains of dust. His room obviously hadn't been cleaned in years; most people would have been too scared. But she'd managed to turn the mess into an actual living space.

She'd gathered countless shirts that had only been worn once into three piles, some that hadn't been particularly fun to gather. The bed had been made, the closet had been organized, and the bathroom had been scrubbed until it sparkled. Fang was under the bed sorting out various knick-knacks that had piled up over the years.

Once the blinds had been properly dusted, she opened the window and let the soft breeze flow into the room, and she was surprised at just how cool it was. She inhaled deeply and walked over to an old bookshelf and began to straighten all the useless magazines.

"I can't believe summer's already half over," she mumbled, but that wasn't what she was thinking of. I can't believe I've known Fang for almost two months. It feels like…forever. What would life be like without him? She shuddered. Neither of them wanted to think about the summer ending and school starting. Fang would be homeschooled, and Max would be a senior in high school.

They'd hardly ever see each other. Of course, she'd come after school every day, but she was hoping that by the end of the summer, Iggy would be in college and that her dad would have a job. And if that happened, there would be no reason for her to come. She just wouldn't be able to find the time.

But she would have preferred not to ruin a good day with that thought. So she pushed it out of her mind. "I guess," Fang muttered from under the bed, as he continued to rummage through all of his old stuff. "When it was just me alone, the days went a lot slower. There just wasn't anyone to talk to."

She shrugged. "What about your sisters? They seem entertaining enough. I would think that the days couldn't go slow enough." Max thought on it. She'd always wanted a sister, but Gazzy came, and her parents had stopped having children. Come to think of it, it was a good thing they had. Another child would be another mouth to feed, as horrible as it sounded.

"Are you crazy? I didn't want to hang around for their insane psycho-babble of shoes and outfits. I stayed in my room." He sighed. "I don't really have a close-knit family, alright? I've never just sat down and talked to Nudge at all. I feel like I hardly know her. And Angel…sometimes she gets too close." She knew what he meant. There were days when she could practically feel Angel reading her mind.

"Fang?" she asked as she dusted the top shelf of the bookshelf. He brought his head out from under the bed, noticing the serious hint in her voice. She was up to something. "What?" he asked warily, cocking one eyebrow.

"Oh, never mind," she brushed it off, shrugging lightly. Fang didn't buy it. Max didn't just let things go. "What is it, Max?" he asked again, genuinely curious. He knew what she was doing. She was brushing it off in that annoying way that only made him more interested. She smirked to herself.

"Well…how would you like to see the way a real family works?" she asked, cleaning the dust off an old picture frame and smiling at the sight of a roughly eight-year-old Fang holding an infant Angel.

"Alright, Max, you have my attention," he said cautiously. "What do you mean by 'the way a real family works'?" And she had him right where she wanted him. She poked her head around the bed carefully to face him.

"Well, the thing is, Fang," she said evenly, avoiding his eyes, "I know your family extremely well, considering that I work for them. And, well, you have absolutely no idea what my family's like. You've never met my brothers, or my dad, and you've never been inside my house."

"Get to the point, Max," he ordered, and she almost chuckled. "Fang, we've been dating for almost two months. How bad would it be if for just one night, you snuck away and came over to my house?" She immediately looked away. Shit, what did I just do? This is it. He's going to kick me out on my ass.

He pondered the thought for a minute. "You're right," he said eventually, and she almost fell over from shock. "No, I'm serious. And I do want to know them." Especially if I plan on keeping this relationship alive into the fall. "But when would I get over there?"

"Well…how about tomorrow night?" she asked shyly. "Iggy's making supper. Yes, I know he's blind, oh the irony, blah blah blah. But I figure you could just sneak out and have your sisters cover for you like you always do." He nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." She smiled at him. He didn't want to tell her how much he loved her, or even that he loved her. It was just too soon. He knew they were only seventeen, but maybe someday when he didn't have his family to worry about…when it was only her, then-

He sighed. Was this what she really wanted? Did she regret choosing him? Max didn't know it, but she'd given up the opportunity to be with, even marry, a non-mutant boy, someone that could have supported her until death and given her everything she wanted.

So he made himself a promise. He'd never hurt Max. Not as long as he lived. He'd be everything she could ever want, any person she wanted him to be. He'd do anything for her and go anywhere for her, even give her up if she wanted him to. But he couldn't stand to see her hurting again.

He'd be there for her, wings or no wings, whatever it took.

"Smells good, Iggy," she smiled as she walked upstairs, seeing her dad reading the newspaper and Gazzy pressing buttons on his Gameboy like a maniac. He flashed her a grin. "Could you set the table?" Iggy asked, and she nodded, grabbing some napkins. She cleared off a spot on the table and set five places.

She walked over to the front door and looked out the window, feeling oddly like she was peeping even though she was on the inside. Jeb cast her an annoyed glance, and she backed off. "Just who is that boy? And why, exactly, is he sneaking out of his house to see you?"

"Long story," Max mumbled, keeping her eyes on the window and smoothing her shirt for the hundredth time. "Look, can you guys please try not to act…well….like you usually do? Just for tonight?" Her voice was pleading. "I just don't want to scare him off!"

"Max, he's seen you early in the morning. If he could possibly be scared off, he would have run long before now," Iggy said from the kitchen. She growled and went back to the window. "Look, are you sure that Fang's the kind of guy that eats ribs? Won't he, like, stick his pinkie finger out?" he chuckled.

"Shut up," Max snarled, and whirled around when the doorbell rang. She waited two seconds before walking calmly to the door and opening it, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. Would he run out screaming? You could never tell until the end.

"Hi," Fang said casually, glancing around the small living room. His head was less than a foot away from the ceiling. He looked over at Gazzy, who waved. Fang remembered seeing him once or twice with Max. His eyes then traveled to the kitchen, where they lingered on the blind boy who was cooking like an expert.

Max pulled Fang over to Jeb. "Uh, Fang, I'd like you to meet-"

"Her father," Jeb interrupted before she could finish, and she stepped away awkwardly as Jeb stuck out his hand. Fang took it, and Jeb shook it harshly. Max winced as she heard Fang's arm crack, but he didn't falter. "Very nice to meet you, sir," Fang said calmly.

Jeb released Fang's arm slowly. "Oh, God, what the hell is that?" Fang shouted, his eyes growing round as he stared at whatever was behind Jeb's head. When Jeb's head turned around to see what Fang was yelling about, Fang grabbed his arm and shook out his hand, feeling to make sure nothing was broken.

"Heh, must have been his imagination," Max elbowed Fang pointedly. "Um, let's all eat dinner now. Is it about ready, Ig?" he nodded from the kitchen and started loading up the plates. Fang couldn't figure out what it was that smelled so delicious. It was some kind of meat, most likely.

Jeb and Gazzy sat down first, quickly followed by Fang and Max. Iggy was over in seconds, passing around plates. For the life of him, Fang couldn't figure out any of it. He recognized some kind of chopped potatoes and the water, but the meat was definitely new, some kind of long cuts of an animal with bones sticking out each end.

"Alright, let's eat," Iggy ordered, and without so much as a quick prayer, they all immediately dug in. Jeb had never been especially big on saying grace ever since his wife had died, so they ate in silence. It was about three minutes into the meal before Max realized something very important.

"Fang, why aren't you eating?" she asked, glancing at a confused Fang, who was poking the meat in question, trying to figure out how to eat it. Iggy flashed Max his best I-told-you-so look, and she slapped her foreheads. "Okay, Fang. Step one: you pick up the bones on the ends like so," she demonstrated. "Step two: take a big chomp out of the meat. Chew, swallow, and repeat."

He glared at her. "I knew that," he grumbled, and glanced back at the meat. He eventually picked up the bone with two of his fingers and sniffed the meat cautiously. By now, the entire table was observing his behavior, with the exception of Iggy. And slowly, he took one small bite.

Instantly, he forgot all about feeling of being stared at like a zoo animal. "This is amazing!" he practically shouted, and Max just rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

The rest of dinner went better than she would have expected. Fang made jokes, chattered –chattered!- with Iggy, and made it clear to Jeb that he loved Max and wasn't planning on leaving her any time soon. He thought Jeb didn't notice, but he saw how Fang sat with an arm protectively around Max, always having her close to him, as if daring someone to hurt her.

Iggy still didn't completely trust him. He didn't hate him as he had, but he knew that Fang was probably going to leave her at some point. If history had taught him anything, it was that a good thing didn't last forever. And he thought of Nudge. Would he ever see her again?

Jeb and Gazzy saw something in Fang that changed their opinions of him. They saw the spark that Max had inside her, the same strength that Max had gotten from going through pure hell in getting those wings of hers, a personality that told the story of a battle. But Max was the only one of her kind, the only human with wings.

When dinner was over, Fang washed dishes with Max, getting his hands dirty –or clean- and doing some manual labor. Without a working dishwasher, it was all done by hand, sadly for him. "They grow up so fast," Iggy sniffled at the idea of Fang washing dishes. He was promptly splashed with the soapy water.

"Alright, we're going down to my room. Try not to need me," Max joked, already dragging Fang down the stairs. "Hey, wait a minute," Iggy called after them, and their heads swiveled around to face him. "You crazy kids are playing it safe, right?" He chuckled as Max turned five shades of red and Jeb almost had a heart attack.

Once they were safe in her room, Max flipped on the light switch and started straightening things up. Fang observed the small room, hunching over slightly to get through the doorway. There were less boxes now that they had been moved in for a few months, and you could actually see the floor. He flopped down on her bed easily.

"I know, I live in a shoebox," Max moaned, piling boxes in a small corner of the room. "But at least I'm separate from the rest of the house." She blushed immediately after saying that, and Fang grinned. A blushing Max had been a secret fetish of his for some time.

"No, I kind of like it," he chuckled. "It's cozy." She punched him, and he laughed harder. He didn't notice how nervous she was getting.

When she was about ten, she'd gotten "the talk" from her mom, and she still beat her head against the wall every now and again when she thought of it. But she was seventeen now, and the reality of Iggy's little joke was sinking in. If she loved Fang like she thought she did, then why was she so nervous?

She noticed that Fang had grown silent again. What was he thinking about? The same thing that she was worrying about, or something else? It was agonizing. His expression was always so unreadable. It always drove her crazy. What she wouldn't give for Angel's ability. She needed to know what he was thinking.

As if in answer to her question, he pulled her closer into a hug, and she wondered if he could hear her heart beating like a jackhammer in her chest. He didn't say anything, just buried his face into her hair and inhaled, and his arms tightened around her, like they always did. Why did it feel different this time?

"I love you," he whispered, and her heart almost stopped. "You know that, right?" he looked down at her. She couldn't breathe. His voice was deeper for some reason. More intense. And she felt herself nod. Somewhere inside, she'd known. And he must have known the same thing about her.

But she didn't admit to it. She didn't know why, but she couldn't find the right words for it. It wouldn't mean a much if she said anything. So without words, she told him that she loved him, too. Silently, she looked up at him and pressed her mouth to his. The kiss was slow, but building.

In seconds, her fingers tangled their way into its hair, one of his hands resting on her waist and the other on the back of her neck, pulling her closer. She twisted around so she was facing him, and he held her protectively against him in that way she had grown to love. "I love you, too," she whispered, though she knew she shouldn't have.

And suddenly, she was struggling to undo the zipper to his jacket, eventually just ripping it off and throwing the jacket across the room somewhere. If he noticed her strength, he didn't say anything. He forgot about the slits in his thin T-shirt, forgot that she could feel his wings as she struggled to pull his shirt up as he fumbled with her sweater that her father was so intent on her wearing – for a reason.

When she was freed from the sweater, so were her wings. And strangely, she couldn't bring herself to care. She let herself fade into a world where she didn't care if he felt her wings, if he saw them. But his eyes were closed as his lips moved in sync with hers. The only sound in the room was their shallow breathing.

Her hands reached up to his shoulders, and his hands were on her waist, holding her there as she worked her way under his shirt to his back. And if he hadn't been holding her there, she would have fallen over from shock. Under her fingers, she could feel soft feathers poking out of his back, in the exact same place hers did.

But he never noticed. Because his hands had felt around to her back, and were running over the smooth tawny feathers that poured out of the small creases where feathers met skin. Her heartbeat quickened, if that was possible.

"Max-"

"Fang-"

Oh, snap.

Thanks for reading! I tried to make it as T-RATED as possible, but admit it, we all love the Fax xD People, notice the PG-13 at the beginning of this chapter. From now on, that will be the alert. Now, many of you were asking when the wings would be revealed. Well, I have done it! :D Wait no longer!

Also, at the beginning of the chapter, I mentioned the disease "juvenile dermatomyositis". I am shamelessly admitting it - I totally used my own illness. That's right - I was diagnosed when I was six, I had it for seven years, and now I'm in remission. Yea, it's a real disease. I DIDN'T JUST MAKE ONE UP!

Sorry for the lack of updates, I know you all want to kill me D: In the reviews for the last chapter, the Awesomest Death Threat Award goes to IGGYSlover. And yes, that is an official title. XD

Woo, cliffhanger~ Review if you hate me ^^

~Rachel