Through the Eyes of a Servant Chapter 15, a maximum ride fanfic

Through the Eyes of a Servant | Chapter 15 | by: Rachel / Chapter posted September 11th, 2010.

AU | Max/Fang | PG / 3,920 words

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.

The month of July was a short one. Gazzy's birthday came and went, and his shiny new guitar could be heard from every corner of the house on most occasions. Jeb and Max suffered though it happily. Iggy just prayed to God to trade his blindness for becoming deaf.

Days passed. Happy days, carefree days. Every day began with Iggy's blind driving to Fang's house, where every day there were new surprises in store for her. Every day Gazzy visited Angel, where he didn't notice the fact that she stared a little too long, or squeezed slightly when she held his hand.

Those days turned into weeks. Max faded into a comfortable routine. Every day was different, and the same. But to her, they were the best weeks of her life. She was with everyone that she loved, everyone important to her.

Still, she could sense a change in the air. She noticed how the leaves were starting to turn, and the days were shorter still. She noticed the first geese beginning to head south early, and she noticed the general fun of the summer winding down. Not to mention the many back-to-school advertisements on TV.

Summer was coming to an end.

Whether she liked it or not, she knew she had to face it. There would be a time, very soon, when Fang wasn't her first priority anymore. She'd crash into the routine of school instead of him. And she'd forget him.

One night, sitting on the front porch and feeling more lost than she ever had, she leaned into the porch swing and sighed, biting back tears. She didn't want to let go. She…she loved him, for God's sake. And she was beginning to think very seriously about not letting him go. Ever.

What if there was a way to keep him with her, always? Shouldn't she go for it, no matter what the cost? If she could keep Fang in her life, that was all that mattered. This had turned into so much more than a summer job. He'd become her whole world.

Her shoulders were shaking as sobs wracked her body. And suddenly, her shoulders were covered by that familiar arm. She couldn't bring herself to look up at her father. He already knew what was in her heart.

"You'll make the right decision, Max," he sighed, finally accepting it and letting her go. She was growing up. She already had. And she was leaving him. He knew that now. "I know," she replied shakily. He held her until the sun went down, and she fell asleep. He carried her inside.

After that, things became more complicated. Anne wouldn't give up. Fang had been smiling too much. He'd been kinder than he'd ever been. He was becoming a better person. And she knew that a girl had something to do with it. She just knew it.

Life wasn't perfect, but Max kept on flying. She kept up with work every day and maintained the charade as she tried to figure out the Voice, and the events that were unraveling. But she had Fang by her side through it all.

As Max fought her own battle, Iggy fought his. He was aware that he'd given Ella up, once and for all. She was everything that he'd ever wanted. But she just wasn't enough. For better or worse, his heart belonged to someone else.

Something was different. Day after day, the door to Iggy's gas station remained closed. No caramel-skinned angel walked through the door. And as he sat waiting, he realized he might have made the biggest mistake of all.

He hadn't appreciated a good thing when he had it. He hadn't treasured Nudge as he should have. And he hadn't told her how much she meant to him when he had the chance. Now he was paying the price.

Come home, Nudge. Come home to me.

"Oh my God, it's so late!" Max glanced at the clock and took one last bite of toast and a swig of orange juice. "Guys, I gotta run, or I'm gonna be late to work!" She leapt off the barstool, ran to the front door, and grabbed her purse off the coat rack.

"Hey, Ig, can you drive me?" she asked hopefully, tearing the boy away from his thoughts. He looked up and sighed. Her smile faded as she saw the look in his eyes. He didn't want to get near Nudge. He still didn't know what to do about her. "I'll walk," she corrected herself, and opened the door.

As she walked down the street, she thought about Nudge. She knew that the girl was probably confused. Sure, she had made up with Iggy at the fourth of July party, but that had been over three weeks ago, and she was still probably wondering what exactly she meant to Iggy.

"Don't wait too long, or you'll lose her," Max whispered to the thin air, hoping that even from back inside the house, Iggy would understand. "If you don't tell her how you feel now, she'll get sick of waiting. And you'll never know what could have happened."

You shouldn't meddle in affairs that you have no part in, she heard the familiar voice inside her head, and groaned. Not now. Anytime but now. She was having an okay morning. But lately, whenever the Voice got involved, it foreshadowed the inevitable doom of a torturous, unexpected catastrophe.

Shut up! She wondered how she looked from the outside, glaring up at her forehead, where she imagined said voice was resting. Go away! Last time I heard you, I fell down the stairs! And the time before that, Fang slammed into my forehead trying to kiss me!

The Voice didn't sound hurt. On the contrary, in fact, it sounded something close to amused. Of course, the Voice never betrayed any emotions. But this was close to humor. Are you saying that you believe me to be bad luck, Maximum?

Stop talking? she hissed internally. And I didn't say that! All I meant was that you're like a theoretical omen of doom! I'm walking down the middle of the road! Right now, I could either be hit by a car or struck by lightning!

The Voice paused. Yes, Maximum, because it's such a stormy day outside, it observed, and she growled at the perfect weather. The goddamn birds were even chirping. What was this, a Disney princess movie? STOP TALKING! she commanded, looking around nervously.

She sighed. Fang knew about the Voice, of course. But then, Fang knew about everything that was going on in her life. He was like her best friend, only more. And it was becoming clearer every day that she didn't have enough time with him. She didn't have much time left at all.

You have more important things to be thinking about, the Voice sounded like a mother. Do you remember what I told you? She rolled her eyes. How could she forget?

Lately, the Voice had been on a power-trip, claiming to have 'seen' glimpses of the future – her future. Like it knew something that she didn't. And quite frankly, it was scaring her. One minute it was reminding her that she wasn't the center of the universe, and the next, it was making references to 'the good of the world'…and one other very important thing.

The School had come up in conversation. Many times.

She didn't know why it had, or why it was even relevant. The School was a part of her past. It was a part that she would rather not speak of, or even remember. Sometimes, she still had nightmares. But the Voice insisted that meeting Fang, another winged mutant, was a foreshadowing of what would happen. Soon.

Looking up from her thoughts, her eyes focused just in time to see a familiar girl walking toward her. And before she could register the thought and stop, they slammed right into each other.

"Gah!" Max fell back against the pavement with a harsh thud, the concrete digging into her hands and drawing a faint amount of blood. Her forehead had collided with whoever it was, and she was starting to see stars whooshing around above her.

"Max?" she heard a curious voice somewhere off to her right, and manage to move her head ever so slightly. Nudge's blurry face came into view. "Max, are you alright? You look, like, stoned."

"Gee, thanks," Max rolled her eyes wearily. "Nudge, what are you doing here? You know your mom will kill you if you're out, and besides, you're not even in your neighborhood, and you…you…you came to see Iggy, didn't you?" She looked down at the girl, concern in her eyes.

"Yeah," Nudge said softly. "I'm not so sure about it, though." She pulled her knees to her chest. "I don't know what's going on with him. I thought I knew him. But everything's changing. All I know is that when I lost him, I felt like I lost…myself."

"You're confused." It wasn't a question.

"I don't know what to do, Max," she rested her head on her knees, tears pooling in her chocolate eyes. "I'm scared. And I don't know what I did wrong." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "But I don't want that time…all that time talking to Iggy and getting to know him…I don't want that to end."

Before she knew it, Max had grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. I'm so getting fired for this, she thought. "Come on, Nudge. We have some things to talk about."

Dylan winced as the familiar pain shot up his body. No matter how strong it made him, the injections of the serum always made him feel as weak as a rag doll. And they made him feel used, as if he wasn't strong enough on his own.

His wrists and ankles were locked onto the table as the serum continued to flow through the needle and into his bloodstream, the electrical shocks intensifying with each passing second as he stared up at the ceiling of the lab, his grey prison.

He cried out in pain, and it was almost too much to bear. His chest felt like it was exploding, every nerve in his body reacting with the serum and crying out in protest. He always rejected it, and it always hurt.

Traitor tears slipped from his eyes as he grabbed the stone table under him for support. He was doing it for the mission, for Dr. Gunther-Hagen. He had to remember that, at all costs. His fingers slipped and he cried out again as another shock wracked his body.

As the reaction started to wind down and the needle was removed from his forehead, and his wrists and ankles were released. He didn't even have the strength to roll over. Breathing raggedly and still jerking from the reaction, he was left writhing on the table.

The door clicked open, and Doctor Gunther-Hagen walked in, admiring his work. Already, the muscles in Dylan's arms were growing, and it was taking less and less time for Dylan to stop shaking violently after every session. The boy was growing stronger.

"It's almost complete, Dylan," he said softly, and the boy struggled not to feel the deepest level of contempt for the man who had practically raised him. Dr. Gunther-Hagen had assured him that they were going to save the world together. But it didn't feel like saving the world.

Dylan forced himself to sit up, and he almost couldn't make it as his spine protested in agony, throbbing brokenly. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sweaty hand. "Do you remember the mission?" Dr. Gunther-Hagen asked him.

"Kill Maximum Ride," Dylan replied in a monotone, his voice raspy and sounding like a stranger, even to him. And Dr. Gunther-Hagen smiled. "Good boy," he grinned, and turned around, heading for the door.

Dylan hadn't believed it when it had turned out to be her in the coffee shop. His whole life, he'd been waiting to kill the infamous Maximum Ride, training to destroy her cruel beauty, her leadership and her very soul. But then he had met her, and it had changed his life.

She was everything that he could never be. She was naturally strong, a real human, not to mention with a heart of gold and only the best intentions for the people she loved. She was everything he wanted to be. Everything he could never have. And it drove him insane.

"Stop," he managed to say, and Dr. Gunther-Hagen froze. "Stop," he repeated again, struggling for the right words. "I don't want to be your tool," he glared, the emotion of anger so foreign to him, but for the first time bubbling up inside of him. Dr. Gunther-Hagen remained emotionless.

"I don't want to be this person you've created!" he shouted, the very emotion of anger coursing though his veins, in his bloodstream. In his eyes, in his voice. Finally, anger. "I don't want to be this monster!"

Dr. Gunther-Hagen turned around, a smile on his face. "My dear Dylan," he grinned slightly. "I'm afraid that it isn't your choice to make." He walked through the door, and it was slammed behind him.

And it was silent again, leaving Dylan alone to think.

Angel was puzzled.

There was something she couldn't understand, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Every day, Gazzy came over with Max. And every day, she spent all her time with him. He was her best friend, her constant companion, and it was just her, Gazzy, and the enormous house. The three amigos.

But today, he seemed distant, like he was far away. She was having trouble reading his mind, because his thoughts were getting more and more conflicted with each passing minute. And she knew that he was having a mental battle of sorts. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was all about.

"So what do you want to do today?" she asked after fifteen minutes of silence. They were sitting in one of the secret corridors of the house, one that only she knew about, of course. It was tricky to get into, because the only entrance was through a door under the kitchen sink. But when they were inside, it was a world of history that they didn't know about.

The house itself was over three hundred years old. It had been remodeled many times to suit each generation's tastes, but you couldn't just pave over the unknown. This was the only part of the house from back when it was new, an eighteenth century wonder.

"Let's just look around," he replied distractedly, and she bit back a groan. He'd been like this ever since this morning. Strangely, he'd gotten here without Max, and she could tell that he was lying when he'd told her mother that she was at one of his doctor's appointments –for that strange illness that he didn't have-.

She couldn't understand why whenever she was with him, he wasn't just one of her slave monkeys that she wanted to force to dance or act silly for her amusement. He was her friend, and he was pure, and sweet, and unaffected by her wealth or power.

He just wanted her. And, needless to say, it was different from what she usually got. Over time, she'd started to just want him, too. She tried extra hard to say funny things, so he'd smile. She tried to think of new schemes for him, so he'd grin.

And even though she had her own personal stylist, she practically owned the entire make-up section from any self-respecting salon, and not to mention pale, flawless skin, sparkling eyes as if sent from heaven, and perfect light blonde hair, she always wanted him to comment on it. Not like he actually did.

Was she falling for him? She couldn't answer that.

She shook it off and followed him down the corridor, looking at the ancient flooring, Victorian wallpaper and crown molding. Along with all the history just from the interior, there were also many, many things that had been scribbled on the wall over past centuries.

There were drawings that some lone artist had obviously spent hours on, scribbling them into the walls. There were secrets, as if from the pages of a diary, that the owner believed couldn't be trusted with anyone else. There were messages, and dreams, and so many people just like her that had been here.

Gazzy stopped walking to examine a section of the wall. She followed him. In just the one corner, on no other part of the wall, were a fair amount of initials. Surrounding the initials were hearts. Hundreds of them. E + W. S + R. K + T. They were all right there.

He gulped. This was it.

"Angel," he began, turning around to face her. And for once, she was afraid. Not that he'd hurt her. But that she could lose him. "I've known you for a while now." He paused. "You could say…that we're friends."

She fought with herself. Where was her cool? "Y-Yeah," she mustered up some courage, punching him on the shoulder slightly. "I'd hope so."

He turned away. Why was this so hard to do? "T-There's this girl I really, really like," he began, searching for her initial reaction. "I feel like I know her pretty well. But I don't just want to be her friend."

She didn't know why she felt like she'd just been punched in the gut. If Gazzy was her friend…then she should be happy that he'd finally found someone that he could trust enough. But he'd just made it clear…that she was only his friend. And for some reason, that stung.

"I need to know if she likes me as much as I like her." His voice was wavering. Whoever this girl was had him really upset, and that made her angry. She wanted to go to that girl's house and kick her in the face for the way she was hurting Gazzy.

Of course she likes you just as much. Who wouldn't? You're not rich, but you're perfect! You haven't been corrupted, you're the kindest person I've ever met, and you have a heart as big as my mom's ego! Stop worrying so much! She couldn't say it. She just couldn't bring herself to comfort him. She was just that selfish.

Suddenly, he whirled around, and he was so close to her that she closed her eyes out of pure instinct. She felt his eyelashes flutter against her forehead as he placed a soft kiss on her cheek, and she looked up in surprised. And he gathered all of his courage.

"I like you, Angel!"

She felt a warm happiness spread through her body, but on the outside, she was just as shocked as he was. When he searched for a reaction in her face and found none, he looked at the ground.

And he was surprised when she stepped forward, stood on her toes and kissed his own cheek. When she pulled away, her eyes were sparkling.

"I think I like you, too."

The warm air brushed around Nudge's shoulders as a few leaves slowly drifted down from the trees. The first leaves to fall. The first leaves to announce that summer was ending and it was time to move forward. But she wasn't sure that she could. She just didn't know anymore.

She looked around her. A few weeks ago, she and Iggy had been here, laughing and walking. He'd taught her what it was like to see how he saw things. She'd really loved him. She still loved him. But when someone steps on your heart, how do you find a way to forgive them?

Max broke the silence. "Iggy told me that when he brought you here, he told you to cover your eyes, and listen to the sounds around you. To see how he sees." Nudge nodded, trying not to remember. She failed. "But I don't think he really told you how he sees."

Nudge looked up, puzzled, as Max continued. "He's blind, but he's able to live like a normal human, for the most part. He barely seems handicapped. But we have to remember that even though he makes it look easy, it isn't. He hates it. If he could change it, he would."

Max sighed. "He's never seen anything. He's learned from shapes how things look like, but he doesn't really know. I can't explain colors to him. I can't explain faces to him. Every day, he relies fully on trust. Trusting that he'll be okay. Trusting that Gazzy, Dad and I can lead the way for him." A tear slid down her face.

"He's also trusting you. He's known you for two months, but he really thinks he can trust you, and he's right. But there's still a part of him that doubts. It took a lot of courage for him to give up Ella, someone who's totally familiar to him, for you. You're new. You're a little…dangerous to him." Nudge didn't protest.

"Iggy won't ever see his bride on his wedding day. He won't ever see the faces of his children. He won't get to watch them grow up. This changed his life, right from the moment that he was born. He's always full of doubts. And now, he's doubting you."

Max looked straight at Nudge. "You need to make sure he knows exactly how important to you he is. He needs to know that he shouldn't have doubts, because you love him. And he needs to know that if he takes the risk of loving you…you won't let him fall."

Nudge nodded. "Thank you, Max." She stood up. "Tell my mom that I'm lost, and that you were late because after Gazzy's 'appointment', you were looking for me." Max shrugged, not even caring what the heck that meant.

"Where are you going?" Max asked.

"I'm going to get the guy I love back," she replied. "If you ever need anything…you can talk to me. I know I'm younger, but you can talk to me. Because…I want to be there for you…like you were here for me."

And she was gone, leaving Max alone in the wind.

When the door to Iggy's gas station opened, he didn't notice that it was Nudge, although he prayed with all his might that it would be. He wanted to hold her in his arms, wanted to tell her that he loved her, and that he missed her so damn much.

So when her voice crashed down on him, his eyes widened.

"Hi, Iggy," she said softly. And in seconds, he was around the counter, right in front of her, his lips on hers. She couldn't fight it as her hands found their way into his hair and her arms wrapped around his neck, because she missed this more than anything.

"I don't care what happened before," she whispered. "Iggy, I missed you so much."

He pulled back to look at her, or just imagined that he could. "I made a mistake, letting you go like that," he growled, and her heart thudded in her chest. "But I'll never make that mistake again. I'll never leave you again. I love you. And I know that now."

And she kissed him again.

"Finally," she sighed, content.

Oh my gosh! I'm actually updating on schedule! :D Awesomeness. If you're wondering how long the story will be, we're not even close to the end, sorry! For all of you who review asking if this is the last chapter, STOP. Did I not tell you I have more plot twists? xD

So what did you think of the Gazzy/Angel? I'm having a tough time thinking of their teenage selves!

Please take a moment to remember what happened on September 11, 2001.

~Rachel