Through the Eyes of a Servant Chapter 19, a maximum ride fanfic

Through the Eyes of a Servant | Chapter 19 | by: Rachel / Chapter posted October 11th, 2010.

AU | Max/Fang | PG / 3671 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 betwen them?

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

"Max, will you marry me?"

Max blinked up at him, and in that instant, every plan, every dream, every perception of her life as she knew it. In that instant, she saw Fang in a suit at the end of the aisle. She saw him holding a little girl with blonde curls and dark eyes. And she saw him getting older, his wings gray at the tips.

It frightened her and excited her at the same time. Hadn't she been the one to think of marrying Fang for herself, before knowing if they would even last the summer? Knowing each other for three months was nothing, because it felt like a lifetime.

There she was, battling with herself on the pavement on a crowded street, with Fang sitting above her, eyes wide, not entirely believing what he himself had just asked. Because in that instant, his future had changed, too.

He saw it then, as clear as day, his life with Max. They wouldn't be rich, of course, quite the opposite. He wouldn't see Angel and Nudge as he used to. But then he saw Max, and their life together, and he knew that nothing else mattered.

"Max?" he asked quietly, and she only shuddered in response. Yes, she wanted to say. She wanted to say it a thousand times and once more. But she also knew that the odds had it ending badly for them, and wondered if it was worth the risk.

For one thing, his mother was sure to find out about it, and what would they do then? Fang would be homeless, and they were only seventeen. "I…I…" Max was speechless.

At that moment, the Voice stepped in. What to do, what to do, it said in that snide voice she'd grown to loathe and love at the same time. Leave me alone, she prayed. Just leave me the hell alone. I've got enough on my plate.

Unfortunately, you don't have enough time to think about such things, the Voice said coldly, and she couldn't help but wonder what it was talking about this time. The Voice didn't reply, and disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"Max," Fang said again, and she snapped out of it. Looking up to see where she was, she looked into his eyes, and knew that she could never be with him. She didn't belong in his life. She didn't belong in his heart. And that was fine, just fine.

So she did the only thing she could do, something that had been her instinct to do ever since she met him. "I can't," she looked anywhere but at him, and jumped up. Then she ran. She ran as fast as she could, and when she felt like she couldn't run anymore, she only ran faster, tears stinging her eyes. That was for the best, she heard the Voice in her ear.

"Shut up!" she screamed at it as she ran into the forest behind town. It wasn't for the best! I lost him. He wanted to be with me, and I lost him, and you're only making it worse! And she crashed to the ground, unable to run any longer.

At the foot of a large tree, she remained on the ground, because she just didn't have the will to get up. Tears streamed down her face, because she knew that this was it. It was finally over, after all this time.

You didn't belong in his world. You never did. She realized that it wasn't the Voice this time. It was the sound of her own thoughts. She knew she didn't belong with him. They were just too different, and she could never be part of his world.

It was underneath the tree that her heart broke as she realized that this wasn't a fairy tale, and that there just weren't story-book endings. Cinderella would have stayed home scrubbing the floors, and Snow White never would have woken up.

Looking around her, her last tear fell as she saw that he hadn't followed her.

Angel sat at the window of her room, staring out onto the front lawn blankly. Fang was very far away, granted, but he wasn't that far away. In her mind's eye, she could see and feel everything that Fang was feeling as he waited on that sidewalk for her answer.

She knew every thought in both of their heads. The main feeling coming from the scene of it was fear. Fear of rejection, fear of getting hurt, fear that their lives would change, and they would. If only they knew how much.

The second feeling was love. Angel could feel happiness in Max's heart, and she could sense just how completely important she was to Fang. But unfortunately, love just wasn't enough. Fear overpowered love, and rock beats scissors. Angel knew that fear wore on the human brain, enough to make a person go inside.

And she knew Max's decision before Max spoke it aloud. I can't echoed through Angel's mind, as if Max had screamed it into the deepest canyon. She felt Fang's rejection, and Max's pained heart, and she wanted to escape. But all she could do was sit and feel every bit of it.

She didn't flinch as Max ran from the scene, because she'd seen worse things in her short life. She didn't cry as Fang slumped against a lamp post, defeated. Her heart didn't budge as both of theirs broke. She took a deep, shuddering breath and kept it in.

She sighed as Total plopped down her lap, and she stroked his black fur. She didn't know why, but he was always comforting somehow. "Stop worrying," he looked up at her, concerned. "Let's go outside. Let's play with the ball. Get your mind off things."

Total was worried. Angel had been acting strangely the entire day, just staring out the window and ignoring him.

For a moment, she didn't answer him as she heard Max's Voice speaking to her. She knew plenty of secrets, didn't she? Secrets about Max, about Fang, and about Total. And she knew she kept secrets better than anyone else she knew. But secrets were made to be hidden, she had discovered.

"Can we read magazines instead? I know you like them," Angel smiled down at him. "Okay," he barked, and trotted over to her bed. She gave the window one last, long look before putting it after her mind and walking after him.

Fang sat on the sidewalk, stunned, as he watched the girl he loved run away. But he wasn't surprised. Max wouldn't have said yes if he'd asked her a thousand times, of that he was sure. And it was better that way. You're dangerous, his subconscious told him. It's better off this way, and she won't get hurt.

The entire stretch of sidewalk was staring at him as he sat lamely in the middle of the walkway. Max was gone, and he was frozen to the spot. It's not better, he thought. I lost her. He shook his head. It couldn't be like this. It couldn't end this way, not after everything they'd been through together.

"That's rough, man," he heard a voice behind him as a teenage boy regarded him with pity. Fang shook his head and stood up, the whole situation feeling surreal. This hadn't just happened. He hadn't just asked Max to marry him. He hadn't just changed everything.

But he had, for better or worse, and for once, he couldn't turn away. The biggest mistake of his life, and he couldn't go back and make it so that it never happened. He flinched as he felt a hand on his arm, and turned around to see the same teenage boy behind him. "Leave her alone," the boy said. Fang growled. "Who the hell are you to tell me that?"

The boy shrugged. "Just some guy on the street, right? What the hell could I know?" he grinned. If only this Fang knew how much he did know. "Just listen to me when I say that it's better if you two aren't together. And remember, this conversation never happened."

And the boy walked away. Fang gaped a full two seconds before walking after him. "Hey," he shouted, and grabbed the boy's shoulder, pulling him around to face him. "What do you mean, 'this conversation never happened'?"

The boy grinned, and for once, Fang's blood ran cold. "What conversation?" he asked, and he was gone.

"Dylan," Dr. Gunther-Hagen smiled from his place at his desk as Dylan walked into the room. "You did fantastically," he complimented, and despite the nagging feeling that he was doing something horribly wrong, Dylan felt happy. Dr. Gunther-Hagen was proud of him. Didn't that matter, too?

"This is perfect," Dr. Gunther-Hagen said, sorting through papers on his desk as Dylan glanced around the room uncomfortably. "Once we separate Max from Fang, there will be nothing standing in between her and the School." He grinned. "And they're willing to pay an agreeable sum of money for her."

"This is illegal, isn't it?" Dylan asked worriedly. "You're planning to capture another human being and practically sell her. If you get caught, you'll go to jail," he pointed out. Dr. Gunther-Hagen let slip a chuckle that made Dylan's skin crawl.

"Oh, Dylan," Dr. Gunther-Hagen mused, "you have a lot to learn. Nothing worth doing is ever done legally, and more importantly, no one will ever know about this. If anyone was going to find out about the School, they would have by now."

"How are you going to hide the fact that she's gone missing?" Dylan hissed. "They'll find out, and I don't want to be a part of it!" Dr. Gunther-Hagen eyed him curiously.

"Dylan, have you forgotten that you're still my pet?" he asked, giving a prim smile. "As long as I have you here, you're forced to do what I say. Quite frankly, you don't have enough of the human emotion of free will to do anything about it." Dylan could have screamed.

"I could," he hissed, almost trying to convince himself. He was part human. He had to find a way to escape this. "I could if I knew I could be free. You aren't keeping me here. I could go to the police, and have you arrested, and never look at your face again."

"You won't," Dr. Gunther-Hagen replied almost instantaneously. "But just in case…what if I made this little game more interesting?" he asked in that slippery-smooth voice that Dylan had learned to distrust, even if Dr. Gunther-Hagen was the only parental figure he had.

"What do you mean?" Dylan asked warily, curious nevertheless. Dr. Gunther-Hagen's grin only widened. "Raise the stakes," Dr. Gunther-Hagen said simply. "I want my work done, and you want your freedom. So what if we made a little trade?" Dylan's heart leapt at the chance.

"Do you mean that if I did this for you…if I killed Maximum Ride…" Dylan trailed off, hardly allowing himself to hope, but already, a perfect human life flashing before his eyes. Being adopted by a family. Having friends. Living the life he'd been dreaming of. "If I did that, would you set me free?"

"If that is your wish," Dr. Gunther-Hagen replied simply, and Dylan couldn't help but take the bait. As much as he would have loved a normal life, not to kill any one person, not to deal with this, the only way to get that was to go through with this. "I'll do it," he replied.

"I had a feeling you would," Dr. Gunther-Hagen said, satisfied. "Now, please rest, and we'll resume your strength training. You don't have much time before all of this will come into play." Dylan nodded, only thinking of the fact that in just under two months, he'd be free.

It's wrong, the nagging part of his brain told him, but he ignored it, just like always. Everyone lied, everyone cheated, everyone stole, and some killed. The world was a cruel place, and he'd learned that the hard way. So if he had to kill Maximum Ride…he'd do what he had to.

And he would have to.

Fang was stunned. The boy that had just appeared had said just what he was thinking – that it would be better off if he and Max weren't together. Fang knew why. The School wasn't gone, and it never, ever gave up. Sooner or later, it would come back, and if it could find both of them in one place – it would never let them go.

Months ago, before he ever met Max, some particularly threatening letters had come to their house. To someone who didn't know of the School, it wouldn't have made any sense. But Fang knew better. He knew why his mother wouldn't even let him off the property, wouldn't let him see anyone.

There was always the threat that the School would come back for him. Anyone could be someone not to trust, and anything could happen. Angel had already been kidnapped by the school when she was only six years old. That had been a scare.

The School would always come back. Even if Max didn't know it, they were surely looking for her, too. And once they found her, there was no telling what could happen. If they were together, the School finding them was always a higher risk.

He sighed. But even if that was so, even if the School came for them, even if they never escaped, even if they were trapped forever, he knew he couldn't live without Max. She was completely different from him, like a breath of fresh air. She was so free, and happy, and strong, and he loved her.

She was arrogant, and sarcastic, and impossible, but he loved her with all his heart. She was his number one forever, someone he couldn't imagine himself living without, and he would be an idiot to let her go. So even if the School came for them, even if all hell broke loose, he just couldn't do it.

He took off running, and didn't look back. He ran like his life depended on it, to the forest behind town. It was completely silent as he crashed through trees and bushes, and he didn't care when he tripped over a rock and fell to the ground. Because there, just beyond the clearing, was Max, crying under one of the trees.

"Max," he regretted it as soon as he spoke the word. She looked up from her hands to see him, and it hit her like a slap in the face. He loved her, and he'd come back for her. But then she shook her head, and came back to reality. It just couldn't happen. "Fang," she replied steadily.

She flinched as she heard the voice speaking to her again. Forget him, it told her.

It was with a heavy heart that she spoke again. "Leave, Fang. Just leave. Go away."

"Miss Lissa? Miss Lissa, are you in here?" Lissa didn't bother to look down from her ladder as one of the maids walked into the storage shed. "Lissa, what are you doing?" Lissa sighed. "Trying to get that red suitcase up there. Can you help me?"

"O-Of course, miss," she replied, and climbed up to help her. After a few moments of struggling, they managed to pull it free of the many other duffel bags. Lissa looked fondly at it once they were back down on the ground. "Pardon my asking, miss," the maid said shyly, "but why that particular suitcase?"

Lissa smiled. "This suitcase has been through a lot," she said vaguely, and towed it out of the shed and back toward the house, the maid following her the entire way. "Are you going on a trip, Miss Lissa?" she asked curiously.

Lissa looked back at her, frowning slightly. "Tess, I told you that you can call me Lissa. You've been our maid for two years." Tess smiled slightly and continued walking. "Yes, I am going on a trip, actually," Lissa replied.

"Ooh, to where?" Tess asked excitedly. "Florida? The Bahamas? Or maybe somewhere a little bit more exciting, like Europe?" Lissa shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that. This is more of a personal trip."

"A personal trip?" Tess scratched her head. Lissa sighed. "Don't tell anyone, alright? But I'm going to see Fang." Just saying his name made Lissa happier than she'd been all day. The one summer she'd spent with Fang had been the best of her life, even if she had been working as a maid.

"Not Fang!" Tessa said in a whisper, and Lissa nodded. "I know, I know. It's crazy! He lives halfway across the country, and I hardly ever get to see him, but he is…well…I still…" she was cut off as Tess covered her mouth.

"You still love him. I get it," she gave a small smile. "Just don't get hurt this time, Lissa." Lissa nodded. She knew that there was no telling where Fang was now, or who he was with. He could have moved on, despite his promise. But if she could help it, she'd make him fall in love with her again.

"Don't worry," she replied. "It's all going to be okay."

An eternity passed as Fang stared at Max and she stared back at him. "Leave? Go away?" his voice cracked. "Do you want me to leave? Do you want me to go away?" He was shaking. "Max, I just asked you to marry me. I chose you. What the hell is wrong?"

Max closed her eyes. The Voice was telling her not to. The Voice was telling her to forget him, but she didn't know that she could. She had grown so used to seeing Fang, being with Fang, hearing his voice, loving him. How could she just forget that? Life without him had been worse than the School.

"It won't work," her voice cracked. "We're just kids, and you have a whole future for yourself that I won't ruin just because of a stupid whim at age seventeen. Your mother will disown you, you'll lose your family, and you'll lose your chance at a career and a college education."

"Doesn't it matter that I love you, and I never want to have to give you up again?" he asked angrily.

She glared at him. "Unfortunately, it doesn't. Over half of all marriages end in divorce, and that risk is even higher for teenagers. I won't take the risk of messing our lives up so young just because you don't want to let go." There were tears in her eyes.

"Damn it, Fang, don't you get that I'm trying to forget this ever happened? I have my school, I have my future, and I'm still trying to figure out what the hell life's about before I screw it up!" her fists clenched. "I love you! Is that what you want to hear? I love you, I do! But it doesn't matter anymore!"

He crawled toward her, and she backed up against the tree. "It should always matter," he whispered, and cupped her face with the side of his hand. "I think…" he trailed off. Damn, all this talking is hard, he thought. "I think we met for a reason, because every good day is a day I spend with you. I think it was fate, or God, or what the hell, the apocalyptic voodoo monkey in the sky." She laughed in spite of herself.

"I think we have a shot at this," he whispered. "I think we could spend our lives together. I think we could have that life, with a house, and a car, and one of those stupid big dogs," he grinned. "I think we could have little winged kids, and I think I could love you until the day that I die."

She looked away, and tried not to picture it, because it hurt too much. It had never been right for things to go the way she wanted them to. She had learned that life was hard, and if it sounded too good to be true, it usually was. "I'm scared," she whispered. "Me too," he replied, and leaned in to kiss her.

His lips covered hers, and she felt herself give in. He leaned in closer until she was pressed against the tree trunk completely, her hands in his hair, and she wondered how she'd ever been able to say no in the first place. "Yes," she muttered, and he pulled away. "What?" he asked.

"Yes," she looked up at him. "Yes, I'll marry you. Yes, I'll spend my life with you. Yes, I'll have a house and a car and a dog and as many kids as you want, or none at all," she grinned. "I just want you. My whole life."

He almost smiled, but he didn't. "Are you sure?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. He felt her nod. "It won't be easy. And I don't really know how to tell my mother that I'm engaged," he grinned. "I don't even have a ring for you."

"I don't need one," she replied. "And I…I think you'll figure things out." They fell silent once again, and Fang couldn't help but wonder what he'd gotten himself into. In one day, he'd gone from being a teenager to a fiancé, and future husband. Was this how love went? He couldn't say.

"One more thing," he heard Max speak, and looked down at her expectantly. "You're the one telling my dad that you want to marry me," she ordered, and he froze. She chuckled darkly.

"You're lucky that I love you so damn much," he growled, and she smiled slightly. She didn't know if she was making the right decision, but they were about to find out. I love you, too, she thought, and she could only hope that it was enough.

I'm so, so sorry that you all have had to wait over two weeks for me to update. I know I probably lost some readers, and that makes me sat, but my laptop couldn't get connection, so I couldn't post this. Thanks to anyone who's still reading.

I hate this chapter, and I don't know why. I find it crappy? I don't know. The next one will be better.

Congrats to those of you who saw this chapter coming ;D

~Rachel