A/N: So here is the long awaited actual update to this story! So, the original plan was to start on this chapter on New Year's Eve after I got to my mom's, then go out, and finish it up the next day while harboring a massive hangover. However, my plans took an unexpected turn, and I ended up ringing in the New Year completely alone and very mad and upset. Needless to say, I was not in the mood to write. But, I've found my original story, and the show now goes on! Please read, follow, favorite, and review! And Happy New Year!

Max's POV

The Flock and I had been flying for quite a while. It had been three months since Fang had up and left after Total and Akila's wedding, and we were all still feeling the hurt. I swear, even if I don't see him again for years, I'll still kick his ass when I see him again. Son of bitch that he was and all.

God, I missed him.

"Max," Gazzy called out from behind me, "I'm getting kind of tired."

I groaned. This was exactly why I decided it was time for us to leave my mother's house. They were getting lazy. Even I had to admit, even with my super-fast metabolism, I had eaten way too many of her chocolate chip cookies to even be considered healthy for me. Honestly, though, the woman could cook.

"Yeah," Nudge chimed in, her normally chipper voice laced with fatigue, "We've been flying over a day now. Let's take a break."

"No," I barked, not even bothering to glance back at them. We needed to trudge on through the rest of Texas. I needed the Flock safe, and Texas was a big state. There was plenty of room there to just blend in and stay away from everyone else. Far away.

A collective groan sounded from the Flock, but I didn't really care. I knew they were still bummed from me overruling their decision to go back to California instead of the middle of nowhere in Texas. But, as I said, it's not a democracy. It's a Maxocracy. Plus, something was off with California, and I really didn't want to go there. Just a feeling. And I was normally right about these things.

The rustling of wings next to me caught my attention. Dylan had moved from his place at the back of our formation (where I had pointedly put him, though he seemed not to get the hint) to right next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Max." he pleaded, his tone strained. "It's been long enough. Besides," he added, giving me a shit-eating grin, "we both know I'm not the best at this."

I scoffed. He seemed to be doing a bang-up job on his own for this long. With his fucking perfect hair that still looked like it was styled and his fucking perfect skin without any sweat. "Fine," I drawled out, annoyed, earning myself collective sighs from the rest of the Flock. I turned to Dylan, making sure he got the understood that I was not happy with him. "And just where do you expect us to land, hm?" All I had seen since we had entered the 'Great State' of Texas, I had seen nothing besides grass. And dust. Lots of grass and dust. And nothing. Man, Texas was one boring state to fly through.

"How about over there?" Angel called, pointing a little ahead of us. I followed her direction, and saw a small cliff ledge. Well, it wasn't all that small. It appeared smaller than it actually was, mostly because it didn't have mush support near the tip. But, it was big enough that the six of us could stand in straight line across its width if needed. The other side was a dense forest. Ok, maybe not dense, but it definitely was a lot bigger than anything we had seen in the past few hours. It was thick enough to hide in, and the trees were big enough to for us to sleep in.

As I went to land, I watched as the Flock practically collapsed onto the ground. Yep, a few months of being on our own would do us some good. We didn't need to get used to the luxury. It just wasn't a life meant for us.

All I could feel was heat. Since we would be going into town as soon as we reached Houston, we all had jackets on, so as to hide our wings to the public. It was just easier to keep them on and travel with them then to find a place to hide, put them on, then go into town. But it definitely not make the trudge across the plains any easier.

I decided to do a quick perimeter sweep, since no one else had bothered to move off their lazy ass to even see if there was danger around us. Iggy was lying on his stomach with Gazzy sitting next to them, our two tinkers fiddling with someone unknown object to me. Honestly, as long as they didn't blast us off the cliffside, I really couldn't care less. Nudge had pulled out one of her silly magazines from her backpack, flipping though it as if she hadn't read it at least one hundred times. Angel and Dylan were sharing a sandwich, talking and giggling to each other like old friends. Their relationship unsettled me. After the incident in the club in California, I wasn't too keen in letting Angel get anywhere near me or the rest of the Flock. But I was fine with Dylan. Maybe she'd do something reckless and kill him, instead. But, of course, I would never be that lucky.

I opted to not even sit after I came back, hoping that everyone else would get the hint that I wanted to get back in the air. I won't lie; I had been pretty antsy since Fang's departure. It was just wrong not having my right-hand man beside me.

Suddenly, Angle's head snapped up towards the forest, scrambling to her feet. This automatically set me on edge, my body tensing into a fighting stance, preparing for the worst. But instead of a cry of battle, Angel merely whispered, "Fang?" her eyes squinting, her voice wavering.

Oh HELL NO! She did NOT just say He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named as if he was about to pop out of the fucking treelike and expect everything to go back to fucking normal! "Excuse me," I gritted out, attempting to keep myself in control.

Angel merely shook her head, the entire Flock watching her in confusion. "I…I don't know," she muttered, looking down at her feet. "it feels like Fang, but it's not Fang."

We didn't have a very long time to ponder her statement, because the very next second, that little girl spun around to face the cliff. "Erasers!"