Angel POV

"Good morning everyone! Time to get up!" Fang called from his room. Iggy snorted and then yelped. Fang must have kicked him.

"1…2…3…FIRE IN THE HOLE!" crowed Gazzy. The faint smell of rotten fish and puke filled the air. Nudge groaned and smothered her face into the pillows.

Fang opened our door, coughing, and choked out, "Morning girls. Get up, 'kay?"

"Do me a favor Fang and take a shower," Nudge said, her face still mashed into the pillow.

Fang winced and thought, That bad?

YES! Nudge and I screamed in his head.

He chuckled and said, "Ok, I'll take a shower A.S.A.P." Suddenly, Max burst through the doors carrying pizza.

"Rise and shine, guys! Pizza only after you've brushed!" she called. Nudge and I leaped out of bed, rushing to the bathroom. Max laughed as we tripped over each other, shouting our greetings to her as we passed. I noticed Fang seemed to look at her a little longer before followings us out…when will Max realize he loves her? It's like one of those secrets everyone knows except the person the secret's about. That just won't do.

I'm going to give Max a wake up call after breakfast.

Max POV

I blinked. The Flock was hungrily devouring the pizza, like a pack of starving wolves. Yes, we are disgusting, but we also do tend to save the world, so I guess that makes up for it.

Fang hadn't told anyone about my breakdown last night, and this morning, he didn't even tease me about it. Usually, I'd be glad for a break…but it just felt odd. Fang wasn't being Fang. I sighed, hoping he wasn't some bad guy clone. My neck hairs prickled, and I suddenly felt like I was being watched. Glancing around, I found myself making eye contact with Angel. Her calm blue eyes had taken a stormy gray shade.

Max, I need to tell you something.

Shoot away.

Ever since the eclipse, we've received the ability to communicate via thoughts right? Well, it happens that our mental strength and defense has also increased. Basically, breaking into your mind and getting information isn't as easy as it used to be.

So unless we have our guard down, our minds are close to impenetrable?

Yup.

Gee.

I know.

But your power, it still works pretty well on, like, normal people?

Yeah, I think so.

Angel looked like she wanted to say something else, but she didn't. I smiled at her, pondering over this piece of new information. Gazzy's fart explosion wafted through the air, causing uncomfortable reactions in the senses. How the heck am I gonna explain to the hotel staff that the room smells like puke and rotten fish?

"Our pet fish, Wilbur, just died and Iggy puked this morning," Gazzy mumbled through bits of pizza.

I gave him a look and he shrugged happily.

A couple hours later

Max POV

"Hey Max! Can we go in there? I need some new clothes," Nudge pleaded as we passed another clothes store.

"And, oh my god, let's eat there! It smells awesome!" Nudge added as we passed a restaurant. Her stomach grumbled as if to prove her point.

"Hey make up your mind, food or clothes?" Iggy asked.

"Uh, food or clothes? Right…um…oh, this is hard," Nudge muttered rapidly to herself.

I chuckled and said, "Let's eat first. We can go shopping afterwards."

"Yay!" squealed Nudge. Gazzy groaned.

"I hate shopping," Gazzy complained.

"We'll go to Gamestop when Nudge is finished," I suggested.

Gazzy immediately grinned at me and stopped complaining. And if you haven't realized it yet, we're walking the streets of New York. Just like tourists. Why? Cuz I promised Nudge a day of fun and the Empire State Building. Actually I promised her the Empire State Building yesterday, during Fang and Iggy's fight. But their fight took longer than I expected, so there was a change of plans. And Nudge demanded a "fun day" in compensation for my "broken promise". So here I am.

I opened the door to the restaurant and looked around. It was like a Chinese buffet.

"Awesome! I love Chinese food!" cried Nudge.

"Good afternoon, I'm May. Six?" inquired a pleasant young Chinese woman.

"Yeah, six people," I replied.

"Follow me, please," May instructed, then led us to a table near the windows.

"Would you like to eat the buffet or order from our menu?" she asked.

"Buffet," I replied, thinking how we would all eat tons. She nodded and left.

A lot of other people were talking and laughing near us. Seems pretty safe. No death threat while eating…like the bomb at that bacon restaurant. My flock seemed to remember as well and they tensed.

"It's okay, guys. You can relax, trust me. We'll be fine. There's, like, more than five dozen people here! It's impossible someone would try to kill us at a spot with so many people," I reassured my flock. Everyone sighed and Nudge and Angel began arguing about what to eat first.

"Nice," Fang offered.

I half-smiled, totally confused about Fang's actions as of late, before opening the menu. I mean, don't YOU find it a bit odd? He's been really…gentlemanly lately. It's like, 'where's Fang and what have you done with him?'

I'm proud to say we ate until the buffet had to be replenished by the restaurant. I've never been so satisfied in my life.

Gazzy belched and Iggy slapped fives with him at my glaring eye of disapproval. May brought us the check. 150 dollars. Wow. I gave May the card and she left. Must have been 25 dollars per person.

After eating we stopped by maybe a dozen clothes stores. Nudge was on a total shopping spree. Fang looked so miserable as he carried all of Nudge's shopping bags, that I took one look at him and cracked up.

"Shut it," he muttered darkly. I tried to say something back, but I was laughing way too hard.

"Guys! I see a Gamestop!" interrupted Gazzy. He took off and Iggy raced after him. Nudge glared after them before dropping the jeans she was examining. I chuckled and wondered what Angel was doing.

"Angel?"

Silence…my blood froze as I whirled around anxiously, searching the streets for any sign of a small, blonde girl.

"Angel?!" I yelled. Several people stared at me, but I ignored them. I began racing back to the last store we were at, Fang next to me, when Angel walked out of another store, carrying a big shopping bag.

I sighed and called to her, "Sweetie, don't do that again! I thought I lost you!"

Angel smiled and hugged me.

"Sorry, Max, I had to go buy some things at that store, and since Nudge usually takes a long time, I thought it would be, ok," Angel explained.

"Next time tell me," I said.

"Ok!" Angel said cheerfully. Then she danced to where Nudge was sulking by the door of Gamestop.

"Wonder what she got…" I said to myself.

Fang smiled and said nothing as he followed Angel. Hmm.

After an immensely tiring day (it was great for Nudge, Angel, Gazzy, and Iggy), Fang and I collapsed back at the hotel.

"I'm never doing that again," I declared to Fang.

He gave me a wry smile and said, "Yes, you will."

"Yup, probably," I groaned, "But at least let me pretend that's the last time I have to do that!"

"Ya should've gotten something for yourself," he said, "Then it wouldn't seem so horrible."

I raised my eyebrows. Fang just stared at me, his dark, dark brown eyes transfixing me…

"Max? When are we going to the Empire State building?" Nudge asked. I blinked then turned to look at her.

"Aw, come on Nudge, I'm so tired!" I wailed.

"Maaax! You promised! " Nudge complained.

"Fine," I pouted, "Give me ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?!"

"Take it or leave it," I told her. Then I collapsed onto the bed and pulled a pillow over my head. Fang chuckled and rubbed my shoulder. I was surprised, but didn't move. No energy left…

Pulling the covers over me, Fang's presence slowly left the room. A couple minutes (or maybe shorter…I have no idea right now), sleepiness began to crawl over me.

Fang POV

I returned to Max a couple minutes later and found she was sleeping. I stroked her hair and turned off the lights.

Nudge POV

"Hey! Guys! Max is sleeping so I'll take you to the Empire State building instead, ok?" Fang announced. I shrugged.

"Hey, let's get going. You wanna go or not?" he called from the front door. As we rushed towards him, I noticed Fang seemed to be thinking about something. His expression was so tender and caring it was strange to see it on Fang's face. It must be about Max.

That's so cute, I told him.

What? Fang asked.

How much you love her! I squealed in his mind.

He half-smiled in response, to the extreme annoyance of Iggy and Gazzy.

"I can't believe he's that lovesick!" Iggy muttered to Gazzy.

"I know!" Gazzy replied.

Fang POV

I love the night. Its fresh, crisp feeling was one of the best things in the world. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, relaxing in the chill city evening. The bright lights of New York glinted and gleamed so flamboyantly, it sorta lit up the sky with the stories of human life at night. Gosh, I could live here. It's just so absolutely beautiful and safe. Crowds of people walked the sidewalks. Couples held hands and walked around, smitten with each other. Nudge and Angel bounced around happily. Iggy and Gazzy were talking about bombs, again. And I was perfectly at home in this kind of environment.

We walked along the sidewalk for a while, browsing stores and eating food. I brought the Flock to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Then we watched a street musician perform proudly, regardless of all he did not have. Or maybe he thought of it differently…all that he DID have. I added a couple dollars to his vast collection of crinkled bills and spare change before ushering the Flock on. It was pretty amazing cause everyone was so happy.

I wish Max was here.

"Hey Fang! Can we go to the Empire State Building now?" Nudge called from a couple feet ahead of me.

"Sure, let's get directions," I called to her over the loud buzz of the crowds.

I entered a convenience store and asked the cashier for directions. He drew on a map he had and gave it to me.

"Thanks," I told him. He nodded and I left.

Outside, I looked at my flock, and said, "You guys wanna take a risk?"

They met me with eager expressions, just as Max once described to me. We live for danger. It's rather interesting when you think of the regular kids so happy playing their video games, then us thrilled to be fighting for our lives every single day of our entire lives.

Anyways, a minute later we were flying above New York City, our wings riding the tranquil wind. It felt wonderful, to fly. As we descended closer to the city, I knew we were going to be more easily spotted.

"Aim for that alley," I shouted, "It looks dark enough."

The flock nodded and we glided smoothly back to ground. The alley was actually pretty close to the Empire State Building and we walked to the entrance in under a minute.

Angel POV

I looked out at New York City from the Empire State Building and gasped. The view was amazing. Nudge squealed with joy. I was perfectly content to stay here and just….see.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! I'm actually here! This is so cool! " Nudge shrieked from beside me.

Several people looked at her and laughed.

Nudge blushed and mumbled, "Oh, sorry."

Beside me, Fang was staring out, almost lost in the city.

"I wish Max was here," Nudge said.

I nodded.

Fang gave us a wry smile, shaking his head ruefully.

"Tomorrow we'll drag her up here. I promise," he said. Nudge's eyes brightened.

"REALLY?" she asked.

"You bet," Fang remarked to us with a grin.

"She'll be really pissed, man," Iggy said.

"Incredibly freakin' pissed," agreed Gazzy.

Fang looked at them. When had Iggy and Gazzy not wanted to do something that would piss Max off?

"Dude, we're so helping you," they said together.

The answer? Never.

Max POV

I woke up and stretched. That was the best nap I've had in ages. No nightmares, no worries. Perfect.

"Guys?" I called. I wonder if ten minutes passed yet.

Nobody answered. I got up, turned on the light, and saw the note. Or, rather…notes.

First note:

Max,

You fell asleep and the Flock and I agreed that it was best to let you stay like that. I'm going to take them to see the Empire State Building. We'll bring you dinner and don't worry, we'll be fine. We'll be back around 11:00.

See ya soon,

Fang

Huh. Fang's handwriting is really messy. I like it for some reason though.

The second note:

Hello Maximum Ride. Regardless of how much I want to meet you in person, this time I'm simply delivering some bad news. Your precious flock has gone sightseeing at the Empire State building…which you think is completely according to plan. But see, the problem there is we've managed to locate them. And currently, we have them hostage, ready to be killed in the most gruesome way (I can assure you of that). There is nothing you can do…unless you are willing to sacrifice yourself to save them. If you are, we'll be waiting in the Artic. Good luck, Maximum Ride. I hope you have the courage it takes to rescue your flock…otherwise I will genuinely be disappointed.

Sincerely,

Blade

The world seemed to freeze. My heart pounded in my chest………thump………thump…………thump……

It finally kicked in.

I rushed to the window, smashing the glass with my fist

Thump……thump……thump……

I threw myself out. The shards of glass painfully piercing my skin and wings, but I couldn't feel it any of it at all. There was only one thing echoing in my ears.

Thump……thump……thump

Fang POV

I stared blankly at the shape hurtling towards me. It looked so strangely…human.

I frowned and heard Angel cry out, "Fang!" as she tugged my sleeve urgently.

"Not now, sweetie," I murmured to her.

"But I'm getting a really bad feeling…we have to leave now!" Angel insisted.

The shape was a girl. But how? Wait.

"FANG! Look!" shouted Gazzy, his voice slightly trembling. I glanced around quickly at his strange tone, but there was nothing unusual. Just people. I quickly refocused on the shape, which was now getting ever closer. Suddenly I knew.

Max.

Max POV

Fang's eyes widened as he realized I was soaring towards him at 200 mph. But it wasn't fast enough. A dark haired boy with blazing red wings landed behind Fang. I started mouthing the words to him, but he didn't seem to understand.

FANG, TURN AROUND!!!!!!!

Wha-

Too late…a net dropped over the entire Flock.

Too. Late.

Fang POV

What was she saying? Suddenly, I net entrapped me, and a voice chuckled from behind me. I struggled ferociously immediately, instinct kicking in.

"Don't bother," drawled a dark…familiar? voice said.

I whirled around and a net went over the Flock and me. A boy with black hair and dark eyes smirked at me. Strangely enough, he reminded me of someone I knew…

"We'll talk when you wake up," he said calmly. I wanted to snap some nasty remark but I felt…numbed. What was going on? My eyes landed on the fine white powders lace on the net. White powder…? I heard the gasps of the normal people around us. They wouldn't help. Too afraid. The Flock thrashed against the net angrily, but the material, whatever it was, held. All of us were so tired…

"Fang! FANG!" cried a voice. I turned my head towards it. It was ever so familiar, but my eyelids were already drooping….

Blackness.

Max POV

I immediately hyper-speeded into one of them, causing him to stumble. He grunted in annoyance and snapped a kick to my head. I grabbed his foot and twisted. He gritted his teeth and they flew faster. Suddenly I remembered. My power. Then my heart broke. I couldn't send a big energy ball towards them and maybe hurt the Flock. And there was no reason to tag along like a dog and not be able to do anything. I could follow them, but they would know. And I'm guessing they would send someone else to take care of me if I did follow.

Tears streaked my face and I retracted my wings. Slowly, I began to fall through the air. I closed my eyes. I let this happen.

I wasn't with my Flock.