Disclaimer: I claim no right to the Maximum Ride universe. Please review and much love. Don't forget to re-read the first five chapters. They have been updated.
Nick woke at five to seven, his hands clenched into fists and his throat hoarse. Though it was fuzzy, his dream still echoed in his head. He could feel the woman's body limp in his arms and he could smell her blood as it spilled from her. Her face eluded him, but he was sure it was somebody he knew. His chest felt impossibly tight.
He pushed off the bed, thankful that his headache had receded to a dull throb in the back of his skull for the meantime. A quick glance at the clock galvanized him into action. He took the fastest shower ever and practically flew out the door as soon as he was dressed, his hair still dripping.
The place wasn't too hard to find. One of his friends lived in the same neighborhood as Max. Nick double checked the address in his phone and realized that she was only a couple houses down from where his friend was. He pulled up in front and killed the engine. The door to the house opened and three kids and a dog raced outside. A tall redhead stood in the doorway, shouting last minute instructions, Nick guessed, as two of the kids and the dog took off running down the street. The third child, a tall blonde girl, looked directly at him and shock registered on her face. As he met her ridiculously large blue eyes, his headache came roaring back with a vengeance.
One of the others shouted at her from down the street and she jumped. With a quick look at him, she chased after them.
Welcome back, Fang.
Nick couldn't be sure because of the spike of pain driving though his head, but he could have sworn that somebody had whispered to him. Chalking it up to hallucination, which he sometimes experienced with headaches like this, he got out of the car and approached the front door.
The young man grinned at him and stepped back into the house. "Nick, right? You're expected."
"Yeah," Nick said and followed him inside. His vision was starting to blur. He really needed some pain meds. "Hey, do you have something to knock out a headache?"
Iggy tilted his head. "Sure, in the kitchen. Let me just tell Max you're here." He paused at the foot of the stairs. "Max! Nick's here! "
Nick just managed not to wince.
"Okay, I'll be down in a sec. Be nice, Ig!" she called down from the second floor.
"Like I'm ever not nice," Iggy muttered, his low voice and the accent making it difficult to understand him.
Nick took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying to fight the dizziness that threatened his balance.
Iggy turned back to him. "Are you okay? You don't sound so good."
Nick forced himself to stand straight. "Yeah, I just need some aspirin or something. Do you have any?"
"Oh, sure. Sorry. It's back through here." He headed farther back into the house and Nick followed him, trying to keep his breathing and his steps steady. Nick hated feeling like this in front of others.
He reached the kitchen, almost at his limit, and leaned against the counter. He could barely see at all now and the room felt as though it were spinning around him. A sharp pain jolted through his side and he fell into a swirl of colors and sounds.
He couldn't make out much at first because everything was spinning so fast, but after a few seconds, he began to identify what he was seeing. He saw Iggy, younger with white knuckles standing in front of a house, his face tight and scared. A young blonde girl with the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen, clutching a stuffed bear and scowling. A girl that looked like Max, three deep scratches across her cheeks and a bruise on her temple pressing Band-Aids onto the forehead of another blonde boy with Nick himself in the background watching, his eyes dark and his face blank. A willowy black girl sitting next to him her brown eyes riveted on the hawks nesting barely twenty feet away from them. The loud whoosh of wind as he cut through the air, his wings pumping in even strokes. A small black dog sleeping across his arm as he flew thousands of feet above the ground and five others winging lazily alongside him.
"You're fine. It'll be okay."
"If I turn into something bad, will you take care of it?"
"I can breathe like a fish!"
"I'm helping you change your mind."
"There will always be you and me."
"Nick, can you hear me?"
A bright light blinded his left eye and, a second later, the same happened to his right. He groaned.
"Good. Don't move, okay?" A woman said just above him. Her hand felt cool on his face.
He forced his eyes open and pushed himself up. Max knelt right next to him, her expression darkening as he ignored her command.
"What did I tell you? Damn, you are stubborn as ever," she said in an exasperated voice, but her eyes held concern.
"I'm fine," he said, annoyed that his voice sounded weak.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just relax for a minute, okay? Iggy?" she called. She pressed her fingers to her temples and rubbed in small fast circles while she waited for a reply from her roommate.
He sat up and leaned against the cabinets. "Hell of a way to start a first date." The tension in her body did not escape his notice. "Got a headache, too?"
"Something like that. Do you want some ice? Iggy said you hit your head pretty hard." She looked anywhere but at him.
He rubbed his hand over his head and felt a tender spot at the back. "No. I'll be fine. I'm a quick healer." He stood and reached a hand out to her to help her up. "Here. Do you still want to go out? We can reschedule."
She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. Shaking her head, she said, "No, let's go. I need to get out of the house." She looked up at him and her eyes widened slightly. They were only inches apart.
Nick only had to lean forward two inches to press his mouth to hers. He searched her eyes for some cue as to how to proceed, but she seemed in shock, frozen. Everything in him was screaming to lean forward. Then with a start, he realized that he felt completely at ease in her company. There was no desire to be anywhere else, no thoughts of how long things would last, no doubt whatsoever in his mind. And he understood. He whispered, "Max."
Her breath caught and she seemed about to move, when Iggy walked through the door.
"Hey, so I'm guessing-whoa," he said, his face open and confused. "You sure don't waste any time."
Nick wanted to tell the kid to get lost, but the moment was gone. Max had jumped away as soon as Iggy spoke and now she was halfway across the kitchen, making herself busy with something. She was acting very different now that she couldn't just leave him hanging.
"Do you just want to stay in and watch a movie? Maybe get some pizza?" she asked suddenly.
Iggy looked at her sharply and grabbed her elbow. "Excuse us," he said as he dragged her into the other room.
Nick remained where he was, all sorts of questions bouncing around in his head. He couldn't help wondering why he wasn't put off by her sudden attitude switch or the things they seemed to know that he didn't and felt like he should. He had never felt so confused about what was going on, but he could not resist the pull. He had to find out what was going on because he was involved in a big way and he hated flying blind. Their low, urgent voices only irritated him.
He moved to the doorway and leaned against the wood, watching the two of them try to fight quietly. "You might as well tell me what's going on."
Max jumped and Iggy scowled. Then, Max frowned, too.
"Tell me now, or I am walking out that door and you will never see me again." Nick felt odd giving that kind of ultimatum, but he was sick of the games. This thing in which he appeared to be involved, against his will, was going to end tonight. "No more games."
Max glanced at Iggy, who shrugged, and sighed in a very defeated sounding way. "Fine. You'd better sit down. It's going to take a while."