A/N: Thanks for reading. Sorry I haven't updated, the last two months of school are always slammed. Anyway check out my new short story called Fang's Blog. Please review for this story and Fang's blog.

A few weeks later, when Rain's study abroad program ended, I was off again. Rain was going home to American and I was heading to Russia. Which turned out to be only a wasted month that was completely uneventful and all around purposeless, and sent me straight back to the states. Somewhere I hadn't been in over three months.

Finding Rain wasn't hard, she told me all about how and where she lived. So I headed to California with high hopes that Rain would point me in the right direction for the second Itex branch.

Instead she forced me to have dinner with her family.

"Maxamillion! It's about time you got her. How was Russia?"

I eyed her in her short shorts and tight tank top compared to my once-again ragged, ripped, and screwed up jeans and hoody. I had ditched my parka and snow boots as soon as I crossed the ocean.

"Cold."

She nodded and started dragging me down the street. "Well, yeah, it's Russia."

"So do you have any ideas where another Itex branch would be?"

Rain rolled her eyes and kept tugging on my arm. "You're definitely one of those all work and no play kind of person." She commented.

"Rain." I warned. She was dragging me closer and closer to houses lining the streets.

"Party pooper." She sang.

"Where are you dragging me me?"

"Technically if I were dragging you, your feet wouldn't be moving." Then she dropped my arm and grinned at me. "You're staying for dinner."

And that's how I was forced into a seat next to Rain and across from her brother and dad while her mom brought out the food.

"So Max was it?" Her dad asked. "Where are you from?"

"Arizona." I lied easily. Her dad nodded.

"Did you like it there?"

"Yes sir."

"Now how did you and Rain meet?"

Rain rolled her eyes. "Dad, I've already told you Max was also doing a study abroad program thing. Except hers went to Germany and Russia." Then she turned towards me. "Maxamillion, I apologize for my father. He does this with all of my dates."

I blinked. "Date?"

Rain laughed. "Don't get your panties in a twist Maxamillion. Have you ever heard of a joke?"

Dinner only got worse from there. Of course her parents were ideal, chill and laid-back. Rain and her brother got along a lot like best friends, and it was exactly how I imagined someone like Rain to live.

But it ended too soon, with me somehow agreeing to stay the night and then Rain's brother, Chet, teaching me how to play Black-Ops (addicting and violent!), and then Rain and I catching up in a room that screamed Rain. I had learned, over the short time of knowing her that Rain liked to talk. To fill the silence while Chet and I played videogames for hours, she curled up on the couch and ranted about the most random things. And then in her room, she flailed out and stared at her ceiling as she told me about all of the annoying people who went to her school. Every once and a while she would glance at me, making sure I was still listening.

She finally let me go to sleep in the guest room they set up for me around three am, but by then I had figured out where the second Itex branch was. I was done wasting time, done with the well-worth-it distractions. I was meant to save the world, and that's what I was going to do.

Rain said I was 'all work and no play' well that's because I am. My blood flows with the will to keep going, to stop Itex. Stopping and taking breaks kills me, annoys the hell out of me so yes I am a 'Party Pooper' but that's what makes me Maximum Ride.

And that night Maximum Ride flew out of the second story window and headed towards South America.

Itex is not as clever as they think. They place their main branches in the center of seemingly random continents, and have at least one school in each state/country/province. That's a definite 50 schools in the US alone, the bigger the state the more the schools. For example, California has 3 known schools and Texas has 4. Each school experiments on 100 children ranging from newborn to teen and kidnap children 2-6. 100 children per every school means more than 50,000 parents suffer a loss of a child a year in just the US.

I think that's the reason I push myself so much and so hard. Not all adults are evil. They are not all whitecoats nor are they all out to experiment on children. Not all parents are great, either, but you have to remember that you, most likely, could be worse off. I am not saying all is forgiven or that those bad parents are off the hook. I'm just saying there's good and there's bad.

And then there's evil/

And then I stood in front of the second largest branch of evil with all reason and good thinking out the window. Instead I had revenge and a broken heart on my side. But that's later.

The first thing I saw when I got off the plane, yes an actual plane with a pilot and passengers, was a smiling flight attendant passing by as I as I exited. The second thing tackled me in a hug. I struggled against the hold, trying to wiggle my way out of it. All I could see was curly blonde hair attached to pale skin and a short body. Once I was released I got a glance of blue/grey eyes and a wide smile. She stuck her hand out for me to shake it.

"Max right?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, "It would be really embarrassing if you weren't Max but in my defense my visions are never crystal clear. Especially when you're in them. Anyway I'm Talia Ranch!"

Talia is the peacemaker between Rain and I. While Rain and I constantly bicker, Talia and I maintain a casual yet tight friendship. She was just like that, easy-going, polite, and always smiling.

Talia's powers, gifts as she calls them, reflect Talia herself. She's calm, matching her ability to read and control emotions. She's also wise which comes from being able to see the future. Talia also comments on how the future is always changing, so even when the visions down in one of her notebooks she's well aware of the fact that it may never actually come true.

Her appearance in Bolivia was just as random and unpredictable as many of Talia's visions. And though I was more than prepared to finish this myself, it was nice to have someone.

"You know Rain just about threw a hissy fit when she realized you were gone?"

I shrugged shirting slightly to sit up on my elbows. "She's a big girl. She'll get over it." I put the binoculars back to my face when I realized something. "Do you know Rain?"

"I don't know her personally, but I've been having visions of her since I was like ten so if feels like I know her on a personal level."

"Have you even seen one about me?"

Talia caught my eye. "Only one."

I waited, but she didn't continue. "…and?"

"Eleven months ago, you were in Germany and needed help. I knew I wasn't going to be any help so I sent Rain an untraceable email and hoped she'd follow it."

It pulled everything together, why Rain was so vague when she said her friend told her to Germany. To help me.

"Why would you do that? Help me, I mean."

Talia tilted her head to the side. "Aren't you meant to save the world?"

Yes, I was. I am.

Thanks for being so patient with me! Please review, tell me what you think and what you want to see/ read later on.

RnR

BlackTales