Spy Games

Chapter 7

"Falcon?" I opened my eyes slightly as Fang moved out from under me. "What are you doing?"

"Just gotta take care of something, Max."

"The sun's not up yet."

"It will be soon," he assured me. "You just stay here, huh?"

"Fang-"

"I'll be back soon." He laid one of his shirts over me as a makeshift blanket since I'd expressed my hate of the filthy one's he'd traded for. "Promise."

"I wanna go with you."

"Max-"

"What are you doing?"

"Just going to find Nudge and make sure this stupid date thing isn't going to happen."

"You can't do that."

"I can do that."

"But-"

"I am, Max."

"Then I want to go."

"No."

"I'm going."

"You're sleepy."

"And you're injured." I sat up to stare into his eyes. "I'm going, Owl."

"Owl?"

"Owl's are birds too."

"Yeah, unmanly ones." Fang puffed out his chest. "I'm a freaking eagle. A hawk. A falcon. The falcon. I'm Falcon."

"You're a raven."

"Meh."

"You are though." I smiled at him. "Even though ravens are kind of girly."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Well, I don't think so," Fang said.

"Whatever, Crow."

"I'm not one of those either."

"Pigeon."

"Max-"

"You wanna be my dove, Fang?"

"No." He kissed my head gently. "You're my dove. Now come on, if you're going with me."

"Fang, can you even walk?"

"Yes. And by the way, I'm going back to work today."

"What? N-"

"I have to pull my own weight, Max."

"I know that, but you can just do lab work."

"Your mother said she hates my handwriting."

"Then you can…cook. Boil water. Something."

"I'm going back to building huts."

"You're not going to get any better, Fang, if you keep stressing your back."

"Maybe I don't want to get better."

"Maybe you don't."

"Just come on. We'll argue later."

"What are we doing?" I asked, standing up as he did the same. "Falcon?"

"We're going to spy on Nudge."

"Fang-"

"It's payback. Plain and simple."

"What will spying on her do?"

"Well, if that guy, this Peter fool tries to get handsy or something I'll be right there to pound his face in."

"Why are you s concerned with Nudge dating?"

"Because, Max, I know what goes on around here on your little island and I am less than pleased that Nudge wants to be apart of it."

"…You lost me."

"This island is like a sex pool."

Blinking, I said, "I think you mean a cesspool."

"No, Max, I don't."

Sighing, I looked off. "Then…you are up for skipping out on the sex pool?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you weren't with me, you could be a part of it or whatever."

"Max-"

"You could, Fang. I think a lot of girls would sleep with you. Quite frequently. And I-"

"Stop doing this to yourself." Fang cupped my cheek. "Look at me, silly. Have you ever seen me even look at another woman?"

"Well-"

"I mean seriously. Not just in a 'Oh, she's hot' kind of way. You're the only girl I've ever been completely serious about. Ever. I love the hell out of you. Think, Max, of all the times I've left, been away. Or when you've been off the island. The only person I'm ever concerned about is you. You're my world. Forever and always."

"Still. I mean, you love me and everything, but…sex…"

"What happened to you and your self-esteem? Or was it never there to begin with?" He kissed my head now, lingering. "What do I need to do, Max? Carve your name into my flesh? Burn Maximum Ride into my skin?"

"Yes. To both."

"Max."

"I just know that you want to have sex and I just…don't. Now. Currently."

"And that's fine with me. Whatever. Do I want to sleep with you? God, yes, more than I want to breathe. But if you don't want to, then that's just it." He leaned his forehead against mine. "I don't want to just have sex, babe. I want to have sex with you. It'd be nice, I'm sure, having sex with all these other chicks on the island, but it'd be just that. Sex. I want you, Max. I've always wanted you. All of you."

Blushing, I looked off to the left, staring down at the ground. Fang kissed my head one last time before taking a step back.

"Now come on," he said, opening his wings. "As much as you might love it, we can't focus on you all day."

"Oh is that what'd I'd like?"

"Yes. And I'd like it too. Focusing all on you. However, we have a duty to Nudge."

"And what kind of duty would that be?"

"We're supposed to watch out for her. Like good guardians."

"Is that what we are to her? Guardians?"

"Good ones. Protective ones."

"Nudge won't like this."

"You don't always like what's good for you. Sometimes you even hate it. But if it's good for you, it's good for you. The end. There's no counter argument."

"I have never known you to be so protective over Nudge. Angel and Gasman, sure, but Nudge?"

"She's ours, ain't she?"

"Our what?"

"Our something and that's all that matters."

"-love him more than life. Like literally. Life without him isn't life at all."

Ella glanced at me. "Uh…what do you consider your life before him?"

"Meaningless," Nudge said without even taking a breath. Then, after she had pulled on a shirt she deemed appropriate for her breakfast date, she turned to face Ella and I. "Okay, Max, so what did you want? Make it quick."

"Yeah, Max, she has a date with Mr. Right."

I sighed, staring at her for a moment. Fang, in a last ditch effort to avoid having to spy on the girl, had sent me into the girls hut to speak with Nudge about her date. Well, mostly about abstinence and what she's done so far and with whom. I knew though if she had done anything with a guy, there was no way I would ever tell Fang his name. I like the people on my island alive, thank you very much.

"Right," I said slowly as Angel, who was mostly asleep, cuddled against me.

When I got to the girls hut, I wasn't surprised to find my sister there. She spent most of her time there with Nudge. It was a good excuse too when she and Iggy wanted to spend the night alone together. Just tell Mom she was with Angel and Nudge so she wouldn't be sleeping in with her that night and then she was free to sneak off. I would have to be very vigilant, I was sure, of Angel when she got older. Nudge was Fang's deal. Angel was all mine.

"I don't wanna get up," Angel whined, snuggling into me. "Be quiet."

"Shut up, Angel," Nudge said, frowning at her. "I told you to sleep in the boys hut, that I would be getting ready for my date this morning. It's your own fault. Not mine."

"Max, she's being mean," Angel complained.

"Shhh." I stroked her blonde head before looking back at Nudge. "Actually, Nudge, I wanted to talk to you some about this Paul fellow."

"Paul?"

"You know, Mr. Right."

"You mean Peter."

"Whatever," I said, frowning. "Look, let's just be blunt about this."

"Max, I didn't know you smoked."

I stared at Nudge for a moment before glancing at my sister. "What?"

"Not smoke a blunt, stupid. She wants to be completely honest with you," Ella said, frowning at her.

"What is a-"

"Would you all stop talking?" Angel whined, cutting me off. "Please?"

"Angel, go sleep with the boys," I said, patting her on the head now. "Or go find Fang and sleep with him."

"Mom's up, Angel," Ella told her. "If you want to go in there."

"I shouldn't have to go anywhere," she said, sitting up now and frowning at us. "this is my hut too."

"I know, sweetie," I told her. "But-"

"I'm going to tell Fang on all of you and he's going to yell at you. You shouldn't be able to just kick me out. This isn't fair. I'm just as important as you."

With that, she jumped up and left the hut. For a moment, the three of us were silent. Then I remembered the reason I was involved with any it to begin with.

"Nudge," I said, staring openly at her now. "I just wanted to, you know, make sure you know that just because everyone else is doing something, you shouldn't do it."

"I was joking about the blunt thing, Max. Kind of."

"No, that's not what I meant," I said, shaking my head slightly. "I mean, it is what I meant. Just not what I was referring too. You don't need to be doing that either. At all. However, I was talking about you and…Peter."

She and Ella just stared at me for a moment.

"Max," my half-sister said softly. "Do you want to talk about Fang? Is that what this is about?"

"What? No."

"Did you?" Nudge asked now.

"Did I what?"

"Last night. Is that why you're here?" She shook her head at me. "You could have just come here and told us that you wanted to talk. You didn't have to use the sham of wanting to talk about Peter."

"Fang and I didn't do anything," I told them, frowning. God, wouldn't that have been the first thing I said? I mean, really.

"Is that what you want to talk about then?" Ella asked. "Did he dump you?"

"I told you, Max," Nudge was saying now, running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to style it somehow. "If you're not home, he's going to buy the foam."

"What?"

"I said that!" Ella frowned at Nudge. "Well, not that. What I said actually made sense. You thief."

"Hey, watch who you're calling a thief. I am not a thief. Sometimes I don't remember things correctly. Sue me," Nudge said with a shrug.

"You idiots are missing the point here."

"Stop calling us idiots," my half-sister told me, frowning. "We're trying to help you."

"I don't need help. I didn't come here for help. I came here to help Nudge."

"Help me what?" She frowned at me now. "How is calling me an idiot helping anything?"

"It's not. It's just helps my aggression towards you at times."

"You're so rude," Nudge said with a shake of her head. "Besides, Max, I don't have time to listen to you right now. I'm going on my date soon. So if you would kindly just-"

"That's what I'm here for, Nudge. To tell you that this date isn't a good idea."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"…Goodbye. I have breakfast to get to."

"Nudge-"

"Why do you suddenly care anyways, Max?" She stared hard at me. "Huh?"

"Well…Fang and I bouth got to talking and we don't think that you're mature enough to date."

"What?"

"We just-"

"Max, you and Dylan took me on that double date that time in-"

"I wouldn't call it a double date, really, just a-"

"Then what? Huh? What's changed?"

Fang. Fang didn't like this. I controlled most things around here, but I knew that Fang's say in Flock life was pretty important. It's like how they say the president's wife controls more than he did. Only I wouldn't tell Fang that, 'cause then he'd think I was referring to him as the woman in the relationship and I wasn't going to have that conversation any time soon.

"I just don't see this as a good idea for you," I told her. "Going alone out with this guy."

"We're on an island, Max."

"Yes, I know."

"What exactly do you think we're doing?"

I just looked at her. "I think you know."

"No."

"I think you do, Nudge."

"Not really."

"Nudge-"

"Stop it! God, it's just like we repeat the same things over and over again." Ella shook her head at the two of us. "If it was okay before, Max, when you and Dylan went out with Nudge and guy, why don't you and Fang go eat breakfast with Nudge and Peter? Get to know Mr. Right?"

"That sounds grand," I said, nodding. "I could eat."

"No," Nudge told me flatly, the joy out of her voice now. "I'm going to eat breakfast with him and you can't stop me."

"Nudge-"

"I don't control you and Fang's dating life," she said.

"Well, considering it's nonexistent, I don't think it'd be hard to start," Ella muttered.

After casting her a look, I turned back to Nudge. "I'm just trying to protect you."

"Protect me? I can protect myself." She headed out of the hut now. "So just leave me alone, Max. I can go on a date if I want to. You are not my mother. You're nothing to me."

"She's your leader," Ella reminded.

"You're nothing, but a leader to me," she corrected. "So go away."

"Well," Ella said after she was gone. "She sure told you."

"Shut up before I go and tell Mom where you really were two nights ago."

"Why Max, whatever do you mean?"

I just gave her a look. "I think you know."

"No."

"I think you do."

"I-"

"Forget this. I have to go," I said, getting back up and leaving the hut. "If anyone needs me this morning, tell them I'm busy and will get back to them in the afternoon, would ya?"

"What do I look like? Your secretary?"

"Don't test me today."

"Considering what you didn't get last night, I'll follow that order."

The mp3 player I've had since, like, I was in junior high died. Along with my hope in the world. What kind of world is this if a simple mp3 player can only live five years? And yes, that is my excuse for not posting this sooner. Sue me.