Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum ride

CHAPTER 6

"Ow!" I complained as Fang rotated my shoulder to see if I'd broken anything.

"Amazingly, I don't think you broke it." He said, finally leaving my throbbing limbs alone and taking a seat opposite me. I shrugged my shoulder back into place and glared at Fang. I knew I hadn't broken it, but him pulling it made it hurt more. I tested my wings, gently stretching them out to full length. My shoulder twinged as I did, but thankfully I hadn't injured them, although I had lost a few feathers I noticed as I inspected them for damage. As I looked away from my wings I caught Fang staring at me.

"What?" I asked, suddenly self conscious. That particular emotion took me by surprise. I hadn't felt self-concious in a long time. In fact, I hadn't felt self-conscious since I had last seen Fang.

"You look different." Was all he said, but he continued to stare at me. Trying to ignore the feeling of his eyes on me, I stood up and shook out my wings properly. I'd spent long enough sitting around. Time to get on with things. Just because I was reunited with Fang didn't mean I was going to abandon my mission. They still had the rest of my family. They may not have killed them but they had done the next best thing and I wasn't going to let them get away with it.

I rolled my shoulder again. It hurt, but I'd dealt with worse pain. It was only a message after all. I gauged the length of the clearing where we had landed (well where Fang had landed) and decided there was enough space for a running start. I backed up a few steps then took a deep breath. If my shoulder didn't hold, I'd hit the ground. Hard. Oh well.

"Max, what are you doing?" Fang asked in a low voice. Even after three years I knew what that tone meant. It meant 'you better not be doing what I think you're doing'. I didn't look at him. If I did I might cave. I couldn't let him distract me.

"I need to see what happened to the lab." I judged the distance to the tree across from me. I should have enough room to clear the trees. Maybe. As I took a step, a sharp pain through my shoulder stopped me dead. Fang had twisted my injured arm.

Rage exploded through me. How dare he? "Get off me!" I shouted at him, yanking my arm from his grip and sending a kick towards him. He wasn't expecting me to attack him and my foot caught him square in the gut sending him flying backwards, sliding across the ground. For a second I couldn't believe I had done that, and neither could Fang from the look he was giving me from the floor. But then the resolve that had settled into my hollow bones that fateful day three years ago flooded me and I took a step back and met his incredulous gaze with one of steel.

"I thought you all died three years ago. I thought you were gone forever." I said "They have the rest of my family, and I'm going to get them back if I can, but if I can't, Itex will pay for what they have done to them. What they did to us. You can't stop me Fang. Come with me, or stay here if you want. I survived three years by myself and have taken down five schools already. I don't need you to take down the rest. And I certainly don't need you to stop me."

What I didn't say was I didn't need him to distract me. It would be so easy just to stay there with him. To tell him everything I felt and run away with him. But I couldn't. So turned away from him and ran. Ten steps and I jumped. My wings caught the up draft and lifted me higher. I soared above the trees, high enough that Fang wouldn't see the tear that rolled down my cheek. You look different. Fang's words echoed through my head. What had I become? I clenched my fists, dashing away the tears. I had become what I had needed to become, what I'd had to become.

The lab was unrecognizable. The bombs next to the gas tanks had really done their job. The place was literally blown to smithereens. I was stood on the hill just beyond the lab, surveying the damage. There wasn't a wall left standing in sight. I felt a familiar sense of satisfaction. One more piece of Itex had fallen prey to the great Maximum Ride. By now I hoped my name sent the fear of God into those people.

Someone hit the ground running behind me, and I spun fast, dropping into a fighting stance. It was Fang. I found myself smiling. He'd followed me, even after I had said all that stuff. My smile faded though when he didn't even look at me. Instead he walked to where I was standing and stared at the wreck below us.

I don't know how long we stood there in silence but eventually Fang spoke. "We need to know." Was all he said. Guess he still hadn't learned to talk that much. I knew what he meant though. I'd been trying not to think about it, but he was right. We needed to look at the bodies. We had to know if any of them were the flock. Immediately the images that had haunted me for three years jumped unbidden into my mind.

My face must have shown something, because Fang gently squeezed my hand, pulling me back to the scene in front of us. I'd been partly wrong before. I did need him. I needed him to do this. I couldn't have done it by myself. They may no longer be MY flock, but they were still my family. And I'd already lost them once.

I let him pull me down the hill, while I tried to push the images in my mind away. I prayed to whatever God there might be to let us not find them. We stepped into the rubble and for the first time in three years I really understood what I had done. Hours ago I had stood in the reception room, had talked to the receptionist and the security man. Now the room was unrecognizable. Just pieces of rock and wood scattered all around. There was a black heeled shoe caught between two rocks. I looked away.

Fang and I split up, knowing we would cover more ground that way. I picked my way through the rubble and pipes, searching for a sign of a white jump suit. Ten minutes later I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a small arm and leg, clad in white sticking out from under large slab of wall. I could also see bright blonde hair. My heart leapt. Please no, not Angel.

"Fang!" I screamed. I couldn't bring myself to move any closer. The hard exterior that had protected me all this time just seemed to melt away and the old Max was back. He was at my side in an instant. I felt him tense beside me when he saw what I had seen. But unlike me he wasn't paralyzed and he stepped forwards and struggled to lift the slab. I couldn't look, but I had to know.

"It's not her." Fang's voice cut through my paralysis and I crumpled to the floor. I had done this. I might have killed them all. Itex hadn't, but I might have. Arms wrapped around me, holding me tight, and I just sat there and cried into Fang's shoulder.