Hello everybody! I can't believe it's been a month since I updated! I thought I had this chapter written really fast . . . I was supposed to put this up last week but . . . well you know how it is before Christmas break. I had five tests, and three 100 question reviews due before this Friday. It was a stressful week.

Okay enough about me, so this chapter turned a bit more angsty than I planned, and if you haven't realized it yet, I am NOT a fan of angst stories. There are just too many of them in this world. So we have a lot of plot development in this chapter.

Up until now, I kinda branched off the cannon Maximum Ride, and this turned into an AU story, but now we're going back to the Cannon style of MR, so expect a lot of action, suspense, and of course, romance.

Chapter 14 part 2: Wyverns?

Max POV

Flying out in wide blue cloudless sky did not take my mind off of Iggy or Nudge. Nudge's never looked so broken; I knew about her feelings for Iggy. I now know about Iggy's feelings for me. But where did that leave my feelings? Iggy wouldn't accept if I turned him down because of Nudge, nor would Nudge. If I turned him down it would have to be because of my own feelings.

These thoughts circled my head the entire time Fang and I flew in silence. Perhaps it even lasted while we began shopping. My mind was so wrapped in these thoughts that . . . well imagine my surprise when my finger came in contact with Fang's. We were both reaching for the same drink. I gasped and retracted my hand.

"Sorry," I whispered out of habit. Fang nodded in acknowledgement but turned his back to me. I tried to will myself to run after him, but my body froze. Tingling, electrifying sensations tickled my skin where it had connected with Fang.

A fragment of memory seemed to come back to me. I was walking hand in hand with Fang. We were on beach, somewhere beautiful and exotic. The air smelled like pomegranates and a sweet floral blend. There was a cone of ice cream in my hands. Fang was smiling, I was smiling. It was a scene too beautiful to look away from. Fang leaned close to me; his lips teasingly hovered above mine.

"Max," The real Fang called, ripping the memory away from me. He was waiting for me at the counter, food already loaded for the cashier to ring up. I blushed, mumbled an apology and quickly gave her my Max Ride card, another artifact from a story I recently heard. I glanced at Fang, his expression was indifferent, and his eyes never met mine. We quickly loaded up our goods, and left the store.

Being alone with Fang was terrifying at first, despite how much our friendship had grown since I first arrived here. But there was something unnatural about our friendship. I didn't understand it, so I kept my distance from him, and he didn't try to approach me. But at the same time, I was drawn towards Fang. Without realizing it, we walked closer to each other while walking towards our clearing in the forest.

Fang shook his feathers out, and readied himself for a takeoff. "Wait! I nearly yelped and grabbed his arms. Fang paused, I took the opportunity to calm my frazzled heart and ignore my burning cheeks. "C-could we please stay here a little longer?"

"Why?" He asked so bluntly, I tried to stammer out an excuse, by for some reason my words never seemed to have any coherence around Fang. But he didn't rush me. He grabbed the grocery bags out of my arms and hid all the goods behind a tree. "Well?" He asked when he finished.

"I . . . just wanted some fresh air. Could we," I paused and wondered if it was okay to ask this of him. But my desperation was starting to get to me. I could NOT go back and face Iggy yet. "go for a walk?"

Fang shrugged and he spun around and began walking towards the street we just came through. He paused and shot me a look that seemed to say "Are you coming or not?" I smiled and ran up to him. We walked in silence. It wasn't a bad silence. Fang's presence was surprisingly very calming. I almost couldn't believe I had been afraid of him. What was I afraid about?

"Umm . . . Fang? Have we, I mean the flock and I, ever gone to Hawaii?" I ask, Fang's steps faltered a moment but he didn't stop walking.

"Yeah," a one word response. I grinned; I was getting somewhere at least. I began walking backwards so I could see Fang as we talked. He seemed amused by my actions but said nothing of it.

"Could we, you know, you and I have ever been on a beach of some sort," His reaction was easily noticeable this time. "maybe on a walk. Something like what we're doing right now?" I ask.

"Maybe ," He replied cautiously. But his dark eyes seemed to say otherwise. I could barely keep the excitement off my face.

"Were we . . . on a date?" I bit my lip, and felt the blood rush into my cheeks. My heart thumped against my chest in soft excitement. But I didn't dare look at his face. I stopped walking and waited for a response. I didn't hear one. I peeked through one eye to see Fang scrutinizing my face. I frowned.

"No," he lied, and almost too obviously too. My heart seemed to lurch in my chest, but I followed Fang anyway. He walked faster this time, more brisk, and nervous in his stance. But I felt hurt, almost betrayed. Why did he lie to me? Something in my mind seemed to snap, my shyness repelled and an inner strength I never knew I had came out.

"Why are lying?" I ask boldly, as if I needed to know. The words Fang said to me know, felt like they would impact our future forever. I didn't understand it. Maybe it was just my brain going on overdrive from this morning with Iggy to standing here with Fang, or maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, the sense of foreboding constantly nagged my conscious.

"I'm not lying,"

"Yes you are!"

"How would you know?" Fang sneered harshly, seeming to lose his patience. I gasped, and held back a sob. But my eyes betrayed me. Tears rolled down my face before I could process Fang's words. As much as I wish I didn't understand him. I did. You're not Max, how would you know? He asked me.

Fang's eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. Color rushed up to his fair skinned face. "Max, I-"

"Iggy said he loved me," I interrupted. "He asked me to be his girlfriend." I say in quiet whisper. This time Fang's eyes betrayed his emotionless, stoic face. At least that was how the flock would describe it. Fang was anything but emotionless. The twitch of an eyebrow, the darkening or shimmering of his eyes, the quirk in his lips, the raising of his cheekbones; those simple movements were all I needed to read Fang's expressions. He was hurt, hurt badly by my words.

"I see . . . Iggy's a good guy," Fang responded with difficulty. His voice was as broken. He knew he wasn't deceiving me.

"You think I should be with Iggy?" I asked prompting him. Please say the words I need to hear Fang, please, I pleaded in my mind. I scanned his face, looking for any sign that he would tell me the truth. He chose to lie again.

"If he makes you happy," He whispers, his face inches away from mine. My eye fluttered, with unshed tears, and bile rose to my throat. With great difficulty I forced myself to swallow. What was I expecting from Fang? What did I want from him, what do I want him to say?

No, my heart knew I was waiting for something. I was waiting for those words to come from his lips. "Happy? How can I be happy with Iggy . . . when I can't even understand my feelings for him?" I said half sobbing and half calmly. Fang didn't interrupt; he let my finish speaking my mind.

"Every time I start think that maybe I should love Iggy back, my heart twists and turns, and retches and revolts. Why? Because apparently heart belonged to someone else first!" I sobbed, my face heating up in shame.

Since the day the Flock had "kidnapped" me, I was having dreams. At first they were unclear. I could only make out the outline of man's body. But his face didn't matter to me because I knew I loved that man with all my heart. Each time I had that dream, his face became a little clearer. I loved him, but I couldn't remember who he was.

"Tell me Fang . . . why did I willingly choose to give up my memories?" I whispered once I got control of myself. My mind began to compare the silhouette to that of Fang. They were a perfect match. Fang looked at me with tormented eyes.

"Just . . . leave it in the past, Max," His expression tightening in manner that didn't reflect his eyes. More tears rolled down my face, and I closed my eyes, unable to take anymore. That's when I felt Fang's fingers brush the tears off my face. Tiny tingles danced across my cheeks. A short memory of Fang letting me cry on his shoulder, comforting me, came to my mind.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled. Somehow, I had the feeling that he wasn't apologizing for just making me cry, he was apologizing for so much more. But for what I probably wouldn't know. I took a step back, whipped my tears with the back of my hands, and pinched my cheeks into a smile.

"S-sorry, I don't know what came over me," I say trying to smile, and clear the sob in my throat. What was I thinking? "I'm okay now," He nodded unconvinced, and guiltily avoided my gaze. I let out of huff of air I didn't know I was holding. I think I just ruined my precarious relationship with Fang. That thought left a foul taste in my mouth.

We walked and walked, side by side, always an adequate distance between the two of us. Somehow it felt as though it didn't belong there, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead I stared at the city before me. It was different than New York, the air was drier and crispier here. The boulevard where we were walking was rather empty except for a few families walking with their children, ice cream cones in hand. There were also tanned couples (in revealing clothes that I'd never wear if my life depended on it), skating hand in hand. The evening orange sun was setting on us. Soon we would have to head back. No sooner, had I thought that and Fang abruptly spun around and began walking briskly in the direction we came from.

"Is something wrong?" I ask worried by his sudden change. Fang shook his head.

"Just a bad feeling, lets head back," He replied rather quietly. I tensed but followed after him. I soon felt Fang's reason for his tension. Something or someone was watching us. The intense prickling sensation on my neck and my gut deep instincts seemed to tell me to run. Every so often one of us would turn around and take a sly glance; there wasn't anyone there, but a garbage bin that was knocked down, food that had been spilled from a family, people on the ground who looked like they'd been run over or a parting crowd. It was all very suspicious.

"Fang," I whisper in a shaken voice, he glances back and catches the same flash of red that I managed to catch. His eyes seem to widen in recognition, but before I could ask he hastily grabs my arm and tugs me away from civilization. Even after fifteen minutes of walking under the cover of the evergreen forests. "Fang, what is it?" I ask almost breathlessly. I was hardly winded, just scared.

He doesn't respond. He can't. Because suddenly my body is pulled away, my feet kick under me. Something long and wiry wraps itself around my waist and yanked my body. I went flying, and crashed into a long ebony white tree.

"Max!" Fang shouts in voice full of dread and hopelessness. My vision starts swimming, but thankfully the crash didn't break skin. I wasn't bleeding. I could make out the shape of Fang running towards me when a scaly mass tackles him into the ground. Its claws tore at his torso horrendously. I want to scream or shout at Fang to run. But my mind is literally drifting between my consciousnesses. I watch the fight in my reduced dumb state.

Fang manages to push the scaly mass off him, his shirt is shredded and angry red lines covered his torso, but the creature hadn't broken skin yet. The scaley mass circles around Fang like a tigress hunting her prey. A long scaly tail lashed at the ground, angrily riling up leaves and dirt in its trail. Its screech was inhumane, definitely not a creature of this world.

I pick myself off the ground, trembling at the green grey creature. Fang's eyes only glance at me once, and he motions for me to stay where I am. The creature sprang in a vicious attack at Fang once more. Fang used the back of his arm to smash the beast aside. It tumbled into the ground but quickly sprung up and jumped on Fang with all fours. They both fell onto the ground.

Fang quickly kicked the beast and sent it flying backwards. The creature spreads out its wings to catch its fall and shot back at Fang. It flew around him like and eagle circling his dinner, leaving large scratches on Fang with its sharp claws.

"Fang!" I shouted. I began running towards him.

"No!" He yelled back. I didn't and wouldn't listen. My feet sped up underneath me and I was running at an inhumane pace. A tiny memory tingled the back of my brain, of time when I flew at this hypersonic speed. Just as the creature went for the killing blow, I jumped at Fang. I threw my arms around his body and we both went tumbling out of that things path.

I lay breathlessly, the wind knocked out of me, on top of Fang. His arm tightens around my waist, another covers my mouth to cloak my haggard breathing. He pushed his legs so that we were backed behind a tree. The creature screeched behind us. It roared and shouted at random trees. It spun in circles and screamed into the sky again. That's when I realized . . . it was blind. The creature moved fast, but I caught my first real glimpse at it. It looked like a reptile and dare I say . . . a dragon.

"Wyvern," Fang whispered hastily. I looked at him with questioning eyes. He removed his hands from over my mouth, but held me close. A strange blanket of warmness covered me. "Stay still, the Wyvern is blind, but has a sharp sense of smell. I'm trying to mask our presence,"

"How?" I can't help but ask. A smile skittered over his lips, and then quickly disappeared.

"Apparently we've mutated again. You ran with hyper speed. I can completely mask our presence," He whispered. I put the pieces together; Nudge did tell me once that Fang had the ability to turn invisible. "Abandon the food. We have to get out of here."

"But Fang, that thing can fly!" I cried and clutched him closer. Fang smirked almost cockily and pried my tanned fingers away. His eyes showed a thrill of excitement, like some part of him was aching for a good fight. And for whatever incomprehensible reasons I actually understood that feeling. In fact, deep in my mind there was a burning desire for action, thrill, adrenaline, but my more rational side argued that I didn't have a clue how to fight!

"Don't worry Max, I learned to fight from the best," He said factitiously, and with playful eyes. If we hadn't been in this horrendous predicament of being chased by some mythical creature that shouldn't exist, I might have giggled. Instead I was exasperated. My instincts told me that Wyvern was dangerous and not to leave Fang alone.

Fang sprung away leaving me hidden behind the trees. This time he sprung at the Wyvern. He jumped on its back and wrangled its neck. The Wyvern easily bucked him off and sent him flying into the trees. I bit my lip and began to wonder if that confidence and smugness had been all a show. Fang seemed disoriented standing up, but he shook it off quickly as the Wyvern charged again. Only it was charging . . . at me?

I screamed and tried to run from it, but my foot caught in root and fell face first to my own doom.

"Stay away from Max!" I heard murderous scream that sounded an awful lot like Fang's. It reminded me of the time that he grabbed my chin and forced me to look at how badly I hurt the Flock members. I hoped to never hear it again. When I open my eyes, I see the Fang managed to get the Wyvern away from me. His eyes had this wild look in them. They weren't playful or adventurous anymore, just pure rage. In his fury Fang was losing sight of the Wyvern.

"Fang!" I shouted. His eyes flashed over to me, taking the sight of me in before once more looking away in murderous huff.

"Where are you? Come back and fight me!" Fang shouted uncharacteristically. I whimpered in fright of this new Fang. It wasn't really him. The rustling of leaves caught my attention. In my peripheral vision I caught sight of the beast bucking its claws into the dirt getting ready to charge. My heart dropped in my chest and I began running without thinking.

Faster, faster, faster, I chanted in my mind. It worked, the hyper speed, as Fang called it, kicked into my legs. I was going to beat the Wyvern. I grabbed Fang without halting my run, extended my wings, and push up as hard as I could. The two of us shot into the sky with an astonishing acceleration. My mind was working on hyper drive to keep up with my new found speed. As soon as we were close enough to touch the clouds, I slowed down rapidly.

I huffed breathlessly, and struggled to hold onto Fang tightly. By Gods, was he heavy! The blood that rushed to my face in flight slowly faded away until I was my natural tan color. My rapid heartbeat seemed to quiet down.

"Ahh . . . I feel sick," Fang softly groaned, all rage finally dying out of him. I glared at the boy in my arms for stupidly letting his anger get the better of him.

"That was the stupidest thing I have ever seen! What if the flock had seen your recklessness?" I screamed into the wind, even though Fang was right under me. Heavy as he was, it wasn't impossible to carry him, must be a mutation thing.

"Trust me, they've seen you do worse," He grumbled, his voice thick with embarrassment. My anger seemed to flare inside me; I snorted and let Fang go.

"Hey!" He shouted and quickly opened his wings. His left charcoal colored wing seemed to flap almost awkwardly. He was hurt. I sighed and let my anger drain away.

"You could've gotten hurt." I whispered, still very upset with his actions.

"You were defenseless," He reasoned with a casual shrug. I gaze at Fang, taking his appearance since the fight. His clothes were torn and cut up, but somehow still managed to cover his body. There were small red lines of skin raised from where the creature tore at him (Fang was lucky to duck so quickly, or its claws definitely could have torn into him), the worst being a long cut across his cheek. My heart gave out for him.

It wasn't long before the two of us gracefully landed on the porch of our cozy home. My flying had improved drastically, and well, it seemed my body remembered more than my brain. No complaints or anything.

"Stay here!" I commanded Fang pressing my palms against his chest. Fang put his hands up and shrugged, he swung his legs off the porch staring off into the horizon. He was taunting me, and I knew it, there was a smug smirk on Fang's face. I smiled and ran inside to grab the first aid.

Angel and Gazzy were too absorbed in watching TV to see me sneak in and out. I noticed, with a cringe, that Nudge and Iggy were both nowhere in sight. I guiltily thanked God; I couldn't deal with Iggy just yet. Fang needed to be taken care of and I needed answers that only he had.

"Fang," I say, alerting my approach. He was comfortably sprawled back, with his arms cushioning his head and his eyes closed. I sighed and pulled out the disinfectant. I pulled Fang's torn shirt back to assess the damage. I settled on dabbing the angry raised red scratches. "Were those things really Wyverns?"

"No," Fang snorted, I could almost hear him roll his eyes. "They're definitely experiments. The name fits."

"Oh . . . why did they attack us? I thought the flock wasn't being pursued anymore."

"We're the most successful experiments to walk this planet Max. Our lives will never be safe." He answered almost solemnly. I wanted to protest, but today was just an example of this undeniable truth. "But we'll survive if we're together," He added as an afterthought. I laughed light heartedly.

"I guess I'm forgiven," Fang whispered with a cocky smile. My eyes narrowed at him.

"You're lucky Fang, not everyone is as magnanimous as I am," I teased. Fang's eye brows rose.

"That's a big word Max, you sure you know what it means?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't" I snapped, feeling a strange pleasure in my chest. This felt right. Talking to Fang like this felt so natural, it was like breathing in air. Fang chuckled.

"Total's right. Your sarcasms improved," He mocked. I gasped and lightly punched his arm without thinking. The action surprised me, even if my face didn't show it, but again, it just felt so natural. Fang lies back down, and watches me work on his chest. I then moved onto the cut on his face.

"This is gonna hurt," I warned and dabbed the cloth on his cheek. Fang didn't flinch, instead his hand reached for my neck, and his long fingers wrapped themselves around it. I gasped when Fang pulled me down into a sweet soft kiss. His warm lips moved in synch with mine, and left sizzling aftershock in its wake. He pulled away just as abruptly as he pulled me into the kiss. I stared at him wide-eyed, unable to move.

"I want you to be mine again, Max."

Well I hoped you liked this chapter, it was fun and pretty easy to write.

Wyverns are mythical creatures that bare resemblance to dragons. The wyvern tidbit is in honor of my current obsession BBC's Merlin! I love it! For you Merlin fans, I'm sure you see the places where incorporated a bit :P

So I realized that Gazzy and Angel haven't been getting much screen time (page time) lately. Don't worry, I'll bring them back.

Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up faster.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Comment and Vote!

~kiki1607 out . . . .