Okay, technically the story is over. But this is a result of an "author's moment" of mine. Where I sat there and asked myself what if there wasn't a happily ever after? What if it was a tragic ending? So this is that ending, it is NOT the real ending, take ending 1 as the real ending. The happily ever after is the real ending. This is just an errant thought. Enjoy... or not...

Song to listen to while reading: Tourniquet By: Evanescence

Libra POV

I knew where I had to go, from the second I was out of that hellhole known as the School. I had to get back to Colorado, back to the E house. And back to Fang. The winds couldn't carry me fast enough, I had to make sure that they were okay, that the whitecoats hadn't gotten them as well as me. My heart raced as I coaxed the winds. Come on, faster, dammit, faster! I thought, furiously. Calm down, Libra. We are moving you as fast as humanly possible. They seemed to answer. Well, it's not fast enough, if you haven't noticed, I'm not human. I growled, great now I'm talking to the elements in my head and get this, they answer! Yep, I'm crazy.

The winds must've felt sorry for me, because they picked up the pace, and soon I was rocketing across the sky faster then ever. I felt wonderful, my now long auburn hair flying in my face. I felt like yelling to the sky with joy or something. I loved flying, only downfall now was that I was flying alone, no sarcastic bird kid beside me. Brushing my back with his wing tip on each down stroke. Just me and the sky, the way it all started.

I swear it was only hours later that I spotted the E house on it's cliff side, my heart warmed at the thought of finally finding Fang and getting lost in his arms. I also thought of Iggy, playing the visions game with him forever. I thought of the rest of the flock, Nudge and Angel; Gazzy and Max. I vaguely wondered if Fang and Iggy had taken my pack with them, did they take Athena when they left? If so, she could live with the flock and I. I smiled at the thought, Iggy probably had forced Fang to take her, he did say he was hooked on cats. I grinned even wider at the thought of our jokes.

Landing neatly and without hinderence, I flew up to the E house balcony. Surprisingly, it was closed. I gently pushed it open, expecting to see bird kids crowding around the tv on the other side. I only found a dusty couch, not even the same couch that it used to be. Where was everybody?

"Fang? Iggy? Guys?" I called, hoping to hear a familiar voice return my call.

Nothing, silence. I wandered down the halls, pushing doors open to rooms of the flock I knew. Fang's room, looked totally different, painted pink. Huh? This didn't add up, had Angel and he switched rooms while I was gone? I continued down the hall to Nudge's room, usually a bright sunny yellow with the beautiful chest mirror. Now, it was pale and grey, unpainted and uninhabited. This wasn't making any sense, where was the bird kids I knew?

"Holy shit! Who are you?" a shrill voice shreiked.

I spun to see a middle aged woman with curlers in her blonde hair, she was absolutely horrified. She was screaming for a man to come, she was scared of me. Huh? This wasn't the flock, I turned and sprinted away. As I was ready to fly away from the balcony, the glass window behind me shattered. Holy crap, the man was shooting at me, like with a freaking gun. I quickly leapt from the balcony, dodging bullets as best as I could. One grazed me, and an intense pain filled my arm. The winds fought my control as I winced in pain, my mind thoroughly distracted.

I knew I wouldn't make it far, I got far enough from the E house and landed clumsily in a forest. I curled up on the ground not bothering to try to care for my arm. I cried, Jeb was right, it had all been a dream. I had imagined the flock and Fang and it all. I was a freak with absolutely no ties to the world, no one would notice my disappearance. No one, not Fang or Laron or my mom, no one. It was almost worth death, to not have this guilt and sadness floating over my head like a persistent storm cloud. I cried and cried, wishing all of this pain -physical and emotional- away, I wanted to banish it. I wanted to curl up in a ball and just vanish, without the pain, regret, or loss. Good-bye, Fang. I know somehow you were real... I thought, my last thought dropping off, unfinished and never to be finished.

Third Person POV

Later, that night, Libra did pass. She passed believing that she was unwanted and freakish and unknown. She never knew how wrong she was, how far from the truth she really was. She never knew the true feelings from others about her. She died without ever knowing that Fang and the flock did exist. That the whitecoats had wanted her dead, and planted the fake E house as a trap. She will never know.

Fang POV

Fang paced the living room of the E house, he knew Libra had escaped but then where the hell was she? It was five days since the breakout had been posted on the Institute's website. Fang finally made up his mind, he unfurled his wings and flew off. He had to find her, he had to. He'd never forgive himself if she died in the School because of his stupidity back in that hospital. He flew with his head down, searching desperately for the girl he knew all too well. Then, his blood ran cold and he swore his heart stopped.

Down below him was the wrecked canopy of a few trees and below it, a body. The body was stuck in weird angles, but Fang still knew that face. He dove down and moved to the body. His heart broke, and Fang lifted the girl's body into his arms.

Her eyes were open, her silver eyes that had captivated him so many times, staring blankly at the blue sky. Her auburn hair always cut so short was long and hung in her face. Her arm was broken and had stopped bleeding long ago,she had been shot before she died. Her face was wet as if she had been crying.

She was gone, just gone. All because Fang hadn't been able to stop those damn Erasers, they had taken her away from him and this had happened. Fang felt his eyes water, he never cried. Never, ever. But this was just too much, the girl was young. She didn't deserve to die, not this way. She had always been worrying, never relaxing for anything. She hadn't gotten the chance to relax or be normal, as normal as they could ever be, she had wanted to come live with the flock. And that had never happened, she had never gotten what she wanted.

Fang lifted the girl's body into his arms, he refused to refer to her by her name, and took off. He had to tell the flock, Iggy deserved to know. They all did, they all expected to see the girl on their balcony again someday. Just to show up and say: "Hey, what'd I miss?" in that soft voice of hers, and the world would make sense again. Now, that could never happen. Ever. The world is a cruel place, so cruel to children. Fang kept hoping he'd hear a sudden flutter of a heartbeat against his chest as he flew, as he had when he had carried her to the hospital after Ari got the best of her.

Landing softly on the balcony, Angel rushed to meet him. She had tears in her clear blue eyes. She was murmuring sorry over and over.

"Tell the flock." Fang croaked simply.

It was then that he realized he was crying, he had not been able to stop himself. He numbly brought the girl's body forward and saw that someone had layed a blanket across the floor. He layed the body down on the floor and sat beside it. He absentmindedly brushed the nearly red hair from the face.

"Fang, what's wr-" Max asked, coming into the room," Oh, shit. Oh, God."

She quickly sat beside him, and put an arm around his shoulders. The rest of the flock filed into the room and Nudge burst into tears. Gazzy sat on the floor and pounded the carpet with his fists. Iggy was silent and semi-calm until he brushed his sensitive fingers across the body's face. Then he crumpled to the floor, and stared into space. Angel sat on Iggy's lap and cried into his shoulder.

"We barely knew her." Angel squeaked.

"She had planned on living here." Iggy whispered.

It didn't help when a familiar silver tabby padded into the room and curled up beside it's master, who was dead. The cat purred, probably thinking that the girl was just sleeping and would wake up any second and laugh and talk like normal. But that would never happen. Ever.

Third Person POV

A few days later the flock had a proper funeral for Libra. They may not have known her very well but it seemed right. Needless to say the worst of it was Fang's reaction. He became even more dark and silent than before. Max could only hope he'd get better. Iggy was upset but he eventually got over it, well mostly. They kept Libra's cat, as a reminder of the girl. Later, years later, the actual events of The Angel Experiment happened and the series continued, just the flock was a bit older.

Hold fast to dreams,

For if dreams die,

Life is a broken-winged bird,

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams,

For when dreams go,

Life is a barren field,

Frozen with snow.

So, that's it. Depressing right? So, yeah. I don't own the poem at the end. It's a song called Dreams, I am singing it in Chorus so it made me think of this when I sing it. So I added it to the end, just made sense. Let me know if you agree. The sequel to the first ending will be up soon. Maybe today, or tomorrow or Monday. :) I'm excited for the sequel! Thanks to all my readers! Love you all! Athena out!