A/N: Hey, readers! I'm back! The second part of this chapter is based off the song "Somewhere Only We Know." I don't remember who it's by. Oh, and in honor of my hundredth review (Woo!), I'll have a couple special guests! Over here in the Maximum Ride corner we haaaaavvvve… TOTAL!

Total: Finally! I'm an important enough character to get on here! Where have I been though? I deserve to be in the spotlight!

Me: Er… I don't really know. You're mysterious disappearance shall be explained, as will Lizzy's… later. Oh, and the NCIS special guest… er… how about Kate?

Kate: Uh—I'm dead…and you don't even like me that much.

Me: Well, I like you better than Barrett, who was the last NCIS character I could think of. I REALLY didn't want to have her here, so here you are.

Kate: Uh… kay?

Me: Total, how 'bout you state my disclaimer for me, eh?

Total: Gpeach6 does not own anything except a cardboard box. Gpeach6 is a hobo with a computer… Just kiddin! But seriously, she doesn't own NCIS or MR.

"Okay, Max, now all you have to do is aim, and as slowly as possible, squeeze the trigger—"

BOOM!

"Oops."

Gazzy did a face-palm.

"Max, Iggy is blind, and he could hit that bull's eye with his hands tied behind his back," he told me with an exasperated sigh.

"I seriously doubt that anyone can shoot a gun with their hands tied behind their back," I argued stubbornly.

"Oh, yeah? Get me some rope," he said challengingly. I frowned at him, rolling my eyes. We had spent nearly half an hour in the NCIS shooting range just going over the basics. Then, Fang and Angel both got some test-shots, and both embedded some bullets straight in the bull's eye after a couple misses. I hadn't been so lucky. After wasting nine bullets on the wall, I still hadn't gotten the hang of it.

"Just teach me how to use the stupid gun so we can get on with our lives," I ordered.

"That's what I'm trying to do, Max. Don't you think it'd just be easier if you stuck with hand-to-hand combat?" Gazzy suggested hopefully. I glared at him.

"If the white coats have guns, I want some kind of long range weapon to defend myself. It'll make my life a hell of a lot easier." Then, Ziva decided it was her turn to speak up.

"Max, how are you at throwing knives?" she asked. I shrugged.

Apparently, the correct answer to that question was: totally awesome. We left the shooting range for Ziva's apartment after we decided that the whole gun-shooting thing wasn't exactly my forte. And let me tell you: the chick has a thing for knives. She has a whole wooden case of them displayed in her living room. So, she picked out a knife from the case, gave me a brief lesson on how to throw it, and handed it to me to try out on one of her many targets. I threw it as she had advised, and it hit its target straight on. I tried again. Bull's eye. After two more tries with the same result, it was safe to say that I was pretty good at this. At least, better than I was with the gun. So, it was decided that the throwing knives would be weapon of choice.

Back at the house, we were all scattered, longing for a moment of quiet before we fought that night, probably for our lives. This could be the end, and it was just starting to sink in.

"Penny for your thoughts," whispered a deep voice from behind me as I sat on our fancy new leather couch. I smiled as Fang's strong, dark arms wrapped around me.

"This could be it, you know. Our last day on Earth. Weird to think about, huh?" I replied. Without another word, he stood, grabbing my hand.

"C'mon," he said, tugging me in the direction of the French back doors.

"Where are we going?" I demanded.

"Somewhere only we know," he replied vaguely. I grinned. I knew he was talking about the little bench in the back of the garden where we'd taken a liking to sitting and talking over the past week.

Once he found our little spot amongst the trees, which were now turning all kinds of fun colors, he sat down, pulling me down next to him. I laid my head on his shoulder, and he swung a muscled arm around my shoulders.

"I have a confession, Fang," I told him.

"Yeah? Shoot."

"If we make it through this, I have no idea where to go or what to do next. I always have a plan. That's how we're all still alive. But this time… We've grown too close to them. Closer in just a week than we were with Anne in a month. Trusting people… it doesn't work for us. It never has. What happens when it's over?" I asked hopelessly, looking up at into my best friend's eyes. To my surprise, he was smiling wistfully.

"It's changed you," he said. I frowned at him.

"What do you mean?"

"This whole experience has changed you. You trust people," he told me matter-of-factly. My frown deepened.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you just confided all of that in me. You trust Gibbs and his team enough to fight beside them. You let me talk you into coming here. I think you learned something from all this," he said smugly. I rolled my eyes at him, picking my head up off of his shoulder so I could look at him straight on.

"What, exactly, do think I've learned?" I asked.

"That placing trust in other people doesn't always end in disaster, and that some people are genuinely good," he answered. A silence set in as I thought about what he'd just told me. I thought about the conversation I had the other morning in the kitchen with Tony and felt a stab of guilt. Because that same man was about to run knowingly into a trap to risk his life for us. Of course, there was the added incentive that Abby, who they all thought of as a little sister, was also captured. I shook my head. Maybe I'll never learn to fully trust people.

"Let's say you're right, just for the heck of it, and I have learned to trust. It still doesn't change the fact that everyone who ever helps us ends up getting hurt. Look at my mom, who got captured by a creepy Chinese man! Or Jeb, who's…" I choked on the word "dead."

"Well, they were willing to take that risk," Fang supplied to my relief. I sighed, laying my head back on his shoulder.

"Why are our lives so screwed up?" I asked him. He kissed the top of my head affectionately.

"I don't know," he replied truthfully.

"Well, we should probably be getting to bed, then. We should get as much sleep as we can before midnight," I suggested. He nodded, helping me up.

I didn't sleep a wink that night.

A/N: Sorry for the shortness. I wanted to get it up quicker, and I liked the idea of using the song for the title, so it had to be the main part of the chapter. I hope that made sense.

Total: It didn't.

Me: Oh, be quiet. Kate, would you please politely ask my readers to review?

Kate: Uh… review, please? Bye…

Total: B-bye!