I woke up in the same cave, tasting heavy cotton stuffed in my mouth. Oh wait; that was my tongue. And my body ached. A lot. And my shoulder stab wound hurt a million times worse.

I managed to turn my head so I could see it. My shirt had been half cut off to expose my shoulder, and the tank top straps pushed down my arm. Fang had done a nice job patching up the knife wound, but I could still see blood. It was all over what was left of my shirt, various cuts all over me. I lifted my good arm and felt my head. A definite bump, plus a bandage where the glass had cut into my scalp. I groaned involuntarily.

"You're awake." Fang's voice cut through the darkness of the cave. He was sitting close to me.

I was tired, but managed to muster up some sarcasm. "Thanks for the tip, Captain Obvious."

"No problem," he replied, tone light. But I could hear the relief in his voice. I felt his fingers suddenly on the bare skin of my shoulder and experienced a jolt of pleasure. "You've been out for a couple of hours."

"That long?" I squeaked. I was getting soft. Or maybe my body was starting to deteriorate.

I pushed that thought out of mind and focussed on what mattered right then- our failure.

"We didn't get it," I whispered, feeling raw disappointment wash over me. "We couldn't get the serum."

His fingers continued to stroke my bare shoulder. "That's fine. I was pretty sure he wouldn't leave it there anyway. He's got some other hidey-hole."

I put my left hand over my face. "But we don't have time to find his other hidey-holes. I've barely got time to get back to the others before I die. And now I've got the ultimate sucky choice- have kids with Dylan or freaking die!" My voice had risen sharply, and for a moment even I didn't register what I'd just spilled.

Well, crap.

I peeked through my fingers. His grip had tightened on my shoulder, which hurt. But what really got me was his eyes.

He looked so hurt, so betrayed. And yet so unimaginably angry. Like he wanted to kill someone- possibly me. His dark eyes narrowed.

"That's the condition?" He asked with deadly calm. "Have kids with Dylan?"

I couldn't help the tears slowly trickling out of my eyes. "Not like I want to do it, I'm only fifteen-"

"So you would do it if you were older?"

"Well," I stammered, suddenly not sure, "um-"

I couldn't finish my sentence because suddenly he bent down and kissed me, and he did it... ferociously. I was so startled I went still for a second- then, without my brain's consent, my hand winded into his silky dark hair, that I'd wanted so badly to touch for so long. His lips were on mine and that was all there was to my world- all my thoughts vanished- All there was was Fang, and his skin, and his hand tangled up in my hair, and his lips on my lips, and the feel of our bodies so close together, and I was feeling ecstatic but weirded out, thrilled but scared, but one thing I was absolutely sure of.

I was enjoying this. A lot.

He finally broke off the kiss, very slowly. First it was just less pressure, then his lips merely lingered, brushing mine, and finely he straightened. Once again, I couldn't tell what was going on in his dark, inscrutable eyes. I was breathing hard, and so was he.

"You don't have to do that," he growled finally. "You don't have to do it. We'll find another way."

"How?" I asked breathlessly.

"You'll be fine," he said. Not really answering my question. With every word he stroked my hair. Again and again. It wasn't helping my blood pressure. "You don't have to. It'll be okay." My eyes prickled again. Damn it. It was my job to spout reassuring lies. Not his.

A moment later, we both realized what this meant. Us kissing, I mean. It changed everything.

Again.

Did this mean I was still attracted to him? Obviously, the Voice snorted. I ignored it. But he'd kissed me. So... what did that mean? Was he still possibly attracted to me?

Could I possibly drive him as crazy as he did me?

I was aware he was staring at me, but in an empty way. Like he was thinking hard about something, and his eyes just happened to fall on me while he was thinking. I couldn't bear another second of this awkwardness.

"We should go back." When he looked blank, I added, "to the others." I touched the back of my neck. "In case my expiration date kicks in early." I managed a weak smile, pushing a way my thoughts about what had just happened. That minute of pure bliss I would relive over and over and over... later, when I was alone.

His eyes hardened. "I told you, you're not going to die." Man, was he ever in denial. "Can you even fly?" He asked. I hadn't even thought of that.

I extended my wings slowly, wincing at the very dull pain. Fang stared at my wings as if he'd never seen them before. There was definitely something wrong with him right now.

"I think I'll be fine," I confirmed. "I just have to take it easy."

"Right," he said slowly, still staring. "We can take it easy."

Feeling slightly weirded out, I walked away from him, stamping out the remaining embers of the fire and collecting our items scattered around. I pushed my straps back up my shoulder, feeling embarrassed that he'd touched them.

I fell off the cliff and flew into the sky. I knew Fang was following, but I didn't want to face him. Not yet.
~~~

We were back in town, searching around for clues of where everyone was staying. Aha! We spied Gazzy walking into a motel. There.

We'd been gone for what, two, three days? I had maybe two days left until it was the date of my expiration. Thinking of the date again, I felt a weird twinge. There was something about that date. Something familiar.

"Max."

I glanced over. As always, Fang's face was maddeningly expressionless. "About before..." he said, and paused for a second. When I didn't say anything (although I'm sure my furious blushing told a lot) he continued. "It doesn't mean anything. It was an accident-"

"It felt like it meant something," I blurted without thinking. But I was getting mad. Because he was brushing off what we'd had together. Like it was nothing to him.

"It wasn't," he said. "But... you still don't need to do anything with Superboy. We'll figure something else out." So. He didn't want me, but he didn't want me to be with anyone else? Possessive much?

I opened my mouth to swear at him, but he'd already swooped down to the motel. Feeling furious and humiliated, I followed him. What was his problem? I thought he cared!

Well, fine, then. I didn't care either.

Oh Fang... you can keep denying it. But we all know you're hot for Max!

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