We found the others back in the same restaurant we'd been eating lunch before Jeb had arrived. Maya was nowhere to be seen.
The person I'd been cloned from.
Before I could start hyperventilating, Fang touched my arm. Very gently. As if he knew exactly what I was thinking, and was conveying It's okay. It made me feel a weensy bit better, and I gave him a weak smile. Jeb shook his head at our exchange, obviously disproving of our getting together.
I went to the others. "Where's Maya? And Dylan? And the Hanselator?" I asked, realizing that they was out of the scene as well.
"The doctor took them to some medical place," Ratchet replied, adjusting his Ray-Bans. "Apparently Maya's conscious now." As if I cared. "So you're a clone?" Kate shot him a warning look that he ignored.
I swallowed. "Um..." I chose not to answer, and swung myself into the chair beside Nudge. "Guys, how're you doing?" I asked, anxiously watching their faces.
Gazzy grinned and even Iggy looked cheerful. Angel gave me an adorable smile. Nudge looked unsure of whether to be happy or not. I totally understood. "Look, guys," I said. "So what if I'm a clone? I'm still Max, and as a plus I'm not going to expire! Who even cares?"
"Yeah, who cares?" Gazzy agreed. "I wouldn't care if you were cloned from an egg salad. You'd still be Max." I wasn't sure about that, but...
Nudge offered up a smile then. "We love you, Max," she said, pulling me to her in a tight hug. "We all love you."
"Yes," Angel chimed in. "Even Fang loves you."
I looked at her, astonished, then at Fang. He shrugged. "It's true."
Angel beamed.
"Do you remember anything?" I asked her, elated by what I'd just learned. A happy hum vibrated within me. "From before?"
She frowned. God, even her frown was cute. "Bits and pieces. I remember you kind of. And reading your memories helps sometimes." A shadow crossed over her face. "It doesn't sound like I was a very nice person sometimes."
Iggy patted her curls. "Usually, you are cute as heck," he told her. "Not that I can see that or anything..."
Feeling that the group had been reassured, I stood up. "So where'd Dr. Gimped stash Maya?"
"I can take you," Nudge exclaimed. "I followed him, to make sure he didn't go any place suspicious."
"Nice one, Nudge!" I was sure impressed. "Who else wants to come?" I glanced at Fang- he shook his head, and I felt another happy jolt just looking at him. He was amazing. He was handsome. He was all mine. He raised his eyebrows, and I realized I must have been grinning like an idiot. I quickly shut it down and took Nudge's hand. "Let's go."
~~~
"Max?" Maya's voice was raspy and weak. Nudge maintained an iron grip on my hand as we stared, wide-eyed at Maya. Dylan sat beside her, holding her hand, and the look in his eyes was exactly the same as when he used to look at me. Except now, when he looked at me, his eyes didn't look so lovesick.
I discovered, right then, that it didn't bother me. At all.
"I feel bad for you, Maya," I said to her. "I really do. The doctor is such a dirtbag. If I could, I would jack his serum and give it to you."
She grinned, despite her weak state. She really was like me. "It's not going to work that way, though. I don't know what to do. What would you do?" She squinted up at me.
I looked down at her sadly. But at the same time, I was happy, selfishly happy that I was not in her position.
Happy that I was her clone.
"I don't know either," I said softly. "But I know whatever you decide will be right. And don't be pressured by this guy either." I jabbed a finger in Dylan's direction. He looked up, nonplussed. "Good luck," I added, and my throat closed up.
~~~
And we left after that. We still had tons to do to defeat the Doomsday Group. When we did finish them off, though, I was hoping to come back and look for that serum for Maya. As antagonistic as our relationship was, she still felt like a sister to me.
We left the doc, Jeb and Dylan with Maya. There was nothing much we could do at this point- this decision was hers. I was glad I didn't have to make it.
After goodbyes, we set off into the distance. Fang had found a lead on another DG hotspot, and we were going to investigate. I hoped it wouldn't be too bad.
But as long as Fang kept looking at me the way he did, as long as he loved me and the flock loved me, I knew I could get through anything for them. For us.
And we walked off into the sunset, just like at the ends of cheesy movies. We would have flew, but Fang's gang couldn't fly for obvious reasons. Fang and I held hands- I knew that our relationship wasn't perfect. I knew we would have to put the flock above us and having our alone time. I knew that Angel was still memory wiped, that Maya was still in limbo, and we hadn't found my mom and Ella or found out what the doc and Jeb had been doing. I knew we still had to defeat the Doomsday Group.
But I also knew that as long as we were all together, everything would be all right.
Now it's just the FAX epilogue left guyz! Review this chapter! I read every single review and I can not tell you how amazing you all are.