Capri's Note: Sorry for the wait! FF wouldn't let me log in for a few days. Because of the delay, I had time to add some more to it! It's not edited, and I only read through it twice, so please excuse and errors. It's been a long week.

Enjoy and review please!

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Chapter Six

The hotel was run down. More like an outhouse in Max's opinion. When she was on the verge of passing out from sleep deprivation, she didn't care where she was dumped as long as it had a bed and she wasn't disturbed. A long shower and six hours of sleep later she was wishing she had been at least a little picky about where they had shacked up for the night. The walls were a moldy, off white color and the beds smelled like old cheese and rust. She gagged when she set foot in the bathroom and wore her shoes in the shower for fear of getting a foreign foot fungus. She had gotten her own room with only one bed, but that didn't stop Fang from standing on the porch all night long and literally throwing out the custodian when he came in to see about a leaky pipe. Max got on him for that one.

"We should be leaving soon," Fang checked his watch and glanced out the curtains. "It's almost noon."

"Okay, I'll go let Iggy and Rae know," Max moved to open the door, but Fang stepped in her path.

"I'll do it."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Max rolled her eyes. "I'm a big girl. I can walk across a hallway by myself."

"You'd better stay here." He turned to walk out the door. That made her mad. She grabbed his arm and whipped him around.

"What the hell is going on, Fang?" she demanded, getting right up in his face. "You haven't let me out of your sight since you showed up uninvited at the library. I was forced to ride with you when spending more time with you is the last thing I want to do and you stay by my side like a freaking dog! Now you tell me what's going on before I have to beat it out of you. I need answers and I need the truth Fang. Now."

They held a staring contest for a minute before Fang gave up and rubbed a scarred hand over his face. He motioned for her to sit down on the edge of the bed and he took a seat on the crappy desk in front of her.

"They're Shadows," he repeated what he told her earlier and then basically unloaded the basics of what he knew. "I wasn't exactly telling you the truth when I told you I didn't know where they came from. Their first in command and/or creator is a guy named Leroy Banks. He was a big ass scientist at some University off the west coast until he got fired and thrown in jail for three years for illegal testing on who knows what. He got out about eight years ago on bail and rented out an old warehouse down in Mexico where he's been ever since."

Not missing a beat, Max asked, "How the hell do you fit in with all this? And why did they try to kill me in the library?"

"I knew you were going to ask that," he grumbled, but answered anyway. "About three years ago I was flying around somewhere in Pueblo when I blacked out. I woke up strapped to a metal chair in a big expensive office." Fang's eyes clouded over as he spoke. "Banks told me I was there for some sort of special ops training for the military, which I thought was weird considering I wasn't even in the military, but I thought it'd be cool so I did it anyway. They trained me for a year and a half; trained me to fight better than I already could. I built up strength I didn't know I had and after a few months I could kill a Shadow in a matter of seconds without even thinking about it. I was a killing machine and that's exactly what he wanted." He paused and Max watched his face contort in disgust and pain. "One day I woke up in a hospital bed hooked up to a bunch of machines. He did x-rays, tests, took blood samples, everything for days. I was so doped up I had no idea what the hell was going on." He paused longer this time. "My blood type wasn't what they were looking for, I remember overhearing. Then they tried to kill me and have been ever since."

Max took a minute to let it all sink in. "So that doesn't answer my question as to why I can't go anywhere be myself."

Fang shook his head, a light sad grin on his face. "Max, do you know why they were testing me and taking blood? Why they tried to kill me after they didn't need me anymore? They were looking for one blood type and they killed hundreds of us just to find it."

"Why do they need a certain blood type?"

"Well…basically, if Banks gets a hold of the blood he desires, he could make Shadows so strong and inhuman that no one could stop them except probably a nuclear explosion. He's building up an army and to make it the strongest army in human existence and history, he needs one blood type. Just one and he is unstoppable and untouchable."

She was still confused. He could read it all over her wrinkled forehead and pursed lips. "I still don't see what it has to do with me."

"He needs one blood type," Fang repeated. "That's why I can't and won't let you out of my sight. You're not a match for a Shadow even on your best fighting day."

"Mine." She stated, pointing to herself. "He needs my blood type?"

"Yes." He nodded, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Why?"

"Do you want me to explain it again?"

"No, I heard you, but thanks," her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I meant why does it have to be my blood? Why wasn't yours good enough?"

"Max," Fang nudged closer. "It wasn't that mine wasn't good enough. It's that mine, or anyone else's that they tortured until death, wasn't the right type. You have the blood type. You have the only blood type of the mutants from that sick school that these people need. Why? I don't know that yet, but that's what I'm here to find out. But for some reason they want you, dead or alive. If I were to leave you alone for even a second…" he shook his head and sat straight up, his face rigid with hate.

"Why did you come back?" she whispered.

He had no intention of answering, and luckily he didn't have to at that moment because the rest of the flock walked in, Rae trailing at Iggy's side. Max still wasn't sure how she felt about Rae coming along, but if what Fang said was true, then Rae was safe from any serious harm and Iggy wasn't so distraught about leaving her. It would stop Iggy from taking what he needed to take seriously…well…seriously, so at some point Max knew she had to step up and tell them she had to stay behind. At this point, the time wasn't now.

"Are we ready to leave?" Iggy asked, rubbing his face restlessly.

"Yeah," Fang mumbled, not breaking eye contact with Max, who was helplessly staring back.

"Okay," Iggy drawled out. "We'll meet you in the parking lot."

With that, they hurried out of the room, murmuring to themselves as they walked down the hallway and out of hearing range.

"Just tell me you'll watch your back, Max." Fang's eyes bore holes into her own.

Growing nervous and a bit shaky, Max tore her gaze away and stood on swaying legs. She grabbed her bag, swung it over her shoulder and stormed out. Fang grabbed the last of his things and made for the door.

"Fang!"

There were other screams, but Max's blood curdling screech was the only sound that reached his ears. Panicked, he shot out the door and froze in the middle of the hallway. Less than thirty feet away from him, three shadows were angrily making their way down the hallway towards Max who stood fifteen feet away. Pumping his legs so hard they hurt, Fang took off down the hallway towards her. He didn't bother with the other people around him. She was the only thing he could focus on, the only thing that mattered at that very moment. She had shrunk against the wall, allowing him room to fly right past her and launch himself into the largest shadow in his path.

Max watched with wide, not-sure-what-the-hell-to-do eyes as Fang beat the shadow down with a few down strokes of his murderous fist. The bulkiest looking one seized Fang around the waist and tossed him against the wall. He landed on the ground with a thud, plaster sprinkling around him, causing a surprising and girly shriek to escape Max's lips. Fang jumped to his feet in a flash and sent his attacker flailing through the wall. He socked the third one once in the jaw and sprinted towards Max. He threw an arm around her waist and started dragging her towards the stairs. She glanced back and saw the shadows getting to their feet, which only made her run faster. They flew down the stairs and out the emergency exit. The rest of the flock went on alarm when they saw their leader and Fang speeding towards them.

"Get in the car!" Fang barked. "Now! Go!"

Max scurried into the passenger's seat of the truck, her shaking hands gripping the edges of the seat as Fang peeled out of the parking lot, only glancing back once to make sure that Rae was right on his tail. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt that scared. She had completely let her fear take over, not even trying to fight. She knew it was pointless to fight, but that had never stopped her before had it? So why did it stop her now?

She curled up against the door of the truck, staring up into the sky. Fang tried to talk to her, tried to get her to look at him, but for some reason she was too spooked to say anything. She knew he thought it was because of the shadows. She tried to tell herself it was because of the shadows, but she knew that was a lie. Right after she oh so childishly stormed out of the hotel room, she had hoped so hard it hurt that Iggy hadn't barged in when he had. It was obvious that Fang wasn't going to answer her, whether or not Iggy had walked in a second earlier or hours later. A girl could hope, right?

They stopped just a few miles outside of Illinois to set up camp for the night near a lake. Since it was still light out, the flock pulled out their swimming suits and took a swim in the murky water. After a little begging from Angel and Nudge, Max joined them. Iggy and Fang sat out, sitting awkwardly on the bank. Fang studied the flock, the way they interacted; their mannerisms towards each other.

Nudge and Angel seemed to subconsciously drift towards each other as they swam or played with Gazzy. It was obvious they were closer with each other than with any of the other flock members. Gazzy just kind of floated off by himself, but Fang didn't have to think twice to know that he and Iggy were still inseparable even with Rae in Iggy's life. Rae. She was a different story. Fang studied her as well, and something about her bugged him to no end. The glances she gave Max were almost…envious, filled with jealousy and hate. There was something off about her, but Fang wasn't going to assume things and pound her face into the ground just yet.

He didn't want to watch Max. At all. The more he watched her, the deeper his guilt and pain magnified in his chest. She looked even worse in her bathing suit. It hung off of her at all the wrong places, exposing hip bones, ribs and spine. Her wings were mashed against her back, tattered, faded, and almost fake looking. It looked like it hurt, the way she had them flattened against her skin.

"Why are Max's wings so beat up?" he asked Iggy.

"Well, considering they haven't been used in four years," Iggy replied. "I'd say they look pretty good." Iggy smirked at his little joke.

"What?" that was the last thing Fang expected to hear. His attention was now fully on Iggy.

"She hasn't used her wings in four years," Iggy repeated, sighing as he did so.

"Why?"

Iggy rubbed the back of his neck. "She's not the same Max, Fang. She's…different." He paused and when he heard silence, he continued. "It's like she's not all here with us anymore. She rarely goes out with us to the park, store, movies, etc. It's been like that for a while. I'm sure you can guess around the time that she became a completely different person. It's not that hard to figure out."

Fang stayed silent for a while, letting it all process through his tired mind. After a few minutes of awkward silence, he let his questions out in the open.

"What happened to her?" his eyes were on Max again. "After I left?"

"She stopped being the leader we'd known for years and became the leader who wasn't sure about anything including how to do her job as our leader. We rarely ever saw her. She spent most of her time in her room, not eating, barely sleeping. When we did see her, she was skinny as hell and her attitude was worse than she looked. Well, I never saw her but it was pretty easy to guess what she looked like because the flock would get silent as soon as she stepped out of her room. She's gotten better. She's still not herself, but at least she gets up every morning for our sake."

He sighed and his voice softened. "I'm not going to lie to you, Fang. It hasn't been easy, for any of us, but we've learned to let go. Max…she can't let go. We've seen her try every day for the past four years, but it's worn her down to the point where she couldn't even get out of bed some days. When you left it was like you took pretty much all of Maximum Ride with you. It broke her to the core and she hasn't been whole since. Not even close. She stopped fighting, stopped being the stubborn and sarcastic Max we all knew. She fell to pieces all over again when your name came up in conversation, so we just stopped talking about you all together. The last time we talked about you before you showed up, she locked herself in the bathroom for two days."

He shifted, feeling uncomfortable with the next bit of information. "She tried to kill herself, Fang. She was unsuccessful, but it cost her three days in the hospital and a lot of guilt. After that, I think she stopped caring. She stopped trying so hard to forget you and let the chips fall where they may."

Fang couldn't speak for several minutes. His jaw was locked and he was focused on the jagged scars lining Max's left wrist. They were thick scars, meaning they were deep wounds. Deep wounds that he caused. The hollow look in her eyes, the pale marble of her skin, her broken wings. It was all him. He caused it. That was the worst thing that he could've done by leaving. His lungs felt like they were slowly caving in. It was too much. He stood from his position and walked off into the small woods.

Max watched after him, eyebrows pulled together. She quickly dried off with a towel, pulled on a pair of jeans over her swimming suit and made her way over to Iggy.

"What happened?" she asked, still watching the spot where Fang's back had just been.

"I think you'd better talk to him," Iggy stood.

Growing more confused by the minute, Max slowly followed after Fang. She followed the tracks of his old boots for about thirty feet and stopped. Fang was pacing about three feet in front of her, pure hatred and guilt written all over his face. He ran his hands through his shaggy hair and slammed his fist into a tree. Max jumped back when it automatically broke off and fell to the ground. The trunk had to be at least a foot thick.

"Fang," she walked forward cautiously.

He dropped his hands and locked eyes with her, the fury growing each second. She walked right up to him, standing less than a foot away.

"What's wrong?" she asked carefully.

"Why, Max?" he asked. "Why would you do that to yourself? After what you promised me?"

"What are you talking about?"

He grabbed her left wrist and turned her scars to face her. "I'm talking about this Max! What were you thinking? Doing that to yourself? Those kids would have been lost without you, Max!"

"What the hell do you care?" she snatched her wrist away. "You left! You left four years ago! Why should it matter to you what happened to me while you were gone? You have no idea how I felt at the time, Fang. No idea."

"Enlighten me then!"

"I was scared!" she yelled. "You weren't there, Fang! You weren't there when I needed you! At the time all I could think of was that you weren't there to stop me and tell me I was being stupid and to never do it again, so I did it! Maybe I wanted to stop feeling like I lost half of myself when you left! Maybe I wanted it to end!"

"Why, Max? Why the hell would you try to kill yourself just because I wasn't there? You could've forgotten all about me and moved on with your life. You could've said 'screw him!' and hated me! I'm not everything Max!"

"You were to me!" her voice broke as she let out her bottled emotions. "You were everything to me, Fang. When you left, I lost everything! My heart, my soul, everything! I didn't want to be miserable anymore, Fang! I didn't want to hurt anymore! I spent everyday trying to forget you that first year and everyday since. I spent even more time trying to figure out what was wrong with me that wasn't enough to make you stay."

"You honestly think that you were the reason I left? That I left because you weren't enough?"

"Well then what was your excuse? You just got tired of being on a team? Tired of responsibility? Tired of being second in command? What?"

"I don't know!" Fang shouted, frustrated. "I have no idea why I left! I was just…sick of being with you guys! I wanted to be out on my own, experience things without putting five other people in danger or worrying about whether or not you thought it was too dangerous! I don't know! I had to be so careful with what I did because I didn't want to put you guys in danger. I just wanted to get away and see what it was like to live without that fear and responsibility."

Max stared at him, eyes wide in hurt and disbelief. "So we were smothering you, right? By wanting you to be okay and there in one piece was too constricting for you, huh?" she was shouting now now. "I spent years trying to stop myself from thinking it was my fault that you left when all it was is that you were sick of us! You make me sick, Fang! Did you ever stop to think about what it did to the rest of us when you left? Iggy and Gazzy moped around for months without their best friend! Iggy didn't have a guy his age to talk to and Gazzy was too young to understand. Nudge still doesn't talk or eat or sleep as much as she used to! And Angel, don't even get me started on her. I have no idea what is going on with her. But I guess you don't care about any of that because all you thought and all you think about is yourself! Screw you, Fang! I don't want to hear about where you were or what you were doing or any other of your lame ass excuses! I don't want to hear your bullshit about coming back to keep me from getting killed or hurt. It wouldn't have mattered if you hadn't come back anyway. You hurt me more than any eraser or shadow or sick scientist ever could! You killed me, Fang! Not them! They never could!"

It was as if she'd slapped him across the face. Her words rang in his head as she stormed off in the way she came with tears flooding down her cheeks. He stared after her for near an hour, unable to move, think or even speak. After a while, he decided it was pointless to go back to the others, so he sat down against the bark of an old tree and watched the wind blow through the trees.