Hey guys! I'm really happy with the feedback I've gotten from this story. I think about 6 of you reviewed, and they're really nice reviews. I'm so so happy with them, so I'm trying to spend a lot of time on this chapter.

Onwards!

Max's POV.

I was flashing in and out of consciousness. I woke up and opened my eyes to see Fang carrying me. I looked around and saw we were approaching my apartment block. Nerves rushed through me when I thought about facing Iggy, I didn't know how he would react on finding out about me lying to him and sneaking around behind his back.

"Which apartment do you live in?" Fang asked, his voice gentle.

"Top one." I croaked, coughing.

I passed out again, and woke up again as Fang was nearing the top of the stairs. He looked a bit strained, but not too strained.

He's strong.

Outside our apartment door he stopped, placing me down gently, standing me up on my good leg, and putting my good arm around his shoulder so that he was supporting me. Nerves flipped in my stomach when he knocked on the door.

Too late now.

"He's probably still at-" I began, but then the door opened, to reveal a stone= faced Iggy standing there. His face creased with worry when he saw me, and ushered us in.

"What the HELL HAPPENED?" He said, his voice rising in a yell.

"I told you, Max! I trusted you to not risk your life again, and you ignored me."

His voice broke. "I trusted you."

"I'm sorry Ig." Was all I could say. I felt energy draining from me, and Fang had to hold me up fully, I didn't have the strength to stand in any way.

Iggy suddenly noticed Fang. "Who are you?" He said his voice cold.

"I… found Max. I helped her here. I'm only trying to help." Fang replied coolly.

I think that it was at this moment that Iggy noticed just how badly injured I actually was.

He took me off Fang and laid me on our battered sofa, going into the kitchen for our first aid kit.

"What happened?" Iggy said, addressing Fang.

"I.. Uh… She.." Fang stuttered, not necessarily wanting to give away my secret.

I made eye contact with him and nodded slowly. I didn't have the energy to speak.

Iggy was looking from me to Fang.

"Well?"

"Well, um, you know the street fights-"

"The ones downtown?" Iggy asked.

Fang nodded. "Yeah, those ones. Well, Max was… in one."

Iggy's eyes widened. "What?" He said, turning to me, his voice deadly cold.

"Yeah, and, um, this guy kinda pulled out a knife." Fang continued cautiously.

Iggy opened his first aid kid, and pulled out a bunch of stuff.

"Where is she hurt? I can't see under all the blood."

He's right. I am covered in blood. My vision blurred and went double, and I felt really light-headed and weird. I think the blood loss was causing it.

Iggy crouched beside me, setting aside his anger for later, his face creased with worry.

Fang leaned over me, looking concerned also.

"She was stabbed in.. this shoulder, and he cut her head and…. Her arm and broke her foot."

"Jesus Max." Iggy said, his voice hushed.

I closed my eyes, and it felt like my body was hovering in the air. For a second I was completely detached, floating in the darkness, and then Iggy's voice yanked me back.

"No no Max, stay with me, stay awake." He said, wiping blood off my forehead and putting antiseptic on all of my cuts, making me gasp.

I heard a horrible, low groan of utter pain, and then realised that it was me, shutting it off quickly.

My eyes drifted shut again, and this time even Iggy's frantic shouts couldn't bring me back.

Jeb slapped me for the first time then. I saw pure anger in his eyes as he lashed out, striking me across the face as hard as he could.

I clenched my jaw, taking the pain, staring Jeb in the eyes without even flinching.

Iggy jumped up to me, holding me back before I could attack Jeb.

"Stop it, Max." He said, holding me while I struggled. "Let it go."

Jeb nodded to Iggy and took another swig of whisky. "See, he's a good boy."

I sat in the corner of my room, my arms around my knees, blood dripping down from my arm onto my legs. Iggy opened the door softly, sticking his head in and looking around. He gasped when his eyes fell on me.

He shut the door behind him and crouched in front of me.

"What did he do, Max? What did he do?"

I looked him in the eyes. Iggy had been gone, out with his friends. Jeb had been drunk, and I'd gone into the kitchen for food, and Jeb was there.

He flipped out and smashed his glass beer bottle on my arm, shouting.

"Max? What did he do?" Iggy said, worry in his eyes.

I just shook my head and stayed quiet. Iggy gently grabbed my arm and pulled it gently so that it wasn't around my knees. He very slowly rolled up my bloody sleeve, and hissed a quick intake of breath trough his teeth.

"Oh my god." He said. "I'm gonna kill him. I'm GONNA KILL HIM!"

I sat on the swing, gently pushing myself. The rain poured down on me, and I was soaked through.

I didn't know where I was. I'd gone. I'd gone from home. I'd ran and ran, until I almost collapsed, just wanting to be away from it all.

Jeb had gone too far.

I was shivering uncontrollably now, my whole body convulsing in little shakes. I looked at the sky. It was dark now. I was all alone in the playground.

There was a little play tunnel next to the swings where I could have easily sheltered from the rain, but I didn't bother.

I just didn't care.

"Max?" I heard a voice shout from a distance. Could it be somebody else?

"MAX?" The voice was closer now. I could also recognise it as Iggy's.

I dived into the tunnel quickly, hiding. I didn't want to be found. I'd have to go back to Jeb.

I hoped Iggy wouldn't find me. He'd be fine without me. He'd get over it eventually. He's have loads of friends, and go on. He was 14, he'd be fine.

"MAX? MAX! WHERE ARE YOU?" I crouched in the tunnel, my hands around my knees, knees pulled up to my chest, and my head in between my knees.

"Max?" A gently hand touched my shoulder lightly. I looked up at Iggy.

"Oh Max thank god!" He pulled me into a tight hug. "I thought you were gone forever. I was so scared. Please don't do that again, Max."

I didn't say anything.

He pulled away from me, tears in his eyes. His voice cracked. "Max. Please."

I just blinked the rain out of my eyes.

I wasn't making any promises.

"C'mon, Max." Iggy said, sounding heart broken. "Let's go home."

I scuttled away from him, back down the other end of the tunnel. I wasn't going home. Jeb was there.

"No Max, Jeb's not there. I promise. And even if he is, I'll protect you. I'll stop him Max, it'll be fine."

I couldn't control all the emotions running through me, fear, love, hate, terror, rage, sadness, trust, suspicion.

I just went to Iggy as fast as I could, hugging him as tight as I could, sobbing into his shoulder. I never cried. Ever. I think it really shocked Iggy then, because he froze for a second. I think that it was then he realised just how bad it was.

He just held me and comforted me until I stopped, and then he picked me up, putting me on his shoulders, taking me home.

"Max?" Voices floated around me. It was Iggy He sounded utterly heartbroken.

My eyes fluttered open. I was seeing double, my eyes unfocused and blurry.

I could vaguely make out Iggy's form in front of me. I blinked a couple of times, and my eyes focused.

He looked devastated, Fang kneeling behind him with a similar expression.

I coughed.

"I'm fine." I croaked out, my voice barely a whisper.

He smiled with sadness in his eyes.

Every one of my cuts was throbbing painfully along with my heartbeat. I didn't know what was going to happen to me.

I was lying on my back on the sofa, and I struggled to sit up.

I pushed myself up with my good arm and my head span, my arm buckling.

Iggy helped me sit up properly.

"How do you feel?" He said, kneeling beside me.

I briefly closed my eyes and rubbed my eye with my good hand.

"Never better."

I rubbed the other eye and recoiled sharply when it send sudden pain coursing through it.

"I wouldn't touch that eye." Iggy said.

"Why?"

"You've got a black eye."

I smiled slightly. "I do?"

He nodded.

"A right shiner." Fang said from behind Iggy.

I yawned, suddenly tired. It was weird, like just sitting up had literally sapped all the energy from me.

"You tired?" Iggy asked, concern in his voice.

I nodded slowly, working on trying to keep my eyes open.

"Why don't you get some rest then? I'll stay here."

I nodded, sliding back down on the sofa.

My eyes fluttered shut and I was deeply asleep within seconds.

Narrator's POV.

Iggy stayed crouched beside Max as she fell asleep, paternal love and worry on his face. He'd always felt fully responsible for Max.

Fang was standing behind Iggy, looking down at Max.

He felt a strange attachment to Max. This was extremely odd for Fang, not only because he barely knew anything about her, but also because he didn't….. Trust people easily. He felt like he could place his life in Max's hands without a second thought.

Iggy stood up suddenly, turning around to face Fang.

"Thank you so much for bringing her here." He said, extremely grateful.

Fang nodded. "Anytime."

"How can I repay you?" Iggy said. "Is there anything within my abilities which I can do for you?"

"Where do you… live?" Iggy asked, slightly cautious.

"I don't have a place. I was only kicked out of my house a couple of days ago. I've been sleeping on the street."

"You can stay here." Iggy said, happy to offer any kind of reward for Fang helping Max.

Fang held up his hand. "Nah, you don't have to. It's cool, don't worry man."

Iggy shook his head. "No, c'mon, at least for a while. Somebody needs to keep an eye on Max when I'm not here." He looked over to her, paternal love on his face. "I think she'd like the company. She's alone too much."

Fang nodded slowly. He was sick of sleeping on the cold, wet pavement, trying to find a slightly sheltered place.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be any trouble or anything."

Iggy nodded. "Yeah yeah, it's fine."

Max's POV.

Bright morning light pierced my eyelids, waking me up sharply.

I could hear soft voices in the kitchen.

I opened my eyes and sat up slowly, rubbing my head.

"Max?"

I looked over the kitchen. Both Iggy and Fang were in there.

"Yeah?" I said, swinging my legs off the sofa, ready to get up.

"No no no, Max, don't stand." Iggy said, rushing to my side.

"Why?" I said questioningly.

"You broke your foot, badly. I went out this morning and got you these." Iggy said, picking up some crutches from behind the sofa.

Oh yeah, my foot.

"We put a splint on it." Iggy said, motioning to my leg.

That was what that weird feeling.

Iggy handed me the crutched and I slipped my arms through, standing slowly.

"Try not to use your injured arm to much!" Iggy said, helping me get steady.

"I'll be fine Ig, don't worry." I said, adjusting myself to get more comfortable. I'd used crutches before, when I used to go to school. When people came in on them everyone went in a big crowd around them, asking for a go.

I'd only ever got a couple of goes, and only for about twenty seconds, but still.

I practiced, going in a circle around the sofa. It was kinda hard, because if I put too much weight on my bad arm, it really stung and caused me even more pain.

When I got back to Iggy I looked up, smiling.

"I can do it pretty well."

He smiled, paternal love in his eyes. "You can."

All of a sudden I noticed that I was ravenously hungry. I hadn't eaten for ages.

"Do we have anything to eat?" I asked, desperately hungry.

Iggy shook his head. "Sorry, we ran out yesterday. I'll go get some more."

I opened my mouth to say that I would come, but Iggy raised his hand, stopping me.

He grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair, putting it on as he spoke. "No Max, stay here. You can't do too much exercise for a while, you'll strain yourself."

I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it. He was right, and I'd caused him enough trouble already.

"Bye- Max, don't go out. Please listen to me this time.

Then he shut the door quietly, and he was gone.

I turned to Fang.

"Thank you so much for helping me. I'd be dead if you hadn't." It was the truth. I was still in intense pain everywhere, but it was better than being dead.

Far better.

"No problem."

"So, whaddaya wanna do?" I said, smiling.

He shrugged, a small smile forming on his face.

"We can go up the roof." I suggested.

His eyes brightened. "I love heights."

We were up on the roof. In the end, Fang had carried me up here. I felt so at ease with him, like I'd known him all my life. It was kinda odd, I felt that I could place my life in his hands without a second thought. And that is weird for me, because since Jeb, I've had some big trust issues.

I sat down, my legs dangling off the edge of the roof. Fang sat next to me, copying my position without hesitation.

We sat there without talking for a while, just swinging our legs and taking in the urban beauty of the city.

Fang broke the silence. "What's Max short for?"

I looked at him sideways. "Maximum. My surname is Ride."

"Maximum Ride." Fang said, testing it out. "I like it. Awesome name."

"What's your full name?"

"Fang Venom."

I looked at him fully, smiling. "That's such a cool name! You're pretty lucky."

He shrugged. "Not all people react that way."

"What's your favourite colour?" I asked after a minute of silence.

"Black or dark purple."

I smirked. "Same."

"Age?" Fang said. A man of many words here, people,

"14 as of yesterday."

"14, 15 in a few months."

"Worst ever injury?" He asked.

I tapped the arm which Knife had dragged his weapon through one night prior.

Fang pulled up one trouser leg and showed me a long scar running the length of his knee to his foot.

"Favourite holiday?"

"Probably Christmas." I said.

"Same." He nodded.

"Would you rather be able to fly or shoot fire from your hands?"

"Wings." Fang said instantly. I nodded in an easy agreement.

"What colour would your wings be?"

"Midnight black." He said.

I thought for a second. "Deep black with gold splatters."

"Favourite food?" He asked.

"The nearest." We both said at the same time. We looked at each other sharply.

"Woah. Spooky." I said, smirking.

He smirked back and we both looked back to the city, falling into a comfortable silence.

After a minute I lay down on my back, my legs still dangling precariously off the edge of the roof.

I watched the clouds above me, and thought about what was beyond.

I woke up when somebody shook my (good.) shoulder gently. "Max." Fang said. "Iggy's here with the food."

At the word "food." I woke up properly, opening my eyes and sitting up quickly.

Iggy laughed from the entrance to the roof.

Hey guys. I know I'm uploading this a little late, but I spent a lot of time on this chapter, I really hope you like it. I would like the people who reviewed my first chapter, you all really gave me the inspiration and confidence to continue this story.

Fly on.

-Raven.