"Max-I—," Fang began, but it was too late. Her hold around his neck loosened and she began to fall. Without even thinking about it he reached forward, catching her and cradling her limp body close to his. He, too, dropped to his knees, his face against hers, whispering her name.

The rest of the world disappeared—it was just him and Max. He barely remembered anything after the explosion at their cabin. As he held Max close, he looked down and into her stomach, where an old piece of sharp metal was sticking out. He'd put that there. He'd been the one who kept Max from ever opening her beautiful brown eyes again.

Without realizing what was about to happen, Fang held Max back a little, looking down into her face. She had a very small smile resting on her lips, blood was smeared all over her body, and a few of her limbs were sticking out in alarming angles, obviously broken. And he broke down. He held Max closer again, hugging her to him, sobbing more than he'd ever sobbed in his entire life. His beautiful black wings were curled protectively around them, covering every inch of both of them. His black feathers overlapped her brown and white ones, which were lying limply on the ground around them, covered in blood. Fang continued crying, stroking her face, her neck, her wings, whispering for her to come back. She didn't respond.

After a while, Fang's sobs quieted, and he very gently lay Max down on the ground. He used one of his bloodied hands—bloody with her blood, he realized with horror; she hadn't fought him back—to wipe the hair away from her face. Once she was settled on the ground, Fang stood up slowly, looking down at her. His jet black hair was hanging down over his face, and soon he became aware of other noises. It was like the world just came flooding back to him.

The flock was screaming. He looked up towards them; Angel was collapsed against the cage bars, lying by Total and sobbing. Total was licking her cheek, trying to soothe her gently. Gazzy was curled up against Iggy, who was holding onto Gazzy and rocking him back and forth, whispering something into his ear. Nudge was the only one standing, her back to the scene. Her shoulders were obviously shaking as she cried, but she was not looking in his direction. Fang's heart tightened as he listened more, never taking his eyes off Max.

"You see, ladies and gentlemen, how very well Maximum Ride was trained? Until her very last breath she attempted everything she could in order to survive. Her organs are much better equipped to handle these types of battles than we could have ever hoped during her fetal stage."

Ethan.

Fang's hands curled into fists, his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. So Ethan hadn't noticed that Fang wasn't his puppet anymore.

"As I mentioned before, Maximum Ride's body will be up for observation by permission only, after we get the chance to clean her up a bit. To make an appointment—," but Ethan was interrupted. Fang's roar of rage was loud and fierce enough to quiet the entire canyon. The flock stopped crying and turned to look at him, Ethan and the rest of the scientists turned their attention back to him, and her—the fake Max who'd tricked him in the first place—she stared at him with wide brown eyes that in no way belonged to her.

In one quick motion, Fang curled his wings into himself and exploded upwards, bursting into the sky and leaving a gust of wind in his wake. Without hesitating he yanked the fender off of one of the old cars and headed up to his target—the cage that the rest of the flock were being held in.

Once he got there, he took the fender and in a quick thrust he shoved it against the lock of the cage, knocking it free and sending it hurtling to the ground. The door to the cage burst open and the flock was free.

They didn't move, though.

"Fang…" Angel said slowly. Her face was wet with tears, her eyes filling up with more even as he watched. He looked at each of their faces, all of which mirrored the other, and looked away. He couldn't face them right then. Not after what he'd done.

"Come on," he said in his quiet but determined voice. Without waiting, he leapt from the ledge and dive-bombed at a female white coat. Her dark brown hair was piled up on top of her head, held their by two pencils, and she shrieked like a banshee when she realized that Fang was going for her first. He knocked into her feet-first and sent her flying into one of the canyon walls. Her clipboard was smashed to pieces. She was unconscious on impact. Looking up from her he saw that the rest of the flock was already busy. He couldn't quite stop the smirk that came to his lips as Gazzy punched an Eraser out, hitting him so hard in the face that his head snapped back. Gazzy cackled triumphantly and went for the next one.

Total had one of the scientists by the ankle, his little teeth digging painfully into the skin. Angel was with him, landing a solid kick to the white coat's stomach. Nudge and Iggy were working on a group of four Erasers. They were all winning their own battles.

But Fang had a more important battle to deal with just then.

Feeling the hatred coarse through him like flames, Fang turned his attention to the table where Ethan and Fake-Max sat. They were watching the chaos erupt around them, clearly unbothered by it. Fang would put a stop to that.

As though guessing his move, Fake-Max leapt from her perch by Ethan's side and landed daintily in front of him. "What's the matter Fang?" she asked him, her voice all sugary. He lunged at her, trying to hit her, but she was quick. "Don't you love me anymore?" she spat. She was mocking him now. Fang growled and lunged again, but she dodged him, kicking him hard in the side and sending him flying sideways.

Fang landed against the rocks hard, splitting his lip, but Fake-Max was already on him. Her arm pushed up against his throat; cutting off his oxygen. She laughed. "So noble," she said, nodding towards Max where she was lying lifelessly on the rocks where he'd left her. Fake-Max shrugged. "Too little, too late though, huh?" Fang roared and drew back, socking her directly in the nose. Fake-Max made a little noise of surprise but still didn't move fast enough. Fang was already on her again, kicking her until she went flying backwards. She hit one of the rusted cars, knocking her head the wrong way and slipping into unconsciousness. Fang raised his hand to hit her again, but Angel was there. She took hold of his raised arm.

"Don't," Angel said quietly, her blue eyes begging. Fang hesitated, and his eyes softened for a moment. Then he nodded at her and turned, looking to who he had to take out next—Ethan.

Ethan was already running, tripping every few seconds over tiny stones, getting a cut or two as he tried to make his escape as quickly as possible. Fang actually laughed before leaping upwards, spreading out his long black wings and catching the air current. He plopped gracefully down onto his feet in front of the man in a matter of seconds.

Fang paused for only a moment before punching Ethan so hard in the stomach that he went hurtling up and over a huge boulder. Ethan hit the side of his forehead hard, opening up a gash along his face. Ethan threw up his hands, all signs of dominance and malice gone. Instead there was a cowardly man in front of Fang, crouched down, covering his face. Fang felt another flare of hatred rise up inside of him; it was Ethan's fault Max was gone. It was Ethan's fault for everything. He was about to finish Ethan off when Iggy yelled.

"Fang!" Iggy's voice shouted, a hint of excitement just barely audible in his tone. Fang paused and glanced up at his friend. Iggy was crouched over where Max lay, his sightless eyes looking in Fang's general direction, one of his hands placed delicately over the crude metal that still stuck out from Max's stomach.

Fang left Ethan curled up in ball for a moment and flew over to where Iggy kneeled by Max. He didn't look at her body, but only at Iggy. "What is it?" he asked quietly, running a hand through his hair. He wondered briefly how he would live with himself after all this was over. Iggy smiled.

"Her heart," Iggy said gently. "I can…it's still beating."

Fang's heart sped up and his dark eyes darted over Max's wilted body. Her face looked so still, her chest wasn't moving. How was that possible? It wasn't.

Iggy placed a hand gently over Max's chest and closed his eyes. "I can't feel it," he said, a small amount of frustration leaking into his tone. "But I can hear it." Fang just stared at Iggy in shock. Iggy opened his eyes and looked up, about a fraction off from Fang's eyes. "Max isn't dead."

Fang felt as though a weight were lifted off of him as he allowed himself to hope for that brief moment in time. However, looking at Max's body kept doubt fresh in his heart. "Iggy…" he began.

"No." Iggy cut him off. He stood, about a half-inch taller than Fang. "I can hear her heart beating! She's hanging on by a thread!" Fang looked at Max again, then back at Iggy, who seemed set. Iggy was totally confident. Fang nodded.

"Take her and get the rest of the flock out of here." Iggy very gently lifted Max's body off the ground and cradled her against himself. Her head rested against his shoulder and her left arm lay limp to the side of her. Iggy curled his arms protectively around her and took off as gently as he could, unfurling his mighty wings and rounding up the rest of the flock. "Coming?" He called, looking down at Fang.

Fang looked over at Ethan, who was gone. Panic overtook him, and Fang quickly raced over to where he'd last seen him. The second his feet hit the ground, Fang was hit over the head with something. He saw stars and he stumbled but he did not go down. Spinning, he saw Ethan standing by him, giant rock in hand, and hatred back into his lifeless eyes.

"You filthy experiment," Ethan growled. "You don't deserve to continue existing in our world." Ethan looked up towards the spot where the rest of the flock was hovering. "None of you, you freaks." Fang looked up, could see Max's flaccid hand dangling from where Iggy was holding her. It was covered in blood. Rage took over.

"No, Ethan," Fang said, his voice hushed but just as terrifying as it would've been if he'd yelled it. Fang charged Ethan, who shouted out in surprise and tried to defend himself. Taking hold of his shirt firmly, Fang leapt off the ground, releasing his black wings and flying up as high as the flock—about fifty-feet off the ground. "You're the freak," Fang said, looking right into Ethan's black eyes. "And you won't hurt us. Not anymore."

With that, Fang let go of Ethan's shirt. None of them watched as Ethan plummeted towards the ground of the gorge. His screams echoed off the canyon walls as he fell, but they were already flying away, Iggy in the lead with Max.

"We have to get her to Jeb," Fang said, flying up beside him. Iggy nodded and Fang turned. He was attacked again—this time with a hug. Angel threw her arms around him, her white wings smacking into his but he didn't mind that much. Instead he hugged her back. Her hug was followed by many others.

"I thought," Gazzy hiccupped uneasily. "You were s-so out of," hiccup, "it." Fang smiled sadly.

"Fang," Iggy said anxiously. Fang's eyes darted to Max's face. "Her heartbeat's slowing down. We need to hurry!"

"Come on," Fang told his flock as they all began to fly faster. "Let's find Jeb."

They needed to get Max help—and fast. She was starting to fade…

Sorry it took me so long to update! I went to the Bamboozle last weekend (I'm not sure if you know what that is) so last week I was prepping for that, and then the day I got home I went to a Blue October concert that night so I was pretty much exhausted! Hope you enjoyed this though! Review please!

Falling Rose Petals