Chapter 17

Fang and I flew for what was clearly several hours in a sky that was not so clear. I hated flying in the rain, but I would much rather soar through some grey cumulonimbus than endure even one more minute with Dmitri and crew.

The two of us held hands as we wheeled over the coast of California, neither of us saying a word. We didn't need to. For three hours we merely existed in the comfort of one another. Some days I wished it could be like this all the time.

"Think we should go back?" I asked as we circled the bay at Monterey for the third time in the past hour.

"I've got a better idea," Fang said with a crooked smile. "Follow me."

The two of us dropped down on the narrow beaches that surrounded the harbor and walked into town. The rain beat down steadily on the large fishing community, the sparse pedestrian traffic reflecting the blustery weather. Our attire mirrored it as well. Can't tell you the number of stares Fang and I received as we ventured into a bakery on Alvarado Street. Or perhaps the wandering glares came as a result of our enormous pastry purchase.

Farther into a newer part of town, we bought new clothes at a Wal-mart and I changed out of my soppy wet ones in one of the store's restrooms, stuffed them into the plastic bag that had held my purchases. We carried money all the time now – our… er… creative shopping days long past us. In fact, I think the last time the flock had to acquire something for nothing occurred before I learned that Dr. Martinez was my mom. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

I met Fang outside the store in new jeans and windbreaker, shot him a quizzical stare.

"So what's next? Any other stores the benefactor of your shopping spree?"

"Nope," was all he said. He took off running and leapt into the air, his sleek black wings pumping immediately with the take off. I filched a reflective pause to gaze upon him before taking off myself, marveling at how, on this grey gloomy day, when all Hades was breaking loose on a tiny set in LA, Fang was the bright glimmering ray in the eye of the storm warming all my troubles away.

Ugh. Did I really just think that? Does love really just reduce you to pure mush?

I shook my head, ran and leapt into the air, soaring underneath Fang just moments after I unfurled my wings. We flew several miles down the coast beyond the smaller town of Carmel and touched down on the rocky Big Sur Coastline. I followed Fang to a huge outcropping of rock just off the water. The rain reduced to a light drizzle, the clouds a misty haze in the distance. With our raptor vision we could see miles into the jewel-blue sea and across the inlet I observed a handful of sea lions sleeping on a pyramid of rocks.

The two of us merely sat for a long while, staring intently at foamy waves lapping against the sand. I was just about to dig into my fifth croissant when Fang put his arm around me and pulled me into his side.

"I could live here," he said, staring out to the ocean.

I rested my head on his shoulder. "Yep. Me too."

He looked at me, his face stone. "So why don't we?" I sat up, opened my mouth to protest, but he continued. "I mean, maybe not here, but maybe… maybe we finally get away from all this. Do our own thing."

I lowered my head, wishing so much I could agree with him, wishing some days it was just the flock. That my destiny wasn't out there slapping me in the face. That I wasn't meant to save the world.

"You know we can't do that," I mumbled.

"Yeah we can, Max," he replied, his voice doggedly determined. "You've already saved the world. Several times. You think this movie will actually help? And if it does, do they really need us to make it? I know you aren't enjoying any of this."

I stood up. Fang and I had this argument at least once a week. And I don't know why. I always won because a) I'm always right (well - most of the time) and b) I just couldn't disappoint my mom. The CSM was on a roll with public awareness and the movie would be a huge add to that. I knew this. Fang knew this. And as much as I hated that I couldn't just neglect my fate and fly off with him into the sunset, I hated even more that he kept dredging up a dead issue.

"We should get back," I said flatly, brushing dirt off my jeans.

Fang stood up with me, tried to take my hand. I shrugged him off and continued, "I'm sure the flock's wondering where we are. My mom might be worried."

"She knows where we are," Fang said, a look of impatience plastered on his face. I threw him a curious glance and he elaborated. "I called her. While you were in the bathroom changing. Let her know where we were and I checked on the flock." I stared at him in shock, pleasantly surprised that he had thought to call my mother. And then the shock wore off. I turned away from him, prepared to leap into the air.

Fang latched onto my arm quickly, held on tight. "They're fine," he said. They're auditioning my role without us and they're fine." He gave me a stern, exhausted look and I allowed him to take my hands. He lowered his voice, softer, yet still brusque. "See. They don't really need us to do this movie. And we shouldn't. It puts right out in the open again. People know where we are. How to find us. It's not safe."

"But we can't just abandon the project now."

"You had no problems leaving it this morning," he said, his voice still slightly gruff.

"You know why I left," I sulked, turning my face away from his.

He cupped my chin, forced me to connect with his eyes. "I know. Although I would have had no problem with it." A small smirk crossed his features and the lightness of his statement warmed me, poking a tiny hole in my wall of obstinacy.

Fang's voiced dropped yet another octave when he spoke again. "But you know I'm right about this." My head dropped. Fang was right. After an absence of action for three months, we'd been attacked twice in the past five days. But I just couldn't bail on my mom now. Not with her hopes for bringing on new backers for CSM with the filming of this movie. And we could take care of ourselves. We fared alright in the past year. I mean, we were still alive, weren't we?

Fang continued to talk when I didn't - a role reversal that only occurred about as often as a leap year. "Your mom. She'd understand. If we backed out now."

I opened my mouth to say something, but never got the chance. Within seconds of Fang's last statements, we were swarmed by a mass of black clouds dropping out of the sky at rapid speed. Several landed to our left, then our right. Some behind us, in front of us. Some of those big black bundles merely hovered several feet above us.

Upon closer inspection, Fang and I discovered that these black clouds weren't really clouds. They were men. Black men dressed head to toe in black. And they had guns (black also). Semi-automatics of some nature. And those guns? Those guns were aimed straight at us.

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A/N: Sorry it has taken a lifetime for me to update. This particular chapter has seen about five rewrites and I am still not completely satisfied with it, but I just needed to get over myself and move on... And I have discovered how difficult it is to write three different stories at the same time while doing a million other things. I am not going to make any promises as to when I shall update next other than that I will try to do it soon! :)

Have a great weekend!