Chapter 8

Disclaimer- I don't own Maximum Ride or its characters. All I own is the plot, Andrea Furnilla, and the Emperor Titus. And for all the people who decided that they needed to check and see if this story is historically accurate, the answer is no. Emperor Titus was a Roman Emperor and he did marry a Furnilla, but it wasn't Andrea. And the wedding and the housing situations were nothing like this. Sorry for the long author's note.

This chapter is dedicated to BlackVenom who insisted that there need to be a fighting, shouting, at-each-other's-throats scene between Max and Fang because violence and clawing-eyes-out makes for good literature. Here goes... Enjoy!

~~~All is fair in love and war.~ Francais Edward Smedley~~~

Max

"Fang, we need to talk," I flew down to Fang's cave. There was something eerie about this, he was completely invisible and I felt as if talking to thin air. I could feel him here though, his emotions seemed palpable, but I couldn't understand just what emotion it was. It felt jumbled and hurt, but that's ridiculous. This is Fang.

"Fang, I'm not joking," I say, angry now. "I need support right now, I had pressure on me from every angle, I had people to take care of, voices to listen to, and I need a friend!"

"Neither am I, why don't you find your Dylan. I'll bet he's more than willing to listen to you," Fang appears in that same corner. He looks awful. He looks even worse than when he was poisoned, if at all possible. There were dark bruises blooming on his pale skin, even though they were healing already. They must have been recent. What had he been doing to himself? "I don't want to hear it."

"Fang, what is the matter with you? The Voice keeps on pestering me that I needed to save the world. Don't you understand that what's going on around you is bigger than what little inner argument you have?" What is the matter with him?

"The problem is that when I was at my deathbed you were off fooling around with Dylan. And you think that you can come and yell at me for being self-centered! I've fought with that … that thing that calls himself an angel more times than I can count. You invite him here, for what?" he snarls, his face inches from mine. His breath was hot against my face and I fight the urge to step back. I'll hold my ground. I will hold my ground, because this is absolutely ridiculous!

I blink. That's what he thinks? That I've been fooling around with Dylan while he was poisoned? I blanch in disgust, "Who do you think brought you from the dead? You were an hour away from death and I had to make a deal with him to heal you. Yes, it was hard for me to! Do you think I liked seeing you pale and still? It hurt me! And do you think it was easy for me to kiss him to get him to heal you? I had to; I needed to, because you were hurt!"

"Needed to?" his face grows soft, "Why?"

I turn away and he yanks my arm lightly to get me to look at him, "Don't make me say it," I growl.

Then his lips are on mine. His mouth is soft and desperate. Fang tastes like sadness and jealousy all pent up inside him. I melt into him for a second, and then back away. I look up at him shocked. Stumbling a little, I throw myself out for the wind to catch. What was that for?

Fang

Max flies away like an army of demons were chasing her. No, not even then. Max wouldn't run from even all the demons from Hell. She'd probably try to stay and fight them. I've never seen her fly so fast in her existence. In seconds she was gone, not even a russet colored speck in the sky.

I punch the wall again; the obsidian ribbons in the walls scratched my knuckles. Obsidian was the only mortal stone that could harm angels because it was discarded from the smiths of the Underworld. My blood bled, but my hand healed too fast, leaving another faint white scar across my knuckles. Why? Why did I kiss her? And why did she leave?

Max

Fang returns to the flock a few hours after I did. White scratches webbed his already pale skin. What is he doing to himself? I tried to avoid his gaze, but I could feel his dark eyes burning, searching for my own eyes.

Max, Angel says into my mind, what did you say to him? I realized she could read his mind as well. What was he thinking? He probably wanted to kill me. But then our encounter is pulled to the front of my brain, and the memory stings into me like a sharp blade. Angel looks at me, her blue eyes perceiving everything. She understands, even if I can't.

"The emperor and the empress are going on a voyage to the Paradiso en Terra. It's their summer home. We are going to accompany them. There's a better place for us there. Next the Paradiso en Terra, there's a mountain. On the mountain is a secluded lake, we can stay there and still watch over the royals," I tell the flock, still evading his stare.

The flock nods in agreement, even Dylan. I roll my eyes. Let him stay, the Voice suggests, he might become useful. I can think on my own, Voice. And I don't want him here.

He'll stay. The Voice decides. I narrow my eyes.

Happy? There's the lover's spat scene you asked for. I personally like this chapter because it took up only two pages and there's about one thousand something words so I think there's a lot of detail. Well, review review review! Děkuji! (That's thank you in Czech.)