I angled myself towards the ground and dove, not letting Fang know what I was doing, so he'd look stupid trying to catch up.

Which he did, on both counts

And I felt a little better.

I could tell I had agitated him, as I zipped towards the ground, and it was that fleeting moment, with the wind racing around my face, that I felt the happiest I had been since I don't know when.

Sure, it was kind of evil being happy at Fang's expense (but right now he deserved it) but that wasn't the reason for all the happiness I felt right at this moment.

No, I was going to see Dr. Martinez. The only human who had ever treated me with complete, sincere.. humanness , I guess.

She and her daughter Ella actually treated me like I was person (a ground breaking concept, I know) and now I was going to see them again.

Not to mention the chocolate chip cookies! (except that I just did!)

That was a plus, certainly, but it still paled in comparison to the whole 'human compassion for other humans (even me)' thing.

I wondered if Fang had ever had one of those delicious gifts from heaven (cookies!), and I already knew he hadn't had any humanness directed at him yet, so despite me still being a bit peeved at him, I was happy for him as well.

Stupid Fang. He's so hard to hate, even when I hate him.

I hit the ground running, and the house that I had missed so much came into view.

Fang stealthily landed behind me, and didn't follow; he was far too cautious far that.

I hadn't told him just where we were.

I wanted to surprise him.

And maybe freak him out a little, too.

Anyway, I could see the house now, and was still running to it.

I pulled into a complete stop when I spotted someone; I knew exactly who that someone was.

Dr. Martinez.

There she was, standing in the sunlight, fiddling with her house keys.

She straightened up, sensing someone, probably me, watching her. She spun around, and my heart caught in my throat.

Dr. Martinez's eyes widened; quite a bit actually, and the took the surprised woman a few moments for what she was seeing to sink in.

That was probably the most thankful I had ever been that I was not, in fact, a figment of someone's imagination.

"Max…" she whispered, only a half a notch above absolute silence.

And it was at about that point that everything became a blur.

I remember sort of running to her, and receiving the best hug I had ever gotten, and then begin ushered inside like some guest of honor, responding to quick fire question from the enthused Doctor.

It was all wonderful; every single second.

I could only smile wider as I imagined what Fang must've been thinking watching this spectacle from some concealed spot out in the bushes somewhere.

Anyway, the next few minutes consisted of answering questions, luring Fang from his hiding spot (he's now my brother, by the way) and being shown inside the wonderful home of Dr. Martinez, etcetera, etcetera.

And yes, it was all amazing.

And no, I'm not even overreacting to this; it's all simply amazing.

And no, that wasn't even the best.

She had cookies ready for eating!

And then we ate them!

So, while eating cookies, and explaining to Dr. Martinez that my 'brother' Fang was indeed just like me, she asked what our 'plan' was.

Yeah...

Plan...

I decided the best answer was to pretend I had and answer, and not tell her. And she seemed to buy that.

"Kay, forget I asked," she said.

"No, it's alright. We're just… not used to telling others what we're gonna do, is all… Don't be offended, or anything," I begged her.

She smiled, "That's alright, Max," she said glancing at Fang, who was memorizing every detail of the house, before looking back at me and smiling even wider.

That certainly made me feel good.

And what Dr. Martinez brought up next made me feel even better. Not in the 'I feel like smiling' way; more of the 'relief' way.

She told me that she had studied that X-ray she had taken of my arm, and said that there was a slight, minuscule, off hand chance that she could take that sucker out without permanently damaging my hand.

And, after a brief argument with her to do it, and a slightly longer argument with that Voice inside my head to shut up and leave me alone, she finally agreed to do it.

Yay! I was going to soon be rid of this accursed chip thingy, and possibly the Voice along with it!

A twofer!

I mean. the Voice was adamant about me keeping the stupid thing lodged in my arm, saying it might 'cost me the use of my hand' but to be quite honest with you, I would gladly sacrifice a hand to be rid of that accursed thing.

Well, maybe not gladly...

Actually, let's just not think about it at all...

I like, actually love, the use of my hands (both of them!) but that chip and the Voice…

God! How irritating!

Does every choice have a consequence? Isn't there any time where I can just get completely lucky and not have some sort of downside come into play for every single decision I make?

Ah, probably not...

So, let's just do this already and be done with it!

Needless to say, it took immense effort to control myself as I pretty much herded Fang and Dr. Martinez to her car to take me to get the chip removed.

I had to work to keep myself from bouncing around in excitement, and actually a bit of fear.

It was nice to be in control of something.

I could choose to have this chip removed, or to keep it there. It was my choice; mine. I could do as I wished.

It felt wonderful to not have things already lined up for me, like they were back at the School.

And it was that thought alone that was a main driving force in my decisions.

Those wonderful people at the School would more than likely not like me removing a chip they had put in me.

So, by removing it, I spited them.

It was a small victory, but I wanted one so badly right now, it was almost worth the price of one hand.

Almost...

Stupid potential consequences...

Author's Note:

I have a question...

What year do the Maximum Ride books take place? It's 2005, right...?

I need to know for certain date later in the story; any help would be great!

Thanks!