Title: Epithet

Fandom: Maximum Ride

Prompt Words: Name, Birthright, Destiny

Characters: Angel

Word Count: 1,171

Summary: Sometimes, a name can be a lot to live up to.

Notes: My first drabble fic and my first one written for Maximum Ride. Let me know if you want me to write more. Warning, it's a drabble, so it's winding and highly unedited.

Epithet [Ep-uh-thet]

A word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality

Sometimes, the girl thinks, it would be easier if she had been a different name. It isn't the religious connotations that turn her away from it, but simply the definition. When she is introduced, she is automatically characterized as sweet, darling, even holy. This was how Max always treated her, she remembers as she thinks back on her life.

She was never sure what her name truly was, if she had even been given one besides her experimental number. For all her life, she had used Max's nickname and it had always been enough. In her heart, she didn't blame Max for christening her with such expectations, but it was easier to be mad at the older girl than herself for not living up to the characteristics the title represents.

With her blond curls and bright blue eyes, the toddler looks every bit the part of her namesake. Even in a cage, she seems to sparkle unlike all of her flock. She giggles as her brother emits a sound that no human digestive system should be able to create, while the older kids scold him. But they don't really mind, because anything tha makes their little treasure laugh in such a gloomy environment is okay in Max's mind.

The child has learned that the older girl only seems to smile when she does, and so she is always smiling.

The girl is three when she figures out she can hear the thoughts of others.

At first, she doesn't understand that no one else can hear what she does, and why they look so confused when she comments on things that they didn't voice out loud. It leads to a few awkward situations with the boys, who are becoming more and more annoying as they grow older. Fang is especially touchy when her power was brought to light and for weeks he had trouble meeting her eyes. She knows why, because she doesn't know how to turn her power off.

She doesn't tell on him, but she does get a happy feeling whenever Fang looks at Max. The young girl has trouble knowing if it's her or his emotions that she's recognizing.

The School is cold and unwelcoming, but she is a sunbeam. Everywhere she goes, she warms the environment. Even the whitecoats aren't as mean to her as they are to the rest of the flock, because she's so sweet that no one can possibly be upset with her.

The whitecoats think she's special. They tell her this when they run experiments on her.

She is special.

Jeb thinks she's special, too, but not as special as Max is.

But she could be. The young girl knows she could be.

Jeb steals them away and brings them to their new home one night, and the child feels safety for the first time in her short life. It feels nice to be in a soft bed, but she can't help but notice how their new guardian keeps pulling Max away and whispering things to her that the rest of them are not allowed to know.

But she knows because she can read minds. She knows because she's special.

She loves Max, though, so she pretends that she doesn't understand even when she does.

Angel's only five, but she understands things that no child should ever know.

She's six when she's taken back to the school. Kidnapped, because she's little and frail and the weakest member. That's what they think. That the flock won't come because she's not worth it. She can feel the confidence radiating off of the whitecoats as they experiment on her. But Angel also sees how it changes as they discover how special she really is.

She impresses them.

More than Max, she is sure. But the child won't tell Max that.

Her new bear is soft and warm and the girl loves it. As she walks, she cradles Celeste in her arms and thinks about how much she loves her precious bear. She's so content with her prize that she's able to ignore Max's stewing thoughts as she walks next to her down another unfamiliar street.

She doesn't understand why Max is so mad at her. All she did was ask the lady nicely to get her the bear. Why should it matter if she asked her with her mind or not?

Max is just jealous, she tries to reassure herself. Jealous because she isn't as special.

And she hugs her bear and stokes its beautiful, white wings that remind her so much of herself. The bear is dressed as her own namesake, and Celeste is just as beautiful as she is.

Her birthday passes and she's seven now. No one notices because she doesn't tell them, but she herself feels older. Now that she's older, she realizes that the team is all wrong. Well, not the team itself. But the leadership.

She still loves Max, but the child herself is far more suited for the leader position.

Why doesn't Max understand? It's so obvious to her.

She asks several times, and all she gets is a laugh from the rest of the flock. They're going to be sorry, once they know what she knows.

Reading minds is hard, but seeing the future is so much worse. She's never been so afraid, but she can't tell them.

Maybe if they put her in charge, she could change their fate.

Her name is too hard to live up too, and sometimes she stops trying.

She is seven now, and she isn't Max's little girl anymore. Maybe she never was, when it boils down to it. The child is so much more than blonde curls and white wings and innocent smiles. She knows so much and yet so few listen.

Max doesn't understand. She never would. She's too busy kissing Fang, and then Dylan, and then Fang again to make time for what Angel has to say.

It's no use being special when no one understands her. She's so much more than a cute child.

The world dies, but she doesn't.

They should have listened.

The final battle comes, and finally their eyes open to the truth. She extends her white wings, soaring gracefully into the sky. The child, who is now so much more than just a child, flutters just above the heads of the crowd as she gives her speech. Perhaps the last speech the world will ever hear.

With her advanced vision, she can make out Max's astonished face as she watches her baby prepare the troops for battle.

She works to keep the tears out of her own mind as the wind whips through her blond locks. One by one, the people fall to their knees, bowing before their leader.

And as the sun reflects her glorious wings, Angel claims her title for the first time.