Disclaimer: Not James Patterson; enough said.

AN: This is a one-shot unless I get an overwhelming amount of reviews saying I should continue, but this is the basicly the whole story so a second chapter would be filler. As always, review and let me know what you think :)

(Nine years after MAX. Ages: Angel-16. Gasman-18; Nudge-20 Iggy-22 Fang & Max-23)

Max's POV

I pulled my covers over my head, trying to force myself back to sleep. My clock read 4:06 and I groaned. I didn't think I could handle being awake today, well tomorrow really, when everything went down. I wasn't strong enough.

And that's coming from me; Maximum Ride.

I was the girl who at age sixteen single handedly took down the evil cooperation known as the School that experimented on innocent children like me. The Flock assisted, but it was I who had to actually kill the Director and her minions. I didn't want their blood on my family's consciouses, though I had nightmares for years after that day.

I was the person who raised her Flock members from such a young age that I didn't have time to be a kid myself and the girl who gave her heart to no one because she had a mission to do.

I was the person who's motto was "Pain is just a message" when I was getting the crap beat out of me by huge ugly wolf creatures known as Erasers for most of my life and tortured by sadistic scientists bent on my final distruction.

I was the girl who watched as her biological mother was executed by a sadistic scientist formerly known as her father Jeb four years ago.

I was the girl who refused to shed a tear as I almost bled to death trying to save my half sister Ella from the same man two days later, before the Flock had time to bury my mom or make funeral arrangements. I was only saved at the last moment when Fang and Iggy stormed the building and found me lying in a pool of my own blood. Ella was fine, she was just shaken up and a little scraped up; thank god. Fang was furious that I beat Jeb up and used up the last little bit of my strength after losing so much blood to finally end the man's life that ruined most of mine.

I was the girl that not even a month later was hospitalized and in a coma for three years after I had my memory forcefully erased by one of the psychopath's wanting revenge for their master's death. (And yes, his "master" was Jeb, just to clear up any confusion).

I was "defender of the world", but I knew in my heart and brain and any other vital organ in my body that I wasn't strong enough for today.

I was Maximum freaking Ride, but I couldn't force myself to get out of bed today and I knew it.

"What could possibly be that difficult for someone as brave and strong as you?" You might ask.

It's simple; Fang is getting married today...to someone who isn't me.

I know it seems dumb, but he has been the love of my life for most of my life.

He was the first person I met that was like me, the toddler who shared my cage until we were too big to fit in just one, the best friend that made living at the School seem almost like a happy place, the kid who I named when he bit the scientists repetitively, the person that I demanded go with us when Jeb was narrowing down the choices between Fang and my half brother Ari. I was the reason Ari was so screwed up before he died; because I loved the boy in the cage next to me more than my own little brother.

As we grew, he became my right winged man, the guy who I would want to have my back in a battle, the one I told all my problems to, the boy who offered me my first real kiss, the one who stood up to me when I was in the wrong, the one person that understood that my mission came before any of the Flock members even though I loved them more than my own life.

He was the boy who stole my heart and refused to give it back because he was as stubborn as I was. I really thought that we would be everything to each other when we were old enough, but things changed over the years.

When I got out of my coma a year ago, it was Fang that I remembered; not my baby Angel or my motormouth Nudge or my little trooper Gazzy or my blind pyro Iggy or even my own sister Ella. But he wasn't around; he had already found her and was engaged to be married to her today.

I could accomplish all that I did, I'm just not strong enough to stand there and act excited for him. The rest of the Flock are happy for him though, and I'm glad that they'll be there to help him complete this human experience.

Everything changed while I was in my coma.

Gazzy now goes by Gavin since he outgrew his stench.

Nudge changed her name legally to Tiffany-Krystal since her real name "Monique" reminded her too much of how much her mother didn't want her and "Nudge" reminded her of the screwed up childhood she experienced.

Iggy and Angel kept their names, but even Fang couldn't bare the name that tied him to me and the School. He now goes by Nick, his cover name from when we lived with Anne.

We were freaks, but at least some of us got to pretend to be normal.

Gavin found his soul mate and has been married to her for a year now. Despite only being eighteen, he is the most responsible person I have ever met and he is a wonderful dad to his six month old little girl Stephanie Michelle.

I was furious when I first found out that TK was pregnant, but I could see that the two of them were in love. Gavin and TK really grew up while I was in my coma and found comfort in each other. TK was three months pregnant when I woke up, and though she had a band on her finger, I knew that they had been together long before that, according to Angel.

Iggy found love as well, but I knew it was bound to happen long before I was in my coma. I even gave him my blessing to marry Ella as soon as her kidnapping thing happened. I knew with one look at the two of them that it hurt too much to be away from each other. They were married three years ago

I just wish I had been there to see it myself. Ella shows me the pictures from their wedding every chance she gets, and I appreciate it. The doctors told my Flock that I wasn't going to ever wake up and after a year of watching me breath with the machines, they decided to take the next step and move on with their lives.

That's what Fang did too. He met his fiance, Brittney Picket, waiting for me to wake up. She was the young nurse assigned to my care and some time in between the night I slipped under and the day I woke up, they fell in love.

He tells the story now as he was struggling dealing with my fate and desiding his own and she was a ear to lean on; he never expected to like her, she was just there.

Yeah, because that makes me feel so much better.

I couldn't have found a worse person for Fang though. Brittney's loud, giggly, and extremely talkative. She's from one of the richest families in town and has her Daddy's trust fund backing up the wedding.

Did I mention that she's dumb as rocks too? Well, she is. I heard her ask Iggy the other day if he knew what time it was. Iggy's freaking blind!

The only thing she has on her side is that she's kind of pretty. But even if she wasn't so beautiful, I still wouldn't like her. She stole something that was mine, and right under my nose nonetheless!

What really puts things over the top is the fact that she has flaming red hair and that really makes me hate her even more. But Fang always had a thing for redheads; I was the only one that wasn't that he crushed on.

"Max, you have to get up now." Iggy said, knocking on the door lightly. I glanced at the clock again. 8:42. Had I really fallen asleep or was this all still a big terrible dream?

"I'm not going." I complained into my pillow, for once lucky that I had my own room.

Gavin and TK shared with their daughter Stephy, Iggy and Ella had a whole wing for them and their two year old twins Hannah and Haleigh and their nine month old son David, and of course Fang and Brittney would have their own wing once they were married. Angel was going to share with me, but after hearing my thoughts and putting up with my nightmares for a month, she moved into the spare room across the hall from TK.

"He really wants you there." Iggy said, trying to pull on the one emotion that he knew I wouldn't be able to resist. Despite everything, I still loved Fang. It had taken me forever to realize I loved him and now it was too late.

"No he doesn't." I countered back. Two could play at this game.

"How would you know?" Iggy asked back. "You haven't been out of your room in months. It's almost like you're still in the coma."

"You guys would like that, wouldn't you?" I muttered under my breath, forgetting that Iggy had the best hearing out of all of us.

He unlocked my door with his lock picking kit and came to confront me.

"Don't come in, I'm naked." I lied, hoping he wouldn't call my bluff. I knew he would want to talk and get me to work out my problems with Fang and go to his wedding, but I couldn't handle that.

"It doesn't matter." Iggy scoffed, scratching his morning scruff that he had yet to shave. "I'm blind, remember?" He sat on the edge of my bed, feeling his way with his legs. "But I highly doubt you are undressed."

"You never know." I bluffed.

"What's wrong, Max? And don't give me any of that crap about you being 'okay.'" Iggy said forcefully, like Fang used to whenever I was being stubborn.

"I just...you know that I can't go there today and pretend to be happy for him when it's killing me on the inside." I admitted quietly. Though everyone knew that Fang and I used to be a couple, but not many of them knew that I wasn't over him like he was clearly over me.

"I know it'll be hard," Iggy said, his sightless blue eyes locking on to mine, "but you have to try. The Flock will know something's up if you don't show."

"What Flock?" I asked rehtorically, not meaning to say it aloud.

"What do you mean? We're still the Flock, even though things have changed." Iggy countered.

"That's just it." I said. "Too many things have changed, Igs. We're different people. We're all grown up and you guys have your own lives now." I rolled over in my bed to whisper the last part even though I knew Iggy could hear me. It just felt less embarrassing this way. "No one needs me anymore..."

"What? Max, that's crazy!" Iggy agrued with me. "We all still need you. It tore us apart when you were in a coma and we weren't fully a family again until you were healthy and came back to us last year."

"But you and Ella have kids and Gazzy, I mean Gavin, is a husband and a father as well. We're not little kids anymore, Igs." I said, using them as examples. "No one needs me, not the world, not you guys, and not even my little Angel."

"That's not true. Angel will always need you." Iggy said halfheartedly.

"Angel is eighteen. You know the only reason she sticks around now is because she loves her little niece too much to ever leave Stephy by herself." I said honestly. He and I both knew it from the look he was giving me.

"You still should go to the wedding." Iggy said, scooting himself off of the bed and heading towards the door. "I think that you need to be there." He added quietly.

I stayed in bed until I heard the rest of them leave. I knew that Fang would probably be mad at me for skipping his big day, but in all honesty, if I was supposed to get over him, that was what I had to do. It was seriously too much pain to think about seeing him exchange his vows. When the second car pulled out of the driveway, I knew it was safe to get out of bed.

I tiptoed down to the kitchen even though no one was there. It was a habit after the year out of my coma when I would wake up in the middle of the night and find Fang alone in the kitchen. Sneaking up on people gives me the opportunity to back out and flee back to my room if I chose to; which usually I did.

Especially after the first night back when I stared at Fang for almost two hours. I could have sworn that he saw me, but he didn't look long enough for me to be sure. Since then, I swore not to be around him when it was just the two of us. The look that crossed his face pained me more than it obviously pained him.

Just as I was rummaging through the fridge, I heard a noise behind me. I spun around on my feet, jumping into battle mode even though it had been years since I had participated in any combat. Reflexive, primal, animal instinct.

"I have a gun." I bluffed, hoping to intimidate whoever was here.

"Chill Max, it's just me." A quiet voice answered.

"Angel?" I asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the wedding?"

"I couldn't go." She said, coming into view and taking a seat on one of the island stools behind me.

"Did Iggy keep you here to make me go?" I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

Angel rolled her eyes. "No. The thought crossed his mind though." Not even a hint of a smile on my now adult little sister.

"Then why didn't you go? You know I'll be fine, I'm just moping." I said ashamedly.

"Yeah, me too." Angel said, heaving a sigh dramatically though not intentionally.

This caught my attention. "What's wrong, Ange?" I asked, worried about my baby girl. She was always in such high spirits that it was strange to see her hurting like this.

"High spirits, ha." Angel spat angrily to my thoughts. "It was all an act, don't you see?" Her blue eyes met mine and I could see the secret pain inside them. How long had she been hiding this from me? Did anyone else notice or were they all as dense as I was?

"As if anyone had time to notice." She said angrily, no longer looking at me but at the cabinet behind me. "Everyone has their perfect lives and their perfect new families. I'm just a nobody and I can't see the love of my life getting married today." She said, echoing my words from earlier.

"What?" I asked, truly confused as to where this was going. "You're in love with Fang too?"

Angel laughed once without humor. "No offense, Max, but Nick isn't exactly my type."

"I don't understand...?" I said, hoping she would finish painting the picture.

"It's her." Angel said, still not meeting my eyes. Oh. My little baby was a ...um, she liked girls?

"Yeah, it surprised me too." Angel said in answer to my thoughts. "I first noticed that guys weren't my type when Tommy Jenson kissed me at Junior Prom last year. So I tested it out with a lot of other guys and none of them sparked my interest, but she did the moment I saw her."

Angel wiped away an angry tear. "Visiting you at the hospital was the one way I could get to see her and we soon became friends. We would have been more, since I know that she had a crush on me too, but then Nick started visiting you as well. The pain before had been too much for him, but he finally decided that he had to go and see you."

"She ruined my life the day she met Nick. The bond was too strong for her to resist." She continued, continuing to shock me. "I had to listen to her confused thoughts for a week before she decided that Nick was the better choice. Her parents didn't know she was bi, and to keep her trust fund, she had to keep it that way. I know she would have risked it all for me if she had been given the chance to love me like I loved her."

"Wow" was all I could say, but I knew that Angel understood my thoughts. I loved my baby no matter who she loved; I just wished she could be happy.

"Yeah me too." She said to my thoughts. "At least you have a chance."

"What?" I asked, staring at her in confusion. "What do you mean I have a chance?"

"Nick," Angel said with a scowl. "He still loves you. Never stopped, really. But by time you woke up, he had already proposed and so he was doing the honorable thing and following through on his deal. He thinks you don't care for him anymore, not after he let you get in a coma to begin with."

"He thought it was his fault?" I asked in disbelief. Where was this information when I woke up? Maybe things could have changed.

Angel only nodded, too heartbroken to say anthing else.

"Get your dress on, Ange, we've got a wedding to stop." I said.

"It doesn't matter." She said sulkily.

"You said so yourself, that Brittney liked you back. Maybe she needs this wake up call more than Fang does." I said angrily, trying to get the mindreader to snap out of her depression and take action in her life. "We're not meant to be the damsels, Ange, you know that. So stop your pouting and do something about it. Even if they don't call off the wedding, at least they'll know how we feel, and that is all that really matters."

She didn't look convinced.

"Fine, stay here." I said in a huff as I turned around and started heading up to my room. If I was going to do this, I had to be in something other than my pajamas. "But when years have passed and you look back on this moment, I know that you'll regret that you didn't tell her."

I threw on my jeans, a formfitting black t-shirt that I stole from Fang's room so long ago that I couldn't even remember, and my lime green tennies. It was the best I could do on such short notice, and it wasn't like I owned a dress anyways so this was going to have to do.

When I got done getting dressed, I headed back downstairs to find Angel sitting in the same place she was before. Only now, she was clad in the baby pink knee length dress that all of the other bridesmaids were supposed to wear. It fit her perfectly, but didn't leave very much to the imagination; which I guess is what Brittney wanted when she picked out the dresses months ago. Now I knew why.

"Let's go stop that wedding." Angel said, a determined smile on her lips.

"That's my girl." I said, wrapping my arms around her in a quick hug. I grabbed the keys to my Mercades and the two of us drove to the little white church in almost complete silence.

"So girls, huh?" I asked, turning to look at her while I sped down the street. Being Avian made my senses heightened, so driving required even less thought than flying did.

"Just one." Angel said, a blushing smile on her face.

I stopped in front of the church, not sure how to proceed from there, until Angel grabbed my hand and tugged on it.

"If we're gonna make fools of ourselves, we have to at least do it at the right time." She said lightly. "The vows are about to start, come on."

We snuck in through the back door as to not cause a bigger scene than we were about to anyways. Music was just starting and I tried to glance in the crowd to see who was all there. The bride's side was filled to the top, but on Fang's side, there was only one man; his father.

We, or rather I, had searched for the past couple of years, not including when I was in my coma, for any blood relatives of the Flock.

Angel and Gazzy's mother was dead, suicide after ten years of living with the guilt of giving up both of her children. Their dads were random sperm donors that she picked out so she could get more money from the School to turn her offspring into "mutant creatures".

Nudge's mom was alive and kicking, but she was currently serving nine to life for prostitution and a handful of battery charges. Her dad wasn't in the picture either since he was just some faceless guy with a hundred bucks to spend for a fun night.

Iggy's parents were the Griffens, but he hadn't recontacted them since we lived with Anne all those years ago; they tried to sell him to the zoo so he wasn't really about to forgive them yet. As for me, my parents were both now dead; one by my father, and the other by my own two hands.

Fang was the only one with normal parents. His mother, Anna, had been young, like the records showed, and had died giving birth to him at age seventeen. His dad, Andrew, who now owned a small chain of resturants in Anna's honor, had been just a kid as well. He had no idea that Anna had even gone into labor because he was at football practice and by time he got to the hospital, Fang was already kidnapped by the School.

Music started playing and I was drawn out of my thoughts. I stared at the figures heading down the asle as I hid in the last row of the bride's side. Angel was sitting next to me, but when a guy (Brittney's youngest brother) started walking down the asle, Angel went to join him. They had rehearsed the wedding yesterday so she knew what to do. All the boys were in black tuxes with blue ties, and the girls were in the slutty gowns that Angel wore.

Hannah and Haleigh walked down the asle first, who they had chosen as their flower girls despite only being two. Iggy was excited his daughters got to be in the wedding though and that's why Fang did it. Then came Angel and the guy, followed by Nudge and Gazzy, Iggy and Ella, Brittney's other brother and his wife, and lastly, Fang and Brittney's mom.

I scooted even further down my row as the two of them passed, me being too much of a coward to stop the wedding yet.

Finally, Brittney came out with her father, a tall redheaded man, and the two of them walked down the asle to the beat of the typical wedding hymn. Somehow the song seemed more ominous today though.

When they got to the end of the asle, he lifted her viel, kissed her cheek, and placed her hands in Fang's before taking his seat.

"Dearly beloved," A balding guy with a white collar on his black suit said with a clearing of his throat, "we are gathered here today in the sight of God to join this man, and this woman in holy matrimony. Not to be entered into lightly, holy matrimony should be entered into solemnly and with reverence and honor. Into this holy agreement these two persons come together to be joined."

'Get ready, Max, this is your shot.' Angel sent to me via our thoughts. I nodded, this was it.

The priest continued in a monotone voice. "If any person here can show cause why these two people should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

With shakey hands and butterflies the size of Texas, I stood up noisely. "Don't do this." I said, startled by my own voice.

The entire crowd was staring at me, but I was only looking at Fang. His dark eyes met mine and though they showed shock, they also held relief and love, maybe?

"Sit back down, Miss." Brittney's dad said to me, but I was Maximum freaking Ride and no one told me what to do.

"I'm sorry, sir," I said spitefully though a smile flittered to my face as I continued, "but I'm in love with the groom..." I said, earning gasps and cleared throats from people in the audience.

"You are?" Fang asked, keeping eye contact with me. "Even after everything?"

I nodded, taking a few steps in his direction. "Fang, I have loved you since we were little kids. Don't do this, don't marry some girl you barely know. Run away with me." I whispered as I came face to face with him at the end of the asle.

He pulled me into him, capturing my lips with his in an intense, possessive, needy kiss that seemed like it was never going to end. I could hear the Flock cheering, but I tried to tune them out and focus on the man in front of me who was making my knees weak as I thought this. I kissed him back just as urgantly, gripping his shirt with my fists as he tangled his hands in my hair.

"I'd run away with you even if you didn't ask." Fang said, genuinely smiling at me as he pressed his lips to mine again lightly. "I have been in love with you my whole life, Max. I was just waiting for you to realize it yourself."

Fang turned back to look at Brittney, but instead of the panic and dispair he was expecting instead he saw relief in her own eyes. He wrapped her in a hug and I could barely hear him whisper, 'make her happy' before he turned back to me.

"I forbid you to leave until you marry my daughter." The redheaded Irishman said angrily to Fang.

"Daddy, don't be mad at Nick," Brittney said just as stubbornly. "It's not his fault...I'm in love with someone else too..."

And with that, she pulled Angel into an embrace and French kissed her in front of everyone. To say I was shocked would be a complete understatement. The crowd didn't know what to think of it so they sat in stunned silence.

"My baby..." Brittney's mom cried in disbelief.

"Let's get out of here." I heard Fang whisper to me. "Things are about to get really loud in here..."

"You read my mind." I whispered back, intertwining our fingers and together the two of us ran out of the church.

"I'm glad you came today." Fang said, kissing me once again.

"So was I." I said, relishing in the feeling of his lips against mine. "You know what this means though, right?"

"And what is that?" He asked, his crooked smile sending happy butterflies to my stomach.

"Now there's no way you can get rid of me." I said, and I meant it. I couldn't live without him, that much was clear now.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He said, nippig at my lips again.

I hate to admit it, but Fang and Brittney's almost wedding was the best thing that could have happened to me.