Max's Shadow

Chapter 1

He had a little toy car. It was black and blue. It was also really old, but one of the nicer people that poked and prodded him with instruments and gave him shots had given it to him. He didn't really know what a car was, or how to play with a toy for that matter, but he liked it. A lot. It was his. His car.

"Hey. Psst."

Blinking, the little boy turned his dark eyes to the cage next to his. He had just gotten moved to this cage that morning, having just been transferred from another part of the building. There was a girl sitting in the cage next to him, hardly older than he was but clearly with better verbal skills.

"Can you open stuff?"

He just stared at her.

"Do you talks? Like…words?"

The three year old, bashful as ever, quickly turned his vision back down to the bottom of his cage, back to his little car. It was blue and black. And his. He'd gotten it-

"Great. You don't speak at all?"

Why was she talking to him? The little boy just kept staring down at his car. Was that what she wanted? Swallowing, he turned to face her again, slipping his little hands through the bars of his cage, the car clasped in one.

"What are you doing?" She took it from him, frowning. "Where'd you get this?"

The dark headed boy just sat back down, facing forwards again. Then the tears started.

"Why are you crying?"

He just sat there, bawling. He'd never had nothing all for himself before. And now she'd taken it. No, not taken it. He'd given it to her. But only so she'd leave him alone.

"Do you want your toy back?" The girl next to him sighed before reaching through the bars of her own cage, holding the car out much like he had. "Here."

He took it back from her, sniffling.

"You could at least say thanks." She frowned before getting back to the task at hand. Reaching into her own cage, she moved to pass him some sort of bag now. "That's what they feed us now. 'cept I ain't gots many teeths. I seen you open yours with your teeths 'fore. Open mines."

He just stared at the bag for a second.

"Well, ain't you gonna take it?"

Pulling the small packet of food into his own cage, he thought for a moment about just opening and keeping it. He was still hungry after all. He was always hungry. Still, she had been so nice, giving him his toy car back and everything.

"Could you hurry?"

She was also very bossy apparently. Not wanting to displease or anger his new fuehrer, the raven haired boy quickly used his sharp front teeth to rip open her bag and pass it back.

"Wow. Thems your baby teeth too?" The girl smiled at him, taking the bag and sitting back on her butt. "Thank you. See? That's what you gotta say when someone does somethin' nice for you."

The boy swallowed before whispering something.

"Huh?"

"Hi," he said louder then. That was the only word he knew, really. A nice older woman had taught it to him once. Hi. Hi. She kept repeating it, expecting him to do the same. "Hi."

"Hi," the girl said back easily, smiling at him as she munched away on her food. "I'm Max."

"Hi."

"What's your name?"

"…Hi."

She stared at him for a long moment, studying him. "You don't know hows to talk, do you?"

Timid once more, the boy quickly turned back around, speaking no more for the rest of the day. That was okay though, because the girl next to him didn't either. Max. He didn't know why, but he really wished that she would. She was real good at it, speaking. And she had been so nice! Albeit, bossy, she seemed to mean well. Maybe a little rude. Try a lot rude.

Max. Max. Max. He'd learn how to say that, one day. He knew he would. Max. Max. Max. Hi and Max. Hi, Max. That's what he'd learn how to say. Hi, Max. Max, hi. Yep. He'd speak just as well as her. Max. Hi, Max. Max, hi. He was giddy just from the thought.

"And yous gots wings too?"

There the little boy was, sitting up on a counter in one of the examination rooms, having just gotten a needle full of something when that girl came in. He hadn't seen her in a few days. She'd gotten taken by some of those people that took care of them.

"The two of you know each other?" The man with her frowned as he lifted the girl up onto the counter top next to him.

"Duh, Jeb," she said, making a face. "He's gots lots of teeths."

The little boy just sat there, kicking his feet back and forth, banging them on the drawers under the counter. The scientist he was with, Dr. Rody, quickly reprimanded him for it. That girl next to him, Max, spit at the guy, who looked about ready to bash her skull in. The little boy had never seen someone do that to one of the needle sticking people. Ever. That's how you get punished.

"Now, now, Rody, you do know who this is? Might I remind you this is Maximum Ride. Our saving grace. A little spit never hurt anyone." The man with Max, Jeb, smiled at her as the guy, Rody moved to take Fang off the counter. "Not yet. I'll bring him back to his cage. I haven't had adequate time to become adjusted to the boy anyways."

During the time Jeb was speaking, Max had begun poking Fang's arm. It was covered in bruises and it hurt him to do that. Still, she couldn't help herself.

"How comes you ain't got no shirt?"

He pointed to it laying on the ground. That man had taken it off him so he could examine his wings.

"Jeb, he needs a shirt."

The man ignored her though as Rody walked out of the room, clearly peeved. The raven haired boy looked down at his lap as Max started poking his arm again.

"Hi," he finally told her, hoping that would get her to stop. The, attempting the word he'd been working on the whole time apart, he said, "Mix."

She frowned. Then she full on hit him in his bruised arm.

"Max! My name's Max!"

"Maximum!" Jeb quickly moved to set her on the ground, away from the boy.

He started crying, more upset over the fact the girl had yelled at him more than anything. Pain wasn't much to him anymore. But this girl…this Max…he thought they could be…he didn't know the word for it, but something nice. He'd tried his hardest to say her name right. Really, he had. Why did she have to be so mean?

"Do you know who this child is?"

"…No," Max said, kicking her feet as Jeb got down on her level to speak with her.

"This is going to be one of the members of your team. Someone you're going to lead. He's your first group member. And this is how you treat him? How are you going to lead anyone with an attitude like that?"

"He ain't nothing, buts a crybaby. Look at 'im." Max glared up at the boy on the counter, mad at him now. He was getting her in trouble after all.

"Hi," the boy yelled down at her. "Hi!"

"Stop talking to me," she said, frowning at him.

"Mix! Mix! Mix!"

"Stop it!"

"Hi, Mix!"

"No!"

"M-"

"Knock it off, both of you!" Jeb's eyes grew dark as he glared at the two of them. "I swear, if I knew dealing with children was this hard, I'd have never-"

"How come he ain't gots no shoes?" Max frowned up at the little boy, who was now sniveling. All he wore at the moment was a pair of ripped and torn shorts and some threadbare socks. "I gots shoes."

"I don't know, Max," Jeb sighed, clearly put out by her questions. "Can you just behave for once? No more hitting. Alright?"

The boy really didn't understand and was really curious as to why she had so much control over the people in charge of them. She seemed to be important.

"Guess so," Max said, holding her arms up to be lifted once more. Jeb did so, quickly depositing her back on the counter next to the little boy. He just choked down a sob before glancing at her.

"Hi."

"Jeb, he's talking to me!"

"Max, be nice. He's going to be all you have in this world for awhile."

"I gots you."

"Believe me, Maximum; you'll grow to wish you didn't."

"Mo...ss. Moss. Ma…ss. Ma…ss. Mass. Mass. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max."

The little boy was curled up in his cage, muttering to himself. He was going to impress this girl if it killed him. She was out right now, her cage currently unoccupied. A few days had passed and so far the two of had been pretty alright. Max had asked for him to open her food everyday, then joked about that being his only use. Which was fine. The child was just happy to have her on his side again.

One of the other people in the room, a few cages down, was crying. Sobbing, really. The boy just put it from his mind, laying there in his own gloomy cage, not liking to look out at the shadowy area around him. It all just looked so sinister to a little boy of barely three who had no one in the world rooting for him.

"Max. Max. Max." He paused. That sounded about right. "Hi, Max. Max, hi."

Smiling was rare for him, as he never had much to smile about, but a grin did escape onto his face then, in the menacing setting. He finally had something right. He just knew he did. Max. She would be so pleased with him. She'd be all like, 'Hey, boy, open this.' And he'd be all like, 'Hi, Max.' They were clearly destined for greatness.

He fell asleep then, proud of himself, his little car poking him in the stomach. It was on the floor of his cage right under him, but he didn't feel like moving it or himself. He'd just accomplished so much after all.

"What happened to you?"

When he woke up, Max was back in her cage, staring into his at him. The little boy just laid there, not speaking.

"How comes you gots some many bandie?"

Bandages. She was asking about his bandages. The child was shirtless, his ribs wrapped in gauze or something. They'd cut him open earlier. He didn't care about though. Only impressing her.

"Hi," he whispered, sitting up. Max just rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to speak again, right over him. Had she, she'd have missed his next word. "Max."

They both just stared at each other for a moment. Then she smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Hi," she said, making him giggle.

"Hi, Max," he said back, louder this time. Was it good enough? He sure hoped so. "Hi, Max."

"Hi," she said again, causing him to giggle. "Hi."

"Hi, Max. Max, hi! Hi! Max! Max!"

He was yelling now, it hurting his delicate, rarely used vocal chords. He didn't care though. He was telling Max hi. Just saying hi to Max. 'cause they're on that level and everything. Together. They say hi and such. You know, the usual.

His yelling though, caused a uproar in the room they were in, the other caged experiments letting their displeasure be known. It didn't matter how loud they were though, those other, worthless, test subjects. Nothing in the world short of death could have wiped the grins off those two kids' faces.

I have used the term 'Max's shadow' enough to describe Fang in stories past that I figured it could use some moments throughout their lives in which that was true. It was supposed to be a long one-shot, highlighting those events, but then I figured I could turn it into a short little story. I'm hoping maybe five chapters, ten at the worst. Or best, depending who you are, I guess.