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Disclaimer- I don't own MR, JP does.. I do own THIS version of the beach scene, though.

I jerked my head, getting my too-long shaggy hair out of my eyes. We were flying to some beach, and just because Max was mad at her Voice.

Max.

I studied her carefully, like I had been doing every five minutes for the last while. I could tell that she was upset this time. She gritted her teeth and dropped her chin to her chest so that her hair swung around to cover her face like a curtain.

"Yo." I said calmly, hoping to not attract any unwanted attention from the rest of the flock.

"You ok? Is this a headache?" I took a haphazard guess. Max glanced up at me, and she had an awful expression on her face.

She swiped a hand quickly across her eyes. "Yeah," she exploded. "A huge, freaking, unbearable headache!" Her voice rose steadily as she continued, until she was almost yelling.

I tried to stem the concern welling up inside my chest. Max glanced around quickly at the rest of the flock who were looking at us, alerted by her shouting. She made a quick decision and pulled her shoulders forward in a protective gesture. "See you at the beach," she muttered to me.

Then she was gone.

I swore to myself under my breath. I shrugged off my hoodie quickly and shoved it into Iggy's chest. "Here. Come to the beach with the kids, I'm going for Max."

I streaked off after Max, barely seeing Iggy's shocked expression. My wings were pumping harder than I'd ever made them before.

I knew that Max had used her superspeed, so she was miles ahead of me by now. I swore again and pushed myself faster. By now I was like a bullet through the skies, racing through the harsh wind.

With a slight sense of relief I spied the beach growing larger ahead of me. I scanned it quickly, spotted Max, and angled my wings down.

Any sense of relief I might have felt was burned away in a swift hammer of panic.

Max was kneeling in the sand, bent over her ripped and bloody forearm.

"No, no, no, no, no." I could feel the blood draining from my face.

I rocketed into the sand, landing on my feet and tearing down the beach toward Max. I skidded to a stop over her, my breath making my chest heave.

"What the heck are you doing?" I yelled. I snatched her good wrist, where she was clutching a broken piece of a shell that she must have used to saw at her arm. I smacked her hand to make her drop her makeshift weapon.

"Are you crazy?"

I knew that I must be scaring her, but I was beyond mad. This episode could have killed Max. MY Max.

Still could, I thought grimly. The thought of that was enough to make me murderously furious.

Max looked up at me, that terrible, angry expression still on her face. I could hear the rest of the flock hurrying up behind us, but I didn't even care.

"Want the chip out," I heard Max murmur in a detached voice. She looked back down at the ground, unable to hold my black gaze. I wasn't finished yet.

"Look where you're cutting!" I snapped at her. "You're going to bleed to death, you idiot!" The words were spilling out of my mouth; I couldn't have stopped them if I had wanted to.

I practically threw her hand back at her, and grabbed my backpack from Iggy. Seething, I grabbed the antiseptic and slathered it generously onto her arm. I saw her wince at the sting. Good, I thought grimly, maybe that'll teach her some sense.

I could see Nudge kneeling beside Max, carefully avoiding the crimson-stained sands. She whispered something, but I could barely hear it through the roaring in my ears.

"I wanted to get the chip out," I heard Max whisper, her voice shaky.

"Well, forget it!" I yelled, my eyes snapping at her with renewed anger. I pulled out a bandage and began wrapping it around her gash roughly. "The chip stays in. You don't get off that easy! You die when we die."

Max looked at me again, studying my face. I clenched my jaw down hard and concentrated on her arm. I knew I must look terrifying, but I didn't even care anymore.

Max's voice sounded tiny in the sudden silence. "I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly, and burst into tears.

I sat back in shock, my fury evaporating at this blatant show of helplessness from Max. She knelt there, her hands over her face, shoulders shaking, tears streaking from her big brown eyes. With her wings hanging limp behind her, she looked like an abandoned angel, I thought in wonder.

I could feel all of the emotions catching up with me, and I felt a surge of exhaustion along with an inexplicable urge to comfort Max.

So, I did the only thing left, and wrapped my arms around her form gently. With my hand (still stained from her blood) I carefully pressed Max's head into my black-T-shirt-covered shoulder. Max half-kneeled-half-lay between my knees with her face buried into me, and cried.

The rest of the flock began recovering from their shock enough to gather around us and try to assist my efforts to calm her down. Iggy whispered something that I didn't hear, and Max nodded brokenly into my shoulder.

After a little while, Max's sobs began slowing and she sagged into my chest.

She took a deep breath and sat back. I released her reluctantly, unwilling to let her go that quickly.

Slowly, she turned away from me to face the rest of the flock. Embarrassment was practically radiating off of her.

"Sorry, guys," she whispered. I felt my eyes close of their own will, and I let a intense feeling of relief consume me. Max would be ok.

I sat back and let their stilted conversation wash over me, not bothering to join in.

My eyes snapped open, however, when Angel said something completely innocently.

"-We'll be stronger, and able to fly, so we can leave the blown-up parts and find some nice land that isn't blown up or contan- contama-"

"Contaminated?" Iggy supplied incredulously. Angel nodded cheerily. "Yeah, that. Then we can keep on living, even if there are hardly any people left."

Looking around at all the stunned, shocked, and horrified faces, I realized that I should be too. Somehow, I couldn't find it in me to be worried about anything like that at the moment. I sat and watched Max as she tried to soothe over the conversation.

They talked for a while, discussing this new topic eagerly. I didn't have the heart to jump in, and watched as Angel idly made a sandcastle.

"Can I go swim?" she asked suddenly.

"Uh, sure." Max said absently, her mind focused on the new problem. Angel and the other kids cleared off after a minute or two, and Max turned to me for the first time since the incident.

"So,huh?"

I shook my head and started cleaning up the bandages that I had left laying on the dirty sand. With my back to Max, she couldn't see me hesitate before I grabbed one that was soaked by blood and stuffed it in my backpack quickly.

"Yeah. Surprise."

"How long has she been sitting on this? Why hasn't it come up before?" Max speculated, coming to sit by me. She toyed with the bandage on her arm absently.

"Because she's six and more concerned with her stuffed bear and her dog? I don't know. Plus, we don't even know if she understood what she heard. There's a chance she got it wrong," I said as I settled down beside her. It was good to just sit and talk to her, like we used to. I blocked out thoughts of what would have happened if I hadn't gotten here fast enough.

As Max replied, I couldn't help but just savor the fact that she was still here, beside me, and I wasn't by myself.

I sighed heavily, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand. "So what now?"

"I don't know. I need to think."

I was quiet for a while, but after a little time had passed I couldn't hold back any longer.

"So what was that about?" I asked softly, knowing that she knew what I was talking about.

"I'm just – really tired. The Voice was ragging on me about my destiny and how I have to get on the stick about saving the world. It just feels like too much sometimes." She admitted, hesitating before she continued. I could tell that these admissions were costing her.

"I've been running on adrenaline, without a master plan. Every day it's just, keep the flock safe, keep us together. But now everything else has been dumped on me, all these bits and pieces that aren't adding up to a whole picture, and it's too much."

"Pieces like Ari and Jeb and Anne and the Voice?" I prompted quietly, my eyes searching her face.

"Yeah. Everything. Everything that's happened to us since we left home. I don't know what to do, and it's so freaking hard even pretending that I do."

"Walk away from it," I suggested persuasively. "Let's find an island. Drop off the screen." I really hoped she would say yes, but at the same time I knew she wouldn't. Max wouldn't ever give up while there was someone that she could help; that's just the way she was. And I accepted it.

"That sounds really good," she said slowly. "But we'd have to get the others on board. I'm pretty sure the younger kids still really want to find their parents. And now I want to find out what this company is that Angel heard about. What if – you do research on an island possibility and I'll focus on this other stuff?"

Max looked almost shyly at me as she said this, as if she was afraid that I'd be angry with her. Well, I did flip out on her just a little bit ago, I thought, abashed.

"Yeah, cool." I reassured her. She relaxed visibly, happy with her decision. I grinned to myself, and turned back to watch the kids playing on the sand.

I could hear Max wrestling with a decision, then she blurted out, "Sorry. About before."
Slightly surprised, I shot a sideways look at her. I locked my jaw at the images that sprang to mind and looked back out at the water. I worked my jaw for a second before I replied. "You almost gave me a heart attack," I said quietly. I let the agony that I had felt earlier saturate my voice. "When I saw you, and all that blood…" I trailed off. My searching fingers picked up a small stone, and I whipped it as far down the beach as I could.

"I'm sorry," Max said again in a small voice.

"Don't do it again." I said firmly, locking her gaze with mine. Don't scare me like that again, I added in my mind.

Max swallowed hard, then looked at me with a promise in her eyes.

"I won't."

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