AN: Yes, I'm back. I realize that it's been nearly a year since I've touched this fic, but this is a little something special that I cooked up as an extra for the sequel. I decided (at last) to post it here. It's nothing new, really. Just a look at something from a different perspective. Ever since I first posted Chapter Twelve, I'd wondered what happened that night in Fang's eyes. And this is it. Enjoy.(:

Maximum Ride: The After Years.

Summary: The world was saved and the flock parted ways. Ten years later, where is everyone? What will happen when the flock reunites? Old flames will be rekindled, old memories revisited, and old passions relit. Gotta be FAX!

Chapter Twelve: The Recipe for FAX, Fang's Edition

Fang's Hotel Room

Fang

I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned in the hotel bed, my head aching. She was back in my life, and now she refused to exit my thoughts. I would see her hair blowing in the wind, hear her laughter in the air. I saw her flying, though the last time I had flown with her had been ten years ago.

I was in love. I had been for a long time, but now that she was back by my side, it was as if my love for her had been revived. It was no longer something lurking in the corners of my heart; it was a living, breathing thing, and it was consuming me.

I had to tell her. Maybe, just maybe, this time she would accept it.

She's not yours to take, a dark voice whispered in the back of my mind. It was right. She was engaged. She had fallen in love with another man and she was going to marry him. Even if she was ready to let me love her, she couldn't allow it. She belonged to another and their love was marked with a ring. She could never be mine now.

Still...what harm could it be to tell her? Not bothering to put a shirt on, I rose from my bed, grabbed her cardkey from my nightstand, and left my room. I went down the hall until I found her room and I put the key in the slot, letting myself in.

She was asleep, her hair spread out around her head like a fan, resting on the white pillow and sheets, almost like a halo. She looked beautiful in sleep, but there was a frown on her face. She tossed and turned, muttering in her sleep. No, she gasped. What did she mean? No, what?

I shook my head. Now I was just being stalkerish, hanging out and watching the woman I loved sleep. I reached over and began to shake her shoulder.

"Yo, Max," I whispered. "Let's take a little spin."

Max's eyes fluttered open, but she didn't look at me. "Didn't you say that exact same thing ten years ago?" she said cautiously.

Mentally, I cringed. Yes, I had said that, and Max had broken my heart (again) shortly after that. But I swallowed my emotions and replied, "But that's not what you said."

I watched her lips curve into a smile as she closed her eyes again. Then she sat up and looked straight at me. She seemed to drink me in for a moment, and then she stretched out her hand to me, her fingers brushing the scar given to me by her half-brother. Without moving, I followed her fingers with my eyes as they explored.

"Oh my. It's still there," she said, surprised.

After a moment or two, I whispered back, "Yeah. It makes it kinda hard to forget Ari."

She grinned a bit, her eyes a thousand miles away. I couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about.

Finally, I said, "Well what are you waiting for? Let's bounce."

She seemed to remember my presence as I spoke and she got up out of the bed. As she walked over to the door that led out to her balcony, I noticed that she wasn't really wearing much. A pair of shorts were on her legs, but they were obviously made for pajamas, not public appearances. She also wore a low-backed spaghetti-strap shirt that allowed for her wings to easily be freed. She looked amazing in the moonlight, her skin smooth and flawless, her hair shimmering.

It was then that I noticed that she was prepared to take off while I still lingered in her room.

"Coming?" she asked, looking at me pointedly, as if she was trying to decipher my thoughts.

"Of course." I walked out to join her. "I just got distracted for a moment," I told her, and then I plunged into the darkness of the everlasting night.

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I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her. I had to tell her, I had to tell her, I HAD TO TELL HER.

My mind was like a broken tape recorder, reciting this over and over. I had to tell her, I had to tell Max how I felt. I had to tell her that I loved her.

For an hour, I tried to get the right words out. For an hour, I failed.

And then, as we came back toward the hotel, I thought I had a way to tell her. We stopped at the balcony outside Max's room and perched on the ledge. Well, she did; I stood, leaning against the ledge right beside her. She looked up at the stars and I looked at her, absorbing her beauty, and the courage I knew I would need in order to tell her the truth. She looked at me just as I began to speak.

"Max, do you know what my biggest fear was in the past ten years?"

She searched my eyes, confused by my question. Then she shrugged. "Erasers?"

"No." I almost slapped myself. Maybe I'd worded things wrong.

"Flyboys?" she guessed again.

I shook my head in reply.

She thought for a moment. "Itex kidnapping you in the middle of the night?"

My lips twitched. "Surprisingly, no."

"Well then what?"

I sighed, looking away from her searching gaze. This was it, the life-changing moment, and whether the change was for better or for worse was all up to her.

"My greatest fear was...that I would never see you again." I glanced at her briefly to gauge her reaction. She surrendered nothing, and I continued and the words were suddenly flooding out of my mouth. "That I would never be able to tell you what a great leader you were, never let you know how much I looked up to you, never say that I thought you were the most beautiful girl to grace the planet, never tell you that you were such a great friend, never..." I stopped, resting my face in the palms of my hands. I didn't dare look at her, for fear of what I might see. This would be the hardest part. "...never be able to tell you how much I loved you." Finally, I looked into her eyes, opening myself to her.

She looked horrified. For the longest time, too long, she just sat there, staring into my eyes and saying nothing, her mouth a flytrap. She looked away then, leaving me hanging, wondering what would happen next.

After a few minutes—or an eternity?—she caught my gaze and took a deep breath, as if she were about to dive underwater.

"Fang," she whispered before going silent again. Then her mood seemed to change, her tone becoming light. "Do you know why I never told David about the wings or Maximum Ride?"

"No..." I said plainly, though I was utterly shocked. I had just confessed my love to her and she had changed to subject to the man she was engaged to!

She closed her eyes and breathed again. "I never told him because I knew that if you ever came back into my life, I would immediately choose you over him, that I would follow you, do anything to keep you around. And I knew he would never like that. If he had that kind of information, he would automatically use it to his benefit if he thought it would make us even, make me come back."

She looked at me sadly and I tried to understand the meaning of her words. "So you didn't trust him."

She sighed. "No, more like I didn't trust me." She paused, then her tone became serious. "Fang, if I had to choose between seeing just you and seeing just the rest of the flock, I would choose you without hesitation. If I had to choose between your life and everyone else in the flock, I would choose your life. If I had to die to save you, I would without a second thought."

I cut her off. "That wouldn't really work, because the moment you were gone, I'd find a way to follow."

She shook her head. "Well, the point is that I don't trust myself where you're involved, because the outcome is too predictable.

"And every day in those ten years when we were apart, I thought of you, tried to imagine where you were. Every time I kissed David, I really wished it was you. When I started getting close to him, I couldn't help but think that he was like you. I fell in love with his Fang-like qualities, not him.

"So I guess that that was all just a super long way to tell you that I love you."

I started smiling, and then I just couldn't stop. She loved me. Max loved me. I was the happiest man in the world, all because she loved me.

"So where does this leave us?" I asked.

"I don't know," she responded, looking confused.

I elaborated. "I'm in love with you and you're in love with me, but you've got David waiting for you back in Arizona."

She froze, as if she had forgotten something important. She looked at me sheepishly. "Actually..." She held her hands out for me to see. "Like I said, I knew I would end up choosing you."

For a second, I was puzzled. Then I realized that there was no engagement ring on any of her fingers. I took her hands in mine, stroking them.

"What happened?" I couldn't help but ask.

"He didn't like the idea of me leaving, so I told him that if he wasn't ready to accept that I was a free-spirit, then he wasn't ready to marry me. I kicked him out and he took back the ring."

"Why didn't you say so before?" The fact that she would keep something this important from me was frustrating.

Her cheeks turned a light pink. "I forgot."

She turned around to face me then, looking into my eyes. I was still smiling.

"Well now that you remembered..."

And I pressed my lips to hers, enjoying the feeling of them against mine.

She loved me. Maximum Ride loved me. And I was finally ready to keep the promise that I'd made so many years ago on that little beach...

"Don't ever leave me again."

"I won't. I won't. Not ever."

AN: So I hope you liked that. As I said, nothing new, but I still hope you found it enjoyable. Just so you guys know, the sequel (Maximum Ride: Passing the Torch) is up and has been completed, for your entertainment. If you haven't, you might wanna think about checking it out some time.(:

I'm also finishing up another fic, titled If Only, and I have a couple of MR oneshots posted, too. They're also available for checking out. ;]

Believe it or not, I'm still after REVIEWS. Are you guys still up to feeding them to me? Yes? Then REVIEW!

10/18/10 EDIT: Well, the editing of this story is officially complete. I really hope the renovations have improved it some. I also hope to be able to reach 900 reviews some time…That would be very nice, I think.(: