A/N: Quick explanation: on the Max Ride website, I saw a discussion (started by EOTE!) that brought up a question: since Fang has left the flock, who will his new love interest be? Max II was suggested, and I just had to type this up in, like, fifteen minutes flat. So, enjoy the random drabble! And please leave a review on the way out!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the pairing idea—those rights go to EOTE (EndOfTheEarth).

Fang pulls away, gasping for breath. His lips are bruised, his eyes squeezed shut. He can hear her labored breathing; feel her breath on his cheek. It's wonderful. It's excruciating.

"We…we can't," Fang says, pulling away. The other tightens her grip.

"Why? Why the hell not?" she growls in a voice that is both familiar and new. Fang doesn't know what to make of it.

"Because you're not her! You're not Max."

Fang stares into the cold brown eyes of Max II. Her dirty blond hair is in her face, her lips swollen and bruised from extensive kissing. She is blazing mad…and oh, so beautiful. She looks just like Max when she's like this…fierce and feisty. The girl Fang fell in love with.

But she isn't Max, Fang reminds himself. She's a copy. A clone. A duplicate; nothing more. She will never live up to the original.

"I look like her," Max II whispers. "I talk like her, I walk like her. Hell, Fang, sometimes you even think I am her. So what's the use in fighting? After all—you give me up, and you won't see your precious Maxey for another twenty years."

She leans in close, almost growling. "Twenty years is a very, very long time, Fang."

Fang closes his eyes in defeat. She is right; she always is. Twenty years is such a very long time. Too long. He can never go that long without her…without Max. It would be unbearable. Too painful for words.

To never see her light brown hair, shining in front of him? Never hear her speak or her snarl? Never fly with her…laugh with her…fight with her?

He can't do it. He isn't strong enough.

Max II chuckles, pulling away. "See? You won't send me away. You can't, can you? You need this…illusion of love as much as I do. You need to pretend I'm Max, your precious Maximum, so survive. To keep your sanity." She lies down, her shirt rising up, exposing a bare and finely toned stomach. She grins.

"Now, what do you say? Stop being a spoil-sport and get over here. We've got an early start in the morning, looking for more mutant bird kids, and I've got a feeling you'll need some encouragement before then."

She opens her arms, so inviting and enticing that Fang can't stand it. She's exactly the same. What's the difference? A birthday? Some memories? Nothing Fang can't forget for a few hours…just long enough to hold her. To drink in the dream and press it to his aching heart.

So, just as he always does in the end, Fang crawls over. He bends down, kissing Max II without the slightest regret. He lets his hands wander over her midriff and arms in a way Max, the real Max, would have never let him do. He opens his wings, engulfing the pair in black feathers, something that makes Max II giggle.

Fang pulls back for a moment, staring at his perfect copy. His perfect little replacement Max. She smiles up at him, and the sun shines.

"I love you, Max," he whispers, forgetting. Max II smirks.

"Sure you do."

For a second, Fang is forced to remember.

And then she kisses him again, and he is allowed to forget.

So…was this awful? My first attempt at a Max Ride drabble, though I've done several for Gone. Please comment! I love opinions, and flames are welcome. They will be used to roast my marshmallows…yum…

R&R?