The Only One

By Addien Of Camelot (aka: Addiena)

Fang: yo. Fang here. In the E.R. With Addiena and Fred the Random Vampire.

Addiena: **laughs evilly**

Fred: **Thick British Accent** we're here because Addiena decided to torment poor Fang.

Fang: she tied a boulder to my ankles when I was about to jump off the roof for a fly.

Fred: Now both of Fang's legs are broken…

Fang: And Addiena is too busy laughing at my pain to post.

Fred: so we're doing it for her.

Fang: Despite the fact that I'm getting both my legs set into casts and have a neck brace on.

Addiena: **momentarily stops laughing** You forgot that I don't Own Max Ride, or The only one by Evanescence…**Returns to her Psychotic Laughter**

You know you're not the only one

Fang flew through the sky; he knew he still had his purpose. Max was okay with him gone, maybe not emotionally, but physically she was out of harm's way. So why did he feel like he'd made the biggest mistake of his life?

He had the starts of a new flock, sure, but without Max his life seemed empty…He noticed Alita's silver wing come into view and then fall back. He somehow, having her around just made him feel so much more alone. Seeing Max again would be the only cure for his heart ache, but at the same time, he knew that waiting 20 years would be the death of him.

When they all come crashing down, mid-flight
you know you're not the only one

Somehow Max would get through it, she could handle herself for the next 20 years…Then again Max wasn't called the queen of lies for nothing. She missed Fang; to her it felt like she was trying to fly with only one of her wings.

Because that's what she was, she was flying through life without her best friend, her soul mate; her right wing had been lopped off. She knew she wasn't alone though, the whole Flock was flying with one of their wings hacked off, and it was all Fang's fault.

When they're so alone they find a back door out of life
you know you're not the only one

Alita watched Fang's wings snap shut… Fang. She dropped from the sky as well, her large silver wings tucked under as she blacked out.

Alita. Fang grabbed her hand and flew upward with her. They did this every time, but it doesn't matter, he'll try again, and she'll save him, because she's too stubborn to admit she needs him, and he's too depressed to notice it himself.

Someday, Fang wouldn't be able to pull out of his free fall in time to catch her, and when that day came, Alita knew she wouldn't waste the time to save herself…when that day came Fang would realize how much he'd needed her after all.

We're all grieving
Lost and bleeding

Dylan was waisting his time, he just wanted to succeed, being the same as someone else made it so that you would desperately desire to be better. Only Dylan was a failure. Max was saving the world and he was babysitting a blind guy and a bunch of younger kids. A bunch of depressed younger kids who kept crying over a guy who'd abandoned them. Dylan was fairly sure by that point that he would never understand these inferior experiments.

But deep down he did understand, and he felt it in his chest, and his heart. Why? Why did he feel like these poor kids' pain was his fault…oh yeah, the guy had left because he'd shown up.

All our lives, we've been waiting
for someone to call our leader

Hawk and Papillion had been on their own for so long they had jumped at the chance to join Fang's Flock. The pair watched the interaction of Fang and Alita; it wasn't hard to miss the relationship. He would start to fall; she would fall too, saving him by having him save her.

The twins weren't sure if it was Sheer genius or lack of sanity on Alita's part. Maybe it was both. Papillion glanced at her brother as the two went back to their unspoken agreement of I save you, you save me.

All your lies, I'm not believing
Heaven shine a light down on me

Max didn't want to believe it when Angel said Fang had died. Fang's death wasn't supposed to happen. Maybe that was because Angel had read it in Jeb the Lying Jerk's mind. They were still meeting in 20…no, 18 years. He couldn't be dead. Not when she needed him alive so badly.

She needed to know the answers, but she wasn't even sure of the questions anymore. She wasn't even sure if there ever had been any. It had all been laid out for her. Save the world. Fall for Dylan. Max was sick of her life being predestined. No, Max Ride was going to save the world, but she swore, then and there, she would never love Dylan. No matter how Perfect for her he really was.

So afraid to open your eyes, hypnotized
you know you're not the only one

For the first time in the 3 years since he'd left Max, Fang just wanted to understand. He wanted to know why falling to his death made him feel so alive. He didn't think about the fact that he could hear Max scream abuse at him every time, he didn't think about the way he had such an effect on Alita that she would hurtle herself after him. No, those things went unnoticed with him. He just felt…right.

It was sick. He wanted to change it. Only this time, as Alita went hurtling passed he didn't pull out intime to save her. She was falling so fast that he could never catch up. Alita. Her wings snapped out suddenly. "You didn't catch me in time." Her voice sounded hurt. And he knew, that this was one of those times that "I'm sorry" wouldn't be able to fix.

He looked at Papillion and Hawk for answers and in response Papillion spoke her first words of English... and those four words echoed in his mind as he flew through the night in an awkward silence with his Flock…

"You broke the rules."

Never understood this life and you're right, I don't deserve
But you know I'm not the only one

Dylan felt completely at a loss, he wanted to understand Max, and why she wouldn't move on already. She wasn't seriously waiting 17 more years to see if she still loved that jerk Fang, was she?

It helped him of course, when he heard Iggy sit down next to him and say something that didn't have to do with missing Fang. For the first time, someone else was complaining about Max's insane obsession with someone who obviously hadn't cared. "I get it, you think Max is going to get hurt by him again… don't you? It's okay if you do…I feel the same way".

We're all grieving
Lost and bleeding

Alita just wanted Fang to catch her. That's all. She didn't want to take the place of Maximum Ride. She didn't want him to fall in love with her. She just wanted to know that Fang, the first person…the only person…who had ever even pretended like he cared, to have her back. She had fallen for him every time he started to fall…and normally he'd catch her. But not tonight. Fang had almost ended it. No, not his life…well, maybe, but that wasn't what she had been thinking of. He'd almost ended their game, their unspoken agreement. Because she'd almost hit the ground.

No, Alita Black had never wanted Fang to fall for her…she just wanted to know her only real friend had her back.

All our lives, we've been waiting
For someone to call our leader

Iggy wasn't the only one who agreed with Dylan. Everyone else felt it was time for Max to move on. The only problem was in convincing Max. She was set on winning Fang back, waiting the remaining 16 years and hope he showed when and where he'd said he would.

Deep down they all secretly hoped he would show. They just hoped that Max wouldn't take the risk of him not making it and getting hurt even worse.

All your lies, I'm not believing
Heaven shine a light down on me

Papillion wasn't one to speak…she had only spoken once in English, and even in French, she only spoke through her and her brother's twin telepathy. So her outburst 5 years before was a momentous thing indeed. Fang still had no clue what rules he'd broken. But he knew it had to do with when he didn't catch Alita, and that scared him even more than Itex's new Destroyers.

Catch Alita. He told himself that every day…Far too late to change the fact that Alita was gone. Not dead gone, but she might as well have been. She was just a hollow shell of blond and silver. "Alita." He said. Alita's response was both unexpected and regretted. Not to mention it confused him as much if not more than Papillion and her broken rules the year before.

She didn't even take the time to look at him when she said, "I hate you, Fang. You made me break my promise." The unspoken "you made me save myself" didn't go unnoticed this time.

Don't look down; don't look into the eyes
of the world beneath you

Max flew for the first time since the Flock said she should move on. Since they'd said she needed to clear her head. It's not so much that she didn't understand their concern. She just didn't care. She didn't look down, but if she had she would have seen her attackers coming, if she had, she would have seen the downfall of the Great Maximum Ride.

Don't look down, you'll fall down
you'll become their sacrifice

Fang. Alita was still in shock that he had changed so much in the 5 years after her "I hate you". Her shock wasn't why the Erasers got her however. It was Fang. He tried to protect them. Alita had just given up…not because the thought of being hostage thrilled her, but because she needed to do it, for Fang. She needed to make sure that Fang was on that cliff in 6 years. She wasn't important, Fang could go just as easily without her. But he had to be there, because he needed to catch the girl waiting for him if she fell.

Right or wrong, can't hold on
to the fear that I'm lost without you

Max knew that she had to escape. Fang was waiting for her on the cliff. She had to get out of this cell, she had to be there. She had to show up. Iggy was in the Itex branch suddenly with the Flock.

"I thought you guys were mad at me." she stated.

"Shows how much you know." It was Dylan, Iggy adding to the end, "We just don't want to see you hurt."

If I can't feel, I'm not mine
I'm not real

Fang and his Flock soared to the Hawk's Cliff. She hadn't shown. He knew that he shouldn't have expected her to show up. He'd just hoped that she would after Alita's sacrifice. Then he would know that Alita hadn't given herself up for nothing.

Suddenly, Max and her flock could be seen flying from the other direction.

All our lives, we've been waiting
for someone to call our leader

Fang had shown, both of the Flocks breathed a sigh of relief as Max and Fang embraced mid-air. At last, their leaders were whole again.

All your lies, I'm not believing
Heaven shine a light down on me

Fang said how happy he was to see Max, and how much he missed her. But in his rush of excitement from seeing his old Flock, he'd let his guard down, and Angel could see everything. Of course, Angel knew that Fang was aware of her mind probing.

"Angel, get out of my head." He said over Max's shoulder.

"That Alita, she gave herself to the White Coats so the rest of you could escape and meet us here…We should go find her and rescue her…" Angel replied.

"Yeah, that way we could thank her for helping reunite us." Said Max.

Addiena: I forgot how good that was…

Fang: I didn't, if I'm stuck posting something for you while in physical, mental, and emotional pain, it's going to be some of your better stuff.

Fred: can we wrap this up…I'd like the sun to be down while we finish this…

Fang: Right…Read and Review?

Addiena: so I don't have to cause him more physical pain…

Fred: and so they get me home before Sunrise…

Fang: Yeah, if you don't want Addiena to kill me and the Random Vamp here, Please Review!