Max and Fang blurby one-shot thingiemabobbers

Part Une

So, I've been pretty obsessed with the Maximum Ride series lately, and I'm completely in love with Max and Fang's romance, so I thought I'd write a little 3-part...blurb, I guess. I dunno if it would be classified as a one-shot exactly.

If you haven't read the series, this probably won't make a whole lot of sense. Just FYI.

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Disclaimer: Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy/Gasman, Angel, the whitecoats, the School, and the idea of Maximum Ride all belong to James Patterson.

So without further ado, I give you Part Une of my blurb.

~*~

"This sucks crap," I said for the fifty seventh time.

"You've said that fifty seven times," Fang told me. I couldn't help but smile a little bit, despite the fact that the two of us were in a dark room, stuck in dog cages, in the School of all places.

At least Fang was here.

The second that thought crossed my mind, my cheeks heated. Did I seriously just think that?

"I hope the others are okay," I said for the thirty ninth time.

"You've said that almost forty times."

"Thirty nine."

"Close enough."

We lapsed into silence. I turned my head, and I could see him perfectly. His dark profile was hunched in the too-small cage, and his face was paler than usual. I felt a pang of sympathy toward him. One of the only things he was scared of (that I knew of - knowing him, he could be scared of marshmallows and leprechauns) was being in a cage. And after spending the first ten years of his life in one, it was pretty reasonable.

With a quiet sigh, I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them. Memories of my early years kept flooding my mind, accompanied by a strong fury toward the fricken whitecoats for doing this to us. My only solace was that Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, and Angel were safe.

"Max?" Fang's voice floated through the darkness. I looked over at him. His gaze, dark and intense, was trained on me.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad I'm not alone." Translation: I'm glad you're here.

I was stunned into silence. Here was Fang, whom I had never known to show weakness or vulnerability, ever, telling me that he needed me. He really was freaking out.

I really, really wanted to hug him.

But alas, that wasn't possible (cue glare at dog crates) so I just said, "Yeah. Me too." Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce my incredible way with words!

Right then, the door of the room burst open, bright light flooding in. Two whitecoats entered, turning on the light in the room, filling it with even more painfully bright light. I kept my eyes open, not letting them have the small satisfaction over seeing me squint.

Then I noticed what one of them was carrying: a hypodermic syringe. And he was coming toward me. My heart beat increased as I subconsciously pressed my back against the side of the crate opposite the door, images of what they were about to do to me flashing through my head.

"Don't you dare come near me with that thing," I said, glaring. I hoped my voice didn't shake.

"Max, you just need to cooperate. This won't hurt at all." He crouched down in front of the cage.

Cooperate? Me? Do grown-ups never learn? I am the epitome of uncooperative.

"Sorry. No can do. In case you haven't learned by now, I don't tend to do what other people tell me to. In fact, I tend to do the exact opposite..."

The whitecoat unlatched my cage door, the needle outstretched. I pressed back against the thin metal bars, praying to God that I didn't look as terrified as I felt.

"Max, behind you!" Fang shouted suddenly, looking outside the back of the cage. I went to spin around, but it was too late. A hand gripped my hair, and I felt the pinch of a syringe entering my neck, and the dull pain of being injected with an unwelcome fluid. Almost immediately, a sharp pain erupted in my chest, making me cry out in surprise and clutch my chest.

"Max?" Fang's voice was laced with alarm as he pressed up against the side of his cage closest to me.

I went to suck in a breath of air as the pain came again, but my lungs constricted. I couldn't breathe.

"Dammit!" I muttered. They said this wouldn't hurt! The lying scumbags! The-- Okay, fine. I'll stop there, before I get into the more unprintable words. But they were there, in my mind.

"Max? What's happening?"

I looked up at Fang, whose eyes were alight with concern. At a time when I was actually able to talk, I would have teased him relentlessly about it.

"Can't...frickin...breathe! Those...toerags!" The words came out choked as I struggled for air. My chest felt like it was being put through a meat processor, and my lungs felt like they were being slowly roasted, rotisserie style.

Fang's breath hitched audibly, and black spots started dancing in front of my eyes. I was going to lose consciousness soon. I was going to die soon, if this didn't stop.

It kinda all came crashing down on me in that second. I was about to die. I'd never get to see my flock again, never get to hold them all close and tell them how much I loved each and every one of them, and how proud of them I was. Heck, I would even miss Total, as infuriating as he was.

And Fang. Watching on, helpless, three feet away from me. I couldn't tell him how much he meant to me, that I lived for those rare, room-lighting smiles of his. I couldn't tell him that he had always been my best friend, my most trusted confidant, and also my favorite person to get mad at. The worst, though, was that I couldn't tell him that I loved him more than I ever thought possible, that I didn't care where we were, as long as we were together. I looked at him, mortified to feel tears running down my cheeks. I was crying. Like a freaking baby.

"Fang," I whispered, slipping into unconsciousness.

Dying really brings out my dramatic side, huh?

~*~

Thoughts? Itching for more? I'll post parts two and three later.