Valedictorian- A Maximum Ride Fanfiction

14th Period

THE FIRST TWO cargo heists went successfully, the kids going out in blocks with either Fang or Max while Sebastian kept herself busy talking bomb-speak with Iggy and Ren did.. something. That looked a lot like moping, but eh, with him, who really knew? Max was feeling it, riding the updrafts in the wind while her arms burned from the weight of the three sacks of fruit. This was the third trip- the first one had been food, the second one clothes for the increasingly chilly weather- and Sebastian should be just about healed up in a couple more days. 

Gazzy whooped from behind her, carrying a small sack of meat, and Angel fluttered behind him with her own little bag of sweets. 

Living like this isn't so bad, she thought. It was almost like those blissful years with Jeb, only this time they weren't crashing with a 'too good to be true (and wasn't)' ex-whitecoat and they were also sort of the ones taking care of the other two. But you know, who cares? Ren always gave everyone wing massages whenever they came back, and those things could make you forget your own name. Her own wings shivered at the memory, tawny feathers emitting a slight whistle as they slicked through the wind. Max tilted her gold head back to shout something over at Gaz, but as she did a glint off in the distance of the Seattle port caught her eye. Eyes automatically focusing in, she gulped.

Ari.

Ari was.. another thing that had been happening frequently since that event Max only called 'the emo marathon'. Since that first meeting where he'd warned her of 'something' and switched their cargo, he'd found several opportunities to snatch her away from the others and talk to her in secret about his findings. He was.. giddy about it, like a kid telling a secret with a sense of pride at his sleuthing; but at the same time there was that flicker of loneliness in his eyes whenever Max would have to walk away. He didn't have much time left, she reminded herself- and he was just a kid. But it didn't change the fact that the info that he found was disturbing.

Itex wasn't the only Itex. And they were all getting together to plan something- something big, but something secret. Something that would mean the death of a bunch of mutants. 

Gazzy dived down in front of her when they reached the cave, yelling Ren's name so loud it bounced off the cave walls as he sped through the damp darkness. Sebastian strided forward proudly and ruffled his hair while Ren limped along (still a bit injured, though healing faster than normal humans), Iggy following closely behind them with his fingers hooked over Ren's belt loop. Those two had really taken to each other- Max dully noted- Ren was nice to everyone; but since the beginning he'd set Iggy apart and Iggy had seemed to notice that. 

Hell, Max didn't even like  Ari but her heart had leapt when he'd told her he was 'putting her first'.... okay, no, not going to go there. The fact that he was beginning to look less and less wolfy as he stopped transforming daily and went around as a human was another irrelevant detail. And the fact that he was finally starting to look a bit like a teenager. Nope, nuh-uh. Stop right there, brain. 

Back on topic, now the only time that Iggy left Ren's side was to talk to Sebastian or Gazzy.. and even then Ren was never too far away. Max wasn't sure if it'd started from the bomb at the port or from the moment they met (Ren had started clicking just to annoy him- of that Max was sure of), but those two were practically attached at the hip and Max scoffed, setting down the sack wound from her hip. 

Sebastian immediately bent down and began picking through it, and Max nodded her head at the way she distributed the food. Not bad at all.