Five Pairings by Maiyri-Omega

Five pairings (in the Maximum Ride fandom)…that never happened before (the time of writing as far as the author knows)

Five…pairings (in the Maximum Ride fandom)…that never happened before (the time of writing as far as the author knows).

Maiyri

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Um, shortfic on LSD. Poking Fax shippers in my roundabout way.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except rights as first writer to write some of these pairings. Someone's probably done one or two before, but if they have I haven't read it. Maybe we need one archive, instead of MRF and FFN.

Author's notes: Refer to above 'Fic on LSD'. Don't take this seriously. 200 words for each. Don't try writing a double drabble in all dialogue. It sucks.

REPOST NOTE: this was written a while ago, and is being reposted. At the time none of these pairings had been written, though some have been between then and now.

--

He wasn't….(and he had to grit his teeth to even think it)…in love with her. A man like him didn't fall in love with anyone, no thanks. He was not the kind of man who did 'love', with the small talk and the compliments and the fancy chocolates, red roses, nice dinners. He was a scientific man and he knew that attachment was a chemical reaction in the brain – the one that made him speechless when he saw the girl with the blonde hair and blue eyes, the one that made him marvel at her perfection, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

He'd watch her, review all the tapes on file when he couldn't see her in person, and he wouldn't admit that the only reason why he'd given himself telepathy, turned himself into an experiment, was to keep her out of his head, keep her from reading it from his mind. She truly was an Angel, deserving of her name, from the blonde ringlets to the blinding smile to the snowy wings – she was perfection, the thing he had been striving for since before he could remember. She was the future, but he wasn't in love with her.

Jeb/Angel

--

When the hell had girls stopped being icky, with cooties and other gross germs that he could only have nightmares of. When did he start to 'grow up', as Iggy had put it delicately. Get feelings, those feelings, for girls.

Well, most girls were still icky and shallow and boring, and he was certain it would stay that way. It might have been a bit mean to think of them like that, he couldn't help it. Compared to him they did have horribly boring lives, getting up, going to School, doing homework, and going to bed. Sometimes he wished he had a bit of boring too.

Those girls weren't like him, they wouldn't understand him, they didn't know any better – but why did he have to feel like he was doing the most amazingly sick dive bomb all the time when he was near her?

Why did he shiver and blush and stutter when she spoke to him, said his name, ruffled his blonde hair? He was thirteen for crying out loud. She was six whole years older, and a gorgeous nineteen year old with long legs and… what the hell was he thinking, this was Max, his big sister.

Gazzy/Max

--

"I think Chari suspects us, suspects that something's going on, double-ess."

"What do you mean, you think Chari suspects that something's going on."

"Well, I think she might have seen something, seen us. Because we're going on."

"How the hell did brickhead figure it out! Well, what're we going to do now? If we don't, we'll be exposed and no-one's going to speak to us ever again."

"Not that I'd mind that…"

"One word. Parents."

"Shit."

"Yeah. We need to get boyfriends. Real fast, like, as in yesterday fast."

"Aw, come on, double-ess. Boys!"

"Stop calling me double-ess, you're a double-ess too. And what about those new boys? They don't look that bad. Definitely good enough for our purposes. They're supposed to be some Missionary's kids."

"New boys?"

"Yeah, didn't you see them? There's the tall dark cute, cute, cute one and the taller, equally cute, blondie blind one."

"Yeah, I saw them. They're in my class."

"Bags the dark one." "Bags the blonde one."

"Hey!" "Hey!"

"I suppose I'll have to forgive you, double-ess, for coming up with such a good plan."

"How far does that forgiveness go?"

"Not that far!"

"Admit it, Tess, I, Lissa, am a genius!"

Lissa/Tess

--

Her captor pulled off the blindfold, but she still couldn't see anything in the darkness of the room. She could clearly hear only one other person, the one who was standing about a metre in front of her.

"You are very beautiful, Maximum Ride." He said, "Nearly perfect, even. Angelic, I suppose. Not as perfect as me, but close to it. Closer than any human girl could ever get."

Max tugged at the cuffs that locked her wrists together behind her back, and the ones that held her ankles together. Nothing, no movement at all. She was trapped. By a madman.

"You're strong, smart, funny, determined. You're loyal and brave. Almost as good as me. Almost. I've captured you, after all." And the man laughed. "You're mine. And here you're going to stay…"

Max bit her lip to keep from crying out as her thumb dislocated as she tried to yank her hand out of the metal band encircling her wrist.

"…with me. After all, every king needs his queen…" He said, flicking on the lights. Max blinked at the brightness which stabbed into her eyes. Who was it…she knew that voice.

"And you'll do quite nicely."

"Omega!" Max whispered.

Omega/Max

--

She sat in the attic, crying quietly. She kept telling herself that it was all the dust up here that was doing it, that she wasn't crying over…

"Guys suck," came a soft voice from the attic stairs. She hadn't expected to be found up here, it was a pretty good hiding place. She didn't have to look up to guess who it was either – Max wouldn't be here and Nudge would've said a lot more than two words.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"Do you want me to make him think he's a kitten?" Angel asked mischievously. "I can do that, you know."

That did it – they both burst out laughing. "Could you imagine what that'd be like!"

"Yeah, he'd start purring in the middle of class!"

"Thanks Ange, but I think I'm going to have to pass on that. You and I both would get in so much trouble. And then I'm going to have to explain to Max why I went out with a boy without telling her."

"Guys suck."

"Yeah, I should go off and join some gay colony. Girls are much better."

"Definitely," said Angel, who leaned over and kissed Ella gently on the cheek.

Ella/Angel

Another five…pairings (in the Maximum Ride fandom)…that never happened before (the time of writing as far as the author knows).

Maiyri

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Um, shortfic on LSD. Poking Fax shippers in my roundabout way.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except rights as first writer to write some of these pairings. Someone's probably done one or two before, but if they have I haven't read it. Maybe we need one archive, instead of MRF and FFN. Some of these might have been mentioned, I don't know.

Author's notes: Refer to above 'Fic on LSD'. Don't take this seriously. I'm at Uni, just starting right now, so I needed something fun to write that wouldn't break my brain. If anyone wants me to write 200 words of pairingly goodness, I will. Just ask!

REPOST NOTE: this was written a while ago, and is being reposted. At the time none of these pairings had been written, though some have been between then and now.

Thanks very much to Carino, Hippegal, and chocolate is gawd for the reviews! You guys are awesome! Enjoy the next chapter.

--

It seemed kinda inevitable at the time – three guys, and three girls. Which made three sets of mates… so ending up with her wasn't really attraction and but it was love, respect, and fuck, he was a guy.

It didn't quite work out that easily, but it didn't quite not. Which really meant that it took a while for Max to get over it, and get used to what things were now. It took Iggy a while to get over it too. And get very, very drunk. But that was another story, and all her doing, despite what Max had screamed on finding them naked that first time.

But now, he supposed, they all fit. They all fit together in sets of two, even if it meant double beds and getting woken up at least five nights a week by the very…vocal Angel or Nudge. Not that Max was quiet or anything – she and Fang just tended to find odd places, out of hearing range.

Thank God.

When Nudge and Gazzy had started 'dating', he'd been happy for them, but sad for himself because he'd thought he'd lost the best opportunity he'd had. Three years later he'd been proved wrong.

Iggy/Angel

--

She thinks that she shouldn't be doing this, but that's nothing new. She's thought it before, most mornings after, but she's never done anything about it, so she doesn't think that next time she'll say no. Like she should.

Fang is an interesting person, and that was what made him so attractive at first. What could make a fifteen-year-old boy so unemotional? It both made her curious and aroused her mothering instinct. A year after she met him, he was arousing a lot more. A whole lot more, and she couldn't say no.

She should have. This boy was Max's, she saw how they looked at each other, but she saw how they backed away from touch. She wondered why, but Max wouldn't say, so one night, she went out to the porch, sat down, and asked Fang.

She started something that night, and she didn't know what.

She's doing something wrong, but she can't stop. Her daughter is older than he is, he's a minor. He doesn't exist, but that never made anything right. But when she's in bed with her daughter's...when she's in bed with Fang, she doesn't think about that. She just strokes his wings, and sighs.

Valencia Martinez/Fang

--

It's years later, thirty-odd years after he first met her, and now he's here, seeing her again. She's in her sixties now, and he's a dignified thirty eight. He looks good, and that's the point. Nobody has called him Gazzy for years, he's Gary to his Flock, and Gabriel to his clients.

He was fifteen when the revolution happened, when Max, Iggy and Nudge died and when the world was saved. People with animal traits were common, the latest rage is tails, only five thousand dollars at your nearest plastic surgeon. Wings were still rare, with their million dollar price tag – and they hadn't quite worked out the kinks.

Which made his services very exclusive.

Gabriel Ride, yours for one night only, fifteen thousand dollars.

She'd called a week ago, wanting his services, and he was intrigued. Why him, and not Fang, or Lucifer as he went by. He'd never been as important as the others, no power except mimicry, and the second youngest. So he shuffled his schedule, and now he was knocking at her door.

She opened it promptly, and was surprised to see him. "Gazzy?" She questioned.

"I prefer Gabriel," he smiled charmingly. "How are you, Anne?"

Anne/Gazzy

--

She's nothing near his perfection, and he doesn't care. He's not perfect, he reasons, and she's not weak. She's the best of her kind to ever be created, and they all have a purpose. He tries not to think about his eyes, and how, if he's not careful, she'll swipe a paw across his face.

The Director has told him he's not to associate with her. 'After all,' she'd said with her flawed logic, 'you're perfect and you deserve nothing less than the best'. Then he'd be dragged down to the lab, that lab, to see how the latest batch was.

He wasn't perfect, because he wasn't re-creatable. They'd tried, oh, they'd tried, for nearly ten years. Each girl, each of his potential mates, each mother of a new race, dead. Did that make him a widower?

He'd met her three years ago, when he'd first been moved to this God-forsaken castle. She'd looked at him, sneered, swiped him across the face, and then she'd jumped to the ceiling and stuck like she belonged there.

He'd touched the blood on his face, and smiled. He'd loved her ever since, and no flawed, failing Director was taking that away from him.

Omega/Mara

--

She knew herself best, as the old saying went. It wasn't true, but it was. The person who knew her best was 'herself', even if who 'herself' was wasn't her, and then that amazing kiss made her mind go fuzzy and she didn't care anyway.

Meeting again had been hard – they hadn't really paid attention to each other last time. Both were jealous and angry and neither knew quite why. The fact is, they were once the same person, when they were first born there was nothing different about them. But they'd grown up different and so they weren't anymore.

Nudge had always felt that something was missing, another person, maybe a family, someone to listen to everything she thought and said. NudgeII, Monique, had always wanted to be what she wasn't, the first, the real, the original. Nudge had thought once that Monique wanted to steal her place, Monique had thought Nudge hated her for being her-not-her.

But they'd found each other. And that was all the family both needed.

Nudge/NudgeII (Monique)

Five…pairings (in the Maximum Ride fandom)…that never happened before (the time of writing as far as the author knows).

Maiyri

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Um, shortfic on LSD.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except rights as first writer to write some of these pairings. Someone's probably done one or two before, but if they have I haven't read it. Maybe we need one archive, instead of MRF and FFN.

Author's notes: Refer to above 'Fic on LSD'. Don't take this seriously.

--

It wasn't until after all of it was said and done that they'd met. The Lerner school was pretty much hated by all of the former...inmates of Itex's labs, but with everyone now knowing (because of Max, she'd ruined it all, but nobody said it) about them and what they were it was, for the first time in their lives, a place to be 'safe'.

There was the expected tension between the escapees and those who'd worked for Itex, whether brainwashed or not. Iggy thought the whole thing was dumb. There were enough people hating them without them hating each other.

And it was his business who he was seeing. It was not the business of the gossip mill. And it wasn't a secret. Just, nobody knew.

"Hey," he said softly, slipping into the room.

"Hello."

Iggy settled on the bed, reaching out to take the other's hand. "I'm sorry about earlier." He winced as he heard the sigh.

"We can't keep fighting each other, Iggy. It's just not logical. Our greatest odds of survival are in cooperation."

"I know," Iggy said, snuggling into the other boy's embrace. He reached up and stroked Omega's hair. "We'll beat the odds. Promise."

Iggy/Omega

--

"I hate them, I hate it all, and I hate you!" Max shrieked, storming through the door, throwing her book across the room. It hit the wall with a thump, and then landed on the bed of her roommate, who simply moved gracefully away from the heavy text as it fell.

"Calm down," the girl said, putting her own book down disapprovingly. "It is not as if the book ever did anything to you."

"The book was written by a sexist male pig who thought that just because I'm a girl I can't do anything!" Max cried, upset and angry about the hurtful things that Fang had been saying recently. She was no less capable than she was three years ago.

"I take it that we are no longer speaking of the book?" the other girl asked mildly. She quietly paced over to Max, and pulled her into a hug. Max resisted at first, but quieted as Mara stroked her hair. "You have me, Maximum, and I love you," she said softly. "We shall not speak of men and their views or the latest thing that annoys you."

Max sighed into Mara's shoulder. "Thank you for putting up with me."

Max/Mara

--

Jeb had only been back at the school for two weeks. The general consensus was that he was either a traitor, really stupid or both. He was an outcast among his colleagues, and the Erasers who hadn't minded his company before had shunned him.

He was late for a meeting, but he didn't care. He'd make an entrance, and them someone would acknowledge that he existed. He pushed past an Eraser, and went to turn the corner.

"You!?" The Eraser hissed in surprise. Jeb was equally surprised, someone was talking to him.

He spun on his heel. "What!" he snapped at the Eraser.

"You... You never loved me!" the Eraser howled, grabbing him and slamming him against the wall. "You just left me!"

"I was never any good at loving anyone!" Jeb murmured, surprised. "That's why they all leave me, in time."

"Why?" the Eraser's voice was heartbroken. "Wasn't I good enough?"

Jeb leaned forward and kissed his son's forehead. "I never knew how to love you like I was supposed to." He said quietly. "God, even now, you look so much like your mother," he whispered, tracing Ari's face lightly with one finger, overcome with memories. "Come with me?"

Jeb/Ari

--

Monique had grown into her looks well. Everyone said that she was beautiful, and the stares as she passed people proved it.

She needed a job. So it seemed that getting pictures into a couple magazines might be a good idea. Just until she had money for college, because that was what she wanted to do. Be a vet, with Doc Martinez.

But first she needed an agent. Nobody wanted to talk to a seventeen year old. And she wanted to be taken on for her, not for her wings. That was what she promised Max.

But it always came back to her past.

Another meeting. "Nudge?" said a curious voice. "Is that you?"

She turned to see a striking woman looking at her, interested, and in more ways than one. She was attractive, but Monique ignored that. Most women got jealous of her, couldn't stand her for long enough... "Excuse me?"

"You're Nudge, right? Max's sister."

"I don't know what you're..."

The other woman laughed, tossing her red hair over one shoulder. "Here for the job?" she asked flirtatiously. Nudge couldn't help but smile back. "I think we might be able to fit you in. How about lunch, first?"

Nudge/Lissa

--

I love the way she brushes my hair, and holds me close at night. I love the way she strokes my wings. I know she'll never really leave me behind, and I know that she knows I'm hers.

I wish that I could be more for her, be a true part of her life. I know that one day, as she grows up, as she gets more and more beautiful with every passing day, she might forget me. But I'll never forget her, I'll always be hers, my dark eyes will always seek her out when she's in the room. She is mine, my heart, and forever.

She is my rescuer.

That is not what made me love her. No, what made me love her was her trust in me. Her late night confessions, the ones that told me all her hopes and fears. I became more than just a refugee of fate, I became a confidant, someone for her to cry to, safe in the knowledge of being loved.

I know her so intimately, and so she knows me. She is my rescuing Angel, as I am her Celeste. There is no love like a teddybear for her mistress.

Angel/Celeste

We're calling it Angeleste.

--

Five…pairings (in the Maximum Ride fandom)…that never happened before (the time of writing as far as the author knows).

Maiyri

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Um, shortfic on LSD.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except rights as first writer to write some of these pairings. Someone's probably done one or two before, but if they have I haven't read it.

Author's notes: Refer to above 'Fic on LSD'. Don't take this seriously. 200 words for each. I've even created smush names for them, because I think smush names are totally stupid sometimes.

Yes, Iggy's in the Library. You can blame my friend for that. It was her idea.

This is a big step for me, because in this fic I finally admit that MR4 existed. I'm ashamed…

--

One day you'll love me, he'd said. One day far, far away, she'd spat back. It was her wedding. She'd read the vows that he'd written for her to say. She'd said I do even though she didn't. She'd been a dutiful wife for two weeks, in shock.

The resistance, her flock?

Dead.

Then her own resistance had begun. She could not leave her husband. Not under Marian Janssen's Government. Not when her husband was their 'beloved' President's right hand - Omega.

You're the only one good enough for him, said the Lady President herself. We lost so many to the uprising, and you're the only one left. You'll be his until the day you die.

She'd been so angry that she'd thought only of herself. It took a parade for her to see the suffering of the people. Her life would be the cause of freedom, even as her body became Omega's. He thought that far, far away day had come. He thought wrong.

As she bore one child, a second, a third, she gathered knowledge. The Rebellion began again. The look of surprise on her husband's face as she killed him, the whispered, betrayed, "Angel?" was her peace.

Omega/Angel Omegel

--

He kind of recognised the guy. Everyone watched the new kids. Sam watched as the new kid collided with the bookshelf, and then kicked it with frustration. He figured that the homework could wait - the kid could use a hand. Or a pair of eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked as he walked over. The new kid focused on a spot above his left shoulder, he really was blind. Cute too. Except Sam wasn't supposed to be thinking that.

But it was the whole reason why he was here. And he knew it.

An hour later, they still sat in the library, talking. Lunch could wait, Jeff was more interesting. And a little bit shy, too.

"Can I..." Jeff started, then paused. "This is going to sound weird, but do you mind if I see what you look like?" he held up his hands. Sam swallowed, but voiced his agreement.

Jeff's fingers tickled Sam's skin, and he felt butterflies spontaneously erupt into his stomach. "I.." he whispered, shocked. Jeff was right there. Sam gave a tiny moan before he realised that he'd leaned forwards and was kissing the new kid. And that the new kid was kissing him back.

Iggy/Sam Saggy

­­--

"Nuuuuuuuuudge!" Total whined, for what seemed to be the millionth time that hour. And Max... don't think about that... always said she was the one that talked too much. Not that she talked much, not since...don't think about that... but he could talk the ears off a giant rabbit.

"What!" she snapped, angrily. She hated his annoying voice, too.

"I was thinking..." He said sheepishly. Oh really? Nudge thought, sarcastically. That's a new thing, then.

"You know how we're the only ones leeeeft..." he whined. Nudge didn't bother replying, she just glared at nothing in particular... don't talk about that... "Maybe we should, you know, get together..."

She didn't even think, she just reacted, opening her arms, and all but throwing that evil, perverted dog away. "But we're meant to beeeeeeeee!!" he howled as he fell. Nudge screamed in denial...

And shot upright, blankets falling around her. "Noooooo!!" she screamed. She drew in a heaving breath, looking around for anything, anyone... don't think about that... and then her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Nudge?" Total stood in front of her, eyes fixed intently on her face. "I was thinking..."

He didn't understand why Nudge shot into the air, screaming incoherently.

Nudge/Total Nutal

--

The two of them lazed in the sun, basking in its warmth. They had no need for being anything else right then, the others were near, there was food, and everything they needed. They just basked, and occasionally brushed away flies.

I don't like the yapping one, the larger one said. He is yappy.

I don't like the yapping one either, said the smaller, for he thinks that he is better than us, simply because we do not see things as he does.

The larger one made a sound like a sigh, and rolled over on the grass. The yapping one always watches me.

I hadn't noticed, the other replied, although she had, for she watched the larger one and anyone around the larger one often. She admired the larger one for her strength and for her grace. And she had been so many places.

You lie, the larger one said, for you watch me also. Magnolia was ashamed at this. She did not wish it to be thought that she had ideas above herself. But I do not mind you watching me, said Akila knowingly, for you are the right sort of One, and we would be good together.

Magnolia/Akila Akilagnolia

--

They were always the odd pair. Dark and light; silence and exuberance. And six years apart, nobody forgot that. Always reminding, always judging.

Gazzy was in high school still. He was treated fairly badly. Nobody knew about the wings, of course, because he and the others had tried to keep out of Max's spotlight-bringing actions. Even as they'd all been in her shadow.

Everyone knew that Zef had that dark haired guy pick him up in the beat-up old truck every afternoon. Nobody believed that Fang was his brother. Always, there were comments, rumors. Especially when Fang got out to hug him hello. Which he didn't do often; Gazzy always hated the hurtful words.

Fang understood.

Fang just patched up his knuckles when he put his fists through the wall. Then he'd kiss them better, and they'd curl up on the couch with the laptop and follow Max, Iggy and Angel's latest exploits through the gossip blogs and Brigid Dwyer's website.

Then both would go silent with the weight of secrecy and betrayal and memories. Some wounds you couldn't kiss better no matter how long you tried.

That didn't mean they stopped trying to find the cure in each other.

Fang/Gazzy Gazang

Five…pairings (in the Maximum Ride fandom)…that never happened before (the time of writing as far as the author knows).

AKA Five and Final

Maiyri
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Um, shortfic on LSD.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything except rights as first writer to write some of these pairings. Someone's probably done one or two before, but if they have I haven't read it. Maybe we need one archive, instead of MRF and FFN.
Author's notes: Refer to above 'Fic on LSD'. Don't take this seriously. 200 words for each.

I'd like to mention jocelyn for being psychic and reading from my dark and dirty mind the first of these pairings. I'd picked them all when I picked the pairings for 3 and 4, so I'd already got these down, when lo and behold, her review. So thanks!

Yes, folks, this is the last of these. There aren't any more pairings I'd like to write from among the characters. 25 off-the-wall pairings is enough, don't you think?

--

Angel skipped down the hallway. The whole place was so fancy. She liked it. When she grew up, she wanted to live in a place like this. In fact, all she had to do was suggest to someone, and she'd be able to live here now.

That was when the men found her. There were five of them, three in dark suits, two in blue. One seemed familiar. The Black-suited men were like Erasers. They weren't though. She'd checked.

"Well, there, little lady, are you lost?" it was the familiar one, who she recognised as the President.

Angel smiled. "Yes, sir," she said in her sweet-voice, pressing a little on his mind. "I looked up and everyone was gone. I tried to find them, but I got lost."

The president smiled back, waved off the others and held out his hand. "We'll just have to find them."

Angel took his hand. "This place is so pretty. I want to live here!" She said, with more pressure. The man nodded, dazed. "I'd be very useful," she said. "I've got lots of ideas. I'll tell you about them."

Once out of sight, she pushed him against the wall. "Now, about those ideas."

Angel/The US President.

--

The director's angry rant sessions, which were officially termed the progress meetings, of course, were really boring. It usually involved her standing up on the podium at the front of the rant hall and, well, ranting. It was impressive, really. One time she'd had all of her department heads and most of the second-in-charges in here, listening to her bitch about their progress. Or lack of. They were called progress meetings for a reason.

Ari hated the meetings, of course. They were boring, and kind of frustrating. He didn't understand a lot of what was being said. So he, and others, usually Ecstacy, who represented her sisters and Maze, his second, tended to hide out in that alcove at the back ...entertaining themselves.

It was alright until the dares started. In all fairness, he started them, challenging Ecstacy to find that cross-eyed guy who drooled over her and... distract him. She'd retorted with daring him to kiss, well, his current mark, who was behind the curtains, waiting on his Director to finish. Ari knew, because he was only a few metres behind, watching.

He didn't know how he was going to get the gray-eyed, blond haired boy to kiss him.

Ari/Omega.

--

"You wished to see me, Director?" Mara murmured respectfully. One, especially those like her, had to be respectful and obedient to the Director. That was the rules.

"Come here," said the Director, beckoning. "Sit down, so I can look at you." She gestured to the floor in front of the chair in which she reclined. Mara gracefully sank down before the woman who owned her, head bowed. She did not know what to expect, nobody had ever wanted to simply look at her before.

"Why, my dear, are you ashamed of yourself? You are one of the greatest successes ever. Be proud, daughter, and look at me." The Director's fingers slid under her chin and raised her head. Mara looked into the Director's eyes, warm with the praise. She thought she was here to die.

"Yes, Director." She said, letting that gratefulness and warmth seep into her voice. She hoped that the Director wouldn't mind. "Thank you, Director."

The Director's hand stayed beneath her chin, while the other hand stroked her hair. "A true success." The woman smiled, predatory. "Let's see what you're made of, Mara. I've always been a ...cat person."

Mara's eyes widened - total obedience. "Yes Director."

Mara/Director

--

They'd struck without warning, taking her in the middle of the night. She didn't know where her mother was, and that terrified Ella more than anything. She was all alone in this, no Max, no Mom, no Flock. She doubted that anyone knew where she was. Nobody was coming for her.

She woke up to an empty room. At least, she thought it was empty. She was chained to the wall. A clanking noise, and she looked around as much as she was able to. There was her sister, chained up. "Max, Max! Wake up!"

"Iumhuh-nuh-muh," she muttered, looking up. "I'm not Max," She said more clearly, speaking around her bloody lip, "Who the hell are you?"

"Ella. My name is Ella."

Not-Max grunted. "You're the sister." She said. "I'm the clone. Welcome to the family."

Ella sniffed, and moved closer to not-Max, reaching out she could just touch the other's leg. "You got a name?" she asked.

Not-Max looked at her, surprised. Then a genuine smile lit up her scarred face, making her look more beautiful than she was. "I'm sometimes called Jem."

Ella smiled back. She could make a friend out of anyone. "Nice to meet you, then."

Ella/MaxII

--

Love at first sight would have been a creepy way of describing how they began. After the first, brief meeting, the attraction was undeniable – and unthinkable. Not Fang's clone. Not going to happen. Not someone who wore the same face, aside from the scars, but who was so different underneath.

It didn't matter that Fang was happy with Max. There was no way that he'd be able to explain what he felt. He ignored the disappointed look in Fang Two's, no, Finn's eyes. This could not happen. No matter how much he wanted it to. They'd never understand why. Never.

--

It had happened anyway. Finn had followed him everywhere, eyes pleading. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He gave in. And now the time had come to tell Fang that his best friend and his clone were in love and planning on announcing it to the whole world.

They sat on the couch, holding hands. Max had gone to fetch Fang, and he didn't doubt that she knew. Or suspected. Max always knew things. They returned, and Iggy saw Fang's eyes fix on their hands. His face was masked, like usual.

"Fang, we need to talk." Finn began hesitantly.

--

Iggy/FangII