Summary: Frustrated with Max and Fang's resistance to get together, Angel decides to obsess over a new couple: Nudge and Iggy. She comes up with a devious plot, and as usual drags the Gasman along. Will it work? Or will Angel's scheme fail, like her attempts to bring Max and Fang together? Set after Max saves the world.

A/N: I own nothing. This fic is more centered around Angel's devious mind and abuse of her brother than it is around Nudge and Iggy, but it is called Operation: NudgexIggy, so if you're like me and love Niggy then please read. Uh... There's Fax too! Okay, only a little bit. Hardly any actually. There is going to be one more chapter after this if I get at least one person saying they want more. So... here goes:

Operation: NudgexIggy

Chapter One

Iggy and Nudge

In Iggy's opinion, Nudge was the best person to attend a movie with, but only if you were blind. If you needed every detail of the movie repeated for you, animatedly, then Nudge was awesome. Especially when some obnoxious kid stands up and starts yelling for her to pipe down, and she yells back indignantly, "Can't you see he's blind!?" Iggy starts cracking up. True, he misses a few minutes of the flick rolling around in hysteric laughter, but it's worth it.

However, if you've still got your sight, and you're not deaf, and are the least bit annoyed with some chick in the third row chattering away about what just happened on the screen, then Nudge was a nuisance. Even outside the movie theater, when the Flock brings a rented movie home, Nudge usually figures out the culprit, the victim and what love has to do with it within the first twenty minutes. And she tells you. This amused Iggy, but the rest of the Flock found it annoying. That's why Iggy wasn't very surprised when Nudge wanted to go to the movies, and everyone quickly made excuses to be somewhere else.

"Uh... I'm going to get Fang and try to cook dinner, you know, to take a load off your shoulders?" Max explained, causing Iggy to roll his eyes. Fang grunted his agreement, and Nudge said, "Okay," in a disappointed way.

The Gasman didn't try to mask his distaste for seeing a movie with the Nudge Channel. When she asked him if he wanted to go he said, "No. You talk too much. I think I'll just blow something up." Because Nudge was constantly told that she talks too much, she ignored this brush off with a flounce and turned to her final victim.

"Ange? C'mon, I know you want to see this movie. It's the new one with that child actress who's going to play you in the movie of our lives. It's got enough love to keep me interested, and enough things get blown up that Iggy will be amused listening to the cries of pain. It'll be fun!"

"That's okay, Nudge," Angel said with kind of a mysterious tone. "You and Iggy have fun at the movies. Alone. Together." She put emphasis on those last two words, which left Iggy wondering what exactly she was implying... But as Nudge didn't dwell on it, Iggy quickly forgot it too and the pair set off for the movies.

Angel and the Gasman

Angel grabbed the Gasman away from his magnets and his wires. She plopped him down on the couch and threw a manila folder onto his lap. The Gasman was the teeniest bit annoyed that Angel had ripped him from his experiment to... what was this about, exactly?

"That's evidence," his eight year old sister insisted. She was pacing in front of him, quickly, with an evil gleam in her eye. The Gasman groaned. He'd seen that gleam before. It always appeared right before Angel was about to do something devious. Her last escapades were trying to get Max and Fang together by way of fondue. It was not pretty. Sure, the Gasman loved cheese and chocolate. But the glares that he'd received from Max and Fang overthrew the sugar rush he got. It wasn't even fair that he got glares, as it had been his sister's idea. But as always, Angel dragged the Gasman into her twisted plots. He would bet his tool kit that this time would be the same.

"Would you give up?" the Gasman whined, "If Max and Fang do get together, it will be in their own time. Can I please get back to blowing up the--"

"This isn't about that," Angel said hurriedly. Her pace quickened and the devilish smile on her face widened. The Gasman could tell that she was already so into this that he had no chance of getting out of it. He just hoped this scheme didn't involve so much cheese.

"So what is it—"

"Look in the folder." Angel ordered.

Obviously she wasn't going to tell him until he peeked into the folder she'd thrown at him, so the Gasman opened it, hesitantly, unsure of what was inside. But all that was in there were pictures. The Gasman flipped through them, but all he could see were Nudge and Iggy. Could this really not be about Angel's favorite obsession? And then the Gasman got to the charts. There were graphs and tables, and Angel had even run a probability scan. According to this, the probability of Nudge and Iggy getting together was 67 percent. The probability of them naming their daughter after Angel was 89 percent, once they found out that it was she who'd put them together. His jaw dropped as she saw how in depth Angel had gotten. He was only the slightest bit scared of his little sister, but mostly he was impressed.

"So the plan for today is..." the Gasman half-asked, as he pretty much knew the plan already.

"Operation: NudgexIggy."

Iggy and Nudge

This was a very hard decision. One that, Nudge felt, could ruin her entire day. If she did not choose the right kind of snack, the right size of popcorn, the right drink, the entire movie would be ruined not only for her, but for Iggy. Iggy counted on her commentary. If she had to get up in the middle of the movie because she suddenly didn't feel like eating Snow Caps, or because she finished the popcorn too fast, Iggy wouldn't know what happened! His movie experience would be crap, all because Nudge didn't make the right decision. Just thinking about it made Nudge sniff a little, but she had to be strong; she had to do this. For Iggy.

"My GOD! Just choose already!" Iggy complained. He really didn't see the need for Nudge's silence. He'd been waiting in line behind her for almost an hour now. People behind him were getting so restless that he thought she'd left him. But then he heard her murmuring to herself, "Hmm, Snow Caps or Sour Patch Kids?" and he'd lost it.

"Okay, okay," Nudge said, hurt at Iggy's outburst. Then to the cashier she said, "Sour Patch Kids, please. Two cokes and a large popcorn to be safe." Be safe about what? Iggy thought, but then he figured he really didn't want to know. Nudge's mind was a random sea of facts and ideas that never exactly got put in the right order when they exited her mouth.

Nudge tapped Iggy's hand and Iggy followed her footsteps to the showroom.

Angel and the Gasman

"There they are!" Angel squealed, pointing at Nudge and Iggy who were entering the movie. "Subject numbers 1 and 2. Awww!"

The Gasman rolled his eyes. Sometimes Angel acted like a twenty year old, but then other times she acted six. Now was one of those times.

The Gasman quickly grabbed his sister's hand, and pulled it down to her side. "Way to be conspicuous, Ange," he muttered under his breath.

Angel shot him a dark look. "Whatever. You know what you have to do, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Make Nudge admit that she's in love with Iggy, same old story, right?"

"Wrong. Nudge is a whole 'nother ballgame. She's way different from Max. Did you not study the diagrams?"

The Gasman gave his sister a pitying look. He smiled, thinking she was a bit mental for being so serious about all of this. "Sure, Ange, I studied the diagrams."

Angel noticed the Gasman's nurse-to-patient attitude, and did not approve of it. She showed this by clamping down hard on his foot. "I mean it, Gazzy! This is the fate of the Flock!"

At first, naiveté of a young boy had made the Gasman believe Angel when she said that Max and Fang getting together was the fate of the Flock. Because it had been Max's fate to save the world, and they all saw how well that turned out, the Gasman had jumped at the chance to help the Flock with its destiny. But then Angel had used and re-used that phrase over and over again. His naïveté washed off and now he was just annoyed. But he played along because these recon missions of "love" made his sister happy, and it was always funny to see the results.

Angel checked her watch, and tapped her foot impatiently. Finally, after five minutes of tapping she looked at the watch again, and smiled. "I'm up,"

The Gasman nodded, his eyes staring intently at his little sister's face. No matter how many times he saw her transform, it never ceased to amaze him. First her face morphed into that of a young woman, and then she began to shoot up until she was at the Gasman's height of 5 foot 4 inches. The Gasman looked around nonchalantly as though someone weren't undergoing a metamorphosis behind him. Although Angel was shrouded in shadows, the Gasman blocked her with his body until she was done.

As Angel's clothes had hung limply on her before, now they fit to her new, taller, body.

"And... action," the Gasman said. He was actually making fun of Angel's need for everything to be a dramatic movie, but his sister didn't catch on. Instead she nodded, and told him to get into position. Completely bored, but knowing his part would come, the Gasman trudged over to the snack bar ready to intercept Subject #1.

Iggy, Nudge and Stranger

"Excuse me-- Pardon me-- Sorry-- Ew."

Iggy groaned. He hated people that came right in the middle of a good part, making up a bunch of noise and tripping over your legs. The worst part was the voice was coming from the right and there was an empty seat right next to him. He pulled in his long legs so the person could just easily stroll by. Thankfully Nudge was used to aiding Iggy and she didn't stop her narration.

"So Phillip just ran over Stacey's brother with a bus, and-- oh crap!"

"What?" Iggy asked, thinking that something juicy had happened in the movie. He was disappointed when it wasn't the movie Nudge was referring to, but the fact that all their popcorn and their drinks had spilled.

"Oops," giggled the same voice that had been advancing towards the empty seat next to Iggy.

Iggy glared at where the voice was coming from, but knowing he was way off he pulled some bills from his pocket and stuck them out to his right. "Here. Take them and buy some more," he said irritably.

"Sorry," Nudge said.

"Not your fault," It was however, that stranger's fault. Now Iggy was missing most of the movie. He could still hear Stacey's mom yelling at Phillip for running over her son, but he didn't know what they were doing. He folded his arms, and lifted his legs to rest on the chair in front of him, not really caring if his foot was invading someone's space.

Nudge got up to leave, or at least Iggy thought she did. He re-thought it when he heard someone say, "Iggy, psst, it's me."

It was fricking useless for someone to say, "Psst, it's me," as everyone calls themselves "me" and it doesn't give you any indication of who it really is. If it wasn't Nudge, then who?

"It's Angel,"

Oh. That's who.

"What are you doing here?" Iggy whispered back at Angel. Although he was glad it hadn't been a random stranger who spilled his stuff, Angel did not sound the least bit repentant and he was still annoyed.

"I am here," Angel began dramatically, "For the fate of the Flock."

the Gasman and Nudge

The Gasman sprung to alert when he saw Nudge walk out of the theater carrying an empty soda cup, bucket of popcorn and Sour Patch Kids box. She sighed as she threw away the lost concessions. Walking towards the concession counter, (and also the Gasman) Nudge counted the bills that Iggy had given her. When she was within range the Gasman greeted her.

"Hey."

Nudge jumped and the Gasman got a small amount of pleasure from scaring her. "Over here," he said. Nudge looked his way, her eyes widening when she saw him. Glancing back at the line for the snacks, she figured it was too long anyway, and she wanted to know what the Gasman was doing here. This was okay with the Gasman as, line or not, it was falling into Angel's plan.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to blow stuff up," Nudge inquired.

The Gasman sighed, looking in annoyance at the door to the theater. "Yeah, well that got put on hold." He struggled to remember the script Angel had given him, and when he did he winced in disgust. "Uh... I'm here for the fate of the Flock," he looked up and to his left, trying to recall the rest. "In three words describe Iggy."

Nudge looked puzzled. "Um, is this some kind of questionnaire? Is this a joke?"

"Quickly, quickly," the Gasman said, snapping his fingers. He too thought that Angel's methods were a joke, but if he didn't follow them exactly the way Angel wanted, her foot would find a way to his tush.

"Um... blind, vanilla, tall."

The Gasman didn't think any of these words would, as Ange had put it: 'Stir their shadowed feelings of Love from their place in Denial', so he tried the second question.

"How would you feel if I told you that Iggy was in love with Max?" The Gasman thought back to Angel's diagrams for studying Nudge's face, his gaze never moving from her face in case he missed something. When Nudge's face turned downcast, the Gasman mentally pumped his fist. Maybe this would speed things up and he'd get back in time to watch Pokémon.

"Well, I'd be sad. I mean, if Fang found out that Iggy was in love with Max then Fang would kill him! You can't tell him, Gazzy, I mean I kind of like Iggy alive."

The Gasman stared at his sister-by-wings. Un-fricking-believable. The Gasman tried one more of Angel's questions: "What is your favorite color?" According to Angel if Nudge said blue, it would give away that she loved looking into Iggy's eyes so much that she'd adopted their color as her favorite.

"Blue," Nudge replied.

The Gasman dared not be hopeful, but some of it showed in his voice. "Why?"

"Because the sky's blue, and when you're flying, it's like I'm blanketed in it. I feel safe there, with all of the blue surrounding me."

The Gasman groaned, grabbing his hands. As his left hand flew to his head to massage his aching temples, he caught a glimpse of his watch. Barely a minute left. Screwing Angel's plan, he grabbed Nudge by the hands and bored his gaze into hers. "Do you or do you not love Iggy?"

Nudge wasn't expecting the suddenness of the question, nor was she expecting that particular question, so the look on her face was shock. Then she came to and gave the Gasman her answer.

"Don't tell anybody!" she begged.

This time the Gasman pumped his fist physically, adding a nice touch with a: "Yes!"

Angel and Iggy

"Wha...?" Iggy asked.

Angel ignored his question, as she had a few of her own. "Answer without thinking: One. In three words describe Nudge,"

Iggy had no clue what was going on, and he could feel threatening glares from movie watchers around him. "What does this--"

"Answer the questions," she ordered as though it were a life or death situation. Well she did say something about the fate of the Flock. But if Itex had been defeated, what other threats could be against them? Because she mentioned the fate of the Flock, Iggy chose not to question her as she shot out her questions.

"Loud. Curious. Perky."

"How would you feel if I told you that Nudge was in love with Fang?"

"Awkward."

"What is your favorite color?"

"White."

"Why?"

"It's the first thing I saw when I found out I could see color,"

Suddenly the questions halted and Angel declared, "You're in love with Nudge!"

Iggy's mouth dropped open. "How-- wha-- how did you reach that conclusion?"

Angel's mouth oozed authority as thought she knew exactly how Iggy was feeling. "It's obvious, Ig. Through careful examination of your answers--

"I told you that I thought Nudge was loud, a Fang/Nudge pairing would be just awkward, and that my favorite color was white! How did you examine that and come up with I'm in love with Nudge?"

A SHHH!! from someone in the first row stalled Angel's answer. Iggy didn't bother throwing back the fact that he was blind to make the movie go-er feel bad; he was still in shock over Angel's statement. Iggy... in love with Nudge?

"I can read your mind, nimrod." Angel said.

"Oh." But he hadn't been thinking anything out of the ordinary about Nudge. When Angel asked him about three words that described Nudge, he hadn't been thinking of anyth-- Oh. Right. The three words that he'd said weren't exactly the words that he'd first thought. The first were: Beautiful and Happy. Beautiful because when he traced his hands across her face, that's what he "saw". Beauty. Happy because that's what she made him feel inside. Happiness.

God, he was blushing just thinking about it. And--oh crap, Angel heard that too. By the smile in her voice, Angel had heard everything.

"Right. So now that you admit that you like Nudge in that way, what are you going to do about it?"

Er... That question stumped Iggy. He'd started feeling like this a little while ago. Nudge wasn't the annoying eleven year old anymore. She had matured and grown over the course of the war. By the time Max had saved the world, Nudge had become much more than just a kid. And he'd been attracted to her. A lot.

Angel giggled, and Iggy sadly realized that Angel could still hear his thoughts. His blush intensified and Iggy just knew that his entire body was a deep red.

"I don't know… nothing?" Because what could Iggy do? Fang/Max weirdness was enough. Could everything stay as stable as it was with two couples in the Flock? And there was that whole, 'Does She Like Me Back' thing to worry about.

"Oh, she does." Angel answered. Iggy was about to give Angel Max's lecture on how reading people's minds was a bad thing when Angel stopped him. "I'm doing good, Iggy. That's why I'm here anyway, to get you and Nudge together. And don't even try to pull a 'Max' on me and tell me that you don't want to get together because you know you do. And I know that you're clueless in this area, so I'm going to help. All you have to do is follow my instruction to the letter. Kay?"

Five minutes and several, "Pipe down!"'s later, Iggy agreed. "Okay."

The Gasman

His part was done. Angel had promised him several packets of Gummi Worms to persuade a confession out of Nudge, and now that that was done, the Gasman could go home. He left Nudge standing in the concession line with a confused, What Just Happened? look on her face. He wanted to warn her, as sometimes Angel's schemes didn't go exactly as planned, but in the end he decided just to take off. His project he had been working on before all this needed finishing, and he was anxious to get his hands on wires again.

He couldn't even get past the door way.

Fang leaned against the wall a ghost of a smirk on his face. Max stood in the wake of the doorframe as though she had been waiting there for years just to catch the Gasman making sure that he wouldn't escape. Max's arms were crossed, her face set in a look of fury. Gazzy looked from her to Fang wondering why she was so angry. He got his answer in the form of a manila folder that sat in Fang's left hand.

"Uh-oh," said the Gasman timidly.

Max unfolded her arms and grabbed the Gasman rather harshly by the collar. Thrusting him inside their home she said with a smile she was trying to hide, "You've got some explaining to do."

Author's Note: I thought this might be a cool fanfic, although if it doesn't make sense, don't blame me, blame the institutional learning facilities of the U.S. for causing my brain to splurt out random things in the form of stories. Anyways... Review and make me really happy.