Catch and Release

Chapter 25

"So what are we going to be doing today anyways?"

Fang just shrugged, not directly looking at Max.

"Oh, so what? You're still mad about yesterday? It's been 24 hours. Get over it."

Okay, number one, it had not just been twenty-four hours. More like ten. Number two, what she had done was way worse than just something for him to get over in a day, a ten or twenty-four hour one.

"Are you even going to talk to me?"

Fang took a sip of his coffee, still not looking at her.

"You've turned into a real baby, you know that?"

Carter, used to being the one called a baby, gnashed her teeth at her mother, probably assuming she was speaking to her. Max wasn't paying attention to the little girl anyways and didn't notice. Instead, all of her focus was going on Fang, as she was now giving him the most icy glare she could muster at, oh, six in the morning.

"Why did you even come home with us, then, if you're just going to act like that? I mean, God, you're acting like I did something horrible."

"Acting, Max? Acting?"

"What? What did I do that made you so mad?"

"You know."

"Clearly not."

Carter, who didn't know and didn't really care either way, preoccupied herself by beginning to lick Fang's shoes. Frowning, he shook her off.

"What?" His first words in hours and they were to a child. Shaking her head, Max finally just walked off, not wanting to deal with him. If he wanted to spend his off day in a bad mood, then she decided just to let him.

After she walked off, headed towards her bedroom, Fang reached down and picked up Carter, quick depositing her on the kitchen counter.

"Why did you lick my shoes? That's nasty."

"Nas'y."

"Yeah. Nasty."

Carter looked around the kitchen before reaching over to grab Fang's coffee cup. He beat her to it though, not wanting her to burn herself. He and Max were already fighting; all he needed now was for her to ban Carter from him.

This whole thing had started yesterday when Iggy called. Apparently, that girl that he may or may not have gotten pregnant was bothering him, so he wanted to come down and see Fang for a while. Of course, Fang readily offered up his couch and apartment to the cause, really wanting another guy around to hang out with. He had spent way too many nights listening to Max bitch about Nudge and Ella or Nudge complain about being alone or Ella...well, Fang really just heard the others bad mouth Ella. Not that he could blame them…

So anyways, Fang told Iggy of course, but was quickly brought back down to Earth by Max, who claimed that Fang had just gotten rid of Angel; he shouldn't be taking on anymore boarders. Fang gently reminded Max that the only reason Angel was there was because Max wanted him to keep her there. At the end, at least. Then, not even taking that into consideration, she flat out told him no. No! It wouldn't have been so bad, had they not been at Ella's for another stupid dinner. She did it in front of everyone, as if he were just some child that needed to be told what to do.

Now, here she was, thinking that he should just forgive her. She wasn't even begging for it or anything like that. Oh, no, she just thought he should give it to her. You know, since Max is the most forgiving person in the world.

Just thinking about it made Fang want to roll his eyes. Instead, he focused on finishing his coffee before getting started on Carter's breakfast. He decided that she would probably want an omelet. …Okay, so maybe making one omelet was just simple. Besides, they could always share.

"Mommy?" Carter asked some time later as they sat down on the couch to eat their omelet.

"Mommy can make her own food," Fang told her as Carter tried to grab at the egg. "No, Carter. Fork."

"Fo'k."

"You better learn to put the R in that word, little girl."

Carter just giggled as Fang helped her cut into the omelet with the fork. "Owl. Owlet."

"Don't spit on me today, alright?" He patted her head. "I'm begging you."

Even after they had finished breakfast, Max wouldn't come out of her room. Which was fine with Fang. He didn't need Max. He didn't need anyone.

"Owl."

Except for his little buddy. He would always need her.

"What?" Fang asked as he sat down on Carter's bedroom floor, watching the little girl closely. "I thought you wanted to play?"

"Mmmm." She trotted over to her box of stuffed animals, grabbing a few. "Owl."

Fang took the toy she handed him, turning it over in his hand while studying it. "Uh, Carter? Is there a reason you gave me a monkey? I'm normally Owl."

"Owl. Mon'ey."

"Monk, Carter. Money is something you use to buy things with."

"Mon'ey." She sat down in front of Fang, giggling. "Owl."

Fang shook his head slightly as the little girl came closer, getting into his lap. "I thought we were playing?"

Leaning up, she kissed under his chin. "Snuggle."

"So you can say snuggle yet you can't say Fang?"

"Nanang."

"You can say Daddy though."

"Daddy."

"See?"

She cuddled into his shirt. "Owl."

"Daddy."

She bit his hand. "Owl!"

"Hey." Fang sat her down on ground. "Do not bite, Carter. You hear me? It is not very nice."

"Owl!" She spit before heading back over to the toys she had already pulled out. "Bad."

"Not me. I'm not bad, Carter. You're bad."

She frowned at him. "No!"

"You're not bad, no, but you act pretty bad sometimes."

"Badly."

Fang looked up to see Max coming into the room. Instead of saying something to her, he just looked back at Carter, watching her play. Slowly, Max went over to Fang and climbed into his lap, forcing him to wrap his arms around her.

"What, Max? Why are you doing this? Aren't we fighting?" It was different, holding Max instead of Carter, but in a good way. Most of the time. Other than when they're fighting. Like now.

Instead of answering him, she just leaned back into him, sighing slightly. Fang allowed himself to forgive her, if only for the moment, since she was being so kind.

"Fang, thank God you're here."

"What's wrong?" Fang asked, walking into Nudge's apartment. "Is it Evan? Is he sick? Hurt? What?"

"Huh?" Nudge frowned at him as she took a step back, slipping her phone from the back of her jeans pocket. "What are you talking about?"

"You texted me that I had to get here fast because something happened."

"Something did happen," Nudge assured him, now holding her phone up to his face. "Look."

As he did so, Fang felt a frown form upon his face. When he looked away from the text message, he asked, "You called me over here because you need a date?"

"Yes!" She took another step back. "Closer the door, Fang. God, you're rude."

"Me?" Fang shut the door behind him finally, the anger he had set aside with Max before now bubbling back to the surface.

"Yes, you." Then she looked him over. "You do not look ready for a date."

"How was I supposed to know this was a date?" Then he shook his head. "Besides, I am not going on a date with you."

"It's not a real date, Fang."

"Then what is it?"

"I need to show you off."

"Why?"

"To, you know, make someone else jealous."

"Nudge-"

"It's not like I want anything from you." Then, in an embarrassing way, she glanced down at the front of his jeans. "At all."

"I'm not going on a stupid date with you."

"Fang, Fang, Fang. I thought that you were the one that said I shouldn't date so much?"

"I did not. I said that you shouldn't be as much of a who…person that sleeps around a lot."

"Well, any other guy I know would expect me to sleep with them. So that leaves you as my date."

Fang blinked. "What about Max?"

"What about Max? It's not like it's a real date." Again, she looked to his crotch. "Trust me, it's not."

"Would you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?" She turned then, headed over to the playpen which currently housed her son. "You're gonna have to go back home, you know. Get dressed. It's casual, but not too casual. I think you should-"

"If I'm going on that date, and I'm not saying I am, I am wearing this."

"No! Fang-"

"What time is the date?" He asked, also going over to the playpen. It wasn't lost on him that this was the first time he and Nudge were speaking since their fight, but he tried to follow Dr. Martinez's suggestion and not dwell in the past. "If I'm going, I should know."

"At six."

"If I go, I'll pick you up at-"

"Oh, Fang, cut the crap. You know you're taking me."

"Oh yeah? How do you figure?"

"You owe me," she said, reaching down to lift up her son, who had actually been reaching for Fang.

"In what way?"

"You were mean to me. Now you owe me." Nudge kissed Evan's head. "So now you have to pay up."

"I don't understand why you're agreeing with this, but you wouldn't even let me sleep in your sister's spare room."

Max tossed Fang's best dark wash jeans on the bed. "Nudge doesn't want to sleep with you. That's what's different."

"Neither does Ella."

"Ella hasn't been laid in months. Years, maybe. How do I know what she's willing to do?"

"You should probably trust me a little more."

"At the time, Fang, you were a guy coming out of a hell hole, just as deprived as her. Not to mention you were wanting to slit your wrists every time I even yelled at you. What did you expect?"

"Oh, because you had so much sex."

Max paused, staring into his closet for a moment. They were over at his apartment, picking out something for his 'date'. Fang's last hope had been that Max would forbid him from going, but of course not. She thought it was a wonderful idea, one that would get Nudge and Fang back on better terms. It was worth a shot anyways. Besides, Carter was spending the day over at Ella's, so that left Max with nothing to do between jobs.

"I'm different," Max told him coolly as she handed off a shirt to him.

Fang looked off for a second. "Yeah. You are."

"Do you have an iron?"

"Huh?"

"An iron. You should iron that stuff," she explained. "Do you have one?"

"No," he said with a slow shake of his head. "Besides, I'm wearing a hoodie over that."

"No, you're not," Max said as she walked out of the bedroom.

"Yes, I am."

"No, Fang. You're gonna look nice."

"I'm wearing one."

"Didn't I just tell you that you're not?"

He reached out as she made it to the kitchen, grabbing her arm and twirling her around, forcing her to face him. "You are not my mother."

She jerked out of his hold. "I don't know when you thought you could grab me like that, but you were wrong."

Fang snorted before looking off. For a moment or two, they both just stood there, facing one another, but not looking in each others direction.

"Do you have one?"

Max looked up at that, shocked it had been Fang, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Silent to break the silence.

"What?"

"Do you have an iron?"

It was her turn to snort. "Duh."

"Then come on. We'll go iron this stuff. If you want."

Max sighed, taking his offer as his apology. "I don't really want to. I just wanted you to look nice."

"I don't want to look nice for Nudge. I don't want to fool this guy into getting back together with her because he's jealous. And I really don't want to waste my night hanging out with Nudge's friends."

"I'm working, so what else would you do?"

"Play with Carter."

"Fang, you need to get out more."

"I do n-"

"You never do anything, except hang out with me and my daughter."

"Excuse me, Max, but Sunday night, I'm going to watch Game of Thrones with-"

"I swear to God if you start talking about stupid Danny again-"

"He has HBO. I don't."

"Whatever."

"What? Are you jealous?" Fang turned to her. "Don't worry, Max. It's not like he's taking your place or anything."

"What do you mean?"

"He's not my best friend."

She rolled her eyes. "Fang-"

"Carter is. You've already been usurped."

"…I really dislike you sometimes."

"Yeah," he said softly with a slight smirk. "I know."

"You could have at least worn a tie," Nudge whispered to Fang as they stood next to a table, her sipping on a martini. "I told you, this was a dress up party. Not a slumin' party. Trust me, I wouldn't have brought you to one of those."

Again with the crotch stare. He was about to walk out on her.

"As if I would want to go," he whispered back harshly. Then, very pointedly, he started at her breasts until Nudge turned away from him. "So there."

"Just…shut up, Fang."

"Gladly." He took a sip of his coke. He had brought it in with him from the car, even though Nudge had asked him not to. She thought that it would make him look less 'civilized' or something stupid like that. Whatever. Fang could do what he wanted. She wasn't the boss of him.

…God, sometimes he really felt like Carter.

"Oh, Monique, I thought that was you."

Fang frowned at Nudge. Monique? He hadn't heard her use that name in forever. Probably not since she claimed to like the name Tiffany-Krystal. To keep himself from commenting, he took another chug of his coke.

"Hey, Lucy," Nudge said, setting her drink down on the table before wrapping her arm around the other girl in that fake hug kind of thing that girls and women did when they clearly didn't like each other much. Fang had seen Nudge, Max, and Ella exchange enough of those in the past few months to know them to the T.

"Jonathan is here," the other woman informed Nudge. No, wait, excuse him, Monique. Bleh. Why couldn't he have just stayed home with Carter? Huh? He would have loved that. He would have made fish sticks so she could eat with her hands. Then they could watch cartoons until it was bath time, which would precede bedtime. That? That was the life Fang wanted. Not…this.

"Yeah," Nudge said, looking unimpressed. "I know."

"He brought Terra-"

"Hey, did I introduce you to my date?" Nudge grasped Lucy's arm, turning the short, white woman around to face Fang, who looked less than pleased. So far, all he had seen were blondes and brunets. Where were all the redheads? Fang would not have come if he didn't at least have something interesting to look at!

…And Max made him. But whatever. He should at least be able to enjoy himself! Anyways…

"Lucy, this is Nick. Nick, this is-"

"Fang," Fang said, holding out his hand to the slight woman. She was kind of on the chunky side, but in an enduring way. Looking slightly taken aback, she glanced at Nudge before taking his hand. He had purposely worn gloves, able to pull it off only because it was so cold outside. He knew that she couldn't see any of his scars, other than the ones on his face. So what was up?

"Oh, goodness. You're the one Monique has been talking about, yes? Max's boyfriend?"

Fang, not one to lie, nodded his head. Besides, he took pride in the fact that he had Max. Why wouldn't he? Now, if someone asked him if he was Iggy's relative…well, that was another story entirely.

"God, Fang," Nudge hissed the second Lucy was gone. "Do you know what's gonna happen now?"

He paused for a second, literally trying to think of an answer. Then he remembered that he was dealing with the queen of all idiots and gave up trying.

"She is gonna go tell everyone here that I am so lame that I couldn't even get a stupid date to this, so I brought my brother."

Fang frowned before brightening slightly. Nudge thought of him as a brother? He had always felt this bond with her, but never spoken it. Now though, that it was out in the open, maybe-

"Or, ew, even worse. You're so old they might think you're my father."

And he was back down to not caring. In the slightest.

"I am not that much older than you, Nudge," he hissed, now angry with her. "I'm, what? Three years older than you? Two? Four?"

"The point is, Fang, you were coming as my date."

"I am your date."

"No, you're not. Now you're just my loser brother-in-law-"

"Stop changing what I am to you. You keep making it worse and worse."

Nudge took a deep breath before smoothing the creases in her dress. "Fine, Fang. You're now nothing to me."

"What?"

"You couldn't even do something for me just this once. Instead, you had to ruin my chance at getting Jon-"

"I'm doing this for you, okay? What do I have to do to prove that I'm your date, huh?" Fang stared into her eyes. "I'm not kissing you though."

"Ew," she said flatly.

"The feelings mutual," he said as Nudge walked away now, merging into the crowd. Great. He takes her to the stupid party like she wanted and now-

His phone cut him off from going into a rant about how inconsiderate Nudge was. Sighing, he headed out of the house, to the backyard. Out there was a few guys smoking, but Fang just stood away from them, further down the porch.

"Hello?"

"Fang, I know you're at the party, but Carter wanted to say goodnight," he heard Valencia say before putting the little girl on.

"Owl? Owl dere? Owl?"

Fang smiled, leaning against the house. Nudge could be as much of a jerk as she wanted; just so long as Fang still had Carter, he'd be alright.

"Hey, Owlet. Are you going to sleep? Huh?"

"Yes. Yes, Owl." She yawned. "Owl no 'ere?"

"I'm out with Nudge. You know that. I'll see you in the morning."

"Owl," she moaned.

"I know," he sighed. "Hey, what if I tell you a story, huh?"

"Yes! Yes, Owl."

"Mmm…Once there was this ant."

"Yay, ant."

"Mmmhmm." Fang looked up at the sky, sighing when he found it too cloudy to see the moon. "So the ant had to collect food for the winter."

"Win'er."

"Winter. Winner is something you are if you win."

"Win'er."

He just sighed before proceeding to tell Carter some long story about an ant's adventure in finding food. He could tell that she was trying to stay animated, trying to keep him on the line, but eventually the little girl began to wind down. When she got silent, Fang stayed waited for the vet to take the phone back before bidding her goodbye and telling her that he would be over to get Carter when he got off work in the morning.

"Where were you?" Nudge asked in a hushed tone as Fang came back into the house and stood next to her.

"I had to tell Carter a bedtime story. She needed me."

She just rolled her eyes. "Anyways, come on. I want to introduce you to-"

"I thought that you were mad at me?" He interrupted as she dragged him over to a group of people. "About how I claimed Max as my girlfriend? Remember?"

"That was before," she waved off his comment.

"Before?"

She glanced back at him, smiling. "Everyone thinks I'm so great, for taking you out tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a loser, Fang. All you do is mope around about your life, play with little kids, and think about harming yourself. To these people, I'm a hero. I took one for the team."

He blinked. Then, whispering once more, he asked, "Can I still be your big brother?"

Nudge interlaced their fingers as they got to the group of people. "Sure. My old, nasty, boring, loser big brother."

Fang sent her a look. At least it was something though.

"How come you don't have any black friends?"

Nudge, who was leaning against the car window, glanced at him. "Excuse me?"

Fang retreated slightly before deciding there was nothing wrong with his question. "I just meant…all your friends were white."

"Lucy is Asian."

"Fine. You're friends with white people and an Asian."

"And? Why do I have to only have black friends, Fang?"

"I don't know, alright? It was just a question." He glanced over at her. "It's just…Henry was black."

"So?"

"It's just weird that you have such a wide…range of guys you'll date."

"What?"

"Jonathan is white."

"So?"

"So…I don't know. All of Max's friends were white or Hispanic, so-"

"So what?"

"I just meant…" He trailed off, sighing. "It's like with Angel. I would assume that Angel's friends are all gay."

"Lesbians."

"Whatever."

"Your one friend isn't white," Nudge pointed out.

"Carter?"

"No," she sighed. "That guy. Max told me about him. The dog guy."

"Oh." He sat up straighter. "Daniel. Yeah, we talk about Game-"

"Please, spare me."

He shook his head. "I don't know that, anyways, if he's my race. I'm not necessarily white."

For the final time that night, she glanced at his crotch. "No, you are."

Fang shifted. "If you don't stop doing that, I'm gonna tell Max."

"Okay, Angel."

He huffed. "Never mind. I won't try to have an intelligent conversation with you again."

"Intelligent? What do you want? These are my friends, Fang. I didn't poll the town before I made them. Who cares if they're white or black or whatever?"

"It was just a question."

"I don't know, Fang. I don't know why I don't have a 'type' when it comes to guys, okay? I'm just…into any guy." She glanced at him. "And no, by the way."

"No to what?"

"Not all of Angel's friends are lesbians." Nudge sat up a little bit. They were riding around in her SUV, headed home from the party. Nudge had had a few two many and was trying to sleep some before she got home. Ella had Evan for the night, while Dr. Martinez had Carter, so neither of the two people in the car had anything to worry about.

"Hn."

"You really don't like her anymore, do you?" Nudge glanced over at him. "It's not a taboo thing anymore, Fang, being a lesbian."

"I never said it was."

"I can tell it makes you uncomfortable."

"No."

"You don't have to lie to me." She shut her eyes again. "I already know that you're a racist."

"I am not!"

"Calm down. It was a joke." She reached over and ran a hand down his thigh. It was a lot different than when Max did it. Max's excited him; Nudge just made him tired, like he had done all he could with her and should just give in. "So anyways, plan GJB didn't go so-"

"GJB?"

"Get Jonathan Back."

Fang blinked. "Right."

"Did you see who he was with?"

"No."

"Terra," Nudge said with obvious disdain. "God. Terra. Bleh."

Fang made a face. "Bleh?"

"Bleh."

"Which one was she?"

"That tall blonde."

"You're gonna have to be more specific."

"The whorish one."

Again, he blinked. "Thanks, Nudge. Really helped with that one, didn't you?"

"Fine. The whorish one with the stripper shoes."

"…This is going nowhere." He sighed. "Why can't you date a more…suitable guy?"

"Suitable? You want me to go old again?"

"No," he said slowly. He had screwed up the last time he spoke with Nudge, if only because he started accusing her of things. If he wanted her to change, he'd have to help her, not call her out on her mistakes. Then he was the enemy. The father. Now, what he was doing, was being the ally. The brother. "When you look for someone, look for something that can help you."

"Help me what?"

"Help you with Evan. You're not just searching for a guy for you anymore."

Nudge sighed. "Whatever, Fang."

"I just want you taken care of. It shouldn't be my job to-"

"It's not your job. I never asked-"

"You didn't have to. You need someone to-"

"A man? Is that what you think? That Ella, Max, and I were just waiting around for the big strong man to show up to help us care for our kids?"

"No," he said, frowning. "I just know that…I've seen what it's done to Max, having to take care of Carter."

"Max was way worse off than me," Nudge whispered. "My mistakes made Evan. Ella's love made Sebastian. Max? Max didn't do anything."

"Yeah. I know." He reached over to the center console and turned the heat down slightly. "But still. You need someone, Nudge."

"Henry-"

"Henry's a shit parent."

"He is, isn't he?" She sighed softly, leaning against the window once more. "But he pays for so much. He takes care of Evan in a way that no one else could."

"Blood money," Fang whispered.

"Hmmm?"

"It's just like blood money," he said, louder this time. "He feels guilty, so he throws money at you."

She just shrugged. "Could be worse. I could have been knocked up by someone that doesn't care, huh? That would have sucked. Or worse. Someone broke."

Fang blinked. "You can be a good father, broke or not."

She snorted. "Carter loves you now. Wait until she gets older and starts wanting things."

"The point is, Nudge," he began again, "that you have to look out for Evan. He'll get older too, you know? You think it'll be good for him, seeing his mom have so many different guys in and out? It won't."

"Like you're someone to judge."

He knew that he was starting to sound father-like again, so he just shook his head. "Well, just be careful, huh?"

"Careful? How do you know Evan doesn't want a baby brother or sister?"

"He's seen Carter."

"And?"

"Just trust me. Another one of those is the last thing he wants."

Fang was napping before work when he heard something in the apartment. He peeked his eyes open, but decided that it was just his imagination and closed them again. He hadn't been paranoid in awhile, so he figured it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He was almost back asleep when he heard something fall from the kitchen. Someone was there. Someone was definitely there.

Jumping up, he threw open his bedroom door…only to run into someone.

"Ow, Fang."

He frowned as Max fell back on her butt, apparently easily thrown off balance now. Maybe it was her lack of wings. Instead of voicing this, Fang just reached down, pulling his girlfriend back up.

"What are you doing here? I thought that you were someone else?"

"Nope. Just me." She leaned up and kissed him before taking a step back. "You made me spill my soda. Go get me a towel."

Fang stepped around her before walking off to do as she said. "You could have turned on a light. Or better yet, told me you were coming."

"I had to make sure that the date ended appropriately," Max said, peeking into his bedroom. "You know, make sure Nudge wasn't over here, all over my man."

"I'm not your man," he said as he came back with a towel to clean up her mess.

"Chill. I was joking. Like I really think you'd hook up with Nudge." Max turned back around to face him only to find him on his knees, soaking up the soda. "What's wrong? Why are you upset with me?"

"I'm not. I'm just…" He sighed as he looked up at her. "I'm tired, I miss Carter, I have to be up in two hours, you scared me, coming in here unannounced, and I just wasn't expecting you. Okay? I'm not mad at you."

Max shook her head as she got back down again, setting her now half-empty, or half-full, can on the carpet next to her. "Here. Let me clean it up. I should have called."

Fang just shook his head, going back to cleaning up the mess. "I've got it. Go get in bed."

"Fang-"

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really." She sat there, watching him. "How'd the date go?"

He brightened some, but not a lot. "Nudge thinks of me as her big brother."

"Okay," Max said slowly. "What does that have to do with-"

"Everything." Fang leaned forward then, kissing Max gently. "I missed you. I wish you could have come."

"You have to do some things without me, you know." She stroked his cheek. "Like that Game of…?"

"Game of Thrones."

"Yeah. I really hope you continue to do that without me. Like, forever."

He just sighed slightly before standing, now done with cleaning up. "Come on. Bed."

After putting the towel in the hamper, Fang headed into his room to find Max already undressed, now in one of his shirts and nothing else, huddled under the blankets.

"I'm freezing."

He nodded before going over to his dresser and pulling out some sleep pants that Nudge had given him once, claiming they were for his birthday. "Here. Pull these on."

Max was grateful and did as told for once, still rubbing her arms. Fang just pulled off his own clothes before getting into the bed also, wrapping a wing around her.

"What time do you have to get up?"

Fang just kissed her. "Soon. I'll get up though. Don't worry about me."

"'kay." She snuggled into him. "Carter's gonna be so jealous that I got to be with you tonight and she didn't."

"Yeah. I know."

"She thinks that you're hers, not mine."

"Maybe I'm both of yours."

Max looked up into his eyes for a moment. "Nope, you're mine."

"If you say so."

"I do."