Chapter XVI: No Matter the Weather

Well, the apartment was just as bad as Fang imagined it. It smelled horrible, it looked grimy and awful. Fang highly doubted this building had a maid… or that Derrick owned a simple mop and vacuum. But there were little touches that made it all worth while.

Pictures of Janie, a lot of them, ranging from a young girl at the beach, to the two of them sitting in a circle with a few other people, smoky clouds circling their heads. There were more pictures of the two of them together, doing more "family friendly" activities. And, most importantly, a picture of a women whom who Fang could only assume was Janie's mother. Their hair color was nearly the same, only hers was a little lighter. And their eyes as well seemed to be alike. Yet, she was also unmistakably like Iggy. With a wide smile, a long neck and an elegant nose. It was a beautiful picture, and it was given the place of honor above the dining table.

It felt more like a home than any other place Fang had ever been.

Derrick dumped a large pile of news papers onto the floor, clearing off a monster of a plaid couch. He then scratched his head, realizing the problem of four people and three seats. But the problem was quickly fixed when Janie reappeared from the kitchen with a folding chair. Derrick smiled and placed the chair across from the couch, directly in front of his tiny television. At the same time, Janie fell comfortably onto the end of the plaid couch, putting her feet up on a pile of National Geographic magazines.

Fang, who'd been standing with Iggy in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, sat himself down on the opposite end, coaxing Iggy between them.

They both sat rather comfortably in an awkward sentence for several moments before Janie spoke up and broke through the silence.

"So," her voice was unusually bright, "Iggy, maybe you should explain your, em, situation to Dad?"

"Oh, yeah," Iggy said, as if suddenly snapping back to attention, "Well, I guess it started with the School…"

Fang could tell this was going to be a long visit.

"Oh god," Max sighed, her shoulders falling hard against the back of the taxicab seat. Nudge sat down next to her, a stunned expression also written across her face. They'd been on a four hour hunt for Gazzy and Angel's parents, and now they'd been sent yet again onward.

"One more house," Max breathed tiredly, "One more house and then I'm giving up."

"You can't do that, though!" Nudge's energy returned suddenly, "We've got to find them! We have to! It's only fair!"

"But, Nudge, what about your parents, eh? Are we ever going to meet them? We only have one day."

Nudge sighed, gazing at where Angel and Gazzy stood, letting Total out for a fire hydrant break, "Yeah, but, I mean they're little. I can handle it better."

"Nudge," Max said slowly, "Do you even want to see your parents?"

"Of course I do!" she cried in outraged, but then, her gaze fell down, and she added, in a lower tone, "Well, I want to want to see my parents, if that makes sense."

Unfortunately for Max, it did. She'd hounded over papers for hours, and found addresses and names, which she assumed were hers, but she couldn't be sure. She thought that perhaps it was related to someone else's, because those names seemed to be rather loosely connected with her. She half wanted to visit it, just in case, but at the same time, she didn't want to meet an awkward situation where she came knocking on the door of perfect strangers. Well, scratch that, perfect strangers she wasn't related to.

"It does," Max replied, "But why don't we try anyways? You never know what'll happen."

"I guess so," Nudge shrugged, "How d'you think Fang and Iggy are doing?"

Max laughed, "You might want to ask Angel."

"That's true," Nudge giggled, "When she gets back in here I will."

Max smiled to herself, just imagining what the boys were probably doing, "I bet they haven't even left the hotel."

Nudge grinned wickedly, "They're probably sitting there in their pajamas, watching cartoons and eating pizza."

Max laughed, because she'd been picturing…

Well, it's a fifteen-year-old female with a filthy mind, what do you think she was thinking about?

Anyways, she also found Nudge's version highly amusing. Because that was probably a lot closer to the truth. Fang and Iggy were too lazy to do anything before five at night, when they would probably be all together again.

And in any case, neither of them was going to get pregnant.

Derrick proved to be a much better audience than Peter, he listened in solemn silence, nodding at appropriate moments and giving his complete attention to his son, whose quiet voice barely carried over the room, though Fang could quite easily catch its detached, robotic quality.

Obviously, Iggy was not prepared to retell their story twice in one day.

At the end, they all sat in silence for a long, long minute. This quickly turned into two, three, four… until finally, Derrick summoned up a bit of courage.

He stood, stepped directly on his stack of newspapers, maneuvered himself around his daughter, and gave his son a firm bear hug.

It was one of those made for TV moments.

When they broke apart, it was clear that both their eyes were glistening with happy tears; their trip out here was worth every horrible, awkward second of it.

Derrick clamped a firm hand down on Iggy's shoulder, and after opening his mouth and then closing it several times as his voice cracked with emotion, he finally managed to croak out one word, "Son."

And suddenly, Fang and Janie both felt very, very out of place.

"Hey, Dad, I'm gonna go get us some drinks," Janie said rather loud and pointedly as she wobbled her way over the stack of newspapers, past the folding chair and T.V. set on her towards the kitchen, and just before she reached the doorway she stopped in almost mid-step and said in a seemingly offhanded way, "Fang, why don't you give me a hand."

But from the look she was giving him, he could tell that this was not a suggestion, but a command.

So, Fang stood up and followed her into the kitchen. After all, wouldn't want to spoil some good ol' father-son bonding time, now would he? And no, he was not being sarcastic. Okay, well, maybe a little. But not that much.

Because he did realize that this may be the only time Iggy would ever get to talk to his father. The only time he might get to meet his family. He should take full advantage of it. It was his birth right, and whether or not he liked it, Fang had no place intruding upon it. This was why he followed Janie out of the living room and its awkward situation, and fell upon yet another one in the kitchen.

The kitchen was, like the rest of the apartment, stacked with newspapers and used incense, plus a few beer boxes thrown in for good measure. An absolute mess, really. Something that resembled a college dorm or what Fang would imagine it as.

Janie opened up what looked like a tiny little college refrigerator one would keep in their dorm (see, he was right!), Fang had no idea how all that beer that obviously existed, somehow managed to fit in there.

Janie seemed to be in the process of attempting to find edible food, seeing as she kept pulling out spoiled cheese, moldy bread, and the like. Some beer, of course. But, surprisingly, Janie didn't seem interested.

"What'll you take?" she asked, flipping her hair as pulled out a Red Bull, which he assumed was her drink.

"Um, water," the one thing they were sure to have.

Janie did a bit more searching; unearthing a moldy cantaloupe as she did so, before she finally tossed him a bottle with seemed to be in fairly good shape. He open it up and took a whiff, just in case.

Janie was doing about the same with her drink, opening it up and checking for anything living inside. Once she found it was clear, she took a long drink and hopped up on the counter, explaining, "This'll take a while, Dad is very sentimental."

Fang shrugged and took a swig of his water, the shrug and swig Janie also returned. Though her eyes, unlike Fang's, never left his face.

The room was entirely silent for a long minute before Janie finally put her drink down and began to swing her legs back and forth, her eyes wandering around the room thoughtfully.

"Explain something to me," she said finally, curling her legs up to her chest almost protectively, her arms wrapping around her legs and her chin resting on her knee caps. It was a closed off, scared position, but her eyes remained wide and curious, "Who are you?"

Fang felt himself jump a little bit, completely taken back by her question, and the way she stated it. As if she was asking about something as silly as TV reruns.

"What do you mean?" Fang blinked confusedly.

"I mean, like… what's your story. I know Iggy's, but… you never said anything about yourself."

Fang bit his lip and shrugged, "It's kind of the same, and I mean we grew up together."

"So…" she dragged out the syllables slowly as she slid off of the counter and onto the linoleum floor, "You're like brothers?" She took a few steps closer, crossing her arms in front of her as she spoke.

Fang nodded sheepishly, "Something like that."

"Mmhmm," She blinked blankly, "Brothers."

"Yea- whoa!" he pulled away as her index finger suddenly trailed itself down his upper arm, "What was that about?"

Her brows furrowed and her lips pursed, "Just like I expected."

"What?" Fang asked, sounding rather dumbfounded.

"You. Him."

"How'd you know?" Now he actually felt dumbfounded.

"I've never done that to a straight, single man and had him jump away like that." She playfully grinned.

"Why do you care?" Fang sounded almost disgusted.

She shrugged, "I dunno… Because I can?"

Fang shook his head, sitting down in a folding chair nearby. He rested his head against his hand, and looked up at her with sincerity, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're really fucked up. You know that?"

Janie only laughed as she pulled up a chair across from him, "Tell me something I don't know."

Fang rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"You're quiet, you know that?"

Fang nodded, "And?"

"Just noting."

"Oh."

She stared long and hard at him, and Fang squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. And it was a long moment before she finally shook her head and looked out the window, "I don't get you."

"Well, you just met me." Fang replied sarcastically.

She waved her hand dismissively, "You've got everything going for you, but you don't even realize it."

"And how'd you come to that conclusion?"

"Iggy. It's easy to see, you care about him, he cares about you. But you're still this quiet little lone wolf. I just don't get it."

Fang rolled his eyes, "Maybe you're not suppose to."

"Look, I'm just a stranger making an observation. No need to get pissy."

Fang said nothing.

"Oh well, if you don't want to listen to me you don't have to. I mean, I'm not really saying anything. Just making a few observations."

Which was true, he supposed. It was just an observation. But a true one at that.

"C'mon, cheer up," she obviously felt remorse, "I didn't mean anything bad."

Fang shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

"Okay, I feel bad now. You're turn to make an awkward observation about me."

"Um… you're skinny."

"Great one, really," she rolled her eyes, "I would have never known."

"Okay, fine, you're… a whore."

"Once again, thank you captain obvious!"

"You know what? You're not who you think you are. You're not this slutty, stoner girl you want to be, you're not cool, you're not edgy. You're just fucked up. You want attention, and you've got it. But it's for all the wrong reasons, clean yourself up and stop pretending. Quit putting all that bullshit out. Nobody wants to hear it, nobody cares about it, so just stop!"

That, he realized, was a bit too far. Because he could definitely see glassy tears begin to fill her eyes. But she smiled and took his hand in her own. But it wasn't like before, she wasn't playing games or pretending. She was earnest. She was real. Fang was almost completely taken a back.

Ever so slighly, he felt her squeeze his hand affectionately, "Thanks."

"I want you to stay." Derrick said firmly, "You're my son, and I've been cheated of getting to know you, you can't leave me now."

"But…" what was he suppose to call him, Iggy wondered to himself, Dad? "we have to… there's no way around it, it's for our own protection."

"Can't you be protected here?" he sounded a bit like a whiny child, in all honesty. But one could hardly blame him.

"I want to… but I can't."

Derrick sighed. His glaze traveled around the room, and he chewed his bottom lip nervously. You could see he was thinking, the way his eyes darted from the pile of newspapers, to Iggy, the window, and back to his son. His brow furrowed, and at last, he took a deep breath in, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You're right. You've been through a lot, and you do need to be safe from those… Eraser things."

Iggy smiled, "Thanks for understanding."

"But," Iggy felt Derrick's hand squeeze his shoulder warmly and he felt his chest become suddenly tight in response. His hand was warm, and rough, but comforting. Just like it should be, "I want you to know, no matter where you live, no matter what happens, I am still your father. Even if we never see each other again, I am still your father. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that could change that. And I want you to know, that if you ever need help. I'll be there in a second."

Iggy felt himself blush, "I… thanks, Dad."

He said it, and it felt right.

"C'mon," Janie said, grabbing a beer and another water, her eyes no longer reddened and puffy, "I think they're almost done."

Fang nodded and followed her back into the living room, where he took his place next to Iggy. Though it seemed Janie had been kicked out of her seat, and after handing Iggy and Derrick their drinks, she took her father's old one. Which had now been vacated.

And for a second, no one said anything. Iggy's attention seemed to be turned on Fang, who was staring confusedly at Janie, who was looking intently at her father, who's gaze had landed on his son. Awkward was one term that might describe the situation. Amazingly uncomfortable for all parties involved was yet another, that might have described the situation a little better.

"I guess you guys are gonna have to get going soon," Derrick said after a moment. Fang wondered if he was somehow suppose to understand this reference, or if it was just a general sort of thing. But before he could think about it too hard, Iggy answered.

"Yeah," the blonde boy nodded, taking a small sip of his water, "I'd really like to stay, but…"

"Say no more," Derrick nodded, tapping Iggy's shoulder considerately, "I understand."

No one else really needed to say anything.

After a few awkward goodbyes, it actually was time to leave. Janie hugged both of them fiercely, kissing Fang's cheek and winking seductively before she parted. Fang might have been alarmed, if it wasn't for the fact that she burst into giggles only a second later.

Derrick pulled Iggy into a long, long hug. Wherein, he seemed to be whispering in his son's ear. Fang didn't know what, nor did he really think it was his place to know.

Derrick then turned to Fang, and did the same. Though the hug was only half time.

And as they parted, Derrick instructed Fang with his duties, "Take care of him."

A/N: I think we need to have a big "aw" moment. Ready? One, two, three... "aw".