Catch and Release

Chapter 13

"Wha'?"

"We're cleaning Mommy's apartment."

"Eye?"

"Because she's a very busy person. We don't have anything to do, so we should help out."

Carter frowned, but followed Owl as he went into her bedroom. She had woken up to find Owl still there, but Mommy was gone. Owl got her dressed and made her breakfast before springing this cleaning stuff on her. Bleh.

"Owl cry?"

"I told you, Carter, yesterday doesn't matter anymore. I'm better now." Max had stopped by his apartment before going to work and brought him his medicine. He was fine now. Everything was fine now. Fang had Carter and Max wasn't being mean anymore. Everything was perfect.

"Eye?" She asked as Fang began to take her sheets off her bed.

"We're washing sheets."

"Oh."

After he had hers, he head to Max's room to get hers. He hadn't spent much time in his girlfriend's bedroom and was nervous about being in there. Still, he had decided to do this, so now he had to.

After getting all of the sheets and pillowcases, Fang took them and Carter downstairs to where Max had shown him the laundry room in the apartment building was. As it was a weekday morning, no one was around. Which was good. Fang didn't do people good. At all.

"Here you go." Fang sat Carter down on the washer next to the one he was using before loading the sheets in. He had found some detergent under Max's bathroom sink and brought it with them. Once that was all done, he picked up the laundry basket, detergent bottle, and Carter before heading back up to the apartment.

"Now?"

"Now we vacuum. Do you know what we have to do before we start vacuuming?"

"Wha'?"

"We have to pick up all the toys off the floor and put them away."

"No!"

"Yes." He shook his head at her. "Just come on, Carter. The quicker we do it, the faster it'll go."

Carter wasn't much help with cleaning, though Fang wasn't expecting her to. Really, all she did was whine and complain about how bored she was. Which was fine. Fang didn't mind. He was just happy to have Carter back again.

"Owl," she whined later as they walked down to the laundry room again to move the sheets to a dryer. "Owl."

"What? What's wrong with you?"

"P'ay."

"You can't play right now, Carter," he said, grasping her hand when she tried to run off. "Carter, don't run away from me."

"Owl." She smiled up at him. "Owl clean. Car'er p'ay."

He just squeezed her hand gently. "You're funny, you know that?"

"Yes. Hehe."

"Yeah. Hehe." He glanced down at her. "So what do you wanna do for lunch?"

"Mmmm…Go see Nub."

"You wanna go see Nudge?"

"Yes! 'n' An'el."

"Anal?" Seemed pretty fitting name for the girl. "Or Angel?"

"Yes. An'el."

"You like Angel, huh?" Fang asked, shifting Carter into his arms as they came to the laundry room. Carter nodded her head, nuzzling under his chin. "What do you like about her?"

"Pretty hair."

"You like her hair?"

"Yes. Soft." Reaching up, she petted his head. "Owl rough."

"Thanks," he commented dryly. "Angel and I aren't really getting along right now."

"Mmmm." She yawned loudly. "Owl nigh-nigh."

"I did sleep over, didn't I?"

"Fo't."

"Yeah, I should have built you a fort, huh?"

"Owl sad. Owl baby." She patted his cheek. "Poo' Owl."

"Poor me," he mumbled. "Hey, Carter, how about instead of eating dinner with the girls, we make them all dinner? Wouldn't that be fun? Me and you making dinner?"

Carter frowned. What was wrong with Owl? Cleaning and cooking? "Owl."

"I can cook. Kind of. After we saved the world, I used to make dinner. Max and I rented this apartment for the Flock. All of us. Even Dylan. It was…fun, for awhile. I would cook when Iggy wouldn't. Except one time I burnt this fish and that stunk up the whole place. Our neighbors were furious. But I won't be making fish anyways."

"Owl cook. Cook, Owl."

"That's right. You can cook too, Carter."

"Me cook. Car'er cook. Yes." She wiggled until he sat her down. "Clothes."

"Not clothes, Carter. Sheets."

She ran over to the dryer they had used. "Owl. Open."

"You know the word open? Wow, Carter, you're really getting the hang of this speaking thing."

Happy with the praise, Carter hugged his leg when he got close enough. "Owl."

He gave her a pat on the head before putting the sheets in the laundry basket. "Come on, Carter. And no running away from me, huh? Then, maybe, I'll let you go to the store with me."

Go to the store? Boring. That must have shown through on her face, as Fang quickly added, "There will be candy involved."

"Yummy!" She happily held onto his jeans, not wanting him to even think that she was running away. "Can'y."

"Yeah. Candy." He smiled down at her, betraying his inner self. That was okay though, with Carter. Carter wasn't anyone that he had to hide his feelings from. She never hid hers from him. She was a very open person.

When they got back to the apartment, Fang quickly put the sheets on each bed before getting to work on the bathroom. Once that was all clean, Fang and Carter took a short rest before heading out to the store.

"What should we make, Carter?"

"Cow. Moo!"

"Hmmm…hamburgers? You wanna grill burgers? Dr. Martinez has a grill. I've seen it." They were currently walking down the street, Carter holding tightly to Fang's jeans. It was kind of windy, which always scared her. "I should text everyone, telling them. We're such a good team, Carter."

"Apple."

"Yeah, we can get some of those too, if you want."

She nuzzled his leg. "S'ore."

"What's sore?"

"S'ore."

"Sore…Store. Yep, Carter, that's where we're going," he said, glancing at her after he finished texting. "I think I'm going the right way. I'm still kind of new in town, you know."

"Wanakama."

"Yeah. Sure."

Once they got to the store, Fang promptly placed Carter in a basket, reminding her that the only way she would get candy was if she behaved. Carter promised to be good, nodding her head feverishly.

"Hi, do you have a store card- Fang."

"Hi." Fang smiled as he came up to Max's checkout line. "Say hi, Carter."

She was busy playing with the zipper on her jacket. "Hi, Mommy."

Max just sighed, staring at them. "Fang, what are you doing here?"

"Buying things for dinner. Huh, Carter?"

"Yeah." She finally finished with her zipper and held her arms out to Max as she pulled the cart closer to start unloading it. "Up."

Max picked her up, but quickly sat her back down, wanting to get Fang in and out as fast as possible.

"Owl." Carter was behind the counter now and couldn't see him. "Owl?"

"Shhh, baby," Max mumbled, scanning Fang's items. "Who are you making dinner for, Fang?"

"Everyone. Even you, if you can come." He looked over the counter at Carter. "We're making it all by ourselves. Huh, Carter?"

"Owl. Can'y."

Max shook her head. "Do you even have money, Fang?"

"Yes."

"And have you taken your meds for the afternoon?"

"…I'm working on it, alright?" He shook his head. "Carter and I have been busy."

"Do Mom and the others even want you to cook for them?"

"I'm sorry, Max, but aren't you working right now?"

She sent him a look. "Don't get smart with me after the meltdown you had last night."

Carter poked Max's leg. "Mommy? Home?"

"I'm working, sweetie," she said before telling Fang his total.

Fang paid before reaching to pick up his bags. "Come on, Carter. Time to go."

"You're walking home?" Max asked.

"Yep."

"And she won't run off?"

"Nope."

"Fang-"

"Max, we're doing this, alright?"

"Just…I have my break in ten minutes. Go sit outside and wait for me. I'll drive you where ever it is that you're going."

"Max-"

"Just do it, Fang."

Carter and Fang were busy sitting on the curb outside when Max showed up. Fang had already allowed Carter her candy bar, so she was all sticky and chocolate covered.

"Oh, Fang, you always get her so messy."

He just picked up the grocery bags. "We're going to Dr. Martinez's. Can you take us there?"

"Yeah, come on," she said, shaking her head. "I can't believe you got that messy from one candy bar, Carter."

"Mommy." She rushed behind Fang, grasping onto his jeans rather quickly. Before, it had just been to get candy, but now…she was kind of scared. What if Owl and Mommy forgot her? Then what would she do? Just wait for Granny to come get her? Nub? That could take forever.

"Owl."

Max shook her head at the two of them. "She sure does mind you well. She'd try to run away if it was just me. You control her very well."

"I don't control her, Max," he said as they got to the car. He quickly put his groceries up before setting Carter in the car. "We have an understanding."

"Oh? And what kind of understanding would that be?"

"That she should behave because we're friends. You don't act up in front of your friends, do you?" He ran a hand down Carter's head before closing the car door. Once he and Max were both in the car, Carter decided to spring someone on them.

"Tummy."

"You're hungry?" Fang asked, glancing back at her. "You just ate that candy bar."

She shook her head. "Tummy, Mommy."

"She's sick. She ate too much," Max said, not even glancing back at her daughter.

Frowning, Fang asked, "How do you know?"

"Her tone."

Fang looked back at Carter again. "Does your stomach hurt?"

"Yes. Yes, Owl."

"I'm sorry."

"Owl."

"Don't be sorry for her. She shouldn't have eaten so much."

"We only ate breakfast so far, Max," Fang said defensively. It seemed like every time Carter didn't feel well, the women would make up some reason for him not to be sympathetic. It wasn't fair. They shouldn't be able to tell him how to feel.

She just shook her head, not saying anything more on the subject.

By the time they got to the vet's house, Fang was about done with Carter too, as she had taken to whining about everything. From how sticky she was to how she didn't like the way her hair was, Carter complained the whole way. Fang wanted to yell at her, but suppressed the feeling. He had yet to yell at Carter and, after last night, he didn't want to test Max on her new found support of him being in her life.

"I have to hurry," Max told Fang as she got Carter out of her car seat. "Does Mom know you guys are here?"

"I texted. She said that it was fine."

"Alright," Max said, using her key to let them into the house. "If you're sure."

"Max, I wouldn't just come in here without being told I could." He frowned as he got the groceries out of the back and headed in behind her. "Besides, Angel is-"

"Right here. What are you guys doing over here?" She poked her head in from the living room. "Oh. Max. Good. I need to talk to you."

"I'm sure you do," Max said as she release Carter on the ground. "But I have to go. I'm sorry if I don't make it to dinner, Fang. If I don't, leave Carter with Mom, alright?"

He just nodded, watching as the little girl took to whining about how Angel wouldn't hold her. Why wouldn't Angel touch her? Because she was still covered in chocolate. Sighing, Fang decided to take care of that first.

"Bye, guys," Max said as she headed out of the house. "And don't let Carter act a fool today, alright?"

With that word to the wise, she was gone. Angel just stared at him for a moment.

"Act a fool?"

Fang looked down at Carter, who was now attempting to lick up all the chocolate from her hands. "She can do that from time to time, I suppose."

"Whatever," Angel said dismissively, probably peeved that she still didn't have that loan from Max. Shaking his head, Fang took the groceries to the kitchen before taking Carter to get her all cleaned up. After that mess was taken care of, Carter demanded juice, which he promptly found out Valencia was out of. That sparked a war between them, in which Fang sent Carter to the corner to spend a few minutes by herself. Really, it was just to give him some time to clear his head.

"How do you even use a grill?" He mumbled to himself, staring out the back screen door at it. He had bought charcoal for it as he was pretty sure it wasn't a propane grill, but you could never be too sure.

"Owl?"

Fang glanced down to find Carter at his feet, no longer crying, but still red eyed.

"Are you done being mean?"

"Yes, Owl," she agreed.

"Then you can help me make dinner. Okay?"

Nodding, she went to work on clambering up the counter drawers to reach the top. Fang sighed, grabbing the back of her shirt and setting her down on the counter.

"You could have just asked.

She barred her teeth at him before looking through the bag of groceries. "Dinner."

"Yeah. Dinner. Somehow." Fang scratch the back of his head. "I'm not exactly sure where to start though, Carter."

Oh. Owl was stuck. Owl was so dumb sometimes.

"Here," Carter said beginning to take all of the things out of the baskets. You'd think Owl would know how to do that, but apparently not.

"You think…no, I don't need….I have to actually make dinner, silly."

"Oh." What was Owl talking about now?

"Yeah, oh." He patted her on the head. "You're funny though, Carter. You know that?"

She got bored with unloading the bags and finally sat back on her butt. "An'el."

Fang didn't have to glance behind him to know that the blonde had just entered the room. She ignored them both though as she headed out into the backyard to do something. Fang didn't find that out what until awhile later after he figured out what to mix the hamburger meat with and headed out into the backyard to work on conquering the grill.

"Ooh," Carter exclaimed as she saw Angel sitting on the porch rail, smoking. "Ooh."

Angel giggled at the little girl. "Want a puff?"

Fang's face turned dark. "You-"

"It was a joke, Fang. I'm not that incompetent." She blew her smoke away from the little girl as she came to stand at Angel's feet. "What do you want, Carter?"

"An'el."

"Can I get a redo on my name?" Angel asked. "You get Owl, Nudge gets Nub, and I get Anal? That is not fair."

Ignoring her once more, Fang sat the bowl with the hamburger meat down. Then, clearing his throat, he asked Angel for a match.

"A match? What makes you think I'm that old school?" Angel stood up. "You've never lit a grill before?"

He just shook his head.

"You're such a chick. Do you have any lighter fluid?"

Again, she got a no.

"Hold on, let me go get some paper."

"What?"

"You'll see."

After teaching Fang to light a grill without lighter fluid, Angel disappeared back in the house, leaving him and Carter to learn the rest all on their own.

"Owl? Up?"

"Not on the grill, no."

"No, Owl." She pushed his leg before running over to one of the chairs on the porch and climbing into it. "Owl."

"No."

She stuck her tongue out at him before focusing on a ladybug that had crawled onto the chair with her. Fang just shook his head, glad that she was finally quiet.

"Owl."

Fang just looked down at Carter, whose burger had just fallen apart. "Uh-oh."

Carter just giggled, leaning against him. They had take the porch steps as their spot outside, giving the girls the chairs and table. That was fine though. Fang was sure that Max had already told everyone about the previous night, so he didn't really want any of them to strike up a conversation with him.

"Do you like your food, Carter?"

"Yes." She ate a French frie. "Owl."

"I'm here."

Fang looked up as Max came into the backyard through the gate. Everyone else called out a greeting, but Carter actually sat her plate down on the step and ran to go see her mother. Max quickly lifted her up before making her way over to Fang.

"So you managed to cook without me?"

He just stared at her for a second before weakly joking, "I think it was for the best."

That just got him an eye roll, but Fang didn't mind much. Having Max roll her eyes at him playfully was better than having her hate him. A lot better, when he thought about it.

"I brought your medicine," Max told him discretely as she sat a bag at is feet.

"How'd you get into my apartment?"

"You gave me your key this morning, when I got your morning medicine, remember?"

Fang just shrugged, not turning to watch Max as she walked up the porch steps to join the girls and Sebastian. The only problem? She took Carter! This was quickly resolved, however, after Max got her food and returned to Fang, Carter and all.

"They saved you a seat," he told her as Carter went back to her own food, happily distracted with the rest of her dinner.

Max glanced over her shoulder at the others before looking at Fang. "I think I'd rather sit here."

He couldn't help it when he smiled at her. She could have when she smiled back at him.

"Owl."

Way to ruin the moment, Carter… Sighing, Fang looked down at her to find that she was now holding out some of her fries, seemingly as an offering.

"Owl."

"Thank you, Carter," he said, taking them as Max ran a hand down his arm. "But aren't you still hungry?"

She looked down at her paper plate, which still had some of her fallen apart hamburger. "No, Owl."

With that, Carter rushed back up the porch, headed over to Sebastian. "Seb!"

Fang held down an eye roll of his own. Still, Max took notice of it and comforted him in her own way.

"She likes you."

"I know."

"Seb's just been around longer."

"I know."

"Not to mention, since you showed up, she never gets to see him."

"I know."

"Besides, he has spiky hair."

"I kn…what?"

Giggling softly, Max took a bite of her burger. "Thank you for making dinner, Fang."

He just nodded.

"I stopped by my place to change out of my work clothes." She glanced at him. "Did you clean? It looks nice. Thank you very much."

Fang just shook his head. "It was nothing."

"No, it was something. You washed sheets too, huh?"

"How'd you know?"

"I might have taken a quick nap before I came over."

Fang shook his head. "You deserve it."

"Fang-"

"I'm sorry about last night."

"Let's not talk about it anymore, huh? Why dwell in the past?"

When Fang found that funny, Max called him out on it, wanting to know why.

"It's just…Your mom says that a lot."

"Huh? I've never heard her say it."

"She told it to me when I got angry with her that she didn't tell me about Carter. Then again, some other time. I can't remember exactly. It's just, you know, funny that you both say the same thing." He glanced behind him, finding Evan crawling around on the deck with Carter chasing around after him, apparently playing some sort of a game.

"Don't hurt him, Carter," Fang heard Ella tell her. "You hear me?"

"Oh, leave them alone," Nudge countered. "You worry about every little thing."

"I do not."

"You still check Sebastian's teeth to make sure he brushed them well."

"I don't want him to get cavities."

Valencia sighed loudly before standing and coming to stand behind her daughter and Fang.

"I wanted to thank you again, Fang. It was so nice of you to make us all dinner."

"It was noth-"

"He cleaned my apartment too," Max interrupted.

"I c'ean," Carter called out to her mother. "Mommy. Car'er c'ean."

"Thank you, Carter," Max told her sincerely. "You and Owl are such a big help."

"Owl." Carter went back to playing with Evan, who didn't seem to even know that he was playing. "Evan!"

After her mom walked away, Max leaned over and kissed Fang's cheek gently, making him flush.

"You did good, Fang." She ran a hand down his arm one more time.

"I…Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Owl nigh-nigh lots."

"Yeah, he does stay the night a lot, huh?"

"Not staying, Carter, just visiting. I have work tonight." He sat down on the couch. "Besides, you need to go to bed right now."

"She needs a bath first."

Fang shook his head. "No. Not again."

"Fang-"

"She freaking soaked me."

Max sighed, closing the door behind her. "I'll help you bathe her."

"Can't you just do it?" Fang closed his eyes. "I'm tired."

Groaning, Max told him to at least get her night clothes for her, which Fang obliged to. He was kind of barging in anyways; he might as well help out.

Getting Carter ready for bed was pretty much the same as always. Only, when Fang and Max went into her room with her for story time, she demanded a new story.

"No, Owl!" She pushed his hand away from her stack of children's books. "No! Owl s'ory."

"I'm not sorry. I'm trying to get a book."

"Story. She puts a 'wa' sound in sorry." Max sat down on the bed. "She wants you to tell a story."

"I don't-"

"Dylan does it for her, when he's here."

How did Max always know what to say to get him to do what he didn't want to?

"What kind of story, Carter?"

The little girl climbed into bed, making sure Lockheed and Robbie went along with her. "Owl."

"You want a story about me?"

She nodded before patting her pillow. "Owl."

"Huh?"

"Owl." She scooted over some, indicating that she wanted him to lie down with them. Fang hesitated, looking to Max for guidance as always, but she just laid down, staring at him.

"I have to pick you up," he mumbled to Carter, doing so before lying down, her on his chest. Max was basically squished against the wall, but she just cuddled into his side, sighing.

"What do you want me to tell you about, Carter?" Fang asked, shifting slightly. Max could tell he was uncomfortable, so she tried her hardest not to bother him more by stroking his chest or something.

"Owl."

"Carter-"

"Tell her about that time you took me on that date and when we got back home, Iggy and Nudge had thrown that party. Remember? It was right after the world was saved. Dylan had gone out too, by himself-"

"To spy on us probably."

"-so they decided that was their only chance."

"Who's telling the story here, Max?"

She just closed her eyes, shaking her head softly. "Go on, Fang. Tell her about that."

"Okay," Fang mumbled, stroking the back of Carter's head absently as she settled into his body. "Do you know what a date is, Carter? It's what you do when you go out with only one person, like out as in to the movies or to dinner or something like that. I took Mommy out bowling. It…didn't go well. She won. Each frame. So, when we got back, I wasn't exactly happy."

"Fang's a sore loser," Max told her daughter, who was now sucking her thumb.

"Anyways, before we went home, Mommy whined and whined until I stopped to get her ice cream."

"You're the one that wanted ice-"

"So, I took her home, where we found the party. Mommy got so mad that they did that. Really mad. I didn't care much, but it didn't look good, you know?" Fang wasn't really talking to Carter anymore, but rather retelling the story in a way he would anyone who asked, not a toddler that's vocabulary consisted primarily of about fifty words. "We had just saved the world, you know? We were in the news all the time. Then Iggy had to go and get all that beer… Max was trying to get real custody of the other kids, which was near impossible to begin with, but that made it even harder. And we couldn't even yell at Nudge because she was far too wasted to comprehend anything that we said."

"You're forgetting the best part, Fang."

"What was the best part?' He glanced at Carter's mother, truly confused.

"The part when you tried to help that girl up, the one that we caught Iggy with, and she claimed to know you. You kept saying that she didn't, but then she said that yeah she did. You were the wanna be that was always in the news, the one with the ugly wings. Remember how pissed you got?"

"I was only pissed because she freaking puked on me."

"No, you were pissed before that." Max smiled against the side of his chest at the memory, though it clearly wasn't a pleasurable one for Fang.

"I thought we couldn't say that word?"

Max gestured to the girl on his chest lazily. "She's asleep."

Still, Fang kept stroking her hair soothingly. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. Whenever I claim that she's asleep and she's not, she starts giggling."

Another good thing to know. He would have to add that to his list.

"How do we get out of the bed?" Max asked a moment later when both of them had fallen silent, story time dying with Carter's consciousness.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, really. I guess I have to get up first."

"It'll be hard not to wake her," Max mumbled, her eyes slipping closed. "Maybe I should just, you know, stay here."

Fang did his best to shrug without disturbing the little girl. "That's up to you, but I work tonight."

"Well then." She giggled softly. "I really am happy with you today. You know that right?"

He nodded slightly. "Yes, I know."

"And I'm…sorry about last night too."

"You didn't-"

"But I did, Fang. And I shouldn't have."

"You're a lot nicer to me than most women would be, put in your situation."

"Yes, well, I'm also a lot meaner to you than others would be, in some aspects. It shouldn't have to be a tradeoff. I should just be kind to you all the time, but I'm not."

"It's okay," Fang mumbled, not liking the way she was acting. He liked abrasive Max a lot more these days than remorseful Max.

"But it's not."

"I…I have to go now." Fang lifted Carter gently up before scooting away from Max and lying her down next to her mother. Then he made sure she had Robbie and Lockheed before looking at Max. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sorry that I can't give you a ride home. I have Carter."

"I know. If I wanted a ride home, I should have taken one when we were in the car. I wanted to come over."

"Still."

Fang just ran a hand down Carter's head, shaking his own slowly. Then he retreated out of the room to get his shoes. He kind of wished that Max had gotten out of the bed and followed him out to at least bid him goodbye, but he understood. Max had to be dog tired. Who was he to complain?

By the time Fang got to his place, he was ready for a quick shower and some fruit before he headed off to work, but someone killed those plans as ten minutes into him being in the apartment, there was a knock at the door. He had just finished his check of the place, so he felt safe to answer.

"So this is casa de Fang."

Frowning, he took a step back, allowing Angel entrance against his better judgment.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm living here, I hope."

"…What?"

"Well, you work nights, right? And I'll only need the bed at night, so that works out great, huh?"

"What happened to staying at Dr. Martinez's?"

"Valencia and I aren't seeing eye to eye."

"Me and you aren't seeing eye to eye."

"Yeah, but you have to let me stay here. Unless you want me to go bother Max. You know, I haven't had a chance to talk to her about that loan yet-"

"Fine, stay."

"Oh, trust me, I was." Angel sat her bag at his feet. "So are you taking off now or-"

"Not until later. I was going to take a shower."

"Cool, cool." She walked around him and began to inspect the place. Shaking his head, Fang closed the door before kicking at her bag.

"There aren't any drugs in there, are there?"

"Why, Fang, what are you accusing me of exactly?"

"Drug use."

"You're so dry these days, Fang," Angel told him, turning around to stare at him as she made it into the kitchen. "You used to be fun."

"And you used to be innocent."

He got an eye roll for that. "I was never innocent."

Shaking his head, Fang walked off to his bedroom. "Look, Angel, you can stay here under conditions."

"Ooh, a game."

"You're not funny."

"I just figured, Fang, that after all the rules that held you down for so long, you'd be more lax."

"Yeah, well, I'm not."

"I can tell."

"You are not going to ask Max for money. Ever. You hear me?"

"Yeah, I'm not deaf. You don't want me borrowing money from her."

"That's right. And you're not gonna start fights with Dr. Martinez."

"But she-"

"I don't care, Angel. At all. You're going to be respectful towards her. I've never really made you follow any rules, but this is one that you're going to. Understand?"

"Whatever."

"You can have my bed when I'm gone, but no drugs."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I mean it. Max is trusting me with Carter's care. I'm not screwing that up because of you."

"Max loves me."

"Max loves her daughter more."

"Oh, and what? You do too?" Angel stared at him for a moment when he didn't answer. "Fang, Fang, Fang. What makes her more important to you than me, huh? She's no more your child than I am."

He wanted to hurt Angel. He wanted to hurt her very badly. Then he took a deep breath and walked into his bedroom to get his clothes before going into the bathroom, not saying another word to Angel. When he left the apartment about an hour later, Fang still didn't say anything.

If Angel wanted to stay with him, fine. But he'd be damned before he let her question his relationship with Carter and Max.