Catch and Release

Chapter 20

"Fang, I am so glad that you picked up."

"What's wrong?" He mumbled, refusing to open his eyes.

"What would you say if I was pregnant?"

That got him up.

"What? Nudge?" He sat up so fast that he got vertigo. Looking around, he found himself to be in Max's bed still, Carter playing with toys next to him. Max, who was over by the closet changing out of her work clothes, frowned, turning to look at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Calm down. I said if."

"I heard what you said. Why would you be pregnant?"

"Gee, Fang, take a wild guess."

"This isn't very funny," he warned as Carter moved to crawl into his lap. She was worried about him. Owl was being so loud. "What's going on?"

"I was just thinking about how much fun it was to have a baby."

"You still have a baby."

"But he's getting so big. One of us has to have another baby, Fang, and since it can't be you, it has to be me."

He groaned, falling back on the pillows again. Carter snuggled under his chin, giggling. "I hate our conversations. So much."

"Who's fault is that, Fang? I bring the heat, okay, and all you do is say stupid things that aren't even funny. If you're gonna be the dumb sidekick in our friendship, you're gonna have to take a comedy class or something, because right now? You're failing. Horribly. I mean, I don't even really want to talk to you anymore."

"…I'm the leader. Not the sidekick."

"That has to be the funniest thing you've ever said. Which is sad."

"That's Nudge?" Max asked as she came closer. "What does she want? Fang, we're about to go out to dinner."

"Ooh, is that Max? Did I hear something about dinner? Tell her I want to go." Then, in case Fang wouldn't relay the message, Nudge began to yell, "I want to go, Max! Can you hear me? I want to go!"

Frowning, Fang shoved the phone at his girlfriend before lifting Carter up and setting her down on the bed. With that, he took his cue to go shower and get ready. Max had given him some time to nap before their date, but he figured that was about up.

"Owl," Carter called after him. "Owl."

"I'll be back," he promised as Max began to talk to Nudge on the phone. "Soon."

By the time Fang had gotten out of the shower, Nudge had already arrived and convinced Max that they should go to some all you can eat buffet two towns over, because, according to her, 'It had better selections'. Yeah. You take a twenty minute shower…

"While we're out, Fang-"

"No," he told Nudge as he climbed into her SUV. "I'm driving which means-"

"It's my car, Fang."

'Then you can take your car and go where-"

"Fang," Max interrupted from the back seat. "Carter doesn't want me back her. She wants you."

He started the car. "Tough."

"Excuse me?"

He frowned, gripping the steering wheel as Nudge got into the passenger's side. "But…I'm the man. I drive."

Max snorted. "Okay, you're gonna have to-"

"That's the rule. The man drives. I thought you knew?" He glanced back at her. "That's why you've been letting me drive, right? Since I got my license? Because I'm the man?"

"No," Max said slowly as Carter threw Robbie at the back of Fang's chair, upsetting Evan for some reason. "I just got tired of driving all the time."

"Well…I wanna drive." He looked at Nudge. "I can drive, right?"

"Sure, sidekick."

"I'm not your-"

"Hey, Robin! Don't raise your freaking tone at Superman!"

"Batman, Nudge. You'd be Batman!"

"Oh, sure, because he's black?"

"No! Batman isn't black. The Green Lantern is black in certain comics because there are multiple Green Lanterns and-"

Nudge hit him in the arm. "Marvel only."

"You're the one who started talking about DC!"

"Alright, look, Robin, just get in the back and I won't tell Jean Grey about this, alright?"

"Now you're talking about X-Men, which is Marvel."

"Then what's the problem?"

Max groaned from the back seat. "Fine, Fang, just drive. And Carter, stop throwing your toys. Now. I mean it. And Nudge?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop picking on Fang."

"Trust me, Max, already moved on. I just got a text from Alex. Hear that, Max? Alex."

"I heard. I don't care, but I heard."

Fang sighed as Evan began to whine. "Max, can you take care of that?"

"Evan," Max cooed, reaching over her daughter who was in the middle seat to tend to the baby. "What's wrong? Huh? What's wrong?"

Fang just shook his head, glad that Max had taken the backseat so he wasn't stuck with caring with the kids. It sucked, taking care of two little kids in the back of a car. It really did.

After getting home from dinner, Fang hung around Max's only long enough to put Carter to bed before heading out to his own apartment. It was on the way there that his life just got a little bit more complicated.

There he was, walking down the street, when something hit him from behind. Fang turned quickly to find that it was a little boy. No, not a little boy, an older boy had run into him.

"Sebastian?" Fang frowned, pulling the boy's stocking cap off his head.

"You gotta help me, old man," Sebastian told him, glancing over his shoulder. "I'm in some trouble."

"Wha-"

"Come on." Seb grasped Fang's hand. "Hurry! Take me to your apartment. Hide me. I-"

"There he is!"

Fang looked back down the road to see a group of boys, clearly older than Sebastian, coming towards him. "This have to do with that fight a few weeks ago?"

"Please, guy, just-"

"Running never solved anything," Fang said as the once empty street filled up about ten older, teenaged boys. "You started this mess. You wanna play with the big boys, you get taken care of like the big boys."

Seb tried to jerk out of Fang's hold as the older man forced him to turn and face the onslaught. "I know that I called you some pretty shitty things, old man, but you cannot let them beat me up."

"Trust me," Fang said, straightening his back as they approached. "You'll thank me for this one day."

Needless to say, Fang was right about one thing. Seb did thank him. He thanked him for being so tall and brooding that the second the boys realized he was with him, they took off. He wasn't, however, thankful, for the lesson that Fang thought he would learn. Mainly because he didn't learn it.

Fang just sighed as the older boys ran away, leaving him and Seb on the street alone once more. Then, turning on his heel, he headed away, back the way he had come.

"Where are you going?" Seb quickly matched the man's pace. "You can't just leave me! The second you're gone they'll-"

"Look, kid, you've been nothing, but a little douche to me. Now that your little problem is gone, so is mine, which would be you. Now scram."

"No way, old man. You're responsible for me."

"In what way?"

"In the way that if those guys get to me, I'm gonna tell my mom, aunt, and grandma that you left me out to die."

"Dry. Left you out to dry. If you're gonna quote something-"

"Look, don't lecture me, old man."

"Stop calling me that! I'm hardly older than your mother." Fang rolled his shoulders as he made it to his apartment building. Without glancing behind him, he said, "You can stay for two hours. After that, how you get home is solely dependant on you."

It came as no shock to Fang that the second they got to his apartment, Sebastian whined. He was just like his cousin. Whining seemed to be in the Martinez blood.

"How come you haven't hooked up your cable yet?"

Fang ignored him as he sent a text out to Max, telling her that he had made it home alright and would call her in the morning, after work.

"What do you expect me to do over here?"

"Honestly, I couldn't care less." Fang glanced into his bedroom only to find that Angel was out. After retrieving his work clothes, Fang shut his bedroom door and told the boy not to go in there before heading to the bathroom for a shower.

"What makes you think I want to go into your stupid room anyways, huh?"

Ignoring him, Fang went along with his original plan for the night, not even noticing the kid when he got out of the shower. He just went into the kitchen to eat his before work snack before heading to his bedroom to nap.

The jarring noise of his ringtone woke him up. Groaning, he sat up on the bed to find that it was Max calling.

"I'm sleeping. You know that I sleep before work-"

"I need your help."

"With what?"

"My sister just called. Seb is miss-"

"Here."

"What?"

"Seb is here."

"Here as in…?"

"He's with me. Or he was. Hold on." Fang got out of bed and opened his bedroom door to find the boy asleep on his couch. "Yeah, he's here."

"Why? Fang-"

"Chill out. Tell his mother to come pick him up. He can explain himself to her. I really don't feel like it right-"

"You better watch it."

He just sighed a little bit. "That kid's asleep, Max. He got into some trouble with some older boys or something. What was I supposed to do?"

"Gee, call his mother?"

"I ain't his baby sitter, alright? In no way will I ever be that. He's not my problem."

"You're right, he's not. He's no one's problem, Fang."

"You know what I meant."

"No, I don't think I do."

"I'm hanging up now," he informed her. "Tell Ella to come get him, alright? I don't have time for this."

After hanging up, Fang turned off his phone before going back into his bedroom, kicking the door shut loud enough behind him as to wake the kid without him actually having to do it. Then, laying back down, he quickly fell right asleep. Although, it was to be noted that it was one of the shortest sleeps of his life, as he was rudely reawakened by a pounding on his front door.

After having a debate with his inner self, he forced himself to stand and go answer it. Once he was out of his room, he found that he had already been beaten to the door by a clearly morose Sebastian.

"-ever runaway again-"

"I didn't! I just left for awhile. I told you that I was leaving. You're the one that told me I couldn't. So I just…left."

Fang leaned against his doorway, watching Ella for a moment, the tone she had taken reminding him in certain ways of the old her or at least the one he had kind of known, back when they were teens, when it was only the whole world they had to worry about. You know, no pressure or anything.

"Go get in the car," Ella was saying as Fang tuned back into the conversation.

"I-"

"Now."

"You never freaking listen to me!"

With that, Sebastian fled from the apartment. For a second, Fang feared the boy would try to runaway again, but then he remembered that he didn't care about Sebastian. Or, at least, he wasn't supposed to. Besides, if his own mother wasn't concerned, why should he be? Fang already had his hands full with Carter; no need to add to that burden.

For a minute or so, it was just Fang and Ella, standing in an empty apartment, staring at each other. Okay, so maybe before, Fang had been a little harsh on Ella's looks because he was trying to prove himself to Max. She wasn't that bad. There were definitely worse women. Billions of them, probably.

…From an objective standpoint, of course. Of course. Right?

"Well, well, well, look what I've walked in on."

Fang jumped back for some reason, as if he had been caught by Angel or something. Recovering, he cleared his throat as Angel closed the door behind her and looked around.

"Should I be making my phone call now or-"

"Shut up, Angel."

Fang had spoken before thinking, shocking both women in the room. Just the tone he had used, the commanding caliber in his voice, brought them all back a few years. For a second, he just stared into Angel's eyes, as if daring her to speak. For the first time in a long time, Angel bowed down and looked off before walking into the kitchen.

"Thank you, Fang," Ella told him, looking back at him now. There was a moment or two where he just stared at her before he shook his head.

"You, uh, better go after him before he runs off again."

Nodding slightly, she turned and walked away, leaving him with Angel. He just looked at her before turning and going back into his room to get a blanket. When he went to go lay down on the couch, Angel spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep," he told her gruffly, still slightly angry that she had embarrassed him.

"Out here?"

"You're gonna be in there, huh?"

"I just figured you'd make me sleep out here, seeing as it's apparently beat up on Angel day."

"I wasn't beating up on you," he told her as he settled into his couch. "I'm just over your mouth."

"Whatever, Fang," she said as she headed into his bedroom. Fang just closed his eyes and went back to sleep until it was time for him to leave.

"Owl."

"I know. My poor, little, sick Carter." He lifted her up before setting her down on the counter. "Give me a second and then we can go lay down, huh?"

Fang had showed up at Max's place to Dr. Martinez being over, as Max got called in early. The vet was taking care of the little girl, who apparently wasn't feeling well. Now, a few hours later, Valencia was gone and Fang was left caring for her.

Carter began to whine a little bit. "Hot."

"I know." He looked at the bottles of medicine that Dr. Martinez had left out for him. What was he supposed to give Carter again? "Well go take a nap in a second, huh?"

"No," she whined, wiggling on the counter. "Go p'ay."

"You can't, silly." He reached over and patted her head gently. "How did little Carter get so sick? Huh? My poor, little Carter."

"Owl."

"I know."

"Owl?"

Fang just sighed as he finally figured out which medicine Carter needed. He quickly learned, however, that that was only half the battle.

"Okay, Carter," he said after pouring the right amount of liquid into the little cup, which should also be tacked on as part of the battle because that sucked as well. "You ready?"

As soon as she saw the red couch syrup, Carter covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head feverishly.

"No!"

"Carter-"

"No!" She removed her hands only to spit at him. "No!"

"Why not?" He looked at her with tired eyes. He had skipped out on his afternoon nap, staying up with worry. Now, here he was, trying to make her feel better, and she was, refusing his help. It was maddening, really.

"Bad." She spit again, though this time it was to show her disgust of the liquid, not him. "Bad, Owl."

"What's wrong with it?" Fang, having never had children's medicine, didn't understand her reserves. "Do you think I poured too much or something? Dr. Martinez told me-"

"Bad. Ew."

"You lean it tastes bad?" Fang sniffed at the cup before tentatively sticking his tongue out in an attempt to taste it. The second he did, he realized she was right. "You're right. This is nasty."

"No eat."

"Drink," he mumbled. "You're drinking it, not eating it."

"No eat."

"Well, you have to. I was told to give it to you, so-"

"No!" She threw her hands over her mouth again. "No, Owl!"

"Carter, I don't want to do it. I have to. I don't have a choice, okay? If I did, I wouldn't make you drink something that tastes as horrible as this, but I have no choice. Now open up."

"No!"

"I mean it, Carter," he said, his tone now switching over to command mode all on its own. "Now."

"Hate Owl!"

"I don't care."

Crying now, out of pain from her sickness and over how mean Owl was being, Carter opened her mouth to let out a series of wails. Seizing the opportunity, Fang quickly moved in, forcing her to drink the syrup.

"There you go," he said as she swallowed, though she really had no other option. Fang just watched her for a second as she began to cry again before lifting her up, into his arms. "You're okay now, Carter. It'll make you feel better."

Grimacing from the taste, she immediately stuck her tongue out and began to lick Fang's shirt in a vain attempt to ride her mouth of it. Fang allowed her to do it, mainly because he was too tired to make her stop. After rinsing out the medicine cup, Fang took her to Max's room and laid her down next to Lockheed and Robbie, who were still there from her previous nap.

"See?" Fang asked as she settled down some, yawning. "You're okay."

"No nap, Owl," she whined, though her tears had ceased. "No."

"You need to sleep, Carter. If you want to play…" He looked around the room, trying to think of something. "I guess we can play with your stuffed animals. Just the bear and dragon though," he quickly added as her excitement showed.

"No."

"Yes. That or sleep. Those are your only options."

Frowning at him, Carter picked up Robbie and shook him around a little bit, still yawning. "Robbie."

As he collapsed next to her on the bed, Carter began to play with the two toys, though that quickly got boring. Not to mention she was sleepy. So, without saying anything to Owl, she laid down next to his side and curled up to take a nap.

"So you were tired. Told you."

She just bit at his side, which Fang usually would have punished her for, but held off on because she was sick and all.

"Owl." She licked his hoodie before closing her eyes. "Nigh-nigh, Owl."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, watching her now as to be sure that there would be no more teeth involved in their nap. "Night-night."

When Fang woke up and Carter wasn't there, the first thing he did was not panic. In fact, he just rolled over to sleep some more, not even really thinking about her. About a minute into that though, he remembered that he wasn't at home, but rather he was at Max's and supposed to be babysitting. That was also around the time he realized that he was laying on top of something.

"Carter," he freaked as he shot up, though he immediately felt stupid when he found the object to just be Robbie. For a second he was relieved, though then he was angry. The little brat. Where did she run off to?

"Carter," Fang called as he stood up and looked under the bed and in the closet. When he couldn't find her in there, his panic returned.

"Carter!" He was yelling now, worried. Where was she? How come she couldn't just stay in one place? Huh? Why did she constantly have to be on the move?

When he got to the living room, the first thing he saw was a note taped to the front door. Heart sinking, Fang's fears began to set in. A note? Clearly, the School or Itex or someone had been here, taken Carter, and left the note. Right? Right?

Fang,

Got an appointment with the doctor. Boss let me off to take Carter. Was gonna wake you, but you've been so tired recently that I didn't have the heart. Be back later.

Max

The fuck? Taking a deep breath, Fang let it slowly out, his fear once again fading as his anger replaced it. It took everything in him not to call Max's cell right then and leave her a hateful message. Did she not know what she would do to him, taking Carter without warning him first?

He was like a caged animal, waiting around for Max to arrive back home. By the time she did, his rage had shifted into pretty much nothing, but annoyance. Besides, when she walked in with a sleeping toddler in her arms, Fang couldn't even begin to yell at her.

"Hi," she whispered as Fang stood and came to get the little girl from her.

"Hi," he mumbled back before taking Holden to her room and tucking her into her bed. Then, he quickly got the stuffed animals from Max's room and put them with her. Once he was done, he went back to the living room to deal with Max.

"What did the doctor say?"

"She's has the flu."

Fang made a face. "Like…the swine?"

"Fang," Max sighed. "Don't you think I would have led off with that? And it isn't 2008 anymore, alright? The world's changed a little since you were inside."

Fang just stared at her for a minute or two. "You could have woken me up. I thought that Carter…I got scared."

"Oh, Fang," was the response he got, a shake of the head added in. "I'm sorry. It's just…you've been so tired recently. I didn't want to upset you."

"Well you did."

"Come here." Coming over to him, she wrapped her arms around him, leaning into his chest as Fang just stood there, unresponsive. "You okay?"

"I am now. I know that she's okay now." He shifted slightly, but didn't break Max's hold. "Well, not okay. She's sick. She has the flu."

"Yeah. The flu."

"It's probably my fault, you know."

"How so?" Max mumbled against his chest, her voice coming out muffled.

"It was probably those nasty little brats she plays soccer with that got her sick," he told her. "My fault."

"Not your fault." Her voice was still muffled and was now also weaker. Max seemed to be tired also. "Mmmm, Fang. She cried the whole time we were at the doctor."

"Why?"

"She's scared of it."

"She can't possibly have memories of-"

"I don't know. Maybe it's subconscious?" She hugged him a little more before taking a step back, releasing him. "I'm off for the rest of the day though, so I think I'm gonna go nap while she's sleeping."

"I'll come too," Fang said, following behind her as she headed to her bedroom. Max just glanced behind her before getting into the bed.

"Shirt off."

"You first."

"Fang."

He pulled his hoodie over his head, but left his shirt on before getting into bed with her. This seemed to be enough for Max, as all she did was curl up on her side of the bed and sigh.

"I hate her being sick."

Max moved closer to him, running a hand down his arm. "Tell me about it."

"'bout how I hate her being sick?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "Tell me about this."

Glancing down, he watched as she traced the line down his arm, left over from the time he had tried to take his own life.

"What about it?" He asked, stoic once more. "I tried to kill myself. I failed. Move on."

She kept stroking the scar, running it up and down. "What did it feel like?"

He jerked his hand out from under her. "Cut it out."

"Tell me."

"No." He frowned at her. "No."

"Fang-"

"It disgusts me, the way that you need me to tell you about things like this, about how things hurt me. It's creepy, Max. So cut it out."

She made a face before moving back, away from him. "I just wanted to talk to you, Fang. That's all."

"No. You want to live through my pain or some freaky shit like that. I'm not down with that, alright?" He stared up at the ceiling blankly. "I mean, I know you're screwed up in the head like me, but come on. You can't be that much of a freak."

All he felt was a blind pain in his chest as Max's fist came down on it. Growling, he moved to get out of the bed, away from her.

"What the-"

Max just stared at him vacantly for a moment before laying back down. "You shouldn't have said that, Fang."

"Oh, come off it. You're crazier than me," he accused before stalking out of the room, slamming her bedroom door behind her. Then, wincing, he went to check to see if he had woken Carter.

"Owl?" She was sitting up in bed, whining slightly. Fang just went over to her and got into her bed, wrapping his arms tightly around the little girl. "Owl?"

"You're mom's mean to me sometimes," he whispered, hugging Carter to him. "Really mean."

"Hoo." Carter finally stopped her whining as she found her place against his chest. "Hoo, Owl."

"Hoo." Fang tucked her head under his chin. "Hoo."

"Hey. Hey. Fang. Fang. Get up. Fang."

His eyes flung open to see Max standing there, shaking his shoulder. He moved back slightly, shocked to find Carter actually still sleeping in his arms. Mark the day, Carter actually slept longer than him. Huh.

"What?" He stared up at Max, frowning slightly. "Why did you wake me?"

"We need to talk," she told him simply before turning and walking away, back out the door. "Now."

Fang laid there for a second before shifting Carter to the bed. Then, standing, he did a quick check of the girl, making sure she would still be comfortable, before heading out after Max.

"What do you want?"

"To talk," she said, shutting the bedroom door behind them. Fang, this time, stayed as far away from the bed as he could get. Nothing good ever came from there. Ever. Max, for her part, just stood there, staring at him, her arms crossed with a empty expression on her face.

"About what?"

"About what you said."

"What I said isn't up for debate." He just stared right back. "You always want to hear things about how much pain I was in or how hurt I was. It's wrong. You shouldn't get so much pleasure from my anguish. It's sick."

"You're sick, Fang, just for thinking that. And if you ever say that I'm fucked in the head again, I'll-"

"I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did."

"I said screwed."

"Oh, shut up," she ordered, exasperated by him and his facial expressions. "God, Fang, you make up the dumbest arguments. Screwed, fucked, I don't care. You insulted me."

"And? You freaking get hot from listening about how-"

"I do not get hot from that."

"Then why the hell were you asking about it?"

"Well, excuse me, Fang, for freaking asking you something. You stupid prick." She huffed. "Just get the hell out, huh? I don't want to see you anymore."

"Fine. I was sleeping anyways," he said, turning to go head back to Carter's room.

"No," Max told him simply. "Leave the apartment."

"What?"

"She's sick. I don't want you bothering her."

"I'm not bother-"

"Go."

"Fine!" Now pissed also, Fang stormed out of the apartment, though he made sure not to slam the door or make too much noise. Then, all was left was that long walk home.

"What are you doing up?" Fang asked Angel as he walked in to find her in the kitchen, raiding his fridge. "Shouldn't you be sleeping or something?"

"Actually, my dear Fang, I'm headed out."

"Out? To a club?" He stretched a little, his anger with Max slowly fading as he addressed Angel.

"No, Fang," she said in a slow voice, as if he had a hard time grasping simple concepts. "I'm leaving."

"For?"

"For Florida."

"What?"

"I'm leaving." She pointed to her bag, which he now noticed was next to the couch. "It's been great and everything, but it's time to move on. Besides, Mel is there, right now, on business."

"You're leaving me."

"Not you, Fang. I'll come back, you know, eventually." She went over to him and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"You can't…you were gonna leave without saying goodbye?"

"Oh, don't act shocked. I'd have left a message on your phone." She stared at him for a second, watching his crestfallen face with some sort of interest. "It's easier, you know, not say goodbye. It just is."

With that, Angel was gone, walking out the door, taking her bag with her. Fang wanted to call out to her, order her to stay, stop her from leaving, but he couldn't. Instead, he just stood there for awhile before fishing his phone out.

"Hello?"

"I need you."

"What? Is something wrong?"

"I need you now."

"…I'll be there soon."

Fang didn't even question who Carter had been given to when Max showed up. In fact, he said very little. Instead, the second he saw her, he brought her into a deep kiss, barely even given her a chance to shut the door. When he pulled away, she took a breath before speaking.

"What's going on? What happened?"

"Angel…left me."

"Left you?"

"For Florida. For Mel. I lost her again."

"Oh, Fang," Max sighed in that voice she always used when he was being unreasonable, but she still felt some sympathy for him. "Come here."

Max meant to pull him in for a hug, but Fang went for another kiss, and she didn't want to turn him down, not with what he was going through.

So maybe that was how they ended up in his bedroom, door shut, making out on the bed. In the few seconds that she had a chance to speak, she whimpered out.

"Maybe we can, you know."

"I know," he whispered between pecks as he kissed her neck, cheeks, lips. "I know."

"You mentioned…God…that once, you said we could do…other things. Instead of going…all the way…other…things…"

"Of course," Fang said in a nearly hushed murmur as his hand trailed down to the front of her pants. "We can always do other things."

Max just moaned, more so out of embarrassment than anything. Twenty minutes ago, she hated him. Now she was going to do…other things with him. What the heck was wrong with her?