The Disbanded: Divided We Stand – Chapter 60
By MyNameIsCAL
-Max's POV-
Fang didn't talk much for the next few days. I worried about him, but he would grunt and insist he was fine. There were moments, brief moments, where I would catch him with this look, sadly and deep in thought, probably thinking about Gazzy. When he noticed I was looking, he'd look away from me, his eyes hardening. At least he was healing.
Mom had offered to bring the others home, but Mike, who seemed to be taking charge of the FBI investigation, insisted we all stick together. Ted had been discharged a couple days ago, but he and Cal stuck around, looking after everyone for me. He had convinced Mike to let them get a hotel room a block away. Surprisingly, Eli had retreated to the hotel with them, refusing to help his brother.
I left Fang briefly to pay a visit to the others at the hotel. They seemed to be doing alright there. Ted, Cal, and I sat at the small table, looking out the window to Chicago rain.
"Eli is angry," Ted said, adjusting his sling. "Mike came by the other day and they had a fight. Well, more like a shouting match. It wasn't pretty."
That would explain Mike's bad mood for the past few days. "Exactly what were they fighting about?"
"Mike wanted Eli to help, but Eli said that he didn't want to help, that he was tired of the FBI. He said he was going to quit," Ted answered. "Eli feels betrayed. Mike wants to move on, but Eli isn't ready to."
I thought about how Jeb had betrayed us before. Back then, the idea of letting that get us down hadn't been an option. We had to fight for our survival.
Mom entered the room, looking tired. She took a seat next to me. "Did the doctor tell you when Fang is going to be released?"
"By the end of the week," I told her.
"It'll be good to get back home," Mom smiled. She turned to Ted and Cal. "You're welcomed to come, if you'd like."
Ted gave her a warm smile. "I think I have to get Cal back to college first. But we'll be around, don't you worry."
"You know, Ted and I were thinking of moving out there," Cal added. "Get married out there so you could all come."
"That sounds really great, but you don't have to do that, really," I responded.
"No, really, we gotta get away from the east coast," Ted said. "I'd like to raise our kids away from the place where we were being controlled by some backstabber."
I had to smile at Ted's joke, but somehow hearing that was a relief. After all those years of getting to know Cal and Ted, I would have missed them a lot if they stayed out there.
For a while, we talked about how the investigation was going. Janssen was dead and whoever was working for her were either fleeing the country or trying to hide. Every day they caught someone new trying to get away. Still, it was inevitable that they couldn't get everyone.
And then the conversation turned to Fang.
"How is he?" Cal asked.
"I think Gazzy's death is getting to him." I looked back out the window. "The doctor keeps telling him how great his recovery is, but Fang is just putting himself down."
"Well you tell him that Gazzy wouldn't have wanted him to be like that." Cal always had the right thing to say. "You tell him that he's got a life ahead of him, a life with you."
When I got back to the hospital, sitting next to him in bed, he curled up against me. "I want to go home, Max."
-Fang's POV-
Like the doctor had promised, I was out of the hospital at the end of the week. After some arguing with Mike, we were now on a private FBI jet heading to Arizona. Max sat next to me, holding my hand. Being in this plane would be the closest I would ever get to flying again.
"Look how beautiful the red rocks are," Max commented, pointing out the window with her other hand.
I looked out, not saying anything.
"Mom's house has a great view of them too," she went on. "I was thinking, we should get married in the backyard. I mean, wouldn't that be a great backdrop?"
"Sure," I mumbled.
She frowned. "What's wrong with you?"
"Max…"I cleared my throat. "Why would you want to marry me? You'll never be able to have kids, you'll never be able to go and fly anywhere, and you'll always have to worry about me."
"So what? Even if I didn't marry you, I'd still have to worry about you."
Well, she had a point.
"Fang, you think I'm going to walk away from you because you think you're not good enough for me?" Max sounded hurt.
"No…I just…" I didn't know how to respond to her. "I'm sorry."
Her head settled on my shoulder and we remained like that for the rest of the flight.
-Nudge's POV-
I watched Iggy and Ella. She disgusted me. Iggy was supposed to be mine. If it weren't for us getting captured, for Max being in love with Fang, this might have never happened. And yet I still couldn't help feeling sorry for Fang who kept putting himself down. I listened to him tell Max that she shouldn't marry him because he wouldn't be able to do a lot of things. She didn't care about any of that though. She just wanted him, and after all they've been through, it was hard for me not to root for them.
But still, Iggy and Ella's relationship was tearing me apart. How was I going to last with them at Dr. M's house? I thought everything was going to get easier now that the flock was back together, but those years apart had put too much distance between us.
Part of me was starting to think we'd never get back to where we were before.
This chapter is pretty much a filler, in all honesty. They just all have to get home and try to, well I guess, move on and work things out with each other. Of course, things will get complicated again. But I believe there are some weddings in the future to be seen, some happiness to restore, and some pain to relieve. I've got ideas, things planned out, but they need to be eased into.
The next couple of chapters will pick up some action again, hopefully. Thank you for reading and for your patience.
