(A/N) So OuttaControl asked me to update for their birthday. I got the message late, but I wrote this as soon as I could. I turned in my Honors stuff, so I should have more time to update now. Honestly, not much happens in this chapter. It's more explanations than pushing the plot, but I added a tad of FAX to make up for it. Not much, but a bit.

Disclaimer.

"Max? It is Max, right?" There was a brief pause. This voice was unfamiliar. "Do you speak?" There was another pause. "Max?" Whoever he was started snapping his fingers together. Man was this guy was already annoying.

I opened my eyes.

I was laying on Fang's couch...I think. My right eye was one huge ache. The knuckles on my hands were a dull ache as well. There was a bright flashlight shining in my eyes, so I sluggishly pulled my hand up to block the light. My knuckles were covered in dried blood.

What Happened? My eyes began to adjust to the light, though an uncomfortable flashing made them take longer than necessary. Fang was standing next to the man with the flashlight, his dark eyes were boring into mine with an expression that I couldn't understand. I didn't like it. It was making me all squirmy. I broke eye contact as I felt my face heat up.

The man next to him looked as annoying as he sounded. He had a really pinched face, like he was sucking on a lemon and smelling something rank at the same time. His wore thin-framed glasses, that were scooting toward the edge of his fat scrunched up nose. His brown eyes were watery and tiny. He looked like a bad representative of a sniveling, whining, rat-character from a fiction novel. I could totally see him back-stabbing every character, but being too much of a pansy to stand up for himself or anyone else.

"Max," he said my name with the slightest tone of distaste. Maybe he was as disgusted with me as I was with him. "Can you remember anything that happened?"

I glanced at Fang. I could remember him dancing. I remembered watching TV. Then...then Walter came. He broke the window. He hurt Angel. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. What happened after that?

"Do you remember Walter coming?" Fang asked me. I nodded. "The window?" I nodded again. "Angel?" I nodded. "You attacking Walter?" My head shot up in surprise. "You don't remember attacking him?" I shook my head. "At all?" I sighed. This was getting really old, really fast.

"What's the last thing you remember, er, Max?" The man acted like my name was so difficult to remember. I stared at him.

"She doesn't talk." Fang told him curtly. I could tell he didn't like him either by the way he only looked at him from the corner of his eyes.

"She can't or won't?" He demanded of Fang. He turned to me before giving him a chance to answer. "Look, I don't have time for you to be a stupid drama queen, little girl. The sooner I can get off work the better."

Why did people have to be that way? It seemed as if I couldn't catch a break lately. I just kept meeting one jerk after another.

"Move, Parker." A gruff voice demanded from next to the snivel-man. Parker, I guess his name was, jumped. He sent a sullen look over his shoulder and stomped away. I pulled myself into a sitting position. "You'll have to excuse Parker. He's an ass, but...actually, I guess you don't have to excuse him at all. He's an ass. I'm Dave. Dave Horwits. You must be Max?"

I felt a smirk tug at the corner of my mouth. I liked this guy. He was blunt, and funny. I nodded, and reached to take his outstretched hand.

Dave was a large man, but not fat. He was more mucled. He was very tall, even though he was squatting next to the couch in an effort to be on my level. He had a scruffy beard, and light green eyes. His brown hair was messy.

"I suppose you'd like to know how Walter got here?" I gave a brief nod. "He was bailed out of jail this morning, with strict orders to stay away from you. I wasn't on duty, but I know that whoever released him was supposed to notify you. Signs say he was bribed not to worn you. He'll be in trouble, don't you worry about that. The bail was set high, so whoever paid it paid through the nose. I'll look into it when I get back to the station.

"As for what happened this evening, I'll tell you what your friend and sister told me. Walter dropped by, he'd been drinking, and busted through the window. He grabbed your little sister over there," here Dave pointed over to the stairs where I saw Angel huddled under a blanket in Camy's lap. "From there, you rushed forward and pushed him down. You two got into a brief altercation, do you remember that?"

I shook my head. I'd gotten into a fight with Walter? Now that I thought of it directly, I could see brief images of it, but nothing was clear through the red haze.

"Basically, you gave him a broken nose, though your friend says that may be from when you opened the door. He had a busted lip, and a few loose teeth, but you're friend says you're little sis over there attacked him as well. He's being arrested again, with 'no bail' and he shouldn't be bothering you again." He looked at me for a moment with unreadable green eyes. "Are you feeling alright, Max?"

I took a shuddering breath. How did I feel? I'd gone from laughing at Fang's dancing, to enjoying the television, to fighting with Walter. All in the course of about two hours. My eye was throbbing, and I assumed it was from my fight. How had the fight even ended? Who called the police? When did they show up? I glanced back up at Dave helplessly.

"I'm sure you're shaken up, but you're a tough one, I can tell." I allowed myself a small smile as Dave searched for a pen and a pad of paper on the coffee table. "Here's my number at the station, just ask for officer Horwits. Don't be afraid to call if you need anything, alright?" I nodded, and he stood to leave. "Oh, and don't forget to thank you're friend here for everything he did."

Dave put a kind hand on my shoulder, and then clapped Fang on the back as he left. I was confused. What had Fang done? Did he call the cops? I folded Dave's number and shoved it into my pocket.

"Are you okay, Max?" Fang asked me softly. I shrugged. He sat next to me on the couch and I leaned into his side. "You scared me, when you went after him like that. I thought that maybe you had a death wish or something." I pinched him. "I know that you don't, you were just looking after Angel, but I didn't realize it at the time." I shrugged again. "It was definitely a good thing that Angel called the police before she came downstairs to attack him."

I looked up into Fang's eyes. If Angel called the police, what had Fang done?

"There's our little hero!" Fang's mom cooed, walking in from the kitchen with a plate of cookies. I scooted away from Fang and dove for them as she set them on the coffee table.

"Mom. Please don't call me that." If it were anyone other than Fang, I might have thought it was a whine.

"Are you all right, Max?" I nodded. "Both of you need to realize that what you did was dangerous, okay? Max, I know you were trying to help Angel, and Fang, I see that you were trying to help Max, but neither of you should have tried to fight with a fully grown drunk man. Understand?" I nodded, but raised an eyebrow at Fang.

"Yeah mom. Next time we'll go upstairs and hide." Mrs. Knight glared at her son.

"Attitude. Check it." She snapped before turning on her heel and stomping into the kitchen. I turned on Fang.

"It's not a big deal, Max. He punched you in the eye, and when you staggered back, I stepped in." He wouldn't make eye contact with me as he spoke. I stood, and made my way in front of Fang. I put a hand on the side of his face to make him look me in the eyes. I hoped he saw the honest gratitude in my eyes. I swooped in and gave him a brief hug before grabbing two cookies and walking over to Camy and Angel.

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