Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or locations from Gargoyles, those belong to their owners.

Author's note: This story takes place the summer following "The Journey", and though it ignores the comic's continuity, I'm using Fang's real name, revealed in Bad Guys #2. I've also decided to not put title in chapters anymore, it's annoying to think of new ones each time.

Chance Meetings

Chapter 14

by Remtar85

Detective Elisa Maza sighed as she went through some paperwork. She had been hoping for a quiet night so she could head out and spend time with Goliath, but due to a big shootout at the docks, she had to remain at the station to help out with paperwork and with witnesses, mainly workers at the docks. She had checked all the details of the shootout, where a trio of men riding motorcycles had shot at a man who had come in a cargo ship. It had been pandemonium, with a few people injured, including several warehouse workers and one of the motorcyclists, who was promptly arrested by the police. A second motorcyclist was shot dead by the bodyguards, while the third had tried to flee but was unable to evade the police, getting caught as well, but not before murdering one of the bodyguards.

Elisa studied the files one last time. The man in charge of the bodyguards and the cargo had been carrying a suitcase, which he reported stolen after he had stumbled out of an alley towards the police, claiming that someone used a taser on him from behind. When asked to reveal the contents of the suitcase, he said that his higher ups did not reveal them to him and he didn't take a look himself, stating that he was following orders. He was currently placing a phone call to said higher ups to explain the situation, and by this point there was not much else Elisa could do for the investigation. Putting her workspace back in order, she signed out and left the building, but as she was about to reach her car, she heard someone calling for her.

"Detective Maza!"

Turning around, Elisa recognized the young blonde man approaching her. "Hey, Tim. It's good to see you. I saw your name on the list of witnesses and remembered that you got a job recently in that area. You were at the warehouse shootout, right?"

"Yeah, I was. Another officer was asking for my statement on how it all went down," Tim answered. "But I wanted to talk to you about something else, and it was better to do it out here."

"What is it?"

"It happened during the shootout," Tim said. "Fang was there."

"Fang? What was he doing there?" Elisa asked.

"He said he was just passing by. But I doubt it," Tim said, shaking his head a bit. "He took off in the direction of the gunshots."

Elisa's expression changed, as a look of realization came to her face. "The man in charge of the cargo said that the suitcase he was carrying got stolen from him after someone tased him from behind. All the witnesses have said that they saw only three men on motorcycles. One was killed during the shootout, another was arrested and the third was seen fleeing the scene but wasn't carrying anything."

Tim realized what Elisa was getting at. "So that means..."

"Fang stole that suitcase," Elisa said, completing Tim's sentence.

"Right."

"And not even the man in charge of the ship's cargo knew what was inside," Elisa said.

"Well, those guys in the motorcycles sure seemed to know," Tim pointed out.

"I doubt Fang would just take a suitcase without knowing what's inside, much less if he'd be willing to risk getting involved in a shootout to try to get it," Elisa said. "He was recently seen with Demona, so I'm sure she sent him for it. Which means that Demona has that suitcase and whatever was inside it."

Tim, who knew about Demona from the time she was imprisoned in the Labyrinth, nodded. "And that can only mean bad things. Damn it, and just when I thought he was staying out of trouble. I mean, he saved my life back there."

"He did? How?"

"When a bunch of us were running away, one of those biker freaks was coming after the guy with the suitcase, and he just came at us, shooting. Fang came from out of nowhere and grabbed me, flew me up to the roof of one of the warehouses and told me to stay there until the police showed up."

Elisa nodded. "I see."

"Look, Detective, I know Fang's kind of an ass and a trouble maker," Tim said. "But he's always been cool with me and he saved my life tonight."

"I get it, Tim," Elisa said, "but as long as he's working with Demona, he's dangerous and we need to do something about it."

"I know, I know," Tim said. "I get that you and your brother and your gargoyle friends have to take him in and all. Just don't be too harsh on him, okay? He actually has a decent side to him."

Elisa couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "I don't doubt it, seeing as he did help you. It's a shame he doesn't show it more often."

Daniel Sykes was apprehensive during breakfast that morning. As per usual lately, his mother and stepfather had both left early for work. Daniel and his uncle Fang eventually woke up as well, and feeling happy for his success the previous night on his job, Fang sent the child to buy some things for a big breakfast as a way to celebrate, and before long, the mutate had cooked up a big meal for himself and his nephew. Through all this Daniel stayed quiet, and it was only after eating that he finally decided he couldn't hold it any longer. He had to tell his uncle about meeting that gargoyle the night before. Fang's reaction was pretty much as Daniel expected it, with the mutate almost choking on his second cup of coffee.

"You did what?!" the mutate exclaimed after the coughing fit from almost choking.

"It wasn't on purpose, I swear!" Daniel replied. "I thought it was you returning home."

Fang sighed. "Damn it, I should've figured something like this would happen. They're gonna come after me now."

"No they won't," Daniel said. The mutate peered at the boy with a raised eyebrow before Daniel continued. "This gargoyle, Broadway, said that they figured out some time ago that you're living here, but he was just checking things out, and I assured him that nothing bad's going on. Plus he said he'll talk to his clan leader and to Talon to give them my side of the story."

"And you actually think they'll care?" Fang retorted.

"Well, whether they care or not, they can't just come busting in here without making a huge scene," Daniel said. "Plus, if they want you, they'll have to get through me."

At this, Fang couldn't help but chuckle, his stress starting to fade after hearing that. "Huh. You mean to tell me that you're fine with being a shield for me again?"

Daniel smiled and nodded. "You bet. They're not going to take my uncle away just like that. Not as long as I can help it."

Fang now smiled as well, reaching over to mess up the boy's hair with a large hand as he was used to. "I like the way you think, boy. Family first, always."

Daniel chuckled at the hair messing. "Yup. Always. Anyway, I should finish up here so I can go to the Labyrinth."

Fang's expression changed again upon hearing that. "Why would you wanna go back down there, though? You can't keep an eye out for what they say, Talon's not gonna say anything with you near them. And it's not like you can take suspicion off of you about letting me loose, they already know it was you. Well, except Claw, and he won't do anything about it anyway."

"Well, yeah, but Claw's my friend. I wanna go hang out with him, it's been a while," Daniel said.

Fang frowned for a moment after taking another sip of coffee. "Actually, I've been thinking about it, Daniel. I don't really want you hanging out with Claw anymore."

Daniel was taken aback by this. "Wait, what? Why not? Just last night you said you wanted me to go to the Labyrinth."

"That was because they just suspected I was here, but now that they know, you don't have any reason to try to throw them off my trail anymore," Fang explained. "And besides, I dunno, it's just weird to me that a guy his age is friends with a kid your age. With us it's different, we're family."

"I guess. I dunno, he's sort of got like a "cool uncle" way about him."

Fang looked offended. "Hey! I'm the cool uncle."

Daniel chuckled. "Okay, so the other cool uncle who's not as good as the favorite uncle. But he's harmless! And he's a nice guy and I barely have any friends or family to hang out with. "

"I know! But... it's just... I don't think..."

"You don't want me hanging out with Claw in the Labyrinth because you don't like him, right?" Daniel stated quite matter-of-factly.

Fang was caught off-guard, then just grumbled. "Okay, fine! You're right, that's exactly why I don't want you to spend time with him."

Daniel couldn't help but grin. "Aww. You're jealous, Uncle!"

Fang was clearly losing his cool. "Keep it up, boy. I may not be able to go out in public but I can still give you a proper punishment."

"Come on, Uncle, you know I'm just goofing," Daniel said. "But none of my friends are around and I just want to hang out and have fun with other people too."

The mutate leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "Okay, fine. You can go and have fun with the mute mutant."

"Thanks, Uncle," Daniel said with a smile, getting up and giving his uncle a quick hug. "I'll go get ready then. Plus you get to have the apartment all to yourself, so have fun."

Fang watched the boy head to his room and thought what he had just said. This would be the first time Fang would have the entire apartment all to himself for a good few hours at least. He could relax as he pleased, watch anything he wanted on tv, listen to music, just do whatever he wanted. He smiled to himself, thinking maybe it would really be okay to let his nephew continue visiting the Labyrinth more often. He loved the boy, but the mutate did need his own 'me' time, after all. And as he set out to relax for the day, Daniel got ready and headed out, deciding that he'd leave it for another time to tell his uncle that Broadway invited him to visit the castle sometime.

It was around noon by the time Daniel had finally made his way to the Labyrinth. He had decided to not take the long walk right after eating so as to not get an upset stomach, so he had stopped by the comic book shop to check what would be new for that week, then left for the Labyrinth afterwards. By now he knew a good number of the ways to get there, some quicker than others. The main area of the Labyrinth was surprisingly quiet, not many people around, but this was around the earliest he had ever been in here, so he figured most residents spent their day out on the streets. As it was daytime, the clones were nowhere to be found, slumbering in their stone sleep somewhere. Claw and Talon were not around the main area either, but he did notice Maggie and a few women cleaning around the main area.

Not wanting to interrupt, Daniel decided to just hang around and explore as per usual while waiting for Claw to show up. He really liked the Labyrinth, that big main area and all the rooms, hallways, places to explore, it was just huge, and he wondered if there were any places in the vicinity of the Labyrinth that were still unexplored. If there were, he figured it would be cool if he and Claw could go exploring and see what they could find. After checking a few side rooms to see if there was anything new, Daniel got curious to see the cells. He hadn't been there since he had helped break his uncle out. Nobody was paying any attention, so he snuck down the corridor and kept going until he reached the cells. They were all clean and all empty, and he even checked them out from inside, sitting in the cots. Even with the door open, it felt very cramped.

"Gosh, no wonder he wanted out," Daniel muttered to himself as he lied down on the cot and stared up at the ceiling. "No tv, nothing to read, no music..."

"Of course."

Daniel gasped and bolted right up in surprise at the unexpected voice that came from behind, and saw that Talon stood on the doorway. He had not heard Talon walking over at all.

"It's a cell, after all, it's not supposed to be comfortable," Talon said. "Sorry for scaring you."

The boy sighed, clutching his chest for a moment. "Gosh, why are you guys so silent?"

Talon couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Sometimes I don't even notice that we can be so stealthy. Anyway, you're not supposed to be here, so..."

"Yeah, okay, I'm coming out," Daniel said, exiting the cell and watching Talon close the door to it. "So, nothing to help pass the time? Like, at all?"

"No. We treated this very much like an actual jail," Talon explained. "If someone committed a crime against other inhabitants here, they'd be locked in here for some time. And criminals don't get perks."

Daniel didn't move from where he stood. "Well, maybe they should get them on occasion."

Talon shook his head. "That's not how it works. If someone commits a crime, they do the time and they don't get perks because being incarcerated is a form of punishment for the crimes committed. It's that simple."

"And how did you get to decide how long people should be incarcerated?" Daniel asked. The boy was starting to become pretty adamant about this subject and Talon was not liking the direction that the conversation was taking.

"We discuss it as a community and come to a consensus," Talon replied.

Daniel frowned. "And let me guess. The consensus was that my uncle was going to rot in that cell?"

Talon sighed. "Look, Daniel, I know it's upsetting, but your uncle tried to take over the Labyrinth, by threatening people with advanced weaponry. Innocent people could have been hurt. And he never showed any kind of remorse or even a hint of trying or wanting to make amends. That's why we kept him locked up."

Daniel was still frowning, and after a few moments of silence to mull over what Talon had said, he replied. "Okay, fine, I'll give you that. I know how stubborn he can be. But ever since I helped him out of here, he's been staying out of trouble."

"He's helping out Demona, and that's about as far as it gets from "out of trouble". Not to mention he could've killed me after his escape," Talon said.

"He's just doing random odd jobs for that Demona, it's nothing serious," Daniel retorted, adamant in defending his uncle. "And I'm sorry he hurt you, but you caught him by surprise and he panicked. So please don't exaggerate about the "could've killed you" part."

Talon now frowned as well. "I see he lied to you about that. He set a trap for me, attacked me, and beat me so bad it took days for me to recover. But you'll probably not believe me anyway."

"You're right, I don't," Daniel said. "I know you two always hated each other and you really want to put him back in that cell, but it's not gonna happen."

"I genuinely wished you understood that so long as Fang keeps getting himself into trouble, such as being in cahoots with Demona, then he's a danger to people," Talon said. "Including yourself. That's why we have to stop him before someone gets hurt."

"Oh, no you don't!" Daniel exclaimed, now, the child angry by this point. "I got my uncle back and you're not locking him up again. He'll stay out of trouble, and you're not gonna drag him back down here. You're gonna have to get through me if you want to get him, and I'll raise hell if you so much as try."

Talon sighed in frustration. "Can you at the very least promise me you'll be careful? Even if he's your family, just be careful."

"Don't you tell me to be careful about someone who's always taken care of me," Daniel snapped. "Just stay away from my family, you uptight jerkwad."

And with that, the boy walked off in an angry huff, leaving Talon behind. The panther mutate grumbled under his breath and rubbed his temples with his fingers for a moment. "Yeah, they're definitely related alright," he said, closing the cell's door. "That kid can give me a headache just as well as his damned uncle can..."

It had not been long after Daniel had left the apartment that Fang realized it had been a good thing after all. He cared for his nephew a lot, but Fang was an adult and felt he needed some "me" time. After Daniel had left, Fang first pulled down the shades of the living room window, to ensure nobody would be able to see him as he walked around. He then put on some music and cleaned the dishes, and then decided to slack around for a while. He spent some time watching television, but as it was a particularly warm day and the sole fan of the house wasn't cutting it for proper cooling, he decided to get comfortable with a cold shower. While the mutate felt some frustration at the lack of ease in coming and going due to his status as a fugitive, he knew he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He had a proper job now, he had a place to stay, and at least for a few hours now, he had it all to himself and he wanted to enjoy it before trying to go out again that evening.

"Aaaah. Nothing better than a cold shower on a warm day," Fang said to himself, drying himself as best as he could with a towel and walking around the apartment stark naked, taking full advantage of his few hours of privacy. He turned the fan on again, enjoying how the breeze it blew felt on his damp fur. He waited for his fur to dry just enough to allow him to lie down on the couch without soaking it, and without realizing it, he dozed off into a nap that lasted a couple of hours.

By the time he awoke again, Fang was starting to feel hungry and, after putting his usual blue trunks and remaining shirtless to stay cooler in the warm afternoon, he went into the kitchen to check what was available. "Hmm. Maybe I oughta call for a delivery," he said while checking the fridge, not feeling like cooking. "Been too damn long without enjoying a beer, though... aaah, fuck it, I'll snatch one from Carmen's husband. He'll probably just think she drank it and I'll be in the clear."

Having decided on getting his meal delivered, Fang went to the living room to grab the phone book and sat down, searching through it for any nearby places that delivered. He figured it would be easy enough to get the food, just keep the door closed with the excuse that he had to get out of the shower and wasn't 'decent', and ask the delivery guy to leave it there while he slipped the money for the food under the door, then pick up his meal after the delivery person left. It would be simple, and now all he had to do was decide on which place to order food from. As he was thumbing through the phone book he heard a familiar noise in his nephew's bedroom, light footsteps that were coming in through the window. His nephew was back home, and was now exiting the bedroom and heading towards the living room.

"Hey, kiddo! Thought you'd be out longe..."

Fang's words got caught in his throat as he turned towards the hallway, the mutate now frozen in shock. He was indeed staring at a young boy, one who was staring right back at him with eyes wide open and terror in his face. The boy was not Daniel.

To Be Continued…

Author's extra note: My deepest apologies to everyone who has read this story for taking so long to write anything on it. My life's gotten complicated over the past couple of years. Many things have happened, among them losing loved ones, being forced to shut down my small business, leaving me unemployed on top of having difficulty finding a new job, and I don't think I even need to mention the disaster that was Hurricane Maria here in Puerto Rico. I even lost my computer, it ceased to function after well over ten years of use, and even now, as I write this, there was an incident in my neighborhood that has left us without phone service or internet for probably weeks on end, and I can now nly access it by going to the houses of family or friends a way away, as I live up on a mountainside. Just way too many things happening and it's a total drag. I will strive my damn hardest to try to write more often if I can, I already began writing the next chapter and a great friend has promised to try helping me with future chapters as best as he can. It's taken far too long for this story to continue going forth, but I don't want to let it die and have it remained unfinished. I owe it to myself, but most of all, I owe it to all of you who have read it and wish for it to continue. Thank you all for everything.