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.

Chance Meetings

Chapter 36

by Remtar85

"Ready to go out, sweetie?" Carmen asked.

"Almost done, Mom," Daniel replied as he adjusted the mask properly on his face, then smoothed out his vest, turning to his mother. "How do I look?"

"Like you'll make pigeons drop dead while you walk by," Carmen replied as she admired her son's Halloween costume. Daniel was dressed in tattered old clothes and a burlap-like mask with menacing designs, going for a creepy scarecrow vibe. He had been inspired for it after watching the Scarecrows horror movie with Claw.

"Awesome," Daniel said, his smile hidden by the mask. "Okay, I'm ready to go. I'll meet my friends near a shop a couple of blocks from here."

"Good. I trust you kids to stay safe," Carmen told her son. "But make sure to stay in areas with plenty of lights and where you can see other kids and the adults with them."

"No worries, Mom, we'll be totally safe," Daniel said, then lowered his voice. "Besides, Mal's coming with us. We're definitely safe with him around."

"I'd still like to meet him sometime," Carmen said in a low voice as well, for her husband was in the bathroom and thus not far off. Carmen had been among the many New Yorkers who thought of gargoyles as savage beasts, but that opinion had changed thanks to Daniel, Tyler and Claw telling her all the positive things about gargoyles.

"I'll tell him that, and maybe he could come with Roger some night," Daniel said, now getting used to using Claw's real name. "And how late do you and Richard plan to stay out tonight?"

"No clue," Carmen admitted, already dressed and ready to go out for the night. "We planned dinner and a movie, but we'd also like to go to a bar, maybe dance a while, so we'll probably stay out till really late. You can come home and wait for us, or spend the night at Tyler's, whatever you'd prefer."

"Okay, I'll think about it while we trick-or-treat. I haven't seen you and Richard this happy together for a long time. I'm happy for you, Mom," Daniel said, removing the mask so his mother could see the genuine smile on his face as he said that.

"Thank you, honey," she said, stooping a bit to hug her son.

It was then that Richard came out of the bathroom. "There, all done. Ready to go, Carmen?"

"All ready, Rich," she replied with a smile.

"Great," he said, also smiling, then looked at Daniel. "Want us to give you a lift over to where you'll meet your friends?"

"Thanks Richard, but it's cool, it's not a long walk," Daniel said casually. "You two go have a lot of fun and don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Alright, then. You kids stick to the well lit areas, be safe, and don't stay out late. And have a lot of fun too," Richard said in good nature.

"Thanks, Richard," Daniel said, genuinely meaning it. He had started to warm up to his stepfather in the last several weeks, as the man had really been making quite the effort to make up for his past bad behavior. Daniel then grabbed his bag for collecting candy and his spare keys for the apartment, with his mother and stepfather following him out as all three headed out for a night of fun.

Down at the Labyrinth, the clones stood frozen in their stone sleep, until cracks started appearing on their bodies. Talon, Maggie and Claw all stood nearby as the clones awakened for the night, roaring, bits of stone littering the floor. Now awake, they all turned to where the mutates stood, and there was an air of eagerness all around. It was finally the night they had been waiting for.

"We're going, right?" Hollywood asked eagerly. Like Malibu, he had taken to wearing human clothing, namely the biggest denim shorts and football jersey that they could find to fit him.

Talon smiled and nodded. "Yup, just like we promised."

"Awesome!" the portly clone exclaimed. "I've been looking forward to Halloween like you wouldn't believe!"

"Same here," Burbank added. "Should be real interesting getting to just walk around with all those humans."

"We're all pretty excited," Maggie said, "and it'll be great to spend a Halloween out with you guys."

"I have been looking forward to it myself," Delilah said. Out of all the clones, she had been the most unchanged in terms of personality, though she had become overall more approachable than she used to be.

Malibu then spoke to the group. "And I'd love to go hang with all you guys, but you know I promised Danny and Tyler that I'd hang out with them on Halloween, and I don't wanna leave 'em hanging."

"Are you sure you'll be fine just by yourself with the kids, Malibu?" Talon asked. Malibu had told him about this a few nights prior and they had talked it out peacefully and with no problem, the clones now embracing their freedom to go out and explore while taking proper measures to be safe about it. But still Talon wished to make sure just in case.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about anything," Malibu said with confidence. "It's a quiet neighborhood, just grabbing some candy, all harmless stuff. I'll hang out with 'em till it's late, then I'll come back home, and of course, I'll use my communicator to let you know how things are going."

"Good. Then I hope you guys have fun," Talon said with a smile, then turned to the rest. "Now, we should all get going."

"Alright!" Hollywood exclaimed, rushing off ahead of everyone else.

Talon couldn't help but chuckle. Hollywood had been easily the most eager, but in general, the concept of Halloween seemed to grab at the clones exceptionally well, for they were as eager to go up to the surface and walk around normally as the mutates themselves were. As everybody went to follow Hollywood out, Talon had to check in with Al to make sure all would be in order before leaving. However, he noticed one of the clones was not following.

"You're not coming, Brentwood?"

Lexington's clone looked over at Talon after picking up a book from a nearby shelf. "No. The idea of spending Halloween up there sounds kinda fun, but also really loud and crowded. I think I'll just stay here and keep reading this book I started last night."

"Oh. Alright then. We'll see you later," Talon said, looking rather disappointed as Brentwood walked away. While he understood Brentwood's introverted nature, Talon wished that he had at least opted to accompany them on Halloween rather than stay cooped up underground, but he would not force or guilt trip the clone into going if he didn't want to. The panther-man went in to check with Al, then the whole group headed out.

And as they weren't far from their exit, Claw approached Malibu, tapping on the clone's shoulder and handing him a note. "I was hoping you could let the kids know I'll see them tomorrow, and that I'm sorry I can't go out with them tonight."

"Yeah, sure, no problem, Claw," Malibu said. "I'm pretty sure the kids won't mind you having promised us clones to take us out on Halloween. Hell, that makes me feel kinda guilty that I'm skipping out on hanging with you guys, but I did promise the kids I'd tag along with them."

Claw just smiled and nodded approvingly. He'd try his best to make it up to Daniel and Tyler for not hanging with them during Halloween, and he understood Malibu's enthusiasm to explore with his friends. For his part, Malibu was glad that the others were fine in letting him go out in public with Daniel and Tyler, though of course, he kept it a secret that Fang would be there. And as they came up to the surface and Malibu parted ways with the rest, he smirked in anticipation. It was going to be a long night, and he planned to make the most of it with Fang, especially after seeing the kids home.

The sun had started to set by the time Fang decided to get ready to go meet Daniel and his friends to take them trick-or-treating. He had spent a fair bit of money in taxis during the daytime, so he decided to just fly out as soon as it was dark enough outside, as it would both save him money and be faster too. He had rested, eaten an early dinner, read and enjoyed his book, and now he could finally get to go out and meet with his son. But first, he had to dress for the occassion, of course. He had been looking forward to this for days now. Getting changed, he put his wallet in an inner pocket of his outfit, then grabbed his new electric hammer and set it on the strap of his belt, the mutate then checking himself out in the mirror with a smug grin on his face.

"Guess I really am a bit of a geek after all, 'cuz man, I look freakin' majestic," he said out loud as he admired his attire for the night. Fang then headed out to the roof, and as the sun barely set, he took off to meet with his son. He had been looking forward to this quite a bit.

Thankfully, Fang and Malibu had set everything up well beforehand, so they could all meet up at a proper place and, hopefully, at the proper time. Fang found a good, well covered area he could lower himself down to, and being careful while peeking out to remain unseen, he saw that across the street. Daniel's friends had already begun to meet up.

"Seriously, a witch?" Tyler asked as he watched his friend Yvonne's very simplistic Halloween costume.

Yvonne, dressed as a witch with the classic pointy hat, just shrugged casually. "What? Can't go wrong with a classic. Plus, it's comfy."

"Whatever you say," Tyler said to her. He was wearing a Spider-Man costume, and even his bad of candy had the classic color scheme of the superhero.

The two didn't have to wait long for the rest of their group to arrive. Daniel got there a few minutes later, with his two friends praising his creepy scarecrow costume. And as per usual, Cynthia was the last to arrive, flaunting her Carmen Sandiego costume of a red trenchcoat and hat with black gloves, as well as red shoes, as she felt that going around in the character's trendy red heels for walking a lot would've been less than ideal. Now all together, the four friends were ready and eager to go out.

"C'mon, you guys, it's already nighttime, what are we waiting for?" Cynthia asked impatiently.

Daniel replied, he and Tyler having removed their masks for now. "My dad. He promised me he'd come by tonight to take us trick-or-treating."

"Really? That's great that he can take us, and with the coolest gargoyle costume I've ever seen," Yvonne said excitedly.

"Gets even cooler, kids," a voice called from the side.

The kids all turned and were astonished as Fang approached them. Though lacking the character's helmet and red cape, the mutate was dressed in the outfit of Marvel comics character Thor, and his modified Quarryman hammer hanging at his waist completed the look, especially with his wings wrapped around his shoulders to emulate a cape. Back when David and Fox Xanatos had set him up in his new home, Fang took a chance to ask them for a Halloween costume that his son would enjoy. As a parent herself, Fox was more than happy to fulfill this request, and in Fang's estimation, she had done a fantastic job. He figured only people who read comic books would recognize the costume (and he himself was rather surprised that Fox did), but as long as Daniel recognized it, the cougar-man was happy. Plus, Fang really liked how he looked in it.

Grinning, Fang grabbed his hammer, raising it high above his head and switching it on, making it crackle with electricity. Then he raised his other hand, making it come alight with his own electricity, creating quite the display for the children and random passersby who stopped to stare. "I am Thor, Gargoyle of Thunder!" Fang exclaimed grandiosely.

"That's the coolest thing, Dad!" Daniel praised his father, his three friends all gushing alongside him in agreement.

"A costume on top of a costume, and even special effects with that electricity!" Cynthia admired the cougar-man. "That is, like, next level amazing!"

"It won't matter where we go tonight, Uncle Fred, you'll be the center of attention," Tyler added.

Fang just grinned smugly, pleased at the very positive reaction. "Awww, you kids're just flattering me with the truth."

"Hey, how come I can't be the center of attention?" a voice said from nearby, everybody turning to see Malibu approach and join the group, dressed in his usual punk rocker clothing and accesories, his hair tied in a ponytail. "Hey there, Fred, Danny, Tyler."

"Omigosh, there's more of the cool gargoyle costumes?" Cynthia asked in awe, then turned to the boys. "And you guys know him?"

"Yeah, they met me a bit ago," Malibu said, looking over at a smiling Fang. "I'm best friends with Fred here. Got me a costume of my own, but guess I forgot to make it superhero enough."

"Don't get mad at me for being more creative than you, Malcolm," Fang teased his friend, giving him a name change to be less suspicious around others. Malibu was not what one would call a common name, after all.

"Never mind him, Mal," Tyler said. "It's really cool that you're coming with us."

Daniel nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the more the merrier."

"We should get going then, right?" Yvonne suggested. "Like Cynthia said, it's already nighttime, we don't want to start trick-or-treating too late, and we still have to take a bus."

Fang nodded. "Yeah, we oughta. C'mon, everyone, let's make this a good night."

The children started heading to the bus stop in quite animated conversation, more thrilled at going trick-or-treating now than in previous years. Walking behind them, Fang and Malibu smirked at one another. Their early evening plans were to relax for a while as they kept the kids company, keep the kids happy, but the evening would definitely not end there. They desired to go party out with the late night crowd after making sure the kids got home safe. Reaching the bus stop, they didn't have to wait long at all for a bus, and once in it, Fang and Malibu caught the interest of the other passengers, who asked them questions about their costumes. And to Fang, Daniel and Tyler's amusement, Malibu was behaving rather like a giddy child simply by being able to ride in a bus with humans without any problems. The ride took about 15 to 20 minutes to get to a rather large residential area full of houses, and the group started trick-or-treating as soon as they got off. The children were having the time of their lives, getting candy in house after house, but it was Fang and Malibu who, as expected by them all, were the center of attention in the whole neighborhood, be it home owners, other trick-or-treaters and also accompanying adults, and the two friends reveled in it.

"Man, I seriously can't believe I'm just walking out here with all these humans like it was an every day thing," Malibu told Fang as they waited a the sidewalk while the kids were getting candy from an elderly couple.

"Now you know why I loved London so damn much," Fang told his friend. "I mean, it wasn't this kinda open and going everywhere I wanted to, but still, getting to walk around in some places and hang out and people not having any problem with it, it doesn't get any better."

Malibu rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. You've bragged about how awesome London is like three dozen times."

"And I'll keep bragging about it just to piss you off," Fang said with his best "jerk" smirk.

"You really are the perfect asshole sometimes," Malibu said, shaking his head. "Good thing you enjoyed it while it lasted, 'cuz who knows if you'll ever go back again."

"I damn well plan to. Just gotta hope Xanatos takes me along whenever he goes to London."

"If you go, I'm going too," Malibu stated.

Fang couldn't help but smirk again. "And what about Talon?"

"What about him?" Malibu scoffed, and this only made Fang's smirk grow wider in approval.

"Hey! Come on, or you'll get left behind!"

The mutate and clone had been so busy talking to one another that they hadn't noticed the children had already moved along and heading to more houses. Fang and Malibu jogged a bit to catch up with them, the kids deciding to move on to another street full of houses on both sides. Malibu went ahead, with Cynthia and Yvonne at his side, asking him things, Tyler tagging along to help Malibu make up any random lie. Daniel took this time to walk a few meters behind them, alongside his father.

"Everything going okay for you, Dad?" Daniel asked.

Fang nodded. "Better than you can imagine, Danny Boy. I'm back, I got a place of my own now, a helluva lot of cash. I'm the best I've been since you let me outta that cell."

"That's really great, Dad," Daniel said with good sheer. "I really miss you at home, though."

"I miss having you around too, kiddo," Fang said, reaching to pat his son's shoulder, smiling reassuringly at the boy. "Tell you what. Soon as we find a chance, I'll take you to my new place so you can see what it's like, maybe even get you to spend the night."

Daniel looked back up at his father, and though he still wore his creepy scarecrow mask, the mutate could see the boy's eyes had brightened considerably. "I'd love that! And you can still come stay at my place every once in a while too, right?"

"Heh. Damn right I will," Fang said with a big grin now. "Sure, I'm still gonna have to be careful so your mom's lame-ass husband won't see me, but nobody's gonna keep me from visiting you. I'm gonna be there soon, you'll see."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Besides," Fang added as he took his hammer from his belt clip and started casually passing it from hand to hand, "I can't wait to see the look on Carrie's face when she sees me back again. She's probably gonna be pissed, hehe."

Daniel winced at this, even though Fang couldn't see it through the mask. "Please try to get along with her. Everything's been really good at home lately, and I don't want Mom to get mad."

Fang chuckled. "Aah, don't worry about it, Danny Boy. I'm just goofin' with ya! I'll do right by you, you can bet on it. Now come on, let's catch up to the others."

Daniel sighed softly, feeling relieved. While the boy knew that his father had made his fair share of mistakes and had a rather difficult personality, he had also seen him improving himself overtime, and he trusted the mutate. Feeling much better now, Daniel started to jog to catch up with his friends, his father joining him in catching up by grabbing him and lifting him high as he hurried towards the group, both father and son laughing and feeling in high spirits. The trick-or-treating continued for a while longer, as it was a pretty large neighborhood. With their bags a bit over three fourths full and having grown rather heavy, the group stopped at a playground at the edge of the neighborhood to check out their bounty of sweets. Fang leaned against a tall slide, playing with his hammer again, while Malibu climbed to the top of the jungle gym to glance around.

"Does anyone have Kit-Kats?" Cynthia asked as she rummaged through her bag. "I'll trade you guys anything for Kit-Kats."

Tyler instantly replied. "I'll trade if you got Skittles."

"Why not just save the trading for later?" Yvonne, always the responsible one, suggested as she checked her wristwatch. "If we get to trading now, we might be here for a while, and it's starting to get a bit late."

From his perch up at the jungle gym, Malibu looked down at the kids. "Hell, I'm surprised you can still walk around carrying those bags. You all got a haul big enough to last you like a month, and now you gotta carry those all the way home."

Daniel nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and my feet are starting to hurt. We sure walked a lot."

"That's 'cuz you picked the right neighborhood this year, kids," Fang finally spoke up, both he and Malibu waving to a group of children and their parents who called out to them with praise for their gargoyle costumes. "Whole lotta houses in all directions. Sounds like the best one to come back to next year."

"Nah, there's not gonna be a next year for us," Tyler said, sounding bummed. "At least not for Cynthia and me. We'll be thirteen years old by the time Halloween rolls around again."

"Yeah, too old to trick-or-treat," Cynthia added, then smiled. "But not too old to still dress in costumes and go goof around, right?"

"Is everything okay here, children?" a woman's voice suddenly asked from nearby.

The group turned in the direction of the voice. None of them expected to see two Quarrymen, a woman and a man, standing nearby. Not used to ever dealing with them, Malibu tensed up instantly, but did his best to try looking calm, whereas Fang was calm almost to the point of cocky. Before any of the kids could reply to the woman's question, the two Quarrymen walked over.

"What's wrong?" Yvonne asked as the two got close to her and her friends. "Are you real Quarrymen?"

"We are," the male one replied. "Halloween's the perfect time of year for gargoyles to try going by unnoticed by people, so we patrol the city to try catching any of them before they hurt anyone."

"And I bet you've had a whole lot of success with that," Daniel remarked in a snarky tone, which made Fang grin with pride.

The Quarrymen ignored this, hammers at the ready. They turned to Fang and Malibu, the woman speaking again. "The one on the jungle gym looks very much like a red one with a beak we've seen multiple times, and the furry one fits the description of a gargoyle fought by a group of our own a few months back, alongside a female gargoyle. Have they tried anything suspicious with you kids, like trying to lure you into going with them?"

"We'll smash 'em if they try anything funny," the man said threateningly

"Hey!" Daniel snapped, then signaled at Fang. "That's my dad, and the one up the jungle gym's his best friend. So how about you back off?"

Cynthia couldn't help but to giggle. "Ohmigosh, their costumes are so good that they even fool actual gargoyle hunters."

Tyler couldn't help but jump in too. "More like gargoyle hunter wannabes. Have they ever caught or killed any gargoyles?"

"That's because there's only a few in the city, and its a big city, so there's lots of places to hide," the man retorted. "Those freaks are sneaky."

"And we suspect some people help them out," the woman added. "They don't know how dangerous those monsters are."

"Well, you two're barking up the wrong tree here," Fang finally spoke up, a smug smirk on his face as he casually brandished his hammer, the mutate finding it rather satisfying that the two Quarrymen couldn't tell it used to be one of their hammers. "We're just a couple guys in great costumes, taking my son and his friends out to trick-or-treat."

"It's our duty to watch out for people and protect them from gargoyles," the male Quarryman shot back.

Malibu, who had climbed down from the jungle gym, walked up to stand by Fang. "It's your duty to get out of our faces and stop messing up Halloween for these kids."

"Yeah, go away," Tyler told the Quarrymen.

"Stop picking on my dad and his friend," Daniel added.

After his first encounter with Quarrymen, Fang had not been keen to repeat the experience, but he saw this as an exception. After they had tried to kill him, getting to put two of them on the spot was an unexpected source of satisfaction for Fang, even more so because Malibu, Daniel and Daniel's friends joined him in giving them a hard time. To the cougar-man, the evening just kept getting better.

"So, now that you two got enough egg on your face, " Fang told the Quarrymen, then turned to the kids, "who wants to grab a snack at Dairy Queen? I'm buyin'!"

All four children replied in positive cheerfulness, taking their bags of candy and quickly heading for the nearest bus stop. With the most smug look he could muster, Fang slipped his hammer back into his belt clip and walked away after the children. Malibu followed, but stopped for a moment to turn and wave at the Quarrymen, the clone feeling like he could practically see the annoyed looks on their faces through their cowls.

"Toodles, you two! Have fun on your wild goose chase!" And as they left the two Quarrymen behind, Malibu caught up with Fang, grinning at his friend. "Damn, that was so satisfying."

"Haha! Damn right it was!" Fang exclaimed. "And to think our night's only just starting."

The group was in high spirits as they rode the bus to their next destination, moving away from residential areas and eventually getting near a Dairy Queen. The kids offered to go buy the food themselves, so Fang took the wallet from his inner pocket and handed them enough money to buy treats for all, including Malibu and himself. After agreeing on what everybody wanted, Fang and Malibu hoped to use the bathroom to wash their hands, but the restaurant had a policy during Halloween that masks should be removed inside the premises, so they could not enter. Fortunately, the Dairy Queen was right by a small park that had public restrooms, so Fang headed there first to relieve his bladder and wash his hands while Malibu waited outside and kept an eye on the children's bags of candy. Fang eventually returned and Malibu then headed to the bathroom next. The cougar-man sighed contently as he waited, glad that no one else was outside, and he looked at the inside of the place, seeing the children. There was a bit of a line, but it shouldn't take too long, Fang figuring they could have the kids home by ten o' clock, and he and Malibu could have their stomachs settled before heading out with the late night crowds.

"So, you're back from your world tour with Sevarius, eh, Fang?" Malibu's voice rang from behind the mutate. "Out to cause trouble tonight, or are you actually behaving?"

Fang groaned. "Seriously, Mal? This pretending to be Brooklyn schtick of yours is getting old. You're not gonna fool me anymore."

"Pretending to be me? Huh..."

"Calling him "Mal", too," another familiar voice spoke up, and Fang tensed up. "I see what's going on. This definitely clears up a few things."

"You gotta be shitting me," Fang grumbled under his breath as he turned around. Standing there a few meters from him were Brooklyn, Talon and Claw.

To Be Continued...

Author's Extra Note: Another chapter done. Sorry it took me a bit to publish it, just needed to take a break for a while. Plus it's a chapter where the kids go trick-or-treating, so it felt right to post it in October. Not much happened here, since I wanted the kids to enjoy their trick-or-treat time without incident, but I hope you dear readers enjoy the little cliffhanger there. Fang's been free from the Labyrinth for months, so it makes sense to me that he couldn't avoid the Manhattan Clan and other mutates forever. We'll just have to wait and see what happens now that Brooklyn, Talon and Claw caught up to him, and I could not resist, I had to do it by using the running gag of Malibu pretending to be Brooklyn, and now it turns out to be the real one. Thanks very much for reading!