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 37

by Remtar85

It had been months since Daniel had helped his father, Fang, escape from his cell down at the Labyrinth. Ever since, though it had come with difficult moments, the fugitive mutate had managed to remain free, and for some time now, things had been going along not only smoothly as could be, but actually better than Fang could have hoped for. He had a home, money, a job, a good relationship with his son, and now he was getting to enjoy a night out on the town, which he had planned to milk for all it was worth. He had not seen hair nor hide of Talon, Claw, Maggie or the Manhattan Clan in a long time, much to his delight. Finding Talon, Claw and Brooklyn all just standing there looking at him outside the Dairy Queen while he waited for his companions was the last thing Fang had expected to happen.

Fang grumbled under his breath, thinking that of course this had to happen now, when things had been going so wel for him. He then sighed exasperatedly before talking in a hostile tone of voice. "How the hell did you guys find me here, and what are you planning?"

To Fang's confusion, Talon raised his hands in an amicable gesture that reflected on his face. "Hey, easy now. We just want to talk, that's all."

"Yeah, right," Fang snarled. "Like I'll believe that, after all the times you've tried catching me."

"Isn't it funny how he's so scandalized about the concept of going back to the cell he broke out of?" Brooklyn asked his companions with a smirk on his face. Unlike his two companions, the gargoyle was wearing a costume; he was dressed in a black suit and white shirt (both with the obligatory holes in the back for his wings), a black tie and sunglasses, clearly inspired by the movie Men In Black.

"You shut your beak, chicken wings!" Fang snapped at Brooklyn, hand ready to grab at his hammer. "Want a reminder of what happened last time we met?"

"Cool it, you two," Talon said in a firm voice, while Claw just stood stoically by Talon's side with arms crossed in front of his chest. "We didn't come here to cause a scene."

"Sorry, it's just hard to resist," Brooklyn said with a shrug of his shouders, still smirking.

Fang still looked unconvinced. "Okay, hold it. You guys seriously came here to just talk?"

Talon nodded in response. "I told Daniel that I'd give you a chance to behave and I'm sticking to that promise. We hope to maybe reach some sort of compromise, though I also did drop by in part to confirm something."

Fang frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Confirm what? And again, how the hell did you find me?"

"Simple, really," Talon said, pulling out an object from a small bag he had tied to his belt and looking at it. "There we go. Answer should be coming by any second now..."

Fang's eyes grew a bit wide, and he cursed under his breath. The way Talon had said that last part, the cougar-man made sense of it and quickly realized how he had been found. Moments later, Malibu walked from around the corner to rejoin his friend.

"Alright, hands clean and ready to ea..." Malibu said out loud but stopped before finishing his sentence as he saw who stood there waiting for him. "Aah, damn it..."

"Cat's outta the bag," Brooklyn said, then looked back at Fang. "So to speak."

Malibu half-sighed and half-groaned in frustration. "Well, guess it's no use hiding it anymore."

"I wish you wouldn't have hidden it in the first place," Talon said rather disapprovingly.

"Oh, get off his back, ya jackass," Fang snapped at the Labyrinth leader. "He's not a little kid, he can make his own friends."

"Not sure his choice of friends is good," Brooklyn said.

"Awww, look, my dad doesn't approve of my friends," Malibu snarked, having recovered from the shock of having been found out and walking past Talon, Brooklyn and Claw to rejoin Fang. "How did you guys even know I was here?"

"I was asking the same thing, till I saw Talon check on some doohickey," Fang told Malibu. "It's that damn communicator of yours."

Malibu's eyes went wide and he glared at Talon. "You've been tracking me?!"

"I have, yes, and the other clones too, to make sure everyone's safe and hopefully making good choices when you all go out," Talon confirmed. "Honestly, I've had my suspicions about you for some time, Malibu. The constant comings and goings, the visits to Xanatos's castle, plus how you and the other clones developed your intelligence, and that change of colors in your eyes and inside your mouths, all after you first went to the castle with Tyler. I suspected that Xanatos might have had something to do with your changes, and that you might have been meeting with Fang too. So now we've confirmed one of those suspicions."

Fang cursed under his breath once more. "If you came to just talk and confirm that Mal and I have been hangin' out, then why are these two with you?" he asked Talon while pointing at Claw and Brooklyn.

"Elisa suggested a few days ago that both clans should spend Halloween together, to get a better chance to bond; Goliath and I agreed on it, so we went out at dusk and met up with them," Talon replied. "Since Malibu went off with the boys by himself, I thought I should check on them just in case, to make sure everyone was doing okay. Claw and Brooklyn decided to tag along."

Malibu scoffed. "To make it a three against two, right?"

"Geez, would you cut out the bad boy act and relax?" Brooklyn told Malibu with annoyance in his voice. "We didn't come here to fight, or cause trouble, or yank you back home by an ear, much as you deserve it."

This statement made Malibu's eyes glow, and he growled for a moment before Fang put a hand on his shoulder. "Ah, don't let him get to ya, Mal, he's not worth it. Besides, these three can't do anything to us here."

Talon sighed. "Again, we're not going to try to haul you back to the Labyrinth's cells, Fang. We just came to talk, and Claw wanted to say hello to Daniel and Tyler. Though yes, Malibu, we'll need to have a talk later about your behavior."

"Swell," Malibu grumbled irritably.

Claw then patted both Talon and Brooklyn's shoulders to get their attention, and with a slight move of his head, subtly indicated to the Dairy Queen. The two of them, as well as Fang and Malibu, turned to see people seated inside and looking out at them, including parents with children who would wave at them, as well as people in the drive-thru line. Not wanting to draw any negative attention, all five on the outside casually waved at the diners inside.

"Told you they can't do anything to us here," Fang said to Malibu with a smug smile.

"For the last time, we only want to talk a bit, that's all," Talon said, sounding exasperated now.

"Well, if you guys wanna talk, it's gonna have to wait," Malibu pointed out with a smile, as he had again turned to the Dairy Queen, spotting Daniel and his friends coming out, all carrying bags of food, drinks and treats in both hands. Naturally, all four kids stopped in their tracks upon seeing Talon, Brooklyn and Claw.

"Oh my gosh, there's more?!" Yvonne exclaimed.

"This is so cool!" Cynthia added, then turned to Daniel, "I thought only your dad had the super advanced costume, but then Malcolm, and now three more?"

Daniel looked sheepish and stammered, trying to quickly come up with a convincing enough lie. "Well, I... um..."

"We just didn't tell Daniel and Tyler about them, since we weren't sure we'd have them ready on time," Talon quickly improvised. "Didn't expect to see you boys tonight. Nice costumes!"

"Thanks, Derek," Daniel said, then he noticed Yvonne and Cynthia looking intently at him. "What?"

"So this is what you guys have been doing on the weekends and not telling us?" Yvonne more stated than asked.

"Hanging out with your dad's friends and watching them make these awesome costumes," Cynthia added. "Ugh, you two are, like, so lucky."

"Oh, uh... well, yeah," Daniel said, shrugging sheepishly.

Tyler instantly jumped in. "Before Uncle Freddy came back home, he told us on the phone about Malcolm and the others, and the gargoyle suits they were making here in town, so we hung out a few times."

"That there's Derek, and Roger and... Brooklyn," Daniel said to the girls, pointing to each of them as he named them; unable to figure out a nickname for Brooklyn so suddenly, he just used his real name, uncommon as it may sound. "Guys, these are our friends, Yvonne and Cynthia."

Talon and Brooklyn told the girls it was nice to meet them, while Claw simply smiled and waved. The girls returned the gestures, looking the three up and down in awe and studying the intricacy of the "costumes".

"I've never met someone named Brooklyn before," Cynthia told the red-skinned gargoyle. "It's so cool. Actually, your whole look is so cool."

"Heh. Thanks," Brooklyn said with a pleased smile.

"You sound just like Malcolm, and your costumes look really alike," Yvonne said to Brooklyn. "Are you guys related?"

"More than you can imagine," Malibu said with a smirk.

"Can we talk while we move?" Tyler suggested. "Our food'll get cold and our treats are gonna melt if we stay here standing around."

"He's right," Fang spoke up and started walking with Malibu at his side, mutate and clone grabbing the children's bags of candy so the children could carry the food. "C'mon, kiddos, let's get to one of those picnic tables at that little park over there."

"Are you guys coming too?" Daniel asked the others before he started following his father and friends.

"We are, yes," Derek said as he and his companions walked alongside Fang's group, much to Fang and Malibu's chagrin. "I just had to talk over a couple of things with your dad, that's all."

"Is it about what you told me?" Daniel asked, and when Derek smiled and nodded in positive response, Daniel smiled brightly as well. The boy then moved away from Talon and over to Claw. "It's cool we did get to see each other tonight, Roger. Thanks for dropping by."

Claw smiled brightly at his young friend and gave him a thumbs-up in response as the group continued walking, Tyler walking alongside Malibu while the girls walked by Brooklyn. Both Cynthia and Yvonne seemed especially taken with Brooklyn, commenting on how stylish and cool he looked, which made Malibu frown in displeasure, Tyler giving him a sympathetic smile. The group entered the small park and headed to an area with picnic tables, which was currently deserted but well illuminated. The kids settled at a bigger table, unpacking all the food and treats Fang had paid for. They sat down, boys on one bench, girls on another, Malibu sitting in between Daniel and Tyler, and as they began to eat, Fang sidled up to Claw.

"So, you finally coughed up your name, Roger?" Fang said with a low volume of voice and a mocking tone. "Bet you sure didn't say anything else about yourself, right?"

Claw's response was to glare daggers at Fang and growl deeply (though not loud enough for the children to hear), which made the cougar-man scoff before speaking again. "Yeah, didn't think so. Listen up, stripey mutie, I don't want you..."

Before Fang could say anything else, Talon had walked over and put a hand on one of his shoulders. "Come on. Let's have a quick talk over there."

"Fine," Fang growled, glaring at the tiger mutate before walking away with Talon in tow. Claw shook his head, then headed over to the children and two gargoyes, his light-hearted smile returning.

Once Talon and Fang had walked far enough to where they could talk privately, they stopped, with Fang looking annoyed."Alright, whaddaya want? Make it snappy, my burgers'll get cold."

Talon sighed wearily. "I'll get right to the point, then. We can't stand each other and I'm pretty sure that's never going to change..."

"Understatement of the decade."

"But I made a promise to your son and he's really going to bat for you," Talon continued. "I just want to believe that you can stay out of trouble, for his sake."

"Don't play the son card with me, Talon," Fang said, looking displeased. "I don't want you bringing Daniel into this crapfest between us, much less to guilt trip me."

Talon shook his head. "I'm not bringing him into this, Fang, because you already did. You brought Daniel into this whole thing the moment you got him to release you from your cell."

Fang frowned at this, but before he could utter any type of retort, Talon continued. "But now that he's stuck in all this, Daniel's been going the extra mile to try to make sure you're safe and okay. He also mentioned you said you were gonna quit working for Demona. Is that true?"

Fang couldn't help but smirk, now looking pleased with himself. "You bet it is. And in the process of quitting, I blasted the hell outta Sevarius. If he ain't in some hospital recovering, then he's doing it in hiding, because man, did I zap him like he'll never forget."

Talon looked surprised at this, then a tiny little smile crept on to his face. "Damn. Gotta admit, I wish I'd seen that. Well, anyway, we all agreed to give you a chance, Fang. You simply don't get into trouble or engage in any illegal activities, and we'll leave you alone. Deal?"

Fang was silent for a few moments, then sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, it's a deal. I'll behave, if only to get you jerks off my back."

"Alright then. Everything's settled and we can all go our own ways," Talon said, then he looked over at the picnic table, where the children were eating while talking to the others. "You got a good kid, Fang. Don't disappoint him."

"Of course I won't! And don't tell me how to parent my son when you're not even a dad yet," Fang told Talon, then smirked. "Speaking of which, how's Maggie doing? Is she getting any weird cravings yet? If it's some really specific thing that you'd have to go out and get at a store, then you'll really be in for it. Danny's mom drove my brother mad like that, and he actually could go buy the stuff she wanted, so looks to me like you might be in deep shit."

"You really love just poking at me, don't you?" Talon asked, rolling his eyes. "Why am I not surprised that the son's more mature than the father..."

"Hey, I can be mature! I just choose not to," Fang said, looking quite amused with himself.

Talon sighed, then he just casually shrugged. "Well, if it means you'll stay on the straight and narrow, then I can accept your constant ribbing."

"Good, 'cuz I sure like ribbing," Fang said with a grin. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go eat. Night's still young and I'm gonna need the energy."

With that said, Fang walked away from Talon, the panther-man sighing again and following suit. He was glad that things didn't escalate into anything more than Fang just giving his usual bad attitude, and while he still had his doubts that Fang could behave, he was going to give him the chance to show it. Though he'd also try to keep an eye on the cougar-man if he could, just to make sure-especially because he was certain that Fang was now doing jobs for Xanatos in exchange for money and a place to stay.

Fang rejoined the group and quickly grabbed one of a few burgers he had chosen to buy for himself, taking a big bite of it as he stood at one side of the table, next to his son, Brooklyn and Claw hanging at the other side as they waited for Talon. By this point the kids had mostly finished their fries and some were already digging into their Blizzards and shakes.

"Gosh, you guys eat a lot," Cynthia pointed out, as Fang had bitten off half the burger in one bite, and Malibu also had ordered several burgers himself.

"And the way your suits move to even simulate eating is really cool too," Yvonne added, to which Daniel and Tyler shared a quick look as they continued eating. Thankfully, Talon showed up before they needed to make up anything.

"Excuse me, guys," Talon said, looking at Claw and Brooklyn. "I finished talking to Fred, and everything's settled. We can go back to our friends now."

"Alright. Well, glad to see things worked out," Brooklyn said, turning to the children and removing his shades while speaking to them. "You kids enjoy your meal. It was nice meeting you girls."

"Same here," Yvonne said with a smile. "I hope we can see you guys again."

Claw walked over and patted Daniel and Tyler's shoulders, making signs that he'd see them again soon. This did not go unnoticed by the girls, prompting Cynthia to speak up. "Say, I just realized that you haven't said anything all this while, Roger."

"He's mute," Daniel and Tyler both said simultaneously, to which Claw smiled sheepishly and nodded.

The girls looked taken aback by this. "Oh. Sorry," Cynthia apologized. "I didn't mean to be rude or anything."

"Anyway, we'd best be going now," Talon said, eager to get away before the girls could notice anything else suspicious, then he looked over at Malibu. "You should come along too, since we do have to have that talk."

"Nope," Malibu simply said as he had another bite of burger.

"Oh boy, here we go," Brooklyn grumbled under his breath. Fang grinned at seeing his friend disobeying Talon, while the kids all looked on with curiosity.

Before Talon could say anything, Malibu spoke up. "Sorry, but I'm not going back home just yet. It's Halloween and I'm gonna stay out real late and have fun with my best friend."

"Yeah, you tell 'em, Mal," Fang said with a mouthful of burger.

"But you know that you can't just do whatever you want," Talon said, being as patient as he could. "We have rules at home for a reason."

"You guys live together?" a curious Yvonne asked.

"Not all of us," Brooklyn quickly replied.

"I know we got rules," Malibu said with a shrug, clearly not caring about blatantly disobeying the Labyrinth's leader. "But I think I'm mature enough to have a little more freedom, at least for tonight."

"Mature, riiiight," Brooklyn said, turning to Talon while pointing at Fang with his thumb. "Told you. Bad influence."

Malibu simply grinned at Brooklyn. "Bad influence didn't stop me from becoming good buddies with your family, right? They love me." Brooklyn did not rise to the taunt, remaining composed.

Claw shook his head at the awkward situation, which reflected in the children's faces, prompting the tiger mutate to pat Talon's shoulder to make him look at Claw. One look at Claw's eyes and facial expression was enough to convey what he wanted to say to Talon, who then spoke again to Malibu. "Alright, have it your way. We'll talk about it when you eventually come back home. Let's get going, guys," he said to Claw and Brooklyn, then turned to the kids with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry to ruin the mood for you like this. Take care and enjoy the rest of the evening."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Mal!" Brooklyn called out to Malibu, who simply shrugged.

The kids also bid farewell to the three, Daniel and Tyler calling out to Claw that they were looking forward to hanging out again, which made Fang frown, especially as Claw smiled and waved at them before walking off somewhere that he and his companions could take to the skies discreetly. The group continued to eat, Fang now sitting at the edge of the table, nearest where his son sat, glad that Talon and the others were gone.

"That was, like, so weird," Cynthia said about what had just happened.

"Yeah, what was that all about?" Yvonne asked, looking at Malibu. "You talked about Brooklyn's family like they're not your family, but you said that you and him are family. And Derek was acting like he was your dad."

"Adoptive dad, in a way. Brooklyn's my actual dad," Malibu said casually, which made Daniel and Tyler almost choke on their food from the surprise. "As for my age, I'm technically a minor but at the same time I'm not. It's just really weird."

"Uh, Mal, you sure?" Fang asked his friend, leaving the question ambiguous and simple just in case. The clone had not mentioned anything to him about telling the truth to the girls.

Malibu looked at Fang and the two boys and shrugged, taking the final bite of his last burger and talking while he chewed. "Well, think about it. We all know that some sort of unexpected, convoluted situation's gonna happen sooner or later that's gonna make Yvonne and Cynthia here realize the truth, especially if we continue hanging out like we do on weekends. Might as well tell 'em now and get it over with."

The girls immediately looked over at Daniel and Tyler. "Guys, what's he talking about?" Yvonne asked.

"They promised Derek that they'd stay quiet about him and me, and the others, and about where we all live. But I didn't promise anything," Malibu said before the boys could speak. "See, these aren't some super fancy, high tech costumes. Fred here, and Derek and Roger, and one more named Maggie, they're mutants, because of some mad scientist who experimented on them and changed them from regular humans into what you see now. And Brooklyn and myself, we're gargoyles. He's a normal gargoyle, while I'm a clone of his, made by the same mad scientist that turned Fred and the others into mutants, and there's other gargoyle clones besides me too. It's why I said Brooklyn's my dad, and also the thing about my age. I was created just over a year ago, but physically, I'm about the same age as Brooklyn."

The girls were silent the whole time Malibu explained, with Fang and the boys waiting for their reactions. Yvonne just looked confused, while Cynthia couldn't help but giggle. "What-ever! You really need to make up better stories, Malcolm. That's, like, way too out there. Seriously, gargoyle clones? And we told Mr. Sykes earlier about Wolf from the Pack, so you went extra unoriginal with the mutant thing."

"Malibu, actually. Malibu's my real name, not Malcolm, which is what these guys came up with so I could go out tonight without a weird name on me," Malibu explained while pointing to the boys and Fang. "And I figured you wouldn't believe me, so how about you see for yourselves?"

"Well, he's definitely going all-out now," Fang said as he ate another burger and turned to the boys. "Look on the bright side. Derek can't blame you two for this."

"I'll deal with Derek, don't worry about that," Malibu said, carefully removing his t-shirt, then getting up from the table and kneeling on the ground near the girls. "C'mon, check me out. See any seams or zippers? Any hint of someone under a mask?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes as she and Yvonne finished their Blizzards, then got up from the table and started checking out Malibu. They checked his torso, wing joints, neck. And gradually, their expressions changed as they started to realize that there were indeed no seams of a costume, no zippers anywhere to be found, and Malibu even opened his mouth so they could see in it, finding no sign or sight of a human face in there.

"Oh my God," Yvonne uttered.

"Yeah," Tyler said. "It's always a shock at first."

"Omigosh omigosh omigosh!" Cynthia exclaimed a little loudly. "We went trick-or-treating with a gargoyle! Like, I'm actually touching a real gargoyle!"

Even though there was nobody around, Daniel still panicked and tried shushing his friend. "Sssshhh! We're still out in public, someone could pass by and hear!"

"But he's a real gargoyle!" Cynthia replied, though she did lower her voice.

"I can't believe this!" Yvonne exclaimed. "I figured gargoyles were smart, because they wear clothes and they catch criminals, but I never knew they could be this smart!"

"Thanks for the compliments, ladies," Malibu said with a grin. "So, since the boys are already cool with it, I'll take it you're both okay with letting a cloned gargoyle join your Midnight Society?"

"Of course!" both girls replied simultaneously.

"Their what?" Fang asked while wiping his mouth with a napkin, having finished all his food.

"It's something about a show we grew up with, Dad, but you wouldn't like it," Daniel told his father.

"So you're not mad at us for not telling you?" Tyler asked the girls.

"No, of course not," Yvonne replied with a big smile. "Malcolm... I mean, Malibu, said that you guys promised Derek to not tell anyone."

"And you're a mutant, like Wolf from The Pack, only not a criminal jerk!" Cynthia said enthusiastically as she turned to Fang. "But you were made to look like a gargoyle. No wonder you were out during the afternoon!"

"That's right," Fang said with a smug smile, bringing a hand up and making electricity come out of it. "I'm damn strong, I can fly instead of gliding like gargoyles do, I got the sharp senses of a mountain lion, plus this real nifty bio-electricity. And unlike those other guys you met earlier, I actually like being like this."

"It's like we're living out a comic book fantasy," Tyler said.

"Oooh, can you take us to where you live, Malibu?" Cynthia asked the gargoyle, who was trying to get his wings through the hole on the back of his t-shirt.

"But Derek'll get mad," Daniel pointed out.

"Not hearing a downside there, Danny Boy," Fang remarked with a sly grin.

Having finished putting his t-shirt back on, Malibu spoke up. "Like I said, lemme handle Derek. Way I see it, Cynthia and Yvonne are your best friends, guys, and they would've found out eventually, so I just got that out of the way. And now that they know, there's no one else to tell anyway. Even your mom knows about the Labyrinth, Danny, and if she ever wants to check it out, Derek and the others won't have a problem, since she's friendly with Claw."

"Claw?" Yvonne asked.

"That's Roger," Tyler explained. "Three of the four mutants gave themselves different names. Roger is Claw, Derek is Talon."

"And my dad is Fang," Daniel said, looking at his father, who grinned again, which made Daniel smile. "It's a pretty fitting name."

"This is, like, actually literally the coolest night ever," Cynthia said, then noticed all three of her friends and even Malibu looking at her. "What?"

"Cynthia, you seriously can't tell anyone about this, ever," Daniel told her.

The red-haired girl frowned and scoffed. "Ex-cuse you! Just because I'm a big gossip doesn't mean I'm a blabbermouth. I've never told anyone your embarrassing things or anything else, right? Trust me, I can keep a secret. Especially a secret this cool!"

"We'll definitely keep quiet about it," Yvonne assured the others. "And we'd love to go to wherever you live soon, Malibu!"

"Well, how about next weekend? Or hell, maybe even tomorrow night?" Malibu suggested. "Get together with Danny and Tyler, they'll take you there."

"So long as you make sure to be there to catch all the heat from Derek when he finds out," Tyler told the gargoyle.

"Alright, alright, enough chit-chat!" Fang broke into the conversation. "We spent longer than we should've here and it's getting late. We gotta get you kids home, then me and Mal are gonna go enjoy the late night Halloween lifetime. Now c'mon, everyone, get your stuff and let's catch a bus."

Everyone obliged, throwing their fast food containers, bags and cups into a nearby trash can, then picking up their bags of candy and walking back out to the road. Fortunately for them, there was a bus stop near the park they ate in, and they sat down to wait. As they waited, the girls continued asking Malibu things about himself and his home, taking advantage that their group were the only people at the bus stop. Tyler sat with them to fill in his friends on more things alongside the clone, while Fang and Daniel sat a bit away from them. The boy set his scarecrow mask next to him on the bench and leaned against the cougar-man, who put an arm around his son.

"What's wrong, Danny Boy? Tired?"

"A little. We did walk a lot," Daniel replied, then reached over and grabbed his father's free hand with both of his. "I'm just really happy. Today's been the best day ever."

Fang chuckled. "Really? I dunno. We've had a lot of damn good days."

"It really has been, I mean it," Daniel insisted, squeezing his father's hand affectionately, looking up at him. "You're finally back. You picked me up at school, took me and my friends trick-or-treating, we all had a meal together..."

"Makes you wish every day was Halloween, huh?"

Daniel nodded. "You bet. Thanks for everything, Dad. You're the best."

"I know I am," Fang replied casually, then smiled and pulled his son into a firm hug. "Besides, I gotta be the best dad to match with you being the best son. Even if I sometimes gotta embarrass this best son by hugging him in front of his friends."

Daniel chuckled at this as he tried his best to hug his father back. "It's fine, I don't mind hugs from the best dad, even in front of my friends."

Father and son held their embrace for a few moments more, then they sat patiently while Malibu and Tyler filled in Cynthia and Yvonne more about the Labyrinth, the gargoyles, mutates, and much to the girls' jealousy, visiting the Eyrie Building's castle and meeting David and Fox Xanatos. A bus with barely any passengers eventually stopped and they boarded, feeling glad to keep resting their feet. As Yvonne would stay the night at Cynthia's home and Daniel at Tyler's, Fang suggested that Malibu take the girls home and Fang would do so with the boys. Everyone agreed with this and the two groups got off at different bus stops, each one closest to the respective place they had to go to.

Fang walked the boys to the front of Tyler's apartment building, giving his son another firm hug of farewell and promising they'd see each other again soon. Walking away, Fang ducked into an alleyway and made his way up to the building's rooftop, careful to not be seen, then he took off into the night sky, relieved to finally not be walking anymore, and very soon after, he met up with Malibu at their usual spot not far from Daniel's home. The two then soared away, heading to another part of town.

"Y'know, Mal, I wish you had told the girls the whole truth about two minutes earlier," Fang told his friend. "The look on Talon's face would've been priceless."

"Hey, I'm daring, not stupid. I figure it'll be easier to deal with him when the girls are on their way down there to hang out with Danny and Tyler. It'll be too late by then for him to do anything about it anyway. It's gonna be a piece of cake, you'll see."

Fang grinned. "Hehe! I love the way you just mess with Talon. Just don't push your luck too much. I did, and look where that got me for some time."

"Thanks for worrying," Malibu said as he grinned back at his friend. "But don't worry, I can manage."

"Hope you manage that better than you manage the jealousy that you had when the girls were gushing over Brooklyn," Fang said, unable to help himself from poking fun at his friend.

The gargoyle frowned at Fang before knowing exactly how to retort to that statement. "You mean the exact same way you were jealous at how much Daniel was so happy around Claw?"

Fang's smile faded from his face, replaced with a frown, and after a few seconds of silent gliding, he spoke again. "Agree to drop the damn jealousy subject?"

"Agreed. Let's just focus on having fun tonight," Malibu said. "But hey, about Talon, was that talk between you and him about letting you know that they're giving you a chance?"

"Yup."

"So, you gonna behave and stay out of trouble?" Malibu asked with a smirk, already knowing the answer Fang would give.

"Ha! Behave, my ass!" Fang exclaimed loudly. "Talon's little deal's not gonna keep me from having fun. I'll just be discreet about it, is all."

"And I'll help you with that," Malibu declared. "You shouldn't get to hog all the fun."

"That's if Talon even lets you out anymore, now that you've gone all rebellious teen son on him," Fang pointed out.

Malibu rolled his eyes at this. "Please. He can't lock me in one of those cells just for hanging out with you, especially since he has no proof that I've been doing anything I shouldn't be doing. Believe me, it'll be fine."

"Yeah, that's a good point," Fang admitted, his smile returning. "But like I said, don't push your luck. I don't want my best pal locked up in those cells. Trust me, it sucks!"

"From how you were always in a bad mood in there, yeah, I believe you," Malibu said. "But forget that for now. Kids are all where they should be, so now it's time us grown-ups have some fun of our own."

"Hehe. Just follow my lead, Mal," Fang said, a grin on his face. "You're gonna get your first taste of the real night life, and I'm sure it's gonna be a doozy."

To Be Continued...

Author's Extra Note: And there we go. Turns out that Talon and the others weren't there to drag Fang back to the Labyrinth, but to extend an olive branch, though it came with the addition of a few things revealed, what with them now knowing that Malibu has been telling some lies, and Malibu going ahead and telling the girls everything. We'll have to wait and see what comes out of that, but for now, Halloween's not over, because while the kids are in bed, the adults will be out partying. I'll likely take a break from posting during December, not sure yet, but however it goes, I hope you all look forward to what kind of shenanigans Fang and Malibu might get into while out partying late on Halloween night. Thank you all for reading and take care!