Time Is On Our Side by Nightwingstar

On the Fourteenth, tomorrow it will be my second year in this fandom! Unfortunately this one shot is not as good at the rest (so many distractions, jobs, etc) and yeah...S

So I miss my friends who have left this fandom but you know, it was good times. So here's to my second year!

A Nigel or AngelxIggy fic

Time Is On Our Side

AngelxIggy

"You're very good at leading people." Angel stared at Iggy, her blue eyes were serious and wise. The flock had just finished celebrating Angel's eighteenth birthday, Fang and Max were flying home to their children, the Gasman and Nudge were heading back to college, and Iggy was being as blind as he could.

"That, in fact, is a lie. You chose not to read my mind." Iggy replied, throwing away a paper plate.

"Sorry for having morals! You said you loved me, that you liked me in every little way. And you call it a misunderstanding, right." Angel's full pink lips thinned.

"Ever thought that it's because you're my little 'sister'? I like you Ang, but I don't like you like that." Iggy's sightless eyes seemed pained as he took a seat on the couch, ignoring the hiss of a protesting cat.

"Why does this suddenly have to become 'Hey Arnold'? I like you but I don't like you like you." Angel scoffed. "How middle school could we get? Don't say that you don't care for that way when I know you do."

"Oh, so you read my mind?" Iggy raised a brow, Angel froze at the accusation, how dare he even think that! "Didn't think so. Listen, I'd love to like you like that but I don't. I mean, I know that I will just not now."

"Then when?"

"I don't know." A sad smile played on Iggy's lips.

"So never, gotcha. Goodnight." Angel turned on her heel and walked off to her room before closing the door a bit harsher than normal, Iggy winced at the sound.

"Don't end your birthday like this Angel!" Iggy called. "Listen, I'm sorry I hurt you – "

"You didn't hurt me, don't flatter yourself." Angel called from the other side of the door as Iggy approached it. "I'm still waiting for you to suddenly say 'No hard feelings, right?' so I can laugh my ass off." Iggy grimaced at the words.

"… Why…?" The question was drawn out painfully as if he had just been shot through the heart. Angel could imagine Iggy's brows furrow in a pained manner, a grimaced expression etched permanently on his features as if he were attempting to grasp imaginary air.

"Because then I'd be treating you like a typical boy." Angel giggled silently at the thought, her anger towards Iggy faded.

"… I'm not a typical boy…"

"I know, that's why I was waiting for you say it." Silence was the only reply Angel received so she sighed and called towards her guardian, "Good night Iggy, sweet dreams."

"Sleep well…" His voice seemed faded but she would take it any day.

"I'm making a bet with myself." Angel told Max the following month and Max frowned.

"That can't be good. Why?" Max's brows furrowed in confusion.

"I can't stand being in love." Angel stated simply, as if it was an everyday topic. "I mean I love it and I hate it all at the same time and you know how much I hate to hate… He's always on my mind, I'm always thinking about him which is good because it means I care but I'm tired of it, I don't want to anymore. I hate always thinking about him when he doesn't love me. God, you must think I'm insane. And when I think about him I also wondering if he's thinking of me, he's probably not but I won't read his mind to find out… So I'm making a bet to stop loving him."

"Ang, you can't! You can't just stop loving someone when it's that bad! You're head over heels and if that prick doesn't realize how amazing you are then he's a sorry loser."

"My mind is strong… I can convince myself, I've done it before." Angel's voice hollowed.

"I know your mind is strong but your heart would triumph this one." Max sighed. "I've done it before too, I've convinced myself of so many things, and you wondered why it took forever for Fang and I to be together." Max laughed softly, her warm brown eyes empathetic to the girl before her. "So who is this prick anyway? If I know him, I swear I'll give him a good beating." Angel laughed, her voice rang out in the humor only she knew.

"He'd give you a run for your money." Angel smiled.

Angel tapped her fingers against the counter in mild annoyance. In the past couple of weeks Angel had seen Iggy once every few days in the apartment they shared. He would text her when he got the chance, which was odd in itself, and he took abnormally long to answer. When she would ask how he was, he would merely not respond or turn the question back to her.

"Okay, random question." Angel grimaced as she pulled out her phone, she had not spoken to Iggy in days. "In your opinion," she spoke aloud as she typed the words into her phone, "what is the scariest part of a relationship?" The thought had been bothering her for a while with his obvious disdain to create a relationship with anyone. He seemed overly cautious of the ordeal, like it was so fragile it could break.

As soon as Angel set her phone down it vibrated on the counter. She seized it at once, flipping it open to read. "The beginning and the end." It was simple and the quickest text he responded to. Angel could imagine Iggy typing it, his teeth clenched at the wild thoughts born through her question. His brows would furrow, his blind eyes in a glare as if he actually read it, and she could imagine the ever growing lump in his throat as he waited for a reply.

"Ah. Thank you." Angel replied sincerely, knowing well he wanted to know her thoughts on the matter. She had been merely curious when she asked the question, knowing well he would blow it out of proportions, knowing well he would think it related to them, but the question was on a whim. Iggy hated it when Angel was random, he could always tell when something random was coming but he never knew what, it was often something that hurt, emotionally or physically, it was rarely ever good.

"And you?" The two word question made Angel smile sadly. He would hate her reply. He would not respond to her reply because his mind would be running so wild his fingers would be unable to make a word. Iggy would imagine Angel crying as she wrote the reply even though in reality Angel would only send it with a sigh.

"When you figure out the relationship isn't going to last forever." Oh how she'd love to be with Iggy forever! How she'd love to actually be in a relationship with Iggy that he'd hug her in more than a sisterly manner, kiss her like a lover, and actually love her enough get married. But Iggy is a famous scientist and Angel was still months away from graduating high school, not to mention the eight year difference between the two. What if, in college, Angel's feelings change and Iggy just then began to love her the way she had? Forever is a long time, Angel sighed as she pressed send. How she wished any relationship would last forever…

"I can't forget you, I know you want me to want you, I want to…" Angel sang along to a CD as she cleaned the apartment in Iggy's absence. She was finishing the pots and pans in the kitchen as the song ended. Her heart ached as her mind related the lyrics to Iggy. In a moment she froze when she heard the sound of the door opening.

"I'm home." Iggy's voice called out. Angel exhaled in relief. It had been three days since the random text and the two had texted sparingly to each other. A mere 'good morning' and 'goodnight' was all Iggy would give.

"What are you planning for dinner?" Angel asked, eager to have the apartment as normal as possible as her heart thumped wildly in her chest, in mere seconds she would see Iggy for the first time in days.

"Lasagna, I thought I'd go a bit creative since I've been gone for almost half a week." Iggy was carrying seven grocery bags into the kitchen. He set it down with a thud, a thin smile on his face. "Did you do your homework?"

"Yep and I cleaned the place."

"Good. Everything where it's supposed to be?"

"No, knives are three inches away from the fridge, the largest blade on the far left. Watch out for the pots beside the sink, the sixteen inch pot is on the top of the stack, the sauce pan is underneath the popcorn bowl a foot away from your right hand at this very moment."

"Alright. Seems orderly enough. Are your reflexes good?"

"I'm getting a bit rusty, I haven't flown in days."

"Hand eye coordination?"

"The usual."

"Be sure to catch the stuff that falls."

"Of course." Angel sat at the counter, watching Iggy move with an unexplainable grace around the kitchen and even though Iggy had just played twenty questions with her it felt as normal as the place could get. Iggy the cook was home and happy to create a perfect meal.

"How are you?" Iggy asked after a few minutes of silence. Angel perked up at the sudden sound, it was soft and almost tentative.

"Fine." The word came out harsher than she meant to. Angel sighed running a hand through her now waist length hair.

"No, you're not. How are you really? How are you right there?" He turned away from the stove to face her, a wooden spoon pointing at her heart.

"Everything and nothing." In a way her response made no sense but Iggy visibly flinched.

"…Don't…" The word was drawn out like on her birthday. "You know I don't like it when you say nothing. I never know if it's something small or it's something big…"

"It's nothing, ergo it means absolutely nothing."

"You mean you don't want me to think about it and let you worry all by yourself." Iggy began cutting up ingredients for the lasagna.

"No. How are you Iggy? You never tell me how you are."

"That's not true – "

"Then how are you?" Angel asked calmly, watching his hands cut move swiftly over the ingredients. It was like they were performing a magic trick he saved just for her.

"It's nothing."

"Liar."

"So are you."

"Tell me truthfully how you are."

"Confused, a little left out, and like I could never heal you."

Angel laughed quietly and Iggy lifted his head at the sound. "Such a silly boy…" She smiled at him. A light blush graced Iggy's cheeks, causing Angel to grin at a beautiful sight.

"…I'm not that silly…"

"I wasn't broken in the first place. We weren't anything so how could I get hurt?" Angel's voice didn't waver as a kind smile played on her lips. "And there's no reason to be confused. It's not like I'm the one playing with your heart." Angel's eyes widened and she clamped a hand over her mouth. That was a wrong thing to say, Angel watched as Iggy's body seemed stuck by her words. "Ah, I'm so sorry. You know what, I remember Nudge was asking me to call her. I'm going to go do that…" And she bolted from the barstool, running towards her room.

"Fang, I need to talk to you." Iggy stood in front of the stove, checking the sauce as he spoke into his cell phone.

"… Go ahead." Fang replied as quiet as ever. Iggy frowned already knowing Max was listening in too.

"Would you guys approve if I dated someone eight years younger than me? I mean, would it be right? I mean I care for her a lot, I don't know if love her just yet but that's what dating supposed to be about? And what if it turns out to be another fiasco?"

"You're going to date someone Angel's age, wow." Max's voice rang out in his ears. "Honestly if you like her so much already then just go out with her."

"You won't know until you try." Fang replied.

"Yeah, thanks for the advice. Later guys. Oh, do you want to stop by for dinner? It's lasagna."

"I can't do this Nudge." Angel whispered into the phone.

"Can't do what, Ang?" Nudge asked from the other side, watching Gazzy put together a bomb.

"I can't stay still for him. I can't just stand here waiting in the rain for him to like me. I can't stay still, you know me."

"You were never the one to stay still physically or emotionally, I'll agree to that. But here's something you have to ask yourself."

"What?" Angel's voice shook.

"Is he worth staying still for? Is he worth standing in the rain until he comes with an umbrella? Is he worth waiting a hundred years for like Sleeping Beauty did? Is he worth it?"

"He's worth waiting for. I can't see myself without him. But I don't know how much longer I can stand before I fall apart."

"Then we'll put you back together just like we always do… Like you did for me and like we did for Max. Max and I will put you back together…" Nudge smiled into the phone, the Gasman suddenly tangled in a web of wires.

"So tell me about this boy who will give me a run for my money." Max asked at dinner, watching Angel push her food around the plate.

"He's kind, a bit absurd, a little too distant like he's trying to save the world while trying to keep me safe, he's handsome, and he likes the dark." Angel took a bite of the food, savoring the taste knowing Iggy had put a lot of care into it. She peeked at Iggy and sighed seeing him taking a bite off his plate.

"Oh god, please don't tell me it's another Fang." Max moaned and Angel burst out laughing. Fang sent a glare towards Max. "And what about you Ig? What about your lovely woman?" Angel snapped her lips shut. But he said he would like her, not like someone else! "My, Angel and Iggy, you guys are finally finding love in your lives. I waiting for it to happen. For a while I thought Iggy had gone gay…" Max chuckled at an inside joke.

"Hey!" Iggy glared the best he could.

"Well, tell me about her."

"She's here. Your baby girl." Angel dropped her fork and stared at Iggy with wide eyes. He had a completely straight face, as if he had been taking lessons from Fang but one could see the love in his sightless eyes. Her birthday had been months ago, she held onto the lingering hope that he would eventually fall for her… yet somehow it still came as a surprise.

"You're kidding." Angel whispered in the now quiet room.

"I told you I would."

"But I was about to give up!"

"You wouldn't have." Fang's voice rang out silencing the table, his cool gaze on Angel. "When we love someone we don't give up on them. I was in love with Max for seven years, I agonized and waited that long just for her. You've only been waiting for a year, you would have waited an eternity."

"You knew!" Max's eyes grew wider. "You knew Iggy and Angel were – and – how did I miss this?!" She switched her gaze between Iggy, Angel, and Fang.

"We're together now or, at least, I hope we will be." Iggy smiled softly, taking Angel's hand beneath the table.

"I can agree to that." Angel grinned.

Five years later

"You're finally getting married!" Nudge cooed. "I mean you guys took two years to get to the kissing stage!" She stood in a light brown dress, complimenting her wings.

"Shut up!" Angel blushed, fingering her bouquet. She wore an elegant white dress and a simple veil. "We were taking it slow, I mean we were hesitant to be together in the first place!"

"Max and Fang took it slow, I mean geez, seven years!"

"But they hit it off right away afterwards! I mean they got married only a year later! Nudge, don't give me hard time, it's my wedding day."

"As if I didn't know that. Now come on, Fang's waiting for you." Nudge opened the twin oak doors to reveal Fang in a tux, a cool gaze on his features.

"Congrats." Fang smiled in a Fang sort of way. He led her towards the isle with the wedding march beginning to play. The small crowd turned around but Angel's eyes were already set on the alter where a man with strawberry blonde hair stood proud, blue sightless eyes staring at the Angel of his life.

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Adieu
Nightwing