My Feral

18 -Epilogue

Author's Note: Well, here we are, folks. At the end of My Feral. This fanfic, that I started on 7/26/2016, is now the size of a Novelette, at 13,334 words. And, I couldn't have done it without you guys. I know that sounds cheesy, and a bit cliche, but it's the truth. All the kudos and comments and encouragements are what enabled me to finish this piece, almost a year later on 6/26/2017. It's been a bumpy ride, with my going months without updating because I am apparently really bad at consistency. But, you guys never gave up on me, or this work, and that means so much to me. You all are totally shiny and chrome, and I am thankful for everyone of you.

Things go good then, for the ragtag group of friends. Nux gets the cast off his arm, and Max accompanies his boyfriend to physical therapy. Nux is continually amazed by how nice all the doctor's and nurses are to him, and that makes Max want to go back and kill Joe himself so much it sometimes sets his teeth on edge.

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Max goes to therapy appointments a few times each month, working through the guilt that still occasionally crops up over falling in love with someone else after Jessie. It doesn't bother him that he's dating a man, which he makes very clear to his therapist. He just has a lot of things to work through, and probably should have continued going to therapy, even after he'd been given a clean enough bill of mental health to go back to work.

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Max also gains two pounds, which Slit takes credit for, as does Nux, because the brothers are what Max endearingly refers to as "sugar pushers." But, his ribs don't stick out as much as they used to, and Max finds that he had not only missed actual breakfasts, but having someone to eat with, too.

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And then Slit gets arrested. It happens rather suddenly and takes everyone by surprise. Especially Max, who is woken up by his phone ringing and vibrating itself off the edge of his nightstand. Reaching over the edge of the bed, he gropes around for it and answers just as the screen is about to go black. "Hello?" he says, more question than anything, because not many people call him at three AM, unless its the hospital needing another doctor to be on staff for the rest of the night.

"Hey, Rockatansky," Slit says, voice thickened by what sounds like a bloody nose. "I'm in a bit of trouble."

Max sits up then, grateful that he had convinced Nux to sleep at the house he shared with Slit and Furiosa. "What kinda trouble?" he asks, sounding calmer than he feels.

However, when Slit sniffs and answers back, "I got arrested," Max swears that his heart skips a beat.

"Why the hell did you get arrested?" he demands, wide awake and sitting on the edge of his bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes with a free hand.

"There's been an apparent tip off into my father's case."

"Jesus fuck. Do you need me to post bail?"

"I don't think so," Slit replies. "There's gonna be a detective brought in in a day or two to question me, and then I'll most likely be let go."

Max opens his mouth to say something, anything, but before he can, Slit is saying hurriedly, "I'm getting the signal to hang up now. Keep an eye on Furiosa and Nux, Max."

The line goes dead then, and Max lays back down, knowing full well that he isn't going to be getting any more sleep for the rest of the night.

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It is exactly three days before Slit is led out of his cell--orange jumpsuited and handcuffed--and down a network of halls to an interrogation room. The officers that escorted him there shove him none too gently into the room and close the door roughly behind him.