So, having recently revisited and rekindled my love for Gargoyles for the first time in years, I finally decided to lavish a bit of time and care on a little story about one of my all-time favourite pairings. Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but hey, its just a bit of fun.
"Stay back!"
Another shot went off, wild and erratic. Elisa and her team ducked back as it ricocheted off the squad car.
"Morgan, get a couple of the guys to go around, that alley cuts into another street and we don't want this guy wandering out into the public."
"You got it, Maza." Morgan nodded, peeling off a couple of officers and sending them jogging down the street.
Elisa peered over the top of the car bonnet cautiously. The alleyway was shrouded in darkness, but the perp was definitely back there somewhere.
Time to try it by the book, Elisa mused, wryly.
"Throw down your weapon and come out, you will not be harmed!" She called.
Her only response was a frightened yell and another gunshot. This time, she heard a window smash high up on the building across the street. To Elisa, that told her everything she needed to know.
Sure, trusting her 'instincts' wasn't exactly accepted practice, or orthodox, but they'd never steered her wrong before…not often anyway. And once pack of thousand-year-old mythical nocturnal creatures from the past had blown into her life a few years back, well…frankly, those 'instincts' had been working overtime.
"Okay then." She murmured, slipping her gun back into its holster beneath her jacket. Time to test those instincts again. "I'm coming out!" She yelled.
"Detective!" Morgan hissed, but she waved him off.
Slowly, she stood up. For a moment she was sure another shot would follow but…nothing. She breathed out, nerves on edge, and began steadily making her way around the car and into the alley.
Matt hated it when she did stuff like this. Just as well he wasn't here.
"I'm not holding a weapon." She said loudly, holding her hands up for whoever was back there to see. "I just want to talk."
About halfway, she slowed. She didn't want to set off the suspect, since they were clearly treading on thin ice, mentally.
"We can help, if you'll let us." She spoke out, clearly. As long as she kept talking they shouldn't panic.
That was the theory.
"Coming out!" A voice called back. Male. Sounded jumpy.
Elisa took another step forward. She hated this part. Too much could go wrong. One gun in front of her, a lot more behind, everybody tense…
Her eyes were drawn to movement on the ground, just ahead of her. As her eyes came into focus in the dark, she could just make out the shadowy outline of the building to her right, cast by the moon. She wasn't sure what, but there was something off about the shape, something different about…
Part of the shadow moved again. There was a definite impression…one might say of wings unfolding and folding again.
Elisa's lips curled in a thin smile as she felt the pressure slide away.
What she'd thought to be a man turned out to be a boy, well, somewhere in their teens anyway. He was holding the gun in both hands, shaking all over. Didn't look like he knew how to use it at all.
"It was an accident." The boy said, quietly.
Elisa nodded, understandingly.
"What's your name?" She asked, though she already knew. It was important to let him feel like he had a degree of control over his situation.
"Darren."
There had been an attempted robbery in a family apartment a few blocks away. Burglar had been shot in the course of the break-in. Neighbours had called the cops and on arrival found the eldest son had fled the scene. With his father's gun.
Elisa could see the whole thing as it happened in her mind.
"I know, Darren." She replied, taking another step forward. "He broke in, probably made all kinds of threats and you were afraid, afraid for your family."
"I didn't mean to fire."
"I believe you." And she did. Given his earlier accuracy with the weapon she couldn't envision the shooting as anything but a mistake. "He will live. The shot caught his shoulder but it wasn't fatal."
"What will happen?"
Elisa saw the shadow move further along the building. A hint of thick, strong legs, the flick of a tail.
"That's what we need to talk about, Darren." This was it. "If you'll let us. If you'll let us help you."
She saw the conflict on his face.
"Your family want to see you, they want to help you." She pressed. "I want to help you." She held out her hand.
The relief that washed over her as she felt the cold weight of the gun placed into her hand was palpable.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly.
"You made the right choice, Darren." She signalled behind her and Morgan came forward with another officer. "This is Morgan, he'll see you home first, then stay with you and your family as you all go down to the station, okay?"
Darren nodded hesitantly and walked past her with the two officers.
"Nice work, Maza." Morgan saluted quickly as they left.
Elisa remained in the alley, watching as the other officers cleared things up out on the street. She didn't flinch as she heard a rush of air behind her, a slightly leathery sound and a muffled thump as of something heavy landing on the concrete.
"Good evening, Elisa." Goliath's voice rumbled out of the dark.
She turned around, making out the large, muscular shape of the gargoyle in the gloom. His wings folded inward, then hooked and fell loose over his broad shoulders. His eyes glowed silver briefly, before fading to their normal colour.
"Goliath." She smiled up at him.
As one, they stepped closer. She slipped into the giant's arms as they closed around her, leaning up on her tip-toes and wrapping her arms around his thick neck. Their lips met.
If the awakening of Goliath and the rest of the 'Manhattan Clan' had changed her life, Elisa thought, then the clash of the Canmore Hunters and the Clan had changed everybody else's. Thanks to Jon Canmore, the world now knew of the gargoyles existence. For better or worse, at this point, none could say.
They pulled apart, merely looking at one another for a moment, as if neither could believe, still, that they were doing this.
"I love you." Goliath said, gently, as if reading her mind.
"Love you too, big guy." She trailed a finger over his cheek, across the well-defined muscles of his jaw. "What brings you out here?"
"I heard about the shooting, and that you were here. I thought I might…sit in." He replied.
Elisa frowned slightly. He knew full well she could handle herself. Was he worried about something else?
"You probably coulda disarmed the kid easy." She ventured, watching the subtle way Goliath's expression changed.
"I could have." He replied, calmly. His hands slid to her shoulders. "But I know you, Elisa Maza. I know you can take care of yourself. I know you neither want nor need me to intervene all the time. I respect that. Your strength is one of many reasons I feel the way I do about you."
"So…just wanted to watch the master at work, huh?"
Goliath chuckled in that steady, rumbling way that sent a shiver down her spine.
"I will always be there for you, Elisa. For all the times that you might not need me, but especially for those times that you do. Should you ask, I will answer, and should you not…well, know that you are never alone, my love."
She made a show of giving his words some thought.
"I can work with that." She smirked, as he smiled down at her kindly.
Goliath. To most, the gentle giant. To his enemies, a foe to be reckoned with. To her…
"Care for a ride?" He stepped back a little, glancing upward. "Fine night for it."
Elisa nodded, allowing him to scoop her up carefully in his large arms. She pressed close to him, slipping an arm around his neck, enjoying the gentle way he held her, as if she were something so weightless, fragile. She didn't think she'd ever truly get used to the way he made her feel so small sometimes. It was strangely easy to forget, until moments like these.
It reminded her of her childhood, her father carrying her. In her memories, he was always so big, and she so small. His eyes looking down at her filled with love.
Goliath was looking down at her now, eyes filled with a different kind of love, but no less important.
Her heart flipped as Goliath leapt up, wings unfurling and catching the wind. The streets went by in a blur beneath them and the cool night air rushed through them, but she wasn't cold.
"So…" Elisa leaned closer to him. "What are the other many reasons you love me?" She grinned.
Goliath laughed.
