I hereby give all due credit to Mary Shelley and Kevin Grevioux for the creation of these characters and this premis. I'm only playing around with their characters and the world they live in. I have not nor will not accept any monitary compensation for this work.
Adam's Eve
By MinxxMama
1: After Gideon traded the journal for Leonore:
As they flew through the breach in the ceiling, Leonore and Gideon both saw the unmistakable flash of Hellfire indicating a demon had been descended. Another and another followed quickly. The two gargoyles looked at each other and the same thought passed between them: Adam!
Adam was in that theatre, he must have seen and heard everything. He now knew about the journals existence. The journal that was his by right. The journal that she had kept from him for two centuries. The journal that was about to be delivered into Naberius' hands.
With a heavy heart and no little guilt, Leonore led the way back to the cathedral.
~/~
~After Adam defeated Zuriel~
Scrambling up off the pavement, Terra stuffed the journal in her bag and looked frantically around for more… she wasn't sure what, but she didn't want any more of them.
"Adam!" she cried out, he still hadn't gotten up. After the beating he'd suffered she wasn't surprised. "Come on, Adam. You said we had to go. Where are we going?" She rolled him over and firmly patted his face, trying to bring him back to consciousness.
He groaned after a moment and his eyes opened; haunted, wild, suspicious and full of pain. "I have a place." he rasped as he rose to his feet. He swayed and Terra stepped to support him, at first he didn't know how to react but his injuries were severe enough that he allowed it. "Over there, Dr. Wade." he pointed toward the street entrance.
Together they climbed up, over and around some debris to reach the alleyway. "Terra." she said once they'd cleared the obstacles. He looked at her in confusion, "Call me 'Terra'. 'Dr. Wade' sounds like some little old man or something."
He nodded and returned to concentrating on leading them back to the place he called home.
~/~
~After Adam fell asleep~
Terra's POV:
"Look Adam, I -" he was asleep, exhausted.
What to do now? She had the journal; she could go back to the Institute. No, Wessex's 'extra layer of security' had been tailing her, had fought with Adam and had gone up in a fiery blaze. She was still having trouble with that, but she couldn't explain it any other way. Could that mean Adam was right? That what sounded like deluded ravings could be true? Demons, an army of possessed reanimated corpses and Wessex in charge of it all? Not to mention gargoyles who fought to protect mankind from such things? Well, the Institute was the one place she could not go back to she realized.
Karl! He had to be warned; he had to leave the Institute. She dialed his number but only got his voicemail, he never checked that. She dialed the Institute switchboard and left a vague request for Karl to call her back.
No, she'd stay here; there was no telling when Adam would wake up. It should be hours, but she couldn't make guesses about him; he was too unique.
Had it really been only an hour or so ago that he had crashed through the observation window and into her lab? She had recognized him immediately, not just from the scars on his face but the intelligence in his eyes; Victor had been quite a good artist as well. From the moment he stood, he had radiated danger; but even up close she could sense no malice from him. Then in a confused blur of many business suits, Mr. Wessex and that pompous man in the leather jacket, Adam had crashed through yet another window and disappeared.
Shaking her head in bewilderment, Terra settled down to read the journal; the chronicle of a supposedly mythical madman, and watch over her 'patient'.
The more Terra read, the more she became convinced that Victor Frankenstein's success was due to the blind luck of the truly mad. To resuscitate an individual with all its original parts was tricky enough, but to piece together a new being from discrete parts and have him function properly - better than properly – was sheer dumb luck. With the almost infinite number of things that could go wrong when making a human the time-honored way, Terra realized more and more that Adam was truly amazing.
Terra was surprised that the meticulous attention to detail which marked Victor's work was confusingly absent when it came to the outside of his creation; poor Adam's skin seemed randomly patched together. Had the bodies Victor used been so outwardly decayed or damaged that this piecemeal design was the best he could do? Or had there been some time constraint that made his slapdash appearance unavoidable?
'Although,' some feminine instinct in her whispered, 'the form Victor gave him is worth looking at. He'd done Adam a favor there'.
'That's enough of that' she thought to herself, trying not to notice that her instinct had a point.
~/~
~Just before Adam burned the journal~
Adam's POV, first person:
Naberius has Terra.
Leonore tried to have me destroyed.
I thought the gargoyles would help me, but now I have no allies.
What do I do? I could leave, take the journal and hide from the world completely.
You're only a monster if you behave like one.
No, Terra said she might be able to improve on Victor's process. Naberius might not actually need me or the journal. He only needs Terra. I have to get her away from him.
No, that's not enough, I need to destroy Naberius! As long as he roams the earth, Terra, the journal and I will be constantly hunted. I'll burn the journal first, that will be one less piece of the puzzle.
He has a small army of demons surrounding him, how do I get to him? I need the gargoyles help. Leonore certainly won't listen to me if I ask; she'll have me killed on sight. Fine, if she wants to destroy me, she'll have to catch me. But first she'll have to chase me. I'll lead them to the Wessex Institute. Their sacred duty will see they help me, whether they like it or not.
~/~
~After The Rescue~
The eyrie atop the cathedral:
"Where's the journal?"
"I don't need it anymore." He stated, rose to his feet and held out his hand.
She looked into his eyes. Those wild eyes; less haunted than when she first looked into them back at the lab. A little more trusting but still wary, a little more at peace but still restless. She looked at his hand held out to her; silently asking for her trust, for her help? Was he expecting her to fulfill Victor Frankenstein's promise of a companion by making one for him, or by being that companion herself? To her surprise, both concepts intrigued her; the latter considerably.
All this ran through her mind in a split second; no matter what, her life was now inextricably bound to his. This was an opportunity, an adventure she could not let pass, and so banishing any and all doubts now and for the future, she placed her hand in his.
He raised her to her feet and tentatively rested his hands at her waist, relieved by her decision but unsure how to proceed.
Terra's eyes roamed across his face, noting every detail; the color of his wild, intelligent eyes, the chiseled cheek bones, even the cleft in his determined chin. While his appearance was startling, she hadn't thought of him as ugly. In fact, he was quite handsome.
Adam saw her eyes move on his face and knew what she saw; the stitches, the scars, the discolored flesh around his eyes; and the old feelings of wariness and anticipated rejection came to him again.
Terra could see that he expected her to be repulsed by him because of his appearance; she realized he expected her to turn away from him as so many others had. Quickly she leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek, then whispered in his ear: "Monsters only behave monstrously. Tonight you were an angel."
His eyes bored into hers, looking for some hint that she might not believe what she'd just said, anything that would take away the sudden feeling of… happiness? But her gaze held conviction, belief, trust and something he'd never seen directed at him, but shared between lovers or those who shortly became lovers. Something he longed for instinctively.
He lightly stroked her lips with his thumb, this new-found feeling and the look in her eyes made him more hopeful that she might allow him to kiss her back, but they were interrupted by the sound of footfalls.
"Adam, I need to speak to your scientist." said Leonore as she swept back from around the corner.
"Um please, call me Terra, Your M-majesty." Terra stammered a bit flustered.
"Of course, but only if you call me Leonore." Terra nodded and the gargoyle queen continued, "You have a decision to make Terra: do we take you back to the wreckage to be found as the sole survivor? Or do you let the world think you perished? I am afraid you must decide quickly."
Terra thought quickly, to start over with a new identity, start over with her work. No, she needed her good name and reputation; she still had a lot of work to do. "I need to go back." she said, stepping toward Leonore to emphasize her point. "I have to be the voice of reason with this technology. To make sure it isn't used recklessly."
"Come, Levi* will take you back." A gargoyle changed aspect, took her by the hand and led her to an archway. Terra looked back at Leonore and Adam; the gargoyle queen seemed to radiate satisfaction, but Adam's face was expressionless and the light that had been in his eyes was gone. She rushed back to him and despite his instinctive flinch she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately and quickly.
"I will come back." She said firmly, and then stepped back to Levi, "Let's go." Together they flew away leaving Adam confused and… pleased?
*Levi was one of Gideon's lieutenants.
~/~
Circling the wreckage Levi found the place where Terra's lab would have been, fortunately rescue workers hadn't reached that area yet. They found some debris from the outside wall and the gargoyle dug a place for her in the rubble. After Terra crawled in he carefully replaced the debris around her. "Thank you, Levi."
He then flew to the top of the nearest building and perched in gargoyle form to watch over her.
~/~
"Where is Levi? Why isn't he back? Is something wrong?"
"Be easy, Adam." said the gargoyle queen, "Levi stays to watch until she is safely found."
Adam continued to stare out at the horizon, an uneasy expression on his face.
"You still look concerned."
"Not concerned, confused."
"About what?"
"Why do you think Terra kissed me like that before she left?"
"There is much about human behavior that I am unequal to explain. Perhaps knowing the many disappointments you have had, the kiss was meant to be proof of her sincerity."
"Hm."
"Come, there are rooms in the cathedral appointed for human use. You are welcome to stay here Adam; as an equal," she reassured him, "not a prisoner. In fact I had hoped you would help us. I am positive that not all of Naberius' demons descended this night, we will need to find them; for they will continue to prey on mankind."
~/~
'When you can, come to the front entrance of the cathedral, someone will be watching for you.
You are welcome to stay in our sanctuary for as long as you wish.
L '
...read the note that Terra found on the floor of her apartment near the window. It was enough that the building across the street had suddenly acquired a gargoyle, but now they were getting in to leave messages. Well, nothing had been disturbed or broken; apparently whoever it was had left the note and just departed. Still, she had felt better as soon as she spotted the gargoyle, as if she had some support.
After the first message, only one other arrived: 'Adam is well. L '
~/~