Chapter 1

New York City is said to be the city that never sleeps. The Isle of Manhattan was no different. There was never a time when the streets were empty of either cars or people.

The people who made Manhattan their homes were a hearty breed, facing harsh winters, raging summer storms, and the occasional spell from supernatural beings.

Strange things happened at all hours of the day and night. For the most part they go unnoticed by the bustling crowds. It's not that people were ignorant of the odd developments… But, let's face it, humans tend to believe that they are the top of the food chain. They think trouble will come at them head on, and rarely think to look up at what may be just over their heads.

Which is how the Manhattan Clan of Gargoyles had remained hidden for so long.

For years, the ancient clan of gargoyles had come alive when the last rays of sun faded from the sky and into memory. They had taken it upon themselves to make Manhattan safer for those who lived on the island, expecting no thanks in return.

Not that they ever really got one, anyway. Most of the time, the people that they helped ran in fear of the "monsters".

There were only a small handful of people who knew of the Gargoyles' existence, and knew them well enough to know that they would lay their lives on the line to save an innocent. It was that handful of people that kept them going.

One human in particular.

Elisa Maza, the raven-haired detective with the NYPD at the 23rd precinct station house.

She had been the first human to truly befriend the clan when they woke one thousand years from when they had been placed under a magic spell. She had helped them pick names for themselves, and to find a new home within the clocktower over her station house when their castle had become too dangerous for them to stay. It was Elisa who had encouraged them to use their protective instincts to help the people of Manhattan, all the while watching over them and keeping their existence a secret. She helped them find their place in this time, and they were grateful for her friendship.

Her close relationship with the clan had lasted through events that most humans could not even conceive of. In return, they helped her on her patrols at night, ensuring the safety of the city as well as her own.

The bond between Elisa and Goliath, the leader of the Gargoyle clan, was almost instantaneous.

...Almost.

The truth was, it took Elisa's falling off of the top of the Aerie building and Goliath saving her to start the process.

Upon their awakening in this strange place and time, Goliath had a mistrust of humans, but something about Elisa had struck him as being truly unique. He had questioned the closeness for a brief time, but it was quickly overcome after she had put herself in danger to keep him safe within only 24 hours of meeting him.

Goliath had been caught, far from the castle in Central Park, when sunrise turned him to stone for the day. Elisa had led their attackers away, and proceeded to keep watch over him all day.

She was human, that was true enough… But she had the fighting spirit and protective instincts that was so much a part of a Gargoyle's nature.

Only a few months ago, Goliath, Elisa and Bronx had disappeared for 6 months when they were caught in a skiff under the direction of Avalon. The mystical island had directed them to where it decided that they needed to be… not necessarily where they wanted to be. They had tried for months to return to Manhattan, but had been magically re-directed to other places and countries. Most of their time had been dealing with the Fae and Oberon's Children, the "third race" that had previously been the cause of trouble for the clan in New York.

It had turned out that "big daddy" Oberon had been in the process of calling his children back home to Avalon, and most of his wayward children did not want to go.

Goliath and Elisa had found the clan's children, the eggs that had been unhatched at the time that the clan had been frozen in stone, had hatched and been raised on the island of Avalon by a small group of humans. All were grown, and had no interest in leaving the only home that they had known.

All but one.

Angela was the child of Goliath and his mate at the time, Demona. Once she had figured out that Goliath was one of her natural parents, she had been only too eager to leave the island. Having been raised with more human traditions than Gargoyle, she was determined to have a father/daughter relationship with Goliath.

Elisa had her job cut out for her on that one. Gargoyle clans raised their children together, not acknowledging individual parentage. Angela, being raised by humans, had not understood why Goliath had been so resistant to call or even treat her as his daughter. Finally, however, a parent/child bond had been formed and was fully in place.

Together, the four of them had grown closer, as they only had each other for that time. Elisa watched over them during the day while they slept encased in their stone skin. The gargoyles watched over her at night while they struggled to find their way home.

Now that they were all together with the clan again, patrolling the city and protecting one another became something of a routine.

As the sun set on this particular night, the clan came alive with a roar. Shedding their stone skin, they moved inside of the clock tower that had become their home. To avoid any unnecessary confusion, such as what had happened the last time that she had gone undercover, Elisa had started leaving the clan notes if she couldn't be there to meet with them personally.

Tonight , Elisa had left them a note, letting them know that she would be on an assignment, and where she would be.

Hudson, the clan elder, opted to stay and guard the clocktower with Bronx.

The rest walked outside, spread their wings, and began soaring with the aid of the wind currents.

If Elisa thought it was important enough to leave them a note about what she was doing, they wanted to be there in case she should need help.

Elisa Maza had been in her share of trouble. More than most, actually, if she were honest. She would have to admit that the fact that she hadn't been fired yet was nothing short of a miracle. The only thing that was saving her, was the fact that she was damn good at her job.

That, and with the help from the Gargoyles, she had one of the highest arrest records in the NYPD.

It was sometimes hard for her to believe that her life had changed so much in the last few years. It all started the night when she had been trying to find out what was causing the destruction and loud explosions at the Aerie building, the home of Xanatos Enterprises and her biggest pain in the ass David Xanatos himself.

There was a rather large amount of crime in Manhattan, most of which could be traced back to a select few people of various criminal activity. David Xanatos, billionaire extraordinaire, was one of them. When the chance to scout out the building arose, she took it.

He had an inflated ego, and was as slick as a used car salesman, that was for sure. Hell, he had bought Castle Wyvern, a deserted castle in Scotland and had it transported to Manhattan. Stone by stone, he had it moved and rebuilt on top of his already massive company building in the heart of the city. It had been an exercise in excess, or so Elisa had thought, meant as a slap in the face to anyone not rolling in the dough.

Little had she known at the time, Xanatos' reason for moving the castle was to break an ancient spell that had been placed on the castle's previous inhabitants. The Gargoyles that had decorated the parapets were more than mere decorations, and Xanatos had a plan to use them for his own purposes.

It was there that she met Goliath and his clan of Gargoyles.

They had taken her by surprise, and had caused her to misstep and fall off of the top of the Aerie building. Goliath had caught her, helping her back up to safety.

They were ancient guardians, and took their jobs seriously. They had taken it upon themselves to protect their castle and the city that it now resided in.

Goliath was the leader, as well as the largest of them all. He was frightening looking, especially when his anger caused his eyes to glow a phosphorescent white, but he was as gentle as could be to those he was close to. Standing a towering 7 feet tall, even taller when he chose to extend his wings upward, and very muscular, he was built very much like the biblical character he was named after. Elisa imagined that running into him would be like hitting a brick wall.

Hudson, named after the river, was the eldest, sporting a head of snow white hair and a beard to match. As the former head of the clan, he tended to veg out in front of a television whenever he had the chance, but he never evaded a good fight either. He was the main caretaker of Bronx, the large dog-like gargoyle.

Broadway, Lexington and Brooklyn were the youngest of the clan. They were definitely in their teenage years as far as Elisa could see. They were curious about this new time, and tended to get themselves into one scrape after another.

Lexington was the smallest. The olive green, web-winged youngster had flourished in this new time, using his natural curiosity and amazing talent to work with electronic and mechanical gadgets to work. Elisa couldn't believe how many times he had helped her with her toaster, microwave, and even her blender. He could simply read up on it on the internet, and figure out how to repair almost anything.

Her blender had been "tweaked" so much, it could probably pulverize concrete now.

Broadway was the large teal colored gargoyle, who enjoyed anything to do with food. He loved to cook, and loved to play around in Elisa's kitchen on their slower nights. Elisa had gotten used to coming home to savory scents and on the nights she worked especially late, a plastic wrapped plate of leftovers for dinner before bed.

Recently, he had gotten on a dessert kick that had Elisa fearing for her waistline.

Brooklyn was red skinned with a beak-shaped nose and a scathing sense of humor. His humorous comebacks came so fast, that sometimes those around him didn't catch them right away. He was fun to be around, though, and reminded Elisa a lot of her brother when he'd been younger.

Of the three younger gargoyles, Brooklyn seemed to be the most easygoing. There were times however, he seemed to be the most like a moody teenager than his brothers. He had a trusting nature that bit him on the butt a few times, and that resulted in some pretty gnarly anger issues that he was still working on. He was fiercely loyal to his family and friends, but second chances were rare with him once that trust was turned against him.

Elisa had had her doubts when Goliath had named Brooklyn as his successor for the clan at first, but when the time came for Brook to step up, he had done so… however reluctantly.

Brooklyn had matured a great bit.

Goliath and Elisa had been gone for months, and Brooklyn had taken on the responsibilities of a leader in their absence.

It was during that time that Goliath and Elisa had found Angela. Angela was the daughter of Goliath and his former mate, Demona, but had been raised on the isle of Avalon by humans. There were quite a few young gargoyles being raised there, but only Angela had wanted to leave.

Standing a little taller than Elisa, Angela shared the lavender skin tone and black hair as her father. She also had the look of her mother, which had admittedly thrown Elisa for a loop.

After getting to know her, Elisa stopped seeing Demona's resemblance and now only saw Angela. More than once, Elisa was grateful that Angela had been raised by humans. Angela was more accepting of them, and was prepared to defend them against her mother's plots and plans.

Once in Manhattan, Angela's presence had caused a stir, that was for sure. The Trio (Broadway, Brooklyn and Lexington) had fallen for her, hard. It had been rather adorable, the way they had tripped over each other to get her attention… Or at least, Elisa had thought so.

And then there was Demona. She was STILL a red-headed pain in the ass. Demona had been the cause of the clan's destruction in Scotland, but had blamed all of the human race for it instead. She always seemed to have some sort of half-baked plan in the works.

Finally, there was Elisa. She had an exotic look because of her mixed African-American and Hopi Indian heritage, and standing a whopping 5' 4" tall, she'd had her work cut out for her to make it as far as she did in the department. More than one of her male counterparts had fancied themselves in "love" with her, and set themselves up as a "protector" for her against the big, bad world, but it didn't take long for them to realize that this small female could handle her own. Prior to her entering the force, following in her father's footsteps, she had taken courses in self defense and martial arts. She had completed her time as a beat cop, but sought out a position as a detective with a tenacity that left many shaking their heads. Luckily, she had proven to be very good at her job, passed the detective training and achieved her goal in a nearly record-setting time.

Once the clan had discovered that Elisa was a detective, a city protector herself, they considered her a friend and ally in this foreign place and time. The Gargoyles ran patrols around the city, careful not to be caught and helping to keep the streets safe. Elisa had brought in her fair share of criminals that had been left behind, restrained by the gargoyles.

More than one criminal had peed their pants… or worse… at the sight of the Gargoyles.

Luckily, they were on the side of the good guys.

Yes, they were indeed good friends, practically family now in a way. They spent time in her apartment, raided her fridge, took care of her cat… took care of her. In return, she helped to keep them safe. Kept their daytime location a secret.

It led to some interesting challenges, however. She had to get creative with her excuses on how she kept coming up with so many criminals, all of whom seemed to babble about "the monsters" that caught them.

She'd had to replace a good number of handguns, as they kept getting crushed, lost or stolen. She had even managed to be shot with her own weapon once because of Broadway's fascination with Western movies and her carelessness leaving it out.

It was the shooting incident, and Elisa's lack of details as to what had actually happened that night, that had caused the Chief to assign her a partner for her own safety.

Matt Bluestone had originally come across as a complete weirdo. Previously with the FBI, Matt had an ongoing obsession with the secret society of the Illuminati… among other things.

She had even introduced her partner, Matt Bluestone, to the clan so that he could help them out. It had taken her a while to be able to introduce them, to share her secret and friends with someone else, but they seemed to get along great.

She had had to come up with some damned good, borderline epic reasons as to some of the wild things that happened when she and the Gargoyles were together. She couldn't just walk up to her boss, Captain Maria Chavez, and tell her what had actually happened. Between the Gargoyles, the Phoenix Gate madness, mythological creatures and characters straight out of Shakespeare, Elisa was sure she would have ended up in a padded room, complete with a straightjacket and hourly injections of some rather potent designer, antipsychotic drugs.

Some of the Captain's willingness to work with Elisa's crazy life was probably due to her closeness with Elisa's father. One time partners, Peter Maza and Maria Chavez had grown close as friends and Maria had been named as a Godmother to the Maza kids.

As a result of all the help, leeway, and understanding that she had gotten from Captain Chavez, Elisa had developed the inability to tell her boss no.

Which is why she was currently dressed in an absurd outfit with a crazy platinum blonde wig on. The gargoyle clan had intervened at the perfect time, however, and after popping the top of the train car open like a soda can, they had subdued the would-be muggers. They were gone before the train had reached the next station where a few police officers had been waiting.

Matt was there, waiting for her as well. "Had a little help on this one, I see."

Elisa fought the urge to roll her eyes. Matt knew very well who had helped her. They had all been there, helping in one way or another. She still was not sure who, but someone had been hurt when things went south on the train. She wanted to get back to the station quickly, so that she could sneak up her familiar route to the clock tower where the clan spent their days and check on them.

And, if she were honest with herself, so that she could spend as much time as she could with Goliath. They had been close, seemingly from the moment that they met. The Avalon tour hadn't hurt their bond, either, having spent months together. They had found themselves doing everything from fighting Oberon and his children to struggling to find their way back home, from nearly freezing to death in Norway to fighting ancient Gods.

There were times when she forgot their differences, and felt like something was developing between them even stronger than friendship... But one or the other of them would always pull back.

A romantic relationship was out of the question, she knew that, but couldn't help wishing that things could be different. She had seen too many romantic relationships fall apart and destroy any previous friendship that may have existed before. She couldn't risk losing Goliath and the clan.

Sometimes, just sometimes, she even felt like Goliath might want the same thing, feel the same way.

Just tonight for example, on the train when the excitement was over, she had given Goliath a hug. He had started to hug her back, hesitated, then pulled away. He couldn't seem to get away fast enough, and that stung a little.

Elisa gave herself a small shake. She had to get it together, now was not the time to be daydreaming.

Matt seemed to sense that her mind was elsewhere, and helped cover by tossing her a small duffle bag. "Go change. I do not want to have to ride back to the station with you. Smelling the way you do right now and probably complaining the whole way."

Elisa's shoulder twinged as she reached to catch the small bag. Damn, she had forgotten about ramming into the guy with the gun on the train. It didn't feel like it was out of place or anything serious, but it definitely felt like she had run into something solid.

Sure, she could have handled him better, but he had been aiming his gun at Goliath. She hadn't had time for finesse or thought. She had simply reacted.

With the would be muggers handcuffed and safely in custody, Elisa used the train station's ladies room to change into the more comfortable clothing. After hours of riding the trains from station to station, waiting on this group of thugs to make an appearance, she felt gritty. Her skin felt like she was wearing a film of dirt and who knew what else, and everything else held the distinct scent of diesel fumes from the trains. She let out a grateful sigh when she was finally able to get out of those damnable heels, even took the time to wash off the makeup and run a brush through her hair. When she emerged, she felt more comfortable and more... herself.

Once she was in her usual comfortable jeans, black tee and red bomber jacket, she felt almost human. The only thing she could ask for… What she would gladly beg for at this point… was a hot shower.

Elisa almost groaned at the thought. Oh, yes, a nice hot shower would be heaven right now.

She didn't mind going undercover, but the wigs and the odd clothing made for an uncomfortable night. And the high heels. Dear God, when she thought about those high heels her feet began hurting all over again.

She really wanted to have five minutes alone with the sadist who created high heels.

She strolled back through the station, eavesdropping on the frantic passenger reports of the "Monsters" and how they might come back.

Elisa shook her head, and began to make her way to the parking lot. If only people know how much good the Gargoyles were doing...

Matt was waiting in the parking lot beside Elisa's beloved red sports car, tossing the keys into the air and catching them. "This is a sweet little car," Matt said with a grin. "Drives like a dream."

"Matt, stop drooling. You will mess up the upholstery," Elisa said with a laugh. "This was a one-time thing today. Nobody drives my baby but me."

Matt pouted like a little boy, tossing the keys though the air to Elisa.

Elisa laughed. "Those puppy dog eyes have lost their effectiveness."

"You say that as if it ever worked on you," Matt groused.

"Oh, I know." Elisa shot back. "You are so abused." She laughed as Matt threw her a disgruntled look. "If you don't complain too much, I'll let you work the light and siren."

Matt rolled his eyes and walked around to the passenger side.

She reached for the door handle, her shoulder reminding her once again that it didn't like her very much at the moment.