We Live Again
Episode 13: Promises
By Cosmic Inspiration
Disclaimer: The Gargoyles Animated series, including the Goliath Chronicles, is the property of the Walt Disney Company and its affiliate Buena Vista Animation. The Characters of Sata, Graeme, Ariana and the mentions of Dr. Goldblum and Phoenix Rising are from TGS. No copyright infringement is intended here nor authorized by the copyholders, the TGS staff gives consent to use their characters for other fan fiction with the condition of acknowledgement. This writer makes no profit from these stories and only writes for fun and entertainment. All original characters are the property of the author Cosmic Inspiration and may not be used with my consent.
Author's note: The events of this story begin two nights after 12. Bronx's Rumble in the Bronx, late February 2000.
Previously on Gargoyles. . .
"I was raised by humans," Angela said tearfully, "There's no reason why we can't all live in harmony."
"Don't worry," Broadway reassured her as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "It won't always be this way."
"Are you sure?"
"I know it."
They kissed passionately.
(Canon) The Journey
Scene of an injured Broadway shooting in WLA episode Collateral.
"As of this moment, Dr. Grey, your services are no longer required and I must terminated your employment." Xanatos to Dr. Emily Grey.
(TGS) Unions
"How were you able to tolerate Teacher's mood swings, Hudson?" Goliath asked with a hint of desperation.
"I did just that, Lad, I tolerated it for as long as it lasted. No matter how wrathful a child heavy female may be towards her mate, as long as she knows you're there for her to comfort her and show you love her, then you see that your little spats were nothing," Hudson said with a smug smile.
(WLA) Wisdom
OOoooOO
A crisp late afternoon light bathed the office of corporate industrialist David Xanatos in a golden warmth which radiated with a serenity as ethereal beams twinkled and glistened on scattered patches of ice cold snow still clinging to Winter's hold out amongst the cityscape, yet held a faint promise of the coming of Spring.
For several months now he had reviewed and studied maybe hundreds of resumes of possible candidates for highly expected qualifications to be the Gargoyle clan's new human physician, but David Xanatos also looked for something more in terms of personal reputation, and even the smallest detail told him volumes about an individual. He had to be sure they had no Quarrymen like views that would prove harmful to his home's guardians, which would also in turn endanger his family; and he had to be sure they were not spies for a certain worldly organization as had been his previously employed physician.
As he set aside another resume of a would be candidate, he reviewed a small stack of the most promising candidates he had come across. A total of five possibilities had been narrowed down from many hundreds more, but only one had stood out for him. The possible hire was fairly young, but already he had gained great experience and had a couple of excellent references, one of which Xanatos already knew professionally.
He played around with the thought of calling him for an interview in his head for a few moments, yet knew he needed the final approval from the clan's leader first.
****Sunset
As the blanket of night's shadow steadily spread from the East over the damp stones of Castle Wyvern, spider webs of rocky cracks spread over the Gothic statues of creatures once thought to only exist in the darkest corners of the imagination, to then burst forth in a spectacular scene in simultaneous fashion to roar waking greetings to the renewed time of night following day.
Fearsome mighty roars of distinct voices were given as they broke free from their stone shells and began heartily greeting each other and the new night.
The lavender colored dark haired female named Angela looked about herself as couples embraced lovingly to each other; on the tallest parapet above, her father Goliath was out of sight but could be heard greeting with a smile his human lifemate, Elisa; to her left she saw Brooklyn greeting his deep jade green lifemate, Sata, and their two energetic twins; while below in the Court Yard, Othello and Desdemona walked hand in hand to the Great Hall for the evening meal.
Looking to her right, Angela gave a warm smile to her own aqua colored lifemate, Broadway, who only returned it half-heartily as he stepped down from his cornice.
"Good evening, My Love," she lilted as she embraced him with a slender arm, "How are we fairing tonight? Do you want to come gliding with me?"
Broadway just gave a pitiful half smile as he mumbled, "Maybe later, Angela, I got to go make breakfast for everybody. You know how cranky Hudson gets without his evening tea. I'll see you later."
He walked out of Angela's embrace with a limp in his step, leaving Angela with a perplexed look on her lovely face.
For at least three weeks now, Broadway had been acting depressed and withdrawn, ever since that night of fighting off members of warring crime factions. He hardly talked to anybody about it, often made excuses to not go on patrols, or would even become undependable on patrols.
What Angela was going to do with him, she did not know, yet she tried all she could to cheer him up and bring him out of his slump. All he has wanted to do was stay at the castle and cook elaborate meals or watch the TV with Hudson and Bronx. He'd even lost interest in reading wondrous books about far off lands, mysteries, or even poetry to her.
Angela had to do something, one way or another she was going to help her lifemate. She just needed the right sort of advise.
In another tower of the castle which had once served as the court Archmage's private study, it now served as the private study and occasional personal sanctuary for Angela and her continuing studies in magic. Though it was not very elaborate or as exquisitely decorated as the study of even the most skilled wizards, it was comfortable nonetheless in its simplicity.
Being sparsely furnished with a desk and chair, couch, an alter, and separate shelves for magic books and scrolls, or a few herbs and stones; most of which were gifts from her mother, Angela always had simple tastes. At the moment, she sat at her office desk quietly reading one of the magic books from her mother, all of which had once been kept secretly in the castle library, but now had a special place in her personal collection.
In the weeks following the announcement of Elisa's pregnancy, she had asked her stepdaughter/younger sister role model to do some research about any form of magic making it possible.
So far Angela had come up with nothing from the books she had. Or it may also have been she was not really paying attention because her mind kept wandering to other things, such as Broadway and his brooding behavior of late, or her magic studies also reminded her about her mother, Demona, and she wondered about her whereabouts at the moment.
One thing she knew about Demona was that when she did not want to be found, she was very good at it. Yet surely she would have contacted her own daughter by now, if just to let her know she was fine. The clan was aware she had returned to New York, Othello claimed to have seen her battling an unknown gargoyle, but that was shortly before Christmas.
Where Demona was now, no one knew.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft chime of an 18th century German made clock upon her wall which showed the time to be 11:30pm. By now some of the clan was returning from the first patrols of the night, and Angela was to be among the teams for the night's second patrol shift.
She set aside her book for now and made her way to the parapets to meet with the returning clan members, among whom was Broadway landing with Brooklyn, his patrol partner, and limply caped his wings. She ran up to him to give him a warm greeting but he just walked by with barely a second glance to Angela with a brooding expression. As Angela watched him walk passed her with a hurt look, she was barely aware of Sata's approach.
"It's very troubling, Angela-chan," she said, "that Broadway-san allows himself to continue dwelling on a past mistake and allowing it to distract him from his duties to the clan when they need him foremost."
"I've given him as much time as I could to let him get over it and talk to me when he's ready, Sata," Angela said, "But it's like he's dead inside so much he's forgotten I even exist. I don't know how else to help him."
"He will need more than just your love and patience, Angela-chan," Sata said as she placed a hand on her younger rookery sister's shoulder, "He is going to need your strength now more than ever. It's one thing I've learned about stubborn males is that sometimes they need to have their tails twisted by an even more stubborn female."
Angela gave a small chuckle as they glanced at a somewhat brooding Brooklyn, who now struggled with his own personal issues about being a second in command. Sata really had been a strong influence in him, yet Angela still remembered how he was when she first met him; charismatic, quick witted, swashbuckling, and charming, but also really brash and a big show off as he tried to impress her and win her as his own over his brothers. Though he was still all that, timedancing with a lifemate and two hatchlings greatly matured him and he now came into his own, though he chose to remain second in command. If he had not gone timedancing, he may well have chosen one of her more warrior driven rookery sisters on Avalon, and in some ways Brooklyn had reminded her of her adventurous rookery brother, Metatron.
But it was Broadway who had won her heart with his patience, respectfulness, humor, and intelligence compared with Brooklyn's brash impulsiveness at times and need to rush things. He saw her more as a person with hopes, dreams, and interests rather than just a single available female that had to be won as a prize for personal status.
"Thanks, Sata," she said, "But I'm going to give Broadway a little more time to sort this out and let him talk to me about it when he's ready."
Sata gave a small nod as she left to join her rusty colored lifemate and their healed kids.
Angela was assigned with Lexington as patrol partners for the last half of the night and were to patrol a part of upper Manhattan known to be 'Dracon territory.' It was at this moment Owen stiffly approach Goliath and said Xanatos wished to speak with him, Ms. Maza, and Ms. Yin.
Angela quietly watched the three who were summoned make their way to Xanatos' office, wondering what their human host needed to see them for. She also reminded herself to ask them later on, and after patrol to talk with Yin about Broadway.
While the next half of the clan went on the second patrol shift of the night, Goliath, Elisa, and Yin went to Xanatos' office, seeing something of his famous arrogant smile and twinkle in his dark eyes as he saw them enter.
"Thanks for meeting with me, everyone," he said, "For once, I may have some promising news. As you know, I had the unfortunate privilege of letting go Dr. Grey as the clan's physician several months ago, and since then I've searched for a proper replacement."
Nods were given as Xanatos activated the office screen to show four of the five possible candidates he had selected and told of their credentials as well as reasons for consideration or not. He soon came to the final candidate with a tone like hope or impressiveness in his voice.
"Dr. Koji Yoshiba, MD in both heart and brain surgery, 24 and already among the highest recommended medical practitioners on the East Coast. Earned his license and PhD from Columbia at only 16. I've already done a thorough background check and he has recommendations from our own Dr. Goldblum and one Dr. Sato at Manhattan General."
"He sounds almost too good to be true," Elisa said skeptically, "What makes you so sure he can be trusted?"
"If recommendations weren't enough for you, Detective," Xanatos said, "he also has a certificate in veterinary medicine, and on occasion is known to overlap his practices and give rather unorthodox methods that made excellent and promising results. He's also a biological evolutionary theorist, has written articles for medical and science research magazines, including National Geographic, about the anatomy and evolution of the human brain and proposed theories of other intelligent races evolving before the human race. But for the cherry on top, Detective, his grandfather was a World War II Imperial Navy doctor purported to be from Ishimura."
The three of them looked at each other, Yin then demurely said, "The human village where gargoyles live with them."
A small tone of discomfort came from her voice, for she was still not yet used to speaking up when not first being spoken to.
"Exactly, Ms. Yin," Xanatos said with a smirk, "But unlike with Dr. Grey I'm leaving the final decision completely up to you, Goliath, all I have to do is the final interview and grant the necessary security clearance once your final decision is made."
Goliath gave a serious look at the young Dr. Yoshiba's portrait upon the screen as though in consideration.
The three of them remained silent as a thick tension permeated the air, until Xanatos finally said a pregnant minute later,
"I'll leave the three of you to discuss it over."
Once Xanatos left the office, Elisa said, "I know he's helped out the clan a lot in the last several years, but I'd be careful about anything that man offers."
"I understand your need to be cautious, Elisa," Goliath said, "but Xanatos has shown no reason to deceive us, especially with a physician that would mean you harm. If he did, he knows I won't hesitate to twist his head off."
Elisa gave a small smile to her lifemate's remark, then said, "I just know that when he offers something there's always something to be in it for him. There are days I'm not fully convinced he's reformed."
"I understand no one can completely change their nature, My Love, and I remain wary of Xanatos every day since we were nearly fooled by his fabricated betrayal by Phoenix Rising. However, he has provided the Labyrinth Clan with Dr. Goldblum and continues to protect my clan during the day."
"But who watches him during the day? And the issue of Dr. Goldblum was different and it's besides the point. If he hires someone to touch and prod me and my baby, I'll do worse than twist his head off if it's another Sevarius."
Goliath could only give a frowning look as Elisa seemed to begin another of her mood swings. Though he knew it was something he will have to tolerate over the next several long months, he just wished he knew how to better curb them. She was still being a trifle difficult with moving into the castle, even though her newly refurbished chambers were right near the gargoyles, while the Xanatos family apartments were well on the other side. On top of that were continuous occasional spats with his lifemate and his chauvinistic treatment of her since becoming pregnant.
Bracing himself for another of those spats, with only the demur Kwan Yin as a witness, Goliath said, "I could have Xanatos conduct his interview and record it, My Love, then decide if this Dr. Yoshiba is trustworthy of being the clan's doctor."
Elisa just scoffed as she said, "I don't see why we don't just stick with Yin here" Quiet Yin gave a surprised look at the mention of her name "She's doing a really good job with me and the clan so far."
"She is indeed, Elisa," Goliath tried to say with a controlled growl, "I just feel having a human doctor will help bring balance, your well being and our child's is more important to me than anything, and despite all of Yin's talents, she has little knowledge of human medicine."
"Maybe you're not giving her enough of a chance, she may lack experience but Yin's been a Godsend for us. Or are you seeing her as an excuse to take out your animosity with her clan's leader when Li Shen tried to make amends for it?"
"I am doing no such thing," Goliath said with a controlled growl, "I am merely trying to make the right choice for what is best for you, for us both. Why reject what Xanatos is offering, you did not hesitate when he found a geneticist to try curing Talon and the others."
"Like I said, that was different," Elisa almost yelled, "And when did you start taking Xanatos' side? You never did before, you should be more suspicious right now than me."
"I am taking no one's side!" Goliath growled and nearly yelled as his great thunder cloud wings flared to their full length in reflex from his growing temper.
Yin took a couple of steps back at Goliath's outburst, but Elisa did not even flinch before him as she held her ground with glaring eyes.
Goliath took a deep calming breath as he tried to compose himself and recapped his wings. He was about to apologize just as Elisa's cell phone rang.
"Maza," she said as she opened to cell phone, "It's my night off. . . It's that serious? . . . Okay, I'll be there, but I have other things to take care of the rest of the night."
Putting her phone away she said to Goliath in a serious tone, "I got to go down to the station, we'll talk about this when I get back."
She left Xanatos' office with a winded Goliath and silent Yin behind watching after her.
Moments after she left, Goliath calmly said to Yin, "I apologize, I didn't intend for you to be placed in the middle of this. Elisa can be most difficult sometimes."
"It is understandable, clan leader," she said quietly.
Goliath gave Yin an ever stoic look as he said, "I bare you no hostility, Yin, and your healing skills have been invaluable for my clan thus far. However, Elisa is still human and requires the knowledge of a human healer should her pregnancy prove life threatening to her and our unborn child, and I am only trying to have her understand that."
"I understand, clan leader," Yin said, "It is a delicate balance you are only trying to preserve."
Goliath crossed his brawny arms over his barreled chest for a moment in deep thought. A long minute passed before he finally said to Yin,
"In a sense, you are right, Yin. I shall have Xanatos conduct his interview with this Dr. Yoshiba, even if I must incur Elisa's wrath."
The light jade green beaked Chinese gargoyle only remained silent as she raised a brow ridge.
