In a penthouse apartment, high above the busy streets of Manhattan, a raven-haired woman woke slowly. It was not morning, far from it, as it was actually closer to day's end than the beginning.

She had managed a full 9 hours of sleep, able to sleep and wake at her leisure… an almost unheard of event in the past few years. As such, she reveled in the rare, restful silence.

Elisa Maza, a lead detective with the New York Police Department, smiled to herself in the late afternoon daylight streaming in from her windows. Normally, that level of quiet in her apartment was a cause for alarm, making her wonder what her son had gotten into. Today, however, her son was safely tucked away with his grandparents where he would be spending the weekend.

It was Elisa and Goliath's anniversary. Twelve years of knowing each other, married for eight years, and they had been parents to their precocious 6 year old since he was only a few months old.

Liam had run full force into the "girls are icky" phase, and it had bled over onto his parents. He would groan, make gagging noises and run from rooms if Goliath and Elisa showed affection in his presence. When he had heard that his parents were planning a date night, he promptly packed a bag and begged to go to the castle. To his grandparent's house. To stay with his "auntie" Beth. To the Labyrinth with his Uncle Derek. To go anywhere that did not involve the possibility of seeing his parents kiss.

Gods forbid.

That was why yesterday afternoon, just before having to report in to work, Diane Maza, Elisa's mother, had come to pick up her grandson. He was going to hang out with his grandparents for a couple of days.

Elisa chuckled, rising from the bed. Liam was getting so big, so fast, and was amazingly well-adjusted considering his early life and his non-traditional family.

She had some extra time yet, so she decided to go out for a run. Pulling out her NYPD warm up suit and jogging shoes. She had the weekend off, and while she enjoyed her free time she felt like she was slacking off if she didn't at least go for a short run. She could actually go outside today, which was a luxury. With Liam somewhere else for the moment, she could get the fresh air from outside instead of running on the treadmill in her apartment. She much preferred to go jogging in one of the nearby parks, but until Liam was old enough to join her, she would make the compromise.

It was sometimes hard to believe how her life had changed in the past twelve years. She had met the Gargoyles then, and had become part of an extended part of their clan.

The first human to ever have such an honor, but not the last. The clan had grown by a select few human members, among which was Elisa's family, her partner Matt Bluestone and the Chief of police, Maria Chavez.

As hesitant as Elisa had been to share the clan and their existence with anyone else, she had finally given in. It ended up being a good thing, as there were now a number of people who could be looked to for help if it were needed and help keep the Gargoyles as undercover as possible.

It was impossible to keep them completely hidden. Ever since the family known as The Hunters declared war on the clan, taking it to the public the night of the Hunter's Moon and the resulting destruction of St. Damien's Cathedral, the existence of the Gargoyles had been thrust into the public.

Shortly after the Hunter's Moon incident, Elisa had become the target of an anti-gargoyle movement. The protesters had caused such a commotion outside of her old apartment that she had been "urged to leave". She had been worried about finding a new place to live, but had received a shock when Jason Canmore had used the remaining of his considerable savings to purchase a condo for her and the clan's use. He meant for it to be a reparation for the hurt and damage that he and his siblings had been responsible for.

It was a three bedroom, two story condo with a large open courtyard. It was near enough to the castle for the clan to visit often, but far enough that she didn't feel like she was under Xanatos' nose.

David Xanatos, on again and off again reformed criminal, had at one time been the biggest enemy of the clan.

He had turned a corner when the clan had helped save his son. He was trying to make up for his past mistakes and repairing his relationship with the Gargoyle clan. He had provided food, shelter and a safe environment for the Gargoyles to live.

While he had made great strides in repairing his reputation, there were some things that Elisa was not ready to simply forget. The biggest sin was when Xanatos had hired a sleazeball geneticist to try to "create" his own Gargoyles for him to control. Dr. Sevarius, the criminally insane scientist, had turned to gene splicing and human experimentation. Elisa's own brother, Derek, had ended up as one of his experiments.

Now, Derek and two others appeared more feline than human, with the wings of a bat and the power to electrocute people.

The public had not found out about them just yet. Elisa was half afraid of what the masses would do with that information. Mass hysteria, she imagined.

While the Gargoyles had caused public outcries, both for and against the Gargoyles, eventually the general public just came to accept their existence. While there were still outbreaks of Anti-Gargoyle fanaticism once in awhile, most of Manhattan's population had come to accept them. The Gargoyles had become a kind of cross between urban legend, tourist attraction and Manhattan Island's unofficial mascots.

There were even websites devoted to those who had come face to face with the clan. Some were completely outrageous, some obviously faked, but some of them were genuine and helped to paint the clan in a much needed positive light.

The ringing of the Elevator's bell brought Elisa back to the present. The elevators opened, and Elisa made her way through the lobby. She waved at Tony, the day security guard on the way out. Walking to the corner, she didn't like to officially begin her run until the crosswalk sign turned to 'go'. Elisa pulled out her iPod and scrolled through her music trying to decide what song to start on. When the light finally turned, and a fast-paced beat pounding in her ears, Elisa let her mind wander a bit.

Thinking more on the criminals that the Gargoyles had helped to catch, Elisa had to chuckle. Recently, there were cases in the courts being brought up from criminals who had been apprehended by the clan where the criminals were claiming "Vigilantism". None of the criminals had gotten away with it, however. They were all caught red-handed, at or near the scenes of the crime.

The Gargoyle arrests were treated as a "citizen's arrest" situation. Thankfully, to date none of the charges had been dropped due to "Gargoyle interference".

It also helped that the Gargoyle Task Force had been created by the NYPD to investigate the Gargoyles' 'arrests'. If there were reports of Gargoyles being at a scene, the task force, led by Elisa's partner, Matt Bluestone, would come in and do their own investigations on the crimes and the actions of the clan to make sure that the right person had been caught.

After the events of the Hunter's Moon incidents, and the events that happened soon after, Elisa finally forced herself to admit her feelings about the clan's leader, Goliath.

Luckily, he had felt the same way. They had both felt something for each other for quite a while before that, almost since the beginning. It was only after almost losing each other that the feelings were spoken out loud and acknowledged.

Soon after that, they had been "married". It had been a small ceremony within the clan, led by the clan elder, Hudson. A few others had been invited, her parents, brother and sister had been there. Matt, Maria and the Xanatos', Fox and David had been there, too.

Goliath had begun spending most of his time at her apartment, and eventually he was only going to the castle when she was at work. After a while, he decided to step down as the leader of the clan, passing the torch to Brooklyn.

Goliath was still a valued member of the clan, still ran patrols and took part in the clan's activities, but he wanted to spend time with his wife. Elisa joined them as much as she always had, and the clan had taken it all in stride.

Broadway and Angela followed suit, having a mating ceremony of their own. Then, a very short time after that (much to their chagrin) Angela surprised everyone by putting the first egg the Castle Wyvern rookery had seen in over a thousand years.

Even more surprising was when the egg hatched, and out came a set of twins.

Angela was expecting again, somehow. The clan was puzzled, to say the least. Normally, the gestation time took six months to lay the egg, and ten years to hatch. Angela's eggs had hatched in a fraction of that time.

Both of the hatchlings were fine. A boy named Connor and a girl named Brenna.

The timing was making the clan wonder how that was possible. The going theory was that all of the time that she had spent on Avalon from birth had somehow altered her cycles. Time moved differently on Avalon after all, so perhaps her body had adjusted accordingly.

At any rate, the clan was growing and had young ones running around again.

The rhythmic feel from the pounding of her feet meeting the paved jogging trails of Madison Square Park helped to clear her mind. In that clarity that she found, and in the precious time that she had alone, a dark thought came to mind. Something so selfish that it surprised her when it popped into her mind.

She was able to admit it to herself, in this alone time, even if it was something she could not admit to anyone else...

Elisa was happy about the clan's growth, but she felt a deep sense of relief as well.

She had put off marrying Goliath for almost a year. Not because she didn't love him, that had never been an issue. Among other silly concerns, she didn't want to be the reason why Goliath never had more children. He was an amazing father to Angela, and Elisa had felt an overwhelming sense of guilt over cheating him of the chance to be a father again.

The Manhattan Clan were not the last of the Gargoyles, they knew that now. Even having met others, however, there were so few in the world. If there was a chance for more Gargoyle eggs and children…

Elisa had brought it up once to Goliath. It had been a couple of months after he had asked her to get married in the clan's tradition, and he was afraid of the reasons she could have to keep putting the ceremony off. They had a major blow up, and Elisa's feelings about the clan's lack of children came out. Goliath had only gotten angrier at her, both had said some harsh things, and they had parted that night on bad terms.

Elisa had called her sister Beth, who had recently moved back to New York at that point. Beth had finally finished her degree in Anthropology and Native American Studies in Arizona, and had gotten a job at the National Museum of the American Indian, right there in Manhattan.

Beth had picked her older sister up and took her out in a time honored tradition of getting your closest girlfriend or sibling completely drunk after a breakup. They had gone to a quiet little dive bar, one of those places that had no blaring music or flashing lights, and had taken a lot of Jello shots and bitched about men.

Men were men, no matter the species, they decided. They were still a pain in women's backsides.

Beth actually admitted later that she had a feeling it was not a permanent thing, and that the thought of it being a forever kind of deal never even entered her mind. She had seen firsthand the kind of relationship that existed between Elisa and the Gargoyle clan leader, and had known "in her heart" that it would take something bigger than this one thing to tear them apart.

That was the one and only time Elisa had ever gotten even remotely close to being blackout drunk. She had been tipsy a few times in her life, but she always cut herself off before it went any further than that… She was hurting so badly, even though it had been her decision… or thought that it had been her decision… that she had failed to keep her usual strict self discipline.

Beth, for all of her good intentions, had a lapse in judgement that night and forgot to watch over her sister. It happened so fast, Beth had told Elisa later.

One minute Elisa had been fine, and the next Elisa had been missing. The youngest Canmore, The Hunter, had managed to escape prison a few nights before. Jon Canmore had been operating under the guise of a "concerned citizen" and leading a group of Gargoyle haters. He had seized the opportunity to kidnap Elisa from the alley beside the bar.

What followed was a few months of hell, for most involved. Elisa had been shot and left for dead on a fishing dock across the river in New Jersey. When she had woken up in the hospital, she had no memory.

Thanks to help from a few new friends, Elisa had been set up with a quiet job in a bookstore and a place to live.

Just shy of three months passed until she was discovered at a movie theater with a friend. A few memories returned within a few days, but it was months before Elisa had recovered completely.

Or as completely as possible. Her memories of her abduction and the events leading to her being shot were still hazy.

As a result, Elisa had rarely drank more than one beer or glass of wine since the night of her abduction.

When Elisa and Goliath were once more together, they finally took the time to discuss their feelings. He understood her point of view, but he insisted that he wanted to be with Elisa more than he wanted children of his own.

It took a few more weeks of insisting, but he finally wore Elisa down. They were married a short time later.

A little over a month later, Angela and Broadway had been married as well… And a few weeks later, she found out that she was carrying the first egg that the clan's rookery had seen in centuries.

Elisa's burden had lightened. Somewhat.

She had actually come to terms with not having children herself for a number of reasons. First, there was her lifestyle. She was a cop, a second generation cop whose father had devoted his life to the New York Police Department, and she understood the dangers of being both the child and the cop. There were nights when she was growing up that Elisa had feared that her father wouldn't be coming home. She worshipped the ground that her father walked on, and so it wasn't really surprising when she had followed in his footsteps, but that didn't mean that she would wish those kind of fearful nights on any child. She didn't have the safest of jobs, even with the Clan helping out.

Second, her husband was a Gargoyle. While it was possible (and fun) for them to be… uhm… intimate, having children was not possible.

They were, after all, two different species.

After the clan's children issue had been firmly put aside, she had never regretted her decision to marry Goliath. It was her only wish to find someone who could make her feel happy, loved and protected. She also needed someone who held the same core values as her.

All were things that she had found in Goliath, and more that she hadn't known that she had wanted or needed.

Elisa felt a smile spread across her face. Eight years. They had eight wonderful years together so far, and she was looking forward to many more.

Elisa finished her run. Slowing, she turned her music off once more, and dug her security key card from the inner pocket of her jogging shorts.

She had just entered the lobby, heading for the elevators, when a voice called out.

"Well, if that is not the smile of someone on cloud nine, I don't know what is."

Elisa's head snapped up and she met the friendly gaze of one of the few other people who lived in the building that she knew.

"Patty!" Elisa said, surprised. "You're… here."

Patricia Fitzgerald laughed. "Odd, I know. We just got finished with a school performance, and gearing up to start working on the Nutcracker performances for the holidays. As a bonus, the heads of Joffrey shut the school down for a couple of days so that we can rest up, de-stress and prepare for the Christmas season madness ahead."

Elisa smiled at the woman. Elisa was in shape, and she worked hard to stay so because of her job's physical requirements. Patty, however, was in phenomenal shape without having to really work at it.

Patty was a professional ballet dancer. She had done some of her training in Russia with the world renowned Russian Ballet Company, and had done a tour in Europe when she was in her 20's and 30's. Now, while she was still in great shape and had a passion for dancing, she was semi-retired and teaching the next generation of dancers at the Joffrey Ballet School on 6th Avenue.

Patty's husband, Jim, worked in the new home and business security division of Xanatos Enterprises. Elisa had been a little paranoid when she had found out Jim's employer, but truly believed now that it was a complete coincidence. Xanatos did not own this building, and Jim was the only one that she knew of that worked there. Patty had told her that they had chosen this building for the proximity to both their places of work.

Patty and Elisa often ran into each other for brief times coming and going, even when their work schedules were so opposite. Elisa often saw Patty when she was out walking her teacup poodle, Tidbit, that she took out for walks often when she was home. When she was not at home, Tidbit often when to work with her, sleeping in a small doggie bed in the corner of her office. Right now, Tidbit was peeking at Elisa out of the top of Patty's red 50's style handbag.

Elisa laughed. "I have the night off as well," she admitted.

"Well," Patty asked with an obviously fake pout, "What are a pair of workaholics like us to do with a night or two off?"

Elisa felt herself blushed a little, "I am child free for tonight, so I have a date."

"Good for you!" Patty chuckled. "How is Liam doing?"

"He is currently holed up at my parents' house, probably eating too much sugar and vegging out in front of the Disney Channel."

"That's what grandparents do best," Patty said with a knowing smile. "Feed them sugar, spoil 'em rotten, then send them back home"

"Speaking from experience?" Elisa asked.

"You betcha!"

The elevator doors opened up one floor below Elisa's condo.

"You let me know if you ever need anything," Patty called out to Elisa. "If we both have tomorrow off as well, we should go grab some coffee and have some girly time before young Mr. Liam gets home all sugared up."

"That's a deal," Elisa called back to her before the doors shut. "Give me a call tomorrow!" Elisa turned the key in the button panel that would allow the elevator car entry to the top floor.

Looking at her watch, she found that she had more than enough time for a shower and to get ready for the night out.

Eight years, Elisa mused. For two years, it had just been the two of them. They had been happy with each other and how things were.

Elisa stepped into the shower, turning on the water. While she let the warm water run over her muscles, she remembered the night that had changed their lives.

It was in March, a little over five years ago...