Neither Gargoyles nor anything associated with them belongs to me, but all original characters do and may not be used without permission.
Thanks to Hardwing and Silverbolt for giving me ideas!
This fic is dedicated to Lily Maza and Demona Taina, as celebration for their birthdays on the 10th and 12th of December!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DT AND LILY!
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Destine Manor;
A Few Hours Later:
Dominique sighed, as she blew out a few of the candles. Ed had obviously not been kidding when he said he would be working late.
She looked back on the light meal that she had made for them, some oysters, steak sandwiches and some strawberries to go with the chilled champagne.
She had even made the room more romantic by turning out all the lights and filling it with scented candles, which gave the rooms a cosy romantic look and filled it with a sweet smell. She even turned the fire on, adding on that spark of a classic romance novel.
Her idea of a perfect evening that only had one thing missing… her man.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Dominique's face lit up. "Just a minute," she called out and hurriedly re-lit the few candles that she had blown out.
She dusted herself off a little, adjusting the satin dressing gown that hid the black silk nightie underneath.
"Coming," she called and quickly, but elegantly, walked to the front door, expecting to see Ed there waiting for her. "Where have you been?" she said, as she opened the door. "I was beginning to think you weren't… "She stopped and blushed, as it wasn't Ed but Ben at the door.
"Ben!" she squeaked, embarrassed and grabbed the folds of her dressing gown and pulling them tighter together. "If you were going to come over tonight then I would have really appreciated it if you had called me first, I did have plans you know?"
"So I gathered," Ben said, but there was no humour in his eyes, as he looked gravely at her.
Dominique however didn't notice. "Ben, if this is about me representing you and the Quarrymen again then I'm sorry, but I've told you before that I… "
"Dominique," Ben held his hand up to hush her. "I'm not here about that."
Dominique finally noticed the grave look in his eyes and felt a chill go down her spine. "You're not?" she said. "Then what are you doing here?"
Ben looked terribly sad and full of tragedy. "Dominique, me and Ed were on patrol tonight looking out for those Gargoyle creatures."
"Yes, I know that."
"And we saw them!" He said a bit excitingly. "Damn things came out and sacred a young woman practically to death and probably would have ripped her apart if we hadn't come!"
Dominique blinked and felt a certain relief and longing in her, again something that she couldn't understand. "You saw them?" she breathed. "Where? When?"
All the excitement in Ben's face and voice seemed to drain out of him at that moment. "We tried to fight them," he said almost tearfully. "But they were so strong, much stronger than anything we had ever thought possible. We were… reckless and attacked them with only our hammers when we should have brought so much more."
Dominique stepped up to him, looked him in the eye and hissed, "Where… is… Ed?"
Ben swallowed. "We went in and attacked, but they got the better of us and… I dunno, I guess I got the wind knocked out of me because the next thing I remember is waking up in the alley with the rest of us except Ed. We all tried to find him, but it was like he had just vanished into thin air."
Dominique's eyes widened. "You think the Gargoyles took him?"
Ben looked down. "No, I mean I think they might have but… they don't have him now."
"Then where!" Dominique was becoming aggravated.
Ben looked into her eyes and didn't look away. "We sent word to headquarters to keep an eye out for him and to check with all the hospitals and police. We didn't have to search for very long, as… Ed had somehow mysteriously turned up at Manhattan General, left outside on the doorstep no less."
"Then he's there?" Dominique's voice grew frantic.
A tear suddenly fell from Ben's eye. "No Domi," he whispered. "He was beaten up… Real badly! The doctors did what they could, but… it was too late for them to do anything for him."
Dominique went quiet and stared at him, here expression unreadable. 'NO,' she thought, 'don't tell me this, don't tell me this, don't tell me… '
"He's dead Dominique," Ben quietly whispered and grabbed her, as she collapsed.
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Four days later; Cemetery:
Dominique didn't batter an eyelid, as the men lowered Ed in his coffin into the ground and the priest spoke.
"Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes… "
'Meaningless drivel,' she thought, not caring for what the priest said. She just wanted to get this over with and go home, as she stood there with a blank expression upon her face. She didn't cry, as she had spent the last few days crying and now she doubted that she had any tears left in her.
A few people who had been close to Ed, including Doctor Goldblum from the hospital, came to cast a handful of dirt onto the coffin and crossed themselves, praying for his soul to rest in peace. Goldblum came over to offer his condolences to her, as Ed had often spoken of her at work and how much he loved her.
Dominique simply took his hand and shook it, offering a meaningless 'thanks' before turning to Nancy, who was next in line to say how sorry she was.
Finally, all who was left were her and Ben who had stayed behind to see her home despite her insistence of him leaving.
"Come on Dom," Ben urged her. "There's nothing more to do here, let's get you home."
'But I don't have a home,' she thought miserably, but allowed herself to be led away to the awaiting car where her driver Gregory looked, concerning, at her.
He was another of her employees whom she had gotten close to, thanks to Ed. They didn't go out and she had yet to invite him to dinner, but they talked a lot during the day when he drove her to and from work and all over the city.
"Home sir," he asked Ben, as his employer didn't look up to talking. She had barely spoken at all in the last few days.
"Yes," Ben answered and went back to comforting his friend.
"Ben?" she suddenly said.
"Yeah?"
"Do you still want me to help the Quarrymen for you?"
Ben blinked. "Well, yeah… sure, but… do you think that you'll be okay with that? I mean, you've just lost…"
"I know what I have lost, thank you very much!" she hissed. "I lost one of the first men, who helped get my life back in order, showed me love and kindness and who was there for me all throughout! Now he's gone."
She was silent for a few minutes and Ben idly picked at his nails, wondering what else to do.
"So, do you want my help or not?" she said finally.
Ben sighed. "Only if you're absolutely sure that you want to do this? I don't want to take advantage of you while you're…"
"I'm perfectly fine," Dominique replied, but even if her ears, it sounded like a hollow lie. "I'm only making the offer once Ben, so take it or leave it."
Ben swallowed and sighed again. "Alright, you got yourself a deal."
"No," she whispered. "I'm doing myself and everyone else a favour. Ed believed those things to be dangerous and he was right. They didn't have to kill him, but they did… Now, I want vengeance!"
Ben felt a little nervous at the estranged look in her eyes, but knew what she was going through. "We'll get them for this Dom," he promised her. "I swear it. No one kills a Quarryman and gets away with it."
Dominique nodded. "I still can't allow myself to go public with this, as there are more than enough stupid companies who support groups like the P.I.T Group that would sooner see their children held by a monster than actually do what must be done and exterminate them." She closed her eyes briefly, not believing that so many people could be so blind, even after what had happened to Ed.
Ben nodded sadly. "Sad but true, not everyone can see the menace that they represent… and some just don't want to see it. But we'll see to them Dom, those things won't get away with it this time! I'll make certain of that."
"See to it that you do. I wouldn't want junior growing up, knowing that his father was murdered and not avenged."
"Huh?" Ben gasped and stared at her.
Dominique looked back at him. "I went to the doctors the day after you told me… about Ed," she still couldn't bring herself to say he was dead. "My shrink called me almost straight after and asked me to come down, to talk to him about it. They also did a full check up, seeing as I was there." She paused for a moment and then said, "Apparently… I'm pregnant."
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Eyrie Building;
Three Days Earlier:
The clan all roared awake to the evening and Goliath instantly turned around to find Owen and Xanatos waiting to greet him, but the looks on their faces told him that this wasn't a social call.
"Has there been any news?" Goliath asked urgently.
Xanatos sighed. "I managed to find out what had become of the Quarryman that Damon attacked."
Goliath swallowed. "And?"
Xanatos looked at him and Goliath already knew the answer just by looking into his eyes. "He's dead Goliath," Xanatos said. "There was nothing they could have done, as the damage was just too extensive."
Goliath closed his eyes tightly, swearing under his breath in Gaelic. "Has there been any word from Elisa or Bluestone?"
Xanatos shook his head. "No, but then we haven't managed to get through to the police station, as they were extremely busy with outraged calls coming from the general public asking about why the Gargoyle problem hadn't been sorted yet."
Goliath gritted his fangs. In less than one day, one Gargoyle had managed to undo all that he and his clan had been working toward for the past 2 years and to his great surprise, it wasn't even Demona who had done so.
"Where is he?" he spoke under extreme rage.
Xanatos knew whom he was referring to. "Still in his cell, I take it you won't be freeing him anytime soon."
"He'll be lucky if he ever sees the light of the moon again!" Goliath bellowed and strode past them.
The rest of the clan, having heard Goliath's bellow, scaled up the wall of the tower to see what was going on? They took one look at the angry way that Goliath departed and the hard frown that Xanatos threw at them and realised the awful truth.
"Jalapeno," they all chorused together, except Lexington who just looked sadly at the floor with tears forming in his eyes.
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Goliath made his way down the long corridors, to a special part of the castle that Xanatos had originally installed to hold him and his clan when Xanatos had been after to capture them.
It was six cells fitted with state of the art prison containment from reinforced electrified bars, solid four feet steel and brick walls. It also had surveillance cameras, air vents fitted with knock out gas and even one or two booby traps such as a tranquilliser dart ready to shoot at the prisoner should they escape. Even the floor was electrified and fitted with alarms all around the room.
Xanatos had been planning to revenant it, but Goliath decided against it, as the cell would prove useful for when they were finally able to capture Demona. Goliath still held hope that eventually they would capture the renegade, though part of him was still torn over that.
Goliath knew that Demona was too dangerous to be allowed to continue to roam free. He had made that mistake twice when he had just allowed her to go free after she had poisoned Elisa with the poison dart and had paid for it with the lives of Dragon knows how many humans she shattered when she turned the city into stone. The second time had been after he had freed her from the Wyrd sister's spell of control and sent her and Macbeth away from Avalon, but only succeeded in giving her the opportunity to create the carrier virus that nearly wiped out the entire human race.
Despite all that she had done, he still felt something for his former angel of the night and every time that they fought, it was like having a sword driven through his heart. He only wished that there was some other way, but deep down, he knew there was not.
Demona had to be stopped, plain and simple.
Goliath entered the private area and came to a stop before one of the cells where Damon was sealed within. Damon was there of course, pacing back and forth like a tiger in its cage. He spotted Goliath immediately and growled. "It's about time you got here! What is the meaning of this?"
Goliath's eyes flared white. "The meaning? Do you realise what you have done to us, to our whole race?"
Damon's own eyes glared and flared back at him.
"Because of you," Goliath continued, "we may have just lost any chance we ever had of reconciling with the humans! You killed a human, something that we've been trying again and again to prove to the people that we do not do and now… Now it's all come down to nothing."
Damon sneered. "If you expect me to feel any remorse for that human who attacked me and even your own daughter and second in command, then you're an even bigger fool that what I took you for Goliath."
Goliath growled deeply, his eyes blaring so brightly that one would get spots if they looked at them for too long.
"Remorse I suppose would be too much to hope from you Damon, but if you had bothered to listen to me at all then you would know that because of you, our kind has practically lost all hope of peace. Without peace, the humans will hunt us relentlessly, slowly killing us all one by one."
Damon lost some of his cocky look and began to look insecure.
Goliath took deep breaths. "Because of you, we may never be able to even go on patrol anymore or even out of the castle because every time we do, we will have bullets grazing us whenever we leave our home!"
Damon looked angry again. "They practically were already doing everything that you just said my leader," he said scornfully. "Tell me, how many times has a human actually thanked you for saving their life, or actually stayed long enough without first running away, screaming. Humanity is our enemy Goliath!"
His last words sent a chill down Goliath's spine, as that was what Demona had said to him too once.
"Maybe," he admitted, "but it's not just humanity that's our enemy, but people like you. People like you are what bring our race down and ensure that we can never hope for a better life."
Damon's eyes flared. "A better life eh, and what kind of a better life would that be? Maybe one where you're licking the humans boots, saying you're sorry for scaring after you're all beaten and bloody after saving their worthless lives?"
Goliath roared angrily, but Damon didn't even flinch.
"In case you hadn't yet figured it out," Goliath said, "You are now no longer a part of this clan and for the time being, you are hereby confined to this cell to contemplate your situation." With this, Goliath turned and walked out of the room.
Damon snarled angrily and pounced at the bars, only to be reward with a large electric shock.
"YEEEEEAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHH!"
He carried on like that for about an hour, until he finally gave up and slumped to the floor.
A short time later, he heard the door to the dungeon open and looked up, wondering if Goliath had come back, only to find it was Lexington instead.
Damon cocked his head curiously as the little web-wing walked in. Lexington stared back at him, his eyes full of sorrow.
"Lex," Damon tried to be cheerful, but didn't quite reach it. "So what brings you here to my humble abode?"
Lex's eyes were full of tears and accusation as they glared back at him. "Why?" he whispered silently. "Why did you do it Damon? Why kill that man?"
Damon acted as though it didn't matter to him and shrugged his massive arms. "He was a human; he tried to kill me, what more reason do I need?"
Lex looked at him, full of aghast. "There had to be another way! You could have easily subdued him, knocked him out and then left without a word. There was no reason to kill him!"
Damon snorted. "You sure you and Goliath aren't twins?" he glared at the little olive green gargoyle, who shrank back from Damon's glare. "I've heard all this from Goliath already Lex! Don't kill humans, be at peace, let them walk all over us like dogs and scream whenever they try to help us!"
"We protect," Lex tried to reason with him. "That is… "
"Our nature, our reason for being, blah, blah, blah," Damon yawned. "As I said, I've heard it all before and quite frankly I am sick of it! YOU lot may be all happy with humans treating you like dirt, but not me! I am not going to spend the rest of my life having arrogant bigots walk all over me and then call to me for my help when and only when it suits their purpose!"
"But… "Lex seemed desperate. "I thought we were friends?"
Damon looked on in pity at him. "We are friends Lex, I just don't share your opinion or that of your leader about humans and I most likely never will. So don't go trying!"
Damon sat down and watched his little friend. Lexington stared at him for a few more moments and then turned and ran back the door.
Damn watched him go and stared at the exit for a few moments before whispering. "I'm sorry."
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Two Months Later:
Elisa's car came to a halt, as she pulled up in front of the Eyrie building. She had been gone from home for three months, nearly four, much longer than she had originally thought, but the drugs bust had taken longer than any of them suspected. Now, she was finally home, but not in her own apartment, that was just where she slept and stored all her personal things. Her real home was right on top of this skyscraper where the clan, her clan and more importantly Goliath lived and wherever they lived, that was her home.
She eagerly got out of her car and walked up through the main entrance to Xanatos's private elevator. The guard on duty saw her and smiled, as he had long since gotten used to her comings and goings.
"Welcome back Miss Maza," he said warmly.
Elisa smiled back at him. "Good to be back," she replied and pressed the elevator button and entered the lift.
Soon, she was rocketing up to the top of the tallest building in New York and stepping out into the Great Hall. She took a deep breath, smelling the familiar scents of old stone, leather and smoke from the fireplace.
Suddenly, she heard a loud bark from behind her and turned just in time to see Bronx leap upon her. Fortunately, she had long since gotten used to Bronx's affectionate greetings and braced herself against his heavy bulk, balancing herself so as not to fall over.
"Easy Bronx," she laughed and accepted his welcome home kisses.
"Lass!" a heavy Scottish accented voice called out to her and she looked up to see Hudson hurrying toward her.
"Hey Hudson, any calls while I was out?" she said, but Hudson didn't answer and just gave her a big bear hug.
"Welcome home lass," he said. "We've missed ya!"
Elisa smiled and hugged him back. "It's great to be home too," she replied and soon all the clan came rushing into the hall after hearing Hudson's delighted boom of a voice and she was greeted by all of the clan with hugs, kisses and "Welcome home."
All of the clan were there to welcome her home except for Brooklyn, who had stupidly gone out on patrol again despite Goliath's warning not to, and someone else very important.
Elisa looked around. "Where's Goliath?" she asked, as she had expected him to be the first to greet her, or at least the second.
The clan fell silent and looked at her worriedly.
"What?"
Hudson sighed. "Lass, there be some things ye should know bout what's been happenin in the two months since ye left."
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Goliath stared out over the battlements and across the city lights and all the sounds of the people from below. Everything had turned out so wrong, as everything he had prophesied to Damon about what would happen after the attack had tragically come true.
The clan had left the next night to patrol and were met with even more hostility than before. Almost everywhere they went, they were ambushed with a trap like the one Damon had run into, mostly by the Quarrymen but unlike the former attacks they had run into with them, the Quarrymen now had more than the average quarry-hammer.
They had not only quarry-hammers, but guns of every size and design from non-projectile lasers, machine guns and even one or two bazookas. Goliath could not even begin to imagine where they had got those weapons from. And those were just the guns; they also had bombs, electric nets and many other types of fancy equipment and weaponry that they must have got from somewhere.
Xanatos said that unless Castaway had recently come into a large inheritance, it was far more likely that the Quarrymen had a benefactor to sponsor them and supply them with all these weapons.
Goliath sighed and did not even hear the light footsteps coming toward him from behind.
"Goliath," a soft and most welcome voice spoke to him.
Goliath spun around and found Elisa looking at him with a deeply concerned look upon her pretty face. He howled in joy and reached her in a single leap, embracing her tightly with his arms and wings.
"Goliath," Elisa repeated, this time with a little difficulty as Goliath was closing off her oxygen. "Goliath, a little air please?"
Goliath gasped and loosened his hold on her, but did not let go. "My love," he cried. "You are here!"
Elisa grinned. "You didn't expect me to stay away much longer did you?"
Goliath laughed and kissed her passionately. They remained like that for a few minutes before finally they broke apart and Elisa was once more staring at him with those wide compassionate eyes that he so adored. This time, the compassion was obviously for him, along with concern.
"Goliath," she began. "I'm so sorry about what happened with the new Gargoyle. The others told me about everything that's happened since I've been away."
Goliath bowed his head in mild grief. "I wish you could have been here. Maybe meeting you first would have dispensed any racism he has about your race and saved us from this atrocity that has occurred."
Elisa shrugged. "Judging from what the others told me, it doesn't sound like there was a lot to save." At Goliath's confused stare, she continued. "From what I can tell, he had a lot of bitterness and hatred toward my kind, maybe meeting me would have dampened it a bit, but… I seriously doubt it would have gotten rid of it completely."
Goliath moaned and nodded. "Perhaps, but at least it might have helped avoid what has happened in the last few days."
Elisa stroked her lover's arm. "We'll get through this Goliath! We've gotten through everything else that life has thrown at us, from long dead sorcerers and mad fairies, to Aliens and demented cyborgs! This is no different."
Goliath wanted to believe her, by the Dragon he wanted to believe her, but somehow he had doubts about this one. "But this is more than just the standard villain out to get us my Elisa, this time we have to deal with an entire race of people who now hate and fear us so greatly."
Elisa blinked back a few tears, as she knew that some of Goliath's words rang true. So she just held onto him and stayed with him.
"Goliath!" a loud voice shouted from up above and the two looked up in surprise to see Brooklyn come crashing down onto the tower, carrying something with him.
"Brooklyn!" Goliath cried out in alarm and ran to his second in command's side.
Elisa ran to his other side and began checking him for injuries. "Goliath," she said. "He's got some major bruises here and I think some cracked ribs." She suddenly noticed what Brooklyn had been carrying.
"Brooklyn?" she cried out in disbelief, "What are you doing with this?" She lifted up a laser gun by its handle, it looked like some of Xanatos', but bigger and with a lot more buttons to press.
Brooklyn coughed up some blood. "I took it from… [Cough] one of the Quarrymen."
"Quarrymen?" Goliath bellowed. "I gave specific instructions that no one was to do any patrolling for the time being!"
Brooklyn winced. "I'm sorry Goliath, [cough]… but I figured that if I faced the Quarrymen then maybe I could get one of their weapons [cough]… and have Xanatos [cough]… trace it back to the [cough]… manufacturer."
"Goliath," Elisa said worriedly. "This can wait until later, but right now Brooklyn is in a dire state and needs immediate medical attention."
Goliath frowned, but nodded and helped Elisa carry his brave, but rather foolish, young warrior down to the Eyrie's emergency infirmary.
Elisa looked at the weapon. If what Brooklyn said was true then, if they could get the name of whoever was supplying weapons to a group like the Quarrymen then they could arrest them for terrorism, and maybe salvage whatever was left of the human's respect for Goliath's clan.
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A few hours later, Brooklyn was stabilised and was recovering in the Castle infirmary. He had suffered multiple wounds and major injuries including cracked ribs like Elisa had deduced, but thankfully the doctor had told them all that they were able to stabilise his condition and keep him comfortable until dawn and stone sleep should take care of the rest.
The whole clan had sighed in relief.
Meanwhile, Xanatos had taken the gun to Owen, who had instantly begun tracing its manufacturer logon.
A few hours later, most of the clan were all waiting outside Xanatos' office, except Lexington and Broadway who had insisted on staying with their brother, before Xanatos finally opened the door and told them all to come in.
"You'd better all come inside," he said, motioning for them to enter.
The clan, minus four, including Elisa walked into the billionaire industrialist's office, where Owen was sitting at a desk, typing away at a computer.
"Have you discovered who the Quarrymen's benefactor is?" Elisa asked earnestly, eager to find the culprit. She hadn't reported in to the station yet, so she couldn't be sure of the public's reaction to that new Gargoyle Damon's murder, but she could guess. The public were easy to scare and the situation with the clan was a delicate one, it would barely take anything to start a mob, let alone a killing. She was surprised that there wasn't a mob now breaking down the Eyrie building doors.
Xanatos sighed. "Angela, I know you're going to hate me for this," he said, earning him a few strange looks.
Angela looked blankly at him. "What do you… mean… oh no."
Xanatos sighed again and nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid it's true Angela. This particularly design of weapon," he pointed to the laser rifle on a nearby desk, "has been designed by five companies, but only manufactured by three of them. The first one was of course me, but naturally I had nothing to do with it. The second was a foreign company called Belding Corporations, but they recently went bankrupt and the company folded. The third and only one left is… "He paused and was about to continue, when Angela did it for him.
"Nightstone Unlimited," Angela finished his sentence and Xanatos looked at her with true pity in his eyes. "Yes, I'm afraid so."
Angela winced and held back a tear in her eye, while the others all roared in outrage.
"I canna believe the lass would do such a thing!"
"I knew she had sunk low, but even I never imagined that she would go so far as to fully turn against her own kind!"
"I'll haul her straight over to the precinct!"
"Friends, please," Xanatos held out his hands, hoping to regain some order. "I know you're all angry with Demona and with every right to, but none of this is going to help matters."
Most of them calmed down, except for Angela who had been the only one not to loose her temper and just stared down at the floor with tears in her eyes. Goliath however, was not so subtle.
"HOW DARE SHE!" his roar filled the room and made everyone flinch in fear and want to cover up their ears.
"Goliath, please… "Elisa tried to soothe him, but Goliath was beyond caring at that moment.
"I KNEW SHE WAS EVIL, BUT TO ALLY HERSELF WITH THOSE MISERABLE QUARRYRMEN. SHE HAS SUNK EVEN LOWER THAN I SUSPECTED!"
Goliath's loud booming voice echoed off the walls throughout the entire castle. Fox paused, as she bent over to put little Alex to sleep, who started crying again at the loud sound that was Goliath. The trio, who were laughing and joking with one another, froze at Goliath's roar as they all knew his violent temper all too well.
"Goliath… "Elisa tried again, but Goliath just ignored her.
"I WILL BREAK DOWN HER HOUSE, BRICK BY BRICK, AND TEAR HER TO SHREDS!" Goliath swore one final time and then ran out of the room, on all fours.
Everyone, except Angela, Xanatos and Owen, all sped after him to try and reason with him first, as Goliath tended to do some things that he later regretted, when in his rage.
Xanatos noticed Angela and considered trying to speak with her, but judging from her appearance, she didn't look like she was in the mood for talking or being comforted. He took one look at Owen to let him know that it was time for them to go and left with Owen tailing after him.
Angela stood there for a few minutes staring at nothing in particular, the same thoughts racing through her mind again and again, 'Why mother, why?'
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Goliath fled through the courtyard doors and straight to the battlements, intending to glide straight to Demona's mansion and confront her once and for all.
"Goliath," Elisa's voice barely reached his ears, as he was so intent on confronting his former mate.
"Lad!" Hudson's voice boomed at him. "Wait a wee minute! Ye know Demona will no doubt have her home heavily fortified. If ye seriously want to attempt the impossible then yuir gonna need all of us to help ye."
"I want no help!" Goliath snarled. "Demona has gone too far this time. Her vendetta against humans was bad enough, but this… Attacking her own clan, allying herself with those who would exterminate her own race including her own daughter, it is beyond horror and beyond any feelings of care that I may have still held for her."
With that, he launched himself into the air and headed straight for Destine Manor.
"Goliath!" Elisa cried out once more, but again he chose to ignore her.
"Forget it lass," Hudson said, touching her shoulder. "I've seen the lad when he's like this and no shoutin and talking is gonna make im listen. He's got it into is' head and won't stop until he's followed it through. The best we can hope for is that he learns to calm down before he reaches Demona's home, for both her sake… and his own."
Demona was a great warrior, one of the best, one that Goliath had never been able to actually defeat.
Elisa watched Goliath's disappearing form with fear.
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Destine Manor:
Dominique sighed, as she sat down in front of the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate and some marshmallows. She hadn't been sleeping too well, not since Ed's funeral. The doctors had tried to convince her to continue seeing her shrink, but she had had enough of doctors and wanted to just be left alone.
As she sat on the couch, sipping the melted chocolate, she touched her belly and felt the little bulge that was beginning to show. A tear came to her, both out of sadness and happiness, happiness that she still had some part of Ed still with her and sadness because their child would never get to know its father.
'Am I strong enough to do this?' she thought to herself. 'Can I really bring up a baby all alone, when I have a company like Nightstone to run and no family or close friends to help me?'
After Ed's death, Dominique had begun closing herself off to all the friends she had befriended like Candice, except Ben whom she interacted with often to supply him and his Quarrymen with the weapons she promised them.
Dominique smiled at that, as that was the one and only good thing that she had in her life, besides her developing baby. It made her feel like she was doing some good for the world by ridding it of those murdering monsters, the Gargoyles.
Dominique frowned a bit. 'If only everyone would stop living in their own cuckoo lands and wake up to the fact about how dangerous those things truly are.'
The last few weeks, she had been getting regularly calls and visits from people representing organisations like the P.I.T Group, People for Interspecies Tolerance, who actually believed that Gargoyles meant them no harm. They thought that they deserved a chance to live and believed them to be peaceful.
The first time they had come around, she believed them to be Jehovah's Witnesses and invited them in for some tea. When they revealed who they truly were, she practically kicked them out and told them to get lost or she'd set the dogs on them.
She didn't have any guard dogs or anything, but it had certainly gotten rid of them fast. However, they or other member of their little club kept coming around to bother her. She was seriously starting to consider having a restraining order placed upon them.
She watched the flames in the fireplace do their merry dance, loosing herself briefly and then looked at the photos of her and Ed together.
'Damn them,' she thought about the Gargoyles, 'damn them all to Hell!'
She threw her mug at the wall, watching it as it shattered and observed the thick brown liquid sliding down and forming a puddle on the floor, before burying her face in her hands and weeping like a child.
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Goliath soared through the skies, nearing the place of his desire… and rage.
Destine Manor was within a few more feet of gliding distance. Goliath felt his rage continue to grow, his eyes flaring and his fists clenching so tight that any tighter and they would have bled.
"Your evil ends tonight Demona," Goliath swore out-loud and dove toward the house.
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Dominique wept for barely a minute when her security alarm began beeping.
[BEEP BEEP]
Dominique raised her head and wiped her eyes. 'Now what?' she thought miserably and went to check on her alarm system.
She walked over to the security panel that was hidden in a panel behind a wall and was just one step out of the door when…
[CRASH]
Dominique gasped and turned around in shock. 'What the… ?' she thought and peeked around the corner, only to snatch it back when she saw what had entered her living room.
It was a Gargoyle, a huge giant mountain of lavender muscular Gargoyle, in her living room? She forced her head to sneak back around and spy on the intruder. It seemed to be searching for something… or someone?
Goliath bent his head slightly and sniffed the air. Yes! Demona had been here recently, her scent was still strong but… Goliath frowned. There was something odd with Demona's scent, as it smelt different somehow. He knew her scent off by heart and he couldn't place it, but there was just something with the way it smelt now.
The creak of a floorboard drew his attention and he snapped his head to the sound. A shriek came from just beyond the door and he caught sight of a flash of flaming red hair disappear around it.
"DEMONA!" he roared horrifically, intent on finding and bringing his former mate to justice and began to chase after her on all fours.
Dominique ran to the end of the hall and up the stairs to the next floor. If she was lucky then maybe she could get to a phone and call the police for help. Although part of her was enraged at the nerve of this beast for breaking into her home (not to mention her window) and part of her wanted revenge for Ed's death, but… As much as she wanted to, she knew there was no way that she could ever stand up to a beast like that and get slaughtered.
She raced up the steps and heard the monster roar and its feet pounding the floor on her house, as he sped after her.
'God help me,' she prayed to the almighty to save her ad her unborn child. She was nowhere a phone and the nearest one was in her bedroom, but she'd never make it there in time.
As the beast made its final leap onto the landing, she panicked and dove into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and locking it.
'… ' she begged whoever was listening.
The door splintered, as the monster's fist slammed into it.
'Apparently no one,' she thought and looked around for anything to use as a weapon, but saw only her scrubbing brush.
The door splintered and threatened to cave in any second. Dominique was, for one insane moment, reminded of the scene in the film 'The Shining' that Ed had taken her to see once.
Dominique jumped into the bathtub and pulled the curtain, thinking insanely that this would protect her. She huddled into the tub, wrapping her arms around her legs and shivered uncontrollably. "Eddy," she cried silently. "Please, help me."
From beyond the door, Goliath rained his rage upon the thick plank of carved wood, sending it into splinters. He had seen the door slam, just as he came up the steps onto the landing and saw where she went. If he had been thinking straight then he would have thought this to be particularly odd behaviour for Demona, but since he wasn't then he just continued his rage.
"Demona!" he roared. "You won't escape! Not this time, not when you would betray your own race and destroy everything we have worked for!"
The door he was slamming was made out of some kind of thick wood and any human would have found it impossible to open when locked. Fortunately, for a Gargoyle it was no problem at all.
After he punched it a few more times, he finally ended it with a huge kick in the centre that sent the door flying off its hinges and landing flat on the floor.
Goliath strode inside and was momentarily surprised that the room that Demona had run into was nothing more than a bathroom. He had expected it to be a control room or something.
He swept his eyes and nose around the room, sniffing and searching for any sign of her, wondering if perhaps she had escaped through a secret passage like Macbeth had done once. Until he heard a faint whimpering coming from behind the shower curtain in the bathtub.
Despite his anger, Goliath found the whimpering utterly confusing. Since when did Demona whimper?
Curiosity overcoming him, at least for the moment, he marched over to the curtain and pulled it back.
Dominique had been cowering in her tub, still praying for salvation when she heard the door shatter and fall.
'This is it,' she thought, but try as she might, she just couldn't bring herself to even stand.
She heard the Gargoyle sniff around and then, after a moment, it began coming over to where she was and grabbed the curtain.
"I hope it's quick," she whispered to herself and shut her tear-filled eyes tightly, not wanting to see her executioner.
The creature pulled the curtain back and stared.
Goliath stared in amazement at the whimpering human, instant dread coming over him, as for one second he believed that he had made the stupid mistake of coming to the wrong house or something. However, upon nearing the petrified human, he looked upon her looks and features and found them much too close to be that of anyone else.
"Demona," he said breathlessly in confusion and amazement. It was night and she was still human, what was going on?
Demona, if that truly was her, remained where she was sitting and sobbed silently.
'If this is Demona, then she has gone through a radical change in personality,' he thought.
The woman slowly raised her head and he looked at her face. The face, the hair, the eyes and even the sound of her whimper, however unusual it was, was most definitely that of his former angel.
"Demona, what has happened?" he asked, not understanding what had happened.
Dominique didn't know what this creature was talking about. She was amazed it could talk, but why was it calling her Demona and, was it her imagination or did this creature actually look familiar?
"Who… who are you?" she rasped out.
Goliath blinked. Okaaay, things had just certainly gotten weirder.
"What do you mean who am I?" he said. "I am Goliath, you are Demona."
Dominique shook her head. "My name is Dominique Destine, this is my home."
His rage was now quickly slipping out of him, only to be replaced with confusion and fascination over what had happened to his arch enemy. He knelt down beside her. "Do you remember who I am at all?"
The woman snarled at him, though not literally. "You're the monster who broke into my home, trashed my door and threatened my life, if that's what you mean?"
Goliath growled a little at the name calling, which made her cower back into her shell.
"Don't you remember who you are?" he asked again.
Dominique wondered if she should tell him about her amnesia, but decided against it. This must be some kind of game the beasts played with their victims before devouring them.
"Do you… know who… you are?" he repeated again and when she still didn't answer, he sighed. He had not been expecting anything like this and thought at first that this might be a trick of hers, but the thought that she'd willingly change herself into a human for any reason was beyond absurd. "Obviously, something must have happened to you and until we determine what that was exactly, you will be coming with me." He reached down to pick her up, but before he had a chance…
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed and squirted a bottle of shampoo into his eyes.
Goliath roared and jumped, his tail lashing about wildly, knocking all sorts of things over.
Dominique used this opportunity and jumped out of the tub and ran out the bathroom.
Goliath groaned and wiped and blinked the thick chemicals out of his eyes, which were not watering badly, He glared at where Demona/Dominique had run out of, even when she had supposedly lost her memory she was still a source of misery for him.
"Dominique," he called, as that was the name she knew better than her real one. "Dominique, wait! I can help you regain your true memory!"
He ran out into the landing and saw the door at the end of the hallway slam shut. "This is becoming tiresome," he said and ran at the door before making a flying leap and crashing the door down beneath his heavy weight.
Dominique froze, as Goliath came crashing through and rolled to a stand right in front of her, as she held the phone in her hand.
"You won't need that," he said calmly and took the phone out of her hand and crushing it in his own. "Now, may I suggest we…? "
[THUD]
Goliath's eyes started to water again, as Dominique slammed a wardrobe pole right up between his legs. She tried to escape, but this time Goliath grabbed on and held onto her tightly. "Reallllllly… tiresome," he hissed through his fangs. "However, you are coming with me whether you like it or not Miss Destine!"
"Not unless you wish to try flying as stone," she replied thinly, pointing at the window.
Goliath frowned and then blanched when he saw the sun beginning to peek over the buildings. He glared down at her, but then… he smiled. "If we can't get to the Eyrie by tonight then we'll get there tomorrow."
Dominique gritted her teeth at him. "What makes you think I'll let a monster like you live?" She yelped as Goliath suddenly picked her up, knelt down on the floor and cloaked his wings around them.
"Because I don't intend to let you go," Goliath said before the sun encased him in stone.
Dominique screamed and kicked, but instantly regretted it as her foot connected with solid stone and she bit her lower lip in pain. She tried struggling out, but the big purple beast had entrapped her in its arms.
"Ahhh, shoot," she said out-loud.
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The day past by slowly and Dominique felt sure her spine would snap soon unless she got out of this monster's arms. She ached all over and was as stiff as a board.
Finally, the sun sank below the horizon and she couldn't help but wonder what it was like when Gargoyles awoke. She listened and heard the mistakes crackles that were occurring all over her warden's body and suddenly he sprang up, his stone skin flying from him as he spread his wings and roared.
Dominique winced, as Goliath's roar went right down her ear and then she glared hatefully and fearfully up at him.
Goliath still held onto her and smiled at her. "Sleep well?"
Demona didn't answer and just spat in his face.
Goliath frowned and used his wing talon to wipe the spit off him. "Obviously not," he sighed.
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Eyrie Building:
Elisa paced the walls of the battlements anxiously. Goliath hadn't come home last night and she was worried sick about what might have happened between him and Demona. Assuming of course that anything had actually happened, which was what was worrying her.
When Goliath didn't arrive home last night, she had gone straight to Nightstone Unlimited to see what Demona had done to him, but apparently 'Miss Destine' hadn't been in to work all day, which made her all the more nervous. With nothing to do and unable to sleep in peace, she had gone to her precinct and began looking into anything she could find about the Quarrymen and Nightstone.
It turned out that Demona had been in some kind of an accident about a few months ago that had left her with amnesia. At first, Elisa was sceptical and believed this could just be another one of Demona's tricks to lure the clan in. She heard that Morgan had been in charge, but he was busy out on patrol, so she decided to return to Nightstone and find out what she could there.
The real bombshell had come from Demona's secretary Mrs Candice Williams, who had been in the middle of telling her how well her employer had been doing since her accident and how well a housekeeper she was.
Elisa had looked up from writing her notes with a raised eyebrow and asked her what she meant by that and Candice told her that she had invited her and her husband to dinner one night.
It had taken all of Elisa's willpower not to splutter out the coffee, she had been drinking at that time, in shock. Night?
She had dove straight into even more questions, asking Mrs Williams if Miss Destine had been alright that night, had anything seemed out of place, did she seem reclusive and wouldn't let anyone come near her. But Candice had said her employer had been the perfect hostess and that everything had been fine with her and her boyfriend Ed Kilby.
That time, Elisa had spluttered out the coffee and stared amazingly at Candice for a whole minute. Candice must have thought she was having a heart attack or something, which she probably nearly did, but Elisa was past caring about that then. She had asked about Ed Kilby and Candice had told her that he had been an English immigrant and doctor at Manhattan General Hospital before he was killed recently.
Elisa had grimaced at that and thought that Demona must have done that, but what Candice told her next made her blood run cold.
"He had been out on patrol with that club of his," she had said. "The funny ones with the blue masks and the hammers, you know?"
Oh yes, Elisa did know that club very well. She had swallowed and hoarsely said, "What happened and when was this?"
Candice frowned and then said, "About a coupla months ago, the Quarrymen usually go on patrol looking to protect any people from those Gargoyle things that everyone claims to have seen. I see them every now and again, walking by my apartment building. Ed was with them the night he was killed and apparently, they saw one of those things and attacked it, but the beast got the upper hand and… Poor Ed, the thing had attacked one of his friends and he went to try and stop it, but ended up getting slain by it himself."
Elisa felt her heart plummet, as she still found it heart wrenching to hear every time someone mentioned the fact that a Gargoyle had attacked someone. It had seriously destroyed the clan's reputation. 'But wait, maybe that had been Demona's plan all along,' she thought excitedly. 'Maybe this Damon really is in cahoots with Demona and she organised it with him to kill that Quarrymen whom she befriended to spy and use the Quarrymen and then she didn't need him any longer… ?"
However, as likely as it seemed that Demona was involved in something like that, she couldn't get over the nagging feeling that that wasn't it. It sounded like a good plan, but if so then why had she bothered changing herself into a full human? It was obvious that was what must have happened if she was seen as a human at night and she just couldn't picture Demona doing anything like that willingly.
Elisa frowned miserably, unable to see any pattern or sense in anything.
On a happier note, the doctors had been right about Brooklyn and now, thanks to a days worth of stone sleep, he was now completely healed. Broadway was even now fixing him a special breakfast in the castle kitchen along with the rest of the clan, but she just wasn't in the mood.
"Put me down you stupid beast!" a faint voice from overhead caught her ear and she looked up to see Goliath land on the battlements with a thrashing human woman in his arms. It took only look at her to know that this was Demona, as she only knew of one woman who had fiery green eyes and flaming red hair like that.
"Goliath," she said breathlessly, but Goliath just held out his other hand to silence her while he kept a firm hold of his prisoner with his other hand.
Dominique tried to escape, but one growl from the lavender beast made her freeze in fear. She had at first been grateful to see a human and thought that she would help her, but judging from the strange look she was giving the monster, she didn't hold onto much hope of that.
In fact, she was almost looking at the creature with, what was that... concern… affection? No, it couldn't be true; someone couldn't actually care about these murderers, could they?
"Elisa," Goliath began, "something, I don't know what, but something has happened to Demona. As you can see she's still in her human form and she apparently has no memory of whom or what she truly is… "
'Who and what I truly am?' she thought, confused. 'What does it mean by that?'
Elisa nodded. "I know," she answered. "During the day, when you didn't come back home, I went back to work and Nightstone to find out anything I could about what she might be up to. From what I've gathered, she was apparently in some of accident at home, involving a bomb that left her with amnesia. A friend of mine, Officer Morgan was the one who found her. I haven't had a chance to speak to him yet, but the guys at work say she was found at home, half naked and slightly singed, right in the middle of the room where the explosion took place. However, they could find no remains or traces of any bomb or anything that could have started the explosion."
Goliath frowned and thought for a moment. "An explosion with no bomb, in Demona's own home and her left completely human with no memory. This can only mean one thing." He looked to Demona. "You must have been dabbling in sorcery again, haven't you?"
Dominique looked at him, as though he was mad. "You're… You're crazy! I don't know what you're talking about."
Elisa sighed. "There's no point in asking her anything Goliath. She won't know what you're talking about."
Goliath growled in frustration. "Maybe, but I want to know is… why? Why are you sponsoring the Quarrymen? We have done you no wrong."
Dominique glared at him. "If you call murdering my boyfriend no wrong then you have a strange idea of what's right or wrong in your head!"
Goliath looked taken back at that and blinked, "Boy… friend?
Elisa shrugged. "Seems that since Demona doesn't know who she was, she's been living as what she thinks she is, as a human. That includes doing things like going out, having a good time, one that doesn't include turning innocent humans into stone and smashing them and apparently even getting a boyfriend."
Goliath blinked at her and then back at the human turned Gargress. "You… have a human lover?"
Dominique glared at him with tears in her eyes. "I HAD a lover, thanks to you."
Goliath looked confused and Elisa gave him a sad look. "It appears Goliath that that human who… Damon killed. That man was none other than Edward Kilby, a doctor at Manhattan General, and Demona's lover."
Goliath felt an enormous weight come over him. It had been bad enough that Damon had killed a human, thus destroying what little hope their clan had for peace. But now it seemed that Damon had also unknowingly destroyed a possible chance for them to deal with Demona and her intense hatred of humanity as well.
Suddenly, Goliath thought of something. "Wait, that human was a quarryman wasn't he?"
Elisa nodded. "That explains how Demona got involved with the Quarrymen. He must have dragged her along to one of their meetings one night and she joined up."
Goliath in almost pity at his former mate, turned human. "Why would you support a group that is hell bent on our destruction, when you haven't even had the chance to meet us first, let alone judge us?"
Dominique looked away. "Me and Ed were actually getting ready to quit the Quarrymen. He was on his last patrol that night when you and your kind attacked him."
Goliath shut his eyes briefly and opened them up to gaze sorrowfully at Elisa, and then back at Demona. "I am sorry for the death of your… lover. But please try to understand that I had no part in his murder. A rogue gargoyle is to blame, I… "
Dominique snorted. "I couldn't care less about which of your kind is to blame. As far as I'm concerned, you're all guilty."
Elisa groaned. "Looks like Demona is just as much hateful and bigoted now, as she was when she was a Gargoyle."
"When I was a WHAT?" Dominique screeched in shock and denial.
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Goliath had taken Dominique to one of spare rooms and locked her there, not knowing what else to do, while Elisa went to fetch the others.
"Jalapeno," Goliath swore to himself. He had been prepared for fighting Demona, to endure whatever it was she may have had planned for him such as laser cannons, magic spells and all around butt kicking high kicks, slashes and punches. But this, he wasn't at all ready for this kind of situation. He didn't even know whether he wanted to help or not.
True, Demona was their enemy and, Dragon help him, she was definitely not even his least favourite person. But she had been at one time once, long ago, when her heart and his had beaten as one and he would have given anything to save her.
That time however was now gone, like a dream and would most likely never return. Demona was now the clan's worst enemy and the greatest danger to all humankind and now apparently their kind as well.
Goliath frowned and ran his claw through his hair, not knowing what to do. If on the one claw, he were to just leave Demona as she was, a human with no memory of her past, then maybe the clan could convince her they were her friends and be able to redeem her.
'And maybe pigs can fly,' he thought amusedly. He must remember to ask Elisa what that phrase meant one of these nights. Last time he checked, pigs couldn't fly.
Dominique, the human, had made all too clear that she hated them and blamed them for the death of her lover. So they could actually be getting rid of one enemy, by creating a new and even worse one through Dominique. She had all the resources of her company, all of which she was willing to share with their whole kind's worst enemy, the Quarrymen. As long as she kept supplying them with her company's weaponry then there was little chance that they would ever be able to go on patrol safely again.
They could keep her prisoner, but since her memory loss, Dominique had made friends at work and when she didn't turn up, those friends would come looking for her and if they found her then their reputation as protectors would go down even more. Plus, there was no way to know that even if she didn't turn up that those weapons wouldn't keep getting shipped into the Quarrymen's greedy hands.
On the other hand though, if he did help Demona by regaining her memory then that might save the clan from the Quarrymen, as he doubted that Demona would continue supplying her weapons to an organisation such as they. However, at the same time, in doing so they would once again face the problem of Demona's never ending hatred of humanity and him.
Goliath frowned miserably.
The sound of foot and claw steps got his attention and he looked up to see most of the clan coming to him.
"Goliath," Angela said, looking at him with questions in her eyes. "Is what Elisa told us true? Has mother truly lost her memory about who and what she truly is?"
Goliath nodded.
Broadway moved up beside his mate and embraced her, doing his best to comfort her. To which, Angela smiled and touched his hand.
Hudson had a slight disbelieving look in his good eye, but kept silent. Goliath had often wondered how Demona's betrayal had affected him. It had hurt him bad because he had been her leader, rookery brother and more importantly, her mate and supposedly one true love. However, Hudson had also been her leader, surrogate father, teacher and friend. He had helped raise and train her along with all the eggs of their generation, she was technically his daughter and although he always kept a strong stature, Goliath had noticed, thanks to years of observation, a glint of grief in his mentor's eye whenever Demona's name was mentioned.
Whereas in Brooklyn's eyes, there was… say! Where was Brooklyn anyway?
A scream suddenly erupted from the room where Dominique was being kept.
'Oh no,' Goliath groaned, hurrying to the door. 'He didn't… '
To Be Continued…