Disclaimer: I do not own Gargoyles or Disney nor their characters. I only own my characters and my story. I wish for great things. Amen!

The Doctor Arrives Or Demona Returns

Chapter 7

The castle was a happy place this night, but as the children had gotten sleepy the group decided to end the beach party and head for some much needed rest. Hudson was a little disappointed to learn that he would not see the sun raise this morning. Maria reminded him that now he would have as many mornings as he wanted to watch the sun raise and set.

Elisa pulled Goliath to their rooms and there they stayed after a long shower to remove the sand. Elisa laid cuddled up in her lover's arms with her face on his chest. She relished listening to his heart beat and feeling his chest go up and down as Goliath drifted off to sleep. Elisa was excited.

'Just think tomorrow I'll wake up with the gargoyle I love.' Elisa grinned as she snuggled up on Goliath's large frame and went to sleep.

Annie had insisted that she and Ebbie share a room. No Problem for Sandy. Who was delighted that her little cousin now had a playmate for the next couple of days. The weather forecast was so bad that the city was shut down. A storm was raging outside and nothing could be seen except for a white blanket of snow. Lars sat with Joy in the media room along with Broadway, Brooklyn and Lex. Soon enough all of them were asleep. Joy was wrapped up in Lars' wings seated on his lap. Sleeping peacefully. As Angela, Dorothy and Julius entered.

"Good Grief." Angela nearly laughed.

"They all passed out in front of the TV." Dorothy laughed.

"Well it's a lot warmer in here then outside. Look at the pictures of the city." Julius looked stunned.

"You can't even see the buildings. Everything is covered in snow. It's like it's the Antarctic." Angela looked at the TV and then out the large windows.

"Well they did say it was like a mini ice age snowstorm." Dorothy snorted.

"I wonder how mini. I don't ever recall seeing a storm like this. By the stick that the news reporter placed in the snow, it's already seven feet of snow. I grew up in this city and I don't remember it ever snowing like this." Just then Ryan walked in with Pamela, Ellis and Macbeth.

"I see we're not the only ones not yet ready for bed." Macbeth grinned as he spoke. Ryan looked around the room at the sleeping forms before the TV.

"I see the amulets do allow gargoyles to sleep peacefully." He looked long and hard at Joy and Lars.

"I see those two maybe the next for a marriage ceremony." Ellis perked up.

"Cool. Then Broadway can bake some more of those fantastic cakes." Pamela just shook her head.

"You guys can stay up if you want, but I'm tired. Sleep seems good right about now." Pam yawned as she spoke and headed out. Dorothy and Julius followed.

"Good night folks." Julius waved as he led Dorothy threw the doors. Angela got up.

"I think they have the right idea. Goodnight." She too left. Macbeth looked at the group asleep before him and told Ryan.

"Well lad we best wake them up so that they go to a proper bed and not wake up with kinks in their necks." Ryan agreed and they went about the task of waking up each person slowly so as not to alarm them.

At Destine Manor Demona looked out at the snow filled sky.

'Great I come home and now I'm snowed in.' She went about building up the fire in her fireplace. Good thing she had the foresight to have a large amount of groceries delivered before she came home and also have the gas and lights put on. She felt lost. She was still in her human form. This was getting on her nerves.

She tried to read one of her spell books again but put it down in frustration. Nothing was going to help. She should never have gone to Benin. What had possessed her to go to Africa in the first place? She just wanted to find the orb. The books had said it was in the capital city hidden from human eyes. She had staked out the very building the temple was hidden under. The orb of Manta was said to give extraordinary power to who ever held it. Little did Demona know that it was in the hands of a child who had second sight. He used the orb to render Demona defenseless.

That child could see that the weakest form for her was this one. Her human form and so to stop the crazed gargoyle that had stormed into the temple with laser gun in hand, the tiny five year old whose very eyes spoke of a much older being had spoken some words as the orb glowed in his hands. In a flash Demona was Dominique and flat on the ground spent. Much to weak to lift the heavy gun that she had welded. Demona sighed.

'Now I just have to make sure that Goliath's clan learns nothing of this or else my world is done.'

Demona turned on the TV. Sleep would evade her tonight as it had since the curse took effect some three weeks earlier. She only slept now when she passed out. When that happened it was always the nightmares of her flying in her natural form then suddenly changing into a human mid flight and falling. A never ending fall on to the ground that waited below. Before the now human figure knew it she was passed out on her sofa with the TV reporter still raging on about how strange and dangerous this storm would be.

The Maza residence was quiet. Finally after several hours of playing, talking and eating everyone had gone to bed save for those security team members who had this shift. Beth Maza had talked her mother's ear off to the point that Maggie was recruited to see her to bed after she had bid her new paramour a sweet goodnight. Peter just sat and looked at his son who in turn had stared long and hard at this young man employed by Xanatos.

He couldn't find a fault with him. The scary thing was that he reminded Talon of a younger version of himself only a lot more level headed. This young man had come from a broken home, foster care and the streets of Harlem. A far cry from the middle class background Derek Maza came from.

He had had the courage to want a better life then the one he had come from and had worked and gone to school. Becoming one of the first in his class to get the scholarship from Xanatos Inc. That had enabled him to work and have his college tuition paid in full.

He liked working at the security end because the man who had mentored him was a John McCann. The head of Xanatos Inc.'s security team and he saw in young Michael Talbert a man who had honor. When Derek and Peter had eavesdropped on the conversation Beth and Michael were having and heard that line all they could do was walk back to the kitchen and drink their coffee quietly causing Diane and Maggie to stare at them in bewilderment.

The people at the Labyrinthine were safe. Reynard had installed state of the art security and even brought in a whole medical team for both body and mind wellness. Just a week before the storm, supplies were brought in by the truck load. Reynard had had the place made cleaner and brighter. Fresh paint and pest removal were done.

A massive team was sent down to prepare the underground shelter for the storm. The place looked like Oz to every dweller down below now. Reynard had wasted no amount of money to make it a happy and welcoming home for so many. Even Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas treats and gifts were already hidden down there for the up coming holidays. The amount of food and fixings was astounding.

Even Maggie had gasped at what had to be over forty to sixty truck loads went about filling the new over sized walk in fridges and freezers to provide for the many who lived there. The children now had four full time teachers for schooling. The medical staff were to live below as well. Even full time security to ensure safety and peace.

Talon and everyone was stunned by the change in Reynard. The tunnels nearest the shelter were spotless and sealed off from those who did not have a code to gain entry. State of the art steel doors guarded against that. Derek grinned as he lay down by Maggie.

'Elisa will be shocked when she sees the place. Sis will think we hit the lottery.' He thought as he went to sleep.

Reynard was doing more for the homeless of the shelter down below because after his misadventure in Prague he wanted to do good things for those less fortunate then he. He wanted people to know that every soul was worth something. Derek smiled as he cuddled up next to his girlfriend and went fast to sleep.

The sun crept slowly into the bedroom Elisa Maza lay in. She felt the warmth of Goliath as she shifted on his suede skin. He breathed slowly and evenly sleeping peacefully as the light of dawn approached until it shone just above them both in the bedroom. Elisa had left the drapes open watching the snow as it covered every view of the city.

She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed her hand over Goliath's muscular chest, still her lover slept and wrapped an arm around her waist. She smiled and pecked him on his cheek. He awoke slowly and then his eyes moved around in rapid movements as if he'd just realized that he was not stone.

"Elisa." His voice was a whisper as she smiled and brought her lips to his.

"Good morning Goliath." She grinned as the realization that he was not stone ran over him. He smiled broadly and grabbed her up into his arms.

"I see that Ms. Prudinski is truly a Mage." Elisa giggled.

"I'll say. She puts the arch mage down a peg or two." Goliath grinned.

"Thank goodness she is not like the arch mage." Elisa grinned.

"I like waking up to you in the morning." She made swirls with her finger on his broad chest. Goliath grinned.

"I must agree my Elisa I like waking up to you as well."

"Isn't it great that soon we're getting married." Goliath kissed her.

"If only to spend the rest of my life with you." Elisa smiled.

"Hey don't even think I won't be in your life forever." They kissed just as the phone rang. Elisa looked at Goliath.

"Why do I have the uncanny feeling that that's my mom?" Goliath laughed then got up to go to the bathroom. Elisa picked up her cell phone.

"Good morning Mom." Diane Maza stared at the phone before replying.

"Good morning honey. Am I really that predictable?" Elisa though twice before answering.

"No Mom never. It's just that with the storm and all I figured you'd call to see if I was alright." Diane rolled her eyes.

"Yes Honey and are you alright?"

"Mom don't I sound alright." Diane listened to Elisa's voice.

"Well honey to be perfectly honest you sound like you did right after you spent that weekend in Vale with your college roommate. You remember Sarah White." Elisa felt a blush over her face.

Her mother of course found out that Elisa had gone to Vale with her then boyfriend Dan. Sarah had covered for her. Somehow one of her mom's big mouthed friends mentioned seeing Sarah shopping at Macy's with her boyfriend Hank. That was when her parents had blown their top and given the big protection speech to her. Elisa felt like her mother eyes extended right into the bedroom.

"Mom I'm well over nineteen now and I am an adult." Diane Maza grinned. Just as she suspected Diane rolled her eyes.

"Oh honey I know, just remember that thinking before you act is always a good thing and it never hurts to use protection. Oh gotta go your dad's up. Love you honey."

"I love you too mom." Elisa put down the cell and just watched the sky from the window. Goliath was in the shower and she thought.

'I have nothing to worry about after all Lydia said that we would have to have a build up of our matching DNA to even conceive a baby.' Elisa smiled and then got out of the bed to join Goliath as she did so a silver chain with a ring fell out from the comforter on the bed. It dropped to the carpeted floor and rolled under the bed.

Joy was up and seated in the gardens with Alexander and Lanie. She'd just fed them as Annie and Ebbie played nearby with Sandy looking on with her laptop. Lars stood at the top of the arboretum with his mother watching the scene below.

"So you have picked her as your future mate." Lars gave his mother a rueful smile.

"No matter how old I am you will still be my mother." Ms. Prudinski smiled.

"Oh my love, I will love you forever and if Joy Jackson is your future mate, then I'll love her too." Lars gave his mother a hug and then glided down to greet Joy and the kids. The little girls all squealed as he landed. Annie was by Lars before Joy even looked up.

"Can you please take me gliding?" Lars laughed.

"Well in this weather not such a good idea and it is daylight. We'd be too easy for Quarrymen to spot and besides your mother would have to give her permission first." Annie looked defeated. Ebbie just took her hand.

"Come on Sandy has a new game she down loaded on her laptop for us. Good morning Lars."

"Good morning Ebbie." Lars laughed as the two skipped away towards Sandy as she sat up against a tree.

The three were soon engrossed in some dress up game on the web. Joy smiled at Lars as he came and sat beside her. Alex and Lanie crawled over to greet him, they all were soon playing on the grass. Ms. Prudinski smiled as she watched and then went to her makeshift lab to work on her next project. A surprise for Goliath and Elisa's wedding day.

Macbeth was up and about the Castle. He and Xanatos were taking a tour of the old Scottish home of the late prince Malcolm. They were admiring the vast collection of art and artifacts that Xanatos had amassed for the home.

Fox sat in Lydia's medical exam room making sure that her second pregnancy was progressing as it should. Lydia had just given Fox a clean bill of health as Celery sat at one of the computerized workstations checking out tissue samples. Bluestone came into the waiting area and greeted Fox as Lydia escorted her out. He followed Lydia in complaining of a headache and stuffy nose.

Lydia showed him to an exam room and took a look at him. After doing a check up. Bluestone was diagnosed with a head cold. Lydia had Celery get some cold medication for him and Bluestone was shocked to see Celery typing like a pro on the keyboards and working several high tech systems at once.

"Hey how is a socialite so good at this tech stuff?" Celery barely looked up from her work.

"Maybe as a detective you should learn to never judge a book by it's cover. There's always more to a person then what you see." Bluestone grinned.

"The one thing I'll say for you is this, you sure can keep a guy guessing." Celery looked up at Bluestone. She was about to speak then thought better of it and went back to work just choosing to ignore the nosy detective. He took the hint and bid the ladies a good day as Lydia stared at Celery.

"Don't start." Celery spoke as she continued typing.

"Not if you want your work done." She then turned and looked at Lydia who just grinned as she walked back into her office. Owen Burnett entered. Celery glanced at him and then spoke.

"She just went into her office." She continued typing. Owen just gave her a look as he proceeded to Lydia's office. He knocked once as she yelled.

"Enter." Lydia gave Owen a bright smile.

"Good morning Owen." Despite himself Owen felt the smile on his own face light up.

"Good morning. I'm sorry to bother you at you work, but Mr. Xanatos has decided that since we're snowed in that he would like to have each night be special for his guests and has deemed tonight's theme for dinner." Owen almost hesitated.

"Arabian nights." Lydia burst out laughing. Owen struggled to keep his composure.

"Why does this sound more like Ebbie then David Xanatos?" Lydia asked after her laughing fit. Owen grinned.

"You seem to know your little cousin well. Mr. Xanatos thought it good to indulge Ms. Ebbie and Ms. Annie for ideas and both seemed to be preoccupied with Disney." Lydia smiled.

"Owen I wouldn't miss this dinner for anything." Owen grinned as he left the room.

Celery just stared as Owen departed the medical lab and Lydia came in to tell her of tonight's theme dinner. Soon Celery was laughing herself silly.

Brooklyn was up and about but mostly he stood by the glass doors to the parapets and watched as more snow covered the city. The sun was not very bright but still he stood and watched it just amazed that he was flesh and not stone. He didn't hear the sound of crutches that came slowly behind him.

"Good morning Brooklyn." Sandy said smiling.

"I know that's gotta be strange to your ears." Brooklyn turned around and grinned.

"Strange would be putting it mildly." He looked very somber when he next spoke.

"Those are words that I think no gargoyle has ever though he or she would hear." Sandy smiled as she sat down in a large oversized chair.

"Well now you can hear it when ever you like." Brooklyn smiled.

"You know you're right." He sat down beside her as Broadway came in with a tray of new morsels.

"Good Morning everyone." He greeted happily. Sandy laughed.

"I see you're enjoying your first morning." Broadway laughed.

"And how. This gives me more time to try out more new recipes for the Halloween party and Elisa and Goliath's wedding. Not too mention Thanksgiving." Lexington came in with Bronx. Elisa's cat Cagney slowly followed.

"Good morning all." A happy Lex chimed out.

"I like being up in the daytime and Ms. Prudinski sent amulets to Ishimora about two days before the storm." Brooklyn looked out at the snow still falling.

"Man this is a rough storm. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it." Sandy clicked on the large flat screen.

"I get the impression that this a storm no one has ever seen the likes of before either."

All eyes watched the TV as one brave reporter was barely visible as he stood out in the streets of Manhattan. To all eyes it looked as though he was in a wintery country far from NYC. Hudson soon joined them with Maria Chavez and Bluestone. The weather became the topic of all the channels. The snow levels had broken all preexisting records.

The height so far was ten feet and counting. Forecasters were predicting that the snow might end by late tonight and as the amounts kept raising, they felt that the grand total would be around seventeen or twenty feet of snow. In which case one of the Mayors emergency response people was heard saying via telephone hook up it might take the city about a week or more to dig out of. Everyone in the room looked stunned.

Elisa and Goliath sat in the large kitchen eating breakfast and watching the same news as the rest of the clan. Angela was up but ate a little breakfast so that she could join her college friends back at the makeshift beach down below. Ellis wanted to teach the group surfing. Goliath gave his consent but looked at Elisa who just kissed him on his cheek to say it was all right. Angela was here at home and not far away.

'Goliath and Elisa looked like a married couple enjoying a meal.' Lexington thought as he placed some dishes in the dishwasher. Due to the weather Ashinoa would not make it for the Halloween party, but he knew that was all right because soon enough the wedding would happen. Kai had made it clear that he and his mate would be there with some members of his clan, this included Ashinoa.

Broadway smiled as he passed by the kitchen's double doors and spotted Elisa and Goliath at the dinner table. He still felt upset that he and Angela did not click, but Broadway was a realist. He knew that out there was the girl for him somewhere. He went to join Matt and Brooklyn who decided since they were snowed in to try their hand at pool. Sandy had volunteered to keep score just to keep it honest. He watched as Owen Burnett went swiftly by making sure all preparations for the themed dinner tonight were set and then came over to Broadway to make sure that he could get the meals prepared on time. Broadway just took the menu and went on his computer to print out the recipes he would need for tonight.

Lydia and Celery were still working in the medical office as Ebbie and Annie sat with Lars and Joy in the playroom, causing Alex and Lanie to keep trying to discover what the girls were so involved with on Sandy's laptop. Lanie kept doing her baby talk to Ebbie as Alex wobbled over speaking a similar language to Annie. Ebbie called Joy for help.

"Joy! Alex and Lanie keep trying to play with the laptop." Joy smiled at Lars as they both came over.

"They're just curious. Here just show them what you're doing and they'll leave you alone." Annie looked at Ebbie who showed both little ones the dolls on screen that they were changing outfits of.

Alex laughed and spoke his baby talk to Lanie who giggled and clapped as he wiggled his fingers and to the amazement of all present a life sized doll like the one on screen appeared before them. Joy, Lars, Ebbie and Annie all looked shocked as Lanie just laughed and giggled. Owen walked in right after followed by Fox who slapped her fore head.

"Owen." She breathed as he went straight to Alex and spoke into the child's ear. As quickly as the doll appeared she vanished right before their eyes. Annie looked at Ebbie and said.

"I gotta tell mommy." Ebbie and Annie were running out the doors and down the hall calling Maria Chavez. Lars looked at Fox. Joy just looked stunned.

"So your son has powers?" Owen and Fox both looked a little sheepish.

Maria was in the library with Hudson when the two little girls both ran in. Annie spoke first all out of breath and in a state.

"Mommy. Alex made a big doll appear." Ebbie chimed in.

"Then he made it disappear after Owen spoke to him." Lydia was carrying two coffee mugs as she stopped and entered.

"Ebbie what are you talking about?" Then both girls started talking at once. Maria looked at Hudson and he took control.

"Alright, let's go see what happened for ourselves shall we." Then Lydia went on the intercom and told Celery she would be back shortly. The group arrived in the Arboretum just in time to hear Fox tell Lars and Joy that Owen was Puck and that she was the daughter of Tatiana Queen of the Fae. Lydia stood with her mouth wide open. Ebbie, Annie and Maria all looked shocked.

The group then caught the attention of those who just finished speaking. Owen looked upset that Lydia looked stunned. She quickly recovered and excused herself from the group. Fox looked upset but more so for Owen.

She gave him the look that clearly read

'Go after her.' Lars and Joy said nothing. Maria needed a seat. Hudson just spoke softly to her.

Owen had caught up to a fast moving Lydia by the time she'd reached her lab and had gone inside. Celery looked up from her work and asked.

"Hey where's the coffee?" It was then that she noticed the stunned look on Lydia's face and the doors opening to a fast moving Owen Burnett who just ignored her and grabbed Lydia by her waist nearly flying into her private office. Celery looked shocked.

"Well for a man with a stick up his butt when the spirit moves him he moves." In her office Lydia just stared at Owen then she finally spoke.

"Are you really the Puck, like in the play?" Owen looked a bit disheartened.

"Not quite like the play." Lydia felt her legs go weak.

"I think I need to sit down." She nearly crawled into her seat.

"Is Fox really the daughter of a FAE queen?"

"Yes." Owen gave his monotone reply. Lydia just breathed.

"Okay. Can I ask another question?" Owen looked at her and caught the wonder in her eyes.

"Ask as many as you like."

"When were you going to tell me or was I just going to be kept in the dark?" Owen sat down beside her.

"No I was going to tell you but I wanted to tell you in my own time so that you wouldn't be so shocked or as stunned as you are now." Lydia stared at Owen and she saw the sincerity in his eyes.

"I believe you. And I was stunned but I'm not frightened of you just shocked." Owen laughed despite himself and this made Lydia laugh too. The whole time he was holding her hands as if consoling her. Lydia hugged him. Owen Burnett was a happy man.

Celery looked up again as the doors opened to the lab. In came David and Fox Xanatos. Celery looked confused.

"Is something going on here that I should know about? First its Lidie with no coffee, then the Owen guy flying in here and whisking her off to her office and now you two looking as if doomsday was here." Celery looked from one to the other.
"What happened?" Fox and David just looked at each other.

"Listen people inside is my best friend in the world and she came in here looking like something tremendous happened, so start talking." David looked stunned. Celery almost sounded like her mother the 'Dragon Lady'. Fox looked at David.

"Honey we might as well." David nodded.

"All right Ms. St. Nicholas how knowledgeable are you on your Shakespeare?" Celery looked at them both with a weary eye.

Elisa and Goliath were now in the media room. After two hours of straight news of the never-ending storm they had elected to pop in a movie instead. Hudson walked in with a still somewhat stunned Maria Chavez. Elisa and Goliath looked at each other. Then Elisa spoke.

"Captain what's wrong?" Hudson sighed before speaking.

"Oh not much really only that Alex performed some magic before Ebbie, Annie, Joy and Lars and we all overheard Fox explaining her family tree." Goliath and Elisa both looked like they had to suppress the giggles.

"Captain." Elisa began.

"Just be thankful you weren't on our Avalon world tour. The Fae are far kinder then some we've met." Goliath spoke up.

"Do not be shocked Maria after all did it not take some time before you believed Gargoyles were real?" Maria leaned into Hudson.

"Elisa how do you do it?' Elisa looked stunned.

"Do what Captain?" Maria relaxed into Hudson's arms.

"Handle the stuff that dreams are made of." Elisa laughed.

"Why Maria you know the answer to that. We're New York's finest."

Maria started laughing, as did the rest when Bluestone and the trio with Sandy all came in.

"What you guys got jokes?" Brooklyn asked. Hudson started bellowing out even more. Brooklyn rubbed his head and looked at Sandy who was getting comfortable on a recliner.

"Am I funny?" Sandy just looked Brooklyn square in his eyes.

"Yeah, in the day light you look kinda Orange." Maria started laughing harder, everyone else joined in. Brooklyn just mumbled.

"Why do I even ask?"