Synopsis: the Xanatoses have a family reunion and Dominique Destine tries to deal with problems at work

All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of NotreDame. I disregard The Goliath Chronicles as invalid in the continuity.

Any kind of feedback is welcome and much appreciated. Thank you very much to everyone who wrote to me, especially to Samuel B. for his beta-reading.

Lady in the sea

Previously, on Gargoyles:

Had Lexington known what was going on at the same moment, he wouldn't have been that optimistic. At the same moment, Arch was deactivating the alarm system of the rookery. One moment later, he was gliding to Destine Manor, a gargoyle egg clutched in his arms, decided never to step into Castle Wyvern again.

"Kidnapper"

"Alex" Lexington whispered, taking the toddler on his lap, "I like you very much. Everyone in the clan likes you. You will always be my friend, whatever happens. But there is this hatchling now…"

"No!"

"Oh yes, there is. You're not the one who takes the decisions here. She will stay with the clan."

"A baby bird fallen from the nest"

Castle Wyvern, atop the Eyrie Building, the 3 February 1998

The sky was a glowing red, and the sun about to set. In the courtyard, a toddler was sitting next to a small statue, glancing from time to time to the eight other statues on their perches.

Suddenly, cracks appeared all over the statues. Next second, the gargoyles were breaking out of their stone shells. Alex waved at them. But instead of running to them to say good evening, he bent over the young gargoyle and brushed her pieces of stone skin away. He was feeling important; cleaning his 'little sister' was a serious job! He pouted when she was taken away from him. Sometimes he liked her and sometimes he felt like she got all the attention.

Maya had not moved from her place. She checked that no one was looking at her and then, discreetly, palpated her breasts. Yes, lactation had really begun. Good. As gargoyle eggs always hatch at the full moon, the children of the clan would be there in less than two weeks. The closer the night of the hatching approached, the slower time seemed to go by.

Brooklyn hadn't move from his perch either. He was getting a bit tired of all this fuss about Birch. Yes, she was the first hatchling of the clan in a millennium. Yes, her hatching had been difficult and the clan feared that she wouldn't live. But now she was as healthy as any baby and he didn't think that someone who never does anything but eat, cry and sleep was very interesting. Had he had the choice, he would have preferred her to be already older and able to talk and play.

At least children grow up. And nearly everyone seemed delighted to have a baby in the clan, anyway. Hudson often looked dreamy when he was seeing her, Elisa regularly found 'good reasons' to visit them, even when she was supposed to be working…

In a few weeks, there would be two more hungry, crying, dozing babies in the castle. He sighed at this thought and wondered if he was ready for the hardship.

Paris, Nightstone unlimited

"Attention ! Voilà Démoniaque !"

Dominique Destine didn't even wince when she heard one of her employees whisper at her passage. She knew they nicknamed her "Démoniaque" (diabolical) but after all, the opinion of those humans didn't matter. She stopped at the coffee machine, hesitated and chose a tea with no sugar. The machine made a weird noise. She frowned and turned to a short, nervous-looking woman. "Who's in charge of the coffee machine?" she asked in French.

"It's Antoine, but…"

"Antoine who?"

"Antoine Tiberghien. He's late because…"

"Tell him he's fired."

"It's the strike. He couldn't come earlier, you…"

"Tell him he's fired or I fire you with him. Understood?"

"Yes, Madam."

"Thank you, Émilie."

The woman didn't dare saying that her name was Hélène and not Émilie. The general laws of politeness simply didn't seem to apply to Dominique Destine. A few minutes later, a man entered the room, holding a cardboard box.

Of course he was late. All the employees who went to work by subway were to be late one day or another, even only by five minutes. According to the most famous Parisian joke, the acronym 'RATP' didn't mean "Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens' (Parisian transportation control) but 'Rentre Avec Tes Pieds' (return with your feet): strike was their philosophy. But it wasn't Démoniaque's philosophy. Hélène ran to her colleague. "Antoine, where were you?"

"Me? In the subway, like everyone. Why?"

"Démoniaque has just asked me where you were. She… she considered firing you. You know how she is; I think you'd better apologize immediately or…"

Antoine laughed. He was born with no sense of danger. "First I'll fill the machine again, ok? We're not in a hurry."

"Antoine, she really looked serious. I don't want you to have problems."

"And that's very kind of you, ma puce, but you know how everyone is with no coffee. Ok?" and he took a key and opened the machine. Hélène sighed and beat a retreat. She liked Antoine but if she did anything else, she could lose her job herself.

One minute later, she heard a man whimpering. She carried on tapping her keyboard. It was a bit cowardly from her but if Antoine was bullied by Démoniaque, she could do nothing for him. Well, phoning him later, offering him a drink, but what else? Hélène just hoped that Destine woman would go back to New York as soon as possible.

Then she heard people shouting with surprise. Out of curiosity, she went at her door and opened it slowly. There were people turning their backs at her and Démoniaque was not among them. Hélène went to her friend Juliette and asked her what was happening. Juliette laughed nervously and gestured at a bunch of clothes. There was a toddler boy under them, clapping his hands happily.

"Hélène… either Antoine has brought his son to work and has suddenly lost all his clothes, or…"

A beach in Maine

Petros Xanatos was walking alone, reading a letter his son had sent him. David wanted him to come to New York for "the day".

The day was not David's birthday or his own. It was his wife's deathday. David's mother had drowned in a shipwreck and the sea had kept her body. When his son still lived at his home, they used to have a little time together and watch the sea every year. But one year, when they were walking on this very sand, they had had an argument and the younger Xanatos had finally left the beach, saying he was losing his time: walking on the sand and thinking of dead people doesn't make you rich. Of course Petros had been deeply shocked.

The letter was most surprising and the elder Xanatos wouldn't have been astonished if this invitation was in fact part of one of his plots. With someone like David, you could expect anything. During years, his son had been turning his back to him and showed off his wealth every time he had met, in the most pretentious ways. As if there were not things money couldn't buy! Petros was not sure that he wanted to meet with his son.

On the other hand, David had used the best argument possible. "Alex wants to see you again. He's really very fond of his grandfather." With the letter, there was a drawing of the young Alexander. The eldest Xanatos smiled in spite of himself. He couldn't help remembering how David was when he was a toddler. He had always been trying to teach him the most important values like hard work, honesty and loyalty but he had apparently failed. Even when he went for him at school, he could see him staring at those other kids who were being chauffeured home in big, expensive cars. The kind of kids who always make the law in a playground. At that time, he was already proud of his son's cleverness and not yet ashamed of how he would use it.

Petros Xanatos had a better look at the drawing, which was so well drawn for such a young child that magic was to be suspected. It was apparently little Alex, beaming and holding the hands of his mom and dad. And "Grandpa" was on the drawing too, holding his son's hand. He smiled again. At least the kid was growing up in a family who really cared for him. Maybe coming to New York for the day would not be such a bad idea.

Petros carried on walking on the sand. The waves came and went at his feet, sounding like a pulsating heart. The eldest Xanatos wondered if David had ever brought his son to a beach. Most children enjoy playing with sand but perhaps this toddler was entertained in other ways. This lead to another problem: bringing a gift for his grandson was something obvious, but what kind of gift? An American penny was out of the question, of course. Bringing something very expensive would make no sense, given the wealth of his father. So?

Suddenly, the fisherman saw something shining on the sand, among the seaweed left by the tide. He bent to have a look at it. It was blue and golden and shiny and he had the feeling he had already seen it somewhere.

Yes, he had definitely seen it somewhere.

Sharply, Petros Xanatos wiped the object with his handkerchief, put it in one of his pocket and decided to go back home. He had a last look at the sea where his beloved was resting and mentally asked her what to do right now. Then he smiled. Yes, perhaps his grandson would like this kind of gift.

An apartment in Paris, at night

The half-drunk man called Jérôme Marchand lightened a cigarette and offered one to the person who was sitting in front of him. He knew he was dreaming but he didn't mind. Generally, when he was dreaming of winged monsters, those monsters were running or flying after him. This one was just talking. In American English but that was not a problem.

"So where are you during ze day?" he asked after a few puffs.

"At my mother's. And you?"

"At my job. I clean dishes in a restaurant."

"Do you like it?" Arch asked.

"No. I was emptier before but zey took me my job."

"You were emptier?"

"I put people out of a nightclub."

"Ah! You were a bouncer!"

"Yes." Jérôme yawned. "Why do you visit me?"

"Because I like it?"

The man shrugged. "Do you want to watch TV?"

"Yes."

Arch really wondered why he was visiting this man. Pretending to be a hallucination had been fun at first but now it was getting really boring. Everything was getting boring, including phoning strangers in the middle of the night to listen to their reactions (and Demona had put an end to that little game, anyway). He had managed to find a language method and had been unable to learn more than "bonjour" and "au revoir". Everything was boring him.

He left when Jérôme started snoring on his chair. There was practically no one on the streets. A window at the highest floor of the Maison Destine was unlocked, as usual…

Arch stopped. The window was wide open, which almost never happened. He landed on the balcony and listened. Someone was walking downstairs. Out of curiosity, Arch entered and listened intently. Who was with Demona?

He left the room and went to the stairs. After one moment, he heard a mad laughter, and a male voice shouted: "I WON!" The voice sounded a bit like Goliath's but why would Goliath be here?

Maybe he wanted to play a trick on him. Arch didn't want to fall into that trap. He decided to leave and to roost on another building again. Then he would think about.

The night after, while visiting his 'friend' Jérôme, the grey gargoyle learnt that Dominique Destine had been indicted for poisoning and was now in jail.

Castle Wyvern

A helicopter landed on the courtyard after sunset. All gargoyles had already left their perches. A grey-haired man and a red-haired woman exited the vehicle. The man looked around him, remembering all the times he had visited his son at the castle. Nothing normal had happened: only time travels and encounters with supernatural beings. Then the multi-billionaire left the castle and met his father.

An embarrassing silence ensued. The two men hadn't met since Alex's birth: Petros had seen his grandson a few months before at his own home but only Fox had been present. Although the fisherman had been impressed by the way his son had defended his own son when he was born, their old habits of coldness were not easy to break. They exchanged a few words. "How is my grandson?" finally asked Petros.

"In his bedroom. He's punished."

"I see you're using my old upbringing method" Petros said sarcastically.

"Why?" Fox interrupted. "Don't tell me he has…"

"He has put an egg in the garbage bin, my love. Come, Father, we have no reason for staying here in the cold."

"Don't you think that locking a toddler in his bedroom for wasting food is a heavy detention?" Petros asked sharply while following his son and his daughter-by-law in the castle. Xanatos nearly laughed.

"This is my son. Don't you think I have the right to bring him up as I wish?"

"I just hope my common sense has skipped a generation. Now do you mind if I unpack my case?"

The question was intended to be rhetorical but his son didn't consider it this way. "Owen must be unpacking it now."

"I can unpack a case myself, thanks."

"Well, father, if you are interested in boring tasks… Second floor, next to the main door."

As expected, Owen was already unpacking the few clothes Xanatos's father had brought, much more quickly than one would expect from someone who can only use one arm. He was not alone: the gargoyle beast and the lavender gargess were looking under the furniture. The latter slid a baby-bottle from under the bed with her tail, saw Petros, saluted him politely and left the room, Bronx following her. Puzzled, the fisherman nodded to her "good evening, Mr Xanatos" and turned to the majordomo. He looked unruffled, as usual.

"Don't touch this!" Petros said sharply, gesturing to a small box. "This is a present for my grandson."

"As you wish, sir."

Somewhere in the castle, a baby started crying. The fisherman frowned. "This doesn't sound like Alexander…"

"No, this is the gargoyles' baby."

"Since when do gargoyles live in this castle?"

"I'm not sure Mr Xanatos would want me to give you this piece of information."

"Oh! And do you mind telling me why this lady was looking for a baby-bottle under a bed?"

"I'm afraid young Alexander keeps teleporting objects into impossible places. Finding a baby-bottle is getting more and more difficult."

The eldest Xanatos smiled, in spite of the strangeness of the situation. So his son was now experiencing the difficulties of bringing a child up…

When Petros Xanatos entered the child's bedroom, the kid was sulking on his bed and smiled at him timidly. Alex knew that his grandfather was generally a nice person but he also knew that he could be very strict sometimes. "Hello grandfather" he said hesitantly.

"Hello, sonny" the old man said, noting how the kid had grown up and how much he looked like his father at his age. He had never been good at dealing with kids and now he was feeling slightly uneasy. "How are you doing?"

The toddler didn't answer. Instead, he jumped to the floor, took a drawing on a little table and gave it to his grandfather. "For you" he said simply.

"Is it me?" The man on the picture didn't look very much like Petros Xanatos but it was the best a child of that age can do. The kid nodded.

"Yeah, s'you."

"Thank you very much. I have something for you, too" the man answered. But Fox, who had entered the room just behind him, protested.

"He's punished tonight. You can give him his present tomorrow."

Petros thought it was better not to interfere with the upbringing of other people's children. He bent and kissed the toddler clumsily on the forehead, wished him good night and left the room.

Alexander was thinking hard. So his grandfather had something for him? What could it be? Burning with curiosity, he sat and tried to imagine. He couldn't help thinking of the miniature boat he had shown him the last time. Not a normal boat but a wooden boat with tissues things called sails. And he had told him stories about sailors on the sea. Surely, he would tell him other stories the day after. But what could this present be?

One second later, Alex had teleported to his grandfather's bedroom. He would just have a look. There was nothing wrong with it.

Paris, a police station

Demona was sitting on a bed, in her cell, thinking hard. Two weeks earlier, she had started carrying a talisman that could create illusions everywhere with her. When she had been taken to the police station, she had used it to make everyone believe that she was still Dominique Destine, even by night. The most difficult thing had been to stay silent when the painful change had happened. Now she was alone in this tiny cell, in her torn business suit, trying hard to guess who had shrunk her employee.

She had had to answers dozens of questions. Yes, the chemical VAL001 had been developed by her company. Yes, two persons had already been the victims of the chemical and of one of its variants. Yes, the first victim was one of her former employees. No, nobody still knew why and by whom the second victim, a student girl she had never met, had been contaminated. Yes, the effects of the chemicals were temporary: Miss Gregarino and Miss Maza had now both found their ages back. No, she was not responsible in those accidents; nothing had ever been proved against her anyway. And so on.

Just now, policemen were probably searching her home, all the more so since the concept of search warrants didn't exist in France. Damn Frenchies! She hoped the spell she had cast to hide the entrance of the rookery would be efficient. And she hoped Arch would be bright enough to hide himself.

Castle Wyvern, a bedroom

Grandfather's coat was on his bed. His closet was half-open, revealing some clean, folded clothes inside. There was a book on the bedstead, one of those adult things with no images, even on the cover. A picture of a woman was resting next to the book. Alex knew it was his grandmother (not his fairy grandmother, the other one). He was now slightly embarrassed. Leaving his bedroom like that was forbidden, after all. And he shouldn't have put the egg in the garbage bin. Hudson had looked really shocked. "How would yer mom and dad react if someone put ye into that place, little lad?" This had been embarrassing.

Perhaps he could make Hudson a drawing and promise him never to bother the eggs again. Hudson was a kind person, he would forgive him. Yes, he was going to do that. And he was going to teleport back to his bedroom. Immediately.

Well, he would just have a look around and then he would go back.

Alex had a better look at her grandmother's picture. She was wearing a big dress and had a haircut like women in the movie he had watched with Hudson the previous week. Grandfather had told him she was in the sky, which was funny as she didn't have wings. Perhaps she could fly without the help of wings, like Puck. And perhaps Lexington and the other gargoyles had already met her in the sky. He was going to ask them one day.

The toddler put the photo back on the bedstead and noticed that a drawer was not completely closed. He opened it and saw something shiny inside. Perhaps this was his present?

One minute later, Alex was back in his bedroom. It had been a funny evening but he was glad it was over.

Paris, next day, Dominique Destine's home.

Dominique finally entered her home, which had been searched throughout. Nothing had been retained against her so she was free. Swearing and boiling inwardly, she slammed the door behind her and ran barefoot to the rookery.

The egg had been taken.

For a moment, she could only stare at the place where the egg had been, shocked. How was it possible? Who could do such a thing? Who could be cruel enough to do such a thing?!

She fell on her knees, desperate, and started crying, alone, in her shredded suit. After a moment, she remembered Arch. Perhaps he had put the egg into a safe place?

Or perhaps it was him who had stolen it away? She had to know. She ran up the stairs to the place he used to roost, searched throughout the other rooms. He was nowhere to be seen. Nowhere.

She found the bed and collapsed on it. Her mind was boiling. Arch was basically a follower; he couldn't have done that alone. Who could it be? Who could it be? Her thoughts were getting mad and at the same time, she couldn't help thinking of that night, in 994, when she had seen her 36 eggs being stolen away. Why? Why did it have to happen to her?

Hours passed. She transformed back into a gargoyle and decided that it was time to pull herself together. She put on her halter and loincloth, put her shredded red suit into the garbage bin and went to the kitchen.

Then she heard someone walking upstairs. An intruder! She needed a weapon. She opened a magically sealed door hidden behind a cupboard (of course the humans hadn't found it), took a weapon and walked to the stairs.

A familiar stone-colored gargoyle appeared. "Hello mother" he said. "I'm glad to see you, I heard… what happened?"

"What happened?" she shouted. "WHAT HAPPENED? You were not here when it happened?"

The Avalon-hatched gargoyle didn't dare moving. There was a weapon aiming at him and he had to think about very fast. "I was outside" he said. "I came back and I heard sounds. It sounded like you had a visitor and I didn't want to disturb."

"Visitor? Who? What did you hear?"

He decided to be honest. Demona looked so angry that anything could happen. "I heard a voice that sounded very much like Goliath's. I decided not to stay. You know I don't think he likes me after what I did.

Demona lowered her weapon. "He SOUNDED like Goliath?"

"Yes. His laugh didn't, though."

"Thailog."

"Who?"

"It's Thailog." It made sense. She had showed him how to open her magically sealed room when they were lovers, long ago. It could only be him who had stolen the egg away. "I'll explain you later. Now I have to find out where he is exactly. He MUST NOT keep my egg."

Manhattan, the 4February, 1998

Alex was cuddled on his grandfather's lap. It was the most comfortable position he could get in the helicopter. He was eying a bag the eldest Xanatos had brought with him. Could it contain his present? His father noticed his impatient look and said "well, Father, I think your grandson has waited enough now."

Petros smiled. "Alex" he said, "perhaps you wonder why we are here, over the sea, you, your mom, your dad and me?"

"Yes."

"We are here to say hello to your grandma."

"Where is she?" he asked curiously.

"She's in the sea."

In the sea? So she was not in the sky? The toddler thought hard and asked: "she's a mermaid?"

The adults nearly laughed and David suddenly remembered something he thought he had forgotten long ago. "She had a beautiful singing voice. I loved listening to her."

Alex closed his eyes and tried to listen. He could hear no one singing. Both men smiled again and the elder pulled a little box out of his bag. The tot heard something that sounded a bit like the sea. He opened his eyes and saw his grandfather holding something against his ear. He had a better look. It was a big shell.

"You can hear the sea in this shell" the old man explained. "This is a present from your grandmother and from me."

"Say thank you, Alex" the multi-billionaire ordered, moved in spite of himself. "This is a beautiful present."

"Beautiful" the toddler agreed while wondering how something as big as a sea could be held in such a small shell. "Thank you, grandfather."

"And I also have something for your grandmother" the old man added. He took something else in his bag.

David's eyes went wider. The thing his father had in his hands was, blue, golden, shiny and heart-shaped. He already had it in his hands on his weddings' day, three years before. "Father" he asked slowly, "where did you find it?"

Petros did not answer. He merely smiled and threw the artefact through the window, into the sea. The multi-billionaire was boiling inwardly. How dared he? How could someone treat power with such spite? In front of his own grandson?

"I think your grandmother will be very happy with this little present" Petros told the kid. "You know, having a family is a great thing. Much greater than other things some people crave for…"

Castle Wyvern, same night

"The eleventh of February?" Elisa asked while patting Birch softly on the back. She had just had her baby-bottle and was about to doze, cuddled in her arms. According to Brooklyn, she ate more than Broadway and he didn't know that it was possible. The leader of the clan nodded.

"Yes. They generally hatch after midnight. Will you be there?"

It was practically a rhetorical question. Elisa whispered "of course" and wondered how she was going to explain Captain Chavez that she was going to take a night off to watch the hatching of her rookery children. She had already told her so many shameless lies and pseudo-lies that it was a miracle she hadn't lost her trust.

Goliath embraced her. Elisa remembered an idea that had kept running through her head for weeks. "Big guy" she asked softly, "what about getting married?"

The leader of the clan looked at her in surprise. She smiled. "Or at least having a commitment ceremony. We have been together for so long without it being official. I just…"

She didn't finish her sentence. He put a finger softly on her lips to silence her.

"Yes" he said.

To be continued…