Once more, she realized she didn't have the necessary keys to get inside.

Mentally swearing, she knocked loudly.

The door was opened roughly, and held open for her to enter.

Goliath waited behind the door, out of sight, but met her just inside the apartment. With the door closed firmly behind Elisa, he scooped her up roughly in his arms and held her tightly.

Elisa didn't protest. She didn't even think about it.

She held him as tightly as she could in return. It had been a close call for her tonight, and finally being in her husband's arms was bringing that thought home.

"I'm so sorry, Goliath," Elisa murmured quietly.

"I was so afraid that I had lost you," Goliath whispered against her hair. "I had just landed at the station and was speaking to Maria when everything had started happening."

"I heard," Elisa admitted. "Matt gave me an earful on the way up. I am so sorry."

He hadn't bothered turning on the lights when he had entered the apartment, and now led her through the dark living room and into the kitchen. Seating her in a chair, he turned around to switch the lights on.

He turned and gasped. The room had been dark, and so he was seeing the blood stains for the first time. "Are you injured?" He began running his hands over her legs.

"Just my arm," Elisa said softly. "Most of this isn't mine, Goliath."

Goliath looked up and saw the deep sadness in her eyes. Something bad had happened, possibly worse than he had expected and he could see that much in her eyes. He had heard that an officer might have died, but he really didn't know how bad the situation had been.

He lifted her from the chair carefully, carrying her to their oversized bathroom. He turned the faucet in the antique claw footed tub, letting the warm water fill the tub. While the bathtub filled, he helped Elisa out of the clothing that had dried to her skin. Elisa helped as much as she could , but the pulling sensation on her stitched arm was starting to hurt.

"Damn," Elisa swore angrily.

"What is wrong?" Goliath asked, concerned.

"I didn't stop and get my prescription filled." Elisa groaned, pulling the paper with her prescriptions written on them from her jeans pocket. She shoved them back in the pocket, making a mental note to take care of them in the morning. "I didn't want to take the time to stop."

"What do you need?"

Elisa sighed. She hated taking pain pills. They left her feeling spacey, and unable to take care of herself, let alone those around her. However, with Liam being taken care of for the night, she would have felt safe taking at least one for the moment.

"I can just take a couple of ibuprofen for now, and stop by the pharmacy tomorrow morning," Elisa attempted to shrug it off. "I'll be fine."

Goliath frowned. He loved Elisa, but she was the most stubborn female he had ever met...

And he had been married to Demona once upon a time, so that was saying something.

Elisa took a bottle out of her medicine cabinet and shook out two orange colored tablets and swallowed them with a small glass of water.

Goliath then helped Elisa clean as much of the blood off as he could beforehand with a washcloth. With that done, and the bathtub filled with clean, steaming water, he helped her into the bathtub. Grabbing an extra towel from the small linen closet, he placed it on the ledge for her to rest her injured arm on so that it didn't get wet.

Elisa laid down into the warm water gratefully, watching Goliath pick up the discarded clothing.

"I will take care of these," He said, closing the bathroom door behind him.

Elisa sank in as far as she could without getting her wound wet. This was not the first time that she had lost a fellow officer. This wasn't even the first time that she had been present for it. No one had ever said being a police officer was easy, or safe for that matter.

If she wanted safe, she would have used her psychology degree to become a psychologist.

Losing a "brother" on the force was never easy. There were going to be some long days ahead. Questions to ask and answer as best as she could. Family of the fallen to contact.

Elisa closed her eyes. There would be an inquiry within the department, meaning that everyone involved would be called to stand in front of a committee and have to relive the event. Procedures would be called into question, and blame would have to be placed somewhere.

Then there was the officer who had actually pulled the trigger.

Elisa hadn't recognized him. This wasn't really a surprise, as there were hundreds of officers in Manhattan. Elisa made a point of trying to at least meet all of the people at her station at least once, but couldn't recall this officer. He may have been new, straight out of the academy and out to make a name for himself.

Those were the most dangerous rookies to be around. They were loose cannons, you just never knew what they were going to do.

Elisa slowly became aware of the time that had passed. Her water had cooled off, and she carefully rose to her feet. She pulled the plug so that the water could drain away. Toweling off quickly, she grabbed her thick fleecy robe that she saved for colder nights.

Opening the door, she called out for Goliath. There was no sign of him or her dirty clothes, she realized.

Where had he gone?

Elisa wandered into the kitchen and rooted around for something to eat. Goliath and she had missed having dinner, and she was in need of fuel.

There was not that much time left before the sun rose, and she wanted to spend what was left of it with her husband. All of this put a crimp in their anniversary plans, but there was still a little time left.

And she wanted to focus on the good for the rest of the night.

Tomorrow would bring on a whole new set of problems.

The sound of the sliding doors caught her attention as she gave the steaks a final turn.

"Great timing, Big guy," Elisa called out. "I'm just about done."

Goliath's hand on her shoulder made her jump and turn to face him.

He held out his hands. He held a sling in one hand, and in the center of his other palm lay two small bottles. Elisa looked at him, confused.

"Dr. James was able to fill your medications, and gave me a sling for your injured arm."

Elisa felt her eyes well up. "It has been a hell of a night, Goliath. I am so sorry that this messed up our anniversary."

"Elisa," Goliath set the medicine bottles on the counter. He gathered Elisa into his arms and wrapped his wings around them both in a double embrace. "I am not concerned about any plans that either of us may have made. I am just happy that you are alive and in my arms."

Elisa sniffled. "I really am sorry about how it all went down. Nothing like that should have happened."

"Still, I think it will be a while before I let you out of my sight when we are patrolling."

"Fair enough," Elisa said.

"Now," Goliath released her reluctantly. "The doctor said that you are to take these medicines with food."

Elisa gave a watery laugh and dashed a hand across her eyes. "One dinner, coming up!"

Once the meal had been devoured, Goliath firmly pushed the bottles of medicine at Elisa. Knowing she did not like to take any kind of painkillers stronger than aspirin or ibuprofen, he kept a close eye on her until he was certain that she had taken both pills. He helped her maneuver her arm into the sling to try to keep her from accidentally tearing her stitches.

They went outside and sat together talking the rest of the night. He had sensed sunrise's approach when Elisa started weaving sleepily.

Knowing the pills were taking effect, he scooped Elisa up and carried her up the outdoor set of stairs to the main bedroom on the top floor. He helped remove the sling, laid her gently in the center of the bed, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Good night, My Elisa."

"G'night," Elisa replied blurrily.

Goliath covered her with the quilt from the foot of her bed and took his leave.

He moved to his usual position in the courtyard just in time. As the first rays of daylight began to color the sky, Goliath's skin began to crackle and harden.

Moments later, Goliath was in the deep stone sleep of the Gargoyles.