"Goliath."
Brooklyn's voice drifted into her mind from far away. She awoke, but did not open her eyes.
Need... More sleep... she kept her eyes closed as the sound of giant talons stepping across the floor rang out.
"Brooklyn," she heard Goliath's commanding voice. He paused for a moment and then spoke softly.
"How long has she been asleep?"
"About an hour." Brooklyn whispered. "She was really freaked out, and I tried to comfort her. She fell asleep like this. Broadway came and left and she didn't wake up. I haven't moved; I don't want to wake her."
... That was really considerate of him.
"Is Hudson with you guys?" He inquired.
"Yeah, he caught up to us and told us that something went down." Lexington explained. "Broadway is still out."
The rapid thudding of footsteps up the stairs interrupted their conversation.
"Is she alright?" A male voice inquired.
Detective Bluestone?
"How long have you guys been here?" Asked another familiar voice.
Detective Maza.
"Elisa, we've just arrived. Hudson told us of Dracon's latest stunt." Goliath rumbled.
"Yeah, Broadway found us briefed us on the situation. He should be on the balcony by now. Did she get hurt?"
Even with closed eyes, Nikki could practically see all eyes turn to her and Brooklyn.
"From what we could tell, he didn't harm her. At least, not physically." Brooklyn explained.
"What about that dried blood in her hair?"
She could imagine the puzzled look on Lexington's face as he asked.
"Probably from get jostled in the limo. When Broadway saw that it was Dracon, he was pretty eager to do some damage to Dracon's ride."
Nikki let her eyelids part ever so slightly.
"Are we missing any details?" Goliath inquired.
"Not really. She was pretty hysterical. And she puked."
"You go through that same ordeal and try to do better." Nikki mumbled softy, announcing her consciousness. Brooklyn's muscles tightened and shifted as he turned to look down at her. She fully opened her eyes and beheld a room of surprised faces.
"How long have you been awake?" Bluestone asked, his jaw slack.
"Not long." She adjusted her elbows and hoisted herself up into sitting position. Smacking her lips, her face curled into a look of disgust.
"Could I go use the sink? I never got the vomit taste out of my mouth."
Nikki slid out of Brooklyn's lap and groggily walked to the little sink across the room. Soft conversation ensued while she rinsed her tongue under the slow stream of water.
A moment later, she returned to the group, dabbing her tongue on her bandana.
"Brooklyn, how did you and Broadway manage to find her?" Asked Goliath.
"We were supposed to hang out tonight, but she was an hour late. That wasn't like her, so we figured that she was caught up at work and we decided to pick her up. We got there and saw her duffel bag on the ground and limousine speeding away. We followed and attacked when they drove into a less-crowded area."
"I'll check with Broadway, see if he saw anything else." Matt turned toward the balcony.
"I should come as well." Goliath followed.
A hand gently wrapped around Nikki's elbow. She looked and saw Lexington.
"Hey, Brooklyn and I are just gonna go raid the fridge for some lunch."
"You know, before Broadway gets it all." Brooklyn added jokingly.
"We'll just be over by the fridge. You'll be okay?"
"Y-yeah, guys. I'm fine."
The gargoyles left Elisa and Nikki alone.
"Nikki," Elisa began. "We still haven't figured something out yet: Why did Dracon target you? Did he say anything in the limo that might help us understand?"
"He... He made his motivations pretty clear." Nikki responded, her voice dull and spiritless.
"Yes...?"
"This weirdo kept coming in. A tall, black man with thick glasses." She recounted while staring at the armchair. "He kept trying to tell me that his boss could help keep the business safe. I work for a butcher shop, and we haven't had safety issues, so I told him to go away or I would call the police. I thought he was just soliciting. But my boss and coworker had to take off early, so I closed the shop. They got me after I locked the front door. I remember the license plate number of the limo: it was SCM-611. I hit my head when the man with glasses threw me into the limo. Then this guy, Dracon, I guess, was sitting across from me. He told me that if I paid him, he would keep my business safe. I guess they thought I ran the shop. I snapped and told him no and that I would go to the police. He pulled out a gun and told me 'You're going to either leave with a solid deal between us, or you're not going to leave'."
Elisa's clasped hands rose to her chin, pressed against her lips as she thought.
"Nikki," she finally spoke "Do you have any relatives in town?"
"Yeah, my sister and brother-in-law."
"What are their names?"
Nikki's throat tightened as she made the connection.
"Elisa, you can't-"
"I'm just going to give them a call and let them know-"
"No," Nikki's hand shot out and latched on to Elisa's arm. Her voice dropped to a whisper and was filled with pleading,
"PLEASE, you can't tell them!"
"I don't understand." Elisa pried Nikki's fingers off.
"Elisa, my sister is pregnant. I just found out! I don't know what stress on the mother will do to the baby, but I don't want to risk it! If Tessa finds out that I was abducted by a mob boss, she'll panic!"
The detective took a moment to think over the young woman's plea.
"I have to call her..."
Nikki's lungs tightened.
"...But I'll tell her that you witnessed a minor crime, that you're here to give us eyewitness details."
"Thank you."
Relief flooded through her system, and Elisa inconspicuously massaged her arm, rubbing at the spot Nikki had grabbed.
"So, how far along is 'Tessa'?"
"She's still in the first trimester. She just found out."
"Is this your first time being an aunt?"
"Yeah," Nikki smiled. "Finally."
"What's that mean?" Elisa inquired, nurturing the conversation.
"Oh, I've got a big family. Two of my brothers are married as well, so I've been waiting for a niece or nephew for a while."
"A what?"
The women turned, and discovered the trio, each with a sandwich in their hands- or in Broadway's case, four.
"What have you been waiting for?" Broadway asked again.
"My niece or nephew! I'm going to be an aunt!" Nikki explained, slowly opening up from her hollow state.
"That means that one of your siblings is having a baby, right?" Lexington questioned further, a smile spreading across his face.
"Yeah, Tessa and Scott are going to be parents." Nikki smiled a bit.
"So…" Brooklyn squeezed his eyes shut and scratched his forehead, "…so she's going to be pregnant for nine months and then you guys will have a baby in the apartment?"
Elisa slipped away to the balcony, as the trio continued to inquire about human infants.
The questions became more in-depth as the conversation progressed.
"Seriously? They need their head supported?" Lexington asked, as his head tilted curiously.
"Yup, their necks aren't strong enough to hold up their head at first, so you need to cradle the head." Nikki explained, and demonstrated with an imaginary baby.
"Nikki," Elisa appeared, Matt by her side. "Sorry to interrupt, but we're going to make the call now, if you'd like to join us downstairs."
"And we'd like to ask you a few questions. Any information we can get can help us put Dracon away."
Nikki nodded solemnly and stood to join the officers.
"Sorry that we didn't get to hang out like we planned." Broadway muttered, his ears drooping.
"It's not your fault, guys. I'll just take a rain check." Nikki smiled a little, and followed the officers to the staircase. She paused at the steps and turned back to the gargoyles.
"Hey, guys!" She called, and grinned.
"Merry Christmas."
"You, too!" They responded, almost in unison.
They descended the stairs, and it seemed that the police station wanted to wish a 'Merry Christmas' too. Matt and Elisa led Nikki down a hallway adorned with paper holly and an occasional Santa decoration.
They eventually came to a lounge area, where she was instructed to sit and wait while the detectives had a word with the captain. Nikki took a seat on an old sofa as the door closed. She sat and twiddled her fingers, listening to Christmas carols ring out from the little radio on a side table.
I didn't think officers were so festive...
She glanced over at the coffee table, where a quaint display of packaged cookies and coffee waited to be consumed. Her stomach growled, but after the incident on the roof, she wasn't about to eat and risk it again.
Besides, those aren't for me. That would be rude to eat them.
Her temptation quickly dispersed as the door clicked open, and Matt appeared with a pen and a folder.
"Hey, Miss Harrison," he closed the door and pulled up a chair in front of her.
"What's up, Detective?"
"Well, we need to get a report of the incident, and since I have no idea why happened," he paused and winked at her, "I'll need you to recount the event for me." He opened the folder and put his pen to the paper, ready to write.
Nikki chuckled a bit at the wink, and leaned forward.
"Okay, Detective, here's what went down..."
"That was really lame." Brooklyn stated as he scratched Bronx behind the ears.
Goliath and Hudson were still out of the balcony, conversing over that night's events. Broadway was watching TV and Lexington was still reading Les Misérables.
"Yeah, I was looking forward to tonight." Lexington replied, without looking up from the novel.
"As if Dracon wasn't enough of a jerk, he goes and starts harassing Nikki." Broadway added.
"No kidding. I just hope that Nikki will be alright." Lex piped in.
"And that this doesn't discourage her from being around us." Brooklyn concluded.
"Alright, we're just about done." Matt scribbled in the last of Nikki's statements.
"Yeah?"
"Yes ma'am," he didn't look up from the folder. "Just one more question."
"Ok."
He looked up from the paperwork, his face quizzical.
"How old are you?"
She didn't respond for a moment.
"I-I uh, does the report ask for that?"
"Oh yes, it's just the victim information,"
Victim. I'm a victim. That sounds so helpless.
"Yeah, I'm twenty three, but why the confused look?"
Bluestone shrugged.
"I couldn't tell. You're older than I thought, though." He wrote in the last of he information and snapped the folder shut. He informed her that he would fetch Elisa, and left Nikki. She used this time to stare at the wall and listen to the radio.
One song went by, and Elisa entered in the middle of 'O, Little Town of Bethlehem'.
"So are you gonna give me your sister's phone number or not?" She joked.
Nikki chuckled and stood up, following Elisa to her into another room. It contained a table, some chairs and a telephone.
Nikki recited the phone number to Elisa as they sat down, and she began the call. Nikki could faintly hear Tessa's concerned voice over the receiver. She listened carefully to Elisa's end of the conversation.
"Hello, ma'am. This Detective Elisa Maza of the New York Police Department... Yes, she's here with me and she's fine... No, she's not in trouble... She was in the area when a burglary took place, we've just asked her to give us a report, if she saw any suspicious activity throughout the day, etc.-Yes, ma'am I'll put her on the line."
She handed the receiver to Nikki, who took it, a bit nervous.
"Hey, Tessa." She sheepishly began.
"Oh thank HEAVEN you're alright, Nikki! The detective told me there was a burglary? Were you in danger?"
"Oh, no! Not at all!" She lied quickly. "I was fine, they just did this to all of the store employees in the area."
"Well, I hope that the police keep a close eye on your area. I don't want you-"
"Tessa, I'm fine. Look, I don't want to keep the officers busy. I just want you to know that I'm alright and I'll be home soon."
"Ok, make sure that you get a ride home from a police officer. I don't want you walking home this late!"
"Fine. See you soon, love you."
"Love you, too."
She handed the receiver back to Elisa.
"So what now?" Nikki asked as the detective hung up the phone.
"I have to go talk with my captain. I'll see if Matt is available to give you a ride."
"Okay." Nikki murmured. And with that, Elisa disappeared out the door.
Tessa's fine, now. We'll be fine.
As it turned out, Detective Bluestone did not own his own car. He drove Nikki in a borrowed squad car. The drive wasn't long, but as soon as she got into the car, he began to talk.
"You know, Nikki- you're alright with me calling you that, right?"
"Yeah." She muttered.
"Alright, Nikki, I was SUCH a nerdy kid in elementary school. I didn't wear any of the cool clothes, I didn't hang out with the cool kids, I stayed in the library during recess, etc."
Why is he telling me this?
The streets were relatively clear, and there were minutes from the apartment building.
"But when I got into middle school, I made the resolution to 'get cool'. I started to focus more on how I dressed, and started to try to impress girls. There was this one brunette in particular that I was interested in,"
What's he going on about?
They were mere blocks from the apartment building.
"… Her name was Sarah. And one day, I was walking up the stairs, and I passed Sarah and her friends. So naturally, I decided to give her one of those looks that the cool guys gave to girls, right? So I did, I gave her this charming look- and I slipped and fell back down the stairs."
Nikki found herself in a fit of unexpected laughter, and had just barely caught her breath by the time that Matt pulled up to the apartment building.
"Why… why did you tell me that?" She asked in between breaths.
"Because most people laugh when I tell them that story. And you seemed like you needed it." He smiled.
"Well, thank you for the laugh." She smiled politely and opened the car door, when a thought struck her.
"Oh! I left my bag at-"
"Hey, don't worry. I'll let the guys know, I'm sure they'll drop it off later." He reassured.
"Oh, well thanks."
"Oh, and one more thing…"
She stepped out of the squad car and turned back to the detective. Matt spoke to her with genuine gratitude in his tone.
"Thanks for being friends with the guys. It's nice to have friends that aren't work-related, ya know? They need that."
Nikki blushed a little, and felt a stutter begin.
Breathe, Nikki. You don't need to be anxious, speak slowly.
"You're certainly welcome. I enjoy their company."
He nodded kindly to her and rolled down the window as she closed the door.
"And Merry Christmas!" He called after her, and began to drive away, deep into the snowy city.
Nikki smiled to herself as she entered the apartment building.
Yeah… Christmas. That's what I need to focus on right now… Christmas.
*Please note: I am going on hiatus in a matter of hours after posting this chapter. The story will resume in May 2016. I appreciate all of the support that I have received here, and if you want to see more of my work before 2016, check out my deviantArt profile (my username there is also MissUnashamed). Thank you all so much, and see you soon! 3 *