Author's Note: Did I say a week last time? I'm sure I meant a month... Blame my attention span. I think I might have a very select form of ADHD that applies only to fandoms and fanfiction. *nods sagely*


Chapter 11: Setting the Scene: Part 2

Brooklyn found Lexington on one of the balconies. He was perched on the ledge looking down at the city. He looked almost awestruck.

"Hey, Elisa showed up. Now would be a good time to ..." Brooklyn started. Lexington turned towards him so suddenly he almost jumped.

"Brooklyn..." Lexington whispered.

"You okay Lex?" Brooklyn asked, getting a look at Lexington's face. His eyes were glassy and vacant.

"It won't come off. She won't let me take it off." Lexington said in a voice that was cracked and panicked. He got off the edge and managed a few steps towards Brooklyn before hesitating. He looked out towards the city again.

"Who?" Brooklyn asked. He went up to Lexington and put a hand on his shoulder.

The reaction was instantaneous. Before Brooklyn could blink he was against the wall, some force pushing him away from Lexington. Brooklyn ignored his first reaction, to curse Lexington roundly, and instead picked himself up and went into high alert mode. He shook his head and looked at Lexington in order to determine what had happened.

Lexington was already back at the ledge.

"Lexington what-?" Lexington ignored him and leaped off the building. Brooklyn rushed forward and watched as Lexington spread his wings and glided off into the distance.

'Somethings wrong.' Brooklyn thought. 'I've got to tell Goliath.'

Break

"He what?" Brooklyn cringed at how appalled Goliath sounded.

"He just... took off. He hit me with some sort of magic that came out of his hands and then took off while I was down." Brooklyn explained again.

"How did this happen?" Goliath muttered in exasperation.

Brooklyn winced when he realized he had no real answer to give.

"He's been acting strange over the last day or so." Brooklyn offered. "Seemed really obsessed with some necklace he'd found."

"A necklace?" Goliath asked.

"Really shiny, sort of strange looking. Kind of expensive looking." Broadway offered as he remembered the night before.

Goliath's eyes narrowed as a vague recollection of Lexington muttering to himself swam into forethought. Something about magical artifacts and young Alexander.

"This is Puck's doing somehow." Goliath determined with a sigh.

"Owen's out of town until tomorrow." Broadway mentioned.

Goliath rubbed at his forehead. He could feel the headache coming on already.

"There may be no way to rectify this tonight lad." Hudson commiserated.

"It's nearly daylight. If Lexington truly has been invaded by a malicious force it won't be able to do much damage tonight." Goliath theorized. "But I fear for Lexington's safety if he's found away from the castle during the day."

"If a gargoyle statue is spotted it'll likely cause enough of a stir that the police will hear about it. I'll keep my eyes and hears open." Elisa said.

Goliath gave her a smile of gratitude that morphed quickly into a concerned frown. Elisa often stretched herself too thin in her efforts to aid the clan. She'd pulled a lot strings to get back on the night shift so she could spend more time with them and to help 'further their political agenda' as she called it. Goliath had suspicions that all of this was wearing at her, but all of his pushing had yet to be successful in making her slow down.

"I'll be fine." Elisa said softly, recognizing the look on his face. She touched his arm gently.

Goliath took her reassurance quietly before turning back to the group.

"Don't go off chasing Lexington tonight or you could get caught outside the castle at dawn as well." Goliath ordered. "We'll get to the bottom of this tomorrow night when Owen returns. If Puck isn't directly responsible then perhaps Owen will have some helpful advice, being so well versed in magic."

With their orders and a 'plan of attack' the clan left it at that. They scattered slowly, leaving Goliath and Elisa alone.

"Elisa..." Goliath said after a moment.

"I already know what you're going to say." Elisa teased. Goliath gave a a scathing look of annoyance.

"It's hardly dangerous to drive around and listen to the radio. Even in Manhattan traffic." Elisa reasoned.

"I just don't want you to put yourself in danger." Goliath argued. "Should the situation present itself and vigilantes do go after Lexington..." He hesitated.

As the leader of the clan there were some feelings that Goliath would never be allowed to express. He was getting dangerously close to them now. The life of any one member of the clan could never be put before the life of any other member. That was very important to remember.

How he felt now was made even more terrible by the fact that he knew that should it come up Lexington would be completely defenseless ans Elisa would be in a perfect situation to stop it, even if it meant risking herself. He couldn't very well tell her not to, even if he did he knew instinctively that she wouldn't listen. She was just as much a member of the clan now as any of them and she'd taken their philosophies very much to heart. It pained him and warmed something inside of him at the same time to know this.

"I know." Elisa said after a long moment. She gave him an apologetic look.

'Don't risk your life for his.' Goliath left unsaid.

'That's not how it works big guy.' Elisa's silence said.

Elisa put her hand on his arm and nuzzled her face into his bicep just a little.

"You should get some really good rest. I bet tomorrow night is gonna be a doozy." Elisa commented.

"One could say the same to you." Goliath mentioned.

"I'll try my best big guy." Elisa smiled. "I promise."


Author's Note: From whence came this random Goliath/Elisa?! It just popped into my head out of nowhere. I just suddenly realized that I had just about none of them in this fanfic so far and they're generally important to the scenes I had coming up so I felt that needed some kind of build up. Also c'mon, I had to include them eventually. It's sort of intimidating to write them though.
Anyway, sorry for not getting this out sooner. Part of the reason is because I'm on the road and it's really REALLY hard to find an internet connection worth it's salt. I'm at a library in Southern California at the moment and the internet here suuuuuucks.