AN: This chapter's a little longer than the last (yay!) but still a touch on the short side. At least when compared to my other chapters. So I apologise again for that. There's a little bit of action happening in this one, and I hope it reads the way I envisioned it.

And apologies for the time it took to upload this. I had planned on uploading it a few weeks ago, but then with the long weekend in Canada, and then the long weekend in the States the week after, it just kind of got pushed back.

So please enjoy! And please rate and review! Writing tends to be a little easier when I know you're enjoying my work. Or you're not enjoying it. I welcome constructive criticism. I can't improve if I don't know what I may be doing wrong.

And feel free to message me! I've received a few, and I very much enjoy talking to you all!

Oh! And I keep forgetting. The lovely and awesome Kanthara did a fantastic drawing of Crystal for me a while back. So for anyone who wants to take a gander, the link is:

kanthara. deviantart /art/ Crystal-297680718
(Minus the spaces, of course. And after trying to save, certain parts of the URL refuse to save. At least most of it is there. A simple Google search might make it easier to find. Sorry. Dang rules of not linking.)

I do not own Gargoyles. Disney owns them. Gargoyles is a show that I love, and write stories about. I own Crystal, and any other characters that did not appear on the show.

New Life, New Beginnings: Chapter 11

The nights were beginning to become longer and longer. The summer heat and humidity were trying to hang on, but the night temperatures were becoming cooler, and before long the crisp autumn winds would be upon them.

But tonight, none of that mattered. There was a crazed person on the loose, and another who was both hunting and not hunting gargoyles. It was a bit of a confusing time, and Angela was beginning to wonder if it would soon get back to normal.

A familiar sight snapped her out of her thoughts. "Brooklyn, look! There he is!" Angela pointed to a rooftop below as they were passing by. "That's his hovercraft."

"As much as I want to just get rid of this guy, I think we should take it slow."

Angela nodded in agreement, but did so reluctantly. "We should try to find out who he's after."

The two gargoyles descended onto the rooftop, and immediately wished they hadn't. The man that had attacked Angela already had his crossbow armed and had it pointed at both of them.

Brooklyn threw his hands up. "Whoa, hold on there. We're not here to hurt you."

The masked man looked at the red gargoyle, and then at the lavender one. With an exasperated sigh, he rolled his eyes and lowered his weapon. "Didn't I tell you to stay out of my way?"

"Yes you did, and that's why we're here." Angela took a cautious step forward. "We just want to know who you are and who it is you're after."

The man laughed. "And why would I tell you, monster?"

Angela looked back at Brooklyn, the confusion clear on her face. "You call us monsters, but you mean us no harm?"

"It's as I said before: you're not my target." He lifted his crossbow and rested it on his shoulder. "Just because I'm not after you doesn't mean I care for your wretched kind. You're an abomination."

Brooklyn growled and advanced on the human. "You've got some nerve -" He stopped short as the crossbow was once again trained on him.

The man waggled his finger at him. "Nuh uh. Just because you're currently not my target doesn't mean you can't become one." He kept his weapon aimed at the red gargoyle until his aggressive stance became defensive. "That's better." He holstered his weapon onto his back and climbed onto his hovercraft. "My fight is not with you. All I want is the demon, and then I'll be on my way." The craft lifted off the ground, and as he flew off, he yelled back, "So for the last time, stay out of my way!"

The two gargoyles watched him fly away. It was a few moments before Angela said quietly, "Do you think he meant Demona?"

Brooklyn snorted. "It wouldn't surprise me. She's not able to blink without becoming someone's enemy."

Angela's shoulders slumped ever so slightly. And here she thought her mother was making progress. "We should get back, it's nearly time for the next patrol to start."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Do you think we should just go?" Crystal was lazily sitting on the castle wall, waiting for Brooklyn and Angela to return from their patrol. "They're already over half an hour late."

Lexington hopped up on the wall next to her. "We probably should. If they were in any trouble, they would have called in."

Crystal nodded in agreement. "Then that settles it." She stood up and unfurled her wings. "No sense in wasting more time." She leaped off the parapet and let herself drop for a few seconds before snapping her wings open and catching an updraft. Lex followed suit, and led his companion towards the docks.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

They had just recently arrived at their destination. Their first course of action was to do a quick search of the area before spending part of their patrol watching from a rooftop. The docks were generally quiet at this time of night for the common person, but nevertheless, the late night workers could always do with a watchful eye. And if the two gargoyles were lucky, they wouldn't have to deal with any possible gang wars that would destroy the peacefulness of the night.

Crystal let her mind drift slightly from their task. Never in a million years did she think her life would take the twists and turns that it had, and mostly only within the past seven months.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the static in her ear. "Can you guys hear me?"

Crystal tapped the device in her ear, confused that there was any static at all. "Sure can, Brooklyn. What's up?"

"Finally! We've been trying to reach you two for a while!"

Lex frowned at the statement. He had put a lot of work into these communicators, and there hadn't been a static issue in nearly a year. "Not sure why the communicators are acting up, but I'll check it out once we get back to the castle."

Crystal smiled at Lex being more concerned over malfunctioning devices than at the slight panic in his rookery brother's voice. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, now that I know you two are okay." The static was starting to increase. "We were hoping to catch you two before you left. We wanted to... iv you... ads up..."

"Brooklyn? Hello?" Crystal took the device out of her ear, turned it off and back on again, and returned it to her ear. "Brooklyn, can you hear me?"

Lex shook his head. "It's no use, I can't even hear you through mine." He sighed in frustration. He really hoped they wouldn't be too difficult to fix. "I don't mind completing the patrol without the communicators, but this would be your first time without them since coming to Manhattan. Do you want to finish patrolling, or do you want to cut tonight short?"

Crystal never got the opportunity to respond, as at that moment, there was a blinding flash of light, accompanied by a deafening blast of sound. The two gargoyles yelled out in pain as their sensitive eyes and ears were attacked. The assault on the gargoyles' senses forced them to lose focus, causing them to drop from the sky and hit the ground. Hard.

Lex groaned as he slowly sat up. He rubbed his head and carefully peaked out through slit eyelids. He wasn't sure how much time, if any, had passed since their senses were attacked. He could see, but barely, and his hearing had definitely been compromised. He opened his eyes completely and looked around as best he could. He could make out shapes, but no details, and it was the first time he wished he could have a light to see better in the darkness.

"Crystal?" He couldn't see her, but her scent was there. "Crystal, can you hear me?"

His question was answered by a groan. "Barely."

Lex got on all fours and crawled in the direction where he heard her voice. "How well can you see?" He didn't want to speak too much, as he couldn't tell how loud he was actually speaking and he didn't want to draw any unwanted attention, but he needed help finding his clan member.

"More to your left, Lex." She couldn't see very well, but she assumed she could see better than Lex at the moment.

Lex reached the female and sat down. He leaned in to speak in her ear. "You could see me from that far? I couldn't see you until I was a foot away." He did his best to whisper, but not being able to hear himself made it a little difficult.

Crystal lowered her voice and spoke into his ear. "Couldn't actually see you, but I could see your shape and movements."

The green gargoyle nodded. "It's possible your human past gave you a slight advantage over that attack." He looked up and saw the top edges of the surrounding buildings. If he squinted, he could see the clouds. "It's going to be a while before our eyesight is good enough for gliding."

"And our comms are out, to boot."

Lex nodded. "We're going to have to go building hopping, and we should start sooner rather than later. We don't want whoever attacked us finding us like this."

Crystal pulled her legs underneath her body. "You're thinking someone did this on purpose?"

"How could I not? They attacked the two senses we rely on the most." Lex got on his feet and felt for the closest wall.

Crystal stood up as well and led Lex the last few feet needed to reach the wall. She waited until he had climbed a few feet before following. She knew he wouldn't need any help, but with his eyesight being worse than hers, she wanted to keep an eye on him and help as much as she could.

She had just gotten herself off the ground when a force slammed into the side of her body, pulling her talons out of the wall and tossing her back onto the ground.

Lex wasn't sure he heard something happen, but the vibrations in the wall and the rush of wind told him something definitely had. He looked down – was instantly thankful that his sight was slowly improving – and saw Crystal's crumpled form below. He couldn't see the assailant, but he didn't care. He slid down the wall and rushed over as quickly as he could to the female's side. "Crystal! Crystal, are you okay?"

She groaned in response. "What hit me?"

"I don't know, and I don't know where they are, but we really need to get out of here." Lex was able to help Crystal into a sitting position before he too had something hit the side of his body that sent him sprawling.

"Lex!" Crystal moved to rush over to him, but the weapon that entered her line of sight stopped her. A sledgehammer. But it wasn't just any sledgehammer. This was a Quarryman sledgehammer. Crystal looked up at the person holding it, and was surprised to not see the familiar blue uniform. Instead they were dressed in all black, including a black ski mask. Crystal growled low in her throat. "The statue smasher."

"At your service," he cackled. Without warning, he took the weapon into both of his hands, lifted it above his head and swung it down onto the female's tail.

Crystal screamed in pain. The masked man had broken her tail high enough that her balance would now be compromised. "What do you want with us," she gritted through clenched teeth.

"Do I really need a reason to have fun?" He lifted his hammer again, but stopped when he heard a groan come from the smaller gargoyle. "Oh goody, I was starting to think he would never wake up." He walked over to him and nudged the gargoyle with his foot. "Well, soon he won't." He once again raised the hammer above his head.

"'Ey! I thought we was gonna take turns!"

The masked man lowered his hammer and sighed. "I did say that, didn't I?" He vaguely gestured to the green gargoyle. "All right. Have at him."

The newcomer, also dressed in all black but wearing a deep hood instead of a mask, sauntered over to the downed gargoyle. "This is gonna be fun." Lex watched carefully as he took a gun out of the waistband of his pants and cocked it. Crystal watched in horror at what was happening before her.

"Guns. Pfft."

The hooded man looked back at his companion, almost as if he was offended at the comment. Lex took the distraction to his advantage, and used his tail to rip the gun out of the human's hand. "What the fuck?!" Lex then wrapped his tail around the man's ankle and pulled with all his strength, causing him to fall and bash his head against the concrete, temporarily knocking him out.

"Huh." The masked man looked down at his fallen comrade. "It's true that if you want something done right, you should do it yourself."

Crystal had made the effort to get back onto her feet once the gun had made an appearance. She now stood as tall as was possible with her aching ribs and growled at the man. "And that includes going and fucking yourself." Lex was slowly getting back on his feet as well, and Crystal wanted to distract their attacker while he did. "Now leave before we do worse to you than what we did to your friend."

"Now where's the fun in that?" He swung the hammer behind him and once again connected with Lex, sending him crashing into the nearby wall.

"Lex!" Eyes flashing crimson, Crystal's wings flared as she leaped towards the human, ignoring the pain shooting through her body.

The masked assailant took her attack to his advantage and swung his hammer again. He watched with glee as it connected with the upper half of her ribcage and sent her into the wall as well. "Idiot." He placed the sledgehammer on the ground and leaned slightly on the handle. He observed the scene before him, and smiled; both gargoyles were struggling to right themselves, and neither was succeeding any time soon. He picked up the sledgehammer and stepped over to the female. He pushed her onto her back with his foot and leaned down. "You think this is bad?" He placed the hammer on her chest, letting her feel the weight of it. "Just wait until you see what I do to him." Straightening up, he lifted the hammer and let it drop, knocking the breath out of her lungs.

Crystal was left gasping as she felt the hammer leave her chest. She watched in horror as the man walked over to Lex and stared down at him. It almost looked as if he was contemplating what method of torture to inflict first. "Get away from him."

The masked man glanced up from his intended victim to look at the female, who was struggling to turn over. He scoffed at her attempts, and put his attention back on the smaller gargoyle.

It took some time, but Crystal finally managed to roll onto her stomach. Her mind was racing, trying to think of a way to stop this man, but with a broken tail and probably broken ribs, there wasn't much she could do. Then she saw it, out of the corner of her eye; the gun Lex had managed to take away from their other attacker. She didn't like the idea, but she didn't have much of a choice. She pulled herself over to it as quietly as possible. She grabbed the gun, and pointed it at the man. "I said get away from him."

Despite being at the business end of the weapon, he smiled. Her hand was shaking so much that she wouldn't be able to shoot straight. "Just put down the gun, sweetheart, and I promise to make his death a quick one."

He again turned his attention back to the green gargoyle when he heard the gun being cocked. Ignoring the sound, he knelt down. Just as his knees were about to touch pavement, the gun was fired, and he felt a stinging sensation. Placing his hand on a spot just under his ribs on his left side, he could feel his blood beginning to soak his shirt. Raising his head, he saw the female's hand had stopped shaking, and that she had the gun at a slight angle.

"I told you to get away from him."

"You think a simple bullet will stop me?" He got back on his feet, only to see the gargoyle pull the trigger again and hit him in the same area, only on his right side.

"No, but two or more might."

The masked man fell to his knees, the blood loss starting to affect him. He'd suffer, and that's exactly what Crystal wanted. He wouldn't die from the wounds, or from blood loss, but he would bleed out quite a bit.

Crystal slowly got back on her feet and walked over and stood right in front of the bleeding man. With a nudge from her foot, she pushed him onto his back. She knelt down near his head, and pushed the mask up, but only enough to show his mouth. There was no need to know this man's identity. She would probably kill him on sight if she saw him walking in the streets.

She held up the gun just enough so that it was in his field of vision. She wanted him scared. Scared like she had been moments ago. He was floating in and out of consciousness, but his eyes still widened in fear. Good. Just to play around with his mind, Crystal crushed the gun. His eyes stayed wide, but the relief was showing on his face.

"This is to remind you to never mess with me, or my family, again."

Crystal ran her index talon across the man's neck. Deep enough so that it would bleed, but shallow enough so that he wouldn't die from it. The blood would clot within a few minutes. For good measure, she punched him to knock him out. Just to make sure they couldn't be followed.

Her head snapped up as she heard approaching sirens. Someone must have called in the gunshots. She stepped over to Lex and gently shook him. "Lex, can you hear me? C'mon, we gotta get going." But no reply came from the small gargoyle. So using every ounce of strength she had left, Crystal picked him up, and threw him over her shoulder. Looking one last time to make sure the guy was still down, she climbed up the wall. The other hooded assailant was beginning to stir, but he wouldn't be able to escape before the cops arrived. She had just made it onto the roof as the police cars arrived.

She gently lay Lex back down, and hoped to god that his communicator was still on him. She couldn't remember exactly when hers had fallen out. Thankfully he still had his. She called in where they were, and sighed in relief as she got a response; somehow it was working again. Broadway and Goliath would be there soon. She made sure to warn them that there were cops in the area, and to just take their time. She and Lex would be fine to wait a few extra minutes. With that done, Crystal finally felt that she could lie down and just rest.

Her brain hadn't quite comprehended what she had done down in the alley, and it would probably be a while before it did. But for the meantime, she only knew that she had protected Lex to the best of her ability. And that's exactly what she would tell the others when asked what had happened. No one needed to know that she had shot a man, nor that she had been trained to use guns. She protected, and that's what mattered.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

She didn't know how much time had passed. With the rush of adrenaline gone, Crystal was floating in and out of consciousness from all the pain. Lex was doing the same, but seemed to have more moments of being unconscious. The police were still investigating the scene below them, but most of them had left. Just a few forensic scientists remained to collect more evidence. She didn't know if her eyesight had improved; everything was spinning due to the pain. But her hearing had improved at least. She sighed as she heard the sound of wings nearby. Crystal turned her head towards the sound and smiled at the sight of Goliath and Broadway. "You're finally here."

Goliath wasted no time in directing Broadway to attend to his rookery brother, as he attended to Crystal. "How did this happen?" He gently maneuvered his arms underneath her and carefully picked her up.

"It was... a surprise attack." Crystal was having trouble staying conscious. Her brain was screaming at her to let go, now that help was here. "I did the best I could..."

Goliath hushed her and watched as she slipped back into unconsciousness. There would be time for questions later, once they had had a good day's sleep. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Broadway had secured Lex, before leaping off the building's ledge and gliding as fast as he could back to the castle.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Brooklyn paced the hallway in front of the infirmary doors. The others had tried to pull him away, saying the doctor would find them once the procedures were completed, but he refused to leave. He knew it would make no difference where he was, but he felt only slightly better being as close as possible.

"I can take over for you, if you want to go eat."

Brooklyn looked up from his pacing and at the human. "No thanks. I'm good here."

Christian rolled his eyes once the gargoyle had his back turned. "Is it all right with you if I gave you company?"

The crimson gargoyle snorted in response. "It's a free country."

"I'll take that as a yes." Christian took a seat in one of the chairs lining the hall and watched the gargoyle as he continued to pace back and forth. "Does doing that help?"

Brooklyn glared at the human and growled in response.

"So is talking in general not allowed, or are topics such as your pacing simply off limits?"

Brooklyn stopped right in front of Christian and glared down at him. "Are you here because of them, or is it to piss me off?"

Christian did his best not to smirk. "Why can't it be both?" He sat back in his chair and held up his hands defensively when he saw Brooklyn's eyes begin to glow. "Whoa, hey! I'm just trying to lighten the mood!"

"There is no 'lightening the mood.' What happened tonight is beyond serious. And we don't even know the level of seriousness because Crystal and Lex were unconscious when they got here!" Brooklyn growled in frustration and collapsed in the seat next to the human. "My clan could possibly be in grave danger. Two of my clan members are in surgery having bones reset... and there's nothing I can do right now but wait."

Christian wasn't sure how to respond. Not because of the revelation, but because Brooklyn had actually confided in him. Since he had arrived in Manhattan, the two of them hadn't exactly gotten along, but not for lack of trying on Christian's part. "Dude, it'll be okay. They'll pull out of surgery, and if what happened tonight wasn't a one-off, you'll be able to handle it." Christian racked his brain for something else to say. This was the longest conversation he'd ever had with the crimson gargoyle. "It'll be okay."

The doors to the infirmary opened, and Brooklyn jumped to his feet. The doctor placed his hand on the gargoyle's shoulder and smiled. "Like I said they would be before surgery, they're fine. And before you ask, yes, you can go see them. But keep it short."

Brooklyn placed his hand on the doctor's and thanked him profusely before running through the doors. Christian stood up to shake the doctor's hand and followed suit. The doctor walked towards the elevator to inform the rest of the clan of the update.

One room, two beds, two figures, and a breaking heart. It killed Brooklyn to see the two of them like this; so many tubes and wires, and their torsos in casts. He actually wondered how the cast was working on Lex, given his wing configuration. He winced when he saw the cast on Crystal's tail. He stood between the two, torn as to who he should give his full attention to first.

"Talk to her first."

Brooklyn whipped around to see Christian standing in the doorway. "What?"

"Talk to her first. No doubt Lex will understand, and I can keep the clan out for a bit."

Brooklyn reluctantly nodded his thanks and watched the young man leave before turning his attention to the raven-haired female. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face and sighed. "I don't even know where to start."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"...you're not awake to hear this."

"Brooklyn?"

"Crys! You're awake!"

Crystal didn't want to open her eyes. The harsh bright lights shining in her face told her she was once again in the infirmary. Other than the hard light, she was also afraid to know how bad her vision might still be. She cracked an eye open to start adjusting to the light. "How long have I been out?"

"You were out before you got back; both of you were."

Her eyes snapped open. "Oh my gods, Lex!" She tried to sit up, but the pain that ran through her chest stopped her. "Is he okay?! Where is he?!"

"Hey, calm down." Brooklyn grabbed her hand. "He's okay, he's in the bed behind me." He stepped aside so that Crystal could see the other gargoyle. "See? Just as green as ever."

Crystal laughed at the joke and instantly regretted it. "Please, no jokes. It's enough of a strain to just breathe." She looked up at him and smiled. The smile soon got replaced by shock, as she blinked multiple times and touched her ear. "I can see again! And the ringing is gone!"

Brooklyn ran his talons through her hair. "I'm glad you're doing better."

Crystal allowed herself to enjoy his touch. They hadn't been this close since Nicole had been attacked. So she was rightly upset when her brother walked in and ruined the moment.

"I can't hold the clan back any longer, and besides," he gestured towards Lex. "Shortie's waking up."

Brooklyn gave him a curt nod, with a small smile on his beak. He looked back at Crystal. "Ready to discuss what happened tonight?"

"Not really, but at least it'll give Lex time to properly wake up."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Nope!" Crystal took Brooklyn's offered hand and got out of bed. "Sorry, not roosting with the clan today."

Brooklyn's eyeridges furrowed at her response to his offer of helping her to her roost. "Why not?"

"I know you're all comfortable with the naked thing – slightly surprised Angela is on that same page considering she was raised by Christians – but I wasn't raised by nudists, nor am I an exhibitionist."

Lex looked up from his seat in the wheelchair. Due to the creative placement of his chest cast, he was required to move as little as possible until sunset. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Angela covered her mouth to suppress a giggle, and Crystal nodded. "See, Angela gets it. Like the doctor said, the cast will fall off along with the stone skin tonight." She looked at the three male gargoyles, none of which were catching on. She sighed. "No one's getting a look at the funbags!"

All three began to blush, and Crystal could swear she saw Brooklyn trying to stare out of the corner of his eye. "I'll, uh... I'll just help you to your room." He placed her right arm on his shoulder and wrapped his left arm around her waist to help support her.

Crystal bid the others good morning as she was led out of the infirmary and towards the elevator. She could feel the awkwardness radiating off him, and so tried to think of something to say to put him at ease. "I know they're just boobs, but it's a comfort thing, you know?"

Brooklyn nearly stopped walking from shock. "What?"

So obviously that didn't help. "I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to say..."

"Then I really wouldn't worry about it."

They stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall. "Are you sure? Because you seemed kind of off after I mentioned it."

Brooklyn smiled. "Because you caught me off-guard. A female's chest isn't usually a topic of conversation."

"Maybe not amongst gargoyles..." She laughed at Brooklyn's quizzical look. "Humans are weirder than you think."

He opened the door to her room and led her inside. "You prove that each and every night."

Crystal moved to nudge him, and instantly regretted the movement. "I don't know how I keep forgetting to not move so much."

Brooklyn led her over to her bed and helped her sit. "I can't help it if I'm such a distraction." He smiled at her disingenuous scowl. "Are you sure you'll be okay until sunrise?"

"I'm sure I can survive a few minutes on my own." She waited until he had closed the door behind him before reaching under her pillow and pulling out an envelope; the one Brooklyn had given to her on their one date. She had lost track as to the number of times she had tried to read it, only to have something else steal her attention.

She ripped open the envelope and unfolded the paper within. She couldn't help but smile at the words she was reading, and didn't stop herself from reading them a few more times. She felt the sun was about to rise, so she quickly put the note back in its envelope and under the pillow. She didn't want to accidentally destroy it when she woke up. Crystal carefully stood up and took a few small steps away from the bed. As the sun peaked over the horizon, she thought, Maybe the differences are all in my head.