Chapter 12
Late that afternoon, Elisa woke in her own bed, wearing her own clothes. Stretching lazily, she reveled at being in familiar surroundings. She was actually feeling quite a bit better, with only a lingering twinge in her throat.
She got up, treated herself to a shower, only getting out when the hot water ran out. It was heaven.
After days spent in the same clothes, even if they had been cleaned, she decided. She reached in her closet, and pulled out a comfortable red shirt and a pair of black jeans.
After putting herself together, she set out to get something to eat. She always had a well stocked kitchen in case the gargoyles stopped by for dinner, but nothing sounded good to her. She settled on warming up a can of soup and making a sandwich.
Elisa noticed the lack of sound, and normally she loved her quiet time, but tonight the silence was bothering her.
Too much time spent surrounded by noise, Elisa mused.
She hit the power button, and went back into the kitchen for a glass of water.
"This is Luke Payne for ILG News," came the newscaster's voice. "The reports are still rolling in of Gargoyle sightings, since they were thrust into the public eye after the attack on Saint Damien's Chapel."
Elisa's head snapped up. She reached dove for her remote, and changed the channel.
"...WVRN coverage of the Gargoyle menace…"
Click
"...for YNN news. Gargoyles are real? That is what…"
Click
"...Tonight, on Nightwatch…"
Click
"...reporter on the site of the destroyed Saint Damien's Chapel…"
Elisa flipped through the channels. Most of the news channels were reporting about the Gargoyles, so Elisa settled on a loud comedy sitcom.
She had just finished cleaning her dinner plates in the sink, when there was a knock on her door.
Elisa grabbed her coat, holster and weapon. Slipping them on, she answered the door to find a very disgruntled Bluestone on her doorstep.
"That was playing dirty," Matt groused. "The Captain called me to the carpet last night."
Elisa cocked her head to the side and smiled sweetly. "Really?"
"Paybacks are hell," Matt warned.
"Hey, I didn't tell her about the mutates or the fact that there is a full set of clones beneath the city."
Matt looked thoughtful. "That's true. How are the clones these days?"
"They matured enough to be able to go out on their own." Elisa said with a smile. "They are working at creating their own version of the Labyrinth deep in the heart of Queens. Near enough for us to keep an eye on them, but far enough for them to have a little independence….But maybe we should keep that bit of news to ourselves…" Elisa suggested carefully.
"Deal," Matt said.
Together, they made their way back down to the street and to Matt's car. Elisa took one look at it and cringed. "Jesus, Matt. Do you live in here?"
Matt looked at the car and shrugged. "I have just spent a lot of time in it patrolling, lately."
"Ok, I get that," Elisa said, wrinkling her nose, "But couldn't you throw the food containers and cups away? With as much fast food as you eat, you should weigh 300 pounds by now."
"Hey," Matt said, defensively. "If I am not allowed to complain about your driving, you can't complain about my car."
"Fine," Elisa said. "Let's hit the road."
They drove most of the way in silence, until they neared the 19th precinct station house where they had been temporarily assigned.
"When do you think we can get back into our station," Elisa asked.
"I don't know," Matt replied. "The going theory is that they will remove the clock tower part of the building rather than try to rebuild it. From there, it is a matter fixing ceilings and walls, replacing equipment and furniture."
Elisa nodded. She was disappointed that they wouldn't be rebuilding the clocktower, but understood the practicality of it.
They were still about a mile from the station when a police cruiser sped up behind them, and signaled them with lights and siren to pull over.
"Are you speeding?" Elisa asked, stunned. He was so straight-laced about traffic laws, that his normal driving speed was usually just shy of five miles per hour under the speed limit.
"No," Matt said, glancing at his speedometer. He pulled over to the side of the road, expecting the cruiser to drive past.
It pulled over behind them instead. The officer in the passenger seat rushed over to Matt's car.
"What is going on?" Elisa asked.
The officer leaned down and spoke quickly to her. "Sorry to stop you like this, but are you Detective Elisa Maza?"
"Yeah," Elisa said, taken aback. "What is going on?"
"Sorry, detective," He said, opening her door. "I don't know the details. All I know is that there is a situation brewing, and Captain Maria Chavez put out an emergency APB that we were to stop you before you got to the station. She said that any officers who were able to catch up with you were to give you a ride to anywhere but the station house."
"What?" Elisa asked. "Where should I go?"
"I don't know, detective," the officer said. "The Captain asked you to call her at the 17th precinct and let her know where you are."
"Alright." Elisa said. She sent Matt an apologetic glance, then opened her car door. She was escorted into the rear of the police cruiser.
"Hello, detective," the driver said, cheerfully. "Where can we take you?"
"That depends," Elisa said. "Can you tell me what is going on?"
"Well," the driver hesitated.
"Officer," Elisa said, impatient now, "You need to tell me what is happening. If it is important enough that you all had to come and find me, it is obviously something big. I need to know if it is safe for me to go home, or if I need to go somewhere and stay with a friend."
The officer sighed. "There is a large crowd of protesters in front of the station, and some are out for blood."
The passenger turned to look at her. "From what I heard, it sounds like you were seen running into that Gargoyle mess at the chapel the other night. These "concerned citizens" have put you and them together, and they want your badge."
"What?" Elisa burst out. "Are you kidding me?"
"Unfortunately not," the driver said. "The Captain was concerned enough for your safety that she sent us out after you. I can't say that I blame her, after what happened at your station."
"Yeah," Elisa said, resting her forehead against the window.
"So, where to?"
Elisa gave them the address of an apartment building a few blocks from the Aerie building. She could walk from there.
Elisa got an idea of why the captain was so worried. They had to drive past the station house where the protest was happening, and it was almost two solid blocks lined with protesters. There was a division to be seen, some were pro gargoyle and some against. For the moment, they seemed distracted by each other. Lots of loud voices and raised fists to be seen. Luckily, no one bothered to look at the police cruiser, so Elisa felt safe looking around.
Some of the signs held generic pictures of medieval gargoyles on castles, some held recent still images from the news.
The biggest shocker was that a few of the signs had a picture of herself on them. Not just any picture, but the one from her police file.
"Damn it," Elisa swore. "There's a leak."
"That's the theory," said the driver. "Otherwise, how would they know what station you were being sent to, when it was supposed to be a random assignment? Everyone was sent to whatever station had the room to accommodate the extra people."
"Fantastic," She muttered. "If there is that big of a leak, I wonder what's going on outside of my apartment."
"We can do a drive-by if you want," The driver offered.
"We had better," Elisa said.
Ten minutes later, Elisa had been urged to duck down in the back seat as the cruiser crawled through the mass of people outside. To their credit, the officers in the cruiser called back to their station to have someone come and do some crowd control, but it was obvious that Elisa could not go to her apartment.
At least, not now.
"Forget the original address," Elisa said. "Take me to the subway station on West 23rd street." She could go underground with Talon for the time being, and contact people from there. She couldn't risk being seen entering the Aerie Building right now.
Crap…
"The least they could do is spell it right," Maggie growled, turning the television off. "Who thought that Gargoyles was spelled g-a-r-g-o-i-l-s?"
"I don't know," Elisa sighed, disgusted. She sank farther into the worn chair she had planted herself in as soon as she had gotten to the Labyrinth. Because she was planning on staying for a while, she had surrendered her gun to Derek since there were no weapons allowed. She went ahead and gave him her badge for safekeeping as well, and both were safely ensconced in the one lockable room that the mutates had left intact. She felt naked without them, and felt the need to wallow in her own private pity party.
She had called Maria, and that call had been about what Elisa had been expecting. Elisa was in trouble. Threats had been made against Elisa as well as the NYPD as a whole.
As hard as Maria was trying to get things cleared up, it would be better for everyone if Elisa stayed away for a day or two in order to ensure safety for her and her fellow officers. Maria commended Elisa for the wisdom of not going to the Aerie as well, so as not to draw any unwanted attention to the clan.
Maria assured her, however, that she was pulling every string and calling in every favor to get as many people working on the leak within the department as possible.
Instead of reassuring Elisa, it just made her feel worse.
"Well, I just got off of the phone with dad," Derek announced as he entered the room. "Thanks to his friends at the force, the picketers have been removed from their lawn, but there's not much they can do about them being on public property."
Elisa held her head in her hands. "What a mess," she lamented. "Mom and Dad must love this."
"Hey," Derek said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "They know about the gargoyles and you, so it's not like they got blindsided by this."
"That's not the point, Derek," she said. She let her hands fall limply to her lap. "The point is that they don't need to be harassed about this. They don't need to be put in the position of defending me to anyone, let alone a bunch of wackos who have nothing better to do with their time than to stand around waving signs."
"They aren't even that original," Derek put in.
"Yeah," Elisa sighed.
"Hey," Derek frowned at her. "Are you sure I can't take you to the castle? The clan will worry."
Elisa shook her head. "I already called Matt. He's going to stop by and let them know I'm alright. He's going to go feed Cagney too, since I probably shouldn't go back to the apartment tonight."
"Why can't you?" Derek said. "You are a pro at undercover work. Get dressed up, grab a wig, and off you go."
"Maybe."
"Derek," Maggie broke in. "I need some help with a situation out in the Labyrinth for a minute."
"Uh, sure," Derek answered. He gave his sister's shoulder a squeeze and left the room with Maggie.
"What's going on?" Derek asked as Maggie closed the door behind her.
"Derek, I think she just wants to distance herself from it all for a little while," she said. "She has had a crazy thing happen tonight, and she feels like she can't even go home. Even your parent's house or the castle seems out of her reach right now. Give her a little room so she can breathe."
"This is just so unlike Elisa," Derek mused. "She has never been one to back away from a fight, especially when it has to do with the job."
"I have never known someone like Elisa." Maggie said. "Even with what she sees everyday, she's always trying to find the good in people. She truly believes that she can do anything, except she couldn't stop this. The Gargoyles can take care of themselves...for the most part… but she has taken their welfare on as her personal responsibility. Now their existence is out in the open, and the whole city seems to have made it clear that they want the gargoyles dead." Maggie shook her head sadly. "Not only that, but Elisa's picture and information is out in the open as a 'Gargoyle sympathiser'. They are going after her coworkers, friends and family now, and she can't control this. And after what she experienced today, things may never be the same. She lost a little of her faith in people. She just needs to find a way to get it back."
"What can we do to help?" Derek asked.
"We will be here for her." Maggie said.
Derek nodded thoughtfully. "You are right."
"We should contact the gargoyles. What if they go out looking for her when they see the news?" Maggie asked. "It's one thing to talk to Matt, but it's another to hear people openly calling for Elisa's blood. Goliath would go on the warpath," Maggie pointed out, "and you know I'm right. They could get hurt, and Elisa would never forgive herself for that."
Derek nodded. "I'll go to the castle myself."
"Sunrise will be coming soon, so you will need to be quick, but I need you to be careful, Derek. This city is out for Gargoyle blood, and anyone in the air could be hurt." Maggie nodded. "I will stay nearby, in case Elisa needs something."
"Thank you."
Derek reached out and held her close. After a moment, he pulled away and began running for the surface access.
Once above ground level, Derek made his way across the city as quickly as he could, keeping to the rooftops as much as possible to remain hidden. Maggie had been more right than she probably knew. The city was crawling with people… more so than usual… and a good share of them were randomly firing at anything above their heads that moved.
Derek was happy to finally get to the castle, and almost dreaded the flight back. He landed in the courtyard and rushed inside.
"Whoa," Fox said as she almost ran into him. "Where is the fire?"
"Please tell me that the clan is here."
Fox frowned. "Of course. We all saw the news about the gargoyles protests. They discussed it, and decided that it was a good idea to stay home. Why?"
"There is a bit of a problem," Derek said. "Where are they?"
"They are in the library," Fox said, quickening her pace to keep up with him. "Derek, what's going on? Obviously there has been trouble... is it going to come knocking on our door?"
"If it hasn't been here yet, you may be safe." Derek admitted. "That's part of what I need to talk to the clan about."
Fox nodded. "Is it a private thing, or do you mind David and I sitting in on it."
"You may as well come with me," Derek said, and continued to the library.
