Elisa was taken to a hospital for a physical exam, as dictated by Captain Chavez.
Her wrists were bandaged to treat the raw skin and minor cuts from the metal shackles. With the exception of some bruised knees from being drug across the floor by the chains, and a big one across her left shoulder from being hit with the bedframe during the explosion, she was in relatively good shape.
From there, she met with her parents and sister at the station. Her fellow officers had given the family space to be reunited in one of the interview rooms. There were hugs, tears and a healthy dose of cursing the Quarryman organization in general.
Finally, there was a round of celebration when a large group of FBI entered the station to haul away one Anton Sevarius.
Elisa did a double take at him when he was escorted out. His clothes were disheveled, he was still coated in a layer of concrete dust, but he also looked a little roughed up.
She sent her father a look.
He shrugged. "Don't look at me. He must have tripped and fallen down."
"Dad," Elisa said, shocked.
"Hey," he raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't touch him. Good thing, too. He wouldn't be able to walk, after what he did to our family."
Elisa sighed.
"He actually did trip and fall," Maria said, coming up behind the family. "He tried to get up too fast after having his legs secured for so long. His legs went out from under him, and he hit the table in the interrogation room on the way down. Of course, my officers really weren't in a hurry to help him up, and I'm really going to have to talk to them about that."
Elisa rolled her eyes. "What about that Michelle woman?"
Maria looked surprised. "You haven't heard?" When Elisa shook her head, Maria's lips widened into a wide grin. "She was so certain that you were going to just turn into a Gargoyle on live television, that she used her real name. As the broadcast was happening, we were fielding calls from friends, family and coworkers of Michelle who were only too happy to turn over her address so that she would be caught. Officers staked out in front of her building, and caught her there an hour ago."
Elisa shook her head at the stupidity. "What about the others?"
"Michelle has been handing out names left and right of other Quarrymen, as well as known locations of their meetings." Maria said. "We will be hauling them all in under suspicion of involvement of the kidnapping and assault of an officer. If any of them have so much as a parking ticket, they'll be held for the maximum allowed time."
Elisa blinked at Maria in surprise. "This from the woman who wouldn't let bring in Tony Dracon a few years ago when he stole all those laser weapons?"
Maria shrugged. "You didn't have any proof of that at the time," she said. "We have video evidence, a confession and a very pissed off police Captain. No one messes with one of my people and gets away with it."
Elisa chuckled. "Alright, Aunt Maria. Just keep it legal."
"Of course!" Maria protested. "I am a cop, after all."
Elisa sighed. "All right. When do you need me to give a statement?"
"Tomorrow is soon enough. It's just a formality at this point. He is wanted for so many other crimes that yours is just another report added to a very long list," Maria said, placing a gentle hand on Elisa's shoulder. "Go home. Give your boy a hug, and be there tonight when your husband wakes up."
"That sounds amazing," Elisa admitted.
-'-
Elisa loved her family.
She really did.
Sometimes, though, she wished she could ask them to go away without hurting their feelings.
Her father kept talking about the rescue efforts to find her.
Her mother kept cooking and shoving food at Elisa, because she had mentioned being hungry when they left the station to go to her condo.
Beth kept trying to do everything else, jumping to her feet every time Elisa dared to get to her feet and offering to help Elisa with...Everything? Anything?
The only person who seemed to understand that Elisa was feeling overwhelmed was Skyler.
May the Goods bless that girl.
Skyler had met Elisa at the door, and gently placed Liam in her arms for Elisa to hold. Elisa hadn't even taken the time to think about how badly she had needed to hold her son, but as she held the happy boy, tears had threatened to fall.
When a few traitorous tears had dared to fall, Skyler had quickly and quietly passed her a tissue.
A short time later, Skyler had called Elisa into another room, asking for help with putting Liam down for nap time.
Elisa was puzzled, since Liam rarely had trouble going down for a nap. She went upstairs, and Skyler gently pushed her into her own room, shutting the door and giving her a precious fifteen minutes alone.
Finally, Elisa managed to convince them all to go home.
Once more, Skyler came to the rescue, insisting that she take Liam to the castle for the evening to play with the Xanatos kids, and giving Elisa the chance to greet the clan alone.
And so, with ten minutes until the sun would set, Elisa was in her rooftop courtyard waiting to greet the clan.
Most of the original clan members were there. Bronx was missing, but was probably at the castle with Angela and the twins.
Looking at them all now, Elisa couldn't remember the last time that she had seen them all in their full guardian poses. More recently, they took on less frightening positions for their daytime rest. Goliath usually took on his thoughtful pose, and the rest had begun to follow his lead.
That day, however, they were all frozen in various ferocious poses. Talons and teeth bared, wings outstretched as if they were prepared to wake up and dash straight into battle. Hudson's trusty sword was in his hand, and even Lexington had left his trusty laptop and headset nearby, ready to jump right into action as soon as the sun set.
Elisa felt a love for all of these guys, her extended family and dear friends. They weren't going to be left out of any chance to come to her rescue. In reality, they never had.
They had been patient with her, teaching her their ways in the beginning, and more recently, teaching her how to move and fight like a true Gargoyle.
Elisa's gaze fell on Goliath's face, and her heart hurt a little. His beloved face, frozen in an expression of anger and hurt devastated her. Knowing that, through no fault of her own, she had been the cause…
Elisa saw the last of the light fade from the sky and heard the cracking of the Gargoyles stone skin. She backed away only as far as she needed to, not quite able to make her feet move any farther than she absolutely had to.
The collective roar was deafening.
She hadn't heard anything so wonderful in a while.
Before the roars had fully faded, they sprang into action.
Elisa tried to call out to them, but her voice didn't reach them in time.
Goliath led the charge off the roof, followed by Brooklyn, Hudson and Broadway.
Lexington dropped to grab his computer, slamming the headphones onto his head as the small machine booted up.
Elisa couldn't help herself. She had to laugh at the stunning show of the clan rushing out to fight… even when the person they were going to battle for was right behind them.
"Okay guys," Lexington was saying, his focus only on the computer screen. "I am bringing the comm system online."
"Lex," Elisa called out. When he didn't react, she realized that her voice had probably not carried through his high tech headgear.
"Matt," Lexington called out, tapping keys. "Are you there?"
Elisa approached Lexington from behind, placing a hand over his on the keyboard to get his attention.
He glanced at her, back at her hand and snapped his gaze back up as if he was afraid to believe that she was there.
Elisa pushed one side of the headphones off to free up one of his ears. "Call them back, Lex." She said with a smile.
Lexington nodded quickly, and with a huge grin, he tapped a few keys. "Guys, turn around and come back."
Elisa heard some rumbling replies, and held out her hand to Lexington.
He handed over his headphones to her.
"Guys," Elisa said, just barely able to make them out against the night sky, "I am here at home. I am fine. Come back."
Once her message had been delivered, Lexington launched himself at her and gave her a hug. Elisa laughed and hugged him back.
She managed to get free from the exuberant hug, and the headphones placed by the computer as the rest of the clan came swooping in.
One by one, they all rushed forward to embrace her, and one by one, they walked inside her condo.
Goliath waited, albeit impatiently, until last. Elisa threw her arms around his chest, and just held on as tightly as she could. Goliath held her to him, one arm around her shoulders and his other hand cradling her head where at now rested against his chest.
"Elisa," his deep voice reverberating through his chest. "My Elisa."
Elisa couldn't respond. Finally in the arms of her husband, the one she loved and had proven over and over that he would always be there to catch her if she would fall, Elisa felt as if she were finally home.
She felt safe.
Finally, she allowed her emotions to take over. Now that her parents were gone and their son wasn't watching, she dropped the air of toughness that she tended to wrap around herself. She held tight to her beloved and cried.
She let all of the fear and rage loose and just let Goliath comfort her.
For a good ten minutes, the stood there, in the rapidly cooling night air. Goliath wrapped his leathery wings around her, protecting her from the cold as best he could until her tears stopped. When Elisa felt like she was back in control, she wiped her face and gently took a step back to look into his face.
She took a steadying breath. "Well, it looks like I am back to being just plain human Elisa."
Goliath ran his talons through her hair. "Human or Gargoyle, you have always been beautiful to me. I would love you, no matter what form you chose."
"I didn't really have a choice," Elisa sighed. "I had to destroy the amulet. I couldn't let them get me on record as changing forms."
"There are always choices," Goliath said. "You made the choice that was right for you at the time."
"I didn't want to start a whole new Gargoyle panic in the city," Elisa admitted. "And maybe, if I were honest, I had already decided that while being a Gargoyle was fun and interesting… I missed just being me."
Goliath smiled down at her. "So, we go back to the way things have always been. I missed being with you while you worked at night. Being there to help you protecting the city."
Elisa looked up at him in surprise. "Really? I thought you would like having me being a Gargoyle."
"I did," Goliath admitted. "But…"
Elisa gave him a bright smile. "But it was different."
"Yes," he said.
"Big Guy," Elisa admonished. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"It was your decision, and I did not want to take that away from you."
Elisa laughed then. "Maybe this won't be such a bad thing after all. As soon as Matt and Pamela's baby is born, I can go back to my overnight shifts and life can just get back to normal."
"Normalcy is not a bad thing, Elisa." Goliath chuckled.
"Well," she smiled sheepishly. "As normal as we get."
"I am convinced that 'normal' does not really exist." He said thoughtfully. "Normal varies from being to being. What works for us," he kissed her cheek, "would not work with someone else's version of normal."
"Well said," Elisa laughed again. "Let's just stick with that."
He took her hand in his, frowned at the bandage he found there and sighed. "I am truly sorry for all you have gone through for us. I would spare you and Liam the dangers if I could."
"I know you would, Goliath," Elisa said, trying to tug her hand back from him. She hated him seeing the marks from what had happened, and was not looking forward to him seeing the bruise on her shoulder. "But I am home, and we are all fine."
"Yes," Goliath acknowledged. "We are together again, and that is what truly matters."
"Let's go to the castle," Elisa suggested. "Skyler took Liam there, and I would like to spend the evening with all of you. Let the city take care of itself for one night."
Goliath looked as if he wanted to protest, but finally agreed. "Alright. Let us go, and just be with family this night."
"Tomorrow is a new day," Elisa said with a smile.
Moments later, the Manhattan clan of Gargoyles took to the skies.
Elisa looked at them all from the safety of Goliath's arms, gliding so gracefully across the skies and found a measure of peace.
Goliath was right. 'Normal' was subjective.
This was her normal, and she was glad to have it back.