Gargoyles- The Heart of Everything

by Sunmoonlight

Brooklyn has been living in a very lonely world and yearns to find love of his own. However, his life gets turned upside down when he meets the beautiful, young Human woman named Rose. Rose lives in a very similar world; one full of darkness, loneliness, and is haunted by one dark secret. Will they find the love and strength in each other to rise above the darkness?

34. Chapter 34-Visitors

**There's a lot in this chapter! ENJOY!**

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~Chapter Thirty-Four~

Visitors

The next few days were thankfully busy for Rose as the Holidays came and passed. The usual hussle and bussle of the City seemed to be in full swing once again, which meant that Rose's work picked up, making it easy for her to be distracted during the day and left her feeling exhausted by nighttime.

She picked up a morning and day routine as well, which also made things easier for her to adjust to her new home. She would wake up early, take a run around the Labyrinth, find new tunnels to run down and then would turn around when she hit a gated exit. Once she worked out to her satisfaction, she would spend a few moments meditating and stretching before she would grab a small breakfast high in protein, drink water, and then would get ready for the day.

Rose worked mostly in her room, but lately would take her computer down to the main living areas so that she didn't feel as secluded. People would say hello to her; but for the most part left her alone to work. When she needed to take a break, she would talk with the Mutates or the Clones, do her laundry, or even play a card game or two with Claw. Rose loved to play games and thoroughly enjoyed playing board or card games with Claw. The two of them had become really good friends since her being down in the Labyrinth.

Maggie had told her about how one of the Mutates, Fang, revolted against Talon and was banished from the Clan. Fang was Claw's closest friend, even though he was a bad example to him. Since his banishment, Claw hadn't really had anyone to hang out with; and even though he couldn't speak, Rose thought he was hilarious and very kind and really needed her friendship.

Rose and Claw sat across from each other at one of the public tables in the living room and were playing an intense game of Chess. Rose was competitive by nature; making it difficult for anyone to beat her in any game. Claw was having a hard time trying to beat her; and would sit and stare at the board for minutes at a time trying to outdo her.

Rose smiled mischievously up at him and tried her hardest to keep from laughing. She was one move away from 'check-mating' him, and was amused by his attempt to stop her from winning, again. Finally, after a good ten minutes of debating his next move; he moved his Castle forward, as Rose grinned and started laughing.

She moved her queen forward towards his king, and said, "Check-mate. I win."

Claw's eyes widened in shock at her move and then smacked the table with his fists, knocking all the pieces off the board onto the floor. He looked quite upset, which made Rose laugh even harder. At her laugh, he calmed down, smiled warmly at her and then fist bumped her, which was his way of telling her 'good job.'

"Thanks buddy." She said, standing up and stretching out. Her body was quite sore by how long she had been working out each morning, but it felt amazing to her. She was quite happy when she was able to work out, since she was quite muscular and in shape; it made herself feel much better whenever she was able to go. Claw was resetting the game when he suddenly held up a deck of cards and showed them to her, silently asking her to play another game with him.

Rose smiled kindly at him and laughed, "Tomorrow, we'll play again. Okay? I am going to go back to my bedroom and relax for a bit."

Claw smiled back at her and then nodded, stood up and walked away. Rose watched him go and then checked her wrist watch. It was seven o'clock in the evening, which meant that Brooklyn and the rest of the Clan would be waking up out of their stone sleep any minute now. Rose stood up, walked across the Labyrinth and climbed the stairs towards her room to get settled for the night. She hadn't seen Brooklyn for a few nights- not since his last visit on New Year's Eve/New Year's Day.

She had been thinking a lot about him lately, as always, and about the very real dream in which she had. Though she was staying busy with work and her clientele, she couldn't shake the feeling of anxiety that she had ever since she had that dream. Her Grandfather had definitely visited her and warned her about Kevin; but she didn't know when or where she would see him next, and it was terrifyingly unnerving for her.

When Rose made it back to her room, she walked in, shut the door behind her and went straight over to her bed, where she had her laptop charging. She opened it and began to search the internet for wedding dresses. Rose smiled at herself at the thought of marrying Brooklyn; and had been enjoying wasting time online searching for styles of dresses in which she liked, saving the pictures to her computer. Though they still didn't have a date set in stone; they would be mated the moment Kevin was no longer a threat to her and the Clan, which to her seemed like it could be years from now.

Rose had been wearing a sweatshirt all day, since the January air seemed to be seeping inside the Labyrinth lately, but now that she was inside her room it felt a lot warmer. She took off her sweatshirt, walked over to her closet and settled into a loose-fitting tank top, over her sports bra- which she never took off after her workout, nor had she changed out of her tight-fitting workout pants. Rose's long wavy hair was in a messy bun; keeping it out of her face. When she got dressed, she walked back over to her bed, laid flat on her stomach and was searching for more wedding dresses with a smile on her face.

Rose then went to her media files, wanting to listen to some music. As she searched her music library, she had a number of different things that she enjoyed listening to. Her library had 80's rock, classical, Broadway musicals, 80's pop, some Celtic sounds, and 80-90's country music. She decided to turn on the shuffle and just let anything and everything play in which she had on her computer- mostly to fill the silence of her room.

Suddenly, as she pressed play, her library automatically turned on a soft and beautiful Celtic song; which soft flutes immediately seemed to soothe her. With her Grandfather on her mind lately, as well as her hometown of Bar Harbor, she missed how her Grandparents would have an old radio playing classical songs as well as old traditional Irish tunes, complete with flutes and bagpipes.

Rose quietly listened to the music, searched through different wedding dresses and saved the ones she liked on her computer, for what felt like another fifteen minutes or so, before she suddenly heard the skylight above her pull out of the ceiling. She gasped, stopped what she was doing and looked up to see who or what was entering her room.

She turned to her side to better look up; and as instantly as she did that, Brooklyn came crawling in, across her ceiling, re-attached the sky light, and then launched himself from the ceiling, in a forward flip, until he touched the ground right next to her bed. When he stood up taller, he turned to her and smiled brightly at her.

"Brooklyn!?" She cried out, surprised to see him, and sat up slightly.

"My love," He greeted her, instantly walking towards her.

He climbed up onto her bed, and crawled on top of her body; kissing her abdomen, grazing her chest, before finding her skin again, kissing her neck sweetly, and sliding his lips up to her lips. Rose smiled through his kisses and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, as this was the greatest gift she'd ever received. Brooklyn kept his wings up out of their way, straddled over her and laid down on top of her body. He wrapped his strong arms under her back and waist and kept her tightly held down with his strong body.

Rose giggled against his lips as he grabbed onto her hands with his claws and slowly raised her hands above her head, slowly caressing his claws down her arms to slide down the sides of her chest. He kissed her lips slowly; taking his time to fully press down and then pull back up onto her lips, sliding his tongue sensually in her mouth as he kissed her. Rose started moaning in pleasure at his greeting; and felt as though she was going to lose herself in this sensual kiss when he stopped; raised his head, and began peering down into her eyes with the most warmest and loving of inhaled deeply, smiling down at her lovingly and then exhaled.

"Hi, sweet Rose." He said, smiling and laughing at himself.

"Well, hello to you too." She greeted him back, laughing. "Someone's in a good mood!"

"Eh, not really." He admitted, still lying on top of her and gazing down into her face. "But I knew of a beautiful girl who lives here that could make my night a lot better."

Rose giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Oh yeah?" She asked him. "Who knew that you'd be into homeless chicks."

"Just one." He grinned, kissing her again. She giggled against his lips, closed her eyes and was loving the feeling of his body against hers once again. She ran her fingers gently through his talons, feeling beautiful within his embrace, and moaned.

"Mmmm- I've missed you."

"Not as much as I've missed you." He said softly, pressing his whole body down upon her; wanting and needing to feel more of her. He lowered his face towards hers; as she lifted her head off the mattress and met his lips in midair, inhaling deeply through her nose as they kissed once again. Brooklyn let go of her hands, and he grasped onto her back of her head and back- and tightly held her against him, their lips moving in harmony once again- this time a bit more urgently than before.

Rose pulled away from his lips, moved her hands from the back of his shoulders and lightly skimmed her fingers down his beak; not kissing him, but not moving her face away either. She gazed deeply into his dark eyes, her nose touching his small nose at the top of his beaked mouth. Rose giggled again, as Brooklyn smiled at their embrace.

She had the most beautiful eyes and looked incredible to him. He could smell a more natural scent off her; as though she had been sweating earlier and hadn't rinsed off. She didn't stink at all- but it drove him crazy, especially with her being in such a revealing tank-top and tight workout pants.

"You're beautiful, Rose. I can't even handle it." He complimented her, kissing her gently on her lips again.

"Thank you." She said softly, smiling at him. "You are handsome too- I hope you know that, so much so; you make my heart flutter every time I see you."

"I've been working on my beauty routine." He answered her lightly and sarcastically, making her laugh. Rose wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and exhaled a sigh, as she relaxed under his body, closing her eyes.

"Am I crushing you?" He asked her as he laid his head down next to hers.

"Yes, but in a good way. Don't you dare move..." She answered easily, scratching his back lightly with her nails. "You being on top of me feels so good right now."

"Hmm." He moaned into her ear, nuzzling his face against hers, with his body pressing even harder onto hers. "Good to know, because it feels amazing to me too."

She smiled, with eyes closed, and whispered, " I'm so glad you're here."

He gently lowered his lips once again to hers and kissed her deeply, before he let go, and placed his arm under her neck so she could rest her head on his biceps. He closed his eyes, in complete bliss as he rested his head against hers. He stayed on top of her, resting for a few more minutes, until he opened his eyes.

"So," He asked her, looking up at her computer seeing the pictures of wedding dresses on models, and smiled. "What are you doing?"

Rose looked up into his face, smiled and then answered, "I'm looking for a wedding dress."

"Yeah?" He asked her in total bliss. "I can see that, the dresses look really nice. Can't you just order one online and call it good… or do you ladies have a different way in finding one?"

Rose smiled even brighter, raised her head to kiss his shoulder gently, before she rotated her body, underneath his, to lie on her stomach. Brooklyn raised his body a few inches, to let her do so, but when she was lying on her stomach- his eyes widened in continued bliss and desire and he pressed down against her once again; loving this new position. He wrapped his arms back around her chest; and the tops of her bare shoulders and neck; kissing her madly.

"Brooklyn…" Rose tried to say, but then started laughing has his tongue trailed along her neck. She buried her face into her blanket, and then raised it back up to face her computer screen. "Baby, I can't concentrate when you're doing this."

"Sorry…." He breathed into her ear, but didn't stop and didn't seem sorry at all. He was feeling the backside of her body with his claws for a moment, and then slid off her body and laid on his side right next to her. Rose smiled as his back was pressed against the wall; making it easier for her to spoon him, her back to his chest. She slid across her mattress, into him once again, pulling her computer over with her. He kissed the top of her head, supported his face with one claw, and held onto her abdomen, right under her breasts, keeping her close to him.

"I have been a lot busier with work now that the Holidays are over… but when I'm winding down for the night- I've been saving pictures of dresses that I like." She explained to him, resting her head on his bicep, which was holding his head up.

"Can I see what you're wanting?" He asked her, smiling.

Smiling mischievously, she closed the internet browser and turned onto her back to face up at him. His dark eyes followed her, and gazed hungrily up and down her curvaceous body.

"Not a chance. I want my dress to be a complete surprise for you. No peeks before then." She teased him, lightly touching his beak.

Brooklyn smiled warmly, laughed slightly and then said, "Okay. Sounds fair to me, I can't wait to see you in your wedding dress… and out of it for that matter."

"Brooklyn!" Rose exclaimed, laughing, with her eyes widening. "You're being naughty tonight."

"Not sorry!" He answered, laughing as well. "Can you blame me here? I'm just being honest, making love is a natural step in taking our communication and relationship to the next level, no need to be bashful about it. I've chosen you as my mate; and now I want all those perks related with that title."

Rose laughed even harder, turned towards his body, wrapping her arms around his waist resting her head on his bicep. "I know; I don't blame you, at all. I feel the same way."

He smiled warmly at her, kissed her lips gently, before whispering, "Good."

"So what have you been up to for the past few nights?" Rose asked him, lightly trailing a finger down each defined peck on his chest.

"The usual." He answered, watching her trail her fingers up and down his chest; loving the feeling of her touch him. "Patrolling the City, stopping evil stone cold, kicking idiot's butts… all the normal things in the life of a Gargoyle."

Rose snorted with laughter and closed her eyes, smiling.

"You're funny… I'm proud of you. This City is a lot safer than it used to be thanks to you guys." She responded. "And uh… Kevin-?"

"-is still a bastard." Brooklyn replied venomously, instantaneously. "Stupid jerk is no where to be found." He paused and then sighed. "I'm sorry, Rose."

Rose blinked at his sudden hostility, and knew that she did not want to open that topic with him tonight. She cleared her throat, rested her hands on his chest and whispered, "It's okay. We'll find him, you're doing great."

"Yeah, right… " He snapped, but then paused, sighed again, and collected her tighter in his arms, calming down. "Thanks, love. Sorry, I just um… don't want to talk about him right now."

"I don't either." She replied. "So, let's keep talking about something else."

She smiled at him, as he gently smiled down at her, and then she moved her fingers down towards his abdomen, feeling each muscle with awe and feeling- his eight pack was defined perfectly. She could feel Brooklyn react to her touches, and it brought an even bigger smile to her face. He suddenly moved his claw from resting over her side, and gently took her hand which was skimming over his muscles and raised her hand to his lips, kissing the top of it softly.

"Why do you like doing that?" He asked her suddenly, softly massaging her hand in his.

"Do what?" She asked him back.

"You're always touching my muscles." He laughed at her. "Do you have a strange fascination with them or something?"

"Um… yes." She laughed back. "You're so beautiful to me, Brooklyn. You're amazingly built, and it's normal for a female to want a strong male to be hers; strength is attractive to us."

"Oh yeah?" He asked her grinning brightly, showing more of his sharp teeth to her.

"Yes." She answered him with assurity. "Just like I have physical traits in which you are attracted to…"

"Ohhh yes, you do!" Brooklyn answered her, gazing over her body again, smiling devilishly. He grabbed her and started to pull her on top of him as she laughed; but then stopped when he realized that music was coming quietly from Rose's computer. He froze and listened; to his joy, one of his favorite bands, Journey, was on. He reached over her and pressed the volume button, turning the sound up a little bit louder. The song, "Faithfully,' had just started and he immediately gazed over at Rose with a soft smile on his face.

"I love this song." He said softly.

"I love it too, it's a nice love song." Rose responded, smiling warmly at him.

Brooklyn laid there next to her for a moment, listening to the lyrics with his eyes closed before he opened them and gazed into her eyes with a funny look on his face. Before Rose could ask him what he was thinking, he suddenly climbed off her bed standing up, wrapped his wings around himself and then offered his claw out to her. Rose sat up slowly, still smiling at him, and then stared at his outstretched claw.

"What are you doing?" Rose laughed at him.

"Will you please dance with me?" He asked her, his loving gaze piercing straight through her. Rose's mouth was opened and was gaping at him for a moment, not sure what to do or think. She wasn't the greatest of dancers; however, as she looked into Brooklyn's eyes; she couldn't resist him. She slowly slid off her bed and took his claw with her hand. He gently clasped his claw around her hand and then led her into the center of her small room, his eyes never leaving hers.

To her surprise, he slowly bowed in front of her and as he came up, he said, "My lady."

Rose continued to stare at him in shock and awe, as his left claw suddenly clasped around her right hand. His right arm wrapped delicately around her waist, pulling her body towards his. She stepped towards him, as their bodies were now touching; their faces inches from each other. Brooklyn smiled down at her and then started to sway her to the beat of the music.

"Brooklyn, wait!" Rose suddenly said, quite nervous.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, stopping immediately, looking down at her with confusion.

"I…" She started to say, then paused; his eyes were searching hers with confusion as she was suddenly very nervous. "I can't dance… I haven't been dancing since I was a little girl. And when I did dance; my Grandfather let me stand on his feet while he did the waltz or the Irish jig or something insane."

Brooklyn's confused look suddenly vanished as he started to laugh slightly.

"Oh, my beautiful Rose." He told her lovingly. "Don't you remember dancing with me at Lex's mating ceremony? You did great then, and will do great now. It's okay; let me do all the work. I am not the best dancer either, but coming from Medieval Scotland; dancing was a social thing. I have picked up a few things here and there. If you want, you can stand on my feet; just please have this dance with me."

Rose blinked a few times and then smiled up at him.

"Okay… I'll dance with you. Just please don't laugh at me if I mess up." She told him, stepping towards him once , he took her hand again in his claw, while he gathered her waist in his right claw and immediately started to gently step around the room, in the waltz, to the beat of the song.

"I would never make fun of you." He said softly, smiling down at her.

With his comment, Rose couldn't help but keep smiling. She didn't think one could waltz to Journey, but Brooklyn was doing so beautifully. As large and fearsome as Gargoyles looked compared to Humans, she was surprised by how smooth and easy Brooklyn was to dance with. They danced the entire length of the song, and as time went one, Rose began to mentally remember each step in which they would take and began to relax into the dance, thoroughly enjoying herself.

When she did begin to relax and understand the steps more, Brooklyn stepped up the dance steps a little bit, by adding a few turns, swirls- in which he would turn her around in a circle, and even a few romantic dips; where he would dip her close to the ground and steal a kiss from her. Rose laughed whenever he would do that, and smiled the entire time until the end of the song. Brooklyn slowed down their movements until another song shuffled from her music library and it was a Def Leppard song, which was their first concert together. Rose and Brooklyn grinned mischievously at each other as Pour Some Sugar On Me, came on.

Since it was a faster song- Brooklyn pulled her to him and whispered in her ear, "Just follow my lead… we're about to have some adventurous fun."

"I trust you." Rose laughed at him, as he suddenly started to swing her around the room, dancing a bit more crazy. Rose couldn't help herself as she laughed the entire dance; as they suddenly made up an interpretive dance to the beat of the song. Brooklyn was laughing with her until the chorus came; in which they both broke out singing at the top of their lungs.

"Pour some sugar on me! Ooh in the name of love.

Pour some sugar on me! In the name of love.

Pour your sugar on me, I can't get enough!"

Brooklyn stopped dancing and singing, and watched Rose as she suddenly whipped her long red hair out of its hair bun, did a hair flip; and sang, a bit seductively while teasing him, "I'm hot, swicky, sweet- from my head to my feet, yeah!"

Brooklyn blew out a breath, at her sudden true sexiness, as she seemed to come out of her nervous shell. She smiled at him, and began to laugh at herself, blushing at his expression. He blinked a few times and came out of his daze.

"Whoa… you have a really good voice babe. I had no idea you sang." He said, stepping towards her, as she laughed and let him gather her up in his arms.

"One of my many talents, I assure you." She said playfully, gently wrapping her arms around his neck. "Are you going to dance with me or not?"

"I thought you were too nervous to dance." He teased her, grinning brightly.

"I am." She said, blushing even harder. "But I love being with you and I'm having fun."

"You're having fun?" He asked her, loving her shyness all the sudden.

"Yeah," She giggled, making him smile even brighter at her.

"Good.' He said, gathering her up in his arms. "Then that's all that matters."

They continued to make up a dance to the song, and both settled on doing the 'Chicken Dance' making each other laugh even more. Since he loved rock music; and really enjoyed this band- he let loose and started to make up his own moves to the music. He grabbed hold of her hands, spun her a few times around in a circle and then she turned and faced him, he kissed her passionately. Rose instantly met his desires with her own, and wrapped her arms around his neck; as he grabbed her legs and brought her up to straddle his pelvis with hers.

They continued to make out, all while his claws creeping up her tank top, caressing her stomach and hips to the point where his claws were inches from where the line of her low-cut underwear sat. Rose broke away from his lips by a few inches and gazed deeply into his eyes. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before another song came on- this time it was an Elvis song, 'I Can't Help Falling in Love With You.'

Rose smiled warmly at him, and then whispered, "Ohhh… I love this song too."

"Well," Brooklyn whispered, gently lowering her body back down to the ground, and then gathered her hands in his. "Let's dance to it."

This time, Brooklyn did not waltz with her, but pulled her to his body. Rose closed her eyes and Brooklyn swayed her gently back and forth- slow dancing with her, both of them silent- listening to the beautiful lyrics and slower beat. They danced in silence for most of the song, before Rose started to hum the tune as they danced. As the song came to it's last few verses, Rose quietly sang to Brooklyn, blushing the whole time.

"Take my hand, take my whole life too… for I can't help falling in love with you."

When the song stopped, Brooklyn stopped swaying with her, and gently placed a talon under her chin, guiding her face to look up into his. He couldn't seem to speak, as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her deeply. His lips moved unrushed against hers as a strong electricity flowed through them both, connecting them.. As these connections increased, Rose slid her hands up his chest until she wrapped her arms around his neck, and then lifted herself up to straddle his waist. He kept his claws wrapped tightly around her back as they kissed passionately.

Brooklyn and Rose both broke a part after a few moments and smiled warmly at each other. Rose pressed her forehead against his, closing her eyes, and sliding back down to the ground.

"I love you, Rose." Brooklyn whispered. "I love you so much"

"I love you too." Rose whispered back, gently caressing his face with her hands.

"You have an angelic voice," he whispered to her. "You should sing more for me, please."

Rose giggled at him and then breathed, "I've never sang in front of anyone before… but I am sure I'll sing for you soon."

"What other hidden talents do you have that I don't know about?" He asked her while lightly swaying her back and forth.

Rose thought for a moment before she replied, "Um… well I played the piano a lot when I was younger. My Grandpa had a pair of bagpipes that I tried to learn once, that was hard but fun."

"Wow, that's so cool." Brooklyn said happily. "I've picked up a few books about tempo, technique and instruments when we first awakened in this century. I would love to learn to play the Guitar, that's my next goal."

"The guitar would be awesome." Rose replied. "I wouldn't mind learning that either."

"It's a date then." He said, smiling at her. "We'll learn to play the guitar together, and you can sing."

"It's a deal." Rose chuckled, resting her head against his beak.

They smiled lovingly at each other for a few seconds, before another noise was heard above them. Rose and Brooklyn looked up in shock and watched as her skylight was taken out again; and Akira and Angela both slipped through the opening and jumped down into Rose's room.

"Akira… Angela... !" Rose cried out, shocked to see them both there.

Brooklyn kept his hold on Rose as he stepped her backwards so that Angela and Akira could land safely in the small space of Rose's room. When they did, they folded their wings across their shoulders and smiled happily at the pair. Rose smiled widely at them and then rushed forward, giving both of them a huge hug, in which they both responded to.

"Oh my gosh! It's so good to see you guys!" Rose cried out, laughing, and stepped back after giving them both hugs. "What are you two doing here?"

"We are kidnapping you, Rose- I hope you don't mind." Akira squealed, unable to contain her joy.

"No, you aren't." Brooklyn spoke up, smiling at them. "I forbid it."

"Denied!" Angela said, also stepping forward. "Come on, Rose. Get a coat on; we're going out for a girls date."

"Where are we going?" Rose asked, laughing.

"It's a surprise!" Akira said, grabbing onto her arms. "One I know you'll just love!"

Rose looked from Akira, to Angela and Brooklyn, and then shrugged her shoulders. She walked over to the closet and pulled out the gray; work out sweatshirt she was wearing earlier, put her running shoes back on, and then pulled her long hair back up into a messy bun. When she was ready, she turned back to the girls and asked, "Where are you guys going to take me?"

"That's all apart of the surprise." Angela said, grinning at her. "Don't worry, Brooklyn. We won't keep her out too long."

He raised his eyebone at them as they both started giggling, and couldn't help but chuckle at them.

"Alright. I'll bring out Rose the long way; we'll meet you ladies outside the Labyrinth." He said, placing his claws on his hips.

"Okay, see you then!" Akria said happily, winking at Rose. Rose watched Angela and Akira climb up her bedroom wall towards the ceiling and left the way they came through the skylight, and then turned to Brooklyn with curiosity.

"What the heck was that all about?" Rose asked him, laughing.

"I literally have no idea." He answered honestly. "They have been really… giddy since we first woke up."

Rose raised one eyebrow at him, as she put her heavy pull over sweatshirt back on, and asked, "Giddy?"

"Yeah," he answered her, taking her hand in his claw and started walking out of her room. "They were really excited about something. But… you females can be pretty unpredictable; so I don't know what is going on with them. Part of me wishes that they would tell me, but part of me doesn't. I'm just as much in the dark as you are."

Rose laughed as they stepped out of her room, locked her door, and then Brooklyn took her hand in his claw and began to descend the stairs towards the main living room of the Labyrinth.

"I'm not unpredictable." She retorted playfully. "Thanks to our connection, we are able to literally think and feel each other's feelings and thoughts. I would say that makes me pretty predictable."

"True," He said lightly. "But I don't tap into that connection by choice very often. I like having that space sometimes… no offense to you, of course."

"None, taken." Rose laughed. "I'm actually glad you feel that way. I mean, it's an awesome thing to be connected to you, but it is nice to feel each other in real time and not know what each other is feeling and thinking before actually living through it. You know?"

Yeah," he answered, smiling back at her. "Trust me, I do. It's cool that you feel the same way that I do."

"Of course." Rose said, grinning at him. "We are soul mates, after all."

They had made it down the main stairs and were walking hand-in-claw through the living room to leave out the main doors, when she spotted a homeless man, in a large black trench coat, walking towards them. He had his nose buried in a map and was obviously not paying attention to where he was going.

Brooklyn also saw him walking towards them, and gently pulled Rose closer to him, to let the man pass. However; right as the man started to pass by them, he suddenly stumbled over the leg of the coffee table and fell right into Rose.

With a cry of surprise, the man knocked Rose to the floor and fell on top of her, making her grunt out in pain. Rose's eyes widened in shock at the man on top of her; and his dark eyes widened as well. He tried to get off her frantically but couldn't before Brooklyn roughly grabbed his trench coat by the cuff of his back, and lifted him off of Rose, holding him up in the air, growling at him with his eyes glowing white.

"Uh… pardoneme." The man started pleading. "Accidente… accidente."

Brooklyn growled at him for a moment, before setting him roughly down on the ground and pushed the man away, as his eyes faded back to normal. Turning back to Rose, he bent down to help her up, and before he could ask her if she was alright, the man pushed past him to get to Rose, and began bowing slightly, repeating- "Lo Siento... I am sorry."

The man bent down to grab Rose's hands, but Brooklyn stepped in the way, growling at him and forced the man out of the way, as he picked Rose off the floor. The man blinked at Brooklyn in surprise, and he glared at him in anger for a few seconds, before turning to Rose.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, with his eyes wide.

"Yeah," she replied, holding her head. "I think I bonked my head against the tile, but I'll be alright. This guy took quite a stumble…"

"Yeah," Brooklyn growled maliciously. "A purposeful stumble to effectively knock you out of my grasp and onto the floor… " With that, he turned back to the Homeless man and eyed him with great disdain, growling at him. Rose placed a hand on his arm, and gave him a look of disapproval.

"Don't be ridiculous." Rose whispered to him, frowning. She then turning to the man and spoke in a clear voice, smiling. "It's okay. It was an accident."

The man was in his mid-fifties, or so it looked like, and was hispanic. Rose noticed that he had dark brown eyes, brown skin, a shaggy black goatee; and his long black hair was pulled back with a beanie hat. He was wearing bagging clothing, which was very dirty, and looked to have just come off the streets.

"Gracias, Amiga." The man said, bowing once again. Brooklyn glared even harder at him, and began to growl slightly, but Rose gave him a side glance look, stepped forward smiling kindly at the man and began to speak to him.

"Do you speak English?" She asked him clearly. She didn't know how to speak Spanish, and made a mental note to begin to learn. However, the man seemed to understand her okay, as he gave her a smile back and replied to her.

"Un poco… a… a little." He replied, holding two fingers up to signify 'a little'.

Rose nodded in understanding, bent down and picked up his map of New York City and handed it back to him.

"Gracias," He said again, taking the map, and then looked around with great uncertainty.

"Um… are you lost?" Rose asked him slowly. "Can I help you find something?"

"Uh…" He replied. "Si- looking for place… to stay?"

"You're in the right place, then, this is called the Labyrinth." Rose said kindly. " You're more than welcome to stay if you need to. Are you new to New York City?"

"Si." The man replied, nodding. "I come from South America… sorry for…" He stopped talking and motioned with his hands how they both fell down.

"No problem." Rose said, smiling. "Just be careful next time."

Rose smiled at the guy, turned to leave when he suddenly grabbed her arm, stopping her. Rose looked back at him, but Brooklyn grabbed the man's wrist roughly, growling and snarled, "Hands off."

"Brooklyn!" Rose gasped, surprised by how hostile he was being to the homeless man. "What's gotten into you? He's fine- he didn't mean-"

However, the man grinned at Brooklyn, held his hands up in surrender, slid past him and began to talk to Rose again.

"Do you live here?" The man interrupted, and asked her in broken English, ignoring Brooklyn completely. Rose looked at the man, as Brooklyn turned around with wide eyes. The man was clearly not getting the hint to back off; and part of him felt that the man didn't care, and was clearly seeking after Rose.

"Rose…" Brooklyn whispered, stepping forward and quickly grabbing her arm with a pincer like grip.

"Ouch, Brooklyn… what are you doing?" She asked him.

"Let's go." He said, pulling on her.

"What? Why? What's wrong?!" She asked him, feeling completely lost by his reaction. "You're acting insane all the sudden."

Brooklyn turned back to speak to her, but the man suddenly came after them once again.

"Porfavor," the man repeated, taking her other wrist and stopping Rose from exiting with Brooklyn. "Do you live here?"

Brooklyn's eyes widened even more, and was about to break the man's wrist in half if he kept touching Rose. However, Rose pulled her hands out of both Brooklyn's and the man's grasp, turned to the man while clearing her throat and answered him.

"Um… temporarily yes, but I'm only a guest here. I won't stay here for long."

The man nodded, understanding before he asked again, "Cómo te llamas?"

"Oh um... sorry I don't speak-" Rose replied, laughing nervously, but the man took a step towards her and asked her again more clearly.

"Your… name?"

"M-my name?" Rose asked him, looking a bit unsure, but before she could speak, Brooklyn pulled on her arm again and growled, "Don't answer him."

Rose scoffed at him, throwing him a glare of surprise ignoring his rudeness, and then answered the man.

"Rose. My name is Rose."

The man smiled warmly at her, stepped forward, and said, "Rose… muy hermosa. Beautiful. Like the flower."

"Yeah," Rose faked a laugh at him. "Thank you."

"Marco." He said."Me llamo, Marco."

"Nice to meet you, Marco. Best of luck to you down here." Rose said smiling, declining his hand shake. She wasn't trying to be rude, but she had lived down with the homeless enough to know how dirty and unsanitary they were from the streets. She then walked towards Brooklyn, and roughly took his claw in her hand.

When they started to walk away from the homeless man, she looked up into Brooklyn's face and saw that he was looking very suspicious at the man. The man watched the two walk away, hand in claw, and then went back to reading his map.

"Hey…" She suddenly snapped, when they were out of the man's ear shot. "What the hell is your problem? Huh? He didn't mean to run into me- he's just an out of town- Homeless man, who is trying to learn English. Why did you treat him like that?!"

Brooklyn walked slowly with her, thinking hard about something before he turned his head back to the man and seemed to be bothered.

"Brooklyn…?" Rose asked him, looking over at him angrily now.

"Something doesn't feel right." He told her suddenly. "I… I don't know how to explain it, but the moment he started walking towards us, my protective instincts shot out of control."

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked him. "He's just another homeless man; if you haven't looked around lately, this place is crawling with them."

"Yeah, I know that." Brooklyn said a bit impatiently. "I just… something about him was off."

"How so?" Rose asked him curiously.

"Well for one thing, he kept trying to grab onto you." Brooklyn snapped. "And for another, he was completely out of line for bothering you like that." Rose raised her eyebrows at him, scoffing, as he paused, and then he continued in a low voice, "It was almost like he was trying to run into you. And why would any person need to bring a map down here in the Labyrinth?"

"Brooklyn." Rose retorted a bit disapprovingly. "He was lost. I don't know how he found the Labyrinth, but the Homeless have their own kind of world it feels like. They are like ants to an ant hill; they follow each other, two by two. I don't understand why you're acting weird!"

"Because my Gargoyle instincts are telling me that something is wrong, Rose." He told her a bit firmly, looking at her, as they made their way to the large metal doors. "If I have learned anything about leadership from Goliath, is that I cannot let me guard down. Everyone's safety depends on me."

"And you're doing an amazing job at it, babe." Rose said, trying to remain calm. "I know you're still a bit distrusting to other Humans, but-"

"It's not that at all, Rose." Brooklyn interrupted her, speaking a bit louder. "I give all Humans the benefit of the doubt. If they don't react hostile to me, I don't react hostile to them…"

"Well, this guy wasn't being rude to you at all," Rose came back at him, a bit irritated now. "And you treated him like he was the scum of the earth."

"That's just it, Rose." Brooklyn said, stopping to look at her, and then looking around the Labyrinth. "He didn't react to me as most Humans do. If he's from South America, I know that there is the small Mayan Clan in which Goliath met on their Avalon Odyssey, but I would bet anything that this man probably has never seen a Gargoyle before. Most Humans are terrified of us when they first see us for the first time."

"So… you wanted him to be afraid of you? Rose asked him, a bit unsure.

"No," Brooklyn exhaled sharply. "No, I don't, but he wasn't which is abnormal for Humans. It's worse than that, he acted like I was invisible, and kept coming after you, seeking information almost. His focus was purely on you."

"And what? You didn't like not being in the spotlight for once?" Rose asked him angrily, placing her hands on her hips.

"Ugh, Rose, no!" Brooklyn snapped at her, getting frustrated now. "You're not understanding…"

"Because you're not making any sense!" Rose argued back, frowning at him; and he met her gaze with an angry scowl. Sighing, she hated fighting with him, so she took another deep breath, stepped forward and gently grabbed his arm, lowered her voice, and spoke to him with kindness.

"Look… I know that I don't understand a lot of things, okay? You're very protective of me, which I am thankful for, but you have to admit that you're still very distrusting to Humans…" Brooklyn opened his mouth in an anger to argue back at her, but she continued to speak in a gentler tone, saying, "But… that being said… maybe it's time to realize that not everyone is ill-willed towards Gargoyles. That man did not mean to bump into me, and from what I could see he was trying to be friendly."

"A little too friendly, Rose!" Brooklyn snarled. "He nailed you to the ground!"

"He didn't mean to." Rose sighed.

Brooklyn stared down at Rose with a hard glare, and then looked up at the man, who was suddenly gone. He blinked a few times, looked around the Labyrinth for any signs of him, and was shocked to find that he was no longer anywhere in sight.

After a moment of thinking hard, Brooklyn finally exhaled deeply, grabbed hold of Rose's hands gently and then said, defeated; "You're right. I'm sorry- I am protective of you, and I will try not to be too possessive, judgmental or quick to hostility…"

"Thank you, sweetheart-"

"But, I'm not wrong about my instincts." He suddenly glared down hard at her, his tone serious and grim once again. "They have never lead me astray before… okay? Something was seriously wrong about that man, and from now on, I will keep an eye out on this dude. He seemed shifty- and with everything going on with Kevin, we can never be too careful. Just please…" He paused and gathered her up in his arms, his tone lightening. "Please, promise me that you'll be careful. I know I may come off extra paranoid right now; but in truth, I am. Ever since that dream the other night, where your pop was warning us about Kevin finding you, it has me on edge. I just don't want you getting hurt… watch your back and lock your door every night, especially if Marco is staying here. I will visit you from the skylight from now on, and you keep your door locked at all times. Okay? It'll make me feel better about everything… please?"

Rose sighed and breathed out deeply.

"Okay." She whispered, reaching her hands up his arms to rest on his biceps, leaning her lips towards his and kissed him gently. "I'll be careful, I promise."

"Thank you, my love." Brooklyn said, his face calming down, and his body posture immediately relaxing.

"We better get me to Angela and Akira before they start to wonder where I am." Rose told him, pulling on his claw.

"Oh yeah," He replied, following her out of the Labyrinth, looking behind him once more, still unable to shake his uncertainty and suspicion. "Right…"

---

The Homeless man had been peeking at the red-Gargoyle and Rose from behind a shrub bush, and was watching them carefully. He had placed the device, in which Kevin gave him on her body, when he 'ran' into her- and also verified that she was in the Labyrinth. He watched them leave through the heavy metal doors and then spoke into his microphone, which was hooked to his trench coat. "Eagle eye from the Hawk."

"Go ahead hawk." Castaway's British voice came through on the other end.

"It's been verified that Mr. Morrison's wife is staying down here; there are a bunch of homeless people, and there are Clones of Goliath's Clan, as well as three feline-looking Gargoyles down here. Eight Gargoyles in total."

There was silence on the other end for a moment before Castaway's voice came back, in cold fury. "Good work. We will exterminate them all, stay undercover. We attack tomorrow at dawn, when most of our enemies are unaware. Our weapons are ready; we will strike tomorrow…. Good work, Marcus."

"Thank you, sir." Marcus said, grinning evilly around the Labyrinth. "And just a heads up for Kevin… his wife is leaving with the red-Gargoyle. I placed the device on her body, he should be able to keep an eye on her whereabouts from now on."

There was silence again, on the other end, until Kevin's cold voice said, "Good work. I will let her have her evening of fun; for tomorrow it all ends. I will follow her whereabouts to see where she and the monster are going, but won't interfere. Good work."

"I do what I can." Marcus replied, laughing to himself. This little attack was too easy; under his New York map was the map of the Labyrinth- and he was studying it and venturing its halls, knowing every exit and entrance with full precision.

---

Rose and Brooklyn walked claw-in-hand through the tunnels of the Labyrinth, punched in the security code at the end of the tunnel, and walked outside where Akira and Angela were conversing quietly with each other and waiting for them. When they approached them, Angela and Akira stopped talking; looked up and both sighed, stepping towards them.

"There you two are!" Akira said.

"Where were you guys?" Angela asked, with hands across her chest. "Our surprise does have a timeline here."

"Sorry." Rose answered them. "We were stopped by a Homeless guy who needed some directions."

Angela stepped forward, and grabbed Rose by her arms.

"No worries, we'll just need to hurry to make it to our surprise on time. I would carry you, but seeing I'm pregnant, I'm not really allowed to carry people anymore. Are you okay gliding with Akira?"

Rose looked over at Akira, who was at least a foot smaller than Rose, but if Rose learned anything from the Gargoyles, it was that they were strong- not matter what their size.

"Sure," Rose smiled at her. "That's not a problem with me."

"I may be small, but I am still a Gargoyle." Akira grinned proudly at her. She kept smiling at Rose, and then turned her gaze over to Brooklyn, where it dropped slightly.

"Okay!" Angela said, clapping her claws together. "Let's go! I can't wait to see your face Rose! This is going to be the best night ever!"

With that, Angela ran forward, climbed over the small top of the Labyrinth ceiling and then took off into the night. Rose felt slightly awkward as Akira was standing there; but she suddenly wasn't paying attention to her anymore, and looked concerned for Brooklyn. Before Rose could speak, Akira stepped forward towards Brooklyn, placed a claw on his arm, and then whispered, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Brooklyn mumbled. "I'll tell you later… "

"Brooklyn… " Akira kept asking gently. "I know when you are seriously bothered… tell me…"

Hearing their conversation, Rose took a slightly impatient breath, stepped forward and spoke for him.

"The homeless guy we ran into, literally ran into and accidentally knocked me down to the ground." Rose explained to Akira, crossing her arms over her chest. " Brooklyn says that something about him, and I quote, 'doesn't feel right,' but the guy was from out of town and was lost."

"Is that's what bothering you?" Akira asked Brooklyn quietly, almost as if she didn't listen to Rose.

"My protective Gargoyle instincts were going nuts in there." He mumbled, throwing Rose an angry look at her condescending explanation. "Rose is downplaying that; but it's understandable… I guess I can overreact sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Rose teased him, smiling at him. However, when he looked over at her, his eyes were full of hurt and slight betrayal. Rose blinked a few times, was shocked at his expression, and didn't mean to offend him.

"Oh, Brooklyn… I was kidding… I…"

"Brooklyn is our Second-In-Command," Akira said seriously facing Rose now, but still speaking to her with her kind but firm tone. "If a Gargoyle's instincts are warning them; then you should listen. I know that Gargoyles and Humans are different; and you two are finding out similarities and differences in your relationship. But, my advice to you, my dear Rose, is to always trust Brooklyn's instincts. They are true and are there for a reason, they don't lead us astray."

Rose stared wide-eyed at Akira and never thought that she would butt into hers and Brooklyn's business, but she didn't really appreciate it. However; Akira was too sweet and wise to Rose that it was hard to be upset with her. However, her pride, for the moment, wasn't wanting her to let them win this battle just yet. She had learned to love the Homeless down there and longed to see the kindness and good in all people, whereas Brooklyn and the Gargoyles saw crime and evil all night long. She began to wonder if their exposure to that was hardening their souls slightly, and didn't know which to believe at the moment.

Rose took a deep breath, smiled at Akira and said, "Thanks Akira… you're right. I don't understand a lot of things yet, especially when it comes to the Clan and the way Gargoyles. I do trust Brooklyn and his instincts; I just… I guess he and I don't quite see eye-to-eye in this situation. It didn't seem that big of a deal to me in the moment, that it did to him. That's all."

"And that's okay to not always agree." Akira said kindly. " I don't always agree with Lexington- but things have been scary for you lately. I would trust Brooklyn's intuitions, especially when it comes to your safety."

"Okay. Thanks." Rose responded a bit shortly; her pride being shot down, and done with this conversation. "Uh… shall we get going? Since I've already kept you and Angela waiting? I would hate to keep her waiting any longer than what she needs to."

Akira looked deeply into Rose's eyes and could sense that she was irritated with her and Brooklyn, but was still trying to be positive.

"Yes. Let's go." Akira said, smiling nervously.

Akira opened her long wings, exposing her light blue Kamota outfit; and Rose was impressed. She had to hand it to her, she always was dressed in the most beautiful Japanese wear, and had a great sense of style. Akira turned around and offered her back to Rose.

"Sorry, I can't carry you like the males can. You get to ride on my back, if you're alright with that."

"Sure, it doesn't bother me… just… can you please give me one second?" Rose asked her.

Akira looked from Rose to Brooklyn, smiled warmly and then said, "Sure thing."

"Thanks," Rose said gratefully, and then turned to Brooklyn and walked over to him. He was in his natural crouched position on the ground and looked quite a bit downfallen. He didn't look up at her when she approached him, nor did he stand.

"Sweetheart?" She asked him, gazing down upon him. He slowly raised his face to hers, with hurt in his eyes but didn't say anything. "I'll be back soon… what are you going to do while I'm gone?"

He stayed silent for a few seconds before answering, "I will probably go to Lex and Broadway and see what they are up to."

"Lex and Broadway are out on Patrol." Akira added in quietly, though she wasn't trying to listen, their hearing was a lot better than Humans. As Akira said that, Brooklyn gave a heavy breath, opened his wings, stood to his full stature and then said in an angry voice, "I guess I'll go on patrol then."

He turned to leave, but Rose stepped forward, grabbed his arm and then forced him to face her once again. She knew Brooklyn well enough by now that she knew that he was hurt and angry with her- and she hated it.

"I'm sorry." She whispered sincerely. "I can tell you're angry and upset with me… I… I never meant to hurt, offend, disrespect or demean you or your instincts. Never in a million years would I want you walking away thinking I was doing that to you. I'm sorry."

Brooklyn's eyes softened slightly as Rose apologized to him; and gently took her in his arms, holding her against him.

"It's alright, Rose. You don't understand quite yet and that's okay. I love you, and forgive you." He told her, holding onto her body, gently caressing her back up and down with his claws.

"I'm trying though… I really am. I'm sorry."She said softly.

"Shh." He told her gently, smiling down at her. "I know you are. We can discuss this later… now go and have some fun with Angela and Akira- it sounds like you all are going to have a blast. I love you."

"I love you too," She whispered, bringing her face up to his. "Will you be here when I get back?"

"Whenever I find out when that is, then yes. I will be." Brooklyn answered her, smiling. "I will go out on my patrols and then will join you later tonight… if the girls ever relinquish their hold over you, that is."

Rose grinned up at him and laughed.

"Yeaaahh." She answered him, slowly. "I might not see you until tomorrow night if that's the case."

He laughed softly back, caressing her face with his talon.

"It won't be that long, they know better than to keep you from me all night." He said softly, bringing his lips down upon hers, kissing her sweetly and deeply. They kissed for a few seconds, when he pulled up and said, "Have fun, I'll see you later."

"Okay, I love you." Rose breathed, kissing him once more for a few seconds before she pulled away from him.

"I love you too." He replied, smiling at her, as she smiled warmly back at him. "Have fun and be safe."

"You too." She said, stepping away from him and running over to Akira. Brooklyn watched her go with uncertainty as she jumped onto Akira's back, who held onto the back of her legs, climbed the side of the labyrinth and then took off gliding into the night.

Brooklyn watched them glide away, farther and farther into the night, before he too climbed onto the Labyrinth's ceiling, spread his own wings, and took off in the opposite direction to start on his patrols. He felt a lot better that Rose had swallowed her pride, which was something that was hard for him to do, and was grateful that she was such a kind and understanding soul.

However, as he glided away, opposite to her and Akira, he couldn't seem to push the feeling away that something was coming; something big and bad. He didn't know what to make of it, but something was not right and it unnerved him that he didn't know what or what to expect.

---

Akira and Rose flew with general ease over Manhattan; and for the most part it seemed like a very calm night. The City seemed so beautiful from a distance- once you could breathe above the smog and not hear the noise from the people, construction and vehicles, it made it a pleasant place to be.

Rose's arms were holding onto Akria's neck tightly; as she rested on her back, and she found that it certainly was a more awkward way of gliding. Rose was trying to not choke Akira, mess up her wings, while still staying secured on her back as they flew miles up in the sky. Akira was flying towards lower Manhattan, and started to descend.

"So… " Rose asked her, leaning her head close to her ears. "Are you going to finally tell me where you all are taking me, and what the surprise is?"

Akira giggled and then said, "You'll find out soon enough."

Rose sighed slightly and then teased, "You're killin' me smalls."

"Just be patient." Akira giggled again. "You're going to be thrilled, I just know it! We all are so excited!"

"I can't wait, then." Rose replied, laughing slightly.

Akira and Rose finally descended down on top of a random snowy rooftop, which Akira gracefully and gently landed on her feet, allowing Rose to finally jump down. She started to walk around the rooftop and had no clue where they were. Since they were on the roof- it was difficult to tell where they were. Akira walked over to a large sky light and motioned for Rose to come over.

"It's down here. Climb on my back and I'll drop us down." Akira told her, excitedly.

Rose laughed again and replied, "Okay."

She walked over to Akira, jumped onto her back, and clung to her small frame and she opened the skylight, and jumped down into a brightly lit, beautiful-looking store. When Akira landed, and Rose was able to jump off her back, she looked around and suddenly gasped. She whipped her head to look back at Akira, who was holding her claws together and look positively delighted and burst out laughing.

"No...WAY!" Rose cried out, holding her hands against her mouth.

Right in front of her, waving happily was Angela, Elisa, Elisa's mother, Diane, Fox, Maggie and Emily; and all around Rose was a room full of mannequins wearing wedding dresses.

"SURPRISE!" They all yelled out gleefully and ran towards Rose, holding their arms out to hug her. Rose eyes filled with tears and couldn't believe that this was happening; this was the best surprise and couldn't wait to spend time with all the women she looked up to and finally pick out a wedding dress.

Emily ran forward first and nearly ran Rose over by hugging her, both girls squealed in delight and held each other, nearly breaking each other's ribs. After a few long seconds, Emily and Rose let go of each other and Rose exclaimed, "I can't believe you are all here! What a seriously awesome surprise… I am so touched… I can't even…"

She stopped talking as tears came streaming down her face. She had never dreamed that anyone would do something like this for her.

Elisa stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Rose and said, with a small chuckle, "Hah- surprise! You deserve this honey. Coming from someone who is mated with a Gargoyle- it is worth it. You've been through so much stress lately, so now it's time to celebrate love and have a much-needed GNO."

Elisa pulled back from Rose and wiped her tears away.

"Thanks Elisa." She said softly; hugging her again. Once she pulled away from Elisa, she went over and hugged everyone else. Fox, Diane, Maggie, Angela and Akira.

When Rose pulled back, she said to everyone, "Thank you all so much. I am so touched by you being here and surprising me with this. I love Brooklyn; and cannot wait to be married and mated with him- this is going to be amazing! Also, thank you to Angela and Akira for setting this all up and tricking me into coming with them."

"It was actually all Fox's doing," Angela said, smiling. "We all discussed this idea and were planning it since we all got together at Christmas- but it was Fox who called ahead and secured a bridal session, with bridal consults who would not mind Gargoyles to be a part of the bride's entourage."

Rose turned to Fox and felt herself melt with gratitude, but Fox stepped forward and said, "Eh, it's not a big deal. You're family and it was easy enough to call ahead to get the best of the best. Pay someone enough money; they don't care who or what creatures are a part of the bridal consultation."

"Thank you," Rose said, gratefully to every woman. "Thank you all for being here."

Just then, a tall and slender woman with dark brown hair came out, with a clipboard in her hands walked over to the group; and almost didn't mind that Gargoyles were in the mix and asked, "Okay. Are we all here? Where is the bride?"

"She's right here!" Akira said happily, pushing Rose forward slightly.

Rose smiled shyly at the lady, and suddenly wished that she dressed up nicer, and wasn't in workout clothes and a heavy sweatshirt. Rose stepped forward and voiced that to the lady, as she shook her hand.

"Sorry, I would have dressed up nicer if I knew I would be coming here." Rose told her sheepishly.

"No worries." The lady smiled kindly. "It was very sweet of them to surprise you with trying on a wedding dress… well, welcome to Kleinfeld Bridal Shop, my name is Susan and I'll be your wedding dress consultation for the rest of the evening. Let's start with your name?"

"Kleinfeld Bridal?" Rose gasped, looking around at all the women around her in shock and awe and then settled her gaze upon Emily. Kleinfield Bridal was a very expensive and elaborate wedding dress shop, one that Rose would never be able to get an appointment in, at least for another year.

Emily was grinning from ear to ear and then gushed, "I know! Daddy Warbucks has got you spoiled. I can't freaking believe we are in Kleinfield! Last I checked, it was completely booked! You're one lucky gal to have two openings so close together."

Fox smiled at Emily's comment and then said, "Daddy Warbucks is happy to give Rose a night out trying on the best of the best. It wasn't too hard to bump us in."

"I'm Rose Connelly." Rose finally answered Susan, smiling at her.

"Rose, that's such a pretty name." Susan complimented. "Welcome! Mrs. Xanatos has paid for an unlimited bridal consultation time; so since it's after store hours… for your special friends here, we will stay here as long as you need. Let's get you the dress of your dreams."

"Awesome." Rose said in awe, still not believing that she was in a bridal shop to find a wedding dress.

"If you'll follow me, we'll get started!" Susan announced to the whole group, walking them deeper into the store. Rose followed the consultant, while all the other women were gushing at beautiful dresses in which they passed.

Inside the store, there were soft sofas for the women to all sit down on, with a selection of small bite sized cheesecakes, brownies and fruit; complete with sparkling ciders and waters to choose from, as well as chalk signs to tell her if they approved of the dress or not. Each lady sat down on the couches, as Angela and Maggie seemed to drool over the sweets.

Angela picked up a few treats, sat down and sighed, "Ahhhh… this is where it's at! Broadway would be so jealous of me right now; he loves anything sweet."

"Same," Maggie said in her raspy voice, sinking down and rubbing her stomach tenderly. "I don't often get this luxurious of a girls night out! This is amazing!'

Rose smiled as everyone was chatting and eating their sweets, while Susan took her aside, took her measurements and asked her a few questions about her fiance and their wedding date.

"Um… well," Rose started to say. "We don't have a wedding date actually set just yet, but we are hoping to have it sooner than later, if that makes any sense… and well… he is… uh…"

"A Gargoyle, right?" Susan asked her, making it seem like not a big deal.

Rose blinked a few times at her in shock and then said, "Yes. That's right… how- how did you know that?"

"Mrs. Xanatos told us a little bit more about your special situation." She answered simply. "I'm not one too judge- but it is certainly a very unique thing, for sure. As long as you're happy- that's what's important, right?"

"Right." She agreed, thankful for her understanding."Wow...um. Thank you."

"No worries. Alright, the next thing on the dockett… " Susan said happily. "Mrs. Xanatos has also mentioned that there isn't a budget for you tonight; so we can just pick anything you'd like in your size and style-type and we'll uh… go from there."

Rose blinked a few times in shock, with her mouth gaped open and said, "Oh my gosh- they do way too much for me. I am willing to pay for my own dress, if need be. I could possibly afford a maximum $5,000 dress- in… payments… but…"

She stopped as Fox suddenly came over and shook her head.

"Not a chance, Rose." She said with her eyebrows raised. "David and I want to do this for you, please let us take care of this for you."

Rose stared at Fox for a moment before she answered her.

"You've already have done so much for me. I couldn't possibly…"

"Rose." Fox said gently. "It's not a huge deal; please. Go out there, pick the dress you want to Brooklyn to see you in, and don't worry about anything else."

Rose thought for a moment, allowing Fox's words to sink into her head, before nodding.

"Okay, thank you so much. I don't know if I could ever repay you…" Rose said.

"You can't and never will have to." Fox said happily. "Go on! This is on us… please."

Rose smiled at her and then started to wander the aisles of weddings dresses by her size; and then with everyone's help; started to pick out different styles.
"I think you should wear a big poofy one!" Angela said, picking one 'Cinderella' ball gown out for her to try on. "This will look gorgeous on you!"

From that point forward, all the other ladies pitched in their opinions on which dresses Rose should wear; and against Angela's desires, Rose denied trying on a ballroom gown one, since she wore one to her first wedding and she didn't want to repeat anything from that dreaded night with Kevin. Angela nodded and understood; and moved onto other styles in which she thought were pretty.

"I think you should show off your figure." Emily suggested pulling a long-sleeved silky dress out, that didn't have much fabric. "Make him go crazy for you, seriously… go sexy!"

"Em, I can go sexy later… " Rose laughed, blushing at the very topic. "This is my wedding night; I want to keep it romantic, classy, and beautiful."

After another twenty minutes of enduring women throwing white wedding dresses at her, Rose walked into her dressing room, stared up at all the dresses in the bags, and felt overwhelmed and exhausted. Sighing, she sat down on the chair in her changing room, and suddenly didn't know which one to start with. The changing room was small, but had three mirrors in front of her to allow the 'bride' to get a better view of the dress, and Rose slowly looked up into the mirror and couldn't believe that she was going to be a bride soon. It almost felt surreal, as if it wasn't actually going to happen.

With a small knock, Susan suddenly came into her room, interrupting her melancholy thoughts and shut the door behind her.

"All right!" She said, clapping her hands. "Let's get you in some dresses, shall we? Look through these and tell me which one most pops out to you."

Rose looked from the different gowns for a few seconds and searched them carefully. She suddenly felt overwhelmed and suddenly started laughing.

"I'll just start trying them on, there's too many; I'm overwhelmed! If I like them, I'll walk out and show the others, if not; then we'll undress and move on."

"I like that plan," Susan agreed, laughing. "I'll give you privacy to change. Let me know when you are ready for your first dress."

With that, Susan left the room to let Rose get out of her work out, casual look. She took off her shoes, sweatshirt, and went to take her tank top off when she suddenly felt something against the back of her neck. Curiously, she raised her hand to touch what it was, and found that something metal was stuck to her skin- as though it was made of super glue. She pulled on it, as hard as she could, but it wouldn't budge, and it was extremely painful against her skin.

"Ow… what the?!" She mumbled to herself, looking at herself in the three-tiered mirror. She was standing in her sports bra and work out pants and walked towards her bridal mirror, trying to turn herself around to feel it, but couldn't see what it was. As Rose touched it, she was surprised to find that it was metal, and whatever it was, she couldn't recall how it got there.

Rose forced herself to stay calm, as she thought of the only person who could maybe help her. She blinked a few times, walked over to the door and called out to Akira from behind her doors. A few seconds went by until a small knock was heard on her door; Rose quickly walked over and opened it.

"Hey," Akira said quietly, trying to speak through the small opening of the door to keep Rose modest from her. "Did you call for me?"

"Yes." Rose told her seriously, and pulled her into the dressing room, quietly closing the door. Akira walked in and stared at Rose confused; as she suddenly saw that Rose was half-naked, but looked distressed.

"Do you need help into a dress… or…?" Akira asked Rose quietly.

"No, Akira." Rose told her frantically. "I was getting undressed just now, and found this."

She turned around, moved her long hair out of the way, and showed her the metal piece which was still stuck to her neck. Akira gasped quietly and touched it gently with her talons.

"What is it?" Akira asked Rose in a serious tone..
"I don't know!" She said frantically. "I was hoping that you would be able to tell me, since you and Lex are tech savvy… but whatever it is, it's not coming off."

"Okay, okay," Akira said gently, trying to calm her down. "I'm going to tug it off your skin, this might hurt, but I'll hang onto this and give it to Lexington when we are done here. He is much more tech savvy than I am with these types of things, he should be able to decode this in no time; and we can find out what it is. Do you know when you got it placed on you?"

Rose shook her head slightly, while racking her brain.

"No…" She gasped out. "I was working all day in my room- played a few card games with Claw, and then was with Brooklyn until you guys came to get me… but… I…" She paused then, thinking for a moment, before she continued. "I wonder if it was when the Homeless man bumped into me and knocked me down to the ground… that's the only thing I can think of…Maybe that's why Brooklyn's instincts were warning him..."

"Okay… right." Akira said, hiding her worry. "Well, let's get it off you, and then we won't worry about it until we are done here. We'll get this figured out."

"Thanks, 'Kira." Rose said gratefully, holding her hair out of the way and bending down, showing her neck to Akira. Akira took a deep breath, and gently clasped her talons around the metal piece.

"Okay, this is gonna hurt, so just bear with me." Akira said quietly. " I'm sorry a thousand times in advance for this…"

"Just do it." Rose griminced, bracing herself for the pain.

Akira tugged quickly and strongly and Rose instantly felt the metal piece come off; but with a price. It ripped some fresh skin off the back of her neck, making Rose cry out in pain.

"AH!... yeah… okay… ow!" Rose gasped, breathing deeply.

"Are you alright?" Akira asked her in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Rose answered her, standing up, holding her neck and checked her hand for any blood, but didn't see any. "What is it do you think?"

Akira was holding the device up in the air and was turning it around in her talons, looking at it carefully.

"I…" she started to say, but then stopped; her face showed a great deal of concern as she looked it over. However; as she glanced it over, she cleared her throat, and secured it in her Kamota saying, lightly, "Let's not worry about it right now, okay? Let's get you a dress and I'll give this to Lexington. He'll be able to decode it for us, and tell us what it is."

Rose took a deep breath, choosing to take Akira's advice, and focus on the wedding dress situation instead.

"Thanks Kira; I appreciate your help." Rose said kindly.

"Of course." She said softly, quickly stepping out of the dressing room. Once Akira was out of her dressing room, she quickly pulled out the device that she pulled off Rose's neck and looked it over with great interest and concern. It was a small silver piece of metal, and looked to be a small battery. As she looked it over, her stomach began to hurt slightly as she grew suspicious of it.

Akira looked at Rose's closed dressing room door and then quickly walked away towards a phone that was sitting at an abandoned desk. She picked up the receiver and dialed the Eyrie Building's Castle number, and waited for a few moments for someone to pick up. After a few rings, Akira heard Owen's monotone voice pick up.

"Xanatos Enterprises."

"Owen, it's Akira. Is Lexington there by chance?"

"I believe he just arrived from patrols not too long ago. Let me go check for you, and I'll put him on the phone. Will you please hold?"

"Yes, I'll hold." Akira answered him, sitting on the edge of the desk and looked around nervously. She didn't want to miss Rose coming out in her first wedding dress, but she also couldn't let this potential problem slide past her. Another five minutes passed, when she finally heard someone come back on the line.

"Akira?" Owen's voice said suddenly.

"Yes?" She said softly. "I'm still here."

"I found Lexington, he's right here."

"Thank you so much Owen." Akira said, twisting the phone cord nervously in her talons, until she heard her mate's voice on the other line.

"Akira?" Lexington asked her on the other line. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"Lex," Akira said hushed and urgently. "Are you back from patrols?"
"Yeah, Broadway and I just go back five miunutes ago." He answered. "Is everything okay?"

"If you're asking if everyone is safe, then yes. So far we are." Akira explained quickly. "We are all here at the Kleinfeld Bridal, in downtown Manhattan with Rose like we've discussed, and will be here a little bit longer, but Rose and I just found something on the back of her neck, and I think we might have a problem."

"What kind of a problem?" Lexington asked her, his voice getting more worried. "What is it that you found?"

"It's a small piece of metal and looks to possibly be a tracer." Akira said, biting her lip. "And… I think it was placed by an undercover Quarrymen."

Silence passed between her and him for a second, before Lexington sighed heavily.

"Do you still have it?" He asked her nervously.

"Yes," Akira replied. "I'll bring it to you when we are done here…"

"Don't bother." Lexington said seriously. "No offense, but you guys might be there longer than you all plan. I'll come pick it up from you, plug it into my laptop, deactivate it, and then begin to diagnose it."

"Okay," Akira agreed softly. "Thank you, Lex."

"No problem." He replied. "Where is Brooklyn at?"

"All of us females are here, and I think he went out on patrol… or at least that's where he said he would be when we left him at the Labyrinth."

"Okay," Lexington said seriously. "I'm coming. The important thing is if that thing is a tracer, we need to get it turned off… and I would hurry that dress appointment up. If it's online, then whoever bugged her, will know that she's there."

Akira looked over towards the room full of women, all of whom she loved and adored and felt sick to her stomach. No matter how excited she felt to be doing this with Rose, it now was looking to be the most dangerous thing they could have ever done.

"Akira?" Lexington asked her, as she stayed silent for a while.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Akira whispered.

"Me too." He replied. "I'm coming! Okay? For now, try to get everyone out of that place."

"Okay, I'll try." Akira replied, looking down at the metal piece in her claw and felt numb. "I'll see you soon, my love."

"Akira…" Lexington said softly. "I love you honey. Be careful."

"I will. I love you too." Akria replied, and then slowly lowered the receiver down on the base and stayed still. Her instincts were telling her that something was wrong, and though she didn't know what yet, she could feel that something terrible was coming…

---

For the next half hour, Rose tried on wedding dress after wedding dress and didn't quite seem to like any of them. They were all beautiful and each female in her wedding entourage seemed to like them all; but Rose couldn't see herself in the glittery, sparkly dresses in which they all picked out for her. Exhausted, after trying on what seemed to be her twentieth dress at least; she sat in her bridal satin robe looking at the disarray of wedding dresses around her and felt overwhelmed. Susan walked in suddenly, and shut her changing room door.

"So… what are your thoughts?" She asked her softly.

"Scattered and overwhelmed." Rose laughed, turning to face her. "I've tried on a ton of wedding dresses and I can't seem to pick one. They are all so beautiful."

"Well, you told me you like lacy, classic and romantic." Susan told her smiling. "How about I take my professional expertise and bring in a gown I think you'll love. Sound good?"

"Sounds like a plan- I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted." Rose told her, sitting down on the soft bench seat in the room.

"Don't worry," Susan smiled at her. "It's all part of my job- you are a seriously gorgeous girl- let's complete your look by making you a bride."

Rose smiled at her as she walked away; leaving her alone in her changing room, and waited patiently for Susan to return. After what seemed like ten minutes; Susan returned with a giant white dress in her hands. Rose smiled as Susan hung it up on her hanger; and then took it out of it's protective bag. Upon seeing it; Rose immediately smiled and exclaimed, "Ohh… it's beautiful. I have a good feeling about this one!"

"I knew you would." Susan smiled back at her; taking the dress down to help her into it. Rose slowly got dressed inside the dress, while Susan helped button it up, and when Rose saw herself in the dress- she gasped and felt tears come to her eyes as she felt truly like a bride.

Upon Rose's smile; Susan said softly, "Ohhh yes! This one is amazing! You look gorgeous, Rose… should we go out and show the others this one?"

Without any word, Rose smiled tearfully and nodded.

The girl standing in front of the mirror was the same beautiful red-headed girl; but this time she was truly a bride. The wedding dress was everything Rose wanted- it was a soft, lacy, romantic gown. It's sleeves were quarter-length in all- lace material; and hung off her shoulders. The white fabric of the dress hugged her chest nicely; but then flared out softly at her waist; and though it wasn't a ballroom gown, it wasn't hugging her body either- which were all the 'sexy' dresses Emily wanted her to try on.

The dress had soft fabric and tulle underneath all the lace, a very light beige undertone, a light pink band which added a tiny bit of color to all the white; which matched well with her light skin stone and the long dress hit the floor just past her feet. As Rose turned around to admire the back, she noticed that the light pink band had a small bow; which cascaded to her feet; but then the dress kept going in a beautifully long and delicate train.

Susan held the door open for her, and Rose excitedly gathered up the beautiful dress in her hands and walked out to the others, with a bright smile upon her face. The instant she saw everyone- all their eyes widened, and silence was followed as Rose came out in front of them to step in front of the many mirrors around her. She turned around to face them all, after giving them a 360 degree demonstration, and smiled brightly at them. Everyone seemed speechless, until Angela gasped and said, "Rose… you're so gorgeous!"

"This is you." Emily suddenly said, with tears in her eyes. "You are positively glowing- this is it for me. How do you feel?"

Rose smiled up at everyone and met Elisa's eyes, who just smiled and nodded at her.

"I feel like a bride." Rose said to everyone. "I think this is the one!"

The entourage of women looked at each other before holding up all their '10' signs and all started to talk at the same time in agreeance with her. Rose smiled at everyone as Susan came in with a lace veil, which matched her dress perfectly and said, "You can't be a bride without the whole look."

She placed the veil at the base of her bun; and just then the whole room of women started to tear up. Angela and Maggie were staring at Rose with looks of such awe. When she turned back to the mirrors; Rose's eyes filled with tears and couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. She gasped, placed her hands over her mouth and instantly started to laugh and cry at the same time as Emily came running up to her and held her tightly.

"You're so beautiful, Rose!" She whispered in her ears. "You deserve this- and I am so happy for you and Brooklyn."

"Thank you, Em." Rose whispered, hugging her best friend back- when they pulled away; she was instantly hugged by Maggie and Angela, who were laughing and had tears in their eyes.

"We need to get you and Brooklyn mated now." Angela exclaimed, as both Gargoyles let her go. Angela was crying, due to her hormones, but smiled at her and hugged her again.

"I am so happy for you and Brooklyn." She said through her tears. "You're a beautiful bride."

"Yes, you are." Elisa suddenly said, stepping forward.

Angela let Rose go; allowing Elisa to step in and give Rose a big hug. Rose hugged her tightly back and said, so her and both Gargoyles could hear, "I'm just trying to keep to the tradition of beautiful brides in the Manhattan Clan."

Elisa smiled brightly at her and said, teasing, "You better believe it- those boys have little clue how good they truly have it."

"Amen." Angela said, laughing. "We need one more mating Ceremony to look like total babes to remind them!"

"I'm always up for a new dress." Akira suddenly exclaimed happily, stepping forward all the sudden from a side room. "I love getting new outfits."

Rose was about to ask her what she was doing, but placed that question on hold and decided to enjoy her moment of finding her wedding dress. Now, whenever they got rid of Kevin, they could get married. Akira kissed her cheek and hugged her tightly.

"You're so beautiful, Rose!" Akira whispered in her ear. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you." Rose said excitedly, pulling away from her. "And don't worry- I'll buy you all a dress. They will be gorgeous!"

Elisa, Angela and Akira smiled brightly at Rose and let her hug the others in her group.

---

Kevin was sitting inside his quarters at the warehouse and had plugged in his GPS unit into his computer, which Castaway had lent him, and was tracking where Rose was at currently. The computer searched for a long time, and though it wasn't the fastest form of tracking- it was new technology and hoped that it worked.

He placed his hands on his chin and was forcing himself to remain calm and patient as the technology was doing its thing. Marcus, the Quarrymen spy, had delivered the news he had been waiting for all along- the whereabouts on where his wife was. To his surprise, she was no longer up in the Castle up top the Eyrie Building like he thought, but was in an underground hide-a-way location where the Homeless would flock- a safe haven- and was apparently protected by a new Clan of other Gargoyles.

Now that he knew where Rose was, Kevin was having a difficult time not taking her down, right then and there, but he needed Castaways' weaponry and man-power to take down Rose's Gargoyle defenders. He had to play by Castaway's rules or else he wouldn't be able to hunt and kill down Rose without being stopped. He was strong and cunning- but not as strong as a whole Clan of Gargoyle monsters.

Kevin took a quick swig of his booze, and found that it no longer gave him the edge he was craving. All he craved now, was Rose's body to quiver under his murderous grasp. He wanted to kill her and kiss her all at the same time. It was a strange feeling for him; to hate someone so much, but desperately need them back.

The more he thought about her; the more obsessive he became over her, and didn't know whether he wanted her dead, or if he wanted her in his bed, or even a little of both. He gritted his teeth at the computer, wanting to bash it in with his fists when the GPS suddenly zoomed in at a building in lower-Manhattan.

Kevin's eyes went wide as he immediately took the cursor of the mouse to click on the GPS dot to see where she was at. His heart started to pound in furious beats, and then seemed to stop dead when the store front picture showed up on his computer screen.

"Kleinfeld Bridal?" Kevin whispered to himself, feeling confused for a slight second, not understanding why she would be in a bridal shop, until it hit him. He stared at the computer screen and felt his blood begin to boil, she was in a bridal shop to most likely pick out a wedding dress so she could marry that red-Gargoyle… since they were in a romantic relationship with each other.

Kevin felt himself start to shake out of control, as he realized this new piece of information and felt the new blow of betrayal on his empty heart. He could not go to her now, and promised himself that he wouldn't attack her until Castaway's new plan at one hour before sunset the next day; but now his rage was even more potent than ever before. He grit his teeth, breathing deeply through them, reaching his boiling point. He quickly stood up, knocking his chair over and began to roar uncontrollably in rage.

"Nooo…" He roared. "NO, NO, NO…. NOOOOOOOOOO!"

With his rage, he thrust his fists into the computer screen, killing the image instantly, shooting glass and wiring all over the place. He could feel fresh blood coming out of his knuckles and top of hand, but the pain wasn't anything worrisome to him, it felt good. Throwing his fist down over the computer, he kept going; punching it and smashing every piece of metal that he could, over and over again. Blood was splattering all over the place, from his fists, and he kept roaring out in an uncontrollable rage. Finally, he stopped, breathing deeply and immediately took off out of the room, to ready himself for the upcoming war.

He didn't need to know anymore about where she was; she would return to her safe haven Labyrinth, to keep away from him. Tomorrow evening he was going to surprise her in the best way possible; he was going to destroy her and then destroy everything she ever cared about or loved- starting with her monster Gargoyle lover.

---

A half- hour went by; Rose had gotten dressed in her work out outfit, as Fox paid for the dress and all alterations, so that the dress could be picked up one week from then. After one week, she and Brooklyn would be able to be married, if they so chose, and it was extremely exciting to her.

Now that Rose was back in her sweatshirt and work out outfit, and everyone was outside the store, ready to leave, she began to say good-bye to everyone. She hugged Maggie good-bye who kissed her cheek and said, "You're so beautiful, Rose! I'm thankful that I've been invited to this- I wish I could glide you back to the Labyrinth, but seeing that I'm pregnant, I can't."

"No worries," Rose smiled back at her. "I'll see you back there."

With a nod, Maggie took off gliding into the night, with Rose watching her go. Elisa came up to her with her mother, Diane; and both women gave Rose a hug.

"Miss Rose." Diane said softly. "I cannot wait to get to know you more, you make a beautiful bride. You mean so much to my daughter- which makes you family."

"Thank you Diane," Rose whispered lovingly. "It made me so happy to see you here; thank you for your support and love."

"Absolutely." Diane said. "I'm happy to do so, I also love the Gargoyles. They are the most beautiful and amazing creatures, and they have become my family, as will you. I'm very happy for you and Brooklyn."

"Thank you so much." Rose responded, hugging Diane again.

"Mom and I are going to go back to my apartment; she wants to go to bed before she drives back home." Elisa told her, hugging her as well. "We will see you soon."

When Elisa pulled away, Rose waved at them as they got inside Elisa's temporary police unit to drive away- as Fox came up to her and said, "Owen is here to pick me up as well."

"Thank you for doing this for me, Fox." Rose told her kindly. "None of this would have been possible without you. I really appreciate you buying me my dream wedding dress."

"You're more than welcome." Fox told her kindly, stepping into the large black vehicle. "It will be ready for pick up in a week- Susan told me that she would call me when it is ready- and once it is, then we can finally get you and Brooklyn married. David and I will help fund that as well, just let us know where you wish and we'll make it happen."

"Thank you, Fox." Rose responded, truly humbled.

"You're welcome- you looked positively stunning and breathtaking- I can't wait for your wedding. We'll see you later."

With that, the black car sped away leaving Rose alone with Angela and Akira. Once she looked over at them, her eyes narrowed slightly as Akira was speaking quickly and urgently to Angela about something, and then handed her the metal piece which was found on her neck. Rose quickly walked over to them, and when they saw her coming- Angela quickly took the item and took off running towards the outside wall of the bridal show, scaled up the brick and then flew off into the night.

"What was that all about?" Rose asked Akira.

"Lex was on his way to pick that metal thing up from me, because I called him and told him about it, but we finished here a lot quicker than I realized. So, I told Angela about the device we found on you earlier and now she's going to meet Lexington, and then head back to the Castle. Since I still have to take you back to the Labyrinth; I've asked her to tell the others what happened and to have Lex look it over and decode it." Akira explained to her. "Don't worry about it though. We'll get it figured out; and we'll tell you everything we find out."

"Okay," Rose sighed, feeling more and more exhausted as they stood there, out in the January cold, and talked. "Thanks for doing that for me."

"Of course." Akira said, smiling. "The Clan will always be there for you, as we are here for each other."

"I know," Rose said softly. "Still, it's nice to know that I have so many people looking out for me, and care about my well-being."

Akira nodded and turned around to motion for Rose to jump on her back, and said, "There are many people who care about you, not just us and not just Brooklyn."

Rose jumped up on Akira's back and held tightly onto her as Akira scaled the bridal store wall so she could gain enough height for her wings to glide. Once they climbed the store front and reached the rooftop, Akira spread her wings and then took off into the night.

"Thank you for everything." Rose said to her Gargoyle sister, as they were flying through the night sky. "I feel very blessed to be a part of this Clan and to have you and Angela as my sisters. I don't know how I would have survived any longer without all your love, friendship and support."

"You're stronger than you know, Rose." Akira told her kindly. "I believe that what we are forced to go through will only make us stronger beings… more humble and kind in nature. This current test, you and Brooklyn are being faced with, will bring you closer together and will prepare you for your future together; you must remain strong and optimistic."

"I am trying to do those things, and I will keep fighting." Rose told her quietly, holding onto her tighter. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, my sister." Akira giggled, as she heard Rose suddenly yawn and relax a bit more on her back. "Let's get you back… we've had a very exciting, but long night. Have you and Brooklyn thought about where you would want your mating ceremony to be held?"

Rose smiled gently at the thought of marrying her best friend, when she answered, "We haven't formally talked about it… but… we've been to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens a few times together- and I think it's beautiful there… plus it's my soon-to-be mate's namesake. There's nothing more telling than to possibly have it there."

"Awe, that is so sweet!" Akira exclaimed. "I also love those gardens, it's beautiful there. I think you guys should be mated there! That's a beautiful example of your guys' love for each other- you've met at the Brooklyn bridge; and your mate's name is Brooklyn… you should get mated in the place where you two were bound to meet. "

"I agree." Rose said softly, smiling and starting to doze off. "Destiny is funny that way…"

Akira laughed and said, "Yes it is; I have loved watching you two find each other and begin to write your love story. I believe that if two hearts are meant to be together, no matter how long it takes, how far they go, or how tough it seems- fate and destiny will bring those hearts together to share their love forever."

"Just like Brooklyn and I." Rose responded in a whisper.

"Yes," Akira said softly. "Just like you and Brooklyn- just like Lex and I… Just like Elisa and Goliath even… or dare I say, you and Kevin… we never meet people by accident. They either become a lesson or a blessing, and you have a little bit of both going on right now. However; I am hoping that Kevin will be found and we can just focus on the 'blessings' in your life."

"Me too, Akira" Rose said, looking around the City below them with sudden solemness. "Me too."

Rose and Akira glided quietly back to the Labyrinth and Akira took her to the skylight over her bedroom. She didn't let go of Rose, until they reached the inside of her dark room. When Akira's clawed feet touched her stone floor, Rose slid off her back and instantly wrapped her in a big hug.

"Thank you again, Akira." Rose told her quietly.

"You're welcome, my sister." Akira replied, releasing her. "Get some sleep- we will see you later."

Rose nodded, smiling kindly at her, and watched as Akira jumped up onto her stone wall, climbed up to the roof and then disappeared through her skylight, gliding back to the Castle. Rose took a deep breath and smiled. Tonight had turned out amazing, for she had finally found her wedding dress and it gave her a great deal of hope for her future, even with Kevin still out there. Nothing else seemed to matter other than her love for Brooklyn and what destiny had planned for them.

Rose yawned and then walked over to her bedside table where her wrist watch was sitting and checked the time. Amazed, it was almost two AM, she shed her clothing, and jumped into the shower for a quick rinse off.

Once she was out of the shower, she put on another sports bra, with a loose fitting tank top and shorts for her bed clothes, brushed her hair and teeth, climbed into her bed, and wrapped herself up with her warm blanket. She closed her eyes and instantly began to think about that wedding dress and of Brooklyn. She knew that he went on patrol tonight, to allow her, Angela and Akira to have a girls night- but she greatly missed him and longed to be in his arms once again.

One of her most favorite things was to be in his arms and wings, and to feel his strong, warm body next to hers. His scent, his body, his persona… everything about him, was soothing and comforting to her. With him next to her, she felt safe, loved and felt as though she was finally home. She also felt like she was the most beautiful woman on the face of this planet when she was with him- as he would gaze deeply and intently into her eyes. She thought of his kisses; the unbelievable feeling of his lips against hers- and how his strong body felt when he would lie on top of her and press every muscle into hers; his pelvis and groin against hers.

Rose smiled to herself as she thought of every detail she loved about Brooklyn- and almost as though he was there with her in spirit, she finally felt herself being lulled to sleep- her mind and spirit at peace for once. She loved Brooklyn with all her heart- and was truly going to be married to him! It was enough bliss that she couldn't seem to think of anything or anyone else. To her relief; she finally drifted off into a deep sleep, dreaming sweet dreams about her love.

---

In the depths of the Labyrinth, Marcus had been searching its halls with great attention to each detail and would only stop walking to draw the details of each hallway and channel on a piece of paper. He was walking into a deeper part of the Labyrinth, where he saw some cages with bars in front of him- much like prisoner cells. Interested and intrigued; Marcus nearly stepped forward to investigate when a deep voice suddenly called out and caught his attention.

"Hey… you cannot be down here."

Marcus cussed silently under his breath and put his acting skills back on his face and voice. He turned and saw the panther-looking, male Gargoyle walking towards him, he recognized him as the leader of this Clan- and was the male in charge of everyone who came and left the Labyrinth. If Marcus wasn't careful- this large creature could very well toss him out for breaking rules and being suspicious. Marcus cleared his throat, turned his document over and pointed to the map.

"Lo Siento, amigo… eh… donde… uh… living room?" He faked asked Talon.

Talon stared down at him for a moment, and then said, "You've gotten lost?"

"Si, si amigo." Marcus told him, playing up his innocence.

"Alright, follow me." Talon said, gesturing him to follow him back to the living room.

Marcus followed this leader, Talon, back to the living quarters of the Labyrinth. When they reached the living room, Marcus bowed a few times and said, "Gracias, amigo."

Talon smiled kindly at him, bowed his head back and said, "Just stay around here and you won't get lost."

With that, Talon walked away leaving Marcus to stand near the public couches with a dark smile on his face, chuckling to himself. Suddenly static was heard in his earpiece and Castaway's voice was heard.

"Marcus, how is it going down there?"

"I've been scanning each hallway, exit, entrance and the layout of the building and I'm ready to send you the blueprints, via fax; whenever you're ready for them." He answered his boss quietly.

"Good, good." Castaway said. "Yes, if you are able to access a computer then we will need those plans before we attack at sunset."

"Sunset?" Marcus asked him quietly, and a bit surprised. "Boss, I thought we were gonna attack at dawn tomorrow?"

"Plans have changed a bit." Castaway answered him. "Kevin has found out that his wife has gone to a bridal store; which can only mean that she's planning on… marrying that monster, which is something we must put an end too. Sunset will give us a better timeline before the Gargoyles wake up from their stone sleep. Plus, we are still having a heck of a time getting all of our weapons ready on our aircrafts. We are shooting for attacking around 6PM tomorrow evening- one hour before the Gargoyles all wake up. That should give us plenty of time to secure each location without any interferences."

"Understood, sir." Marcus said slyly. "How is psycho-man handling the news about his wife marrying one of these beasts?"

"As well as you would expect any mentally insane and unstable being to act- he's been readying weapons of his own for his darling wife. I've already told him the plan, and he wasn't happy about it- but he finally came around. We'll plan on 6PM; be on the lookout for our army and then we'll see you at the rendezvous point." Castaway said.

"Will do, boss." Marcus replied, using the public computer and printer to fax Castaway the blueprints he drew out of the Labyrinth. "The plans are coming over to you now."

"Excellent work, Marcus." Castaway said, laughing darkly. "I just love it when things go according to plan."

---

Brooklyn was out on Patrol the entire night since he left Rose to be with Angela and Akira for some sort of girls night. He had no idea what they had planned for her, but they both seemed really excited about it. On his patrols, he met up with Goliath and Hudson who were out on their own patrols together and decided to join them. They were in the middle of stopping an illegal shipment of weapons at a nearby warehouse, from a bunch of criminals, and secured them all with large pieces of iron- holding them all hostage, until the Police arrived to pick them up. Elisa had the night off and wouldn't be there to help pick up the criminals- but either way the Humans were going to jail- and their work was done for the night.

"Our work here is done." Goliath told him and Hudson. "Let's return home, dawn is approaching."

"Aye," Hudson replied. "We all need some rest, I'm gettin' too old for this type of fighting. Humans are becoming more resourceful and cunning in their fighting skills…" he paused and he held out his legendary fighting sword from Scotland and sighed, "This old thing isn't proving to be as useful as before."

"Nonsense," Goliath said lightly. "You have years of fighting left in you; and the best warriors rely on courage, honor and family or fellow warrior's support. You have all three my friend; and that sword is more useful than you'd think. A lot of these modern Humans do not know the art of ancient fighting like we do. it's not too old or out-of-date to use against them. If anything, it surprises them and stops them in their tracks."

"Yeah," Brooklyn agreed, placing his claw supportingly on Hudson's shoulder armour. "We've been able to stop Humans and their weapons with our own bare claws- I would say that we are extremely useful."

Hudson sighed before pocketing his sword.

"Aye, lads. Ye are right. Forgive an old Gargoyle's senile opinions- I am proud of our Clan and what we are able to accomplish."

Goliath smiled at his old mentor, opened his wings to catch the wind currents with his wings when his communicator beeped in his ear.

"Goliath, it's Lexington. Where are you guys at?"

"A nearby warehouse- we just stopped a very large illegal shipment of weapons. We are just about to leave to come back to the Castle.." Goliath answered him.

"Is Brooklyn with you by chance?" Lexington asked, his voice full of worry.

"Yes," Goliath replied into the speaker. "He was out on his own patrol before he caught up with Hudson and I. Why do you ask?"

"Akira found something very alarming tonight, you guys probably should come back to the Castle, right away." Lexington said seriously. "We don't have all the pieces of information- but from what I can see, It's not good news."

Before Goliath could speak into the speaker, Brooklyn's anxiety suddenly shot through the roof. He hadn't brought his own communicator that night, but he could hear Lexington speak through Goliath's earpiece, and his thoughts went immediately to Rose, as they usually did.

With wide eyes, he stepped forward and asked Goliath, "What news do they have? Akira was with Rose tonight, did something happen?!"

Goliath's eyes narrowed as he responded to Lexington and said, "We are coming back to the Castle now, we'll meet you there to discuss what's going on."

With that, the communicator went silent as Goliath turned to Hudson and Brooklyn; who were glancing at each other with an anxious expression. Rose was Brooklyn's mate; for all intensive purposes, and she was Hudson's adopted Grand-Daughter.

"Quickly now!" Goliath urged Brooklyn and Hudson. "We must hurry back to the Castle before sunrise; and to hear what Lexington has to say."

Goliath, Brooklyn and Hudson all took off running and used their own body strength to jump off the ground and glide on the wind currents and ground level- slowly ascending their way up above the skyscrapers towards the Castle. They flew for close to five minutes before they reached and touched down upon the Castle's platform.

Brooklyn wasted no time and ran as fast as he could into the main living room area, with Goliath and Hudson on his tail, and found Lexington, Angela, Broadway and Akira crouched over Lexington's computer, talking quickly and quietly about something. Once they heard the others come in, they all looked up- worry was written all over their faces.

"What is it, Lex?" Brooklyn asked his brother immediately upon arrival in the room. Lexington glanced around the room and waited a few seconds for Goliath and Hudson to arrive so they could hear as well.

"Lexington, what news do you have for us?" Goliath asked him seriously. Lexington, however, glanced over at Akira and nodded his head. Akira stepped forward, with a solemn look on her face and explained.

"Tonight Angela and I surprised Rose in finding a wedding dress for your guy's upcoming mating ceremony…" She explained softly and nervously. " Elisa, Fox, Maggie, Emily, and Diane Maza were all there with us." She paused and then looked at Brooklyn. "That is where we took her tonight."

Brooklyn blinked a few times and stared at her and Lexington in confusion. Relief flooded him and his heart was filled with joy instead.

"Oh," he sighed, exhaling deeply. "That's… that's wonderful news! Why would you say there's bad news? That is honestly the greatest thing I have ever heard. It warms my heart that you all took the initiative to surprise Rose and spend some time with her… I…"

"Brooklyn!" Akira said seriously and frantically, immediately cutting him off. "Please listen! Sunrise is upon us in five minutes; we have much to discuss and a lot of potentially bad news… we aren't sure what to make of it…"

Brooklyn stopped talking and stared at Akira, as the anxiety came back. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"What is going on?" He asked her anxiously.

"When Rose was changing out of her clothes to try on wedding dresses, she called me into her changing room and we… we found something on her." Akira said, her eyes growing with worry.

"What do you mean you found something on her?" Brooklyn asked, his mind going a million-miles-per hour in trying to understand what they were trying to tell him before sunrise. As he asked that, Lexington held up a small metal device and placed it in Brooklyn's claw.

"Rose found this on the back of her neck," Akira explained to him as he flipped it over a few times to look at it. "She doesn't know how she got it on her… but it was certainly glued on tightly to her skin. She asked me to help her pull it off her; and asked me if I knew what it was. Upon first glance, I had a suspicion on what it was, but I wasn't sure. Lex is more tech savvy than I am, so I knew I needed to get this back to him as quickly as I could so he could look it over. However, I didn't want to ruin Rose's moment, since she gets to have so few of them… so the moment we finished with her wedding dress shopping, I sent Angela back here to give this to Lex; and I took Rose back to the Labyrinth to get some sleep. When I returned back here, we hadn't heard from you, but Lex had decoded it… and now we believe our worst fears have been realized."

Brooklyn looked up at her words and stared into her eyes with a silent horror.

"What did you find out?" He asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "What is this… thing?"

This time, Lexington stepped forward and said, "It looks to be some kind of a tracker… it's digital and very expensive. I've asked Xanatos for his advice and he believes that this tracker has a GPS unit in it. I've been able to disconnect it for now, so it's no longer on. Now, where this gets scary is if it was on Rose for a long time; if so, then I believe someone knows where she is… but we aren't sure who placed it on her just yet."

"What does GPS mean?" Brooklyn asked Lexington in a blank numbing voice.

"According to Xanatos; it means, 'Global Positioning System' which allows the viewer to see where anyone is at any time, in any corner of the world." Lexington told him warily. "It's a new technology which is still being tested out by Militaries and other large corporations; Xanatos Enterprises included… however- we have no idea how any random citizen could get their hands on it… so it would of had to have been someone who has access to this new technology."

Brooklyn stayed frozen for a few seconds, trying to think and process this bit of information as Hudson stepped forward and asked, "How did this… GPS tracker get on her in the first place? You said it was on the back of her neck?"

"That's right," Akira said, staring at Brooklyn.

"Impossible." Goliath said seriously. "How could that device been placed on her body? Brooklyn has not left her alone, nor has the Mutates seen anyone from the Quarrymen or Kevin for that matter… how is this possible, and what does this mean?"

Brooklyn blinked a few times, and then the horror shot up in his body like a plague. His eyes widened and met Akira's and the rest of the Clan with terror-filled eyes.

"The homeless man…" Brooklyn breathed.

"What?" Broadway, Hudson and Goliath asked him, stepping forward slightly to hear better, but Brooklyn didn't answer- as he was petrified with horror and fear.

Akira's face suddenly dropped suddenly as she said, "That's who I was thinking, as well..."

"What homeless man?" Goliath asked quickly.

"There was a homeless man who was wandering around the Labyrinth, didn't speak much English and looked to be from out of town." Akira explained fearfully; when Brooklyn didn't say anything. "Rose and Brooklyn told me that he was reading a map when he 'accidentally' knocked Rose to the ground; flat onto her back. Brooklyn was upset with Rose because his protective instincts were particularly high and untrustworthy of this man for some reason, and it irritated Rose that he was being rude to a man who she believed hadn't meant to run into her…"

"But he did!" Brooklyn suddenly gasped, unable to move. "I had the most powerful desire to protect Rose from him… because he did place a tracker on Rose, he would've had to! And if he placed this tracker on her… then…"

He paused as he stared at the Clan in horror, and suddenly grasped Akira by her arms and begged, "Where is Rose now? Is she safe?"

"I think so, I put her back in her room and she went to sleep…" Akira answered him.

"Lex did you trace the tracker back to any source?" Brooklyn asked his brother quickly, letting go of Akira. He glanced around to the window as well, and could feel that sunrise was quickly approaching them. He had to get answers quickly; and had to make it to Rose somehow.

"Yeah," Lexington said quietly. "The computer has been searching the database for fifteen minutes now…this technology is a bit advanced for the computer's abilities, but it should give me coordinates here soon."

Everyone gathered around the computer, and saw that the upload was at 99%. Brooklyn took a deep breath and prayed with every fiber of his soul that Rose was safe and that this tracker hadn't told anyone where she was at. Suddenly, the computer dinged and was at 100%- a few more seconds went passed and then a symbol appeared on the computer which made the entire Clan gasp.

There on the computer screen was the Quarrymen symbol.

Brooklyn's eyes lit up, bright white, as it all connected in his mind.

"Noooo…" He gasped out, feeling his whole world collapse all around him.

"Oh my gosh! The Quarrymen…." Angela gasped, placing her claws over her mouth.

Goliath started to growl at the symbol and snarled, "Castaway!"

"Wait… I don't get it." Broadway suddenly said slowly. "If a Quarrymen has found the Labyrinth, then that means that they've found the Mutates … and if they've found the Mutates… then that means that they've found…"

"Rose!" Brooklyn choked out, his whole body unfreezing. "If Castaway and the Quarrymen know where she is… then…" He paused as his entire world seemed to collapse suddenly, his eyes widened in horror and instantly he felt like vomiting. "... so does Kevin!"

Without another word, Brooklyn shot away from the Clan on all fours out to the platform, his heart pounding in his ears as his worst fears became reality.

"No, no no!" He yelled out, tears blinding his eyes. "GODS- PLEASE, NO! ROSE!"

He was running as fast as he could towards the ledge of the Castle and then realized the awful predicament he was in. The sun was seconds from rising; which meant that he was too late.

"NO, BROOKLYN!" Akira screamed in terror, following after him; and a lot of the Clan's screams and yells were behind him.

"BROOK!" Broadway yelled out from behind him.

"BROOKLYN!" Goliath roared after him, inches behind him.

"You can't! THE SUN!" Angela shrieked, also reaching for him, as Lexington grabbed and pulled onto one of his arms, trying to stop him.

With one deafening roar; Brooklyn's claws were reaching out to the horizon, his wings spread out, and was nearing the ledge of the Castle when the sun peeked over the horizon and froze him and his Clan up in stone for the day, stopping him stone cold from protecting Rose from the Quarrymen and from Kevin. He was unable to stop his worst nightmare from coming true…

Kevin finding and killing his beautiful love and mate, Rose.

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** Sorry about the cliff hanger! :D I'll post the next chapter soon! Thank you for reading! Please review and tell me what you think! Shine on!**