Once word of Elisa's surviving the explosion had circulated among the clan, all thoughts of continuing the politicking had ceased for the night.

Goliath had followed Peter's car back to the Aerie Building. Once they landed in the courtyard, he gave the Ambassadors a brief apology for his actions, then he retreated to within the castle where he could wait by the elevators for Elisa.

Brooklyn, Broadway and Angela had returned to the castle a short time later, having realized that there had been nothing at the park for them to help with. They had not seen Elisa at the park either, but had seen the ambulances pulling away from the scene. Assuming that she was in one of them, they had remained in the park in hopes of overhearing any news of their friend, but had eventually left.

They hurried back in hopes that there had been news.

The clan ambassadors were understanding about needing to delay the final decision making until later, after seeing that a part of their island had been attacked. They understood the need to protect.

They were Gargoyles after all.

The manhattan clan left it at that. Let them think that Goliath's reaction had been solely about their protectorate, and nothing to do with Elisa.

Davis Xanatos had quickly offered to have a catered meal brought up from one of the many restaurants in the area, as a way to stall for more time and keep the ambassadors busy until Elisa was safely hidden away somewhere. He'd had several large tables brought in and set up in a buffet style dinner in the large Great Hall, and the gargoyles had been delighted.

With the exception of Goliath, the rest of the Manhattan clan had gone to the dinner, all trying to appear happy and unconcerned about the unknown state of their friend.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Goliath hurried to the elevators to await her return.

He was so focused on his thoughts, and his impatience to find out how Elisa was, that he had failed to think about the fact that there were gargoyles in the castle who had not known of their relationship. He had only wanted Elisa, HIS Elisa, safe in his arms.

He had kept a distance between them this week because of the council, but he no longer cared.

The sliding doors opened to reveal Elisa and Peter. Elisa was essentially being held upright by Peter by this point, one of his arms anchoring her to his side with her head on his shoulder.

"Goliath!" Elisa practically yelled, lifting one arm tiredly in his direction.

Without hesitation, Goliath took one step inside the elevator and swept Elisa into his arms, taking the burden from Peter. He stepped back into the hallway, allowing Peter to exit the elevator.

"Finally," Peter said, rotating the arm that had been holding Elisa at the shoulder. "I'm not sure if I'm just getting older, or Elisa's getting heavier."

Goliath lifted her into his arms, and laid his cheek to the top of her head. "Thank you for bringing her here," Goliath said with a nod to Peter.

Peter sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I was going to take her straight home, but she was insistent that she wanted to come here. I'm sure it's not the best time, but after everything she'd been through tonight, I couldn't see the point of telling her no. Both you and Liam are here at the castle, and if she should need it, there is a trained medical staff a few floors below to help her."

Goliath raised his head and frowned at Peter. "Is there still a need for the doctors? Should she not still be at the hospital?"

"No!" Elisa said in a raised voice. "I don't need to go back there."

Goliath blinked at his mate in confusion, then looked at Peter once more for answers.

Peter sighed wearily. "The doctors say that she'll be fine outside of some bumps and bruises, but she was really close to the explosion and it seems to have affected her hearing. Also," He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, seemingly embarrassed, "They gave her a combination of medications at the hospital before I got there to try to stop it."

"What kind of medication," Goliath asked, worried.

"It was a combination of a pain killer and a muscle relaxer," Peter hurried to assure Goliath. "It's a kind that she'd had before for various injuries in the past. Taken separately, she's fine. Unfortunately, taken together…it affects her oddly. She either wasn't paying attention to what they were giving her, or she forgot about the side effects. At any rate, she's going to be really happy for the rest of the night, and she will have absolutely no filter."

"No filter?" Goliath asked, feeling increasingly confused by the conversation.

Peter heaved a put upon sigh. "She's going to blurt out anything that crosses her mind, Goliath. I've got to tell you that I have already heard way too much about your relationship on the way here. I had to turn my radio up to drown it out, or I might not be able to look either her or you in the eyes later." Peter glared at his daughter, "Then she started singing to the radio and serenaded me all the way here. I love my daughter, but she is borderline tone deaf in this state."

Elisa slapped a hand across her mouth, her cheeks flushing. "Sorry, dad," Elisa said, subdued, her voice almost a whisper now.

"Do not worry, Elisa." Goliath said, giving her an amused look.

"She'll probably fall asleep soon, anyway," Peter said with a shrug, "So you may not have to worry about it, but in the meantime, if you have somewhere to put her so she can rest, that would probably be for the best. Just have her give her mother and I a call tomorrow to let us know how she's doing."

Goliath nodded. "I will."

Peter clasped wrists with Goliath in the now familiar old warrior style, then retreated back inside the safe confines of the elevator.

"Oh, Elisa," Goliath said softly. "I am so happy that you are here now."

"Me, too," Elisa said, dropping her hand to her lap with an audible slap. "I could have died today, how crazy is that?"

Goliath held her a little tighter. He knew that this was the effect of the medication that Peter had told him about, because Elisa would never talk about such a thing so lightheartedly. He started down the hallway, deciding to take her to the library to rest… and keep her away from the visiting delegates until she was back to a more normal state. "Elisa, I.."

"I love you, Big Guy," Elisa said at a near shout. "I was afraid I wouldn't see you again, but I was really happy that you weren't there."

He quickened his pace. She really was loud, and she was the one to insist that they keep their relationship a secret so as to not ruin any chances at the Gargoyle Council to work. It may be a moot point now, anyway, being the complete lack of cooperation on behalf of the Korean ambassador, but Elisa would be upset tomorrow if anything that she said in this state was the true cause.

What she had just said made him falter a step, however. "Why would you not want us there?" Goliath asked.

"Because," Elisa said with a sigh as she cuddled into his chest, "If you were there, I was going to worry that you'd do something silly to try to save me. You would have just gotten hurt and I hate it when you're hurt."

Elisa was rambling now, and there seemed to be no stopping her. "Shhh," Goliath tried to shush her.

"I wanted to come home so bad," Elisa all but wailed. "I wanted to be with you, and our son, at home, but I couldn't move. For hours."

Goliath chuckled, he couldn't help it. She was truly going to be angry about this tomorrow, should she remember. He rounded a corner, cutting him and Elisa off from the more populated areas of the castle.

One darkly clad figure separated themselves from the deeply shadowed corner of the Great Hall.