When Elisa awoke the following evening, she blinked in confusion. She was on the floor, the remnants of her stone skin all around her. The harsh fluorescent lighting in the small, white room, made her feel temporarily blinded by the brightness.
She was on the ground, which was never a good sign for a gargoyle. Waking on the ground meant that you were caught prone at daylight.
She remembered getting to Angela's room, struggling to stay awake through the drugs that they had injected into her system, and trying to shield her friend.
Elisa jumped to her feet and quickly scanned the room. Nothing. There wasn't even furniture.
Just four blank walls, and a single metal reinforced door.
Elisa growled low in her throat, instinctively backing up a step as she realized where she was.
The Lab.
Somehow, they had tracked her to Goliath and Angela's home, and like a fool, she had led them there. She had put them in danger.
Surely they wouldn't have brought them here. They had no need for the humans.
Right?
Elisa, fear and other emotions clutching at her chest, she ran to the door and began pounding with all her strength. She needed to get someone's attention, and she needed to know if the Mason family were there.
'And if they are?' a voice in her head asked. 'What do you think you can do?'
She would fight. She would even bargain with the doctors if she had to.
Anything to keep both Angela and Goliath alive and safe.
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Goliath was in a rage, completely irrational, and he knew it. There was nothing he could do about it, however.
Elisa and Angela were missing. Taken from their apartment, and no one had seen a thing. Judging from the destruction in Angela's bedroom, and other signs throughout the house, one or both of the females had fought like hell.
He had gotten off of the elevator to find his door standing wide open, the lights off, and no one there. He had immediately called it into the station, contacted his building's manager and asked for the security tapes, but they had all come up with nothing.
The best piece of information they had gotten was from a homeless man a block over who kept talking about a black helicopter that made very little noise. No identifying markers, but it had been hovering over the building.
Because Angela was the daughter of an officer, things would be expedited, but she was eighteen. Normally an adult would need to be missing for twenty four hours before anything would normally be done.
In desperation, he had even called Broadway to see if Angela could possibly still be with them and lost track of time.
Not only was she not with them, but they had come storming into his place and refused to leave until Angela was found.
Lexington had spent hours on his computer and, with Goliath's complete blessing, he had been searching whatever illegal sites he could find, trying to locate any information on who could have done this.
Once the crime scene people had left, Brooklyn had taken over putting the apartment back to rights. He had swept up the broken plates from the living room, and had voiced the same conclusion that Goliath himself had come to, in that Angela had fought being taken.
That eliminated anyone that they knew.
Goliath glared at the windows. He would start locking the damn things from here on out. If whoever had done this had come through there, then he would have to find a way to lock them. He had left them unlocked because of Elisa…
Ah, yes. Elisa. The other half of Goliath's fury.
Elisa was missing as well. If she hadn't made it here before the sun rose, then he had hoped that she had found a safe place for the day. The sun had set almost an hour ago, and there was still no word from or about her. If whoever had gotten their hands on his daughter had gotten Elisa as well, and he had to withstand more of the torturous treatment at the hands of people like the one who had made those tapes…
Wait…
Goliath surged to his feet and hurried into the kitchen where Broadway was attempting to piece together a meal for them all.
"Boys," He said, scanning the kitchen, "Where are those tapes?"
The trio came into the kitchen, and shared a look.
"I didn't touch them," Brooklyn said.
"Neither did I," Broadway said.
"Where was the last place you remember them?" Lexington asked.
"The last time I saw them, they were here, on the table," Goliath said, gesturing to the small table top.
"They must have taken them," Brooklyn growled.
"Do you think it was people from the Lab?" Broadway asked with a frown.
"Who else would be interested in those tapes?" Lexington pointed out.
"No one," Came a tired voice from behind them.
The group turned to see Dominique standing in the doorway. Her arms were crossed, and for the first time since they had seen her at the homecoming game, she looked tired.
"Dominique," Goliath growled out through gritted teeth. "How did you get in here?"
"Really, Goliath," Dominique said with a sigh. "Our daughter is missing, and that's what you're concerned about?"
Goliath advanced on her. "You came to me last night, knowing about those tapes. Why?"
"Your Gargoyle switched the blank ones she was supposed to steal with the actual recordings." Dominique said. "Once they figured that out, they had no choice but to get it back."
"Her," Brooklyn burst out. "Stop calling Elisa an 'it'. If you can't force yourself to say her name, at least use the word 'her'."
Dominique glared at him. "Again, not the biggest problem we have."
"Dominique," Goliath yelled, knowing he was on the very edge of his temper. "Where is Angela? Do you know?"
Dominique hesitated, then nodded. "I never bothered to ask where that damnable laboratory was until tonight."
"Why?" Lexington asked. His voice held a combination of anger and genuine curiosity.
"What did I care?" Dominique asked with a shrug. "I wasn't interested in the 'where'. Just the results."
"And what were they so interested in?" Brooklyn asked.
"We listened to the tapes," Broadway pointed out. "All of them."
"What are they after?" Goliath demanded.
Dominique pushed away from the door frame with her shoulder and strode more fully into the room. "They are interested in it's… HER," She glared at Brooklyn when he started to open his mouth, "DNA. If they could isolate some of her abilities and combine them with human DNA, think of the possibilities." Dominique wandered around the kitchen, effectively walking a wide circle around the group of angry males. "Soldiers with borderline super strength. Rapid Healing abilities. And someday, maybe even flight." Dominique stopped to stare at a picture on the wall of Angela and Goliath, possibly taken the year that they had first met. After a moment, she turned to face the group again. "Governments from around the world would pay anything for that."
"So it is all about the money," Goliath ground out. "Money and success are all that you have ever cared about."
"Growing up with nothing," Dominique snapped, "tends to make one strive to have more."
"Where is Angela," Goliath asked again. "And where is Elisa?"
"In the same place, fortunately for you," Dominique said. "I will tell you where to find the lab. What you do with the information is up to you."
"Why? Why betray those that you have been allied with?" Goliath demanded. "And why should we trust you?"
"They made a mistake when they took my daughter," Dominique bit out. "As for trusting me… really, do you have any better ideas? Angela has already been there all day, but I have been assured that she is safe." Demona lifted a folded paper from her pocket and held it between to fingers. "I only just got this information in my hands ten minutes ago, or I would have gotten her out before nightfall."
"What's happening now that it's night?" Broadway asked.
Dominique sent him a glare for good measure. "Now that the gargoyle is awake, I assume that they will use Angela to get her to cooperate, don't you?"
"Give me the address," Goliath demanded, holding his hand out for the paper.
Dominique pulled the paper back, holding it away from his hand. "I'm coming with you. Aside from that, I really don't care who else you call in."
"Done," Goliath said, hand still outstretched.
"Done," Dominique said, and dropped the paper into his waiting hand.
"Boys," Goliath said, turning to the young men.
"No," Brooklyn said, his arms folded, and a stubborn tilt to his chin. "We're coming with you."
"Fine," Goliath sighed, knowing that there was no way he could actually make them stay behind… short of tying them to chairs, which while tempting, he wasn't going to do it. "You follow behind, and you stay out of the laboratories." When they began to protest, he glared at them all. "Let the police do their jobs. You may stay outside and wait for Angela."
"And Elisa?" Broadway asked quietly.
Goliath sighed. "I will do my best to get Elisa out, unharmed, as well." He swore to himself that he would do just that…
Now he would just have to figure out how.
But getting Angela out and leaving Elisa behind was unthinkable.