Gargoyles- The Heart of Darkness (2)

by Sunmoonlight

Newly-mated pair, Brooklyn and Rose have finally found the life and love in which they both had fought for. But Rose's dark past, and magical forces beyond their control have come back; threatening to tear them apart. Will their love and powerful soul-bond be able to survive the test? Or will the darkness destroy everything they've created together completely?

29. Chapter 29- Fire & Ice

~Chapter Twenty-Nine~

Fire & Ice

Brooklyn was floating on cloud nine as he glided towards Union Park to help out Goliath and Lexington with a gang problem. He was in such a good mental and emotional place that he swore nothing could bring him down, and it was all because of what Rose told him. She was going to give him a child! It was still hard for him to wrap his head around, but he felt that small life force in their bond for himself, and heard the tiny heartbeat. This dream wasn't impossible, but was, in fact, a reality.

She's pregnant! My mate is pregnant! I'm going to be a father! This is happening, it's really, really happening!

He had been celebrating the entire flight, doing flips in the air, throwing punches, singing and hollering as loudly as he could in joy. However, that joy was put on old when he got close to Union Park. On his descent, he could already hear a struggle taking place down below. Roars, yells, and sounds of gunfire were echoing through the once peaceful night air, and his heart sunk slightly.

"Oh crap, not good." He said to himself and picked up the pace.

When he was over the park, he lowered himself down and saw Goliath taking on four gang members at once, and to his side, Lexington was taking on two more men, with six others getting up from the ground and fighting again. When Goliath said they had a gang problem, he wasn't kidding. Twelve men against three male Gargoyles would be difficult and quite the exercise for them, but wasn't impossible. It was a fight they would no doubt win, but with every single man having a weapon- it certainly complicated things.

He looked over and suddenly gasped. The six armed men were sneaking up on Lexington, who was unsuspecting of them. Eyes lighting up in anger, he dove down and let out a roar of his own. The six gang members with various weapons in hands, stopped, looked up, and screamed out in terror as he slammed into them.

The four men, he slammed into, fell against the concrete and didn't move, so he quickly flipped back up onto his feet and faced the two remaining gang members that were holding a bat and chains in each of their hands. He bared his sharp teeth at them, raised his sharp claws out, and growled ferociously; but the men didn't look scared of him. They looked enraged.

Fine, he thought to himself. If it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they were going to get.

A bigger man swung his chains in the air like a rope lasso, and the other man with a bat, started to circle around him. He growled more angrily, but kept his face to them so they couldn't surround him.

"You wanna fight?" He snarled at them. "Let's do this then!"

And they took his invitation.

"FILTHY MONSTER!" The bald man with chains shouted out and ran towards him, swinging them above his head.

Bracing his face, Brooklyn held his forearm up and let the chains circle around his arm when the man threw them, chaining the man to his will instead. With a smile, he then used them as a whip of his own and catapulted the gang member across the park, where he never got back up again. His partner roared out in rage, raised his bat up and shot towards Brooklyn, who was crouched down and ready to take him on; but another, deeper roar came from the side and suddenly Goliath joined his fight.

His ferocious leader grabbed the man by the cuff of the neck and punched him in the face with one quick, but bone breaking force, so much so, that Brooklyn actually felt bad for the guy. The man groaned once, but instantly dropped to the ground, having been knocked out cold. Goliath and Brooklyn looked around, making sure they didn't have any more threats coming their way, and when there was nothing but silence he turned to his leader with wide-eyes.

"Wow… thanks Goliath, what a fun workout." Brooklyn said, smiling and panting slightly. "That wasn't too bad."

"You should have seen it five minutes ago." Goliath answered him in a low growl, and Brooklyn merely shrugged.

"Hey, I came as quickly as I could. You know I would never say no to a good fight."

Goliath cracked a smile at him, nodded, and their warrior eyes faded back to normal as Lexington walked towards them, dragging two unconscious men with him. He tossed them down near the others, wiped his hands together, and then placed his claws on his hips.

"Easy." He commented a bit smugly, then looked up at Brooklyn. "Thanks for deciding to join us."

"Hey, I was coming from Emily's." Brooklyn said defensively. "That's at least a five to seven minute flight from here."

"Are you sure that making out with Rose wasn't a part of that five minutes?" Lexington teased. "'Cause I counted close to ten minutes of myself and Goliath fighting these idiots alone without ya."

Brooklyn glowered at him with arms across his chest tightly, and chose not to answer him. He told Goliath where he was going before leaving the castle, and then said that he would join them on patrol after he said hello to his wife, which was exactly what he did.

Lexington then snorted out a laugh, and playfully punched his arm.

"Kidding dude. No, your timing was good. Thanks for taking out those guys who were behind me."

"No problem." Brooklyn said a bit stiffly, then turned to Goliath. "Has this been called in yet?"

"Aye, I've radioed this to Elisa already." Goliath answered. "She is working a separate case tonight, but has sent the information to the dispatchers. Other Police Officers should be coming any moment now to arrest these thugs."

"What is Elisa working on?"

Goliath growled. "Dracon and his mobster men again. Broadway and Akira are helping her with some stolen shipments, most likely from his men. They've been watching the docks with her."

Brooklyn nodded stiffly and sighed heavily.

This wasn't new to any of them. Dracon was a head mob gangster who was currently detained at Rikers Island Prison, but was still managing to run his 'shady business' of hurting innocent people from behind bars. Although the slime would be there for a while, he still had his loyalists running his criminal businesses, which kept Detectives and the Police, like Elisa, on their toes.

"Well, since she's covered for the night, should we get these outstanding citizens tied up and get out of here?" Brooklyn asked, pointing a thumb back to all the unconscious men behind them. Right as he said that, Police sirens suddenly echoed through the night and were coming in their direction. They were a few miles away, it was time for them to leave.

Goliath nodded, and then all three of them quickly got to work, grabbing the various chains that were used for weapons, and tied all twelve gang members up; making sure each man couldn't get out before the Police got there. When it was done, Goliath sighed out in relief and the three of them left the park to seek higher ground to glide away.

"At least these thugs will be off the streets and serve time in jail."

"Yeah, but will they stay there?" Brooklyn asked dryly. "Lately, it seems like all the street criminals we've helped place in Police custody are let go weeks, if not days later. It's aggravating!"

"Yes, it is, and I agree with you." Goliath said calmly. "But the Justice and Courts System is the human's responsibility to interpret and work out, not ours. I cannot judge what the higher-ups in the Government or Judges decide; but I'd like to think that they are doing their best with what they have to work with. However with lawyers, like Kevin used to be, who fight for the criminals, it makes dictating a longer sentence if their crimes are smaller in size, compared to others."

"But that's stupid and makes no sense to me." Brooklyn grumbled. "A crime is a crime in my mind, but I guess I see what you're saying. Though crime is all bad, someone who may steal from a grocery store shouldn't get the same jail sentence that a person, like Kevin let's say, who's a completely psycho serial killer, should. However, these gang-members, are violent madmen who hurt and torture people. They are the criminals who keep breaking the law and aren't quitting. These are the people that should have longer jail time to get them off the streets for good. End of discussion. They've made their choices, and those choices should have more severe consequences."

"True enough." Goliath said in a soft, but deep voice. "But human justice is not Gargoyle justice. In a way, humans give each other more chances than some probably deserve, but their intentions are for the benefit of all, and I can respect that. People can change if given the chance, and the system allows them to change if they wish. However, if they don't wish to and make that choice, then that's where the more severe consequences come in. Even if that takes time and is more work for us. Either way, I know these madmen will get what comes around to them."

"Yeah, well karma needs to hit these kinds of people a lot sooner, is all I'm gonna say." Brooklyn replied darkly. "These pieces of crap gang-members who purposely hurt and prey upon the innocent because they can, and still skive out on jail time, try my patience. I don't like it when they get away with murder."

"None of us do." Goliath said. "But that's how it works sometimes."

"Hey, well look at the bright side, "Lexington piped up, as the three of them walked towards a nearby statue to climb up and glide away. "We will always have job security, you know? The more criminals there are, the more we get to do our job and protect other innocent people."

"Oh goody." Brooklyn grumbled with a laugh this time. "But, sure yeah, I guess that's one way to look at it."

They stabbed their claws into the statue and quickly climbed up to the top, spread their wings and took off into the night, right as Police lights and sirens turned into the area. They glided on the peaceful wind currents and made their way to a nearby rooftop to finish talking safely and come up with a plan for the night. Goliath led the way and settled onto a rooftop that overlooked the park, with Brooklyn and Lexington following after him.

The three of them peered over the side at the bright red and blue lights, and a small feeling of pride at helping the Police out, filled each of them. No matter what, they liked that they made a positive difference in the human's lives and protected them. It fulfilled the purpose of being a Gargoyle.

Brooklyn must have been smiling, because Lexington was looking at him with raised eye bones.

"Dude… are you okay?" He asked teasingly. "You look way too upbeat and happy. It's like you're floating."

"So? Can I not be happy and in a good mood?" Brooklyn asked him a bit sarcastically.

"You can, but when I saw you gliding towards the fight, I thought you were going to challenge the gang members to a dance-fight or something, or throw flowers in their directions." He stopped and chuckled at himself in interest. "I also didn't know you could sing."

"I was not singing." He lied, blushing slightly in embarrassment, because he was indeed singing about 'how much he loved Rose' before arriving at the park. Brooklyn set his jaw slightly, puffed his chest up and took Lexington's teasing on.

"I don't know why you're giving me such a hard time for being happy. I came to the fight fully focused, did my duty, but it hasn't ruined my night. I have a lot to be thankful for, and yes, my mate does make me happy, Lex. So much so, I…" He paused and turned away, smiling. "I can barely manage to describe how much color and happiness Rose brings to my life."

Goliath turned, and was now looking greatly interested. His happiness, safety and well-being, as well as every single member of his Clan, was of the highest importance to him; but Lexington was getting at something interesting, and it was almost as if something really good had happened. Brooklyn wasn't one to be… elated, though it was a good change for his Second- as marrying Rose had made him all the better, his happiness right now, was just like the night he married her.

"Did… something good happen tonight while you were with Rose?"

Brooklyn remained silent and didn't answer Goliath. He told Rose that he would wait to tell the Clan until she got home from babysitting, and he would keep that promise.

"Yes, something has happened." He answered them. "Something really, really amazing and good as happened."

"What is it?" Lexington asked excitedly.

"Rose and I wish to tell the Clan when she gets home from babysitting Katie. Plus, I gotta tell you guys how a three-year-old reacted to seeing and meeting me tonight."

"You've met the child?" Goliath asked in amazement, and Brooklyn nodded.

"I did, and it was incredible Goliath, and I…" He paused, turned away from them, gazed down at the Police scene and smiled. "I really am beginning to believe that there's a bright and hopeful future for Gargoyles and the Humans. There's now no doubt about it in my mind."

"Oh?" Goliath inquired with a grin spreading on his face. "And why the sudden change of attitude, especially with what's been going on?"

"Other than being married to an incredible Human and having her constantly open my eyes and heart?" Brooklyn asked, then answered him, "Everything, Goliath. Everything has changed, but for once, it's being changed for good."

Goliath and Lexington exchanged glances and then looked back at him with smiles.

"Sounds like you have a story to tell us." Goliath said with a raised eye bone and arms across his chest, and Brooklyn grinned back at him.

"Yeah, I sure do. But you'll have to wait until Rose comes home to find out."

---

Rose had been sitting on the couch watching television ever since Brooklyn left to go on patrol- fifteen minutes ago.

As she thought about her mate, while staring blankly at the television screen, she was thankful for them and what they did every night for their often ungrateful and rude community, without hesitation. As she sat lazily and safely in Emily's apartment, eating a handful of snacks, her mate and the other Gargoyles were helping stop crime in the 'Big Apple', saving lives and being heroes.

They wouldn't admit that they were heroes, but they all were in her eyes. Because of their efforts, she already felt a lot safer, and sincerely hoped that other citizens felt the same way, even if they didn't or wouldn't admit it.

Rose was cuddled in a blanket, and was flipping through their television channels while trying not to fall asleep. Tonight had been busy for her, and she barely got rest the night before. Now, sitting in a quiet home close to midnight, it was hard not to shut her eyes and sleep. If she did fall asleep, she knew that Emily and Chris wouldn't care, but she would still feel bad. Rose yawned, stretched, and thought to check up on Katie once more before they got home. She was sure everything was fine, but there was still a part of her that wished to check since she hadn't made a peep for two hours now.

Rose slowly ate the last bite of her peanut butter and jam sandwich, and made up her mind to check up on the little girl. She drank down her bite with some of her water, and then started to get up off the couch. Before she could, the television picture suddenly cut off and the screen went to black and white noise.

"What the…?" Blinking in shock, she grabbed the remote and tried flipping through the channels, but all of them were the same black and white noise. Shrugging to herself, and not really caring about watching television anyway, she clicked the power button off.

"Hmm, that was weird." She said to herself, yawned and stretched again. She moved the blanket off her and started to stand up to take her plate to the sink when her magic suddenly burst to life- in full alert mode- right as an icy darkness was felt deep within her bones. She froze with her plate in hand, and remembered that distinct familiar feeling.

Then her heart sank.

"No…!" she whispered to herself in horror. "It can't be them! Not now!"

She hadn't felt this type of icy, physical darkness for three weeks, not since the Draugr last attacked her. But now, she realized a critical error in her ways. She was alone, her and Brooklyn had let down their guard, and now more was at stake- and they were back for revenge.

Rose's breathing increased as she quickly set down her plate, and felt her magic pull her attention to the glass slider door in the kitchen. The wind picked up outside, as if a huge storm was coming, and the glass began to actually move as if the force outside was about to blow it in. The house began to creak, the air around her chilled to the point of creating goosebumps on her arms and legs.

She could feel that something evil was coming, and any second now it would be here. She took a deep breath, activated her red magic in her fists and slowly started to walk towards the kitchen. Then another invisible wave of ice hit her in the chest, icing her soul and making her shudder; but to her horror, it suddenly spread throughout the entire house. Ice filled the air around her, making it suddenly feel like the middle of January inside of the home, freezing every surface and giving the furniture a light dust of frost.

Rose could see her breath coming out in white puffs from her mouth and nose, and the lights flickered on and off before they shut off completely with a small, 'pop,' leaving her to stand in pitch darkness, with only her red hue of magic for any source of light.

Her ears began to pop as if she were in high altitude, making her brain fuzzy and foggy, but she forced herself to focus and keep her magic activated. The pitch dark house creaked and groaned loudly all around her, making her heart speed up with fear and adrenaline. More sounds of loud cracking and popping made her look around, and to her horror, her glass of water on the coffee table slowly turned into a solid chunk of ice. The Draugr were getting closer, and were stronger than ever. Horror flew through her and was mentally preparing herself for them, but at the same time her mind was screaming at her.

Call Brooklyn, call Brooklyn!

But she couldn't think properly to activate their soul bond, or move to grab the small communicator from her pocket, and then it hit her. The Draugr were freezing her brain from moving, and because they hadn't hunted her for three weeks, her mental guard was down. But now they were back, she had to protect herself and her unborn child. Gritting her teeth, she placed a hand over her stomach and summoned a small force of magic to shield around her child in her womb. She was unsure if it was going to do anything against the Draugr, but it was worth a shot in her mind. Now that her child was protected, she had to protect herself and Katie from...

Rose's thoughts froze, her eyes suddenly widened at the sudden predicament, and couldn't believe that she hadn't thought about her little niece yet- and true horror filled her soul.

"Oh my God! Katie!" Rose whipped around to run to Katie's room and grab her, but it was too late.

CRASH!

In the blink of an eye, two black- skinned, bat-winged Draugr crashed through the kitchen sliding door; exploding glass all over her and the room. With them, they brought a vengeance of horrible icy darkness, and rancid stench that seemed to suck the oxygen right out of the room.

Rose's magic had prepared quickly for them, but when she whipped back around to face them, she wasn't quick enough. One rotting skeletal body slammed into her, sending her flying over the couch and into the kitchen table with a painful bang, while the second one skidded to a stop next to her. The wood splintered and exploded at her impact and she screamed out in pain, but was instantly still on alert.

Ignoring the pain in her arm, she jumped to her feet, and faced the two Draugr with her magic activated, and upon observing them, these Draugr were different from the six she faced before. They were males, but almost seemed to be younger corpses; stronger, more wild, and unruly than the others. Their sharp claws were outstretched to her, rotting flesh falling off more prevalent and weren't as skeletal as the others were, but they were still just as horrible to look at.

She had forgotten how terrible it was staring into their black, empty sockets for eyes; and their razor sharp, thin, mouth-full of teeth- begging and hungry for her flesh. They were snarling, drooling at her, and didn't waste another moment. They released an unearthly shriek and jumped for her, but she was ready for them. Gritting her own teeth in anger, as long as she kept them here and away from Katie, that's all that mattered.

With a scream of her own, she shot magic out at both of them, shooting them across the room from her, but that didn't keep them down, nor did it allow her to trap them.

Using their long, bat-like wings, they jumped into the room and flew around, shooting ice back down at her as if trying to freeze her where she stood. Luckily, their icy powers couldn't break past her strong, red shield she summoned to cover herself. Rose blasted magic out of her hands in every direction, trying to knock them out of the air and onto the ground; where she planned to use a sword to decapitate them or fire to burn them alive with her magic. Whichever came first and kept them from finding Katie, she would do. She beat these creatures once, and was going to do it again. They were snarling, and hissing angrily as they surrounded her. One facing her, and one heading for the back of her. But she struck again, not allowing them to surround her.

Hot and angry magic erupted from her with a scream of rage, exploding the room apart, but they also seemed to plan for that. They used their wings to fly high above her, or would ice her magic out as if that were their own shields. Hoping back and forth in the air, they shrieked, screamed and kept doing this, getting closer and closer to her; but she wasn't letting up.

Their icy powers were stopping her from reaching out to Brooklyn through their soul bond, but she still had the comm's in her pocket. With gritted teeth, she knew that she had to call him, and couldn't necessarily rely on the hope that he felt that something was wrong and was coming. Either way, it was all up to her to battle these Draugr and kill them, until further help arrived. There was no other way than that. With one hand, she held her magic out and kept them at bay, and then quickly grabbed the communicator out of her pocket, but with her palms sweaty, it fell to the ground and rolled away.

"Damn it!" She hissed, and watched the small radio roll away from her and circle to a stop under the damaged kitchen table. She had to get to it, but how? It was taking all her energy to keep the two Draugr away from her, and more importantly, their icy shackles of magic that would bind her. Making up her mind, she had to reach Brooklyn if she was to get out of this mess alive. So, with one last push, she blasted the Draugr away from her and watched as they slammed into the brick walls of the apartment. Knowing she only had seconds, Rose whipped around, dove for the communicator, and got her hand clasped around it.

She pushed the button and started screaming, "BROOKLYN! GOLIATH! ANYONE! HELP! I'M… Oh… NO! NOO! AHHHH!"

A Draugr grabbed onto her ankle and yanked her towards him and up in the air. She hung upside down, her long auburn hair falling to the ground, and the Draugr grinned nastily at her. Static was heard from the radio and then her mate's voice came back, sounding frantic and horrified.

"Rose!? Goliath, Lex and I are coming! What's going on? I can't feel you through our bond…!"

She raised the communicator to her mouth, as the Draugr whipped his arm back to throw her, and shrieked, "DRAUGR!"

Then she went flying.

The Draugr threw her as hard as he could across the room. Her body slammed against a brick wall, her head smacking against it with a sickening crack, and she crumbled to the ground. Her vision was fuzzy and disoriented as she laid there, her body and head screaming in pain. Her magic faded from her hands, and the second it did, their iciness took over her entire body and soul; freezing it.

They had her.

She couldn't feel her body, but her mind was screaming at her to get up and fight- and Hudson's words echoed in her mind.

If we are not there to help for whatever reason; ya fight, lass. And never stop fightin'.

"Rose!" She heard Brooklyn's voice yelling through the radio communicator. She slowly moved her eyes up to look at the silver piece of metal and stared at it. Her hand was laid so close to it… if she could just move to grab it… She could hear the fear in his voice, the whooshing of wind against the radio. He was coming… but where was he?

"Talk to me! ROSE! RO-"

CRUNCH.

Rose flinched as a jet-black clawed foot snapped down on the radio and smashed it to pieces; and the last remaining hope for a rescue was gone. The Draugr's icy, rotting breath was descending upon her neck as they reached down to grab her, but she still couldn't move while under their icy spell. They were suddenly in her mind, sending her past abusive nightmares into her brain. Her past screams echoed in her head as well as Kevin's high-pitched laughter…

They could hear and feel her fear, and they cackled evilly at her as they fed off her fears. Their icy magic flowed into her soul and froze her magic into a dormant stage- making her utterly helpless.

All of these sleepless nights of training with Puck and Hudson didn't seem to matter anymore, they were too strong and she had been weakened by her pregnancy. All she could do now was close her eyes as a skeletal claw clasped around her neck, holding her in an iron-tight grip, and pray for her death to be quick. She fought past their nightmarish hold in her mind, and let her subconscious think of Brooklyn and their love before she parted from this life.

It would always be Brooklyn.

---

The radio went silent, dead- and so did Brooklyn's heart. Fear raced through him as he was flying as fast as he could back towards Emily's apartment, with Goliath and Lexington next to him, frantically trying to keep up.

They were still on a rooftop talking when he heard her scream come through, but he knew something was wrong moments before she called. The three of them had been talking, his heart light and happy, when suddenly he felt a part of him go silent. His and Rose's soul bond muted, and he felt icy cold blackness enter his heart. And he knew what was there with Rose before she even screamed out for him- and he was already in the air with Goliath and Lexington calling and following after him in confusion.

It wasn't until they all heard Rose's voice on their radios, screaming for him and for anyone to come and save her, that Goliath and Lexington understood why Brooklyn took off so quickly; and their own fears flowed through them. The fear, panic and desperation in Rose's voice was enough to activate all of their protective instincts. Goliath was furiously calling for backup from the rest of the Clan to meet up at Emily's house, but they would be too far away for some time.

When Goliath was done, Brooklyn called out to Rose asking what was happening, when the radio went silent.

"Rose! ROSE!" Brooklyn roared again into the ear piece, but there was still that heart-stopping silence. No static, no prospect that it was knocked away from her but still working- no. It had been destroyed.

"HURRY!" He roared back to Goliath and Lexington over his shoulder, and then whipped his head back and kept his bright white eyes peeled towards Emily's apartment. They were getting so close, but were still minutes away to his desperate dismay. Whatever was happening there with the Draugr was going down now, and without him there to help protect her, it was a matter of life and death.

The worst thoughts were going through his mind of what he would see when he got there, and it was making him ill. He knew Rose was strong, her magic capable of defending herself, but she had been ill lately. Losing weight and physically weaker than before thanks to her pregnancy. He wasn't sure she would be able to hold them off like she did before.

How many Draugr were there? He knew Rose's magic could hold at least six back, but it wasn't without great effort and sacrifice. Last time, he was giving all of his strength to her through their soul bond to help them survive because she couldn't do it alone. Before he joined her soul, in the chemical warehouse, he felt the effort nearly kill her… her heart giving out by how much she was fighting. So what if there were more tonight, and she was all alone? She wouldn't have a prayer...

A brief image of her body shredded to pieces floated through his mind, her empty eyes staring back up at him, and blood oozing across the floor. Rose... his unborn child…and Katie dead…

Brooklyn's heart pounded and his blood boiled with rage and fear. He couldn't handle this, it was too much, too horrible.

Two innocent children were involved this time. One being his own unborn child, who he would give his very breath of life to make sure it lived, and the other being a human child he immediately loved and would protect as his own. The thought of the Draugr getting their claws on his mate, or either of them… was enough to make him into the bigger monster out of his demonic enemies. The amount of evil they were capable of left his mind reeling with vengeance and true hatred for them.

"Brooklyn!" Goliath yelled out. "Angela, Hudson and Bronx are on their way! Akira and Broadway are coming from the docks, as well, but won't be here as quickly."

"THEN WE WILL TAKE THEM BY OURSELVES!" Brooklyn roared back. "There's children involved this time, Goliath! I WON'T LET THE DRAUGR TAKE THEM!"

Brooklyn kept his bright white eyes peeled towards the direction Emily's apartment was, but he heard Goliath's gasp of horror behind him and it was obvious that he hadn't yet considered Emily's child that Rose was watching, to be in danger… nor did he know about Brooklyn and Rose's unborn child or her pregnancy. But he did- and he would die for them all.

They quickly turned around a corner of skyscrapers and were in Emily's neighborhood when all of a sudden, the three of them literally stopped, frozen in mid-air and gasped out in horror. Emily's apartment was straight up ahead… and it was engulfed in bright orange-red flames and billowing black smoke.

"NO! NOOO! NOOO! NOOOOOOO!" Flapping his wings, Brooklyn tore towards the burning building, reaching out to Rose's mind and soul now that he was close.

Rose! Talk to me babe! Tell me you're alive! PLEASE! Rose! BABE!?

Silence. Terrible silence was in his soul. Empty and cold.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and grief racked in his broken soul. There had been too much death, and too much fear over losing his mate. Over and over again- he couldn't keep doing this. He couldn't lose her, but he blamed himself. She had been training with Puck and Hudson, to protect herself, while he had distanced himself from it all. She had tried to keep her wits up, but the unforeseen pregnancy weakened her down. He promised to always protect her, and he had not done anything of the sort. They both had let down their guards since the last Draugr attack, and now they were paying the price for their mistakes.

Rose paid the price twice… and now, he was willing to pay the ultimate price. With enraged eyes and his sharp teeth gritted, he charged towards the building with tears streaming out of his eyes, and rage in his heart. Die. The Draugr were all going to die for this night and all nights before this one for taking her and their child from him.

Whatever it took, he was going to march straight into Hel and rip every single damned part of the Draugr apart, then he would take on the Gods of Death themselves. It didn't matter if there were hundreds or thousands of them- he would die killing them, the Death Gods, and even take on Hel itself. All of it. He would take his revenge for them taking the most important people away in his life. For taking his heart and soul- the only reason to live away.

With fists out in front of him, he flew towards the glass slider door in the kitchen, which had exploded out and dove for the burning building. Goliath was screaming at him to stop, but he wasn't going to, not until he found Rose and Katie. Not until he made sure there was nothing more he could do before he went to Hel and died fighting for his mate, unborn child and sweet Katie.

Not until he took his revenge.

"BROOKLYN! NO! DON'T!" Goliath roared, but Brooklyn wrapped his wings around his body and charged through the door into the burning inferno.

---

Emily and Chris were driving in their van, coming back from their nice dinner at a fancy restaurant across town, silently holding hands. Chris occasionally looked over at her, with one hand on the wheel, the other rubbing his thumb along her knuckles in comfort.

They had discussed a lot tonight and enjoyed being a couple once again, but the night had a sadness to it. Even though it was one of the hardest things Emily would do, she and Chris both agreed to do what was best for their family and make the move to Oregon. He would call his father in the morning and take the job- and now Emily had to go home to tell Rose the news.

Chris was going to be leaving in a week, and they would be taking all their essentials, but leave the furniture and end their rental lease. His parents said they would let them move in for a few months to allow Emily to have her baby, get settled, and find a house of their own. But this wasn't an easy decision, this wasn't going to be an easy goodbye because of how quickly they were going to be leaving.

Tears slowly rolled down her face as they drove closer to their home. When they stopped at a stop sign, they suddenly heard the screaming of police and fire sirens getting louder towards them. Chris kept his foot on the brake and allowed the emergency vehicles to pass by them at a high speed. Emily's attention perked up, eyes widened, and her familiar adrenaline turned on from her time being Rose's paramedic partner on their ambulance. But as she watched the emergency vehicles turn left into their neighborhood, her heart suddenly sank.

"What the hell is going on?" Chris asked her, thinking the same thing she was.

Clearing the intersection, he turned down their street and both of them gasped out in horror. Emily raised her hands to her mouth, as Chris' face went as white as paper.

There, in front of them, were at least thirty police and fire vehicles in front of their building. Hordes of people and their neighbors were dressed in pajamas, robes and slippers, and all looking up at their burning building, with horror and tears. However, as they looked closer, it wasn't just their building on fire, it was the top floor… their apartment was an inferno of flames and billowing black smoke.

"God have mercy!" Chris whispered, and looked over as Emily tore out of her seat and tried to keep her in. "EMILY, NO!" But she was already running towards the burning building, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"KATIE! ROSE! NOOOOO! "

Chris parked the car, ripped open the door and sprinted after her. "Emily! Wait!"

A firefighter turned to see her running towards the building, stepped in her way, and held his arm out to her. "No, ma'am! Stay away! It's too dangerous!"

"Is everyone out!?" She yelled in tears. "That is my house! My best friend and my four-year-old were up there! Please sir… is everyone out?!"

The firefighter turned to look at his engineer, who was manning the engine's water, and both exchanged looks of horror. The engineer, a man with a bushy mustache, got on his radio and began relaying the information that there could potentially be two people up in the fire. A child and an adult- both females. But before she could hear what was being said on their radios, someone called out Emily's name. Turning around, she saw their neighbor rushing towards her.

"Oh… Maria!" Emily gasped out in a ragged breath and sob, and took her hands in hers. "My daughter and best friend were home tonight! Is everyone out of the apartment building?! Have you seen them out here?"

Maria was about the same age as Emily, and had a husband who was Chris' age, but no children of their own. She was in tears and looked horrified.

"No mami." She said in her broken Spanish. "No one has come down, nor have I seen Katie. She… she was home tonight? She's not with you?"

"No…" Emily gasped out in a sob. "My best friend was babysitting her, we went on a date!"

"Shit." The firefighter suddenly said under his breath, and the engineer suddenly began relying more information to the firefighters who were attacking the fire from the outside. Which told Emily that Katie and Rose were not out yet, and her heart fell into her stomach, while Chris looked like he was about to hit the ground and pass out.

"MY DAUGHTER IS UP THERE!" Emily screamed, fighting with all of her strength to rip past the firefighter, who still held her in his arms, and fought with the strength of a mother to reach her child. He was struggling to hold onto her, so a Police officer rushed over and helped the firefighter hold her back.

"Ma'am, calm down! We are trying to-" The officer tried to say, wrapping his arms around her, but she kept screaming and fighting.

"MY DAUGHTER! MY DAUGHTER AND BEST FRIEND ARE STILL IN THERE!"

---

Rose gasped out as the Draugr lifted her from the ground by the neck and held her to his face. She had no choice but to grab at his wrists to try to support herself, and flail her legs. But she was too weak to fight him off, and the Draugr only hissed out a laugh at her.

"Come princess of darkness. Hel and your parents await your arrival, as does master Kevin."

Rose could barely breathe in its grasp and stench, but upon hearing his words, she froze and opened her eyes wide; taking in his horrible face. "Kevin?!"

The Draugr didn't respond to her horrified whisper but drug her by the neck towards the door where her murderous ex-husband apparently was waiting for her. Her head was still swimming, and her vision was dizzy and disorienting. She still couldn't feel Brooklyn, and could only feel how dark and ice-cold her body was. She had to get out of his grasp, but still couldn't move.

"Find the child." The Draugr hissed at his partner. "Save some of her flesh for me."

Katie.

"No." Rose could only say, holding onto the Draugr's awful wrist; trying to fight. "No!" She barely turned her head around against his skeletal hold, and saw that the other Draugr was hanging back and was sniffing around for Katie.

"No!" She moaned again, but nothing she was doing was stopping the Draugr from dragging her towards the door, further away from her niece- the little girl who felt like her own child. She wouldn't let them get to her, wouldn't let Kevin get his hands on her or her unborn child. At that thought, something came to life inside of her; and snapped.

A fire, hot and ready to strike, was quickly melting the ice which was holding her soul and magic hostage, to protect the children she loved.

"NOOOOOOO!" She screamed out, making the Draugr turn to face her with a surprised look on his face.

Hot electricity shot from her hands and into the Draugr's wrists and kept holding on, watching smoke burn his rotting flesh. Like a hot iron to skin, the smell was horrendous and the Draugr's scream of pain was more than her ears could take, but she held on, until he let her go. Rose dropped to the ground on her knees as the Draugr backed away, shrieking and holding onto his wrist. To her amazement, he was holding his hand as it melted away like ash.

"What manner of magic is this?!" He shrieked in panic.

Rose whipped her head around to see the partner watching in horror, so she turned back to the injured one, shot to her feet, and with a scream, shot a full stream of electricity into his body, hoping to burn him more. She couldn't summon fire unless there was actual fire around her, but this would have to do for now. And to her further shock, it worked. Her power forced the Draugr against the wall by the windows, screaming in pure agony, but she wasn't letting up. His body melted and smoked at her power, until he suddenly burst into flames, making her cry out and jump back in shock.

His skin acted like she torched something flammable, and it was more like an instant inferno of fire and flame. The Draugr screamed, rolled around and tried to extinguish himself, but to her terror and horror, he rolled across the rugs, wooden floors, couch and then finally Emily's curtains; and within seconds they all caught on fire- blazing as if they too had been coated in the substance that coated the Draugr's body.

"Shit! SHIT!"

Rose watched the Draugr scream a few more times before its death-roll slowed and the corpse became just that, a burning body of bones and rotting flesh. The demon stopped moving, but suddenly the home lit up in bright orange-red flames and black smoke, before Rose's eyes. She hadn't meant to set her best friend's home on fire, nor did she think her magic had that capability. Shocked in pure horror, she glanced down at her hands feeling unsure of herself, when another enraged shriek sounded from behind her.

Gasping, she whipped around as the last Draugr shot forward and punched her in the face. The force was excruciating, and she was sure that he broke her nose and some of her skull. She went flying across the floor and smacked into the kitchen counter before crumbling to her backside. Blood was gushing out of her nose and mouth, her face was in incredible pain, making her vision even more dizzy.

The flames were building around them and the heat was growing to intense conditions. The Draugr was advancing on her with drool coming out of his mouth, claws raised to maim her, when the fire alarms started to flash and screech. Water blasted out from the sprinkling systems, instantly soaking her and the Draugr, but the water was only adding to the fire. This wasn't any ordinary fire, she realized, it was caused by her and her dark magic. It was Hel's fire and couldn't be put out with water alone.

Rose gasped out in horror and crawled backwards away from the Draugr, her clothes, hair and skin soaked with water- but due to the heat- the water was quickly turning to boiling conditions. Gasping out in pain, she raised a shield around her to protect her from the heat. The Draugr was trying to do the same, but the fire was too hot and bright for it to handle, and he couldn't. He backed away, shrieking in pain and rage, when a loud wailing and crying came from upstairs.

Katie was screaming, crying, and wailing for her. Rose gasped out and looked up towards her bedroom, but so did the Draugr. Her heart seemed to stop when he gave her an evil grin; and she knew what he wanted.

"Don't even think about it!" She snarled, but his evil grin became more pronounced, then he spread his wings and shot up into the air. "NOOOOOO!"

Rose watched the Draugr head for the stair landing where Katie's bedroom was, but she was instantly right behind him, using her magic to blast off the ground and up into the air. Flying through the heat and smoke, she kept using her magic like a rocket until she and him were the same height. Sensing her behind him, the Draugr turned to face her, shocked to see her flying and screamed. She wrapped her legs around his waist, securing her to him, and then whipped two long silver swords out of her wrists. With one swift slice, she used both swords in a criss-cross motion and took his head clean off his neck.

Rose smiled darkly to herself, dropped the swords to the ground below, and then launched herself off his body and grabbed at the iron bars of the stairwell. With a grunt, she hung twelve feet in the air, looked down and saw the Draugr's body fall into the flames. At impact, a hot explosion occurred, making the flames even more aggressive with heat and rage. The smoke was so intense that she couldn't see, couldn't breathe, and knew she had to climb herself over the landing. Below her was all fire, which was quickly making its way up the walls towards her, and if her burning, sweating hands let go of the bars, then she was done for.

No magical shield could protect her from that much fire.

Kicking her legs to help her, and grunting out, she pulled herself up, trying anything to get her legs up on the ledge. Her lungs were heavy, sweat and blood was pouring out of her face, but Katie's screams were still coming from her bedroom, over the flashing and screeching of the fire alarms, making her desperation to get to her and get out more frantic. She had to get to her because the air was hot, thick and oxygen was quickly being sucked out by the hot smoke.

Rose finally got her leg up on the ledge and staggered steps towards Katie's bedroom when suddenly a large, strong being dressed in all black slammed into her- pushing her backwards away from Katie's room. She screamed out in shock and she fell to her back. A strong black leather gloved hand suddenly grasped around her neck, cutting off all of her oxygen. It was so much stronger than the Draugr's grip was- so much more rage pulsing through his body language- and instantly she knew who it was.

The Draugr were trying to bring her to this being- the man who used to be her husband, but he was now here in front of her. She kicked and flailed under his strong grip trying to gasp for air. Her hazel eyes met his black ones and she could only gape at the sight of him.

Kevin was holding her down, his pale white, gaunt face hidden by a black respirator mask that covered half of his face- but the four claw marks made by Brooklyn were poking out just enough that she could see them. He pushed his heavy body down upon hers and then brought his face down to hers.

"Hello my darling wife." He said through his mask, making his deep voice even deeper and mechanical sounding. "Did you miss me?"

Rose grabbed onto his wrists and tried to rip his hands off her, but couldn't. He was much physically stronger than she was and seemed to have even more strength now that he was a part of Hela's undead army. She was gasping in air, but he held her windpipe off- making it impossible to focus on her magic. Since she was unable to speak, he continued to stare down at her, drinking in every inch of her face and body, and speak to her.

"I've thought about you every single moment since your precious Gargoyle lover killed me, did you know that? Even in death, you have continued to torment my soul, causing so much pain and grief that I've learned to hate you even more than I already do- but long for your love at the same time." He paused, tightened his grip on her and then lowered his face to hers. "How does that make any sense?" He paused again, stared down at her hungrily and then let up just enough to allow her to gasp, cough and gag in air; allowing her to live.

"If… if you think that I'm going to allow you to take me to Hel, to my parents, then you've got another thing coming." Rose whispered venomously, and he blinked at her in surprise.

"So you do know where you come from." He said thoughtfully. "Interesting. For once, you've actually surprised me, Rose darling. Perhaps you aren't as dull as you once were." Kevin pressed his body deeper on hers, pinning her to the ground harder and moved his face inches from hers; while grasping onto her jaw in an iron-tight grip.

"God, I've missed you babe, but…at the same time, I've hated you for so long. I have debated tossing you into the fire to watch you burn alive and end this all, but you're an important piece of a bigger plan, one that is more deliciously appetizing to me than your death. So, whether you like it or not, babe, it's time for you to join me, your rightful husband, in Hel. Come with me, Rose, we've got a hell of a party waiting for us."

Just then, he used one gloved hand and used wispy red magic; somehow opening a black and red portal behind him. Rose's eyes widened in shock and horror, unable to believe that this was happening… Kevin had the same magic she did and could open a portal to a different realm. She stared up at him with alarm, and as he looked down into her face, a darkness suddenly shadowed over his familiar black eyes- a familiar hunger of violence and lust that always crossed over his face when he was with her.

"But first, before we go, there's so much I have to say to you, Rose. So many things I never got to tell you before your bastard of a Gargoyle killed me…" He whispered, raising that hand into a fist, and her eyes widened. "This is for all the hell you've put me through for MONTHS! I've lost my GODDAMN mind because of you!"

PUNCH!

Rose cried out once as he brought his iron fist down upon her already broken face. More blood oozed out of her mouth, nose and cuts on her face.

"This is for you leaving and betraying me!"

PUNCH! Her vision went even more blurry and she couldn't move; but she refused to cry out again. Her reserve strength came out and endured this torment from him.

"This is for choosing to marry and be with that fucking monster over ME!"

PUNCH! PUNCH!

Rose's vision went in and out, and she was sure she was going to pass out. But yet, she was still there, still awake and enduring the pain, and she wouldn't let him win.

He raised his fists up to punch her again, but with a rotation of her wrists and magic, she summoned a sword out and plunged it into his chest, straight through his armor and clean through to his back. He cried out a scream of shock and pain, and his eyes went wide. His fingers fell off her neck as he braced himself over her, their faces inches from each other's and rage went through her like the fire beneath her.

His eyes went from wide shock to a dark amusement, and to her horror, he pushed his body further against her blade- as if it felt good to him- until his chest was touching the hilt of her sword and hand, and laid inches over her face.

"W-what?! NO!" She gasped out. "How?!"

But he stared down at her, with the sword still sliced through him and studied her.

"Did you really think that you could kill me?" He asked in a soft purr, then laughed evilly. "My darling Rose, after all this time, you are still so…" He lowered his gaze, took a deep hiss of breath in, and ran a gloved hand down in between her breasts. "Beautiful and desirable to me… but yet still so naive."

Rose grit her teeth and tried to force his hands off her breasts, but he grabbed her hands and held them above her head instead. His black eyes bearing into hers. "Let me let ya in for a little secret here, since you haven't figured it out yet, 'k babe?" He pulled a knife out and lightly ran it over her face, down her neck and over her breasts, making her heart pound and stomach sick. "You can't kill me, because I'm already dead…"

He then stabbed the knife down into her hands, nailing her to the floor. Rose's screams filled the air all around them, and he cackled out a laugh at her pain; his eyes wide and excited. He stayed silent for a moment, listening to her scream and cry out in pain, and watched her as if they weren't in a burning building and had nothing but time to talk this through. With her hands nailed and bleeding on the floor, she was running out of ideas to get out of his grasp, and he knew it too.

"Funny-" he mused quietly. "With this Hel fire all around us- I can see a future for us once again…"

"I hate you!" She seethed.

"Oh, Rose." He laughed. "Hate is such a strong word- I mean, you've gotta really mean it. I would say that I hate you too for all you've done to me, but when I get around you like I am right now, I can't seem to keep my hands off you. I just want to slide myself into you and make you scream again."

She gasped and grunted against him despite the pain of being nailed to the ground, in a rage that amused him.

"Stay the HELL away from me, you INSANE bastard!"

"Oh don't worry, Rose," he whispered in a laugh. "I can't actually do anything like that with this body. No, no… it's so unfortunate, but only temporary, I assure you. When I deliver you to Hela… well… then I'll be the God I've always wanted to be and have the body to match my every burning need, pleasure, and desire that you'll, once again, give me."

Rose stared at him with a horrified look of disbelief.

"So that's why she brought you back to life? To bring me to her in Hel? That's your part in all of this?!"

"Your mother is quite persistent, yes." Kevin laughed thoughtfully, as Rose stared at him with wide-horrified eyes and listened to him give her more information than she ever had before. "She wants you home where you are needed for a little… oh, let's just say experiment for your dull little mind to understand. They plan on taking over Avalon, and then cursing this entire world including all the Humans and your precious Gargoyles to bend to them. Your mother is scary as hell, and your father… well he's an evil bastard- worse than I am- but don't take my word for it, you'll just have to see for yourself when you meet them."

A curse? Rose thought to herself, her mind reeling, then she remembered what Puck told her about his vision. Millions of people, both in the magical realm and mortal, all screaming before the world went silent. Was this what the Death Gods were planning… was Puck right? World annihilation, and if she was needed to complete their world in Hel, being their daughter… then this was the plan. The reason for everything, the reason she was being sought out so desperately. But what she wanted to know now, was where in the hell was Oberon, Lord of Avalon, in all of this? Why wasn't he protecting the Humans? The Mortals? Was Hudson right… did they see themselves better off and leave the mortals to fend for themselves?

Rose's breathing became difficult to obtain now, and fire was all around them. Rage pulsed through her, and refused to let Kevin win- refusing to let Hela win. Parents or not, they weren't her family and never would be. And the fact that Kevin was a part of this was horrendous, and low even for him.

"You're insane!" She gasped, tears welling up in her eyes- unable to let him take her to them and let this happen, and he laughed.

"Yes, yes I am, but at least I'm not having sex with a disgusting Gargoyle." He then dangled the knife over her eyes. "Who's insane now?"

"Still you." She seethed, her hands throbbing with them nailed, and even through the pain and blood- she willed her magic to force it slowly out of her skin.

"Well," Kevin whispered darkly. "No matter what you think, I'm bringing you with me to Hel to meet your parents, Hela and Demetrius- where there, you'll forever be mine. What do you think about that, my darling Rose? Together, as husband and wife again, we shall rule Hel and have the entire world bowing and kissing our feet. That's what I've always been willing to give you is the entire world, and now that I am gonna give it to you- I only ask for one thing in return… can you guess what that'll be?"

He paused, to let her answer him, but when she remained silent he answered it for her. "It's yours… as long as you crawl over me every single night, and please me endlessly- how does that sound?"

Rose gritted her teeth, bared her teeth at him and stared at him with her glowing red eyes- then spit in his face. Kevin flinched slightly at her, but then smiled and looked delighted.

"I'll take that as a maybe."

"Fuck you!"

Kevin purred again. "Oh baby… I so wish you would," He smirked and then trailed his fingers down her breasts and circled a finger around her nipples. "But don't you worry, we'll get that chance again very soon."

With a disgusted scream, she ripped her hands out from the knives, swearing she was going to pass out from the pain, and grabbed at his respirator, tearing it clean off his face. His eyes widened in shock but she had already kicked him off her. She rolled around, forcing her ripped up hands to work and held the oxygen to her mouth and took much needed deep breaths of oxygen.

She faced him, right as he activated magic out of his hands- just like she could, and went to slice at her- but she ran forward and hurled the dagger into his eye. It didn't go deep enough to penetrate his brain, but he was screaming out in pain and rage; and backed away, holding his face.

Now that oxygen was entering her mind again, she was able to think more clearly and the magic that killed the Draugr was her next move. However, Kevin quickly stepped forward and backhanded her across the face, sending her falling to the ground. As she fell to the ground, gasping and crying out in pain, he pulled the knife out of his bleeding eye, but the injury wasn't stopping him nor did it slow him down.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, YOU BITCH!"

He dove towards her, grabbed her by the hair at the top of her scalp and dragged her towards his portal- tired of playing with his food. She screamed out at the top of her lungs; kicking and flailing in his grasp and refusing to go down without a fight.

Without his mask on, she could see every feature of his face, and it was almost unrecognizable. He was a corpse, and becoming more like a Draugr almost, instead of the Human man he once was. However to her shock, he didn't try to get his oxygen back and was almost letting her use it to breathe and live, which was unlike him to do so. He definitely wanted to kill her, but the curse he told her about was a reason he and the Draugr needed her alive.

The fire was climbing the walls now, and her escaping with Katie seemed to be a hopeless endeavor. To Rose's horror, she hadn't heard Katie's scream for five minutes now, and by now, the fire alarms had been silenced- and were only flashing in the darkness. Kevin was panting out grunts, struggling without his oxygen on, as he pulled her body towards the portal. With her fighting against him with all she had, he was slowly losing, but they both stopped when an even louder roar exploded around them, and her soul bond burst to life inside of her.

Kevin suddenly looked up, and there standing in the stair landing having somehow climbed up the burning walls, was Brooklyn. His white eyes were shining brightly, his teeth sharp and menacing and claws out ready to maim Kevin. Rose turned around in Kevin's grasp and cried out in surprise and then relief. Brooklyn looked ferociously terrifying behind the bright flames with his white eyes shining in the dark. She choked out a sob of relief, not realizing she had tears left in her, and then whipped around to look into Kevin's eyes.

"You're dead Kevin!"

With gritted teeth, he whipped out a sword, immobilized her with his magic- and to her great surprise she suddenly couldn't move or speak. He turned her around and held it to her neck, pressing it tightly to her skin.

"I don't think so!" He hissed back, then turned to face Brooklyn- who roared out again a deafening roar. She opened her mouth to scream for him to get out, but found she couldn't thanks to Kevin's magic holding her hostage.

"Kevin!" Brooklyn seethed in a snarl, advancing on him.

"Oh hello, Brooklyn. Did ya miss me?" Kevin said lightly, still holding the sword to her neck.

"LET HER GO!"

"No… I can't say that I will." Kevin said lightly. Brooklyn advanced slowly towards him, but Kevin backed her up to the portal.

"Then I guess you haven't learned the first time. If you DARE to touch and harm my mate, I will rip your body to shreds and kill you again." Brooklyn snarled, his face more monster and deranged than Rose has seen in a while.

"Ooh… scary! Such blood-lust." Kevin mocked lightly, then shrugged. "Well, since we are bearing our darkest parts of our souls, as for me… I have missed fucking and touching my dear wife, and she's missed me too. See?"

He then ran his open hand down the length of her body, starting with her breasts then slowly towards her thighs. Rose gasped out and tried to fight him off, but couldn't move or talk still, and had to endure the horrible feeling of his hands on her body, touching her in between her thighs. She wanted to scream, but couldn't. His magic was inside her, binding her, and all she could was stare at the horrible expression from Brooklyn, as he watched Kevin degrade her body.

"See how she doesn't resist me?" Kevin cooed, pressing his lips on the base of her neck, luring Brooklyn in with jealousy. "She doesn't want to because I'm the one who she really belongs to."

Kevin stared at Brooklyn with a smile to get a reaction out of him, and found it was working. Brooklyn was seething, watching his fingers stay down near her inner thighs, crudely playing, his pain so raw that it was physically ripping through him to the point where he couldn't move or think anymore.

BROOKLYN! Rose screamed in her mind, trying to snap him out of it. HE'S BOUND ME WITH MAGIC! I CAN'T MOVE! HELP ME!

When he heard her pleading thoughts for him to help her, he snapped. Murderous thoughts went through his mind again and complete rage filled his being. Rose stared up at her mate with silent fear, but Brooklyn continued to stand still with the fire burning behind him and seemed to be a physical representation of his rage.

"You're going to die." Was all Brooklyn whispered, before he pounced forward with a deafening roar, slamming into Kevin and ripping him off Rose, and into the hallway wall next to the bathroom. Kevin's magical bind was released, and Rose collapsed to the ground, thankful to feel her body again. With bleeding hands, she held the mask up to her face and breathed in fresh air desperately, needing to get to Katie, and get herself and Brooklyn out.

Instead, she turned and watched with wide-eyes as Brooklyn pinned Kevin against the wall, holding him down so that he couldn't move. He grabbed onto Kevin's wrists, snapped them in half; making him drop his swords as Kevin roared out in pain. Brooklyn opened his beak and showed him all of his sharp teeth, then gripped Kevin's face with his claws and squeezed so hard that his jaw shattered. Kevin screamed out in pain and rage, Rose winced, and with every popping and grinding noise he tried to move, but Brooklyn kept him pinned.

"DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH MY MATE EVER AGAIN!" He roared. "DO YOU HEAR ME!?"

"She's not yours, you stupid beast!"

"Ohhh, Kevin. I'm going to enjoy watching you burn you BASTARD!" Brooklyn snarled through gritted teeth. But behind him, Kevin whipped a second sword out and went to stab him in the side.

"Brooklyn… LOOK OUT!" Rose screamed out from the floor. Brooklyn heard her thoughts and saw what she was seeing, and instantly acted. With a roar that shook the entire house, shaking loose walls and bricks, he threw Kevin away from the wall, up over his head, and down onto the ground, so hard that his back snapped with a horrifying CRACK.

Rose's hand went to her covered mouth, but still couldn't seem to move. The fire was bearing down upon them now, burning all around them, but she still couldn't move. Kevin's sword cluttered to the ground, and his broken back should have killed him, but it didn't. Instead, to both of their horror, Kevin stood up, his body limp and unnatural, then snapped his body back together. His back, neck, and then wrists.

When fully put back together, Kevin then whipped out two more swords from his wrists, and grinned evilly at Brooklyn, who was also staring at him with a horrified expression.

"Ohhh yeah, I can do that now." Kevin laughed, strutting towards him. "If you didn't believe in ghost stories before, monster, you best believe in them now- because you're in one!"

He then charged at Brooklyn, roaring out, and swiped a sword in the air, missing his face by inches, but Brooklyn caught his wrist- and Kevin then went to stab another sword into his abdomen, but Brooklyn stopped that wrist as well, and with all of his amazing strength threw him across the hallway with great ease. Kevin slammed into a wall of fire by the stairwell and crumbled to the ground with a groan. Brooklyn then jumped over to him, and Kevin stood up to take him on, but was too late.

"GAME OVER KEVIN!" Brooklyn snarled and landed heavily in front of him. "GO TO HELL!"

He then karate kicked him in the chest, sending him flying over the banister with a scream, and into the inferno below.

---

"Whoa…!" Rose gasped out, unable to believe what she just saw. Amazement, awe, and pride for her strong Gargoyle mate was taking her breath away- if the fire wasn't already. Brooklyn had his back to her, was panting a great deal, and every muscle in his back was bulging as he stared down after Kevin's body. He had won again… or so it seemed. Even in an inferno fire, she had a horrible feeling that Kevin still wasn't gone, that was too easy, and they both already had made the mistake at letting their guard down a few times before.

Kevin said to her that nothing could kill him, and in her mind, part of her believed him. He was made from Hela's magic which was different from the Draugr's anatomy.

Holding Kevin's oxygen mask to her, she slowly and painfully tried to stand to grab Brooklyn and bring him over to her, so they could find Katie and get to safety, but she was knocked back down when the whole floor shook underneath them like an earthquake. Rose cried out in fear and thought they were all going down. The structure was unstable, and most likely was about to collapse in any minute.

"BROOKLYN!"

At Rose's scream and the imminent danger of the unstable apartment, Brooklyn instantly turned around, ran over to her, and skidded to the ground beside her. He didn't ask if she was alright because he knew she wasn't. Not after being attacked by Draugr, fondled and manhandled by Kevin, as well as seeing all of her wounds and blood on her face, and their sweet reunion would have to wait. Right now, none of them were safe or alright, not as long as they stayed in the burning building.

Holding them both against the ground, he wrapped his arm around her and yelled in her ear, "Rose, we've gotta get outta here! Where is Katie?!"

A large groan and creak was heard, then suddenly a part of the ceiling collapsed right next to them, making the floor lurch sickeningly again. Rose screamed, and he shielded her body with his. All around them was fire, and she couldn't seem to focus, but Brooklyn shook her again, his eyes full of fear.

"ROSE where is Katie?"

"Katie…" Rose gasped out and seemed to come out of her daze, and true terror gripped at her heart. Her eyes widened and she grasped onto Brooklyn, trying to hold onto him so she didn't pass out from the fear of losing Katie. His eyes glanced over her bleeding hands, and looked horrified, but she forced him back to the present issue. "Oh my God, Brooklyn! KATIE! I … I haven't heard from her in some time, thanks to Kevin! She… she should still be in her room! She was screaming earlier, but I haven't heard from her since!"

Brooklyn's face was unreadable in the flames all around them as he stared down at her, but he instantly got moving. Keeping her body protected against his, and shielding her with his wings, he crawled them both towards Katie's room. He reached up to her handle, ignoring how hot it was and quickly pushed it open. They crawled in quickly and Brooklyn used his tail to shut the door. Rose was breathing deeply in the oxygen mask, and he started coughing a great deal.

Without wasting a moment, she held the oxygen mask to her mouth, took a few deep breaths and then forced the mask against Brooklyn's mouth- giving him the same gift of oxygen, even if that gift was from Kevin. Katie's room was very dark and smoky and she could hardly see a thing. Brooklyn took her down to the ground, so their faces were underneath the smoke, and they began to feel around for her bed.

"Katie!" Rose yelled, pulling herself to look in her bed and in between the silent alarm flashes, she saw her bed was empty, and her heart filled with dread. She didn't run and leave her room, did she?

"KATIE!" Rose screamed out again, as hot-tears streamed down her face. "KATIE BABY, where are you!? It's Auntie Rose! Answer me!"

Brooklyn took deep breaths of the mask, then gave it back to Rose, who was growing hysterical, and crawled along the floor. Reaching blindly underneath the bed for her, he didn't feel anything- so then he crawled for the closet. Little kids normally hid when they were scared- even he knew that- and so he quickly ripped open the closet door and began searching blindly for her.

"Katie!" He yelled out, as Rose was still screaming and calling out for her through the oxygen mask. Then, a bright burst of light flashed inside the room.

"BROOKLYN!" Rose screamed. He looked up and whipped around and saw that flames were slowly eating their way through the door and into Katie's room. They were running out of time. Cussing to himself, he kept searching frantically for the little girl. Rose appeared behind him, touched his shoulder, took a deep breath and then gave him the oxygen mask.

"She's not in here!" She sobbed in his ear, and wrapped her shaking body around his, as he took deep breaths of oxygen. "Brooklyn… Katie's not in here! What… what do we do!?"

Brooklyn furiously pulled at the clothes to look deeper for the little girl, but it was getting to a point that he needed to get Rose out. He took a deep breath, then gave her back the oxygen and held onto her face.

"We need to get out!" He yelled, feeling the heat melting through the floors. "We need to go NOW!"

"What about Katie?!" Rose shrieked through the mask. "WE CAN'T LEAVE HER!"

Cussing again, he turned to her and grabbed onto her face. "Did she leave the room? Think Rose, quickly! Would she have left to hide in Emily's room?!"

"I-I'm not sure! It's… possible..."

"I'm going to go check." Brooklyn said, turning away, but Rose stopped him, sobbing.

"You can't! The fire!"

"Go to the window and flag down Goliath- the Clan should be outside." Brooklyn instructed her seriously, she was crying harder, but he shook her again. "GO ROSE, NOW!"

"NO! Brooklyn, I'm not-"

"GO!"

Rose opened her mouth to argue, but then over the roar of the flames, Brooklyn suddenly placed his talon over her mouth and froze.

"Wait, did you hear that?" He asked quietly.

Rose stilled and quickly gave Brooklyn a turn with the mask, he took one quick breath before giving it back and listening still. Out of the chaos, and with his good hearing, a child was wailing and crying desperately from somewhere inside the room, and Rose heard it too.

"She's close by!" Rose gasped out. "KATIE! KATIE, WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Both Brooklyn and Rose stopped what they were doing and listened to see if she would respond, and within seconds another cry was heard and was coming from underneath her bed. Brooklyn shot across the floor and dove halfway under it with Rose behind him. There, huddled in the furthest corner of her room, terrified, was Katie. Brooklyn breathed out in relief, as Rose crawled under the bed next to Brooklyn and reached her hand out to her.

"Katie! Grab my hand baby, we gotta get out of here! There's a fire!"

Katie was still sobbing, clutching her Aurora doll and was too scared to move, so Brooklyn pushed his claw closer to her and yelled, "Grab my claw, Katie! Come on honey, we gotta go!"

Her teary eyes locked onto his, and seemed to respond to her 'guardian angel,' so he pushed, "I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise! I'll protect you with my life, but I need you to take my hand!"

The seconds she took to listen to him, felt like minutes they didn't have. But when she did, Brooklyn grabbed onto her and pulled her across her floor and into his arms. He eased out from under the bed, kept her in his arms, and Rose instantly tore the mask off her face and held it to her face. Brooklyn looked at her small window, but saw the iron bars.

"Shit! Take Katie!" He yelled, pushing Katie into Rose's arms, ran for the window and broke the glass with his fists.

Rose held Katie tightly in her arms and wrapped her body in a blanket to protect from the hot flames that were now eating her ceiling. With a roar and loud growl, he repeatedly shouldered the iron bars from the window and kept slamming, but the iron bars were being slow to break. Luckily for them, the smoke was being sucked back out from the window, but the flames were now on their heels, feeding on the oxygen in a frenzy, beginning to melt the floor and would soon melt them to nothing.

"Hurry Brooklyn! Please!" Rose pleaded, holding Katie tightly, who was screaming and crying against the mask, but she held it tightly to her face so she got oxygen. Brooklyn eyes lit up in rage and kept slamming his body and claws into the bars, breaking them apart. Rose pressed herself close to the window and kept close to the ground- the flames getting closer to consuming them completely. Katie's closet was gone and embers were eating her bed up now.

"Brooklyn!" Rose cried out, panicking as the bed burst into flames. He almost had it, but they were out of time, the flames were too intense. "BROOKLYN, HURRY!"
With one last roar of fury, he slammed his shoulder into the iron bars, until it finally broke free- leaving a gaping hole for them to escape. He grabbed onto her and tossed her to the window pane, but there wasn't anywhere for them to go, except fall, and she screamed in fear of heights.

"THERE'S NOWHERE TO GO! Wh-what should I do Brooklyn? JUMP?" Rose screamed, turned around to face Brooklyn, but he had fallen to his knees and wasn't responding to her.

"BROOKLYN!"

Holding Katie tightly to her and gasping out in panic, Rose had only one choice. Jump and maybe, hopefully, survive if her magic permitted, but if she did, then Brooklyn would perish- which wasn't a fate she was going to let him take. Tears streamed down her face, looking down at Katie, the ground, and then over at Brooklyn who was struggling against the heat of the smoke and flames; and didn't know what to do. Just then, to her relief, claws stabbed into the side of the building and Lexington was there- giving her a second choice.

"Give me the child!" He yelled out frantically. "HURRY! I'll glide her to safety!"

Without a second wasted she gave Katie to Lexington, who wrapped her in his arm and took off flying down to the alleyway. Rose turned, eased herself back into the room and gathered Brooklyn up by the shoulders.

"Come on my love, help me get you out of here!"

"Leave… me…" He begged weakly, touching her face as if to savor his last time seeing her. "Save... yourself…"

"Never!" She snarled and tugged him to his feet with a scream of effort, and struggled to hold him up. "HELP ME! We're getting out of here! If not, then we will burn together!"

To her relief, he didn't try to play the hero and forced himself to move; helping her to get him off the burning floor. With a grunt of effort, she cleared Katie's nightstand off, and pushed it out of the way so they could more easily climb out. Brooklyn grabbed onto the window pane, as she wrapped herself around him, and climbed them both of the window. He didn't have enough room to spread his wings, so he held onto her with one arm, tossed them out of the window to the side and stabbed a claw into the brick.

The breath of fresh air was delicious, but she was terrified of how much smoke Brooklyn had, and if he was going to be alright to glide or hold them both high up. Red and blue sirens were all around them, even from this high up, and people started screaming from the ground. They hung on the side of the tall apartment building, which was all torched, the brick unstable and not able to hold their weight for much longer. Brooklyn was sweating a great deal, but to her relief, he was still going strong. He spread his wings out, then pushed off from the building, and glided them away from the fire.

Once safe, Rose let out a sob of relief in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" She cried out to him, and he could only hold onto her and bury his beak into her shoulders, with tears streaming down his own face. Words were lost at this moment, and he didn't know what to say. Didn't know how to process everything that they've both seen and endured. Tonight was horrible, too close to death- but yet again- they had escaped. They were alive, but their chances at surviving were dwindling down. They couldn't stay this lucky, now that Kevin was back and escaped. He did not perish in the fire- that would have been too easy, and knowing Kevin like they did, he wasn't one to go down easily.

"Brooklyn!" Goliath called from the ground, and Brooklyn whipped his head down to see that the Clan was in the alleyway. He descended down and gently touched down on the ground, thoroughly exhausted, but alive. The entire Clan was there, and all rushed forward to see if they were okay, but Rose kicked down from his arms and rushed forward, stumbled for Lexington and Akira who were both looking after Katie.

Akira gasped out loud and raised her claws up in horror upon seeing her.

"Rose! Your face and hands!!"

But she ignored Akira and didn't have time to worry about her own injuries, even though they probably weren't pretty having been beaten up by a Draugr and Kevin, and then nailed to the floor with a knife. She skidded to her knees in front of Lexington and he let her collect Katie in her arms. Rose rested against the side wall, and moved the blanket from Katie's body, sobbing still. She opened the mask and looked down into her face.

Her skin was black with soot from the smoke, her eyes large and full of fear and tears.

"Baby… are you okay?" Rose gasped out, running a hand over her face and through her hair. "Talk to me please, bug. Are you alright?"

But Katie stayed silent, and suddenly looked up past her in a daze. Rose knew that look, and it was suddenly scaring her more than anything she'd seen tonight.

"Katie…?" She asked again softly, shaking her slightly. "Honey, talk to Auntie Rose."

Goliath and Hudson were looking Brooklyn over, who coughed a few times and then waved them off, telling them he was fine, but broke through the circle that the rest of the Clan had made and was watching Rose try to arouse the small child. Her eyes were open, but something definitely was not right, she was too still. And he would recognize open, fixed eyes anywhere. Brooklyn rushed forward and wrapped one arm around her and touched Katie's face, supporting her head, with the other claw.

"What's wrong with her? Why won't she speak?"

Rose was crying and having a hard time breathing out of fear, but didn't respond to him. She quickly placed Katie on the ground, checked her pulse up near her bicep and placed her head down on her chest, listening for a heartbeat. It was there but weak; however she wasn't breathing. When Rose raised her head up in fear, Katie's mouth suddenly started to turn blue.

"She must have inhaled too much smoke!" She gasped out in horror. "Oh… oh GOD! KATIE!"

Brooklyn's eyes widened in horror and pain, and nobody seemed to know what to do. Rose crushed her mouth down upon Katie's and started to breathe for her in a desperate attempt of rescue breathing. This was all her fault. The fire started because of her- yes she was trying to protect herself and Katie from the Draugr, but this fire was still all her fault. And fighting Kevin instead of reaching Katie first, was her fault. Katie was her responsibility, and she had failed.

If Katie died from smoke inhalation, then she would never be able to forgive herself. Never again be able to look into Emily's eyes- because she would never deserve forgiveness from her. One, two, three rounds of breathing went by, but Katie still did not stir into consciousness.

Her eyes were still open, but she was unresponsive.

"Please, please, baby girl!" Rose sobbed. "Don't do this to me! Breathe, please, I need you to breathe!" Then she crushed her mouth down to hers again, breathing for her. Brooklyn sat beside her, holding Rose's shoulders and staring down at Katie with tears streaming down his face. Just then, Rose lifted her head up and looked at each Gargoyle, begging silently for them to say or do anything to help, but no one could.

Just then, Elisa's voice cut through and was running towards the scene.

"GOLIATH!" She then stopped, placed a hand on his arm and saw Rose trying to breathe for Emily's daughter, Katie. Her face paled. "Oh my gosh! What's happened?!"

"Elisa, help me! She… she stopped breathing, from… from all the smoke." Rose gasped out and for some reason couldn't go on. Her own breath was painful and her chest tight with panic. Elisa watched her for a moment and instantly saw her panicked mental state, so she quickly pushed Rose out of the way and took over breathing for Katie, then raised her head up a few times to speak in between breaths.

"You're… a… paramedic Rose! You can't give up, not on Katie! We… have to… get her… to the hospital and oxygen on her… right now!"

Rose knew that, but Elisa was wrong, she wasn't a medic anymore- she was the reason that Katie was in this situation right now. That part of Rose's life was dead and had been gone for a long time. Yes, her medical training was still there, but now that Elisa was there to help, she had stopped and literally couldn't seem to go on to save Katie. Despite all her years of training in CPR, she couldn't stomach to keep staring into her small sweet innocent face and be the reason she was not breathing.

Rose closed her eyes, letting this moment of Elisa taking over to re-focus, because she was not willing to give up. Seconds passed, letting Rose clear her head, and now that she had, she knew what to do. She may not be the medic she used to be, but she was the daughter of death- and she could fix this. Yes, she was a paramedic still, but that's not all she was anymore. Rose suddenly lurched forward, pushed Elisa away, who gave a small gasp of outrage, but watched as she placed her hands on Katie's chest.

Rose closed her eyes, willed magic and electricity to lightly pulse down her arm and into her small chest- willing her lungs to clear up from the smoke and her magic to heal her precious niece. Rose still couldn't heal herself, as Brooklyn was the only one who could, but she could heal others.

Hot- liquid sensations flowed through her body and settled down into Katie's, and after a few seconds of this, Katie blinked, took a deep inhale of air and started to wail again. The Clan gasped out in relief, and tears streamed down Rose's face. Katie's cry was the most beautiful sound in the entire world because that meant that she was breathing on her own.

Her magic faded inside herself and she fell back against Brooklyn, who held onto her tightly, crying as well. He closed his eyes, kissed her forehead and then reached his claw out to gently touch Katie's face. Katie continued to cry, but quickly crawled over onto Rose's lap and held tightly onto her and Brooklyn- melting both of them instantly. Then, they were joined by more footsteps, Rose looked up and saw that it was Emily. She looked like hell, tears were streaming down her face, and she was worried beyond all imagination and Rose couldn't blame her.

"Oh… KATIE! ROSE!" Emily shrieked, jumped past Hudson and skidded to her knees where they were sitting.

"Mommy!" Katie cried and dove into her arms.

Rose bit her lip and grabbed onto Brooklyn's claws for comfort as Emily sobbed hysterically while holding her baby. More tears streamed down Rose's face, and blame coursed through her. The fire was all her fault, Kevin and the Draugr attacking was because of her. She was the entire reason Katie was endangered tonight and that wasn't something she could easily forgive herself for.

Brooklyn must have heard her thoughts through her soul bond, because his claws tightened around her arms squeezing them once, but she was too tired to talk to him in their minds- her head hurt too much, and a lot of magic had been spent. Emily kept sobbing hysterically, more than Rose had ever seen her cry, but she glanced up at Rose and Brooklyn, with a look of awe on her face, and she had to instantly look away. Not wanting to see her gratitude, not wanting to hear any of it.

"Thank you!" Emily breathed. "Thank God for you two and for this Clan." She then turned to look at all of the Gargoyles, and then Brooklyn, and whispered, "Thank you for saving my daughter's life."

"You're welcome." Brooklyn said quietly, nodding respectfully at her. Emily then crawled forward, wrapped her arms around him hugging him tightly, and kissed him on the side of his beak. He took a deep breath, was used to her being more forward with him by now, and wrapped an arm tightly around her; hugging her back.

"Thank you, thank you, Brooklyn." She kept saying, then moved onto Rose, took her face in a hand and stared deeply into her hazel eyes. "Thank you Rose, for saving Katie's life. I'm forever indebted to you! I love you so much!"

Rose kept her face clear of emotions, but inside she was screaming.

NO! YOU SHOULD HATE ME! Slap me across the face and tell me how much you hate me, Emily! How much you will never forgive me for what's been done. The Draugr and Kevin came because of ME! You and your family are now homeless because of me, the fire started and endangered your daughter's life, BECAUSE OF ME!

Tears filled her eyes, but they were because of rage, and her body was shaking. Brooklyn tightened his grasp on her again, and felt him calmly, gently and patiently reprimand her for thinking those things and feeling that way- which only made her angrier. Magic started to flow from her hands but then Emily pulled away. She didn't see her magic yet, but focused on her face and hands, which must have been pretty horrible.

Her face fell, she clasped a hand on her mouth and gasped, "Oh my God, Rose… honey, what happened to your face and hands?"

Rose stared at her best friend, who was still holding the quiet three-year-old and shook her head.

"Don't worry about me, just please get Katie to the hospital." She told her quietly, without emotion. "Katie suffered from smoke inhalation and stopped breathing for a few minutes, just now. I healed her with my magic, and she's breathing again on her own, but please ease all of our minds and take her to the hospital to make sure she's fully well. Don't worry about me, I'll meet up with you at the hospital in a little bit."

Emily stared at her with wide, teary eyes, but took her word for it.

"Okay." She stood up, holding Katie tightly against her large pregnancy belly and giving each member of the Clan, plus Elisa a hug. Suddenly, Chris suddenly came running over and gasped at the sight of all of the Gargoyles. His eyes drifted over each member in horror, and then looked down at Rose being embraced by Brooklyn.

"Emily! Rose!" He gasped in a horrified voice. "What… who… what the HELL is going on here!?"

"Chris, calm down." Emily started to say. "It's okay!"

"What are you doing around these creatures?" He asked, his voice dripping with slight disgust. "They- they are the New York Gargoyle monsters!"

"They aren't monsters, Chris." Emily said softly. "They are Gargoyles, but they are good. They… they are my friends." She smiled at all of them, but Chris wasn't listening. Grabbing on to her, he pulled Emily and Katie behind him and was on the verge of a panic attack as he stared at all of them, specifically the largest one- Goliath.

"You stay away from my family! Do you hear me?!" He yelled out, but Rose had heard enough. She stood up and faced him with an enraged look.

"Chris, take Katie to the hospital, now. Stop looking at the Gargoyle for their exteriors and take care of your family. I'll explain everything to you later, but for right now, you need to just… go."

"Rose." He gasped out, looking horrified at her. "Your…"

"Yeah, yeah I know!" She snapped. "My face and hands look like shit, but I don't really care! I need you to get that little girl to the hospital! Go to an ambulance and have them take her, right now!"

Chris continued to look at her, then warily looked at the Gargoyles; including Brooklyn who had warily stood and placed his claws on her shoulders.

"Rose…" Her mate said softly, but she ignored him for a moment.

"Chris please... go." She repeated, but her loyal friend still wasn't moving.

"Come with me, Rose." Chris said, holding his hand out to her- again, another person, trying to rip her away from her Clan, away from Brooklyn. "You need the hospital as well."

"I'm not going anywhere." She said seriously, standing her ground, and he looked at her as if she were crazy.

He scoffed a few times and stuttered on his words before he got them out. "What… and stay with these monsters? Rose, you're hurt, and you've obviously endured a major head trauma. You need to see a doctor right now! Come with me, we're…"

"I SAID NO! Now listen to me! Take your daughter to the hospital! Please!" Rose yelled, and her breathing suddenly turned ragged as she hissed, "And for your information, these monsters just saved your daughter's life. They are my family too, just like you and Emily are, and I ask that you not disrespect them. And this incredible being standing behind me-?" She turned to face Brooklyn and grabbed his claw, pulling him forward. "This is Brooklyn, and he's my husband that I've told you about. Yes, he's a Gargoyle, yes he's a different species, but I don't care. I love him, and he loves me. So, take whatever opinion you want to have right now and shove it up your ass, Chris, I'll deal with them later. All I care about right now is you and Emily taking your daughter to the hospital. These Gargoyles are good, they protect people, and they are the reason that I and your daughter am alive right now. But as long as you focus on their exterior and open your heart and mind to differences, you'll never see it. So, please, just… go. We can talk about this all later if you wish, but for now, Katie needs medical attention."

Chris' eyes widened widely at her explanation and bomb drop of an announcement that she was married to Brooklyn, the Gargoyle, but he slowly looked over Brooklyn and the rest of the Clan slowly.

"Okay, Rose." Chris said a bit shakily. "Fine, I'll go along with this for now. We'll take Katie to the hospital… but you really should come with us. Your face and hands are ripped up and you're bleeding everywhere."

"I will." Rose said quietly. "I just need to speak with the Clan really fast, then I'll meet you at Manhattan General."

Chris stared at her for a moment and then nodded. "Okay, we… we'll see you there because there's uh… there's now a lot that we have to discuss as well that involves you."

A dread settled deeply into Rose's heart, and she already knew what they were going to tell her. Now that their apartment was a complete and total loss, thanks to her, they were moving away. As much as it hurt, perhaps it was for the best.

Tears filled her eyes, nodded, and watched Chris turn and walk away. Emily didn't say anything to her or him- and didn't meet her eye- which told her everything she needed to know. They quickly walked down the alleyway towards an ambulance, and Katie warily waved at her from over Emily's shoulder, telling her that she loved her.

Watching them walk away, Rose suddenly had a thought and knew what had to be done to keep them safe from Kevin, Hela and the Draugr; so that another event, like tonight, wasn't possible. It was a horrible idea... one that Emily would hate her for, but she had to see it through if she was going to protect them, even if it broke her heart.

---

Kevin slammed face-first onto the ground in the warehouse he had been using as his quarters with a loud grunt. His entire body hurt, but in his empty shell of a body, all sensations were dulled making his pain less excruciating. He laid on the cold concrete floor for minutes, allowing it to cool his burned skin. He scooped his head in between his knees and grasped at his head, hating himself, hating Rose, and hating Brooklyn.

The rage he was feeling was the only powerful sensation he was allowed to feel- and it felt good. He was sure he was dead when Brooklyn kicked him over the edge of the staircase. It would have been his doom had he fallen in, but somehow a portal appeared and brought him here. He was sure he did it, but didn't recall thinking to do it. It was close… too close. If he died, Hela wouldn't have brought his soul back a second time, and his chance to become immortal would be squashed.

Failed, he failed… again. And Brooklyn, his Gargoyle foe won everything once again- he still had Rose. Breathing deeply through a wheeze and coughing violently, he reached his hand up to his face to touch his respirator, but found it was gone. Rose had ripped it off, and was using it to breathe and he let her, and he was unsure why.

Cursing out and wheezing, he gritted his teeth, made fists and then slammed them into the concrete creating divots, while screaming out intense profanities. Rose had slipped through his fingers, yet again, and Brooklyn had bested him. It was downright embarrassing, and he didn't know how this was his luck, and why he was still losing.

To make matters worse, he suddenly felt Hela's presence behind him, since his soul was hers to command. So, he adjusted his shoulders, stood up and faced her as a portal of black and red swirled in mid-air. Seconds later, Hela, dressed in her armor get-up, and long black hair straightened and down to her waist stepped through and eyed him with bright red eyes, not looking pleased.

"Well?" She demanded coldly. "Where is my daughter?"

Kevin ground his teeth together, keeping his jaw firm and stayed silent, then suddenly started to circle him like a vulture.

"Don't tell me you let her escape again…" She said softly, her voice masking violence he was sure to feel very soon.

"I had her but then she torched the fucking apartment, killing the Draugrs." He suddenly snapped. "She's grown in power that I wasn't prepared for."

Hela stopped circling and faced him, looking at him in cold disbelief.

"Have I not been training you to be as powerful, if not more, than her for this very reason?" She asked coldly. "And please- don't tell me she's more trained in her dark abilities because of Puck." She spat out the God of Mischief's name with disgust, and then stepped inches from Kevin's undead face. "I brought you to life, gave you powers and permission to reign over some of my personal armies, trained with you and spent countless hours helping you grow, and even gave you the promise for an immortal body of a God… and you still haven't given me what I want."

"The Draugr haven't either." He whispered back.

"Yes, and they are dead." Hela seethed, circling around him again. "So… the question remains… what to do with you, since you too, have failed me?"

"I still have one whole month, our time, to bring her in until your potion and curse is ready…"

"Yes, but we NEED ROSE TO DO SO!" Hela suddenly shrieked, sending some red power off of her, shutting Kevin up instantly. "We need my daughter to make it all come together, Kevin! Get that through your THICK SKULL! To give you the immortal body you are desiring, to secure our plans of war against Avalon,,and activate the curse, we need her!"

"So why not come and grab her for yourself?" Kevin dared to ask. "You're powerful enough…"

"I might have to at this point." She snarled. "I thought that was the whole reason I brought you back to life and made you my servant…" She then stopped and stared at him in a rage that made him shrink back. "Be grateful I'm not Lord Demetrius right now. You would be dead if I were, but you're still in luck. I'm giving you one last chance to bring my daughter home to me, Kevin. Do what you must to bring her to me, alive, and you shall be rewarded like we've discussed. Fail me again, and I will destroy you from all existence."

He swallowed thickly at her words, and she then inched her face from his and whispered, "And I don't want to see you fooling around with any more of your theatrics. Get her and bring her to me. If you wish to go back and seek revenge against her mate, then I won't stop you, but nor will I bring you back to life if Brooklyn kills you for the second time... that'll be your fate and final death wish that I shall grant. Is there any way I'm not making myself clear?"

Kevin started at her and blinked; the last part of her words resonating with him. "I… he didn't kill me a second time."

"Yes, he did." Hela whispered dangerously. "The first time back in January, and then tonight when he kicked you into the flames."

Kevin scoffed at her and looked around as if she was pranking him. "But… I'm still here! I somehow made my own portal when he kicked me into the flames."

"No you didn't asshole, that was me." She hissed, and Kevin cowed again. "I sensed your death, so I watched what was going on and portaled you here before your body hit the flames. A mercy, I assure you, that will not happen again should you fail me once more." She then whipped around and opened a portal to head back to Hel, then looked back at him over her shoulder with cold eyes. "I have to continue to help Demona with this spell, but summon me when you have Rose, and I will come. Do not fail me again, you will regret it if you do."

"Understood, milady. My apologies for my mistakes… it shall be done the right way." Kevin said, forcing his rage down into his blackened soul.

With a whoosh of ice-cold air, she stepped through and was gone, leaving Kevin to reel in rage over what he was being forced to do. He hated being under someone else's control, but his rage for Rose and Brooklyn was so much, it consumes him. They embarrassed him, betrayed him, and were constantly making him look like a fool. No matter what it took, he wouldn't fail a third time.

Facing his white board of ideas, he roared out in rage, and physically ripped it apart with his bare hands, then blasted the room apart with an explosion of his red magic, destroying everything. He magicked another respirator mask, placed it over his face, and then summoned black armor over his body. With weapons draped over his body, he walked out of the destroyed building with Rose and Brooklyn on his mind.

If it was a war they wanted… then it was a war they were going to get; he was going after them for the last time, thirsty for their blood and unforgiving vengeance.