Once everyone had been gathered, the courtyard was filled almost to capacity.
The wing members, both magic and non-magic wielding, were lined up in two rows, with Shen standing front and center as any good leader would.
Goliath had sent Angela to ask Xanatos and Owen to join them as well, hoping that Owen would be able to help ferret out the one or ones responsible.
Skyler came rushing out, Nayeli on her hip giggling at the bouncing motion of her nanny's hurried steps. "Sorry," She said a little breathlessly. "I had to make sure the kids were occupied before I left, and this one," she gave the small girl an added gentle bounce and a grin, "didn't want to be left behind."
Goliath nodded to her. "Thank you for joining us," he said quietly. "We will try to have this all finished quickly."
Skyler gave him a look of concern. "What's going on, Goliath?"
"I will explain," He said softly.
Skyler gave him an encouraging smile before moving to take a place next to Demona.
Demona glanced down at the irritatingly almost consistently happy human with something bordering contempt. It was bordering on unnatural how cheerful she seemed to be all the time.
Then her gaze moved to Nayeli, and her scowl deepened. It was enough to know that the hybrid child existed, but it was another thing to be so near to it. Outside of having to be a part of the rescue efforts when her and the human detective who had spawned it were almost kidnapped and taken out of the country, she had never been so close to it.
The hatchling… though from all accounts, she'd been born, not hatched, so she wasn't sure what to call it… glanced up at her.
The small girl cocked her head at the red headed gargess, mimicked her scowl in an almost comical way, before breaking back into a grin. In a move that caught Skyler by such surprise that she hadn't been able to stop it, Nayeli gathered her baby legs under her and basically flung herself at Demona.
Demona leaned down and reflexively caught the girl, gathering her close to keep her from hitting the ground.
Nayeli laughed uproariously, and wound her small taloned fingers in the unique red hair.
Demona halted her movements, unsure of what action to take.
Everyone else seemed just as stunned.
That was the scene that Angela walked in on, once she had made sure that there were multiple protectors in place to watch the children. She had a stutter step and almost tripped at the sight, but managed to right herself and join the group at Skyler's side.
Nayeli was oblivious to the sudden reactions of those around her, her focus solely on the new, unfamiliar gargoyle. She leaned back, looked at Demona's face before patting her softly on the cheek. "Pwetty," she said, that little baby lisp evident.
Demona blinked at her, but remained silent. Nayeli didn't mind, laying her head on her new friend's shoulder and yawning widely.
Demona gave her an awkward pat on her back, between the two delicate wings and gave a frustrated sigh.
"Let's get this over with," Demona demanded, her voice low to keep from startling the child. She looked at the faces surrounding her and her scowl deepened. "What?" she snarled.
Everyone else suddenly was busy looking at anyone but her.
Everyone but Goliath who looked anything but happy to have his homicidal ex holding his youngest daughter.
Nayeli seemed to be comfortable where she was and promptly began letting out baby snores.
"I can take her back, if you'd like," Skyler offered softly.
Demona rolled her eyes. "Leave her," She said with a sigh. "Let's just get this done with. The sun will be rising soon, and I would like to get home before it does."
"Very well," Goliath said. He moved to stand in front of the crowd that had gathered and gave a brief once over of everything that they knew. Admittedly, it wasn't much, and he hurried to explain that while it looked like Demona on the recording, that there were two reliable witnesses that place her elsewhere.
The wing members were understandably upset. They were there to provide protection, and they had been unaware of such a threat.
Xanatos and Owen were quietly observing the crowd, but both were masters at schooling their expressions to show nothing.
Skyler's face grew red, and she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else. She turned to Angela, "I need to get back to the kids," She insisted. "If something that can disguise themselves is in the castle…"
"The children are fine," Angela assured her in a near whisper. "Nayeli is here with all of us, and the kids in the playroom are being watched over by Brooklyn, Broadway, Hudson, Bronx, Bolin and Fox. Nothing is getting past them."
Skyler froze. "You mean that you saw Bronx in the room with the kids?" She whispered back, her lips barely moving.
Angela blinked at her. "Yes," She said slowly. "He rarely leaves Hudson's side these days." She gave Skyler a concerned look. "Why?"
"Angela," Skyler said, moving closer to Nayeli, "Bronx is behind us. By the wall."
Angela gasped quietly, then gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. "Stay close to Nayeli," She whispered, then moved almost casually forward to Goliath's side. She placed a hand on his arm to get his attention, and leaned up on tiptoe to whisper to her father.
Skyler took a step closer to Demona. "You're stronger and faster than I am," Skyler whispered to Demona. "Please take Nayeli inside and help protect the children."
Demona sent her a quick frown. "What are you blathering about?"
Angela was walking back to them now, her gaze not leaving where Bronx lay. She walked to the other side of Demona, so that she and Nayeli were guarded on both sides by Angela with her affinity for defensive spells and Skyler with her own unique brand of magic.
Goliath motioned Shen forward, and had a rapid, hushed conversation. Shen turned and began rattling off orders in the Wing's home language. Even with their carefully blank expressions, there was a subtle shift in the air from casual to preparation.
"Mother?" Angela said quietly.
"I heard," Demona said. Luckily, in her long life, she had taken the time to pick up many languages from around the world. Some of them were considered "dead" now, but it had been infinitely useful in her business dealings.
She had understood every word that Shen had said, and knew what she was supposed to do. Casually moving a hand for a better grip on the sleeping child, she was ready to move at any given sign.
Bronx… or what they had thought was Bronx… must have sensed that something was going on. He got to his feet and began moving forward as if he was suddenly curious as to what was going on.
Skyler, her gaze not moving from Goliath's, caught his gaze and the small sudden nod.
"Now!" She said, whirling and Demona was suddenly running through the courtyard as the Wing turned almost as one, and blocked Bronx.
Bronx took a step in retreat, bared his teeth and snarled, his four-legged stance going wide to brace himself.
That was what let everyone know that this was not their Bronx. They had found their imposter.
Bronx took in the sudden shift in attitude and situation, before turning towards the stone wall that surrounded the courtyard. Before anyone had time to do anything than gape in amazement, Bronx put on a sudden burst of speed and broke through the thick stone wall and plunged out of sight.
Those with wings hurried through the hole, diving in an effort to make sure that any large falling stone would not hit any innocent passersby on the street below. They caught the largest of the stone pieces, but failed to find the being that had used Bronx as a disguise.
It wasn't until they got back to the castle that the humans there had stated that after the gargoyles had dove through, the humans had witnessed almost double vision as twin Angelas had been in the air. It wasn't until one had broken off and hurried to put a building between them.
Whoever it was, they were smart and they had a plan that none of them could guess at.
That was never a good combination.