Goliath awoke with a loud roar as he shed his stone skin. He flexed his wings, stretching them out, feeling relieved to have them back. He removed the bandage from his shoulder to find nothing but a faint mark where the bullet had struck him the night before. The faded scar was a relief. It grounded him and helped him to know that this was reality. He flexed his talons and lashed his tail. He felt like he could breathe again, he felt whole again.
Almost.
"Brooklyn!" Goliath called down to his second as his clan stretched and limbered up after a day of sleep. Brooklyn turned his face up towards him in acknowledgment that he had heard him.
"What's up?" he called out.
Goliath practically beamed at the sight of him. His missing eye and his aging face. The sly almost cocky smile he always wore that made him look like he was ready to pull a harmless prank on someone at any given moment.
"I'll be at Elisa's tonight. I doubt I will be home before dawn."
Brooklyn smiled subtly at him.
"Don't worry. We've got things covered here," he called back.
...
...
Goliath made a bee line to Elisa's apartment, gliding as quickly as the winds would carry him. He reveled in the way it felt to be in the sky again, and he dived and weaved playfully in the updrafts as he made his way to her home. He only hoped she would be there, but when he arrived, it was dark and locked up. He entered anyway, planning to wait, but as soon as he opened the window and stepped inside, she ran through the door.
"Goliath!" she called out to him.
"Elisa," he breathed her name, relieved to see she was in fact alive.
He held his arms open to her and she ran to him, and threw her arms and legs fiercely around him as he swept her up in a tight embrace. He held her to him, the Elisa he knew and loved.
Alive and vibrant.
The real Elisa, not the dream fabrication of her.
He had grown accustomed to her shape, feeling the swell of her belly pressed against him whenever he embraced her.
The way she felt in his arms now felt right, the way she was supposed to, but he still felt a tremendous loss over something he had never truly had to begin with, and he held her tightly as he tried to not lose control of his emotions.
"I remember," he said brokenly.
"I do, too," Elisa replied, and neither of them felt the need to clarify further. They both knew.
"Are you alright?" Elisa asked him, picking up on his emotional distress. There was something else going on, more than just their memories of Shambahla being returned to them.
Goliath shook his head and just held her for a long time as he tried to recover from the emotional whiplash of the last few days.
But it hadn't been days.
It had only been one night.
Nothing that had occurred was real, and he clutched onto Elisa, the real Elisa, like she was the only thing keeping him together at the moment.
Elisa didn't know what to do to help him, but she felt as if he was drowning and fighting desperately to keep his head above water, so she did the one thing she could think of to anchor him.
She kissed him.
Goliath made a startled sound that quickly turned into a needy groan as he kissed her back with a ferocity and lack of restraint that he had rarely exhibited before.
She began to strip out of her clothing when Goliath stopped her.
"Wait, we should talk."
"We can talk later, okay? I think we both need this right now," she said as she caressed his brow and ran her fingers through his hair, lovingly touching him the way another gargoyle would, and the relief he felt at that moment, of being seen and accepted for who he truly was, was a gift she gave him that she would never fully understand the sheer scope and gravity of.
He had thrown her humanity in her face a few times when he was angry, and he vowed to never do that again, not when she had always accepted him for who he was.
He carried her to the bedroom and he took off the rest of her clothing and his own. He loved her with his hands, his mouth, and his body. He made love to her in his true form, as he was born, as he would always be, and as she loved and accepted him.
When tears managed to escape his eyes at the enormity of everything he was feeling, she did not dismiss or ignore them, but tenderly brushed them away with a gentle hand or kiss.
His release at the end, carefully drawn out and timed like a skillfully written concerto so that they could find completion together, wrung him out both physically and emotionally in a way that felt like he had exposed his very soul to her.
She knew his flaws, she knew his mistakes and failures, and yet she loved him, and he loved her more than she would ever know or fully comprehend.
Afterwards, they lay together, and he slowly began to unravel the dream to her.
"That meddling bitch," Elisa hissed when he had concluded.
"Although her method was cruel, the point got across," Goliath said, feeling emotionally numb over the retelling of it.
They lay close together, facing each other, a thin sheet was all that was between them as they spoke softly.
"I'm so sorry, Goliath, for what she put you through...for what I put you through," Elisa said mournfully.
"You do not need to apologize to me, Elisa. You were not the one in the wrong. I was," Goliath replied contritely. "And I understand now what you were trying to tell me before. There are some things in this world that are bigger than the two of us. I can't lose sight of that."
He put his hand against her cheek and gazed into her dark eyes.
"And I am sorry for the turmoil I caused you. I think I was afraid that if I did not do everything within my power to make you happy, that I could lose you...like I lost Demona."
"You didn't lose Demona, Goliath. She lost you…besides...I'm not her." she reassured him.
"I know that."
"I'm not a homicidal maniac for one thing."
Goliath laughed softly.
"Thank the stars," he said.
Elisa put her hand over his.
"But more importantly, I actually love you. Truly, deeply, love you. I don't know what things were like between you two before everything that happened, but if she loved you even half as much as I love you, she never would have done the things she's done," Elisa said as she stroked a lock of his hair.
"I think that was one of the more painful realizations for me in regards to my relationship with her. I loved her far more than she ever loved me," Goliath said, but then he reached out and caressed her hair in return. "But nowhere near as much as I love you, Elisa. You have changed me, shaped me, helped me to grow, to be better than I was before. You, Elisa Maza, are the love of my life, my soulmate, and I will spend whatever days I have granted to me, loving you the best I can, but I will never jeopardize others again because of it," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tighter.
"God, I've missed you," she sighed.
"You have no idea how much I have missed you," Goliath replied as he pressed his brow to hers. Elisa tilted her head and pressed her mouth to his, and then they slowly made love again.
Afterwards, feeling deeply satisfied and pleasantly sleepy, they continued speaking openly as they discussed the dream some more.
"So, in this dream, when you were human...did you ever...take advantage of the situation?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did we ever have sex?"
"No...there were opportunities, but no."
"Was it because I was pregnant?"
"No, that would not have deterred me so long as you felt up for it," he said as he ran his hand over her stomach. Her flat stomach. He recalled the way she had looked when she was pregnant, and he felt a hollow pang in his chest.
"What was it like?" Elisa asked quietly.
He knew what she meant without asking.
"Miraculous...heartbreaking," Goliath whispered.
Elisa put her hand over his.
"You know...there are ways we could have a family," she said. "Adoption...IVF."
"Would you want that?"
"Would you?"
There was a tense pause, and for a moment, Elisa thought Goliath might turn her down, and then he surprised her.
"Yes," he said as he looked her in the eye, his tone sincere. "I would very much like to raise a child with you."
Elisa didn't dare speak for a moment.
"It's not something we have to look into now. I'm enjoying the time we have together, just the two of us, but...I'm glad we're on the same page," she said and took his hand in hers.
Goliath leaned over and kissed her.
"We have time," he said.
"But...not too much time."
Goliath chuckled softly.
"When you are ready, Elisa, we'll talk more about it."
She sighed and curled into him.
"I just wish—"
"I know."
...
...
Angela had avoided Broadway for days. Only speaking to him when she had to. He tried everything he could to get her to talk to him, to forgive him. He made her her favorite meal, he brought her flowers he collected himself, but she rebuffed him every time.
He knew he had done the right thing, but her avoidance hurt.
Then one night, he found her crying in the arboretum.
"Angela?" he said, worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"I'm so sorry," she sobbed and threw herself into his arms.
"What is it? Please tell me," he said as he put his arms and wings around her. It took her a minute to settle down and the hiccups to subside.
"I got my memories back...of Shambahla," she said sorrowfully.
"You did? So you've actually been there? To that place Brooklyn said you've been to?"
Angela nodded.
"It's a beautiful place, and the clan there is wonderful, but...I had a bad experience there."
"A bad experience? What do you mean?" Broadway said as he cupped her face and gently forced her to look at him.
"A male named Norbu...he tried to coerce me into mating with him, and I had to defend myself to make him stop."
"He tried to rape you?" Broadway said angrily.
"I'm not sure if he would have gone that far, but I feared it," Angela replied.
"Do Goliath and Elisa know what happened?"
"Presumably, if they remember, too. I told them after it happened."
Broadway huffed and pulled her into his arms and his comforting embrace.
"I'm so sorry. What an awful thing to remember," he said comforting her. "No wonder you're upset."
"That's not what I am so upset about," she said sniffling.
"What is it then? Are you still upset that I told Elisa about your visits with Demona?"
"No, I think remembering Norbu made me realize just how awful I have treated you recently."
"Ang—"
"I'm so sorry, Broadway. I know I have a bit of a temper, and I put you in a really tight spot. I made you keep secrets you shouldn't have, and then when you feared I was in trouble you went for help, and I punished you for it. You're always so kind and sweet to me, which is why I fell in love with you in the first place. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Of course, Angela. I love you with all my heart."
"I love you, too, Broadway," she said as she nuzzled her brow against his.
They held each other for a while as they basked in their reconciliation.
"You know, I think this was our first fight," Angela said.
"Huh...I think you're right," Broadway replied with a light laugh.
Angela sighed, and snuggled up against him, feeling secure and content in his arms.
.
.
.
May 27, 1997Elisa's Loft
Evening
"Will you be here in the morning when I come home?" Elisa asked Goliath the next night before she left for work.
"Of course," Goliath said as he gathered her up in his arms.
"You know…I've been thinking, now that we have our memories of Shambahla back, when exactly is our anniversary? I always thought it was Christmas, but maybe it's in June...or was it July? I don't know exactly what day it was that we—"
"The second of July," Goliath interrupted.
Elisa laughed lightly.
"Ok, so that was the first time we mated, but the first time we said I love you was Halloween."
"Technically, that was also July second, and although Halloween was a memorable moment, I would rather forget the rest of that night."
"Touché," Elisa replied. "The first time I kissed you was October 27th."
"No, that was also July second."
"Oh, damn it, you're right! Well, after we broke up, we officially reconciled on the 4th of November."
"Here's what I think," Goliath began. "Everything started the night you fell off the castle and I caught you. That was October 5th. I say we use that as our anniversary...until you actually pick a date for our commitment ceremony."
"Oh, I see what you did there," Elisa said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Well, I've gotta get to work or I'll be late, and I've already made Matt cover a lot for me lately. I'll look at my calendar and figure out a date, okay?"
Goliath smiled and nodded before he kissed her goodbye. She was about to walk out the door when Goliath stopped her.
"Elisa, if you see Officer Morgan, could you tell him I said hello?"
Elisa smiled and nodded remembering Goliath's dream.
"I will," she agreed, and then she left for work, and Goliath returned to his clan, excited to see them, and to be the leader they needed and deserved.
...
...
When Goliath returned to the castle before everyone could disperse for patrols, he called them together in the courtyard and apologized to them about his recent behavior. He didn't speak to them of the dream yet. It was hard enough relaying it to Elisa. He couldn't make himself that vulnerable again right now, not until there was a little bit of distance between him and the dream and time for the edges of it to soften.
They were gracious in their forgiveness, as they always were.
Afterwards, he asked Angela if she would speak privately with him.
"I take it you made things right with Elisa?" she asked him once they were alone.
"I have, and I think our relationship is even stronger now than it was before."
"Good. I'm relieved to hear it."
"Have you patched things up with your own mate?"
"Yes, we have worked things out as well."
Goliath nodded.
"He was a good choice, you know. I think you have inherited both of your parents' tempers, and Broadway is a lot more level headed. He's gentle, and kind, too, and the world needs more kindness."
"I don't think you've ever said that before about Broadway, that I made a good choice when I chose him."
"There are a lot of things I have been remiss to say aloud," Goliath said regretfully.
They were silent for a time as they gazed out at the city.
"My memories of Shambahla came back," Angela admitted.
"As did mine and Elisa's," Goliath replied.
"That must have been difficult. Learning that you had been together and were forced to forget it," she said sympathetically.
"It certainly threw us, but I am glad to have those memories back."
Angela nodded and gazed out at the city.
"Are you alright?" Goliath asked her. "With the return of your memories, you must be feeling a little thrown as well. Particularly in regards to—"
"Norbu?" Angela finished for him. "Despite what happened, I am grateful to remember. I do not like holes in my memory."
"I agree," he replied sympathetically, and then he addressed the other elephant in the room.
"Angela, I am sorry for coming down so harshly on you before about Demona. Although I still don't like the idea of you visiting her, I should have handled it differently."
"I'm sorry, too. I should have told you…and I also said things I shouldn't have, things I'm ashamed of."
"You only said what was true," Goliath replied understandingly.
"Perhaps, but it wasn't the full truth. I know why you could not raise me and the others, and I threw it in your face to hurt you."
"Only because I lost my temper first. I should have kept it in check. As your leader and your father, I should have set a better example."
"Yeah, but you've only been a father for, like, a year," Angela said with a smile. Whenever she smiled like that, he saw her mother in her. The way she used to smile at him when they were both very young.
He wondered if seeing that smile would always break his heart, just a little.
"Two years ago, I thought you and your siblings were all gone, and then suddenly, I had an adult daughter," Goliath said with a light laugh. "I had looked forward to being a father, though my role as leader would have taken a vast amount of the hatchling care out of my hands. I mourn that I did not get that experience, though. To be thrust into the parent role now has been a joy, but there has been a steep learning curve, to say the least."
"It may not mean much, but I think you're doing a great job as a father," Angela said gently. "I don't think I've ever told you that."
Goliath smiled gratefully at her as he felt a swell of pride at the gargoyle his daughter had grown up to be.
"Things obviously did not work out between your mother and myself, but we at least got one thing right. You are the very best of me and Demona, and I will always be grateful to her for that at least, and that you came back into my life." Goliath admitted. "I'm very proud of you."
Angela's chin quivered with sudden emotion, and she threw her arms around him. Goliath held her in return, his wings wrapping lightly around them.
"I won't see Demona anymore," Angela said quietly, her voice muffled. "I don't know what she will do in retaliation, but I'll stop visiting her."
Goliath held her back so he could look her in the eye.
"Your visits may be of some advantage to the clan," he said thoughtfully. "You may be able to keep an eye on her activities, but only if this is something you truly want to do. I will not ask it of you, you will not disappoint me either way, and if you feel unsafe at all, I ask you not to do it."
"I don't think she would ever hurt me," Angela said honestly.
"I believe that as well. You are the only thing in this world she would not destroy, but she may try to sway you to her beliefs. She may find enjoyment from your visits, but I think bringing you to her side and way of thinking may be what she is truly after. However...as cunning as she may be, I also know you are cunning as well."
"If I think anything is amiss...I will tell you."
"Good, now...I believe I heard your mate say earlier that he was planning on making pancakes for breakfast…" Goliath said as he walked with his daughter towards the kitchen.
...
...
Elisa felt like she had a new lease on life. Her lover was more like himself again, a dress mystery had been solved, and memories had been restored.
But it all came crashing down when she was forced to sit in a meeting where DA Margo Yale yelled at them for their inability to bring the violent gargoyle in that had been shot by Ms. Miller.
She and Matt sat stoney-faced as she went off the rails for a while, threatening their jobs and their positions on the GTF until Captain Chavez stepped in.
"Maza, Bluestone...Ms. Miller is here to speak with you," she said.
The two looked at each other and at Margo Yale.
"We'll be back in a minute," Matt said, unable to hide the glee in his voice at getting out of listening to her temper tantrum any longer.
Ms. Miller was waiting nervously in interrogation room 2.
"You wished to speak with us?" Matt said gently, using a calm neutral tone.
"I wish to amend my statement from the other night," she said quietly. She sounded nervous.
"Oh?" Elisa said as she glanced at her partner. "Why? What's going on?"
"I...I've had a chance to think about what happened, and...once the shock wore off…" she broke off as she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I don't think that gargoyle was trying to hurt me...I think he was trying to help me."
"That's a massive change in your statement, Ms. Miller. You know we could charge you with filing a false report?" Matt said.
"It wasn't false! I just...I was so frightened, I'd never been that close to a gargoyle before, and he was so big and I was scared, and...I reacted badly. I was shocked that he spoke to me, and I didn't process what he said for a while."
"What did he say to you?" Elisa asked.
"He asked me if I was alright," she said mournfully. "He was holding back the thief, and he asked me if I was alright, and I yelled at him to back up...and he did...but then I shot him! Why did I do that? I'm a nurse! I'm supposed to help people, and I shot him!" she had tears in her eyes. "And then I went on the news and said all those things, and then I had some guy named Jon Castaway try and contact me. I found out he was the head of the Quarrymen movement, and I do not want to get tangled with that crowd! I figure, if they thought I had done a good thing...maybe it wasn't a good thing. Anyway...I want to change my statement, if that's possible."
Matt looked at his partner who was trying really hard not to smile smugly.
"I think we can work that out, Ms. Miller," he said gently.
Elisa really looked forward to informing Goliath about this later. After the last few months, it was nice to catch a break for once.