This story deals with issues of pregnancy and birth, including complications that arise. If anything revolving around childbirth makes you uncomfortable, you may not want to read this story.

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This story also mentions plot points from the "Gargoyles: Bad Guys" spinoff.

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January 20, 1997

"I wish I could get Maggie an ultrasound," Dr. Jay Sato said to Elisa after he had given Maggie a checkup. Her pregnancy had been progressing, and as far as he could tell she was healthy, and the baby was growing steadily, but he had no idea if the baby had any genetic abnormalities that would make life outside its mother difficult if not impossible. Considering the parents were mutated themselves, he feared it was a high probability, and he wanted to prepare them for the chance that their child may not live long past birth, if it even made it that far, but he needed to do it as kindly and gently as possible, and that was not an easy thing to do.

"Xanatos has one at the castle," Elisa said frustratedly as she and the doctor made their way through the Labyrinth and back towards the surface world. "From when Fox was pregnant, but there's no way I could get Maggie to the castle. She and Talon would be against anything involving Xanatos, and I don't blame them. I would say we should bring it here, but I don't know how we could get it out of the castle without Xanatos knowing, and I don't want him sticking his nose into their business."

"I understand. I'll see if I can figure out something, in the meantime...I'm doing the best I can," Dr. Sato said, his tone regretful that he could not do more.

"Thanks, Jay. I really appreciate all you've been doing. Really."

"I wish I had other doctors I could talk to and consult with on this. I feel like I'm doing next to nothing. I honestly don't know what I would do if Maggie's pregnancy had an unexpected complication. What if she needs a c-section? I assisted on one back when I was a resident, so I can do it, in theory, but…" he sighed and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "I don't have an operating room here, a team of surgical assistants, or an anesthesiologist to handle an epidural or general anesthesia if something goes wrong."

"Then we have to hope for the best and plan for the worst, but right now, you're giving Maggie peace of mind, and the illusion of a normal pregnancy. That's not nothing," Elisa replied gently.

Dr. Sato sighed and shrugged in an acquiescing manner.

"I guess so. How's Goliath doing, by the way?" he said, changing the subject.

"No change. He still can't feel much with his wings, but he's coping," Elisa replied in a resigned tone.

"There may be some therapeutic treatments or physical therapy that we could try…" Dr. Sato said thoughtfully, but as they turned a corner, their voices trailed off, and Shari had heard enough at that point.

She had been staying several yards back from the two as they talked, eavesdropping from the shadows. She had suspected the mutated female was pregnant, but this was the first time she had managed to have it confirmed by the doctor's own words.

As their voices trailed off down the tunnel, she turned and slunk away into the shadows in the opposite direction, quiet as a mouse. She wandered the Labyrinth, eventually leaving the abandoned underground Cyberbiotics base and old subway tunnels beneath Manhattan. From there, she took a cab to an apartment building in an affluent area up town. She entered the building, and the guard at the front desk glanced up at her, nodded, and let her pass through without a word, despite her disheveled homeless appearance. She took the elevator up to a suite on the top floor and entered the apartment with a key in her possession.

She stretched and ruffled her hair as she sauntered into her home, and immediately headed towards the bathroom, kicking off her shoes, and peeling off items of clothing, leaving a dirty, smelly trail in her wake. She took a long hot shower, removing the heavy makeup, dirt, and grime from the tunnels. Afterwhich, she donned a plush white robe and made herself a cup of tea. Then she sat at her desk, opened her laptop computer, and ran the encrypted video communication software installed on it. After a few moments, a dark figure appeared on the other end. Only their silhouette was visible.

"Five," they said, their voice modulated so that they were completely unrecognizable.

"Nine," Shari replied.

"What is your report?"

"Sevarius's first successful group of mutated humans has managed to reproduce...so far. It is still early days."

"Have you informed the doctor?"

"Not yet."

"We need to ensure that we have access to the information the doctor is able to extract from the fetus. Inform Sevarius. When he inevitably claims the child and mother, assist him, then send his findings back to us."

"I understand."

"Good. Contact us when you have anything to report."

The screen went blank, and Shari could now only see her own reflection staring back at her. She had kept her face neutral through the conversation, but the reflection looking back at her was haggard and strained.

She hadn't intended to infiltrate the Labyrinth this long, and now she'd have to drag it out further and risk being discovered. Thailog wouldn't like that she had to assist the doctor as well as him, but if he had a problem with that, he'd have to take it up with upper management, and that was her.

She didn't like assignments that involved children, however, and Sevarius's last experiment had involved mutating children. Who knew what he would do with the mutate's baby if he got his hands on it?

But what other choice did she have?

She shut her laptop with a resigned sigh.

...

...

The next day, Shari made her way to Nightstone Unlimited around noon. Her business that afternoon was not with Thailog and his little minion Brentwood, who were currently asleep, but with the scientist currently in his employ. She entered, breezing through security, as she made her way to a lab where a middle aged man with red hair was busy looking through a microscope.

She leaned casually against the doorframe.

"How's the next little project coming along?" she asked.

"Splendidly. I think Thailog had the right idea. Combining the DNA of these two may be one of my greatest creations to date," the man replied in a thick Chesire accent, acknowledging her presence, though he didn't bother looking up at her.

"I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that," Shari replied, "but I have news that I think you will be very interested in."

There was a long pause as he jotted down some notes.

"Well?" he eventually said.

"Two of your test subjects have managed to reproduce."

That got his attention, and he finally looked up and made eye contact with her.

"Which ones?"

"Derek Maza and Maggie Reed."

"Really?" he said, astounded, and then he snorted derisively. "That seems rather reckless on their part. Is the offspring viable?"

"Too soon to tell, but the pregnancy was confirmed by a physician."

"Some hack, no doubt," he scoffed. "No matter, I will have Maggie brought to the lab for study and observation. Whether or not the fetus is compatible with life, which I have my doubts on that score, the genetic material I can gain from it will be invaluable."

"How do you plan to do that, exactly? Your last little escapade into the Labyrinth has the whole place on lockdown."

Sevarius scoffed.

"If I want into the Labyrinth, I can get into the Labyrinth. Their pitiful attempts to secure themselves does them little good other than to give them a false sense of security. I will extract Maggie by force if necessary."

"That could incur casualties," Shari warned.

Sevarius shrugged indifferently.

"We'll need to begin planning and hiring an extraction team as soon as possible, as well as find a secure location for keeping the subjects," he replied.

Shari nodded and left to do as Sevarius instructed.