June 10, 1997
Labyrinth
8:00 p.m.

Beth and Elisa knocked on Talon and Maggie's bedroom door before they heard a raspy, "Come in," and entered.

"We're here to help you get ready," Elisa said, and then she paused in her tracks. "Oh, Maggie..."

She had just finished dressing and was about to sit back down, since she had been instructed to stay off her feet, when Elisa and Beth had arrived

She was dressed in a simple sleeveless white satin gown with a V neck and a low-cut back to accommodate her wings, and though her ample stomach distracted from the silhouette of the dress, she still cut a striking figure.

"You look beautiful," Elisa finished, awed.

Maggie sat down in a low back chair with some difficulty. Getting up and down was a challenge these days.

"Do you really think so?" she asked hesitantly.

"Definitely. Derek's jaw is gonna hit the floor," Beth quipped.

"Only because I look so huge," Maggie said dejectedly.

"Because you're the mother of his child, and the love of his life, and because you look radiant. Trust me," Elisa reassured her. "He's incredibly lucky."

Maggie smiled, a large toothy smile, that spread from ear to ear.

"Let's get this party started!" Beth whooped, and she proceeded to pull out a bottle of something that looked like champagne from a bag. "Don't worry. It's just sparkling apple cider," she said as she pulled out a few plastic champagne flutes and poured them each a glass of the sweet bubbly drink.

"We had something else planned for you tonight," Elisa said as she accepted a glass from her sister. "But we'll just have to plan on doing it after the baby arrives."

"And then we'll actually be able to enjoy a glass of real champagne together," Beth added as she handed a glass of cider to Maggie.

"To sisters," Elisa said with a warm smile as she raised her glass to the two other women. They both warmly repeated the cheer, and then they all drank.

"Now, let's finish getting you ready," Elisa said, and she and Beth got to work on Maggie's thick, long, golden mane.

"It's really a shame you bumped up your wedding. I had the whole party planned out for tonight. We were going to bring takeout and drink mocktails, and I was going to make us all wear penis shaped hats, but Elisa the buzzkill wouldn't let me," Beth said, jocularly.

"You're welcome," Elisa whispered to Maggie who tittered.

"I also tried to convince Elisa to hire Goliath as a stripper, but she refused, can you believe? So selfish," Beth carried on.

"Oh, god," Maggie said, covering her eyes. "I don't even want to imagine it."

"Really, Beth?" Elisa said, exasperated. "Weren't you just freaking out the other night because Goliath accidentally grabbed your ass?"

"Wait, what?" Maggie asked, reveling in the juicy gossip.

"It's fine. I'm totally over it," Beth bluffed.

"Goliath came over the other night and mistook Beth for me," Elisa explained to Maggie.

"How?" Maggie asked incredulously.

"He wasn't expecting her to be at my place, and she had wrapped herself up in a blanket and had fallen asleep on my sofa, and he decided it would be sweet to wake me up in a playful way."

Maggie burst into full raspy laughter.

"What can I say? I'm just irresistible," Beth teased.

"More like irritating," Elisa threw back with a grin.

"Hey!" Beth said offended.

There was a knock at the door and then Diane entered with a gauzy swath of fabric draped over her arms.

"Maggie," she said as she walked in. "You look stunning."

If Maggie could blush visibly, she would have. She wasn't used to this kind of attention. She had been pretty once, when she was fully human, before she became homeless, and it had taken a toll on her health and vibrancy. Once she was mutated, she'd never considered herself pretty, even though Talon told her he thought she was frequently.

"I wanted to bring you this as part of your something borrowed… or old, depending on how you want to use it," she said, holding the veil up for inspection. "My mother wore it when she married my father, and I wore it when I married Peter, and now, if you like, you may wear it."

"Oh, Diane, it's lovely," Maggie said admiring the veil. It had a simple design, but one that didn't go out of fashion. Not too long or short, no complicated embroidery or lace work, just classic elegance.

Her eyes filled with tears.

"I'd be honored to wear it," she said, her voice thick with emotion.

Elisa and Beth had finished Maggie's hair at that point, they'd taken the upper portion of her hair and braided and pinned it up, tucking sprigs of flowers into the coils.

"Here, let me help you put it on," Diane said as she tucked the veil's comb into her hair at the crown of her head. "There."

The three Maza women stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"Yeah, I think Derek may actually cry," Beth said, smiling with approval.

"Thank you, I—" Maggie stopped speaking as she was overcome with emotion. Elisa put a hand on her shoulder, offering support until she could speak again.

"I used to think what Sevarius did to me was the worst thing that ever happened to me," she said through tears. "But it's turned into the best thing because I didn't grow up with a family...and now I have Derek, this baby," she said tenderly caressing her belly, "and I have all of you. I have a family now."

"A weird one," Beth said, grinning.

"The best one," Maggie corrected.

There came another knock at the door, and Peter walked in, but he quickly looked concerned as he noticed there wasn't a dry eye to be found.

"Is everything alright?" he tentatively asked.

"Everything is perfect," Diane replied.

"Uh...ok. You ready, Maggie? I think Derek's starting to get antsy," Peter asked.

Since Maggie didn't have a father to give her away, she'd asked Peter to push her wheelchair down the aisle.

"So ready," Maggie said excitedly.

"We'll see you up front," Elisa said as she, Beth, and Diane left.

...

...

Goliath and the rest of his clan arrived at the Labyrinth for the wedding shortly after sunset. Al greeted them at the entrance along with Thug, the man who had been mutated by Sevarius into an alligator. Then they closed the door to the Labyrinth and turned back to watching the subway tunnel.

"Did you hear something?" Thug said, turning to Al.

The older man peered down the tunnel, squinting his eyes.

A tall red-haired man came jogging into view. "Hey! Sorry, I know I'm late!" Matt said winded.

"It's alright, the thing hasn't started yet," Al reassured him as he waved the detective in.

"Oh, good. Don't want them to think I'm running in at the last minute to stop the wedding," he said with a laugh as he entered the Labyrinth.

Al and Thug closed and secured the door behind Matt, when Thug suddenly jerked as if something had struck him, and he clasped a hand to his neck. A moment later, he fell forward, hitting the ground with a heavy, boneless thunk .

He didn't move.

"Thug?!" Al cried out, and he went to hit the alarm, but he felt a sharp sting in his neck, and his vision narrowed, the world turned upside down, and then everything for him went dark.

The doors to the Labyrinth opened and a dark haired woman walked out. Five men dressed all in black moved without sound and slipped past her into the Labyrinth. She watched them enter, feeling an unusual twinge of remorse as she looked back at the Labyrinth. Then she turned her back on it, and walked away without another glance.

...

...

Goliath found Elisa as she stood near the front, next to her sister and mother. The Labyrinth had been spruced up for the wedding. Sprays of flowers, strings of lights, and candles replaced the clothes lines and laundry hung up to dry. It actually looked quite different, and even a little romantic. There were no chairs or formal seating, everyone stood with a path down the center devoid of people where Maggie would be led to Talon.

"You look beautiful," he told Elisa as he stood alongside her.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. There was a time when she wouldn't have believed him, that he would have said it just to try and please her, but now she knew he actually meant it. He was as attracted to her as she was to him despite how different they were.

Goliath knew she'd struggled to decide on what to wear to the wedding, and she'd settled on a long sleeveless dress with a cowl neckline in a dusty rose color. Her hair was pinned up in a loose chignon at the base of her skull, accentuating the long graceful line of her neck, and he wanted nothing more than to press kisses down the length of it. Especially when all he could think about was how shapely her backside looked in the dress, and how he wanted nothing more than to get her out of it.

He scolded himself for leering at her so publicly, clearly he was still a little wound up from that morning, and turned his attention to Talon who stood anxiously at the front of the crowd, waiting for his bride.

"By the way, you left me in quite a state this morning," Elisa said quietly so that only he could hear her.

"I apologize, my love, but I had no choice in the matter," he replied in a low tone. "If it helps, I am just as disappointed as you are."

"I had to finish without you," Elisa whispered.

She heard him utter a quick "Jalapeña," under his breath, followed by another surprising term he muttered a few times.

"Did you just say something about peat bogs?" Elisa asked, confused.

Goliath grunted and shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes," he admitted.

"OK, not to state the obvious here, but...why are you mumbling about peat bogs?" Elisa replied, amused.

"Because, unlike you, peat bogs are cold and unpleasant, and it helps me to take my mind off of thoughts of you…touching yourself," he said as he drew closer to her.

"Is it working?" Elisa asked with a sly grin.

"Not as much as I'd hoped," he replied gruffly, and he caped his wings around his shoulders.

"Just wait until I get you home tonight," Elisa said quietly. "And we can finish what we started earlier."

"You are not helping," Goliath growled quietly.

Elisa laughed, delighting in teasing him, and then she glanced up at her brother who stood at the front with the priest. He looked nervous and excited, and it brought a smile to her face.

"We should tell my family," Elisa said quietly.

Goliath glanced down at her, surprised.

"About our commitment ceremony?" he asked.

Elisa nodded, a soft smile on her face.

"Now that we have a date, we should tell them before Beth goes back to Arizona."

Goliath returned her smile.

"I agree."

"Good. We'll tell them all at dinner on Sunday."

Goliath nodded in agreement and resisted the strong urge to stroke her hair, but it would not only be a rather risky public display of affection, but it could ruin Elisa's carefully coiffed hair. But he felt the backs of her fingers brush the backs of his, and he very surreptitiously grazed the tips of her fingers with his. Even that small touch was electric to him, though. Maybe someday they could dare to be more open with their affections, but with so many people around, and not all of them known to Goliath and Elisa, they dared not to.

"Oh! I think we're starting," Elisa said.

A Labyrinth dweller who worked as a busker during the day, began to play his violin, and everyone turned towards the doorway where Maggie was supposed to come through.

As they waited, there was a sudden hollow thump like the sound of a small canon, and then a metallic tinkling as a canister came into view as it bounced along the ground down the aisle. Smoke poured out of it, and it quickly began to fill the air. There were cries of alarm as people began to panic as the smoke filled their lungs, making them cough. Goliath got low and covered Elisa, protecting her from the chaos, but eventually even they succumbed to it, and they were left incapacitated in a fit coughing. The smoke also made it impossible to see around them as it obscured their vision and stung their eyes.

The Labyrinth's ventilation system was slow to clear the air, but eventually it was clear enough that they could see and breathe again.

The place was in chaos. Several people had been injured in the confusion and panic. Talon knew he should help them, he was responsible for them, but all he could think of was Maggie.

He ran to the room where Maggie and his father should have been waiting, but there was no sign of Maggie. Her wheelchair was vacant, and her bouquet lay crumpled and smashed on the ground.

Right next to his father.

"Dad!" Talon cried out, and he dropped down next to him. There was a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his neck, and he quickly pulled it out and felt for a pulse. It was strong, and he was breathing, but he was out cold. Someone had pumped him full of something that had knocked him out.

Goliath entered the room followed by Elisa, having heard his shout of alarm.

"Oh, no! Is he—?" Elisa cried, but was interrupted by Diane's entrance.

"Peter!" She dropped to her knees next to her husband and son.

"He's alive. Someone drugged him, and whoever did...I think they did something with Maggie," Talon said to his mother.

Diane cradled her husband's head in her lap, tears in her eyes as she looked up at her son.

"Who would want to take her?" she lamented.

"I will direct my clan to begin searching the Labyrinth," Goliath said as he moved towards the door.

At that moment a cry of alarm went out from the main room, and he and Talon both dashed out to see Thug carrying Al as he staggered into the hall.

"They've taken her," the alligator mutate said, and then he collapsed weakly to his knees. Al rolled harmlessly out of his arms and onto the ground.

There were more shouts of alarm as people quickly surrounded the two. Talon dove through the fray until he reached the old man and the mutate.

"Give them room!" he shouted as he knelt next to Al. "What happened? Who took Maggie?" he demanded angrily.

"I don't know…there were five of them, I think. All in black. They attacked me and Al...drugged us with something...I came to just as they were leaving…with Maggie." Thug replied, his speech slow and slurred.

Talon carefully turned Al over and felt for a pulse. He couldn't find one.

"He's not breathing!" Talon cried out and immediately began CPR on him. He felt a crunch under his hands and winced knowing he had broken some of his ribs, but the important thing was getting his heart going.

"Mom, I need you to go and call Dr. Sato. His number is on the fridge!" Talon ordered as he continued to do compressions on the old man's chest. "I think he's having some kind of reaction to the drug."

His mother dashed off quickly, moving faster than he would have thought for a woman of her age. Matt had jumped in at that point after ditching his suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves. He began giving breaths to Al as Talon continued to do compressions.

"We need to search the Labyrinth to see if there is any sign of Maggie or if there are any more of those men still here," Goliath ordered. "Brooklyn you and Katana take the south, Angela you and Broadway take the west, Hudson and Lexington, you two take the east. I'll go north."

"My clan and I know these tunnels better than any of you," Delilah countered. She faced Goliath stubbornly, her back straight and tall. That was Elisa to a T, Goliath thought, and he nodded. "You are right, Delilah. What do you suggest?"

"We will split up and go with your clan," Delilah said. "You can go with Malibu, I will go with Broadway and Angela, Burbank will go with Brooklyn and Katana, and Hollywood will go with Hudson and Lexington."

Goliath nodded in agreement.

After the gargoyles quickly left, Talon and Matt managed to revive Al, though he still needed medical attention, and Peter started to come to. He unfortunately hadn't seen who had attacked him and taken Maggie.

"Claw, I need you to go over the security feed at the door, see if we can find out anything about who took Maggie. From this moment on, no one leaves the Labyrinth," Talon ordered.

"Derek," Elisa said gently. "Whoever took Maggie is long gone now. We need to focus on getting her back, and to do that Matt and I need to get to work and start investigating."

Talon nodded reluctantly.

"We'll get Maggie back," she reassured. "I swear it."

...

...

After a few hours, the gargoyles had all returned with nothing to show for their efforts. Whoever had taken Maggie had done so quickly and efficiently, leaving with hardly a trace. Dr. Sato had come by to help Al, and Elisa and Matt reviewed the security footage from the main door. It was as Thug had described, a group of armed men in black attacked him and Al before they could sound the alarm, and then the door was opened for them from the inside, and a few moments later the five mercenaries left with Maggie, who appeared to be unconscious.

"They don't have any recognizable traits or clothing, and the only evidence they left behind were the tranq darts. I might be able to get something from them, but I think it's a long shot," Elisa explained.

"But who let them in? Al and Thug had already secured the door after the last guests arrived," Talon said.

Elisa stopped the frame on a dark haired woman who left at the same time the men entered.

"I've seen this woman around the Labyrinth, but I'm not familiar with her," Elisa said, indicating the figure.

"Her name is Shari. She's been coming to the Labyrinth for a few months. She keeps to herself, but she's helped out from time to time," Talon said.

"She must have been the one to let them in, but who is she really? Why would she want to have Maggie taken?" Goliath asked.

"I think it's more likely that someone hired her to let the men in," Elisa suggested. "And we need to start thinking about who would want to take Maggie."

"I fear that is readily apparent," Goliath replied. "There's only one person that would know or suspect Maggie is pregnant. He must have figured it out when I took the ultrasound."

"Xanatos," Talon growled.

...

...

"You can't keep me here!" Maggie screamed as she pounded her fists uselessly against the ballistic glass. "Derek will come for me! He will never give up, do you hear me? Never!"

She pounded repeatedly.

"Well...we'll see about that, won't we," Sevarius said in a sing-song tone as he walked away from Maggie's holding cell while she screamed and pounded vainly against the walls of it. When her arms grew too tired and sore to lift anymore, she curled up protectively around her belly on the floor of her cell and wept.

...

...

"What have you done with Maggie?!" Talon roared as he broke down the door to Xanatos's office and marched in with Goliath right behind him.

Xanatos was on a business call, and he looked up at the pair's unexpected entrance, but his facial expression did not betray his surprise.

"I apologize, senator, but I'm going to have to call you back," he said and hung up the phone.

He steepled his fingers under his chin as he addressed the two.

"Good evening, gentlemen. How can I help you?" Xanatos said congenially.

Talon leapt over the desk and grabbed him before he could so much as blink, and threw the man down against the desk and loomed intimidatingly over him.

"WHERE'S MAGGIE?!" he growled.

"How should I know where she is?" Xanatos replied coolly.

"You have taken her!" Talon accused.

"I have done no such thing," Xanatos rebutted.

"LIAR!" Talon roared.

Owen's bland emotionless voice came over the intercom.

"Do you need me to call security?" he asked.

"No, Owen. I'm fine. I can handle this," Xanatos replied calmly.

"You once told me that you knew everything that goes on in your home, Xanatos," Goliath challenged. "You knew I took the ultrasound machine, and you found out about Maggie and her pregnancy."

"Although I had guessed as to the reason why you stole the ultrasound, Goliath, I wasn't sure she was the one who was pregnant until you just confirmed it," Xanatos pointed out calmly. "Especially since it is far less likely Elisa would need one." Goliath scowled and released a low disgruntled growl over his slip of the tongue.

"I had nothing to do with her disappearance. I don't have any need for her," Xanatos claimed.

"I don't believe you," Talon growled, and a pulse of electricity coursed from his hands and into the billionaire.

David Xanatos stiffened and gasped at the shock.

"Did you tell anyone else about her?" Goliath demanded.

"No," Xanatos said through clenched teeth as he recovered from Talon's enhanced interrogation technique. "You two are being exceptionally obtuse. Who else would want Maggie...or more importantly, her baby?"

Goliath and Talon looked at each other and it became glaringly obvious.

"Sevarius," Talon growled, feeling foolish for not having thought of it.

"What part did you play in all of this? Did you betray Maggie to Sevarius?" Goliath accused.

"You should be asking the hundreds of people who live in the Labyrinth and were aware of Maggie's condition. I did not tell anyone, I swear it."

"I wish I could believe you," Goliath muttered.

"Look, I'm not the bad guy here, if anything you and Talon are in the wrong, barging into my office, causing destruction, assaulting me, and accusing me of a crime I did not commit with no evidence whatsoever," Xanatos shot back.

Goliath emitted a rumbling growl from the back of this throat as he considered what Xanatos had said, and he began to have doubts.

"Let me help you. I have resources you don't. Maggie is pregnant and vulnerable, the last thing you want is for Sevarius to get his hands on that baby," Xanatos argued. "I'm a father, too. I know what it's like to feel helpless and afraid for your wife and child. Let me help."

Goliath looked to Talon who looked like he was about to strangle the man with his bare hands.

"I think we should let him aid us," Goliath said calmly.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Talon growled.

"I believe that Xanatos has not taken Maggie, and perhaps he can help us find Sevarius," Goliath rebutted.

"He's probably in league with him! He was before!"

"Talon…Derek, please. Be reasonable. We need all the help we can get. To save Maggie. To save your son," Goliath beseeched.

"No," Talon said firmly. His voice cold and hard. "You may be ok with making deals with the devil, but I'm not. Fuck that."

He dropped Xanatos, and he hit the desk with a grunt of discomfort. Then he stormed out of the office.

Goliath turned to follow.

"Honestly, Goliath, your antagonistic attitude towards me is really starting to become tiresome," Xanatos said as he straightened himself out after the rough treatment Talon had given him.

Goliath turned his face just enough that Xanatos could see only his profile.

"If we're going to continue to live under the same roof, I think we need to have a serious conversation."

Goliath said nothing in response, but left the way he had come in through the broken office door.

...

...

They searched the Labyrinth for the mysterious dark haired and dark eyed woman who they believed had let in the mercenaries, and they questioned everyone they could about her. Many had seen her, they knew of her, but no one really knew who she was or where she had come from, and no one had seen her since Maggie went missing.

Days passed and the trail had gone completely cold.

"I hate to admit it, I'm the last person to want help from Xanatos, but I think it's time we take him up on his offer," Elisa said to her brother one morning when she went down to the Labyrinth to report another night with no success. He looked haggard, distraught, and completely forlorn. The entire Maza family had been beside themselves with grief as each passing day brought them less and less hope that Maggie and the baby would be returned to them alive. They knew horribly well the statistics on missing people.

"What else do we have to lose at this point?" Elisa implored.

Talon nodded begrudgingly. He was at the end of his rope, and out of his mind with worry for Maggie and his son.

"Give him whatever he needs," he finally agreed.