The Chairman sat back in his chair. "I would very much like to meet with the rest of your clan someday."

"We have our own council," Nayeli said, then looked back out to the sea of faces. "Nothing this size, though."

"Really?" The Chairman asked. "And what does your council do?"

"We… well, the adults discuss ways we could integrate with the humans. The kids get to have their say sometimes, but it's mostly the adults. They talk about ways to be safe. And, because of the council, and the aid of our human friends," Nayeli shrugged, "We can communicate with others from around the world in case of a threat."

"A threat?"

Nayeli grimaced. "Do you remember that group, The Quarrymen?"

The Chairman nodded. "I do. They petitioned to speak here a time or two, but were never allowed on the floor."

"Well," Nayeli said, "If another group pops up like that, in say…Japan, then we would be able to spread the word so that the others would be able to prepare and make themselves safe."

"That is a wise decision," The Chairman admitted. "We had not known of such a council, but knowing that you have such open lines of communication between you all makes me, at least, feel better."

"We think so, too," Nayeli smiled. "We're able to share more than that though. There are a lot of old stories and legends that exist in some clans, but not in others. We now have a way to compile them so that the old ways aren't lost."

"It is important to keep those stories from fading," the Chairman said.

"I think so," Nayeli said. "Just because a story is old, doesn't mean that we can't learn from it."

The Chairman slapped his knee and laughed. "That is exactly right."

There was a loud knock on the door, and Goliath opened one side of the double doors. He spoke to Brooklyn, and together the two of them opened the doors fully. Behind Goliath was a small group of officers, all bearing the familiar patch that declared them members of the Gargoyle Task Force.

Goliath and Brooklyn stood aside as the group walked into the room and walked towards the Chairman.

"Hey, Ellie," Officer Waters, the shortest female on the GTF said with a smile as she approached. "Holding the fort down?"

Nayeli gave an over-dramatic sigh. "I'm trying."

There was a low rumble that passed through the group as they all chuckled. As they worked with the clan, they had occasionally had interactions with the youngest members of the clan as well as the young ones began to train. They all had an affection for the "Clan's Kids" as they'd begun calling them.

A familiar figure came through the doors last, as detective Matthew Bluestone in his position as the head of the Gargoyle Task Force, made his way purposely through the crowd.

"That's Detective Bluestone," Nayeli whispered to the Chairman.

"Detective," The Chairman greeted, rising to his feet. "What is the situation?"

"Mr. Chairman," Matt nodded in greeting. "It was a false alarm, it seems. Some kids with nothing better to do, stole a bunch of realtor lockboxes, threw some battery operated lights on them, and were randomly chaining them to doors in some kind of attention grabbing stunt. We picked them up as they were biking away from the area, a backpack full of the things still on them."

The Chairman's shoulders visibly relaxed.

"That's good then," he said.

"Mr. Chairman…" Matt began.

"Please," The Chairman waved the title away. "The meeting is over, and I'm only still sitting up here because I had your Miss Nayeli here to keep me company. My name is Magnus. Magnus Burnsides."

Matt gave a sharp nod. "Mister Burnsides, then. Sir, we have a problem."

Chairman Burnsides gave the man a frown. "What kind of problem?"

"Because of the delay," Matt said with a disgusted shake of his head, "the gargoyles are not going to be able to make it home in time. Is there a safe place for them to rest for the day?"

"Of course," Magnus responded. "They were willing to protect us with their lives. False alarm or not, that's not something that I am willing to overlook." He looked down at Nayeli, "This is the safest place in the building, after all."

Nayeli gave him a small smile in answer, but shifted her worried gaze to Matt.

Matt understood the look, and he was still trying to figure this out himself. If they stayed here, and everyone else turned to stone except Nayeli, that could lead to a whole bunch of questions that none of them wanted to answer.

"The roof will be fine for us," Goliath said, more than aware of the need to get Nayeli back to the castle. "However, Nayeli needs to be returned to the castle with the other young ones."

Matt nodded. "She's small, so we can handle her. You guys, however…"

"We will be fine. Take my daughter," Goliath insisted, "and get her back to the clan safely."

Matt nodded, "Waters," he barked, motioning for the female GTF member to come with him and Nayeli. "Let's go. We're racing daylight."

Nayeli hurried as, surrounded by the Task Force, she was hustled from the building and into a large, windowless van that had been parked near the entrance. She exhaled a breath as the sliding door shut behind her. "Thanks, Matt," she said.

"Don't thank me yet," Matt warned. "Your mother is a bit unsettled right now, with half of her family potentially in harm's way and she'd been on the other side of the city."

Officer Waters entered the passenger side and belted herself in. "We're not going to make it before sunrise," she said, leaning forward to look at the sky.

"We're going to hurry," Matt said. Then turned to look intently at the small female officer before beginning the drive. "I asked you, specifically, to come along for a reason. You have made it known that you want to stay on the GTF as long as you can," Matt gave a small humorless laugh, "and that you're after my job."

"I believe in this task force," Waters said.

"I hope so," Matt said, putting the van in gear and beginning the drive to the castle, "because I am going to trust you with a secret right now."

"What secret?" Waters asked.

"You'll see," Matt said grimly.