Matt pulled into the underground parking of the Eyrie building and to the designated drop off point for the clan in case of emergency. One large freight elevator had been retrofitted to handle the excess weight of multiple clan members, and would go straight to the castle.
Nayeli had been silent on the drive, thankfully, and Matt put the van in park.
"Alright, Waters," Matt said, taking the keys from the ignition. "Let's get Nayeli home."
Waters got out, closing the door and moved to the rear cargo doors of the van. She stood there expectantly, but looked confused as Matt joined her.
"Aren't we going to need something heavy duty to move her?" she asked. "I'm guessing she's going to be at least a couple of hundred pounds in stone form like the others."
"With the others, think in tonnage," Matt sighed. Gods, he hoped he was doing the right thing here. "This is where the secret keeping comes into play, and once you go down this rabbit hole, believe me when I tell you that there's no going back."
"Oooookay," Waters said, straightening to her non-impressive 5'3". "I think I can handle it, sir."
"I think you can, and if you really intend to stay with the GTF, you need to know all you can and be prepared to answer and deflect certain questions," Matt said, then gave three sharp raps on the cargo door.
Waters's head turned sharply as the door began to open, the metal on metal of the sliding door echoing in the cavernous underground lot.
Slowly, Nayeli stepped from the van and gave the female officer a sheepish smile. "Hello, Officer Waters," she said softly.
Amanda Waters, raised by a single father and five older brothers, considered herself unflappable. She'd been with the NYPD nearly seven years now, and after joining the GTF figured she'd seen just about everything.
That was, until the young gargoyle stepped from the vehicle long after sunrise.
"Hey, Ellie," she said slowly, a little in shock. "How are you doing?"
Nayeli smiled, "I'm good, thanks."
"That's good," Waters said.
The sound of the elevator car arriving filled the silence after those two words, as the three heads turned to the elevator.
Elisa stepped into view as Nayeli suddenly launched herself in that direction. Elisa threw her arms wide and attempted to absorb the majority of her daughter's momentum. Her daughter was strong enough that she could, technically, lift Elisa off her own feet or knock her down.
Nayeli was in need of comfort at that moment, so she was a little more cautious of her strength. She wrapped both arm and wing around her mother, her head resting against Elisa's shoulder and sighed.
Elisa closed her eyes, running a hand over Nayeli's hair.
When she opened her eyes, she suddenly became aware that there was an extra person there, and her hands stilled.
"Waters," Elisa greeted stiffly.
"Detective Maza," Waters returned.
"Elisa, why don't you take Nayeli up? Waters and I are going to take a drive and talk things through." Bluestone said.
Elisa nodded. "Nayeli," she said softly, "Let's go to the castle."
Nayeli nodded, her head still against Elisa's shoulder, and released her mother from her grip. She'd been so keyed up, feeling pulled tighter than a bow string all night. Now that it was over, everyone was safe and she was home.
She was tired.
She moved to follow her mother into the elevator, sending Matt and Waters a small wave as she walked out of sight.
Once the doors closed, the numbers above the door indicating that it was moving, Waters shoved her hands into her pockets and rocked on her feet. "Soooo…" she began cautiously, "I guess the rumors are true."
Matt's head snapped around to look at the female. "What rumors?" he demanded.
"Nothing, really," Waters said with a shrug, "Just that Nayeli and Detective Maza look so much alike, and that they never seem to be in the same place at the same time, and I'm pretty sure half the guys in the GTF think they're the same person… er, gargoyle." Waters sighed. "I guess that one's been put to rest."
"They're not in the same place for a reason," Matt said softly.
"There's another rumor, but you're not going to like it," Waters said, pointedly. "They've been saying for years that Elisa and a few of the male gargoyles seem a little too… friendly in a "friends with benefits" kind of way. Big money is on Goliath," she admitted with a shrug, "but you know how gossipy cops can be, especially about each other's love lives." She tapped a fingertip to her chin, "Maybe there's still time for me to get in on that one, or do you think it's cheating? I mean, I know who Nayeli's father is, despite the whole 'gargoyles do not acknowledge parentage' thing," she said in a deep, rumbling tone.
"Waters…." Matt said warningly.
"Give me a minute," Waters let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead. "I use inappropriate humor when I get blindsided with stuff, and I have a whole lot of things popping into place here.
"Take your time," Matt said, turning the key in the ignition.
Matt pulled out into the snarl of morning traffic from the parking area and turned towards the precinct to return the van and get off the clock.
"How hard has it been for you, keeping all of this secret?" Waters finally asked.
"You have no idea," Matt said with a grimace. "I've had a lot of practice by now, though. Elisa knew the clan a little over a year before I came into the picture. Altogether, I've known the clan… a while." He settled on. Honestly, he was just too tired to math.
When Waters seemed to hesitate, Matt sent her a sideways glance. He hoped he'd done the right thing, chose the right person. If not, he had enough connections to come up with some truly wicked blackmail if needed to keep her quiet.
"Alright," Waters said, and from the corner of Matt's vision, he saw her nod once as her decision was made. "Alright," she said again. "So, what's the story we're going with? Someone's going to make the connection, Matt."
"Apparently, it's already happening," Matt sighed. He hadn't known, and of course no one was going to come to him about rumors of his partner. "We have pictures, photoshopped of course, but they're pictures of Nayeli. As you can see, she grew really quickly so we were sure to grab pictures at normal human milestones. Elisa keeps a picture on her desk and is able to change it out once in a while. And, due to some magical voodoo that I am not up to going into right now, Goliath was in a human form for a few days. We took a lot of pictures of him and Elisa together like that as well in case people begin to wonder where her husband is in all this."
"Smart," Waters said. "So… does this level of secret keeping come with a pay bump? A new title?"
Matt nearly slammed on his brakes. "No."
Waters laughed and shrugged. "Fine, but I'm hoping that this means that I'm in line for your position someday."
"You'll be the first in line," Matt said. "You already were, by the way."
"Good," Waters said, then checked her watch. "Since we're already on overtime, think we could stop and grab some food somewhere?"
"That's it?" Matt asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Waters shrugged. "I'll have questions later, and I know where to find you when I have them. I won't take anything to Elisa unless she comes to me or you give the go-ahead. This is your deal, and I'm just thankful that you trust me enough to bring me in on it. So," Waters glanced at him, "food?"
Matt's growling stomach was his reply as he navigated to make a turn towards a line of drive-throughs. "You pick," he said.
Waters chose a popular fast food chain, and while they began their wait to get to the speaker to order, Waters turned to Matt.
"One more question for now," Waters said, a frown on her face.
"I'm sure you have more than that," Matt said, but nodded his go-ahead.
"What does detective Maza have to say about this? About me knowing all of this?" Waters asked.
"We've discussed it," Matt said, "and we both agreed that we needed to bring in someone else to the circle in case either the clan, Elisa or Nayeli need help and I can't be there. Nayeli's parentage and Elisa's spouse are still things we need to keep quiet, for obvious reasons, but having someone else in the GTF that knows a little more about the need for secrecy is something that we need."
"She didn't look pleased," Waters pointed out.
Matt gave a one shouldered shrug. "She probably thought I was going to grab Morgan."
"Why didn't you?" Waters asked.
"You have to promise me that you won't get offended," Matt said.
"I make no such promises," Waters said, crossing her arms.
"I thought not," Matt muttered, resigned. "Fine. But to be clear, growling is acceptable. Hitting is not."
Waters lifted an eyebrow. "Been around a lot of females, I take it."
"I'm married with a pre-teen daughter," he winced comically.
Waters laughed. "I guess you have. Fine. Let's have it."
"First, the fact that you're female helped," he admitted. "I was banking that you would probably be more willing to assist Nayeli and her parents. Second," he rushed through before she could snap at him, "you're younger. Morgan is getting up there, and will probably be retiring soon. Lastly, you want my job, meaning that this would all have to be told to you at some point. Sooner seemed better than later."
Waters had stiffened at the "female" comment, even as she acknowledged that it was true. The rest of it, though… that worked for her.
"Alright," Waters said with a nod. "Is there anything else I need to know? Anymore of Maza's kids going to come out of the woodwork?"
"No," Matt said with a finality that grabbed Waters' attention. "Nayeli is well and truly unique. She was born, not hatched, and Elisa had complications during the delivery that resulted in a hysterectomy."
Waters winced in sympathy.
"At any rate," Matt sighed, "there was some pretty heavily laid magical mojo that even allowed Nayeli to be conceived. We're pretty sure that it was a one-time-only kind of deal."
"Magical mojo?" Waters asked, skeptically.
"'There are more things in Heaven and Earth'," Matt mumbled.
"Funny," Waters said, "I didn't picture you as a Shakespeare man."
"Hang around the gargoyles long enough," Matt said cryptically, "And they'll make you believe that anything is possible."