I do not own Gargoyles. Disney owns them. Gargoyles is a show that I love, and write stories about. I own Crystal, and any other characters that did not appear on the show.

New Life, New Beginnings: Chapter 4

Over the weeks, Crystal had learned about Demona's hatred for humans, and how far she was willing to go to wipe them off the face of the earth. Of course, there was nothing she could do about it. She knew nothing of magic, and every time she tried to remove the amulet, it burned her. No matter what, she was under Demona's control, until she was no longer useful.

"Crystal!"

Sighing, she walked into the immortal's study. "Yes, Demona?

"I need you to get another artefact for me." She handed her a piece of paper. "Here's a photo of it. Now go, you're wasting time."

Knowing what would happen if she didn't, Crystal reluctantly went out onto the balcony and took off towards the museum. During her flight, she kept thinking as to how she was going to get Lex out of his cell. He was getting weaker by the night, and anyone could easily see that soon he would only be surviving due to sheer will. Even if she could never go back to the clan, there was no way she was going to let him never see his family again.

Nearly a month had passed, and the clan still hadn't heard anything from their two missing clan mates. All but one had nearly given up all hope: Brooklyn. Every night before and after his patrol, he searched. From dusk until dawn he went looking, but always came back empty handed. Tonight, he had to delay his search. There had been numerous robberies at the museum, and no one had even been able to catch a glimpse of the thief.

He and Broadway were just approaching the museum, hoping they could help Elisa and Matt in closing this case. They were about to land on a nearby rooftop to begin their lookout, when Broadway noticed some movement on the museum's rooftop. "Brooklyn, look."

Brooklyn turned his head to where his brother was pointing. The skylight was being opened. Eyes blazing white, he growled, "Let's put an end to this," before diving down to the rooftop.

Broadway shook his head and followed suit. They were all frustrated at their clan members' disappearance, but Brooklyn was letting it take over his self-control.

"Your museum robbing days are over!" Yelled Brooklyn as he landed. The figure emerging from the skylight hadn't noticed him until he had spoken. They looked straight at him and gasped. Brooklyn gasped as well, and the glow in his eyes vanished. "Crystal?"

Her wings flared and she stepped back. "Brooklyn!" She stared as Broadway landed behind him. "Broadway! What are you two doing here?!"

"You're the museum robber?" Asked the aquamarine gargoyle.

"Why are you doing this? Where have you been all this time? Where's Lex?" Brooklyn just kept firing every question that popped into his head.

"Please, you wouldn't understand." She took a few steps back. "I have to do this, for Lex's survival." For every step she took back, Brooklyn took one step forward. "Please, Brooklyn, don't come near me." Her eyes began to well up.

Broadway was observing what was happening, and something just didn't feel right. "Brooklyn, maybe you should listen to her."

Brooklyn shrugged off his brother's warning. "Crystal, what are you talking about? C'mon, show us where Lex is, and then we can all go back to the castle." He offered his hand out to her.

The tears were now streaming down her face. "Brooklyn please! I'm begging you, for your safety, and Broadway's, you have to leave." The amulet around her neck began to glow.

"Brooklyn..." Broadway noticed the glowing amulet and walked up to pull his brother away. "We should really leave."

Brooklyn pulled his shoulder away from his brother. "I'm not leaving without her!"

"You have to!" Broadway and Crystal yelled in unison. Crystal's eyes closed as she held her head and doubled over as pain coursed through her body. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing a bright blue.

Before either male could react, Crystal leaped towards Brooklyn and knocked him down. She sat on his legs and slashed his chest repeatedly. He roared in pain, just as Broadway charged over and used his speed and size to send Crystal flying off the crimson gargoyle. Crystal quickly got back on her feet, ran as fast as she could and head butted Broadway in the stomach, knocking him down and leaving puncture wounds from her horns.

Brooklyn looked down at his bleeding chest, and slowly sat up. "Crystal, what are you doing? It's us!"

But no reply came. Him speaking simply drew her attacks back to him. She growled and charged towards him. Not wanting to hurt her, Brooklyn kicked up his legs and sent the female flying over his head.

Brooklyn got back onto his feet, and watched as Crystal did the same. It was at that moment that he finally noticed the glowing amulet hanging around her neck, and put two and two together. "Crystal, listen to me! You can't let that thing control you!" The only response he got was a roundhouse kick to his head, which he just barely managed to dodge. "Crystal, it's me, Brooklyn! R-remember your second night here, when just the two of us went out gliding?" He stopped a punch to his temple, and eyed his brother slowly moving around them to get behind Crystal. "Or the time we went out for takeout?" He nearly fell backwards trying to avoid a swipe to his beak. "What about the party we had for you last month? When we had our first dance together?"

Crystal stopped moving, and so did Brooklyn and Broadway. She was still poised for attack, but all she was doing was staring at Brooklyn.

She shook her head, as if trying to clear her mind, and quickly ran to the edge of the roof and glided away. Brooklyn moved to go after her, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see his brother shaking his head. He returned his gaze to watch Crystal glide further and further away. He sighed, "Yeah, I know."

With a gentle nudge from his brother, he and Broadway made their way back to the castle.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"What took you so long?"

Crystal handed Demona the artefact. "Unforeseen events."

She grabbed the young gargoyle's hands, and saw the blood upon them. "You ran into someone from the clan. So tell me, who was it?"

Tears began to well up in her eyes again. "Brooklyn and Broadway."

Demona smiled, but she didn't bother to ask her whether she had killed them or not. "Good. Now, get yourself something to eat. I may send you on another errand tomorrow."

"Why is it that I don't attack Lexington?"

Demona stopped at the doorway, and turned around. There was a certain sadness in her eyes. "Ask that after you have encountered my daughter." Before Crystal could ask what she meant, she turned and left.

Trying to shake the question from her mind, she washed her hands and horns and prepared some food. It was more for Lexington than herself. She had to find a way to help the smaller gargoyle escape, and if she was going to, then she needed to make sure he would have the strength for it.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she saw her clan brother just staring at the floor. Her heart ached to see him like this, especially since she knew she was the one to blame. She unlocked his cell door, placed the food in front of him, and sat next to him. "How are you feeling?"

He simply shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

His spirit had nearly been broken, and she only wished she had been alone that night on patrol. If she had, he would still be with the clan, and wouldn't be on the edge of giving up hope on everything. "Lex, I'm real sorry about all this. If I could take back everything that's happened to you over the past few weeks, I would." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "But you gotta eat. I would never be able to forgive myself if you died while under my... well, protection."

"What's the point Crys? What are the chances Demona's gonna let us go free? And even if she did, it'd be so far from now that the clan would have already given up hope in finding us."

"The chances are slim to none, I know. But what if I told you that before the sun rises, the clan will know we're alive."

He looked at her with confusion. "How?"

"I ran another errand for Demona, and Brooklyn and Broadway were patrolling the area. As I climbed back onto the roof, they noticed and confronted me, and I told them that you were safe." A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Demona wasn't lying when she said to stay away from the clan, was she?"

She shook her head. "No, she wasn't. It wasn't long before the spell on this stupid thing kicked in, and I attacked them." She wiped her eyes. "I couldn't stop myself. I had absolutely no control over my body."

Fear coursed through his body. "D-did you kill them?"

She took a deep breath and sighed. "No. Brooklyn said something, I can't remember what, but it helped me gain some control, and I took that opportunity to run." She shook her head to try and remove the vivid memory of the attack from her mind. "Either way, the clan will know we're alive, and if they can't find us within the week, I'll get you out of here."

"And how do you plan on doing that? You only have the key to the cell."

"I'll figure out a way. No matter what, by the end of the week," she kissed the top of his head. "You will be back with the clan. I promise you that."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It had taken nearly the entire clan to get Brooklyn to sit down and stay still long enough for the nurse to tend to his wounds. They weren't even able to get him down to the infirmary, so they sat him down at the kitchen table.

"Any deeper, and they would have left scars," she informed him.

But he wasn't listening. He was counting the seconds being wasted; seconds that could be used searching for Crystal and Lex.

The nurse had barely stepped out of the way after bandaging him up before Brooklyn bolted from his seat. "We have to go find them!" He nearly ran out of the kitchen, completely intent on leaving the castle to start searching.

Elisa raced past him and blocked the doorway. "We will, but first we need to narrow down the places of where they could be." She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "And you need to rest. There's no way you're going anywhere with that injury."

Brooklyn heaved a frustrated sigh but reluctantly nodded and sat back down. He was pretty much useless now that it hurt just to breathe. "I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"You will have a part in this search, Brooklyn," said Goliath. "Tonight, you will act as our dispatch. We will need you to coordinate the search parties."

With his ever perfect timing, Xanatos entered the kitchen, with Fox not far behind, carrying the required map of Manhattan in his hand. "Fox and I would be happy to assist you, Brooklyn."

The crimson gargoyle took the offered map from the billionaire. "That'd be a great help, thanks." He scanned the map, and pointed to a spot. "I think we should start around the museum. She probably won't be making another trip out there tonight, but that doesn't mean we won't run into her on her way back there tomorrow night, or the night after."

Goliath nodded. "Agreed. Hudson, you're with me. Broadway, you and Angela will start searching the north side of the museum, Hudson and I will take the south."

After everyone in the search party had a communicator, the four gargoyles took off to search for their missing clan members.

Brooklyn waited until his clan was well gone before turning his attention to Xanatos. "Is it possible to put a tracking device on someone without them ever seeing you?"

"It requires some skill, but it's possible. What exactly did you have in mind?"

"We've searched every inch of this island twice now, and the only clue we've managed to find was Crystal herself. At this point the only way we're going to find them is by placing a tracer on her the next time she steals from the museum. We can't take the risk of following her." He absently touched the bandages wrapped around his chest.

Fox took a seat next to him. "What makes you think she'll go back?"

He sighed deeply. "She said she's doing this for Lex's survival, so I can only hope their captor requires more items. Otherwise, we may already be too late."

Little did they know that up on the tallest tower, Crystal had silently arrived. Demona had gone out for some reason, Crystal didn't care to listen as to why. All that mattered was she wasn't going to be watched for the next few hours. As soon as Demona was far away enough, Crystal took the opportunity to make the trip. Looking around to make sure no one was around, she placed a folded note atop Broadway's perch, and placed a small stone on it to keep it from blowing away. She hopped over to Brooklyn's perch, and did the same thing. Taking one last look at the castle, she wiped away a tear and glided away as fast as she could. She couldn't stand the fact that the closest she could be to the clan, was if there was a wall between her and them.

Brooklyn stepped outside as his clan returned from their search. His heart sank a little when he saw only four shadows, and sank even lower when they all shook their heads; no new clues as to their whereabouts. There was nothing else they could do for the night, as dawn was fast approaching.

"Hey Broadway, what's that?"

"What's what?" He looked to where his mate was pointing, and noticed the piece of paper on his perch. He removed the stone, unfolded it, and quickly scanned what was written. "It's from Crystal!" He shouted. The clan gathered around him as he read the note aloud.

Hello everyone,

I know how worried you all must be about me and Lexington, but rest assured, we're doing okay. It's been a long and stressful month for us all, and we can't wait until we're back with you. I can only imagine the amount of searching you've all done, and it helps us get through the night knowing we have a family who wants us back with them as soon as possible.

Now here's the hard part: I've got good news, and bad news. The good news is, I think I've found a way to get Lex out of here and back with you. The bad news is, the same can't be said for me. As much as I want to be back, there's no way I can without bringing you harm. My attack on Brooklyn and Broadway is proof of that. I can only return once I am of no use to our kidnapper. Expect to have Lex back within a week.

Know that we are thinking of you all.

Sincerely,

Crystal

The last few lines had become harder to read, as the ink had been smudged with her tears.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Brooklyn waved his arms. "Is she saying she wants us to stop searching?"

Broadway reread the note. "Looks that way."

"That's insane! We can't stop searching for her!"

"We will discuss it tonight," said Goliath. "Perhaps when Lexington returns, we will have the information we need to find Crystal."

Brooklyn knew he was right. He walked over to his perch, and noticed there was a note on it, addressed to him. He unfolded it and sat on his perch to read it.

Hey Brooklyn,

I'm hoping you're reading this after the first note, and if you are, I can safely assume that you're upset about me wanting you to stop searching. But you need to see this from where I'm standing. You know that I have almost no control over myself. You experienced that first-hand. I'm sure you noticed the amulet around my neck, and believe me, I've tried multiple times to take it off, but I can't. I would never be able to forgive myself if I hurt the clan. I can barely forgive myself for what I did to you and Broadway. No matter how hard I try, I can't get the images of my attack at the museum out of my head, and it's killing me. Believe me, I'm doing this in the best interests of the clan. I can't wait for the day when I can be around my clan, and not worry about whether you'll be able to survive until sunrise or not.

You don't know how badly I want to be back with you, with all of you. And you have no idea how much I miss getting my daily hugs from you. But I'm begging you, if you want me back as much as I want to be back, you WILL give up the search for me. I know you don't want to, but you MUST. Trust me when I say that no matter how long it takes, I WILL come back. I promise.

Miss and love ya,

Crystal

The writing began to smudge as a few tears rolled down Brooklyn's beak, and fell onto the page. He knew she was right, but he didn't want to stop looking for her. When he had found her at the museum, he wanted to wrap her in his wings and never let her go. It was what happened soon afterwards that made him want to search until he collapsed from exhaustion. Having someone he cared for under someone else's control angered him, even more so with that person being her. He stood up and tucked the note into his pouch. Absently, he touched the bandages around his chest and caped his wings, just as the sun rose and turned him to stone.