Author's Note: Dialogue between backslashes are translated from Italian.

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 5

Another week had gone by, and Crystal had finally found a way to help Lexington escape. The only problem was, she didn't know if she would be able to pull it off. It wasn't that she wouldn't be able to get past Demona, it was her security system that was the problem.

So there she sat, in Lex's cell, picking the locks with a bobby pin she had taken from Demona's bathroom.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Trust me, it will. And if it doesn't... well... I'll make sure it does."

They sat in silence for another few minutes, until Crystal silently cheered. "Yes! I got it!"

Lexington rubbed his neck. "Man, it feels good to have that off. And that only took what? An hour?"

She shot him a look. "You try picking a lock with a bobby pin for the first time in your life, see how long it takes you. Actually," she reached into her hair and pulled another pin out. "You do one ankle, I'll do the other."

He just stared at her. "You're kidding me, right?"

She placed the pin in his hand. "No I'm not. Besides, we can get it done faster. Now c'mon, sit on that butt of yours and let me work on an ankle-lock. And try not to break the pin; I only managed to take these two."

Sighing, he sat down and began picking the lock. "Are you sure this is what you wanna do?"

"Lex, getting you out of here is the -"

"I didn't mean getting me out," he interrupted. "I meant leaving you here. There has to be a way to get that thing off you. I mean, if we just -"

"How many other sorcerers do you know?" She nearly screamed. "This has to be done separately. I'll get myself out of here, it's just gonna be a while before I do." she heard a reassuring click. "Just one lock left Lex, and then you're a free gargoyle."

"Do you really have to knock me out for this?"

"Believe me, if I could avoid it I would, especially since I wouldn't have to carry you. But don't worry, it won't hurt. I'm not sure if you guys have the same pressure points as humans, but we'll find out." she chuckled at his worried expression. "It's a lot better than the alternative."

"I don't even wanna think about it."

"Good, 'cause you wouldn't like it."

"Great." He jiggled the pin a little bit, and heard the lock click open. "See, it didn't take me an hour."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Rub it in my face, why don't ya?" Reluctantly, she reached for a spot between his neck and shoulder. "Remember, I'm doing this because I love you like a brother." He was only able to nod once before she squeezed and knocked him out. "Now, for the fun part."

After failing a few times, she was finally able to get him into her arms. She climbed up the stairs as fast as she could, and peering through the door, made sure the coast was clear. As fast as her legs could carry her and the green gargoyle, she quietly but quickly made her way through the halls, and onto the balcony. Just a few steps and a jump and...

"Crystal!"

She spun around, and saw Demona standing there, eyes glowing a hellish red. "Oh shit."

"What the hell are you doing?! Get back here!"

Crystal resisted, and she felt the amulet send a minor shock through her body. Ignoring the pain, and the plans Demona could have in-store for her when she returned, she hopped onto the rail and glided away.

The glow in Demona's eyes faded away. "That foolish, naive girl; risking her life for him. She'll be sorry she did in a short time."

And Demona was right. In a few short minutes, the amulet was sending wave after wave of pain through her body, and the extra weight of Lex wasn't helping her any. Crystal flapped her wings to gain some speed, and landed hard on the nearest rooftop. She laid him down as gently and quickly as she could, and collapsed in pain beside him. Using every ounce of strength she had left, she forced herself back onto her feet and just let herself drop off the roof, letting her wings do all the work. Keeping her wings open was hard enough without having to flap them to gain speed. As much as she didn't want to, she had to get back to Demona's as fast as possible, if only to make the pain stop.

In what seemed like hours, she finally reached the manor. Her wings snapped back, and she crashed down onto the balcony. Thank goodness the days are long.

"I'm surprised you were able to make it back."

Groaning, she lifted her head to see Demona standing over her. "Why... didn't you try... to stop me?"

"I wanted to see how resilient you actually were. You think I didn't know you were going to try and break him out?" She knelt down to bring her face closer to Crystal's. "I have cameras everywhere. There isn't anything I haven't heard or seen since I captured you."

She tried to stand, and was surprised when Demona helped her up. "Why... what do you want with me? You have all the artefacts you need."

The immortal gargoyle helped her to the couch. "The spell requires the blood of a young, virgin warrior, who is pure at heart. You fit into every category."

Well, not every category. "You're kind to me, and yet you have to kill me. Not every person can say that about their great-grandmother." Her eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth as she realized what she had said.

"Your grandmother?! What on earth are you talking about?! I'm not your grandmother!"

Crystal looked down to the floor. "Uh, well, biologically you're not. You see, you assumed that when I told you about my grandfather, that he was a gargoyle." She looked back up at the blue gargoyle. "He was a human. His name was Alberto DiMaggio. You raised his son, Tony DiMaggio, until he was 20."

"Why that's preposterous! I didn't -" She cut herself off, as the events of that war made themselves known. She remembered the night the young gargoyle had previously mentioned. She remembered saving a human from a grenade – thrown there by a German spy. The treachery had made her blood boil, despite it having happened to a human. He was so grateful that he was willing to help her in any way she needed. Even her name didn't scare him off. He figured it was a name to be feared by those who had evil in their hearts.

Those men, she still couldn't believe how kind they had been to her; offering her food and shelter. Yes, it was extremely more difficult to find a safe place to roost during the day, but with the spell of immortality placed upon her all those centuries ago, it didn't quite matter if she was destroyed in her stone sleep. Although it was a scenario she did her best to avoid.

She reluctantly agreed to help him and his battalion; she would keep them safe at night, and they would protect her during the day. At least she would have food every night on top of the small game she already hunted.

Eventually the war came to an end. Demona was more than ready to leave and never see any of these men again, but Alberto had a different idea. He asked her to stay with him and his wife, for as long as she needed. The problems she faced during the war would continue for years until the continent could rebuild. And she had managed to avoid the Hunter for the duration of the war. What better place to hide than with a human?

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years. Demona still found herself watching over Alberto's family, which had grown by one member. It still amazed her at how weak and feeble human infants were.

Demona had never been good with hatchlings, which is why she rarely gone into the rookery in the years before the fall of Castle Wyvern. But Antonio insisted she would be fine to take care of seven-year-old Tony for a few hours while he and his wife went out. She eventually agreed, on the promise that his bedtime was only a few hours away anyway. They would be back shortly after.

It was the middle of the night, and they still hadn't returned. She quickly checked to make sure the boy was asleep, and went out to look for his parents. The blue gargoyle didn't have to go very far.

Three blocks away. They had only three blocks to go before they were safe at home. Three blocks away from their sanctuary, and they had been robbed and stabbed to death. Killed for a few dollars. Would humanity ever learn? Demona watched the police survey the crime scene a few moments more before returning to the child. She couldn't explain why, but she couldn't just abandon the child. Someone needed to care for him.

She gently awoke the boy and somehow managed to tell him, in words that wouldn't traumatize him, as to what had happened. He took it as well as any seven year old could, and was okay with the news that they would have to leave. The conversation that followed would change both their lives.

/"Tony, do you know what I am?"/

/"A gargoyle! Nonna's a gargoyle!"/

She despised the name he had given her, but at least it was an improvement from being called a demon. /"Yes, that's right. Do you think it's fun being a gargoyle?"/

/"Yeah! Nonna gets to fly!"/

/"Yes, she does. Now Tony, I want you to think about this. Since your mother and father are... away, I have to take care of you. But there's a problem with that. Do you know what that problem is?"/

Tony thought for a few minutes. /"You sleep all day."/

/"Yes, I do. Now, how would you like to be a gargoyle?"/

/"And fly around like Nonna?"/

/"You'll get to do everything that Nonna does."/

Again, he took his time in answering. He knew an important decision when he heard one. /"Yes, please."/

She had never had the chance to use the spell before, and she hoped it would work. The effects of the spell would be that the subject would take on the physical and biological aspects of the caster, until it was reversed. There was a side affect to the spell, but that portion of the page had been torn away. So for the next 26 years, she raised him as if he was her own. She raised him as a gargoyle, but knowing deep down that one day he would leave her, she taught him what she could about the human race.

Snapping back to reality, she looked at the young gargoyle sitting before her. She could now see the similarities between the two. "You were born a human, correct?"

"Yes."

"When did the change happen?"

"About a month before my 20th birthday."

Demona looked her over. So this was the side affect. Not giving it a second thought, she chanted a few words, waited for the amulet to stop glowing, and tore it away from Crystal's neck. "As soon as you are physically able, you can leave." And marched out of the room.

Crystal was left sitting there, wondering what the hell had just happened.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lexington groaned as he brought a hand to his head, and slowly sat up. Looking at his surroundings, he realized that what had happened wasn't a dream. Crystal had actually been able to get him out. He could remember the first time when she had gone against Demona's orders, and he couldn't stand to see the amount of pain she had gone through. He could only imagine how much she had suffered to help him escape. He rubbed his temples, and noticed that a piece of paper had been tucked into his belt. He removed and unfolded it.

Remember what I told you. Say nothing.

"Yeah, I know," he told no one. Tucking the paper into his pouch, he jumped off the ledge and glided back to the castle. He'd need the note to prove to the clan he wasn't willingly holding back information.

His return to the clan had been a joyous one. As soon as he had walked inside the castle, the clan had nearly tackled him in their joy of seeing him. Once he had gotten some breathing room, he answered the biggest question that was on their minds: who was the kidnapper?

"I can't say."

"What?!" They all said in unison.

Brooklyn stepped closer to his brother. "Why not?!"

"Crystal asked me not to. I don't know why, but," he pulled the note out of his pouch and passed it to his brother. "This proves that I'm not lying."

Snatching the note from his hand, Brooklyn unfolded and read the note. He growled, allowing his eyes to glow a brilliant white, as he crumpled the paper, threw it on the ground, and stormed off.

Lex shook his head. "I had a feeling he'd react that way."

Angela bent down and picked up the crumpled paper. "So... she's never coming back?"

He sighed. "She promised me she would... eventually. And, even if she wanted us to go rescue her, it'd be pointless. That amulet around her neck forces her to attack anyone from the clan. It'd be suicide for us to go after her."

"Yet, you remain unharmed." Goliath stated. "Why is that?"

"Our kidnapper seemed to have... somewhat of a heart. They wanted Crystal to have some company, but I was also used as leverage."

"But what about the stolen artefacts?" asked Angela. "Wouldn't it be possible to track her down when she goes to steal another one?"

Lexington shook his head. "It would work, only all the artefacts needed are in the kidnapper's possession. Don't know why they still need Crystal though."

It was at that moment when, somewhere inside the castle, they heard something crash onto the floor, with a long line of curse words following.

Hudson sighed and shook his head. "I'll go check on the lad. Of only tae make sure he hasn't decided tae tear the whole castle apart." He strolled towards where the noise and swearing had come from, with Bronx following closely behind.

The next night...

Knowing that she wouldn't have the strength nor the energy to leave that night, Crystal decided to stay the night. Besides, Demona did say that she could leave when she was physically able to. Problem was, her stone sleep had cured her of the previous night's injuries. Normally, this would be a good thing, but in Crystal's case, she just wasn't ready to leave.

Shortly after breaking out of her stone skin, Demona walked into the room. "I would have expected you to have left by now."

"I... I can't just leave," she stammered.

Demona, with a sigh, crossed her arms. "Let me guess. Now that Lexington has returned to the clan, you want to wait until they come barging into my home, attack me, and take you back with them."

Crystal flopped onto the couch. "The clan won't be coming for me. Lex won't tell the clan it was you."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her eye ridges furrowed. "Explain."

"I don't want the clan coming after you."

Now she was really confused. The only one that ever showed an emotion other than anger towards her was Angela. "Why not?"

Crystal started fiddling with the end of her tail. "Because if it wasn't for you, I'd have probably never been born. You insured that my father would survive into adulthood." She looked up at the other gargoyle. "In a way, you're family. And... I can't allow family to be hurt."

Now that shocked her. Demona never expected someone to consider - or even call her - family. But now she had gotten curious. "What happened to your family to make you consider me part of it?"

"My parents were killed by a drunk driver. The rest of my family, except for one cousin, disowned me after my transformation. I've got no one left."

"You've got the clan. Why do you need me?"

"You raised my dad. You're the only one alive from his side of the family."

Demona uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. "Well you're out of luck. Angela is the only family I need or what." She turned around to leave the room.

Crystal quickly stood up. "And how do you think she'll feel when she finds out that her mother tried to wipe out the human race again, and was going to kill a member of her clan to reach her goal?"

Demona stopped dead in her tracks, and slowly turned around. "For wanting me to be a part of your family, you don't seem to have a problem with blackmailing."

"Lex told me about how Angela's tried to make you give up your grudge against humanity. About how you keep telling her she doesn't understand, just because she grew up in a sheltered environment." She took a few steps forward. "I can see why you hate humanity so much, but you have got to give up this vendetta!"

"What do you care? You're not human anymore, your family abandoned you. Your parents were taken away by some drunken imbecile."

"Which is why I can understand your hatred for them. It's a selfish, bloodthirsty race. I may not have experienced the wars like you have, but I now live in a country whose president bombs the hell out of near-defenceless countries, just so that he can control majority of the world's oil supply. Thousands of people have lost their lives, because a war-loving moron got greedy." The blue gargoyle was shocked at the younger one's outburst. "And just last year, London was attacked by cowards who want nothing more than to see the world fall to its knees in defeat." She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "You can't possibly tell me that after befriending my grandparents, after raising my father, that you think humanity has nothing good going for it. You obviously cared for them, to have done what you did."

She had a point. She may have raised him as a gargoyle, but inside, he was still a human. Just like the gargoyle standing before her. The young one understood her feelings toward the humans, even agreed with her on some of them. Angela had never been able to see things from her point of view. Demona looked at the young gargoyle and said, "I'm surprised you can understand my hatred for humans and not hate them. Though you have me all wrong. You think that because I befriended a few humans, I can befriend them all? Never! They are petulance, and live in ignorance of the superior race that gargoyles are!" She stepped forward and grabbed Crystal by her chin. "Do you really want me as family?"

Crystal gulped. She should have expected Demona to act somewhat like this. "I, well... yes, I do."

Demona grinned. "Then join me in my fight against these pests!"

The tan coloured gargoyle's eyes widened. "I... can't do that! My friends are human! I would never do anything to hurt them!"

She let Crystal go. "Then leave my home. You are no longer of use to me."

"I can't believe you would do something so horrible, that you would risk your relationship with your daughter."

Demona's eyes began to glow. "You leave my daughter out of this!"

"No, I won't! Angela's like a sister to me, and I won't let her get hurt because her mother is holding a thousand-year old grudge!"

The glow in her eyes dimmed. "You care that much about Angela?"

Crystal faintly smiled. "Yes, I do. And that's why I'm asking you to give this up. You can go ahead and hate humanity. I mean heck, who doesn't from time to time? All I'm asking is that you stop trying to kill them. You know that Angela would never forgive you if you succeeded."

Demona closed her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. When she opened them, the glow was gone. "I'll let it go... this time. But don't think I've had a sudden change of heart."

"No, no, not at all. Believe me, this would make Angela very proud." Now came the tough question. "Since, you're not going to kill them this time, do you think you could return those stolen artefacts?"

"Seeing as I can't kill you now, yes, you can return them. Just, try not to be seen when you're doing it."

Crystal had eagerly put the artefacts into a box, and glided over to the 23rd precinct, where she left the box on the front steps. What she didn't count on was a patrolling Broadway, who had seen and followed her back to Demona's. He wasted no time in gliding back to the castle.

"We're wasting time here!" Brooklyn shouted.

"We cannot go charging in there!" Goliath reminded him.

"Just watch me!" Before anyone could react, he ran out of the castle and glided away.

Goliath let out a frustrated growl. "Broadway, Hudson, come with me. We don't know what he might try if he gets too far ahead of us."

"But Father..." Angela protested.

"No Angela, you will stay here. We gave Demona the benefit of the doubt, and it was a mistake." Without another word, the three males rushed out and tried to catch up to their enraged clan member.

Demona and Crystal were sitting down at the kitchen table, each with a cup of coffee, when they heard the balcony glass doors breaking.

Demona groaned. "Why did my alarms not go off?" She quickly got to her feet. "Stay here, I'll take care of this." Before Crystal could protest, the blue gargoyle left to see what was happening.

Just in case something went wrong, Crystal followed, hiding around the corner, peeking around to see. The sight that met her eyes surprised her.

Brooklyn stood at his full height, his wings flared and eyes glowing a hot white. "Demona! Where's Crystal?!"

Calmly, Demona cloaked her wings and placed a hand on her hip. "It's common courtesy to knock before entering someone's home."

He was about to attack, when three other figures landed behind him and walked in. Goliath shot a warning glance at Brooklyn, and looked back at his former mate. "Demona, where is she?"

"I haven't the faintest idea who you're talking about." She then thought, Why am I protecting her?

Brooklyn took a threatening step forward, but Broadway held him back. "Calm down bro. We're not gonna solve anything if you don't control your temper."

"What's there to solve?!" Brooklyn growled. "You saw with your own eyes that Crystal came here!" He broke free of his brother's grasp and charged at Demona.

Crystal forced herself to stay hidden while the events in front of her unfolded. But when she saw Brooklyn rush forward, she couldn't stay back any longer. She ran as fast as she could and stood in front of Demona, forcing Brooklyn to stop abruptly.

"Crystal!" Remembering what happened last time he saw her, he took a cautious step back. "Listen to me Crys. We need to get that amulet..." He looked at her neck, and noticed that the amulet was no longer there. The glow in his eyes dimmed. "Crystal, where's the amulet?"

"That doesn't matter. What I wanna know is, how did you find out I was here?"

"Broadway followed you here. What I don't understand is, why didn't you want Lex to tell us you were here?"

She ignored his question. "Why didn't you listen to what I wrote to you in that note?"

The glow in his eyes was nearly gone. "Because I found out you were here. I... I couldn't just leave you here with Demona. Who knows what she could have done to you!"

Crystal crossed her arms. "Well, let's see. Demona removed the amulet yesterday, let me spend the day here so that I could recuperate, and she hasn't tried to kill me since sunset. We've gotten along quite nicely actually." The eyes of all four males widened in shock. "Yeah, that's right. Now if you don't mind, could you please leave? I'll be right behind you."

"Crys, there's no way -"

"And there's no way you're hurting her, Brooklyn. You want to get to her, you'll have to go through me first."

Hudson began to gently pull Brooklyn away. "Come lad, we'll discuss this at the castle." With Broadway's help, they were able to get the crimson gargoyle onto the balcony, and in the air towards the castle.

Goliath wasn't too sure what to make of the situation. "I expect you to explain everything." And without another word, he walked out the broken door and left.

"You defended me. Why?"

Crystal turned around. "Family protects each other." She suddenly felt a little awkward. "I... I'll see you around, I guess." She walked onto the balcony. "Sorry about the door." She jumped onto the rail, and glided away.

Demona shook her head, as a small smile made its way to her lips. "A strange one, she is."

Crystal had barely landed in the courtyard, before she was bombarded with questions. Even though it had annoyed her, she had - as calmly as possible - told the clan everything that had happened. Angela was delighted to find out that her mother had actually cared for a human; even raised one. Everyone had been shocked by her story, excluding Lex; she had told him everything before she had helped him escape.

"And that's what happened."

"So did my mother tell you why the transformation happened?"

She shook her head. "No. I was just about to ask her, when somebody decided to make an appearance." She glared at Brooklyn. "Look, I'm tired. If no one minds, and if this question period's over, I'd like to rest now." Not even bothering to wait for a response, she turned and made her way to her room.

Everyone else went off to do their own thing, but Brooklyn hadn't even moved. He was still a little surprised at what he had heard, and a little shocked from the glare Crystal had sent his way. Just before she reached her room, he ran after her. "Crystal, wait."

She didn't stop until she reached her door. "What do you want Brooklyn?"

He was taken aback by the harshness in her voice. "I... I'm sorry about what I did. I know now that I shouldn't have done it, but I only did it because I care about you."

"Do you? Really?" she snapped. "Tell me something, do you actually care about me? Or did you come barging in because I was your last chance at having a mate?"

Brooklyn mentally kicked himself when he realized what he had said. It wasn't the way he wanted to tell her he had feelings for her. Crystal's question was a simple one to answer, but it had caught him completely off guard, and for some other reason, he just wasn't able to answer.

Crystal didn't take the silence well. "I thought so." Quickly, she stepped into her room and slammed the door shut. She leaned back against the door and slid down to the floor. She was so upset, that she didn't even bother to try and hold back the tears that began to roll down her cheeks.

"It's not like that." he whispered. He grabbed at his hair and shook his head. "Why do I keep screwing things up with the opposite sex?!" He muttered angrily.

"You just haven't had the practice in dealing with them."

Brooklyn spun around to see Xanatos standing behind him. "How long have you been standing there?"

He put his hands in his pockets. "Long enough to know you need some help dealing with women."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," he mumbled and turned to leave.

"I could help you, you know."

The crimson gargoyle stopped and slowly turned around. "You'd help me?" He raised an eye ridge. "What's in it for you?"

Xanatos slightly shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. All I would get is the satisfaction of seeing you two together."

Brooklyn looked at him, then at Crystal's door, and back at the human. "What did you have in mind?"