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 6

A week later, things hadn't changed much. Whenever Brooklyn and Crystal bumped into each other, they simply apologized and kept going their separate ways; except for this night.

The sun set and the gargoyles broke free of their stone shells and roared to the heavens; except for Crystal. When she broke free from her stone shell, she was screaming and in a cold sweat. She collapsed to her hands and knees, panting.

Hudson was first to reach her side. "Lass, are ye alright?"

"I'm... fine." she said between gasps. "Just a day-mare." She gave him a weak smile. "Nothing to worry about."

With a curt nod and a comforting pat on the shoulder, Hudson went inside along with the rest of the clan.

Looking one last time over the city, she heaved a heavy sigh. "At least, I hope it was only a dream." Walking inside the castle, she made her way to her room. Damn this extra sense of mine.

Closing her bedroom door behind her, she noticed the outfit that she had worn to her friend Jessica's graduation laid out on her bed, with a note on top. She picked up and read the note, which simply said, Wear me. The writing seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn't place as to who would have done this. Shrugging mentally, she decided to change into the outfit. Obviously, someone had something planned out for her.

After changing into the skirt and top, she finally noticed that another note had been taped to the back of her door. She snatched the note off, and unfolded it. Come out to the courtyard was all that was written. She felt a little awkward in walking through the castle in what she was wearing, but to her surprise, everyone seemed to have vanished.

"Odd," she said to herself.

Upon arriving to the courtyard, she saw a small table set up, with two lit candles atop. The whole thing was set up for two people, and, when she got closer, another note was on the table. She picked it up to see the words Turn around written on it.

She quickly spun around, but was disappointed when there was nothing behind her. But she didn't have to wait long before she saw someone slowly step out of the shadows.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Brooklyn?"

He was wearing a specially-made tux, with his hair tied back in a ponytail, and his wings folded behind him, with the wing talons resting on his shoulders.

He gave her a warm smile. "Wow Crys, you look beautiful."

She cloaked her wings. "Uh, thanks. You look great too." This felt extremely weird for her. She had spent the week trying to get over him, and now that he had gone and done this, all those feelings gradually started to resurface. "What's all this about?"

"We... had somewhat of a misunderstanding last week, and I wanted to apologize for what I did." He wanted to avoid looking her in the eye, but he forced himself to. "I can only imagine at how angry you are at me right now."

"I'm not angry at you Brooklyn, I haven't been angry for a few days now." She could no longer meet his gaze, and moved her sights to the ground. "You just confirmed what Demona told me when you didn't listen to what I told you in the letter."

Brooklyn suppressed a growl at the sound of the immortal's name, and took a few steps forward, so that he was standing only a few feet away from her. He had to make sure that what he was going to say didn't come out harsh. "What did she say about me?"

She couldn't bear to look at him. "She said that you would go after any female with a tail, and since Angela's with Broadway, that I became next in line for you to chase."

"It's not true." She slowly raised her head to look at him, with what looked like a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I was like that when I was younger, but I learned from my mistakes, and I'm not about to repeat them for a third time."

The hope in her eyes had now turned to hurt. "Third? I thought Angela was the only one."

Smooth move there, genius, he thought. You're trying to fix things up with her, and you've probably just made things a lot worse. "If only she was. I had a crush on Maggie when I first met her."

She shook her head. "I... no." This was just too much for her to handle emotionally. She turned to leave, when she felt Brooklyn grab her wrist.

"Just hear me out, please." His heart nearly shattered to pieces in thinking he had lost her. She slowly turned around and looked back up at him. "It was a long time ago. It was a stupid, immature crush, and I took them both for granted. It's not something I'm proud of."

"And how do I know that I'm not just some crush, too?" Even though she was no longer sure of her feelings for him, she hoped with all her heart that his feelings for her were real. She could feel her eyes begin to water. "How do I know you're not taking me for granted?"

"Because I could never do that to you." He sighed in near-defeat. "I can understand why you wouldn't believe me, but... if this is going to be it for us, could we at least spend tonight together?"

She looked into his eyes, and expected to see desperation, neediness, and begging. But instead, she saw pain and hurt. She was still confused, now more than ever, about everything. I don't want this to be it for us Brooklyn, she thought. But I don't know what to think or feel anymore. But she knew that if this was the end for them, as something more than just friends, then she needed her last memory of the two of them together to be a good one. She held back the tears that were threatening to spill, and gave him a weak smile. "I'd be happy to spend the night with you."

Forcing himself to smile, he pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit. She gave him a warm smile as she stood in front of the chair and allowed him to push it in for her. He walked to the other side of the table, and as soon he had sat down, Broadway, wearing a black bowtie and white cuffs, came out carrying two plates which were covered with domed lids.

He smiled at them both as he placed the plates on the table, and took off the lids. "Bon appetit."

Crystal's eyes widened in surprise and delight. "Mushroom risotto with salmon? Brooklyn, I can't believe you remembered my favourite meal."

"I, well..." he awkwardly cleared his throat and blushed. "How could I forget?" He watched as Broadway left, and Angela arrived, wearing the same bowtie and white cuffs, and carrying a bottle of wine. She pulled the cork off and filled the glasses halfway.

As Crystal watched her leave, she turned back and giggled. "How many of the others did you get to agree to help?"

A warm-hearted smile finally found its way to his beak. "Oh, you'd be surprised." At that moment Lexington came out, also wearing a bowtie, but he was carrying a stereo. He set it close to the table, pressed a button, and briskly walked back. Within seconds, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata began to play. "Although, I couldn't figure out how Lex could wear the cuffs, so we just opted against it."

The right corner of her mouth quirked upwards. "Who else did you get to help you?"

"Well, Fox picked out your outfit, and placed the notes where they were. Owen set out the table and everything else here, and Xanatos helped me out with the suit." Among other things.

Maybe he was telling the truth. Not giving it a second thought, her tail found his, and she entwined them, giving his a gentle squeeze. She looked away and blushed as he looked at her with a slightly shocked expression.

Dinner was relatively quiet, neither one not really knowing what to say. Crystal was halfway through her second glass of wine when she noticed how nervous Brooklyn was looking.

She took another sip and placed the glass back on the table. "Brooklyn what's wrong? You look like you're about to start shaking."

"It's for good reason." While trying to steady himself, he got up from his chair and walked to Crystal's side. He gave a courteous bow, and outstretched his hand. "May I have this dance?"

She wasn't even thinking when she placed her hand in his and allowed herself to be led away from the table. Her mind didn't click onto what was happening until he had placed her left hand on his shoulder, and he had positioned his right hand just under her wing.

"I thought you said you didn't know how to dance."

He grinned. "I didn't. Fox and Xanatos taught me how. Since you had learned ballroom dancing, they thought it'd be best for me to learn too."

He's remembered things I told him about myself from when we first met. She looked into his eyes, and even though she could still see the hurt in them, there was also a hint of joy in them too. I think I may have been too quick to judge him. He's done all this, and I had almost completely pushed him away... twice. She opened her mouth to say something, when off to the side, someone coughed politely.

Both gargoyles cursed under their breath and looked to see Broadway standing there, with a portable phone in his hand. "Sorry to interrupt, but there's a phone call for you, Crystal." He noticed the upset look on Brooklyn's face, and quickly added, "I used every excuse short of saying you jumped off the Empire State Building, but they insisted it was important."

"It's no problem Broadway." She pulled away from Brooklyn and took the phone. "Thanks for trying though." He gave her a smile and a nod before going back inside the castle. She gave Brooklyn an apologetic look before lifting the phone to her ear. "Hello? Yes, this is Crystal DiMaggio." Her expression went from joy, to shock and horror within a few short minutes. When the conversation ended, she disconnected the call and held the phone to her chest.

Seeing something was wrong, Brooklyn stood behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Crystal what's wrong? Who was on the phone?"

She leaned against him and tried to take in the information she had just received. "That... that was Detective James Conrad..." She looked down at the phone and started fiddling with the antenna. "You remember my cousin Nicole, right?"

Oh crap. This isn't going to be good news. "She's an unforgettable character. Why, what happened?"

"Well, the whole thing started with the neighbours noticing that the house was on fire, and so they called 911. After the fire crews put out the flames, they went searching through the house. They were lucky in the fact that only the garage and kitchen was burnt down. Well, it didn't taken them too long to find Cole." She took a deep breath to steady her shaking voice. "They found her in the front hall, beaten and suffering from smoke inhalation."

"Beaten?"

"Yeah, they're saying that whoever did it must have been let inside through the front door, because they couldn't find any points of forced entry on what was left of the house. But to make things worse, they tried calling her immediate family when they had to take her into surgery, but not one person could be reached." She raised her head to look at him. "I hate to have to do this Brooklyn, but I have to go back to Toronto."

He sighed. "I had a feeling you'd say that." He ran his talons through her hair. "But I know you have to."

As much as she didn't want him to have to stop, she knew he had to. She grasped his hand and pushed it away. "I'm sorry Brooklyn, but until I can get things worked out, we can't do this."

He nodded somberly. "I understand." He took a step back and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a white envelope. "I was going to give this to you later, but seeing as you're leaving the country."

She took the envelope, and kissed the side of his beak. "Thanks for understanding." She lingered a moment longer before she hiked up the front of her skirt and ran inside the castle.

"Anytime."