AN: Hello all! Here is the next installment in my story, and sooner than I expected! The muse has decided to be kind lately, it seems.

Thank you for reading, and please enjoy! And don't forget to review! The muse seems to work better when she knows people are enjoying what they're reading.

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 12

It had taken two full days for Crystal and Lex's injuries to completely heal. During that time, patrols had been suspended, and no one was allowed a certain distance away from the castle. Their possible threat was still out destroying property, and Goliath didn't want to take any chances.

Even after the two of them were once again ready to patrol, Goliath had cut back on the amount of patrols and how long they lasted. He even went so far as to make sure they were done in groups of three.

Two weeks later, and the restrictions were still in place.

And it was starting to drive Crystal batty. She hated being restricted to the castle so much. She sat out on the castle wall, just staring out over the city. All the extra time being in the castle had led her to constantly think about the attack on her and Lex. It first started out thinking how she could be caught so unawares. The clan had taught her better than that! But Lex was caught off-guard as well, and he was a much better warrior than she was. Then she thought about how they had been left so weak and defenseless, and therefore had taken such a harsh beating.

But the one thing that kept popping up was how she never would have been attacked in such a way, had she remained human. She wasn't alone, she had a family, and she was enjoying her life as a gargoyle. But this attack made it perfectly clear that things would be easier had she never grown wings and a tail.

That thought, however, was quickly replaced by another; why? Why did she change into a gargoyle? How did it happen?

"What are you doing out here?"

Crystal looked over her shoulder to see Brooklyn. "Oh hey. Nothing much, just thinking."

"Uh oh." Brooklyn walked over and leaned against the wall. "Sounds dangerous."

She shoved him and chuckled. "Very funny."

"Anything you need to get off your chest?"

"Actually, yeah." She took a deep breath and braced herself for the reaction she knew she was about to get. "I was thinking about visiting Demona."

"WHAT?!" Crystal looked away for the oncoming rant. "You can't be serious!"

Crystal counted down from five to keep herself calm. "Of course I am."

"But... but why?!

"Because the past couple of weeks got me thinking, and I realized, I still have a lot of unanswered questions."

Brooklyn shook his head. "You can't go."

Crystal was hoping she had misheard. "I'm sorry?"

Brooklyn hated what he was about to say, but he needed to do it. "You're not going, and as second-in-command, I forbid it."

Crystal stepped down from the wall. "You forbid it?"

"You are a part of this clan, and as such, you need to follow the chain of command."

"No."

Brooklyn was surprised at her response. "No?"

Crystal shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no. This is not negotiable."

He rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Why are you so intent on seeing that psycho?"

She nearly rolled her eyes at his choice of words. "Brooklyn, it's been months since I met Demona, and I still don't know how or why my transformation happened. I figure there has to be some sort of connection between her raising my father and this happening to me."

"Do you even remember the circumstances in which you met her?!" He seethed. He hated Demona even more for her kidnapping Crystal, and he still couldn't understand why she considered the immortal as part of her family.

"Of course I do!" She snapped. "It's because of that incident that I found out who she was, and realized that my father's stories were true." Crystal couldn't see why Brooklyn wouldn't just let her go to Demona's manor, and finally shed some light on a confusing past. "Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because this is Demona we're talking about here!" Brooklyn made sure to keep his voice level. "She's not exactly innocent when it comes to dealing with this clan. Or did you forget everything we've told you about her?"

Now he was pushing it. A small growl escaped her throat. "I remember everything perfectly. But you, mister, have been holding a grudge against her for over a decade, and haven't showed any signs of letting up on it! Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'don't forgive and forget; forgive and remember'?"

"Why should I even consider forgiving her, when she isn't even close to accepting the responsibility for taking part in destroying our clan!" He snarled.

Crystal's eyes widened at the sound of Brooklyn's words. Obviously, he hadn't experienced that kind of pain. Her voice softened. "You can answer that yourself once you blame yourself, even partially, for someone else's death."

Brooklyn wished he could take his words back. He knew Crystal blamed herself in part for the death of her parents, even though she had absolutely nothing to do with it. "Crystal, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. But you gotta understand, Demona's not as sweet as she makes herself out to be."

"I don't care how sweet or evil she may be," Crystal pointed out. "The fact is, she has information that I need, and I'm going to her place to find out everything I can." With that last word spoken, Crystal spun on her heel and walked towards the door.

There was no doubt in Brooklyn's mind that he had lost the argument - this part of it, anyway. "At least take someone with you."

Crystal stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, an eye ridge raised. "And who do you suggest I take with me? You?"

The anger in her voice made Brooklyn cringe. "I know you wouldn't trust me to be in her place for more than five minutes without probably attacking her." He was thinking of mentioning on who should go with her, but he decided to bite his tongue.

She considered his request. She appreciated his concern, but there were times when there was no cause for it. "I'll take Angela with me. That is, if that's all right with you." The way she said it made it clear that it had better be all right with him.

Brooklyn would have preferred it if she had chosen someone who knew Demona a little better. "Yeah, that's fine."

Crystal wanted to respond, but decided it would be better if she just bit her tongue this time. She turned around and went inside the castle to find Angela.

The crimson gargoyle sighed heavily and slammed his fist on the parapet. "Damn you, Demona."

-0-

"Bloody obtuse, thick-headed dolt. Who the hell does he think he is?!" Crystal had begun her tirade once she was out of earshot. She was so focused on it that she was on autopilot walking through the halls, but ended up walking right into the person she was looking for. "Crap, sorry Angela."

Angela straightened her top and smiled. "Not a problem, Crystal. I can only assume that was Brooklyn you were complaining about?"

"Yes, it was." She tried to not roll her eyes at the sound of his name. "Do you think I could borrow you for a bit?"

"Of course. What for?"

"I need to visit your mother."

Angela's face showed both elation and confusion. "I'd be delighted to join you, but why do you need me there?"

This time Crystal rolled her eyes. "Because I promised dunderhead I wouldn't see her alone."

The lavender gargoyle nodded. "Sounds like Brooklyn. Shall we go now?"

"Lead the way."

-0-

By the time Crystal got back to the castle, she was in a complete daze. Angela followed a few steps behind as she walked inside and through the castle, not really noticing anyone or anything that came her way. She watched as Crystal arrived to her room, and quietly closed the door behind her. Angela shook her head sadly and left to find Broadway. She wouldn't tell him what she'd heard; obviously it was not her story to tell. She just really needed a hug.

Walking into her bathroom, Crystal closed and locked the door. She didn't even bother removing her clothes before she stepped inside the shower. Turning on the water, she stood under the cold spray and just stood there, not moving. The tears didn't start rolling down her cheeks for another few minutes, and when they did, she sat on the floor, pulled her knees up, and buried her face in her lap.

-0-

Two hours later, she finally emerged from her room, wearing a tank top and baggy pajama bottoms, with her hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her eyes were red from all the crying, and her voice had gone hoarse from the constant mumbling and talking to herself that she had done.

"Crystal?" Broadway slowly approached her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Where's Goliath?"

"I think he's in the library." She nodded again and started making her way towards the library. "Hey Crys." She stopped to turn and look at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not until I've had the chance to talk it over with my brother," she squeaked out.

She walked into the library to find Goliath sitting on the couch, reading. "Goliath?"

He finished the sentence he was reading and looked up. "Ah, Crystal." He noticed her appearance, and frowned. "What is the matter?"

Slowly she made her way towards the couch. "Nothing, really." She strained to raise her voice above a whisper. "I was hoping I could be relieved of patrol tomorrow."

"Why would you be wanting the night off?"

"There's an important matter I need to speak to my brother about. I would do it tonight, but I feel that I'm not emotionally able to."

He carefully considered her request. She was obviously shaken about something, and it would be unsafe to send her out in such a condition. "Very well. You may have the night off."

Crystal nodded and said her thanks, and walked back to her room. She had decided that she wouldn't roost with the clan that night. She also made sure that she didn't run into Christian on the way. There was no way she wanted him to see her like this. Not that the next night would be any better. She pulled back the covers and crawled into bed. Pulling the blankets up to her chin, she closed her eyes and tried to get some rest. Her internal clock would tell her when sunrise was approaching, so she didn't have to worry about turning to stone in bed. Sleep soon claimed her, but it was nowhere near restful.

-0-

When she awoke the next night, she tried to think of a reason to delay what she had to do. She knew it was wrong, but just thinking about it made her want to start crying again. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself, she walked out of her room to find Lex standing in front of her door, just about to knock.

"Hey Crys. You feeling better?"

"Actually, I'm feeling worse, if that's possible." She sighed. "Goliath's still up on his tower, right?"

"Last I saw him, he was."

"Good, good. I need you to do a favour for me, two actually."

He gave her a warm smile. "Ask away."

"I need you to tell my brother to meet me in the library, and to tell everyone else to stay out of there." She fought to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill.

"I'm on it," and he scampered away to do as Crystal had asked.

-0-

Crystal didn't have to wait long in the library for her brother to show up. But it didn't prevent her from fiddling with the tip of her tail in nervousness, and worry.

"Hey sis, what's up?"

She merely looked at him and motioned for him to sit on the couch beside her. She took in a deep, quivering breath, and looked him straight in the eye. "You remember how I told you about Demona, right? How she's connected with our family?"

Christian was a little confused as to what she was getting at, but he nodded anyways. "Sure I do."

"Well, yesterday I decided to pay her a visit. To find out why my transformation happened."

"Oh, wow. What happened? Did she know?"

She turned her head away from him. "To a certain degree. It turns out that she used a spell to turn our father into a gargoyle, so that she would be able to raise him. Apparently, there was also a side affect to the spell, but the part of the page that it had been written on was torn away. It was only in meeting me that she sort of figured out what the side affect was. She said that she'd try to find a copy of the spell to find out the exact terms of the side affect."

He could easily tell she was keeping something back. Not only because of the way she was acting, but also because she wouldn't have gotten so upset about what she had just told him. "Sis, I know there's something else you need to tell me." He grasped her hand and held it. "Whatever it is, we'll deal with it."

Meekly, she looked back up at him. "She said most likely this spell was one that affected future generations."

His eyes widened. "You don't mean..."

Crystal nodded slowly. "There's the possibility that you'll be going through the transformation as well." She gripped his hand and looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Hey," he scooted closer to her and hugged her. "This isn't your fault. And stop apologizing for things that are out of your control."

"Sorry." She sniffed and rested her head against his shoulder. "I guess it's because of my Canadian upbringing."

"I was raised in Canada too you know." He hugged her closer and rubbed her back, being careful to avoid where her wings joined her back. "You just have a good heart, and don't want any kind of harm to come to anyone. Besides, you're my big sister. You're supposed to try and protect me."

"Yeah, well, that just heightened with the transformation." She wiped her eyes as they began to water. "But what if it does happen? What'll you do?"

"Well, it'll be difficult at first, but I already left my life in Vancouver. And if any unforeseen complications pop up –"

"You won't be alone in it. I'll help you every step of the way. I promise," she interrupted.

"I know you will." He kissed the top of her head. "Do you think we should tell the clan about this?"

She thought about that for a bit. It was something that would affect the clan, but it would be in a positive way. "We're still unsure if it's going to happen, but considering Angela already knows, and Goliath and Lex have already seen how the unknown news affected me... they're going to ask, no point in hiding it from them, even though we won't have confirmation of it happening until you start showing physical problems."

"Physical problems?" That got him a little worried. "What kind of physical problems?"

Crystal looked up at her brother and smiled. "Shoulder blade and tailbone pain. It started about a month before the transformation."

"Great. Something fun to look forward to."

"Aw, it's not that bad," she grinned. "I mean sure, not even painkillers will help the pain, but still, it's not that bad."

Christian chuckled and poked her side. "Thanks for making me feel better about it."

She giggled. "Hey, it's my job as your big sister to make you feel better."

"Yeah, and it's my job as your little brother to annoy you." He placed a lock of her hair behind her horns and patted her arm. "Now c'mon, let's go show the clan that you're feeling better. There's no telling how worried they are by now."

"Yeah, you're right." She pulled away from his embrace and smiled. "Going to help me break the news to the clan?"

"Do I have to? Can't I be the typical brother and just brush you off and make you do it on your own?"

Sighing, she laughed and shook her head. "I'm going to have fun giving you gliding lessons."

-0-

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Crystal, if you could just -"

"I said no!" Crystal stormed out to the battlements to try to get away from him.

OoOoOoOoOo

Broadway and Lex watched from the other side of the room as the two gargoyles walked past them, yelling. "They're at it again."

Lex nodded. "You'd think by now they'd realize why they argue so much."

The bigger gargoyle shrugged. "All we can do is wait."

"And wear earplugs."

OoOoOoOoOo

"Would you just listen to me?" Brooklyn grabbed her by the arm and spun her around.

"And why should I?!" She pushed his hand away.

"Because I made a mistake and I'm trying to apologize!"

"I don't care what you're trying to do! Now leave me alone!"

She turned away, but Brooklyn turned her back around and grabbed her by the shoulders. "I've been trying to talk to you for two nights now! The least you could do is hear me out!"

"Yeah, two nights. Which means you're a whole night too late to try!" Her eyes took on a reddish hue. "You didn't try until the night after I broke news to the clan and revealed that Demona had been incredibly helpful!" She growled, "You're just trying to clear your guilty conscience!"

Brooklyn growled in return. "I'm not trying to clear anything. Just because I was wrong about her this one time doesn't mean I'm wrong about who she is!" Crystal tried to struggle out of his grip, but he just held on tighter. "My timing may be horrible, but my intentions are pure."

"And so were mine!" Her eyes were still tinged red, but they were now brimming with tears.

His grip on her loosened. He finally realized that her attitude towards him hadn't been out of anger, but out of pain. She had trusted him enough to tell him of her plans, but his hatred of Demona had overridden any trust he had in Crystal. All she had wanted was for him to show he trusted her enough to know she was making the right decision. She knew Demona was dangerous and couldn't be completely trusted, but she had hoped Brooklyn knew she wouldn't take any interactions with her lightly. "I'm sorry." He released her from his grip. "I should have trusted you."

She wiped away the tears that were threatening to spill. "Yeah, you should have."

"I was worried she was going to hurt you again."

Crystal shook her head. "I know you don't like her, but she's not an idiot. Even if I had gone alone, do you really think she would have done something, hoping I didn't tell anyone where I was going?"

"I wouldn't put it past her," he muttered.

She sighed, exasperated. "Seriously?"

"Yes. You don't know her like I do." He held back the growl he felt in his throat from just thinking about the blue witch. "You don't know what she's capable of. How far she's willing to go to get what she wants. What she's willing to take!"

"I know you'll probably never forgive her for what she did to the clan, and all the battles against her over the years won't help, but you're making it sound like she's a complete and total psychopath. Sociopath, even. And we both know she can't be that bad given how much she cares about Angela."

Brooklyn snarled. "She's used Angela in the past. Like I said, there's no telling what she'll do to accomplish her goals."

Crystal took a step back. She knew his reaction wasn't aimed at her, but he had never had such a reaction in front of her during a conversation. "Brooklyn, what's gotten into you?"

He shook his head and growled. "Forget it."

Crystal pushed her feelings aside and studied the gargoyle before her. Her problems could wait, especially since there was more going on with him than he was willing to say. "I can't." Brooklyn turned away to leave, but she blocked his path. "What are you not telling me?"

"Leave it alone, Crystal." He stepped to the side, but she just mimicked his move.

How the tables have turned. She shook her head. "Not until you tell me."

"There's nothing to tell." He again tried to step away, but she just continued to block him.

"That's a lie and you know it."

Brooklyn's eyes began to glow as he stood at his full height and flared out his wings. "I told you," he growled, his tail lashing from side to side, "there's nothing to tell!"

It didn't matter how imposing he looked, Crystal wasn't going to back down. Time to change tactics. She locked eyes with him, took a deep breath, and stepped closer to him. Without breaking eye contact, she found his tail with hers and held it to keep it from moving. "It's okay, Brooklyn," she said, softly, "you can tell me." Brooklyn didn't react, and Crystal wasn't sure if it was because he wasn't expecting her to do anything, or if it was because that's how angry he was. Either way she didn't care. She entwined their tails and took one of his hands into both of hers. "You can trust me."

The glow vanished from his eyes, and his tail stopped struggling in her grip. It was true, he could trust her. Even though she had been in his life for less than a year, he trusted her as much as he did any other member of the clan. But he'd been holding onto this for twelve long years. And how would she react to it? Anger? Pity? Disgust? Would she think less of him? Would she then tell the rest of the clan? Or would she think nothing of it? She had no blood relation to Demona, so it shouldn't bother her. Crystal still considered her family, but to what extent? So many questions were running through his mind all at once, he almost felt dizzy.

His breathing was ragged, and he wasn't looking at her so much as he was looking through her. His body was so tense that his wings were beginning to tremble. Even a blind person could tell he was at war within himself. "Hey Brooklyn, it's okay." Crystal placed her right hand on his beak and gently rubbed it with her thumb. "It's just me."

His brain seemed to wake up, and he closed his eyes at the gentle touch. "Crystal, I..." The tension left his body and his wings drooped.

"Shh, it's okay," she soothed. "You don't have to say anything." There was no point in pushing him further, especially not when he'd had such a strong reaction. If he wanted to tell her, he would in due time. As for their earlier squabble, Crystal decided to just let it go. He obviously felt very strongly about what she had done, and it was only out of concern for her. There was no point in dragging it out.