AN: I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry! :grovels:

I didn't mean for this chapter to take so long. It was ready to go a few weeks ago, and life sort of found a way to get in the way. So my sincerest apologies for making you wait.

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 13

Lex muttered to himself under his breath as he put the last of the communicators back together. He had put them through every test he could think of. He had taken each one completely apart and ran tests on each individual part. No matter what he did, he could not figure out why his and Crystal's communicators had gone out that night they were attacked.

He placed the device on the table and stared at it. He stared, and he stared, and he stared. There has to be something I'm missing.

"Yo, Lex!"

The aquamarine hand waving in front of his face snapped him out of his thoughts. "What?"

"Finally. I've been calling your name for five minutes."

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"That part's obvious." The large gargoyle looked at all the communicators on the table. "Thinking about what?"

"About what went wrong with these the night Crystal and I were attacked." He took one of the devices and looked it over. "I've put them through every possible test..." He smacked his forehead. "...except for a field test!" He grabbed the communicators and handed half to his brother. "C'mon, let's get going!"

"Whoa, hold on!" Broadway chased after his brother out to the battlements. "We have more communicators than ears!"

"You're right." Lexington looked around and was delighted to see his other brother was outside. "Brooklyn!"

The red gargoyle turned his gaze from the city to where he heard his name being called. He saw his rookery brother waving him over excitedly, and somewhat reluctantly walked over. After what he had just gone through, alone time was something he really wanted right now. "What is it?"

"You're going to help us test these." Lex handed a few to him.

Brooklyn took the communicators, but stared at them for a few seconds before putting them in his ears. Maybe a glide with his brothers would do him some good. "Lead the way."

During the glide, Brooklyn made sure to keep his mind off what was bothering him and instead kept his focus on his clan members. It was surprising to realize how little time the three of them had been spending together over the years. Sure they lived together, but each one of them had carved out such separate lives over time. He made a note to himself to rectify that. He was brought out of his thoughts by a joke Broadway was finishing.

"...and the clerk replies, 'miss, that's a fire extinguisher.'"

Lexington broke through the laughter with a stern, "This is where the static started."

The other two gargoyles put their attention back to the task at hand, with Broadway constantly switching out one communicator for another as he was dealing with three. "I'm not hearing any static."

So it wasn't because we were out of range, thought Lex. He didn't respond, he simply led his brothers to the rooftop where he and Crystal had been rescued. "There it is!" It was faint, but there was a definite crackling sound. "But they were completely out by this point."

Brooklyn took the devices out of his ears. "So maybe you managed to improve them while you were working on them."

"I didn't do anything other than take them apart and test them."

Broadway turned all but one off. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Yes, Broadway, we can hear the static," quipped Brooklyn.

"Not that." He took the communicator out of his ear. "You don't hear the beeping?" He didn't wait for an answer; instead he followed the sound to an air vent. He reached inside and pulled out a small, black device, about the size of a film canister. There was a faint, but distinct, beeping sound being emitted. "What is it?"

Lex took the item and looked it over. He noticed that the closer he had gotten to it, the stronger the static coming from the communicators had become. "No doubt this is a signal disruptor. Someone put this here so that we couldn't communicate with the rest of the clan."

The grim reality of what that device meant settled in their minds.

"So we're being hunted," Brooklyn said quietly.

"But why didn't you hear the beeping that night?"

Lex looked up at the large gargoyle. "Because there was no beeping. It's beeping now because the battery's probably dying." He turned it off; both to stop the sound and to make sure they couldn't be tracked if it had the capability. "We should stop by Elisa's before heading back to the castle. Maybe she can help us track where this was bought, and by whom."

Brooklyn hung back a moment as his rookery brothers leaped off the building's ledge in the direction of the police woman's apartment. "I swear, Demona, if they're after us because of you..."

-0-

Elisa felt a shiver run through her body as she watched the gargoyles awaken from their stone slumber. It was a sight she would never tire of seeing. "Hey guys."

"Elisa!" Lex jumped off his perch and scampered over to the woman. "Were you able to find out anything?"

She watched as Goliath descended from his tower and landed softly nearby before answering. "Whoever this guy is, he's smart. He bought one of the most popular models on the market. I thought we caught a break when Matt found out only two shops on the island sell it, but as it turns out, neither one has working security cameras." She looked at the saddening faced of the clan. "And what's worse, this wasn't used in a crime against a citizen. Without that, we couldn't get a warrant to force the shops to turn over their records of anyone who's purchased one."

"But what about prints?" asked Broadway.

Elisa shook her head. "Guy either wiped it clean or wore gloves. Only prints on it were from you and Lex." She handed the device to the green gargoyle. "And unless he altered it, it doesn't have tracking capabilities." She looked up at Goliath as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"You did everything you could, Elisa," said Goliath.

Lex stared at the device in his hand and nearly crushed it in frustration. "I really thought we had something with this."

"Are we certain that was placed to hinder us?" All eyes turned to Angela. "Isn't there the chance that it was placed there for someone else's purposes, and this person just took advantage of it?"

"I think the real question is," said Crystal, "how did they know we use communicators?"

A low grumble emanated from deep within Goliath's chest. "This man is more dangerous than I thought, to have specific knowledge of the technology we use as a safety precaution."

"But," began Broadway, "who knows that we use them?"

"Well, Xanatos bought them for us, and bought the parts I asked for so that I could alter them specifically for us," Lex replied.

"And Demona and Macbeth have seen us with them when we visit." Broadway winced at the glare Angela shot in his direction.

Goliath nodded. "I will speak with Xanatos. Lexington, I will have you speak with Fox. After all these years, I would hope they are not involved, but one cannot be too careful in a situation such as this." Lex nodded and quickly left to find the former mercenary. "Angela, I would ask that you and Broadway visit Demona. It does not sound like something she would do, but I would rather be certain." Angela was about to protest, but Broadway grabbed her arm and shook his head. "Brooklyn, please pay a visit to Macbeth. I want all angles covered." He moved to leave, but stopped himself. "And take Crystal with you. Their meeting is long overdue." He motioned for Hudson and Elisa to follow him, and walked inside.

The four young gargoyles hopped back on the castle wall and took off for their separate destinations.

"Is this the same Macbeth that you guys told me about?" Crystal asked as she glided up beside Brooklyn. "The one connected with Demona?"

Brooklyn nodded. "The very same."

"And how come I haven't met him before?"

Brooklyn shrugged. "It's not like he's a close friend of the clan the way Elisa is, although he has proven himself to be a great ally." He paused for a moment. "Although now that I think about it, I guess a small friendship has formed over the years."

Crystal stared wide-eyed at the castle-like mansion she was being led to. "Is that where he lives?"

Brooklyn chuckled as he led her to the home's backyard. "A king's castle is his home. He just happened to make his home look like one."

The younger gargoyle's eye ridges furrowed as they landed. "King?"

"Yeah. You know, King Macbeth? Of Scotland?" Crystal shook her head, having no idea what he was talking about. "Shakespeare's play?"

Her eyes widened. "He's THAT Macbeth?!"

"Well..." Brooklyn began walking towards the house. "From what he says, the play takes a lot of liberties with what actually happened, and -"

"Brooklyn." The red gargoyle was cut off by a Scottish-accented voice coming from the house. "It's been a while."

"Macbeth." Brooklyn climbed the steps and greeted the man with a warrior's handshake. "It's good to see you."

"Aye, and you." He looked past the gargoyle to see the company he had brought was staying back. "And who might this lovely lass be?"

Brooklyn motioned for Crystal to join him. "Macbeth, this is Crystal."

She held out her hand. "It's an honour to be meeting a legend."

Macbeth grasped her forearm. "I'm sure the stories about me have been greatly exaggerated. Now," he squared his shoulders and looked over the two gargoyles before him, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

-0-

"So you're afraid an ally has been leaking secrets." Macbeth was crouched in front of the fire and using a poker to help feed the flames.

"That's the short and sweet version, yes." Brooklyn spoke from his seat in a large, cushioned chair located directly across from the fireplace.

"And Goliath deemed it necessary to have all your former enemies interrogated."

"I wouldn't exactly put it like that."

"Oh?" Macbeth stood up, placed the poker back in its stand and turned to face the ruddy gargoyle. "And how would you put it?"

"He wanted them questioned." Brooklyn smiled weakly at his feeble attempt at humour. "We mean no ill-will by this. We're just trying to find out how this guy knows about our communication devices. The first thing that came to mind was a possible leak, whether intentional or not."

"And you were the last one to come to mind," Crystal interjected from her seat. She had stayed mostly quiet for the bulk of the conversation, as being in the presence of a historical figure made her quite nervous. But she sensed the conversation was beginning to go downhill, and felt she needed to start speaking up.

Macbeth looked to Brooklyn for confirmation, to which he nodded. "Well at least I can take solace in the knowledge I wasn't at the top of anyone's list."

"It's like I said," replied Brooklyn, "we're just covering all bases. We've been allies for years, and we wouldn't dream of doing anything to ruin that relationship. But when two members of my clan are attacked and nearly killed -"

"Killed?" Macbeth's eyebrows shot up. "You failed to mention that earlier."

Brooklyn looked at Crystal and replied, "It's not something I'm comfortable bringing up." He brought his gaze back to Macbeth before she could notice he had been looking at her.

Macbeth took note of the glance. "Aye. Well I don't know if this is good or bad news, but I haven't spoken to anyone about anything concerning your clan, or even the clan itself." He smiled. "I'm sure I'd be thrown into the looney bin if I started going on about being friends with gargoyles."

"True enough," Brooklyn chuckled. "And to be honest, never once did I think you would reveal anything to anyone, especially not a Quarryman."

"He's not a Quarryman," Crystal said quietly to herself as she stared at the floor. The prolonged silence made her look up to see the two males staring at her. "He's not a Quarryman."

"How do you figure?" asked Brooklyn.

"I just realized; he never actually used the hammer."

"He almost killed you with it!"

Crystal shook her head. "I mean he didn't use it in the way it was meant to be used. He never electrified it. I think he only used a Quarryhammer to make us think he was one of them."

Brooklyn sat back in his seat in defeat. "Just what we needed; an insane, murderous rogue."

Macbeth strolled over to his liquor cabinet. "Are you really that surprised, my boy?" He took out two glasses and partially filled them with some scotch. "After all, how many others such as this man have you had the misfortune of meeting over the years?"

The crimson gargoyle accepted the offered drink with the straw. "It just gets tiring after a while, you know?"

Crystal watched in rapt fascination as the human and gargoyle conversed. Brooklyn may have said he didn't consider the Scot a good friend, but they had definitely built a rapport over the years.

"Och, my apologies, dear lady. You've been sitting there so quietly I completely forgot you were there. Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh no, I'm fine. Actually, I think we've taken up enough of your time." She stood up from her seat. "It's gotten pretty late."

He took a sip of his drink. "You needn't worry about the hour. I'm an old man with few friends. The company is always welcome."

Brooklyn finished his drink and stood up. "It's always a pleasure seeing you, Macbeth. Sorry it had to start the way it did."

Macbeth waved it off. "Think nothing of it. You only wanted to protect your clan."

Brooklyn shook forearms with the immortal. "You're a good ally, Macbeth." He paused for a moment, and smiled. "And an even better friend."