Interlude for Deadly Force

by ShadowRunner

We know what everyone else was going through during Deadly Force, but what about Elisa? What was she going through? This undertaking is just my humble opinion on what it takes to come back from the dead.

Interlude for Deadly Force

By Shadow Runner

Shadow_runner4u@hotmail.com

Well I didn't expect to be posting this but I came to me the other night and my mind wouldn't rest until I got it out.  It's a short story and not really related to anything else I've written so far.  We know what everyone else was going through during Deadly Force, but what about Elisa?  What was she going through?  This undertaking is just my humble opinion on what it takes to come back from the dead.

In my personal opinion, "Deadly Force" was one of the best and most realistic episodes done by Disney and I applaud them for addressing the issue.  I have no plans to get up on a soap box as gun control is not what my story is about.  I will say that the message of the episode was and still is important… it is also one which needs to be emphasized, especially to children.  

Bottom line: It pains me to know the Disney Channel and/or the Toon Network won't air the episode in repeat (Inset their lame reason for not airing it here___________). 

Nuff said there.

On a lighter note, I must give due credit to Ellen Stolfa who so graciously offered to beta-read this for me.  As always, her insights and opinions were right on the money.  Without her dedication and commitment to pull out all the extra commas I'm notorious for using this story might not have been posted.  You ROCK Ellen!!

Finally, the original premises for the episode, characters, and small portions of the dialog belong to Disney so I can't take credit for them but the rest of this is straight out of my tiny little brain.

Hope you enjoy and Happy Reading J

Shadow

*****     *****     *****

 "Make yourself comfortable. I'll throw on a couple of steaks."

"Heh, thanks!" Broadway lifts Elisa's gun from her holster and begins playing with it.  "Cool. Let's go pilgrim, and don't forget the horse."  He fumbles with the trigger and there is a loud explosion as he drops the weapon to the floor. "Whoa!  Sorry, my fault. I was playing with the gun. Stupid of me. Hope I didn't break anything."  He looks around the room. "Elisa?"

*****     *****     *****

BANG!!

Elisa heard the sound before she felt the impact from behind and her initial thought was, Why am I on the floor?

Her next thought was, Why does it hurt so god damn much?

She tried to focus but found it difficult to do so.  She could see the turquoise gargoyle standing over her and it looked like he was on the verge of crying.  She wondered why.  All she had done was fall and surely he hadn't done anything to cause it to happen, had he?  She heard him say "No" and unconsciously knew his words were not in response to her unspoken question.  She wanted to ask him to help her up because for some reason she wasn't able to do so on her own.

But she never got the chance because the darkness had already swallowed her.   

*****     *****     *****

BANG!!

Elisa jolted out of her reprieve with a start and immediately began gasping for air.  Dropping to her knees, she began to cough trying to catch her breath.  Her heart was racing as if it wanted to leap out of her body and her thoughts were muddled.  Taking little notice of her surroundings, she scrambled to her feet and blindly made her way down the hall until she found the bathroom.  Shoving open the door, she stumbled to the sink and splashed water on her face, trying to wipe away the terror-induced sweat that covered her like a thin film.  After a few minutes she was able to breathe without gasping, but it still felt as if someone were standing on the middle of her chest. 

She stared at her reflection in the mirror and gradually realized this wasn't her bathroom.  Turning slowly, she surveyed her surroundings and realized she was standing in a public restroom.  Individual stalls lined the far wall and there were signs on the wall instructing all employees to wash their hands before returning to work.  Other signs advertised the facility as a smoke free environment and that any violation of the policy could result in a sizeable fine. 

"What the…" Elisa whispered.  The sound of her own voice startled her for an instant; it sounded tinny and hollow.  It wasn't until a female medical technician walked in that it finally dawned on her where she was.

"A hospital?"  She questioned softly, "Why am I at the hospital?"

The last thing she remembered was making a steak for...

"Broadway!"  She yelped and in a panic spun on her heals.  She must have blacked out while cooking and her apartment had somehow caught fire and that was why she was in the hospital.  She must have been suffering from smoke inhalation, as it would certainly explain why she'd been gasping for breath earlier. 

"I just hope he made it out okay…" she muttered as she rushed over and pulled open the door and quickly made her way down the hall until she found the Emergency Room entrance.  She paused at the double doors looking for someone to speak with.  She assumed the ER would be full of injured people, police, fire and rescue personnel, not to mention the media, as a building fire tended to draw a crowd; however, the area was devoid of people.   

"Where the hell is everyone?" Dazed, she turned around but pulled short when she heard the sound of a siren. 

It was getting closer.

Elisa walked back to the doors just as a police cruiser screamed up.  She wasn't familiar with the sandy blond headed driver, but she immediately recognized Captain Chavez as the passenger.  Groaning inwardly, she walked over to the cruiser trying to come up with a plausible explanation as to how she managed to burn down her apartment building. 

The man slammed the cruiser into park and Chavez leaped out as if shot from a cannon.  Elisa held up a halting hand just as the pair blasted past her as if they hadn't seen her standing there.

"What the hell?"  Elisa raced to follow them.  She had no idea where they were going or what was going on but she was beginning to get a bad feeling.

Something was wrong.  Very wrong.

She followed them to the main area of the ER and watched as doctors and nurses scurried around.  There was an air of controlled chaos as more medical personnel raced down one of the adjacent hallways.  Captain Chavez made her way towards the nurses' station but was intercepted by an oriental man.  Elisa followed, peering around her boss, while trying to read the man's name tag.  Her view was partially obstructed by the clip board he was holding; however, she was able to read the words: Sato M.D.

She was about to tap Captain Chavez on the shoulder when the woman abruptly turned and motioned to the blond headed driver.  The man walked over while talking on a cell phone but cupped his hand over the receiver as he approached, "The Crime Scene Unit is there now.  They found one weapon, recently fired.  They didn't find a slug but it sounds like there might be prints on the weapon.  They're running them now…" 

"Who got shot?"  Elisa demanded.

Chavez nodded curtly as she turned her attention back to the doctor, "How long before we can talk to her?"

"She's still unconscious but we're trying to get her stabilized…" Dr. Sato shook his head gravely, "I'll know more once she's in surgery.  If you'll excuse me, I need to take care of my patient…"

"Keep me posted…" Chavez stepped back as the doctor walked off.  Belatedly, Elisa realized the man was walking down the same corridor she's been standing in earlier.  She was about to follow him when she heard someone say, "You might not want to do that just yet…"

The voice caught her off guard, not because of the implied order, but rather because of who the voice belonged to.  Turning around she found herself staring at an impossible sight.  Chocolate brown eyes met chocolate brown eyes, and with that one look Elisa felt the room begin to swim around her.

This was impossible!  It just could not be!  She closed her eyes and blinked hard, but when she opened them, nothing had changed.

She was face to face with…herself!

As she stared, the woman pushed off from the wall she was leaning against and moved towards her.  Involuntarily, Elisa stepped back muttering, "It's not possible, it's not possible," in a low voice.

The other woman chuckled softly as she approached, "I knew you were going to say that…"

*****     *****     *****

BANG!!

Elisa felt as if her whole world had come unglued.  "Who are you?" she whispered.

"If I told you," the other woman smiled gently, "you'd never believe me…"

"Try me…"

"Well… I'm you…" She hesitated for a moment. "And I think on some level you might be me."

"That's not possible…" Elisa countered.

"I told you that you'd never believe me but in the grand spectrum of things I doubt it matters."  The woman took a few steps forward. "I've been waiting for you."

"Why?"

"Because I'm pretty sure you're gonna die tonight..."

"Me?"  Elisa interrupted, "I'm the one they're talking about?  I'm the one who got shot?"  She glanced down the hall to where Captain Chavez and the blond headed man were still talking.  She shook her head in denial. "No way…"

"It's true."  The woman appraised Elisa with a condescending expression. "If you don't believe me, look for yourself."

The woman pointed towards the now open curtain for the exam room.  Elisa hesitated for a moment before curiosity got the better of her.  She took a few steps forward and peered in.  Several doctors and nurses were standing around a gurney.  Seeming, none of them took any notice of her as she moved closer and looked down. 

Sure enough, there she was lying on the bed, covered by only a sheet. 

If seeing herself standing in the hallway was shocking then seeing herself lying on the gurney could only be classified as near traumatizing.  Elisa had no way of knowing the extent of her injuries but it was obvious the situation was bad.  There were blood stains everywhere and the medical team was working fervidly as doctor and nurses called out vital signs to nearby technicians who annotated the information on charts.

"How did this happen?"  she whispered.

The other woman was suddenly at her shoulder. "I think you know the answer to that question."

"An accident…it had to have been an accident," Elisa replied softly after the initial disbelief of seeing herself on the gurney passed.  A flurry of activity passed in front of her as Dr. Sato and several nurses moved to push the gurney, with her on it, out into the hall.  She moved to follow; however, the other woman held up a halting hand. "Shouldn't I be going with them?" Elisa questioned.

The image shook her head no and instead motioned to the corridor they'd been standing in earlier.  Elisa glanced around and noticed Captain Chavez standing near the nurses' station.  She was talking on the phone and Elisa imagined she was speaking to her parents, probably her dad. 

Still feeling overwhelmed by everything, Elisa moved to lean against the wall, unconsciously taking the same stance her mirror image had been in moments before.  For the first time since laying eyes on the woman who claimed to be her, she forced herself to gaze at the mirror image.

She was wearing clothing similar to that which Elisa herself was wearing; red bomber jacket, tight black t-shirt, blue jeans, and black boots.  Elisa could see the uncanny resemblance between them, mainly in the eyes and posture.  They were of similar build, but while the other woman's voice was similar to her own, it was slightly… different. 

The other woman responded with a half smile while returning the look of curiosity. "Do I pass the test?"

Elisa sighed and stared up at the ceiling above her as she tried to collect her thoughts.  "So you're my guardian angle here to help me pull through all this?"

"Not exactly." The mirror image paused. "Actually, I think you're here because for some reason our realities crossed and destiny is trying to fix what should have happened four months ago."   

"Our realities crossed?" Elisa interjected skeptically. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're here to die… because I'm already dead…"

The blow of her words snapped Elisa out of her sullen mood. "Excuse me?" 

The mirror cocked her head slightly and instead of answering the poorly phrased question said, "Do you remember what you were supposed to be doing the night you went to the Eyrie Building?"

"Yeah… Captain Chavez wanted me to check out a warehouse that was supposedly being used as a chop shop for stolen cars."  Elisa paused as she fought to recall that night. "I heard the call about the Eyrie Building and for some reason went there instead.  To this day I still have no idea why I did that."

"Well I do know what made you do that.  I also know that Elisa Maza went to the warehouse and when she got there she was shot."

"What are you talking about?" Elisa replied angrily while moving away from the wall.  "I checked the warehouse out two days later and it was empty except for a few homeless guys looking for a warm place to sleep.  No one shot me." 

"OK, maybe I'm not explaining this right."  The mirror image shifted. "That night there were two options, go to the warehouse or go to the call about the Eyrie Building…"

"But I didn't go to the warehouse!" Elisa insisted.

"I know you didn't…" The mirror sighed deeply. "I did.  When I got there, I spooked a couple of guys and got shot."

Methodically, Elisa began pacing the corridor while considering this. "So you're saying that you're me in a different reality?"

"No." The image gave her a tired smile. "What I'm saying is that *you* are *me*… in a different reality."

Without warning Elisa dropped to her knees, clutching her head in agony.  She thought she might have been screaming, but couldn't be sure.  A thousand pulsing points of lights blinded her vision and her ears throbbed with the amplified sound of her heart.  Claws of fire ripped into her mind, quickly becoming unbearable as the mental trauma abruptly became a physical nightmare.  Tears ran down her face and trickled through her now trembling fingers. "What the hell was that?" she wheezed between ragged gasps for air.

"They just put you under.  The feeling will pass soon." The mirror image looked around, "But you don't have much time…maybe a couple of hours…"

Unexpectedly, the feeling passed.  After what felt like an eternity, Elisa was able to get back on her feet but she was now frantic for answers.  She certainly didn't want to die, but everything she was being told indicated it would happen.  She appraised her mirror image with a puzzled frown and then turned her attention back down the hall. "Maybe you'd better explain this to me…"

The mirror seemed to contemplate the request for some time.  Eventually she said, "Think of decisions as separate living things.  Most decisions are pretty benign and go nowhere, but some aren't.  Some decisions shoot off into another dimension; a separate reality.  All of these realities take place in real time and they're supposed to run independent of each other.  There might be similarities between the realities but they should never reconnect because once a decision is made it creates a new destiny in a separate reality."

"Hold up a sec…"  Elisa shook her head in confusion. "You're telling me that my decision not to go to the warehouse that night caused a separate reality… one that resulted in *you* getting shot four months ago."

"Not exactly…"

"How so?"

The mirror's reply was immediate. "Because I *remember* making the decision not to respond to the call about the Eyrie Building; you don't.  That means *you're* an offshoot of *my* reality. The problem seems to be that instead of making a decision that created a totally separate reality, it created two realities that ran so close to parallel they ended up crossing back into each other."

Elisa waited until the mirror finished speaking before saying, "Sounds like you've had some time to think about this."

"Four months to be exact." The mirror smiled. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't start putting it all together until you showed up in the emergency room."

"But if what you're telling me is true, you shouldn't…"  Elisa's voice drifted as she tried to remember all the drunken debates from college.  One dispute that stood out in her mind was a particularly heated discussion between two physics students about parallel planes of existence on different levels of time.  She was about to relate the 'It's not possible' side of the argument when an icy shiver ran down her spine.  As the sensation of vertigo swept over her, she moaned, feeling her stomach do somersaults.  But in seconds it was over.  "I think I just came out of surgery…" she whispered.

Her mirror's head snapped up at this remark. "You couldn't have…"

Elisa shook her head in a bemused fashion, her expression a mixture of wonder and disbelief.  "No… I can feel it… I'm still alive..."  Her brow pulled together tightly; something was wrong.  "Come on.  We need to go find out what room I'm in…"

The mirror image shifted uncomfortably but remained silent as they made their way through the hospital.  Eventually they found themselves outside one of the recovery rooms.  Elisa considered opening the door but decided against it.  She knew she had the ability to do so because of the incident in the bathroom in the ER but that was before she found out that in all likelihood she was dying.  Instead she waited until Dr. Sato and her parents entered the room and then followed behind. 

She walked over to the edge of her bed, looking at herself and listening as the others talked.  When Dr. Sato mentioned that she'd survived ten hours of surgery, Elisa glanced to her watch.  It had indeed been over ten hours, yet in her mind it felt like only a matter of minutes since she found herself in the hospital. 

She glanced over to her mirror, who was standing off to one side staring at Peter and Diane Maza.  The woman stood very still as if weighing the situation and it suddenly occurred to Elisa that her mirror was probably reliving the last time she saw her parents. 

When she was alive.

"It must hurt to see them…" Elisa replied gently.

"Yeah… it does." The mirror nodded absently. "What's worse is knowing they're gonna have to go through the whole thing again when you die…"

Elisa tried to smile. "I'm not convinced that's gonna happen…"

"But it will," the image challenged. "Haven't you accepted that yet?"

"No, I haven't."  Elisa's voiced dropped to a bare whisper. "Because if everything you've said is true then you shouldn't be here..."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm willing to accept that I might be some kind of offshoot of your reality, but the fact remains *you* died four months ago, and when that happened *your* reality ended." Feeling somewhat lightheaded, Elisa continued. "There shouldn't have been a parallel reality for me to come back into."

Understanding suddenly came over the mirror's face.  "I'm in… *your* reality…"

Her eyes filled with an expression Elisa had never seen before, and for a moment it was unreadable until she realized it was fear. 

"Then why am I here?" the mirror finally asked.

"I don't know…" Elisa's next words were lost as Dr. Sato walked out only to be replaced by Maria Chavez. 

They listened intently as Captain Chavez filled the Maza family in on the details of the shooting. 

"Damn.  I'm gonna have a hell of a time explaining this one…"  Elisa muttered softly. 

The mirror nodded absently as she listened to the conversation but quickly keyed in on something Chavez said.  She turned back to Elisa and gave her an incredulous look.  "You were shot by Anthony Dracon?"

"No, that's what I was trying to tell you before.  When I got home I left my gun out."  Elisa shook her head. "Broadway must have found it …He was probably playing with it and it went off."

"Who's Broadway?" the mirror inquired.

Elisa paused as she brushed back a strand of hair.  She realized this woman had no idea that Goliath and the others existed, which meant they were never intended to be a part of that reality.  Subconsciously, she knew there was no danger in telling her mirror about them but for some reason she was hesitant to do so.  Instead she simply left her answer at, "He's a friend…"

"Must be some friend…" The mirror knew there was more to this than she was being told, but she also knew the corporal woman standing before her wouldn't say anything more unless she had to.  The mirror glanced over to Captain Chavez once more before shifting her attention back to Elisa.  "Are you absolutely positive you weren't shot by Dracon?"

"Well I don't exactly remember getting shot, but yeah, I know for a fact it couldn't have been him." Elisa altered her stance, feeling slightly defensive.  She was about to go on the offensive when she noticed the strange expression on her mirror's face. "What difference does it make who shot me?" she asked quickly.

"It makes a world of difference because in my reality Captain Chavez believed Anthony Dracon was responsible for shooting me… but I know that's not what happened…"

Elisa paused as Captain Chavez and her family walked out of the room.  She was about to ask her mirror about what did happen that night four months ago when there was some unexpected movement at the window.  She couldn't resist a huge grin as her mirror stepped back in shock and surprise.  Goliath's head poked through the open window and he had an extremely uncertain look on his face and not without good reason.  If Elisa had thought it possible, she would have smacked him right between the eyes.  She was touched by the gesture, but on the other hand she was royally pissed that he would take such a risk.

"Whoa, I didn't see that one coming…" the mirror whispered while giving the massive gargoyle a wide birth.  On one level she understood the gargoyle was not a part of her reality, but it didn't prevent her from wondering how and when this particular turn of events had taken place.

The lavender gargoyle entered the room slowly and then moved quickly to the unconscious, bed-ridden form and whispered, "Keep fighting, Elisa. Don't give up.  Come back to us.  Know that I will finish what you started.  I will find the man that did this to you, and I will make him pay!"

"Shit…" Elisa hissed realizing he had no idea what had actually happened.  While she was no particular fan of Anthony Dracon, she really didn't want Goliath pulling his arms off for all the wrong reasons. "You mean to tell me I'm gonna die without anyone knowing the truth?" 

The mirror watched as Goliath climbed back out the window.  She remained still, watching as the winged creature flew off into the night.  Somewhere in the distance, there was a brilliant display of forked lightning which streaked across the night sky. It was a spectacular sight and it pulled her back to the night she was shot.  She glanced over to the comatose form lying on the bed when it suddenly hit her. "I think you're here to fix something about destiny…"

Elisa frowned. "Come again?"

The mirror looked over to Elisa, "Our realities were never intended to exist in parallel but they did because Anthony Dracon was wrongfully accused of shooting me and now it's happening again because he's going to be accused of shooting you."

"I can live with that."  Elisa suddenly felt as if she was missing something important. "Besides, what difference could it possibly make?  He's a criminal and deserves to be behind bars."

"I agree.  Dracon has earned the right to be behind bars... But not because of this."  The mirror took in a deep breath and let it out. "Destiny is trying to fix a problem created in my reality by recreating a similar situation in your reality."  She slowly walked over to the hospital bed where the unconscious form of Elisa still lay. "This whole thing is like a vicious cycle, and it will keep on happening until a reality is established in which an Elisa Maza is shot but Anthony Dracon isn't accused of doing it…"

"So theoretically we could get inundated with hundreds of versions of us who were shot supposedly by Anthony Dracon but in actuality weren't," Elisa quipped spitefully. "But for whatever reasons he's still blamed for it."

"In theory… and if you believe that kind of thing is possible," the mirror teased as she shoved her hands down into the pockets of her bomber jacket,  "consider all the decisions you've made in the last four months.  Any one of them could have created an alternate reality." 

"Jesus…" Without thinking, Elisa took the same stance as her mirror. "So how do we stop this from happening?"

"Simple," the mirror smirked. "You have to tell them the truth."

Elisa sighed and put her hand to her head.  "Broadway..."

"Is like the other guy," the mirror finished. "I figured as much, but believe me, if I had known all this would happen I would have put a lot more effort into trying to live.  But it doesn't change the fact that somehow the truth has to be told." 

The mirror watched as a flood of emotions crossed over Elisa's face.  For a moment the mirror wondered what this woman's life must be like.  It was obvious this reality was very protective of the winged creatures, but how far did that protectiveness go?  Would she allow an innocent man to go to jail just to protect them?  She was about to ask the question when Elisa blinked and said, "I can't do that..."

BANG!!

The mirror was about to respond when an alarm in the room went off. 

Elisa froze, grabbed her head and this time she did scream.  She felt the all-to-familiar pulsating wave of knives wash through her body as yet another shock wave thundered down over her.  The sensation was similar to the one she felt when she was told she was going under for surgery, but this time it felt as if the source of the pain was virtually on top of her. "What's happening?"  she cried out as another surge of pain blasted over her.

"Code blue! Code blue! ICU! Flat line! No pulse!" a nurse cried out.

"Apparently destiny is taking that into account..." The mirror image cursed softly as she dashed over to one of the monitors. "You're dying…"

Several nurses and doctors raced down the hall and skidded to a stop outside the room.  As if from a faraway place, Elisa heard someone yell, "Get a crash cart!"  Dr. Sato ran over to the hospital bed and turned to the nurse behind him. "Epinephrine!"

The nurse handed him a large syringe and watched the monitor as Dr. Sato administered the injection. "Still flat," she said firmly.

Elisa felt the room grow colder as she dropped to her knees.  Her mirror image hurried over and knelt beside her, "Listen, I don't know what destiny has in mind for Anthony Dracon but if you don't agree to tell Captain Chavez the truth about who shot you, we are going to be stuck here until some reality gets it right!"

"I don't want to die…" Elisa's voice trailed off as she pulled her eyes away from her mirror.  She didn't want this echo from the past to see how truly haunted her next words were going to be.  "But I won't betray them just so I can live…"

The mirror appraised Elisa for what seemed to be an eternity.  She watched as her corporal self begin to loose strength.  She tried to find the words but her mind failed to produce them.  She closed her eyes, trying desperately to draw air into her own failing lungs.  The mirror could feel her own labored heart beating as a cold numbness began to creep up in her throat.  She was dying once more and she didn't particularly care to experience that again. 

It was bad enough the first time. 

There had to be a way to fix this. 

In a sudden burst of inspiration the mirror said, "Then maybe it's enough that you commit to clearing Dracon of the shooting…"

Elisa fought through the pain and eventually nodded as she forced herself to establish eye contact with her mirror image, hopefully for the last time. "I owe you quite a bit…" Her voice was rough with emotion and pain. "My reality might never have happened if it weren't for you."

"I know…" The mirror nodded briefly. "Go now, before it's too late. Good luck."

Dr. Sato glanced over to the monitor as if to confirm what he'd already been told.  He then turned to another nurse. "Get the paddles."  When the man had them in position, Dr. Sato ordered, "Four hundred watt seconds. Clear!"

Rising to her feet, the mirror image of Elisa Maza walked resolutely across the room.  She stood close to the window, waiting nervously, not knowing what was supposed to happen.  As she turned, she saw her corporal self rise and reach out to touch her own body.

Elisa made contact with her body just as the paddles hit her chest.  With that contact, there was an enormous flash of light that seemed to illuminate the whole room. 

The mirror gasped as the radiance enveloped her in its brilliance, and then she seemed to be floating in a sea of white light.

Her eyelids grew heavy and then… she was gone.

*****     *****     *****

BANG!!

"Normal sinus rhythm."

Dr. Sato sighed in relief. "Bring the family back in."

*****     *****     *****

Sounds.

She could hear sounds and her body ached. "Uh…Mom?"

Peter Maza smiled with relief as he rose to his feet, "Elisa."

Elisa finally opened her eyes and was not surprised to see her parents and brother hovering over her anxiously.  As if from a distance she heard Derek say, "You're awake."

Diane Maza lifted her daughter's hand to her face. "Oh, thank goodness."

Derek leaned in close, "How do you feel?"

"Mhm, lousy, I guess," Elisa groaned softly. "What happened?"

Peter moved in closer as well. "That's what we'd like to know…"

Elisa's eyes drifted over to her family.  There was something she needed to tell them.  Something vitally important, but at the moment the information locked in her brain seemed just beyond her reach.  She struggled to find the words when Derek said, "Captain Chavez just called.  Dracon's been arrested for grand theft. They found him in a warehouse with Xanatos's guns, all of them destroyed.  He was babbling about monsters attacking him and his men."

BANG!!

No one spoke as the nurse walked in to check Elisa's IV bag and vitals.  While making a few notations on her chart she replied, "You'll have to leave now.  She's past the crisis point, but she needs her rest."

The others nodded and turned to leave, and for as much as she might have wanted them to stay, Elisa was glad they were going.  She slumped back against the pillows and thought about the crazy dream she'd just experienced.  She was about to let it go when a shadow fell over her. "Hi, guys…" she whispered weakly.

The expression on Broadway's face was a blend of pain and suffering but undercoated with a healthy dose of mixed relief.  Carefully, he took her hand and said, "Elisa, it was all my fault. I was playing with your gun and... it went off.  I'll never touch a gun again."

Elisa wanted to ease the gargoyle's anguish and considered saying something to soften the blow but something told her if she did the ramifications would be too great.  Instead, she tightened her grip on his talons and said, "I should have been a lot more careful about where I left it.  We both made mistakes."

Broadway cringed inwardly, "Yeah, but you nearly paid for those mistakes with your life…"

Elisa's response was almost immediate and surprised even her. "Then let's not repeat them."

The words seemed profound, and for the first time since learning Elisa had been shot, Goliath relaxed.  Feeling that dawn was rapidly approaching, he pulled Broadway back. "Come, she needs her rest…"

Elisa called out to Goliath as he turned to leave and he paused for a moment to look at her.  "Shh, sleep now." He brushed her face gently.  In the deepest part of his being he knew the danger had passed and fate would not take their human friend from them.  "You're safe," he whispered.

Elisa fought to stay awake.  She wanted to tell Goliath about the strange dreams she'd been subjected to while unconscious but even as she fought to call them, the memories were fading from her mind.  Something about the whole incident confused her but she was too tired to think about it anymore.  She closed her eyes, deciding there would be time to think about it later.

A few moments later as the sun rose, two stone gargoyles slept outside a hospital window, guarding its lone occupant through the day.

*****     *****     *****

And as the guardians of destiny, realities, and parallel universes moved forward, fighting to correct a path that had once been mislaid… there was no bang.