Filling in the Gaps
By Shadow Runner
Part Three
Still not mine… still no money…
Hope you like and happy reading…
***** ***** *****
She met him on the balcony and practically jumped into Goliath's arms as he landed. When he'd left that morning just before dawn, he felt as if a part of himself was being torn away. It was as if they had been apart for years instead of only hours. She took him by the hand and led him into what he now thought of as their sanctuary.
They sat on the floor, kissing softly, exploring the new path they were embarking on.
For Goliath it was still a new experience. He'd never had much of an occasion to kiss, but he'd grown to realize it was a large part of human interaction. He also realized it was an extremely pleasant thing to take part in, and he wondered why Gargoyles had never picked up on it.
For Elisa it was much like walking on air. Never before had she felt this was about another. She wanted him always and felt it in the depths of her soul and it warmed her immensely, and although she was having trouble expressing it in words, Goliath was patient. She could feel his arms tightening around her pulling her closer as if to blend then into one being. She paused momentarily to catch her breath. "Jalapeno…" she murmured between kisses.
"Indeed."
Elisa laughed, "For someone who says 'he's had little experience in the ways of humans,' you sure are a quick study."
"I have a good teacher…" his voice grumbled in the darkness. He felt Elisa shift around and begin to untangle herself from their embrace. "Where are you going?" he tugged teasingly at her.
She smiled, "I was just going to suggest we might want to slow this down a bit. Besides I wanted to check in at work."
He looked at her with such a look of love and affection, she felt her heart skip a beat. When the sudden look of alarm came across his face, she recognized that he'd felt the change within her as well. She looked at him in wonder. "You actually felt that?"
"Yes, I suppose I did."
"How is that possible?" she inquired.
"I believe it to be a part of the Bonding. It tends to effect those when they are in close contact with each other. I remember seeing it between Hudson and his mate when I was young. It will grow stronger over time."
Elisa rose from the floor and moved to the window. She'd wrapped her arms around herself, as if giving herself a hug. Goliath followed, stopping just behind her. "What troubles you, Elisa?" He stepped a bit closer and as he did, she leaned back into him.
"Nothing..."
Goliath thought he understood. In a few hours she would again resume her search for Jon Canmore, The Hunter. If she did find him there might be very little Goliath could do to protect her. He in turn would resume his patrols of the city; a city that had turned against them.
A city that might very well destroy him… and his Clan.
Elisa shivered, as if in reaction to the thoughts Goliath held in his head. He wrapped his wings tenderly about her, pulling her closer so that she might draw strength from his presence. "What ever happens, you and I are one…" She was still tense despite his reassurances and it occurred to him there might be more to her apprehension than she was telling him.
"What truly troubles you?" he asked quietly,
"Goliath, when did you know?"
Although she didn't ask directly, he now knew what she was asking. He took a deep breath, "I have always cared a great deal for you... But our time on the Skiff strengthen the feelings."
"So it wasn't love at first sight?"
"Well…" he stammered. He looked down at her and realized she was teasing him. "It took no magic to tell me how I felt… Why do you ask?"
"No reason…"
Goliath stirred and shifted her around so he could see her face, "Elisa…"
"This is bizarre...."
When Goliath had brought up the Bond earlier, she'd felt… well… she wasn't sure what she felt or was even thinking. It was as if she was trying to figure out the picture in a puzzle by looking at it from the underside. Perhaps it was his words that forced her to face what had been nagging at her for a better part of the day, "I don't sense you…"
Now it was Goliath's turn to be unclear, "Sense me? How do you mean…?"
"The way you can sense me…" Goliath shook his head indicating he still didn't understand what it was she was talking about so she tried to clarify it for him "You know…my heartbeat when we are close. Things like that."
Goliath held her a bit closer, "I don't know that you would… The bonding itself is a part of Gargoyle heritage."
Elisa spoke slowly stepping away slightly as she did, "So it doesn't work both ways…?" she asked tentatively.
Goliath sighed, "I do not know…"
"Then how can you be sure we have… bonded?"
"Do humans not bond?"
Elisa trembled slightly in his embrace, "I don't know... I've never had the opportunity to find out…"
"You have never known love?"
"I didn't say that either." She turned her head way slightly, "This just takes some getting used to… that's all…"
Goliath was quiet as his memories went back to the night he saw Jason Canmore kissing his beloved in the very spot they were in now. For an instant he thought maybe this was not what she wanted. What she was afraid of saying to him. Perhaps she needed a 'human' relationship, one she could fully understand and accept. He took a deep breath before speaking again, afraid the fear he felt in his hearts might be betrayed in his voice, "Elisa… what I feel for you… if you no longer feel the same, I would understand…"
Elisa looked at him as if he'd just asked he her what the combined batting average for the New York Yankees was last year, "What are you talking about?"
He shifted slightly, "It must be uncomfortable for you… to become involved with me…"
"Goliath, I thought we went over this already…"
He had the distinct feeling she really had no idea what he was getting at so he finally came out and told her, "I have seen you…"
Elisa was starting to get annoyed by the apparent cryptic conversation they were having, "Seen me what…?"
Goliath glanced away briefly, "With other humans…"
"With other humans? Big Guy, what on earth are you…" Her voice trailed off, as she finally understood what he was referring to. She looked away in embarrassment and shame, "Jesus… You saw me that night… with Jason…"
He said nothing but the look on his face was more than enough and it pulled at her heart to know he had seen something so personal and intimate between her and another. Something that should not have happened… but did.
"I'm sorry you saw it, and I wont lie to you… at the time… well…" She looked back at him, "Believe me this has nothing to do with Jason Canmore…"
"Then who?" he asked. It never occurred to him this might not be a good subject to get into, so her reaction to his question surprised him.
She pulled away fully from him and walked back to the couch and sat down, "Yeah, like I'd tell you."
Elisa hadn't meant to take the tone she did, but she needed him to understand this was not open to discussion. She heard the low rumble in his throat, "Goliath," she said, trying to be reasonable, "You practically wanted to rip Tony Dracon's arms out of his sockets for putting his arm around me."
"He was a criminal…" he replied darkly.
"My point exactly. You knew there was no possibility of me being involved with him, and still you wanted to bounce him off the walls. Like I'd unleash you on someone I might have even remotely cared about…"
Goliath could feel the tightness increasing in his chest as the emotions within him threatened to escape. He was upset; not at her…but at the thought of someone else loving her. Anyone, no matter how far in her past, that might have had a connection to her. Holding her, kissing her, loving her…
All this passed in an instant through his mind and while his face didn't betray it, Elisa picked up on them. "Big Guy," she started, "Let's not get into this… you can't get like this over some… Trust me it was nothing…"
The look he gave her nearly made her heart stop. She knew he was hurt by her unwillingness to share that part of her past with him. She was keeping secrets from the one person who might understand and knew there was only one way to make things right. Only one way to explain.
"It's not in the way you think… not entirely…" She hesitated, not sure this was something she wanted to get into, but continued on despite her misgivings, "I was with someone, nothing serious… at least not for him…"
Goliath indicated he understood, and had known about causal relationships all to well from the television Hudson and the others enjoyed so much.
Elisa continued, "When I was in college there was a guy. We dated for about 8 months… I thought it was love… I was only like twenty."
"We were at a party thrown by one of his friends; a frat party I think… I didn't even want to go to the in the first place… Anyway everyone was drinking and things were starting to get kinda crazy. I told him I wanted to leave and he wanted to stay and the more we argued the more demanding he became. I finally asked him to take me home. He refused, got even more furious at me for ruining his mood…"
Elisa paused for what seemed like an eternity and shuddered as the memories threatened to overwhelm her. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I left the party alone and walked back to my dorm. It was the last time I ever saw him."
The room had a peculiar silence to it and when Goliath finally broke the quiet, his voice seemed to echo slightly, "So it ended then."
"No… later on I guess he started to feel bad about the fight and decided to come by and see me..." A single tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped at it angrily, irritated that someone from her distant past could still upset her to the point of tears after all this time. "They found his car wrapped around a tree. It took a long time for me to stop blaming myself for that one."
"I don't know… If we hadn't fought, I might have stayed, and maybe the accident wouldn't have happened… Looking back, I know the biggest reason I left wasn't because of the fight… but because half way through the argument I knew I could never love him." She sat on the couch, "I just figured it wouldn't happen for me."
Goliath moved to her and knelt down before her, "You know it now… I would never put a 'condition' on the love I have for you." His voice was true and his words pure and brought a fresh batch of tears to her eyes. They were no longer the tears of sorrow or anger, but of love. He wiped them away lovingly and felt the same burning in his own eyes. He stood up pulling her to her feet again and held her close, "Elisa, I don't wish to pressure you, and if you don't… please don't feel you have to say things you..."
"It's not that… I'm just not good with saying the words…"
He added yet silently in his mind.
It was as if a switched had been flipped in her head; the buzzing that had been nagging her for the past few days was replaced with… well… is wasn't truly gone, just different.
She heard his voice clearly. If she had not been looking at him at that very instant she would have presumed he had indeed spoken the word aloud… but she knew for a fact he had not. The shock of it almost made her go weak, but she quickly composed herself as to not alarm Goliath. She found the voice to uttered a single word…
"Yet." She spoke the word in wonderment.
Goliath looked down at her in astonishment, "How did you…"
This time it was she who held a finger to his lips, "Shhh, no words…" She smiled and stretched up to kiss him gently.
***** ***** *****
"Hi Matt."
Matt Bluestone looked up from his stack of paperwork to see his partner walking over to him. He checked his watch, it was just after 9 PM. He rubbed his eyes, they were burning from the reading he was going over, "Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing much, I wanted to get an early jump on some stuff before I hit the streets." She walked over to a desk; someone had put her nameplate on it. She smiled at Matt knowingly, "Thanks."
He nodded at her with a nonchalant look. She quickly looked though the small pile of reports and messages that were on her desk.
There were a few phone messages from the FBI, Interpool, and the AFT that would have to wait until morning to return and a note from Captain Chavez saying the judge had frozen all Canmore assets. The surveillance round the buildings still had yet to turn up anything. She was beginning to loose faith that he would ever resurface.
She looked around the 23rd, much of the construction was still going on, but otherwise it was quiet. She noticed Chavez's door was closed and the lights were off. "I was hoping it'd be safe to come in. I'm not even supposed to be back on duty until tomorrow night…"
Matt looked the direction she was looking, "Yeah, she's over at the Mayor's Office." He rose from his desk, "I was about to head over there myself. Wanna come along?"
"Do I even dare? What's going on over there?"
"The Quarrymen are having a rally over there. I finally got a line on their ring leader." He picked up a file from his desk and handed it to Elisa, "He's making a big public statement."
"How'd you get that?"
"I have my sources."
Elisa took the file and began flipping though it. There were a few photos of group rallies. Most the participants had on hoods with what appeared to be hammers on them. Elisa started to close the file when one of the photos caught her attention.
It was of a young man, maybe a few years younger than she was. He was blond and had a goatee. For a moment he reminded her of David Xanatos, but that was as far as the resemblance went. It looked as if he were trying to avoid having his photo taken, "Who's this guy?"
Matt walked over to see what she was talking about. "That's him. Castaway is the only name I have right now."
Elisa looked at the picture again. She couldn't shake the feeling she'd seen him someplace before.
"Something up?" he inquired.
She handed the file back over to him, "He looks familiar… we might have busted him before... If you want I'll look through old rap sheets later…" She turned to leave, "In the mean time, I've got to go verify Canmore's accounts have been frozen…."
They were about to walk out the door when Officer Morgan called over to them, "Detective Maza, you are in. You had a phone call earlier. She said it was urgent you get back with her."
Elisa groaned inward, "Damn it." She walked over and took the message from him. As her eyes scanned the message the color drained from her face. There was no time to indicate what time the call came in. "What time did this come in?" She quickly asked.
Matt walked over, a concerned look coming over his face, "What's wrong? Who is it from?"
Officer Morgan looked over his log sheets, "Looks like about… an hour ago…"
Matt asked the question again, "Who is it from?"
"That can't be possible…" she said slowly.
"That's what the log indicates… Is there a problem?"
Matt cut back in again, "Hello? Remember me? Who is the damn message from?"
She handed him the note, "Dominique Destine."
***** ***** *****
Elisa stood in the elevator of Nightstone Unlimited. She pulled her pistol and checked the clip. Satisfied, she replaced the weapon and adjusted her jacket so it wouldn't be visible. She figured it was Demona playing it off and didn't want it to be caught off guard.
A few weeks ago she'd have not even considered trying this. Now she found herself walking into the Lion's Den. Why the hell she was agreeing to even meet the psychotic immortal was beyond her.
The doors opened to the top floor and she walked over to a large desk with a lone woman sitting behind it. Elisa glanced it over briefly, and began to pull her badge from her jacket to identify herself. The woman held up a hand, "You are expected." She indicated a set of large double doors just left of the desk, "Follow me."
Elisa followed the woman into the room. It was huge and completely empty. Nothing on the walls, no furniture, and one entire wall was cut away for an unobstructed view of the city. The woman left and pulled the doors closed behind her. Elisa now stood alone in the room. Belatedly she realized if this were an ambush, she'd just walked right into it.
The lights dimmed and one wall flickered to life. Elisa was in shock. Before her stood Dominique Destine. Elisa looked futility out the window. It was well after dark, and by her account she should not be looking at the woman before her. Demona laughed at her spitefully, "Surprised?"
To say the least… Somehow Elisa found the strength to not voice her sentiments. Demona had the same look of disgust Elisa imagined she had on her own face. They stood there looking at each other, each sizing the other up.
Elisa was fighting to control her uneasiness and temper. What the hell was going on? This shouldn't have been possible unless… She wasn't there. Not in the building, not in New York, and mostly likely not even on the East Coast. Where ever she was it was still day light. "So what do I call you?" Elisa ultimately asked.
"Nothing, you do not speak to me at all. You are here to listen. I have afforded you a great amount of latitude by allowing you here at all." The woman continued, her tone menacing, "You have seen fit to watch my building. I want you to stop immediately."
Elisa flinched slightly but said nothing. There was no point in denying it, not until she figured out what the hell was going on.
"Nightstone Unlimited has nothing to do with you or your kind."
"Oh, yeah, right. The attempted eradication of the human race has nothing to do with me." Elisa snapped.
"You have no evidence of that…" The words were spoken as if they held venom. "This could be viewed as harassment of a law abiding establishment, Detective."
"Don't worry Demona, the dealings of Nightstone Unlimited are not my concern…" But the Hunter is, and I'm betting he's a big concern for you too. Why else would you leave New York? She thought silently.
Demona said nothing but her facial expression did change… drastically. Elisa attributed the lack of control it to several things. Demona's unfamiliarity with the human form and the fact Elisa called her by her true name while she was still in her human form. If Elisa hadn't know better she thought the woman was scared.
Demona finally spoke, her words carefully measured, "You will stop… Now!" she stepped closer and was now towering over Elisa on the screen. On anyone else the effect might have been intimidating… to Elisa was it irritating.
"Look, I'm not one of your flunkies. Remember who asked who for this little chat." Elisa was beyond rational thinking and wanted the conversation to be over with. The buzzing in her ears had increased slightly, and she wondered absently if Goliath was near by. "If this is all you wanted to say, you should've just sent a note and saved me the trip."
"Leave, Human." she stepped back again. "Heed my warning, as it will be my only one … Stop your actions now." The screen went blank.
Elisa now stood alone in the dark, trying to process what had just happened. The door opened behind her, the woman who'd shown her in earlier stood there. Elisa spun around, "Where exactly is Dem… Ms. Destine?"
"I'm not at liberty to say. This way."
Elisa followed the woman out of the room and to the elevator. On the ride down Elisa pondered the new information. If Demona wasn't there then where the hell was she? Once down in the lobby she walked over to a payphone. Slipping in a few coins she dialed the station looking for Matt. Morgan told her he was still out. She thanked him, hung up, and dropped another series of coins and dialed his pager, and left a voice message for him to call her ASAP.
This was big, and Elisa didn't know how much bigger it might get.
***** ***** *****
Demona stood in front of the video camera for sometime. The Human had rattled her, but she refused to acknowledge it.
When she'd been informed someone was watching the building, she assumed it to be the police, specifically Elisa Maza. She hadn't expected for her to come at all much less alone. The others must have been waiting outside, unwilling to expose themselves just yet.
She dismissed the thoughts. She had other things to deal with right now. The conversation was over and with any luck it would never happen again. Not until she had dispensed with those who had caused her so much difficulty as of late.
The phone rang on her desk; she took a few moments to compose herself before picking it up, "Yes?"
"Yes, Ma'am, she came alone, the outside monitors confirm it."
Demona realized the Human must not have told Goliath or the others of her meeting. She doubted there was any way Goliath would allow his precious human come and see her without him… "Very well. When you're done, fax the papers here." She hung up without another word.
She walked over to a large window and looked out over the city and ocean. Temporary though it may be, the high-rise was well worth the price. The line for the fax machine began to ring. She was impressed, this new woman was very efficient… After the fiasco with Robin Canmore her screening process was a bit more… selective.
She walked over and picked up the papers being transmitted to her. She glanced at the clock, it was an unnecessary action, but she did so anyway. She had time before sunset.
Glancing thought the bits of information, Demona felt her frustration rising. The reports she was reading were less then pleasing and the more she read, the more annoyed she became by the most resent turn of events…
The Quarrymen situation was getting serious. She was furious about having to leave New York but the situation was unavoidable. Until she put an end to the Hunter… she was vulnerable, and THAT was unacceptable. There had to be away to make this work to her advantage.
Looking through the papers a slow, cold, smile came across her face. She picked up the phone and dialed. It barely rang once. "I do have one other thing for you to attend to…"
***** ***** *****
They stood on the edge of the castle. The entire clan was present, thankfully. Brooklyn and Lexington had run into a few Quarrymen while in the park stopping a mugger. They had been chased for several blocks before loosing them. Goliath was highly upset by the news, but knew it was a necessary risk if they were ever going to reclaim their rightful place in the city.
Dawn was still a few hours away and he wondered cautiously where Elisa was. Matt had told him she was on her way, but it was getting late. He hoped she was all right.
He turned around to speak to the others but held his voice at the sight before him. It caused an involuntary twitch of his wings. Brooklyn and the others were so wrapped in their tails of the evening and failed to notice they had company.
"Evening everyone," A voice came from behind them.
They turned to see Elisa walking up. Matt was the first to reach her, "Are you alright?" he hissed quietly.
Goliath moved to her side and the others quickly gathered around, "Got some news for you all… Matt you go first..."
"I hope's better than the last news you two brought, Elisa." Angela teased lightly, "We don't have to move again do we?"
Matt knew Elisa was stalling, he couldn't blame her either. He didn't want to be the one to tell the rest of them what had happened. He spoke up, "Nope, all went well there. This is more of the interesting side. We have lead on the Quarrymen." He held up the photo Elisa had seen earlier. The others closed into have a look.
Lexington smiled as soon as he saw the photo, "Hey! That's the photo I found in the database you had me hack!"
Elisa elbowed Matt in the ribs, "Your 'source'?" she whispered.
Matt ignored her, but Elisa noted he did rub his side ruefully, "Yes, it is. Anyway he's the one who's begun to wind up all the folks around here." He retrieved the picture from Angela and placed it back in the file he carried. "Right now, he's bad mouthing the GTF, more specifically he's bad mouthing me. His mindset is if the GTF can't catch you, then he will." The others grumbled quietly but Matt took little notice.
"As long as we can track his movements, I think we can put the kabosh on all this, and get back to not finding you. Lex, I'm gonna need you to monitor their database and see what else pops up. If it looks like they might be getting close, I need you to let me know."
"Excellent!" Lexington nodded and began to head over to the computer.
Elisa held him up for a moment, "Wait up Lex, I have something else to talk to you all about. Something that might be a bigger mess... I went to Nightstone Unlimited tonight…" She began, and as expected, didn't get very far, although the over all mix of reactions was staggering.
Brooklyn and Broadway both swore, Angela stood in shocked silence, Lexington nearly dropped to the floor, Hudson shook his head in disbelief, and even Bronx was quiet.
Goliath on the other hand went bezerk, which might have been a part of the reason the reactions of the other seemed so calm. He ranted at Elisa for being so careless as to go to the building. When he realized she'd gone alone, he berated Matt for allowing her to go in the first place. He bellowed for the mere fact that it appeared Demona was back in their lives once again.
All said, Goliath was understandably upset and so were the others, he was just more vocal about it.
Elisa on the other hand, took the moral road and did nothing to defend her actions. Once he was quiet she continued, "I spoke to Dominique Destine tonight… Well after dark…"
Goliath was bewildered, "That is not possible…"
"It was over a phone link of some kind."
At the mention of the new technology Lex perked up, "You mean like a conference call?"
"Yeah, but with video," Elisa confirmed. "Turns out she wasn't even in the building."
Goliath cut her off, "How could you have known this? It could have been a trap…"
Elisa snapped at him, "Would you please quit cutting me off and let me finish?!"
Goliath took a deep breath and bowed slightly, "Please continue…"
"Thank you," She retorted, smiling slightly at him to reassure him she didn't take it personally and he shouldn't either. "As I was saying, I spoke with Dominique Destine… not Demona. There was no way she could have been close, unless she's learned some new spell…"
Elisa suddenly realized she had taken an awful risk tonight. What if Demona had been in the building and prerecorded the message? She pushed the thought out of her mind, she didn't want to accidentally broadcast that idea to Goliath. They were still experimenting with their new found connection… bond… what ever it was… and she wasn't sure now was the best time to see if he could pick up on her thoughts. Thankfully he appeared distracted enough with the current situation to even notice.
"Anyway," she continued, "I did a bit of checking around. Turns out the corporate jet left Manhattan the day after the Clock Tower incident. One passenger on board but no name on the passenger manifest. It stopped in Denver Colorado to refuel and then departed again without filing a flight plan. Small private aircraft can do that but not commercial jets… Not too many people could pull that one off."
The others nodded numbly, processing the information. Hudson spoke, "What does this mean to us lass?"
"She's vulnerable during the day… As near as I can figure with the Hunter on the loose she must have figured she wouldn't be able to stick around for very long without him coming after her."
It was Broadway, ever the detective, who spoke, "Then The Hunter might be gone too. He might not even be in the city anymore…"
Elisa said nothing since she had the same thoughts earlier, but felt it was unlikely. The clan posed a bigger threat to him than Demona did. Besides, Canmore thought he had a vested interest in seeing the entire clan destroyed. His vendetta was no longer just with Demona.
Goliath spoke the thoughts she had, "No, the Hunter is still here. With all the Anti-Gargoyle propaganda going on, he'd be a fool to leave."
Matt nodded, "Good point."
"Either way," she began, "Demona knows I'm on to her now, and she has to know it will be only a matter of time before I figured out exactly where she is. So it can mean a couple of things…"
Angela spoke up "What could she possibly hope to do?"
"Well for starters, it might have been an effort to have me draw you all out."
Brooklyn spoke, "She looking to set a trap."
Matt cut in, "Well, it's a possibility. Robin Canmore worked for Nightstone Unlimited, and she was a Hunter. Come to think of it, the Quarrymen seem to be picking up where the Hunters left off…"
This made sense, but Lexington was the first to say it, "Do you think the Hunter… is part of the Quarrymen?"
"I don't know how we missed the connection before…" Matt replied. "It is possible the Hunter is doing this since he can't risk being too visible. If he does anything public, Elisa can take him in…This Castaway guy might be a front for him…"
"Damn..." Elisa turned to Matt, "We're gonna have to go out to Riker's tomorrow afternoon to speak with Robin and Jason again. They might not help us find Jon but Demona is another story."
"So what do you need me to look for?" Lexington asked.
Matt thought about it for a moment, "Same type of stuff you looked at before, see what has changed or if anything new has been added. They had a rally tonight, so that might be a place to start." As an after thought he added, "And see what else you can find out about this Castaway guy…" He turned to Elisa, "I think you're right, Jason and Robin are the best chance to find out what the Hunters knew about Demona…"
Lexington bounced off, "I'm on it!"
"Be careful!" Elisa and Goliath yelled out in unison.
"No problem, they'll never even know I was there!" he called over his shoulder.
Elisa turned to the rest of the group, "The computer stuff could be easier, but if Canmore is involved with The Quarrymen, he'll be looking for anyone who comes around. Which means any physical snooping around is going to have to be done by me or Matt."
Goliath was beginning to object to this when Xanatos walked in, "Sorry to intrude on your little meeting, but I couldn't help but over hear your conversation."
"What do you want Xanatos?" Elisa rolled her eyes at the man, obviously there were no conversations that happened without his taking a 'notice'.
"I merely wanted to know if there is anyway I might assist in your endeavor? I took the liberty of checking on a few possible places Demona might have gone after leaving Colorado…" he held out a list to Elisa.
She took the list from him and handed it to Matt without even looking at it. She made it a point to place herself between the Clan and the man who stood before her. She nodded slightly at him, "We'll look into it." She said indifferently.
If he was put off by her manor he gave no indication of it, "Anything to help, Detective." He responded. "Well if you'll excuse me." He turned again to make eye contact with Elisa, "If you require anything further, let Owen know and he will assist you."
He appraised Elisa just long enough for Goliath to become uneasy. He allowed a low rumble to escape, but Elisa cut him off with a single look. He now stood in a defensive manor behind her. Xanatos smiled at the action, as if he expected this to happen, and returned to the Castle.
"What was all that about, Father?" Angela asked. She was still very new to this world but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure there was much tension between Xanatos, Elisa, and her father.
Goliath turned abruptly to his daughter, "Nothing! Go and assist Lexington… It will be dawn soon."
She was hurt by his dismissal but said nothing and went into the castle. Broadway and Brooklyn both followed her in, each equally stunned by Goliath's harsh words.
"Nice going, Big Guy…" Elisa spoke very softly. She'd realized Goliath had inadvertently picked up her hostile feelings towards Xanatos and taken it out on Angela, "That wasn't very smart…"
No, it wasn't… he too knew what had just happened.
Elisa decided strong emotions must facilitate the Bond, so she was able to pick up parts of Goliath's thoughts, "We're gonna have to figure out a way to get a handle on this..." She said under her breath.
Matt stood there feeling like he was listening in on half a conversation. It was a bizarre situation, but he'd have to inquire about it later, because a few seconds later, Lexington was yelling for them to come quickly.
They came into the Great Hall and stood around the computer terminal to see what Lexington was yelling about.
"You gotta see this," he quipped, "I was searching the Quarrymen database when I came across this."
The screen was a jumble of letters and numbers, they were scrolling at high speeds and seemed to make no sense at all. They looked at the screen and then at Lex, not having the faintest idea what they were looking at.
"OK, Mr. Wizard," Brooklyn teased him, "What are we looking at?"
"It looks like a tapeworm feed from the Server." Lexington stated as if everyone should know what he was talking about.
"Lovely. Why are we looking at it Lex?" he asked again.
"Because it's not coming from the Server. It's being feed into it by an outside source. The only reason I even noticed it was because it wasn't here the other night."
Elisa moved in closer, "What's it doing?"
"Well I'm not sure but it looks like it's deleting the database."
Angela peered over his shoulder, "Can we stop it?"
"Not without letting someone know he's in the system…" Elisa moved closer to the screen, "Lex, what other sites feed into this Server?"
Lexington quickly hit the keys on the keyboard, "Looks like…not many… some private homepages, a chat room… But this feed is just hitting the Quarrymen site."
Matt looked up from the list Xanatos had given them, "Wait a sec… did you say a tapeworm feed?"
Lex spoke cautiously, "Yeah…"
Matt looked at the screen, and suddenly yelled out, "Shut it down! Shut it down now!"
With out even thinking, Broadway reached over and yanked all the cords out of the back of the computer. The screen suddenly went blank. Lexington wailed in protest, "What are you doing?"
"Sorry, hope I didn't break anything..." he said sheepishly.
Elisa looked at Matt, "What's wrong?"
Lexington smacked his head abruptly, realizing what almost happened, "Argh, how could I have been so stupid!"
"What are you talking about Lex?" Angela asked.
When Lexington didn't respond Matt spoke up, "The tapeworm is a new program, but really hard to use. Folks in the know say the CIA created it to wipeout web sites that contradict what the government puts out…
Elisa gave him a skeptical look, "Get to the point Matt…"
He held up his hands in defense, "Just hear me out. Whoever created it, designed it to act like a web browser but it's really a virus…"
"A virus?" Broadway was now looking at the computer. He dropped the cords as if he might suddenly become sick by the contact.
"It's not what you think," Lex interjected, "The 'worm' might be hard to use but if you know what you're doing, there's no defense against it. Virus programs won't recognize it as being harmful since it's masquerading as a browser and can be activated by keying on words rather than entire programs. Once it finds them it sets up a chain reaction and the anti-virus programs can't fight it since it's already in the system."
Matt jumped back in, "The 'worm' cleans out the site then deletes itself. Any evidence of it is destroyed. If it's on a computer it crashes and wipes it out, most people attribute it to a hard drive failure, and just reload their system." He looked at the computer wires, which now lay in disarray on the floor, "If you hadn't pulled the line Broadway…"
Elisa cut in, "Is there a way you an find out where it came from? Where the 'tapeworm' originated?" She had a feeling she didn't want to know the answer.
"No need Detective."
They all turned to see Owen Burnett standing with a sheaf of paper. "I ran a back feed of my own to see where the data was going. It appears to have gone to the West Coast." He dropped the paper on the console and left as quickly as he came.
"Why would someone be wiping out computer sites?" Brooklyn inquired.
Matt looked back down at the list, "Hey Elisa, check this out..." She walked over to him and looked at the list. Los Angeles was the third location on the sheet
"Demona." Elisa whispered.
"I think…" Lex tapped several keys, "Yeah… about 320 Anti-Gargoyle sites… all have been crashed… The Quarrymen site is… was… one of the last…"
Lexington spoke tentatively, "She's must be looking for the Hunter too. She just trying to hide it… I don't think the 'worm' made it to us here, I linked through several Servers before going into the Quarrymen database. I didn't want to be discovered if something happened…" He was still looking at the computer, realizing how close they had… he had… come to being unwittingly discovered.
"She was wiping them all out…" Angela looked at the computer, "That could mean she thinks the Hunter…"
Elisa sucked in a deep breath, "We gotta find Jon… Fast…"
"Why?" Angela inquired. "If she wants to find the Hunter then why don't we let her." She had no love for the Hunter, but it didn't go to the extreme hate her mother had.
"No, my Daughter…" Goliath spoke softly, "To allow her to continue on this destructive vendetta goes against all we believe in…"
Elisa added her own opinion to the mix, "Besides I doubt she'd stop with just him… It will be only a matter of time before she starts with the rest of humanity again… And that goes against everything me and Matt believe in."
Matt shook his head slowly, "We're gonna have to move quick on this… before word gets out…"
They all stood in silence, pondering their next move.
***** ***** *****
The others had gone outside to discuss the next course of action, leaving Lexington alone to quietly survey the damage to the computer. Luckily none of the wires had been damaged, so it was just a matter of reconnecting the lines. He was hooking the system back up when Elisa walked up to him, "How goes it?"
"Oh… not bad…" he said glumly. He was still bothered by the near disaster.
Elisa spoke to him softly, "I have some other stuff I'd like you to look at…if you're up to it…"
He perked up immediately, "Really?" then said more restrained, "Are you sure you want me to after what almost happened?"
"Why wouldn't I? You're the best at this stuff…" she sat in the chair in front of the desk and looked at him. "It might be a be more tricky…"
"Sure Elisa. What could be that tricky after tonight?" he asked.
She moved closer and whispered the name of the site she wanted him to look at, and specifically what she wanted him to look for. When she was done he was so surprised his jaw physically dropped.
"Are you serious?" He was all business now, the problems before gone from his mind.
"Yeah, deadly serious…" she spoke softly, "Just don't get caught…"
Lexington's confidence was rapidly returning, "After tonight I know what to look for… I might try and run a back loop like Owen did, this way if it I run into another 'worm' I can reroute it back to where it came from. It will look like it hit an empty site… Maybe AOL has one that's not running anymore… Oh wait, I was reading about a new thing called Data Mining…"
Elisa smiled as she listened to him ramble on. She had little doubt he'd find what she was looking for… and then some. She looked at the young gargoyle, "Lex, I'm personally gonna get you a web site of your own…"
***** ***** *****
Dawn was rapidly approaching, as Goliath called the others to their appointed spots. One by one, they all leaped up, yawning and stretching from the long night. Goliath was exhausted as well but knew part of what he was feeling emanated from Elisa. Her proximity to him allowed him to pick up the weariness she was feeling but trying to hide. He looked over at her, standing off to the side speaking quietly with Angela.
After a few minuets they walked over and Angela took her spot, "Thanks Elisa, you were a big help."
"Anytime, kiddo."
Goliath looked to Elisa, wondering what exactly it was that she had said to his daughter.
She made no indication she was going to tell him but walked over to stand by him, "Girl talk." She stated.
"Really…" He responded.
"Nothing you'd be interested in." she said noncommittally, "Come on, who else can she talk to about boys and…"
Goliath whipped his head around at this statement, "Boys?!?!"
Elisa glanced over his shoulder; the sun was rising. It was a swift transformation, taking Goliath by surprise. Elisa stood with her eyes closed, and let out a heavy sigh. She moved closer and rested a hand on his frozen form.
Matt walked over to her, "Ready to go?"
"Yeah…" she made no effort to leave.
Matt looked at his partner. The look in her eyes was one he knew few men would ever see from a woman. It was the look of love that knows no boundaries… and it was directed at Goliath. He felt a momentary pang of jealousy, but quickly quashed it. This was his partner. His friend.
"I'll wait for you down stairs…" He started.
"No, Matt. Stay a sec…" She gazed at the seven stone forms before her. Her thoughts felt empty. She reached over and took Matt's hand, "Do you think our lives will ever be… normal?"
Matt wasn't sure what she meant. Did she mean this situation… or her and Goliath? He thought hard before answering, "What makes you think this isn't normal? I'm sure there are hundreds of people, all over the world, who live lives just like ours."
She looked at him with an eye cocked at him and chuckled, "Yeah, right…"
"I'm serious. I wouldn't doubt it at all. And if not… well… it's a damn shame." He gave her hand a squeeze of support. He could see what was going on.
Elisa stood silently in the morning dawn, one of her hands in Matt's and the other resting on Goliath's stone form.
***** ***** *****