"This feels so great!" Ebony shrieked as the wind blew against her body, her hair billowing up in a cascade of black, her arrowhead tail lashing out and her brilliant sky-blue eyes glowing.

Egor laughed in answer, bending his wings expertly and doing a small loop-de-loop around Ebony, causing her to explode with giggles and clap, feeling the rush of a mischief-filled energy race through her. They both knew that Goliath was going to punish them, knowing they were not allowed to leave the castle, this fact adding to the excitement. They were young, and they have always liked to cause trouble.

Ebony used her extra joint in her wings to maneuver herself right under Egor. With a quick bend Ebony was able to flip herself over, and for a minute she was flying with her back to the ground, her face barely an inch away from Egor. With a playful squeal Ebony reached out and tweaked Egor's nose, her arrowhead tail hitting Egor on the thigh. "Tag, your it!" Ebony squealed, spinning around and righting herself, soaring away, hoping Egor would give chase.

Egor rolled his eyes. "Aren't we a bit old for those games?"

"No." Ebony said simply and laughed. "Oh come on Egor. In four years we'll be adults! Might as well and enjoy it while it lasts, don't you think?"

Egor smiled and nodded in return and within minutes the two were playing like hatchlings, both proving to be very good fliers. Egor had more power and could fly for longer distances while Ebony was quicker and far more maneuverable. After playing and racing for an hour the two tired of the games and finally headed for the Statue of Liberty.

It rose before them like a sentinel, the sight of it quieting the two, both of them in awe of the sight. "Whoa!" Ebony breathed, pumping her wings, her shoulder's starting to ache as she and Egor hovered above the crowned head of the Statue of Liberty, the air alive with an odd mixture of the smell of fish, sewer water and trees. "Isn't it amazing?!" Ebony gushed, glancing at Egor, her hair playfully dancing with the wind as they both flapped hard, hovering above the magnificent monolith.

Egor nodded, his eyes going over ever detail of the monument. "Remarkable. Hard to believe humans did such a thing!"

Ebony laughed. "Yes, they can do such amazing things with those fragile bodies..." Ebony blinked and her sky-blue eyes glimmered. "What's that on the head? See it?" Ebony asked, pointing.

Egor looked down and saw a black spot on the head of the Statue. "I don't know... let's land and take a look."

Ebony nodded and the two, grateful for an excuse to land for a minute and rest their wings, glided down and landed on the head of the Statue of Liberty with practiced ease. Egor folded his wings like a cape and went over to inspect the odd burn spot. "Hey, check this out!" Egor bent down and picked up a mangled object, turning over, frowning. Ebony looked at it, curious.

"Hey! That's Goliath's head! Made of steel! This must be the remains of a Steel Clan robot! Remember? Demona showed us pictures of them."

Egor nodded, remembering. "Yes, Demona said that Xanatos made them to kill the clan. He also made that exo-suit. With the helmet he looks just like Goliath."

"Except made of steel, not flesh..." Ebony muttered, walking to the edge and opening her wings , the wind brushing against her like a caress. She gazed at the harbor and glanced down at the green gardens that surrounded the Statue. Giggling Ebony grabbed Egor's hand and pulled him off the edge, Egor yelping in surprise as he righted himself, following Ebony as she glided downwards to the green grass. Ebony landed teasingly and rolled down into the grass, taking a deep breath, absorbing the green grass's scent. A cold wind billowed from the harbor and Ebony laughed out in the pure joy of it all.

This was freedom, this was how life should be!

Egor carefully landed and sat down next to her, his eyes warm as he watched Ebony, enjoying this experience as well. It was so good to get out, see new things... Despite himself, Egor realized just how bored he was getting at the Castle. He was actually thankful to Ebony for dragging him out of that living room, making him come so he could get a taste of the good life, where they did as they wished like in the old days back in Ireland, were they followed their own rules and not those of someone else.

Ebony closed her eyes and smiled, flopping over and lying on her back, stretching out as she gazed up at the deep night skies... Being cooped up in the castle had gotten her yearning for the skies, the stars. It has been to long being ground bound, it was time for her to be back out in the air. "Egor, lets go... Who knows when we will be able to fly again..."

Egor smiled wryly. Indeed, Goliath would probably ground them for the next year!
The two got to their feet and slowly climbed up the steel skirt of the Statue of Liberty, jumping off when they reached the top and headed back to the city, the night breeze from the harbor sending them hundreds of feet up, the city shrinking down as the clouds met them. After several minutes Ebony and Egor swooped back down, dropping down until they were dodging through streets again. Ebony pulled out a map she had been keeping in her pocket and studying for the past month, her eyes quickly going over the details. The Brooklyn Bridge was nearby... With a shout to Egor, Ebony turned and led her rookery brother to the Bridge, pausing only to grab a large sandwich right of the hands of a obese human man, who screamed out in shock from being robbed of his meal by a flying, black demon.

"Ebony! That was his!" Egor shouted, laughing.

Ebony shrugged and bit into the sandwich. "So? He needs to go on a diet anyway. Want some?"

"Sure!"

The two smiling and landing on a secure spot on the bridge, Ebony and Egor bit into the sandwich, discovering it to be a delicious Cuban sandwich. Ebony hummed to herself as she ate, gazing down at the city, glancing at her watch, then gasping. "It's past midnight!"

"You're kidding!" Egor yelped, looking over her shoulder to study at her watch. "Well, so it is! Damn! I didn't think so much time had passed!"

"Time flies when you're having fun, eh?" Ebony asked wryly.

Egor was about to comment when a loud scream startled him. The two glanced down to see quite a sight. Running for her life was an elderly woman, four huge thugs chasing her. Two of the thugs had sticks, another had a knife. They were obviously trying to rob the poor woman. The woman was tiring, and the thugs were younger, fitter, and much faster then her. In seconds the overtook the poor old woman and brought her down. The old woman screamed some more, crying out for help, for mercy...

Ebony snarled and got to her feet, sensing Egor do the same, the two dove off the ledge in unison, Ebony and Egor launched themselves down, crashing head on into two of the men, Ebony hissing as she got to her feet, seeing one man actually get back on his feet. Ebony snarled and hiked her leg up and delivered a powerful spin kick to the man square in the jaw, knocking him out.

Egor bowled the other man with the stick over, using his immense shoulder to send the human man flying. This man groaned but also got back up and grabbed his stick, charging Egor, determined to make this huge green demon pay. Egor roared out in challenge and frustration and spun his huge fist around, punching the poor man with all his might, feeling his nose go CRUNCH! when his might fist connected. The man went flying to the ground with a heavy thump, and thankfully did not get up again. The third man, the only one unarmed, screamed out and stumbled to the ground, his eyes filled with terror as he watched the two gargoyles.

The thug that Ebony had kicked had somehow revived himself and was charging forward and another was charging Egor, the huge knife in his hands. Ebony roared a warning to Egor and whipped her tail to trip the man with the stick, bending down to glare at him, her eyes afire with a pale blue fire, snarling low. Picking up the human man easily and staring into his wide, terrified eyes Ebony whispered to him, her voice low, threatening. "Run away. Now." Ebony hissed.

"Put Jerry down you monster bitch!" screamed a voice.

BLAM!

Ebony roared out in pain, feeling something slam into her back, the pain so intense that she fell to her knees. Turning to the last man, the one that was supposedly unarmed one and found that he indeed was armed. With a gun. He had shot her.

"EBONY?!" Egor had seen the gun go off and saw his friend fall, his eyes glowing white. With a punch that instantly broke the man with the knife's nose, Egor pounced the man with the gun, beating him to a bloody pulp. When the man was finally was out cold Egor turned to see that the other three men had gone and the woman looking up at him, quivering with fear.

"Don't hurt me! Please!" screamed the woman, hysterical.

Egor forced himself to smile comfortingly. "Don't worry lady, I'm not going to hurt you. Do you need any help?" Egor asked kindly, offering his hand and taking a step forward.

BONK!

The lady threw her purse at Egor and turned and ran, yammering and calling for the cops, saying a monster had robbed her. Egor rubbed his nose and made a face. Humans.
A groan interrupted his thoughts. Turning, Egor found Ebony sitting on the ground, blood pouring from a wound on her back. She looked up at him, her brilliant sky blue eyes dull with pain. "Egor... I think that guy shot me..."

Egor felt his heart leap to his throat and rushed forward, putting his arms on Ebony's shoulder, almost jumping back when she yelped, turning Ebony to inspect the wound. It was bad. It was on her shoulder and had gone through her wing, barely missing her wing strut. Plus it was bleeding really badly. Egor cursed and closed his eyes, feeling a huge wave of disbelief wash over him like ice-cold water. Ebony would live but she could not fly. She was grounded. "Shit Eb, we're in trouble. We gotta get back to the Castle. You can't fly."

"Ever?!" Ebony screamed, jumping up, terrified of the idea of never being able to fly again.

Egor pushed her back down and desperately tore off a piece of his brown shirt to try to stop the bleeding. "No! Just for tonight! Now hold still!" Egor snapped and pressed down on the shoulder, Ebony screaming out in pain. "You'll be okay in the morning," Egor said, his voice comforting, trying to keep his quivering friend calm. "But we are going to have to find a place to stay for the night... You can't travel like this!" Egor said, tearing some more shirt, Ebony trembling and crying out as he tied the bandage tight.

Ebony moaned low. "Goliath is going to kill me..."

Egor was about to answer when he heard a voice cry out behind him.

"HOLY SHIT!"

The two had been so absorbed with their crisis that neither noticed the human sneaking up behind them. Egor's head snapped up, his eyes aglow, thinking the thugs had come back for more, surprised to find that it was not the thugs, but a young human female staring at them, standing five feet away from them, her eyes wide.

Egor snarled low as she stepped up to them, her eyes full of awe. Egor guessed that she was attractive by human standards, very short and plump but with a curvaceous hour-glass figure. With wide hips and pendulous breasts, the female looked to be around the human age of 20, her curly hair cut short to shoulder length and dyed red violet. She had too many earrings on her ears, and even one her eyebrow, if Angela were here she would probably call her style 'Gothic mixed with Hooker' or something like that. Her make-up was quite extreme, her large brown eyes outlined with a lot of eyeliner and her sensual lips decked out with a deep purple lipstick. Her clothes were quite outlandish, consisting of a leather jacket, red splash tube top and a black spandex skirt that threatened to show Egor her unmentionables with GoGo boots on her feet. She wore a lot of rings and had something like a dog collar on her neck.

Egor was sure he was staring at a lunatic.

"Go away human, we don't want any trouble." Egor snarled, getting to his feet. His experience with humans was limited to just Elisa, Xanatos, Fox and Owen (if he counted), and Egor was unsure on what to make of this odd human. What did she want? What would she do?
The human female looked up at him, only coming to his chest. She was only five feet something while he was close to eight feel tall. Although he towered over her Egor could see that the human female did not fear him. She didn't show any fear, none! She just stared at him in awe and curiosity. "You guys are real!" whispered the human, a smile on her deeply tanned face. "You're a gargoyle, aren't you? I read about you in the newspaper!"

Egor blinked, weary and worried about Ebony, who was staring at the human female stupidly. "Yes, we are... Who the hell are you?" Egor asked carefully, raising and eye-ridge.
The human female smiled and walked up to Egor, taking in all of the details, making Egor feel self-conscious. "My name is Rita, Rita Sanchez. Pleased ta meet ya!" said the human female, surprising Egor by taking his huge clawed hand and shaking it rigorously, smiling kindly.

Egor stared at the human, still unsure of what to make of her yet. "Um hi, I'm Egor. This is Ebony."

Rita nodded and looked him over again, whistling. "I can't believe that you are for real! I read about gargoyles and shit in the newspaper but I never believed it!" Rita breathed, looking at the wings curiously, "Can you really fly with those things?" she asked, reaching out to touch a wing-strut.

Egor cleared his throat and nodded shyly, "Yeah..."

"Cool!" Rita exclaimed and went up to Ebony, bending down to look at Ebony's shoulder, frowning. "Shit, that looks bad. Will she be alright?"

"Yes, SHE will be alright!" Ebony snapped, coming out of her reverie. "Can we please get out of here? Before those bozo's come back." Ebony hissed.

Egor nodded and reached down to scoop Ebony into his arms, Ebony hissing out curses, trembling in pain. Egor cleared his throat and looked down at Rita, who winked. Egor groaned low and looked about, unsure on what to do know. He had to find a place to stay for the night. Ebony could not travel with her wing like this, she might go into shock. Rita tapped Egor on the shoulder, causing him to jump. Egor panted out, his nerves still on the brink.

Rita winced and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, guess your not used to humans huh?"

Egor nodded his head and smiled weakly. "You could say that. What is it?"

Rita smiled and pointed to the unconscious thug nearby. "What about him?"

Egor frowned. He didn't want the thug to get away, nor did he have the time to take the man to the cops as the clan told him they would sometimes do whenever they went out on patrol. After handing Ebony to Rita to hold up, Egor found some steel wire and tied the man to a light post, hoping the cops would find him in the morning. With that done Egor turned to find that Ebony had passed out, Rita struggling to hold her up. Egor sighed and bent down and easily took Ebony into his arms again, trying hard not to worry or think about what Goliath was going to do to him. Finally he turned to gaze down at Rita, his mind racing. They had to get out of here! Before something else happens! "Rita, do you have a car?" Egor asked shyly. "Me and Ebony have to find a place safe to stay during the day..."

Rita nodded. "Sure! You can stay at my place tonight, it's close by." Rita said, leading him down the street, looking around, making sure that no one saw them. Rita led Egor to her small Toyota and with a lot of pushing and shoving was able to get Ebony into the front seat while Egor struggled to into the back.

Rita smiled at him through the mirror and put the keys into the ignition, revving the car into life. Egor swallowed hard and gazed around, nervous. "This is my first time in a car." Egor said weakly.

Rita glanced at him, her eyebrow (the one that was pierced) raising in surprise. "For real? Dang boy, were have you been for the past century?!" Rita asked incredulously.

Egor snorted. "Asleep!" Egor said and proceeded to tell Rita the story of his coming to the 20th century and the life he had lived with the Manhattan clan of gargoyles. Rita listened attentively, nodding every once in a while. When Egor told her about how gargoyles sleep during the day, Rita's liner-lined eyes went wide and she gasped in awe.

"You turn to stone?! You got to be fuckin' kidding!" Rita exclaimed.

Egor shock his head. "Nope, it's true. That's how we sleep. Every evening we wake up and any wounds we have received during the day are healed."

Rita took this in and glanced at Ebony, who was still out cold. "Even her? That bullet hole will be gone tomorrow evening?"

Egor smiled and nodded. "Yep. Only really serious wounds don't heal, like a amputated hand or foot."

Rita shook her head, swallowing hard. "Damn, that's freaky..."

Egor smiled weakly and continued with his story.

After a 20-minute drive down a nearly empty street Rita got them to her small apartment. Luckily there was no guard on duty and they didn't bump into anyone in the hall or on the elevator. With a lot of grunting and groaning Egor and Rita got Ebony through the hall and into the living-room, Egor putting her down onto the sofa. Ebony blinked her eyes, awake and gazing around, half-conscious. "Egor...?" she whispered, glancing around.

Egor smiled warmly, happy to see her awake. "Shh. You're safe. Rita was kind enough to take us in."

Ebony nodded, falling silent and closing her eyes. Egor smiled and bent down, kissing her on the forehead and putting a large fluffy blanket around her body. Then Egor got to his feet, satisfied that Ebony was alright for the moment. Egor took his first good look around, realizing that this was the first time he had been inside a human home other than the castle or Demona's lavish mansion. It was nicely furnished with deco furniture, a TV and killer sound system taking much of the space in the tiny living room. A picture of a human being with a halo above his head dominated the wall next to the TV, Egor guessing it was some saint. After mulling it over Egor guessed Rita to be of Hispanic heritage like Elisa.

Turning Egor went to the kitchen, were Rita was busy looking for a first aid kit. "Dammit!" Egor hear her mutter as she continued looking through her cabinets, "Where did I put the damn thing?! I was sure it was here..."

Egor looked inside the cabinet, easily looking over Rita's head. Egor reached to the far back were he could only see and pulled it out. Rita, who had been standing on her tippy toes, looked up at Egor, smiling wryly. "I guess all that height comes in handy." she said wryly.
Egor smiled. He decided that Rita was alright. She was open-minded and seemed not have any superstitions against gargoyles. "It does every once in a while," Egor said, shrugging and looking down at the med kit, his face softening. "Listen Rita, thanks, you know, for helping us and all. This has been a really weird night!"

Rita winked and playfully shoved him. "Aww, it's no problem Big Boy. It isn't everyday that a girl gets a chance to hang out with gargoyles! Now let's see if your friend is up to stinging antiseptic, eh?"

ELSEWHERE...

Goliath gazed at the sky, wishing with every fiber in his body that he would see the two gliding forms of Ebony and Egor approach the castle, knowing that he would not. With less then an hour before daylight left, Goliath knew that Egor and Ebony would have came home earlier if they could.

Something must have happened to them.

Elisa made her way up to Goliath, putting her arms around his waist and meeting those deep worried eyes. "Anything?" she asked gently. Elisa had just come back from the station, hoping that she would hear of any odd reports there, finding nothing.

Goliath sighed and shook his head, "Nothing. I had the clan searching all night for them but there isn't a sign of them anywhere!" Goliath hung his head and put his arm around Elisa's shoulders. "Did you hearing anything at the police station?"

Elisa shook her head. "Not a thing."

Goliath growled/sighed and looked out into the horizon again, seeing the familiar shapes from the clan. They were coming back from the nightlong search, and Ebony and Egor were not with them. "This is all my fault." Goliath sighed.

"Oh, how could you say that?" Elisa chided gently. "You know how those two are. They never listen to you! Always doing whatever they feel like..."

"Yes, but that is because they grew up without any parentage Elisa, without any clan!" Goliath reminded, his face set in a grim frown. "For most of their lives they lived without any clan there to tell them what to do, to teach them from right and wrong. You can't expect them to accustom themselves to following someone else's orders right away!"

Elisa nodded sadly. "I guess your right... but you did order them to stay here Goliath, you can't blame yourself if they won't listen!"

"Can't I?" Goliath asked, "How long have they been begging me to let them explore the city? It was only a matter of time when their patience would wear thin and they would take matters into heir own hands."

Elisa could not find an answer to this and the two waited in silence for the clan to fly to the castle, backing away to give them room to land. Brooklyn, Hudson, Lexington and Angela landed carefully, sighs of relief escaping their lips as they were finally allowed to fold their wings and rest their aching backs. Broadway came up from the hallways, his eyes haunted with worry. Broadway had been sitting next to the TV and radio, hoping for some news, disappointed to have nothing reported. "Anything?" he asked hopefully.

Angela went to her father and gave him a welcoming hug, her face forlorn. "Nothing. We even went to see Mother, just incase they had decided to go back to live with her..."

"Aye, she didn't see a bloomin thing!" Hudson interrupted darkly, "Nor does she want to too! Demona is still pretty sour with dem."

Goliath groaned low, the thought of Demona making him instinctfully grimace and pull away from Elisa. Catching himself, Goliath hastily smiled and went back to Elisa's side, seeing her pained face. Goliath cleared his throat and hastily looked away, embarrassed by the pause as everyone turned to look at him, noting the brief break of contact and Elisa's blushing face. "Well, Owen states that Puck has not sensed any magical activity tonight. That can only mean that Ebony did not have to use her powers at all tonight. That can only be a good sign."

"Why is it a good sign?" Angela asked, "Ebony could have been over powered or knocked unconscious without given a chance of defending herself magically."

"It's a good sign because that means Oberon or Titania don't have anything to do with their disappearance, and I doubt Egor would let anything happen to Ebony." Goliath answered, then glancing at the at the sky, frowning. "Now get to your places, the sun is about to rise."

And so the clan leaped onto the parapet, waiting for the sun to rise, their faces set in frowns of worry, two of their number not there to greet the day with them.