Chapter 4
A week later, Nikki woke and headed down for breakfast, as she always did, but stopped. Three Quarrymen were conversing quietly with her father, who looked grimly resolved. Quietly, Nikki turned around and climbed back up the stairs, but tripped on one of them and landed with a loud THUMP. The Quarrymen and her father emerged from the kitchen.
"Nicole," said her father, "come down into the kitchen with us, please."
It wasn't a request, so Nikki followed them into the kitchen and sat down at the table, fidgeting.
"Do you confirm the rumors, Nicole?" asked her father.
"Yes."
"Do you know where they live?"
"Yes."
"Tell us," he demanded.
"Absolutely not."
"It wasn't a question, Nicole."
"I'm not stupid. I know it wasn't a question," she shot back. "I'm not going to tell you."
"Tell us or face the consiquences," growled one of the strangers.
"I didn't know I had options," Nikki said flatly. "Go ahead; do your worst. I'm not telling."
"Our worst can be very painful," threatened another man. Nikki shrugged.
"I don't believe I care. Sorry," she added sarcastically.
"Well, Nicole," breathed her father, "if you won't lead us to them, we can still use you to lure them to us."
"Is that what I'm reduced to now?" Nikki injected every syllable with venom. "Bait? Bait, for beings you're afraid because you don't know them--"
"Silence." Her father never yelled, but the tone of his voice was enough to quiet her. "I will not be spoken to like this. If you'll be difficult, I'll be difficult. I didn't want it to come down to this, Nicole, but it has."
"They won't come," Nicole said, nearly laughing at the bitter irony in her voice. "You're a fool to think they'll come. I told them you were a Quarryman. They'll know it's a trap."
"They'll come." The stranger sounded almost sure of himself. "When they hear you screaming, they'll come."
With those words, as if they were a cue, the two other Quarrymen stationed themselves on either side of the chiar Nikki was in. She stood up haughtily, and they immediately bound her wrists behind her back.
"Some father," Nikki said icily as they led her outside. "I wonder what Mom would say if she were here..."
Her father slammed the door on them as they forced Nikki into the backseat of a car and sped away.
I wish I still had the communicator with me, she thought miserably as they raced along backways and alleys. Elisa could arrest them for kidnap, or I could tell her to tell Lex not to come if he hears me screaming. Oh, Lex, I'm so sorry...
Finally, the car stopped, and the Quarrymen jostled Nikki out of her wistful thoughts by dragging her roughly from the car.
"You think you'd be a little gentler," Nikki murmured. The Quarrymen shook her meanly.
"We aren't gentle with monster-protectors," sneered one of them. Nikki stuck up her chin stubbornly as they walked her towards a door with a catflap on it. They opened it an pushed her inside, not even bothering to untie her hands. She stumbled and tripped, landing flat on her face on a worn matress. Nikki looked up in time to see the door close and hear a key turn in the lock. A short while later, a bowl of something was pushed through the catflap, along with a plastic spoon. Nikki struggled to get up, but the rope had caught on one of the prodtruding springs. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out in frustration and manuevered her hands so that the rope came free.
"Now what was that trick--?" she said quietly to herself. "Oh, yeah."
Nikki bit her tongue and slowly began to rotate her hands to loosen the rope up, then slowly began to twist her hands up, making sure not to ball them into fists. Eventually, the rope loosened enough for her to fit one hand through. She pulled it out, then began to twist the rope off her other wrist. When it was finally off, she through it in a corner and went over to examine the contents of the bowl. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Gruel," she said to no one. "How appetizing."
She ate it anyway; it wasn't that bad because it had practically no taste. Nikki sat the empty bowl next to the catflap, crawled back over to the matress, and flopped back onto it. She felt as though it were the first night she had come back from the hospital; the only time she got up was to eat the tasteless gruel pushed through the catflap.
Finally, when the sun was just peeking over the horizon, sending pink light through the bars of the window on the door, the sound of a key turning in the lock jolted Nikki out of a daydream. The door was pushed open by a Quarryman, who grabbed Nikki's upper arm and hauled her away from the room she had been locked in. He led her to an abandoned portion of the docks, where several Quarrymen were waiting, their hammers and guns in hand. She closed her eyes as the Quarryman holding her pushed her over to what looked like an enlarged hubcap. He forced her around and slammed her against it, then raised her left arm to one of the "spokes". Then he brought out something that looked like a gun and placed the opening over her wrist; he pressed the trigger, and she felt her wrist being pressed against the spoke by a large, rounded slab of metal. He did the same thing with her other wrist and ankles.
"They aren't going to come," whispered Nikki. "They won't."
"They will," said the Quarryman coldly. He produced an electric shocker from her pocket and pushed it into Nikki's stomach, just under her rib cage, so hard that she could barely draw breath. Tears were already gathering at the corner of her eyes, not for her, but for Lex, for what they'd do to him if they caught him...
She didn't have time to think anymore, because the Quarryman had just pushed the switch on the shocker up. A terrible jolt ran through Nikki's entire body, making every nerve ending scream in protest. Nikki screamed, too, and the sound echoed through the dark sky; the sun had just set. He kept the shocker on, and Nikki kept screming, until she couldn't draw breath anymore, and the only signs of her pain was the steady waterfall of tears cascading down her cheeks and her eyes, which where squeezing themselves shut as tight as they could.
Finally, the pain stopped. Nikki gasped for breath as the Quarryman took the shocker away from her quivering body. He scanned the sky, looking around for five minutes. When the Gargoyle didn't appear, Nikki laughed meekly.
"I told you," she boasted. "They won't come to help me."
"Then we'll just have to try again," said the Quarryman, pushing the shocker under her rib cage again. She braced herself, but before he could push the switch up again, a huge something swooped down and tackled him, knocking the shocker out of his hand and under one of the cars. Immediately, the Quarrymen ganged up on him, but more Gargoyles shot down from the sky. The one who had tackled the Quarrymen jumped up and started breaking off the slabs of metal like they were tortilla chips. She fell limply into his arms.
"Thanks, Hudson," Nikki said, hugging him briefly.
"Anytime, lass," he replied, swinging around to battle with a stubborn Quarryman. Nikki ran through the mayhem, dodging huge Quarrymen that grabbed at her, and threw herself onto the ground to retrieve the shocker. She had barely clasped it in her hand when someone grabbed her waist and threw her over his shoulder. Nikki thrust the shocker into his shoulder blade and pushed the switch up; he dropped her, howling in pain. She kicked him once and then fled, shocking any Quarrymen that came near her. She wove in and out of the mess, looking for that once comforting face, the one she had loved so much... and maybe still did.
She finally found it, fighting three Quarrymen at the same time. His tail lashed out and tripped one, his fists connected with another's jaw, and his foot slammed into the other's stomach. Despite all his efforts, though, they had one advantage; an electric net. They threw it over him, while he struggled madly to tear it off, it merely electricuted him until he fell still. The Quarrymen started to drag him over to one of the large vans. Frantic, Nikki jostled her way over to them and jammed the shocker into the small of one of the Quarrymen's backs. She pushed it on, and kept it on until the other two surrounded her. She lashed out with her foot and threw a surprised Quarryman into a nearby wall, where he slid to the base and lay still.
Nikki shouldn't have turned her back on the remaining Quarryman; he grabbed her waist and pinned her arms to her side, making the shocker useless. As she struggled, her eyes fell on Lex's still body, tangled in the net. Eyes blazing, she threw back her head and let out a scream of fury, startling the Quarryman enough for him to losen his grip. That was all Nikki needed. She flung him over her shoulder; he landed with a thud next the the net. Panting, Nikki collapsed on her knees next to the net and pulled the net off of Lex's limp form. She cradled him in her arms, oblivious to the battles behind her.
"Lex," she whispered, shaking him slightly. "Lex!"
When he didn't wake, Nikki began to get worried. She could barely make out the gentle rise and fall of his chest, but it was slowing. She started to shake harder. "Lex, wake up! Please wake up!"
After what seemed like an eternity to Nikki, with the battles still raging on behind and around her as she crouched, hidden in the shadows, cradling Lex, his eyes started to open. At this sign that he was okay, she flung her arms around his neck as he sat up and started to sob violently.
"I'm so sorry," she cried. "I didn't know that they'd do this--"
Lex turned to face her. "Sure you didn't." He shrugged off Nikki's arm and went to help Brooklyn, leaving Nikki to gaze after him, her face tear-streaked.
"I didn't," she whispered. She burried her face in her hands, shaking. After all this, and he still hated her? She had just saved his life!
Suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up off the ground, slamming her into the wall. She didn't struggle as they forced a folded piece of cloth over her mouth and nose that smelled horribly. The world started to get fuzzy, her body went numb, and she started to slide down the wall. Then the cloth went away, and the Quarryman picked her up off the ground. He carried her over to the edge of the concrete and lay her on the ground, putting a foot on her chest and drawing a gun.
Shoot me, she thought. Please, shoot me...
All the fighting stopped. The Gargoyles glided onto the roofs of nearby buildings and watched helplessly as the Quarryman demanded they surrendered.
"Surrender," he said, "or I'll kill her."
"Don't," said Nikki, her speech a little slurred. "Don't surrendor..."
"Shut up," said the Quarryman. He faced the Gargoyles again. "Well?"
"Let's not," said a familiar voice; Lex. "They won't kill her."
Nikki laughed lazily. "Like you'd care..."
"I said shut up," hissed the Quarryman. He aimed the gun a few centimeters to the side of her head and fired a shot.
"Scary," she said. The Quarryman grabbed the front of Nikki's shirt, raised her a little up off the ground, pulled back his fist, and hit Nikki in the jaw.
"I told you to shut up," he hissed, hitting her again. Nikki's head rolled limply around on her shoulders. She glanced at the Gargoyles on the roof, and decided that she couldn't die... not yet, at least. Using her last ounce of strength, the kicked up with her leg, throwing the Quarryman off her and into the ocean ten feet below. She picked up his gun and aimed at the other Quarrymen, making sure the setting was on "stun" and not "eliminate". She fired and dodged, until finally they were all in a heap. As the remaning Quarrymen closed in around her, the Gargoyles swooped down off the roofs and tackled them. From time to time, Nikki fired a shot into the fighting, bringing down a few Quarrymen. Finally, when she was sure the Gargoyles could handle the rest of the Quarrymen, she dropped the gun.
"Let's see," she said. "No one'll miss me, or even care that I'm gone, so what more reason do I need?"
Sighing, Nikki closed her eyes and fell backwards, feeling the wind flap her hair agaisnt her cheeks, expecting to feel the sting of hitting the cold water...
A rush of aire filled her ears, and suddenly, she wasn't falling anymore. She was ascending upwards, in the arms of a Gargoyle.
"I'd care." Nikki opened her eyes and saw Lex looking down at her.
"Sure," she said, crossing her arms. "Since when do you care about supposed Quarrymen?"
"Since you're not a Quarryman," said Lex, landing on a roof.
"So you finally believe me," sighed Nikki, throwing her arms around Lex's neck and hugging him tight. "Took you a while."
"Well," Lex said, holding her tightly even though he could let her down now, "I was kind of being stupid."
"No," gasped Nikki sarcastically, raising her eyebrows.
"Sorry," said Lex sheepishly. "Do you forgive me?"
"Forgive and forget," sighed Nikki. "So I guess I forgive ya."
"Thanks," Lex said sincerely. He put her down, and they both looked over the concrete railing of the roof. All the fighting had stopped; the few Quarrymen who managed not to get stunned or knocked out by Gargoyles had retreated.
"Why'd you still come?" asked Nikki as the Gargoyles glided up onto the roof. "Even though you thought I was a Quarryman... spy..."
"Because... just, because," was all Lex would say, no matter how much Nikki bugged him about it. Nikki sighed.
"I wonder what I'm going to do now," mused Nikki softly. "My dad practically disowned me..."
"You could always come live with us," suggested Broadway.
"Would Xanatos let me?"
"Maybe."
"What about Elisa?" suggested Brooklyn. "You could always border in her apartment."
"I don't want to intrude on her," Nikki murmured. "I'll just come with you guys until we figure something out..." Nikki yawned. "Let's hurry before I collapse."
Lex swept Nikki into his arms again and took off, the other Gargoyles not far behind. Nikki closed her eyes, and within a few minutes, was asleep in Lex's arms, the steady carress of the wind a silent lullaby.
A week later, Nikki woke and headed down for breakfast, as she always did, but stopped. Three Quarrymen were conversing quietly with her father, who looked grimly resolved. Quietly, Nikki turned around and climbed back up the stairs, but tripped on one of them and landed with a loud THUMP. The Quarrymen and her father emerged from the kitchen.
"Nicole," said her father, "come down into the kitchen with us, please."
It wasn't a request, so Nikki followed them into the kitchen and sat down at the table, fidgeting.
"Do you confirm the rumors, Nicole?" asked her father.
"Yes."
"Do you know where they live?"
"Yes."
"Tell us," he demanded.
"Absolutely not."
"It wasn't a question, Nicole."
"I'm not stupid. I know it wasn't a question," she shot back. "I'm not going to tell you."
"Tell us or face the consiquences," growled one of the strangers.
"I didn't know I had options," Nikki said flatly. "Go ahead; do your worst. I'm not telling."
"Our worst can be very painful," threatened another man. Nikki shrugged.
"I don't believe I care. Sorry," she added sarcastically.
"Well, Nicole," breathed her father, "if you won't lead us to them, we can still use you to lure them to us."
"Is that what I'm reduced to now?" Nikki injected every syllable with venom. "Bait? Bait, for beings you're afraid because you don't know them--"
"Silence." Her father never yelled, but the tone of his voice was enough to quiet her. "I will not be spoken to like this. If you'll be difficult, I'll be difficult. I didn't want it to come down to this, Nicole, but it has."
"They won't come," Nicole said, nearly laughing at the bitter irony in her voice. "You're a fool to think they'll come. I told them you were a Quarryman. They'll know it's a trap."
"They'll come." The stranger sounded almost sure of himself. "When they hear you screaming, they'll come."
With those words, as if they were a cue, the two other Quarrymen stationed themselves on either side of the chiar Nikki was in. She stood up haughtily, and they immediately bound her wrists behind her back.
"Some father," Nikki said icily as they led her outside. "I wonder what Mom would say if she were here..."
Her father slammed the door on them as they forced Nikki into the backseat of a car and sped away.
I wish I still had the communicator with me, she thought miserably as they raced along backways and alleys. Elisa could arrest them for kidnap, or I could tell her to tell Lex not to come if he hears me screaming. Oh, Lex, I'm so sorry...
Finally, the car stopped, and the Quarrymen jostled Nikki out of her wistful thoughts by dragging her roughly from the car.
"You think you'd be a little gentler," Nikki murmured. The Quarrymen shook her meanly.
"We aren't gentle with monster-protectors," sneered one of them. Nikki stuck up her chin stubbornly as they walked her towards a door with a catflap on it. They opened it an pushed her inside, not even bothering to untie her hands. She stumbled and tripped, landing flat on her face on a worn matress. Nikki looked up in time to see the door close and hear a key turn in the lock. A short while later, a bowl of something was pushed through the catflap, along with a plastic spoon. Nikki struggled to get up, but the rope had caught on one of the prodtruding springs. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out in frustration and manuevered her hands so that the rope came free.
"Now what was that trick--?" she said quietly to herself. "Oh, yeah."
Nikki bit her tongue and slowly began to rotate her hands to loosen the rope up, then slowly began to twist her hands up, making sure not to ball them into fists. Eventually, the rope loosened enough for her to fit one hand through. She pulled it out, then began to twist the rope off her other wrist. When it was finally off, she through it in a corner and went over to examine the contents of the bowl. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Gruel," she said to no one. "How appetizing."
She ate it anyway; it wasn't that bad because it had practically no taste. Nikki sat the empty bowl next to the catflap, crawled back over to the matress, and flopped back onto it. She felt as though it were the first night she had come back from the hospital; the only time she got up was to eat the tasteless gruel pushed through the catflap.
Finally, when the sun was just peeking over the horizon, sending pink light through the bars of the window on the door, the sound of a key turning in the lock jolted Nikki out of a daydream. The door was pushed open by a Quarryman, who grabbed Nikki's upper arm and hauled her away from the room she had been locked in. He led her to an abandoned portion of the docks, where several Quarrymen were waiting, their hammers and guns in hand. She closed her eyes as the Quarryman holding her pushed her over to what looked like an enlarged hubcap. He forced her around and slammed her against it, then raised her left arm to one of the "spokes". Then he brought out something that looked like a gun and placed the opening over her wrist; he pressed the trigger, and she felt her wrist being pressed against the spoke by a large, rounded slab of metal. He did the same thing with her other wrist and ankles.
"They aren't going to come," whispered Nikki. "They won't."
"They will," said the Quarryman coldly. He produced an electric shocker from her pocket and pushed it into Nikki's stomach, just under her rib cage, so hard that she could barely draw breath. Tears were already gathering at the corner of her eyes, not for her, but for Lex, for what they'd do to him if they caught him...
She didn't have time to think anymore, because the Quarryman had just pushed the switch on the shocker up. A terrible jolt ran through Nikki's entire body, making every nerve ending scream in protest. Nikki screamed, too, and the sound echoed through the dark sky; the sun had just set. He kept the shocker on, and Nikki kept screming, until she couldn't draw breath anymore, and the only signs of her pain was the steady waterfall of tears cascading down her cheeks and her eyes, which where squeezing themselves shut as tight as they could.
Finally, the pain stopped. Nikki gasped for breath as the Quarryman took the shocker away from her quivering body. He scanned the sky, looking around for five minutes. When the Gargoyle didn't appear, Nikki laughed meekly.
"I told you," she boasted. "They won't come to help me."
"Then we'll just have to try again," said the Quarryman, pushing the shocker under her rib cage again. She braced herself, but before he could push the switch up again, a huge something swooped down and tackled him, knocking the shocker out of his hand and under one of the cars. Immediately, the Quarrymen ganged up on him, but more Gargoyles shot down from the sky. The one who had tackled the Quarrymen jumped up and started breaking off the slabs of metal like they were tortilla chips. She fell limply into his arms.
"Thanks, Hudson," Nikki said, hugging him briefly.
"Anytime, lass," he replied, swinging around to battle with a stubborn Quarryman. Nikki ran through the mayhem, dodging huge Quarrymen that grabbed at her, and threw herself onto the ground to retrieve the shocker. She had barely clasped it in her hand when someone grabbed her waist and threw her over his shoulder. Nikki thrust the shocker into his shoulder blade and pushed the switch up; he dropped her, howling in pain. She kicked him once and then fled, shocking any Quarrymen that came near her. She wove in and out of the mess, looking for that once comforting face, the one she had loved so much... and maybe still did.
She finally found it, fighting three Quarrymen at the same time. His tail lashed out and tripped one, his fists connected with another's jaw, and his foot slammed into the other's stomach. Despite all his efforts, though, they had one advantage; an electric net. They threw it over him, while he struggled madly to tear it off, it merely electricuted him until he fell still. The Quarrymen started to drag him over to one of the large vans. Frantic, Nikki jostled her way over to them and jammed the shocker into the small of one of the Quarrymen's backs. She pushed it on, and kept it on until the other two surrounded her. She lashed out with her foot and threw a surprised Quarryman into a nearby wall, where he slid to the base and lay still.
Nikki shouldn't have turned her back on the remaining Quarryman; he grabbed her waist and pinned her arms to her side, making the shocker useless. As she struggled, her eyes fell on Lex's still body, tangled in the net. Eyes blazing, she threw back her head and let out a scream of fury, startling the Quarryman enough for him to losen his grip. That was all Nikki needed. She flung him over her shoulder; he landed with a thud next the the net. Panting, Nikki collapsed on her knees next to the net and pulled the net off of Lex's limp form. She cradled him in her arms, oblivious to the battles behind her.
"Lex," she whispered, shaking him slightly. "Lex!"
When he didn't wake, Nikki began to get worried. She could barely make out the gentle rise and fall of his chest, but it was slowing. She started to shake harder. "Lex, wake up! Please wake up!"
After what seemed like an eternity to Nikki, with the battles still raging on behind and around her as she crouched, hidden in the shadows, cradling Lex, his eyes started to open. At this sign that he was okay, she flung her arms around his neck as he sat up and started to sob violently.
"I'm so sorry," she cried. "I didn't know that they'd do this--"
Lex turned to face her. "Sure you didn't." He shrugged off Nikki's arm and went to help Brooklyn, leaving Nikki to gaze after him, her face tear-streaked.
"I didn't," she whispered. She burried her face in her hands, shaking. After all this, and he still hated her? She had just saved his life!
Suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up off the ground, slamming her into the wall. She didn't struggle as they forced a folded piece of cloth over her mouth and nose that smelled horribly. The world started to get fuzzy, her body went numb, and she started to slide down the wall. Then the cloth went away, and the Quarryman picked her up off the ground. He carried her over to the edge of the concrete and lay her on the ground, putting a foot on her chest and drawing a gun.
Shoot me, she thought. Please, shoot me...
All the fighting stopped. The Gargoyles glided onto the roofs of nearby buildings and watched helplessly as the Quarryman demanded they surrendered.
"Surrender," he said, "or I'll kill her."
"Don't," said Nikki, her speech a little slurred. "Don't surrendor..."
"Shut up," said the Quarryman. He faced the Gargoyles again. "Well?"
"Let's not," said a familiar voice; Lex. "They won't kill her."
Nikki laughed lazily. "Like you'd care..."
"I said shut up," hissed the Quarryman. He aimed the gun a few centimeters to the side of her head and fired a shot.
"Scary," she said. The Quarryman grabbed the front of Nikki's shirt, raised her a little up off the ground, pulled back his fist, and hit Nikki in the jaw.
"I told you to shut up," he hissed, hitting her again. Nikki's head rolled limply around on her shoulders. She glanced at the Gargoyles on the roof, and decided that she couldn't die... not yet, at least. Using her last ounce of strength, the kicked up with her leg, throwing the Quarryman off her and into the ocean ten feet below. She picked up his gun and aimed at the other Quarrymen, making sure the setting was on "stun" and not "eliminate". She fired and dodged, until finally they were all in a heap. As the remaning Quarrymen closed in around her, the Gargoyles swooped down off the roofs and tackled them. From time to time, Nikki fired a shot into the fighting, bringing down a few Quarrymen. Finally, when she was sure the Gargoyles could handle the rest of the Quarrymen, she dropped the gun.
"Let's see," she said. "No one'll miss me, or even care that I'm gone, so what more reason do I need?"
Sighing, Nikki closed her eyes and fell backwards, feeling the wind flap her hair agaisnt her cheeks, expecting to feel the sting of hitting the cold water...
A rush of aire filled her ears, and suddenly, she wasn't falling anymore. She was ascending upwards, in the arms of a Gargoyle.
"I'd care." Nikki opened her eyes and saw Lex looking down at her.
"Sure," she said, crossing her arms. "Since when do you care about supposed Quarrymen?"
"Since you're not a Quarryman," said Lex, landing on a roof.
"So you finally believe me," sighed Nikki, throwing her arms around Lex's neck and hugging him tight. "Took you a while."
"Well," Lex said, holding her tightly even though he could let her down now, "I was kind of being stupid."
"No," gasped Nikki sarcastically, raising her eyebrows.
"Sorry," said Lex sheepishly. "Do you forgive me?"
"Forgive and forget," sighed Nikki. "So I guess I forgive ya."
"Thanks," Lex said sincerely. He put her down, and they both looked over the concrete railing of the roof. All the fighting had stopped; the few Quarrymen who managed not to get stunned or knocked out by Gargoyles had retreated.
"Why'd you still come?" asked Nikki as the Gargoyles glided up onto the roof. "Even though you thought I was a Quarryman... spy..."
"Because... just, because," was all Lex would say, no matter how much Nikki bugged him about it. Nikki sighed.
"I wonder what I'm going to do now," mused Nikki softly. "My dad practically disowned me..."
"You could always come live with us," suggested Broadway.
"Would Xanatos let me?"
"Maybe."
"What about Elisa?" suggested Brooklyn. "You could always border in her apartment."
"I don't want to intrude on her," Nikki murmured. "I'll just come with you guys until we figure something out..." Nikki yawned. "Let's hurry before I collapse."
Lex swept Nikki into his arms again and took off, the other Gargoyles not far behind. Nikki closed her eyes, and within a few minutes, was asleep in Lex's arms, the steady carress of the wind a silent lullaby.