Part 8

About half an hour later, Goliath and Brooklyn arrived back at the Catacombs and found the rest of the group still talking. When they walked in, Brooklyn and Talon locked eyes.

Brooklyn exhaled, apologetically. "Hey, Talon…"

"Brooklyn," Talon interrupted. "Mind if I go first?"

"Sure."

"You were right."

Brooklyn jerked his head back.

"And I was wrong," Talon continued. "You made great points and… had the most level-head out of the two of us."

Brooklyn blinked and looked at Goliath. "We sure he's not mind-controlled?"

Talon growled, lowly. But, begrudgingly, admitted though gritted teeth, "I guess I deserve that."

"You do," Elisa and Maggie said, simultaneously.

"Anyway!" Talon focused back on Brooklyn. "You were doing the right thing… just looking out for Elisa and Goliath. I should've been doing the same."

Brooklyn sighed. "Maybe I approached this wrong. I'm sorry if I took it too far."

"Nah. You didn't."

"So… are we cool?"

Talon offered his hand to Brooklyn, and Brooklyn shook it.

Talon smiled, "We're cool."

Brooklyn smiled and nodded.

"And… thanks… for calling me out, Brooklyn."

"Don't worry about it," Brooklyn replied. "Just promise you'll return the favor when I need it."

"Oh, that goes without saying!" Talon grinned.

"Yeah, walked into that one."

"Alright!" Broadway threw his hands in the air, "We're all good! Let's eat!"

"I'm with him," Brooklyn agreed. "I'm starving."

"Speaking of eating…" Elisa moved toward Talon.

"Here we go…" Talon groaned.

"I still haven't told Beth yet."

"Elisa!"

"What?! This is a face-to-face thing! You can't tell someone something like this over the phone! And it wouldn't be fair to call and tell her when I didn't do that to you!" Elisa paused. "Granted, telling you over the phone probably would've gone better but still!"

Talon rolled his eyes. "When is she coming to town?"

"Next week," Elisa answered. "Mom and Dad want us all to have dinner. Goliath, included."

"I mean, it'd be weird if he wasn't there." Talon blinked. "Well. Weirder."

"They want you to bring Maggie."

"How much of this did you plan before coming down here?"

"Do you really need me to answer that?" Elisa countered.

"No," Talon answered, disconcertedly.

"Oh, man, I wish we could be there for that!" Lexington joked.

"I promise to give you guys the full report," Elisa laughed.

Brooklyn smiled. "I got a feeling… it's gonna work out just fine."

Goliath nodded. "I agree, Brooklyn. After all… things have turned out fine so far."