AN: My thanks to Doppleganger for reviewing. I love getting reviews. I'm a bit of a praise whore. ANYway, to answer those questions I can without giving the plot away: The original Wolf will soon be coming into the picture to deal with this new pack (as well as the consequences of his mutation), and the new Pack will be meeting everyones favorit clan of Gargoyles, and one of them WILL fight a member of the new Pack. And that's all I'm saying.
"See reason, Sheilah!" Dingo said, crouching in front of Brunhilde as the helicopter swooped over New York City. "David an' Fox are good people, and they really mean well..."
"I will make you suffer for this, Dingo. You wont know how, and you wont know when, but I will make you suffer." the new Wolf growled, and Dingo had no doubt that she meant every word. It was amazing just how threatening a 6'5'' blonde with a warhammer could be. From his seat, Evan chuckled, tossing his honey brown braid over his shoulder. "You shut up, Lion, or you're next."
"Somebody's PMSing..." Hashim whispered to Faizah, who let out a barking laugh much like her namesake.
"Death." Brunhilde growled, her whole body seeming to twitch with her rage. "Deeeeeeeath."
"I think we broke her." Evan said, scooting as far away from the giant woman as he could in the confined space. "Are you sure this is really a good idea, Dingo?"
Dingo sighed. "Lets face it, folks. We're almost outta cash, and the Xanatoses wont fund us unless they get to meet us in person. So, we spend a couple of days in New York, make nice with David and Fox, and then we hightail it back to Oz and get on with our lives."
Brunhilde glowered at Dingo before turning her head away sharply. "Fine." she said, her tone full of ice and anger.
"There's a good lass." Dingo said with a smile, patting her shoulder before sliding away. He slipped into the jump seat of the helicopter with a sigh. He could feel Matrix twitching with the urge to spread out and make the armor, indicating that it felt that Brunhilde just might carry through on her threat. The original armor had long since been consumed by the nanobots, but Dingo didn't really mind.
"We just got clearance from the Aerie building to land." Hyena announced.
"Thank God!"
"Freedom!"
"Oh damn, the psycho bitch tried to bite me!"
Goliath watched the helicopter as it came in for a graceless landing in the courtyard, creating an artifical storm that made his wings rustle. Beside him, Brooklyn shifted from foot to foot, cracking his knuckles. "I'm not too sure about this." he said, his own wings twitching from agitation. "I mean, what do we actually know about these people? We've been duped by the Pack before."
"This is a whole new Pack." Angela pointed out. "The only one coming back is Dingo, and Goliath says he's alright. I think we should give them the benifit of the doubt."
Brooklyn caped his wings with a grumble as the door of the helicopter opened, and Dingo jumped out like a bat fleeing from the deepest pits of hell. He went right to the waiting Fox, who embraced her old teammate warmly. "You look like death warmed over." she said.
"You would too if you had to put up with this lot." Dingo said, jerking his thumb in the direction of his teammates, all in their 'casual' clothes. If one could call surplus army fatigues casual. That had been Dingo's idea, to try and give them some sense of being a part of a team. Faizah, Hashim, and Evan tumbled out in one great pile of arms and legs before quickly scrabling apart. They grabbed their things as they were tossed out of the helicopter with the force of a train. Nobody bother's to collect Dingo's few things.
"Oh. My." Fox murmured as the final member of the Pack finally made her enterance. "Brunhilde?" she said, looking up... and up... and up.
"It's Wolf, these days." the blond said, hefting her warhammer onto her shoulder. There could be no mistaking her for anyone BUT Boris' sister, though she was easily a head taller than her elder brother.
If Brooklyn had hackles, they would have raised at the sight of the of the giant woman with the hammer. Her cold blue eyes swept the crowd, lingering but a few moments on the gargoyles before locking on David Xanatos. Her face twisted in an angry snarl, and she looked as though she were but moments away from using her hammer to crush the industrialist's head like an over ripe melon. Xanatos was very much aware of this look too, and took several steps backwards, his weight on the balls of his feet. Everyone else seemed almost frozen, waiting for either Xanatos or 'Wolf' to make their move.
It was, oddly enough, Hudson who stepped in and diffused the situation. He moved his not inconsiderable bulk between the two, holding out a taloned hand to the woman. His eyes lingered a moment on the bone white pendant she wore, and the strange rune carved upon it. "I greet ye, lass." he said softly. "I am Hudson."
The blond looked Hudson over, then reached out a hand and gripped his forearm in a more traditional warrior's shake. Hudson's talons closed around her own wide forearm, and they raised, then lowered, their arms. "I am Brunhilde." she said before both withdrew their hands. The warhammer continued to rest easily upon her broad shoulders. "It is an honor."
There was a long silence.