Brooklyn had been feeling lonely for quite a while. It was great living back in the castle again and the feud with Xanatos being over for good. There were many places to go in the castle when one sought to look for something to do, such as the living room, the library, or the kitchen.

He liked having the duty of being Second on Command to his leader, Goliath, but there was just something that was lacking in his life. Female companionship.

When Goliath had come back with Bronx and Elisa on the World Tour, they had brought back a beautiful female gargoyle. Goliath's daughter, Angela. When things started out among them, it seemed like she liked him. He had tried hard to win her heart, but in the end, she had ended up choosing Broadway. That thought made him growl in anger, eyes glowing.

He had also tried to win Maggie Reed's heart too, a Mutate human girl. She had chosen Elisa's brother, Derek, or Talon, as he was a Mutate too. But they remained friends and they lived in the sewers known at the Labyrinth. The Mutates had also taken in the clan's clones. Brooklyn wasn't so crazy for his clone, Malibu either.

Goliath had Brooklyn go out with him a lot so he could learn the duties that a leader would need to know on the job one day, should something happen to Goliath. Brooklyn had been the leader once, for a few months while Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx were on their quest. He knew what it was like to feel the burden of leadership.

But, when he was at home, it could be hard to find something to do to entertain himself. Hudson had the TV room quite a bit. Being the clan elder, his activities were very limited anymore. Bronx was often with him the most.

Lexington, his only remaining single rookery brother, was someone he could hang with, but the green one was babysitting or playing on the computer a lot too or making an invention. That left Brooklyn to his own devices.

He and his brothers used to be so close as best buds, but now, a female and technology came between them. They were still friends, but not like how they used to be. It was just part of growing up to be adult warriors with responsibilities.

Goliath was often reading when he was home or he was off with Elisa.

David Xanatos had Fox and his son, Alex. Owen the butler was always busy with something, whether it be babysitting Alex, training him as Puck, or attending to some other affair to do with Xanatos Enterprises.

Brooklyn really had no special friends. He had run away once, and made some friends with some kids, but he hadn't heard from them in a long time. There were still Quarrymen out there to worry about. Ever since the clan's exposure from Castaway, the threat seemed to grow and grow on them.

He knew his clan cared about him, but lately, he just felt largely ignored. But he wasn't going to run away again. It was better to try to find something to do in the castle but there just wasn't anything that was inspiring him these days. Not even his own music in his room seemed to make him happy.

Brooklyn got the nerve to go to the battlements. He felt the nice updrafts of the wind on his face and on his wings. His wings were aching for a glide.

Broadway and Angela were in the kitchen. Goliath was home tonight but reading in the library again. Lex was on the computer, and Hudson and Bronx were watching TV.

Brooklyn spread his wings and took off the battlement. He had to get away, to get some air. He would be careful out there. He knew he had to be back before sunrise. Goliath checked for the clan carefully before dawn. He didn't want them out there on their own, but the red one just needed the air. It was so suffocating at the castle without someone to hang with, particularly wanting a female to be with.

He flew towards the east side of Manhattan with no destination in mind. Just to see if there was any action out on the streets. If there was trouble, he would do his best to stop it, but so far it was looking to be a quiet evening.

….

Ever since the clan's announcement on TV by the Hunters, or the Canmore family, quite a lot of humans would do anything to kill them off. Many knew that the gargoyles could be dangerous but only to those that posed a threat to the innocent. Gargoyles protected. It was their purpose.

There were also others out there who were the exact opposite, who wanted to be their friends or were simply fascinated by them, like scientists. Anton Sevarius was one of them, and yet he was an enemy that the gargoyles wanted nothing to do with. He had spliced their DNA into cloning before and that was one of the things that made him dangerous.

But this scientist was intrigued with the gargoyles ever since he had heard about them on the news. They were likely the only ones of their kind, that he knew of. And that would be sad.

He was a man in his forties. His name was Ray Henderson. He had sandy brown hair, had light brown eyes, stood at around 5'8, and had a blue t-shirt and navy sweatpants on.

He was at home tonight, watching TV. He got up to go get a glass of milk from his fridge and he suddenly heard a swope outside. It sounded like a gush of wings or something. Ray went to go look outside and he saw the most amazing feature: a gargoyle that was sitting on a balcony across the street. It was a red one with a beaked face, white mane of hair, horns protruding from its head, and brick red color. The wings were black on top and a darker red on the bottom.

The gargoyle looked like he could be from the devil himself, but as he looked at him, he saw the creature didn't seem as scary as what the haters said about them. Ray saw the deep frown on its face. From the body shape it had, and from the chest, it looked to be male. His scientist nature allowed him to be fascinated by a new creature to study.

Were the gargoyles anything like humans at all? They certainly weren't like any other creature he had ever studied. He had studied anatomy of reptiles, invertebrates, mammals, and amphibians. He was an expert on just about anything genetic. He had never been associated with Sevarius though he knew of him.

Ray worked in a field of science these days called Creatures Great and Small. He lived and worked here in New York, but he also had a private getaway place that was in Nevada too. It was a place where there weren't so many strict laws on what you could have or do like it was in the eastern states.

The man wanted to observe this gargoyle for as long as he could tonight. He went to go turn off his lights and TV, milk idea forgotten. He grabbed a chair and sat at his window to observe as much as he could.

Ray only went to his Nevada getaway during the colder months. It was colder in New York versus out west.

He observed the gargoyle for a while. He sat him sit down on the edge of the building and not do much but sit and obviously look out over the city. He saw his lips moving sometimes. He must have been talking to himself! Aside from humans that he knew of, and a few kinds of birds, no other creature could talk.

…..

Brooklyn had landed on a building that had a few regular stone statues of gargoyles on it. He hadn't found any trouble while he was out, but he had just needed to get out and get some air.

He looked around at some of the statues. Being around even statues made him feel a little more comfortable. He could easily pose as one of them during the day and no human would know, other than perhaps if the owner of the statues came up here and found one they wouldn't know didn't belong there.

He liked the craftmanship of the gargoyles. They got an A+ in his book. Then he went over to the edge of the building and sat down to just observe the city. The city sure was beautiful at night. In New York City, the lights could be so bright they turned night into day. It could even be harder to get a glimpse of the stars.

"I wish finding a mate would be easier than what it is." Brooklyn said to himself out loud. "If only one of those statues could come to life and be one for me."

Brooklyn saw many cars pass by him below on the streets and there were some humans still up and active at this hour too. It was only about ten o'clock at night right now. He was grateful that none of the clan had seen him leave. The worst ones to be able to ever follow him would be Broadway and Angela. He disliked seeing them so happily together.

He had accepted just being friends with Angela and being like her brother-in-law, so to speak, but he just really longed for female companionship. He didn't know what his life was gonna be like without a mate. Was he doomed to spend his life alone? He hoped not. Surely the girl of his dreams was out there somewhere. But where?

…..

Ray wanted to make it his mission to study this gargoyle. He knew he would need help to get him, but for now, he would just watch out for him. Maybe the gargoyle would come here on a regular basis.

He watched the gargoyle for a little over an hour before he saw him get up, spread his wings, and take off into the air. He headed north. Quite an experience just to see a gargoyle at all. They seemed to be quite elusive. Ray wanted to get his hands on him tonight, but he didn't have his proper tools.

He would keep watching out for him to return there or to any other building in the vicinity.

…

Brooklyn returned home to have some food. He had missed lunch with the clan. No doubt they would question him where he was. Goliath went out on his own all the time, mainly because he went to Elisa's apartment, so it wasn't like he was alone for long. But Elisa was no gargoyle either.

As much as he craved a gargoyle mate, Brooklyn would be willing to accept a human too, if he had to. Just as long as she accepted him for who and what he was. Having human friends was great and real hard to come by for his kind.

He made himself a couple of turkey sandwiches, grabbed some crackers, a banana, and a glass of milk, then headed to his room. On the way there, Hudson came out of the TV room.

"There ye are, Brooklyn. Where ye headed?" the old gargoyle asked in his fatherly voice.

"To my room, Hudson. Just enjoying my meal." Brooklyn replied.

"Ye missed dinner. Where were ye? We looked for ya and Goliath made us ask ye if we saw ye?" Hudson declared.

"I went out for a breath of fresh air."

"Were you outside or away from the castle?"

"I went for a glide away from here."

"You know it's not safe to be out alone, Lad." Hudson said.

"I know, but Goliath goes out all the time. I just felt really bored. I was careful, honest." Brooklyn stated.

"Alright. I know you get lonely here sometimes. The right one will come along one day, Lad." Hudson came over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks. I need to eat my food now." Brooklyn said.

"Sure." Hudson replied and removed his hand.

Brooklyn went to go eat his food in his room. He turned on a CD and listened to it while he ate his food. He didn't really taste it much as he just stared at the wall. He was glad for Hudson's wisdom, but someday couldn't come soon enough for him.

He would want to get out as much as possible. Perhaps he would run into a female on the streets if he was out alone sometime. Only time would tell.