The plane reached the Reno airport in the afternoon. Brooklyn would sleep for three hours longer than what he would in New York since it was three hours behind.

Ray and his team rented a big black van and used it to transport Brooklyn to his new 'home.' Of course, he was still in his stone sleep. It made it all the easier to transport him without problems.

It was a four-hour drive away from the Reno airport out to the countryside. The getaway was out in the boonies. It was near the town/city of Carlin, Nevada.

The facility had a facility underground. It was mainly a laboratory. It had a cage room ready and an exam area. Brooklyn was taken out of the van when it got there and taken to the underground lab.

They arrived in the exam room. Now they just had to wait for sunset and wave off the jet lag from the long trip. It was getting close to sunset now.

"We won't have to wait too much longer for him to wake up." Ray said.

"Are we going to sedate him again, or let him stay awake?" Melina asked.

"We'll let him stay awake at first. Go make sure that his cage is ready for him." Ray ordered. "We can't have him busting out anytime soon."

"Yes, Boss." Two men replied and left.

"He's got to be twice as strong as any of us." Melina said.

"True. That's why we'll have the restraints, drugs and such to deal with him." Ray stated.

Melina hoped so. She wanted to see this gargoyle wake up and talk, among many other things.

The sun soon went down and it wasn't long before there was crackling coming from the prone statue on the table, then growling. The eyes lit up a bright white as the statue came to life and shed the stone skin, roaring fiercely.

Brooklyn was now awake. The awakening had fascinated the humans. He would be waking up like that every night. No other creature woke up like that. Gargoyles were certainly different and something worth studying.

"Wow!" Many of the men and lady were in awe. "I'll do the talking first." Ray said as he approached the waking gargoyle.

Brooklyn growled, his eyes still glowing when he realized he couldn't move. He tried to break free of his restraints. He squirmed. He saw strange humans in the room with him.

He growled, "Whoever you are, let me go!" He continued to struggle.

"I'm afraid that's just not possible, my friend." Ray stepped forward. "I know it must be aggravating to wake up first thing to be tied down like that, but it was just for safety precautions. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ray Henderson. I am the boss of this scientific team, and you are here to help us learn." Ray explained.

Brooklyn's eyes returned to normal. His breathing was heavy. He was scared, especially when he heard the scientific word. He stopped moving about since he couldn't get loose at all. He couldn't move any of his limbs.

"What… what do you want with me?" Brooklyn asked nervously.

"We… I want to know more about gargoyles. First off, do you have a name, or do I need to name you?" Ray asked.

"Brooklyn." The red gargoyle replied.

"A New York name, right? After the bridge or the borough?" Ray asked.

"Both, I guess." Brooklyn replied.

"Well, anyhow, it is nice to meet you."

Brooklyn tried to get his hands loose. "Let me go." He demanded.

"Until further notice, not right now. First, we need to do a little exam on you now that you are conscious." Ray declared.

Brooklyn gulped. "What kind of exam?" His chest and belly were heaving nervously.

"Just taking your vitals, to see how it compares to when you were unconscious last night. Then we might consider moving you to your new quarters." Ray said.

"My clan will be looking for me. I have to go home." Brooklyn stated.

"I'm afraid your clan is too far away from where you are now." Ray said.

"What do you mean?" Brooklyn raised his eye ridges in alarm.

"You are in Nevada out west." Melina replied to him.

That made Brooklyn gasp in shock. That made him struggle all the more. "Let me go!" he demanded.

"Great. Thanks, Melina." One of the men spoke.

"Just telling him the truth." Melina said.

"Brooklyn, calm down, you're going to be fine." Ray gave the lady a glare but turned back to the gargoyle.

"Please, don't hurt me." Brooklyn pleaded. "Please let me go."

"Taking your vitals won't hurt one bit. Calm down. We just want to learn from you. And we won't be forceful unless you make us." Ray explained. "The doctor is going to take your vitals now."

The doctor, a Chinese looking man, came forward with a stethoscope to listen to Brooklyn's heart and lungs. Brooklyn winced as he felt the cold metal touch his chest.

The doc heard that his heartbeat was faster than what it was last night, probably due to him being scared. "You need to calm down and steady your breathing to normal, Brooklyn." The doc instructed. "I will need you to take a few deep breaths."

Brooklyn had had a few doc exams before at the castle. He tried to calm down his breathing. "What is it you want to learn from me?" he asked again. "And why me?"

"What you know of your species. What you are capable of doing." Ray replied. "You see, I haven't seen any of your clan that you had mentioned, just you. When you were on that gargoyle building that we got you on."

Brooklyn knew this was trouble, that he had been watched. He gulped again.

The doc had listened to his heart and his lungs, then he set the stethoscope onto his stomach too. He listened to the gut sounds as well. It was pretty quiet in there, given he hadn't eaten.

A chill went through Brooklyn's stomach as he felt the cold metal on his belly.

"Okay, everything sounds like it should I'm assuming. I can now compare it with the results from last night." The doc said as he retreated off Brooklyn.

Brooklyn raised his head. He was still scared. These scientists could do anything to him while lying flat on his back like this, tied down.

Ray could see his guest was obviously terrified of being so far away from the place they got him from and his clan. "Brooklyn, I'll have you moved to your quarters and we can talk. How's that? But no funny stuff from you. And we'll get you something to eat and drink."

"How do I know that you don't want to kill me?" Brooklyn demanded, trying to put more bravery into his voice.

"If I had, I could have done it while you were unconscious or stone. So, no. I don't want to kill you. You are one fascinating creature. No, you're not going home, I'm sorry. This has to be carried out here, in the safety of my facility." Ray explained.

The table was then escorted to the holding cell. Brooklyn wasn't surprised that he saw that it was a cage. It was a big cage, about 20 x 40. It had a bed and toilet in it and that was all. There was no window nearby. There were heavy bars that were electrified.

"Don't try to get out of those bars unless you want to be electrified by 2,000 volts of electricity." Ray warned him.

A button was pressed on a remote and the bonds came loose, allowing Brooklyn to get up off the table and into the cell. There were men standing by with dart guns too. "Don't make us shoot you." One warned. The table was then pulled out and the door closed behind it.

Brooklyn stayed far away from them as possible. He wanted to take them on, but he would need to formulate a plan to get out of here. He didn't care how long it took, he would get away from here, sooner or later.
…

Back in New York, the clan waited for Brooklyn to come home, but he never came home and that got the clan worried. They all set out to look for Brooklyn. It wasn't like him to stay away like this, at least not since his running away, unless something had happened to him. That's what worried the clan even more. Had he been captured? Yes, and was now many states away from them all.

I was in Reno back in 2005 at the age of 19. It's really the most beautiful at night. Went into a casino with my dad and one of his sisters who I was staying with for just dinner. Sadly, my dad isn't around to enjoy those things with me anymore.