Brooklyn was happy being back home and doing things he normally did, but he still felt an emptiness in his soul without a love of his own. He still often thought of Elaine and what she went through and hoped she was still okay. Was her family taking good care of her, or had she moved back to St. Louis? Hard to say.

At least his son was giving him something to look forward to, that he would have someone to love of his own, but not the same kind of love he would get from a mate. It would be the kind of love that Goliath and Angela shared, parent and child love. But Brooklyn would be getting the chance to raise his son from birth. His leader and current Second, Angela, had only known each other a little over a year and she had already been a young adult.

Angela hadn't been of the Trio's rookery hatching. She had been two generations downward, but with the one-thousand-year sleep on them and Avalon's tricky passage of time, Angela and her rookery had aged to where they were in the same age range as Trio. And Goliath hadn't objected to Broadway getting her as his mate.

Parents liked to be protective of their children to help guide them in the right direction. But still, they had to learn to let go just enough to where the young ones could get life experiences and learn from them. Sometimes there would be consequences for mistakes but they were also meant to be something to learn from too; and to hopefully not repeat those mistakes.

Brooklyn often thought about if he would make a good father. He knew he would hate to be the 'bad guy' on his son when he got into trouble. He didn't like to be angry and he had enough regrets in his life. He didn't want his son to hate him in any way. He hoped he would know how to discipline his son when he got old enough to know better of what he was doing.

Males often experienced being more childlike themselves versus the females that were much more mature with their children. Brooklyn knew he still had a happy-go-lucky side of himself. In good times, he could share that with his son. He really needed to decide on a name for him soon, too.

Brooklyn thought about back to the times he and his brothers were little and when they had fun playing at Wyvern Hill. They would play and get in trouble sometimes, but it wasn't that different from human kids getting in trouble from just being in the kitchen making a mess. But humans in those days were a lot less understanding. Prince Malcolm though and the Captain of the Guard were their allies for sure in those days.

The red male knew he would have many exciting tales to tell his son. His brothers would be able to tell him too. But all the clan would have many exciting tales to tell the little guy.

Brooklyn had begun reading some kid books to the baby so he got more used to hearing his voice and it also gave the father-to-be feeling like he had a purpose of a parent already. He was reading some of Alex's old baby books.

Even though he was off duties of nearly every kind for a while, Brooklyn felt he would stay and guard the castle. Bronx and Hudson were often the ones that still stayed here with him, but when Hudson came out, one of the others stayed too. Bronx found himself at Brooklyn's side a lot more, smelling a different kind of scent on his red master. He knew that special scent. It was of bringing new life. One time, Brook was lying on the couch watching tv with Hudson when Bronx decided to get up, sit down next to the couch and he laid his head on the round belly. He whined happily.

It took Brook by surprise. "Whoa! Hey, easy Bronx. Don't hurt the baby." Brooklyn said with a giggle. Bronx responded by licking his belly.

Hudson looked over too and he saw what the gar dog was doing. He laughed. "Ha! Ha! It's like he knows you have a baby in there!"

"Yeah, and that's great. I just don't want him to be on top of me or anything. He could hurt him without trying." Brooklyn replied. He let Bronx lay his head on top of his belly as long as he didn't try to climb on him any further. The baby kicked out at feeling the weight on top of him. Brooklyn felt it. He chuckled. "The baby just kicked me. He knows our pet is trying to make friends."

Hudson smiled and laughed too. "Indeed he does."

"Hudson?" Brooklyn said.

"Yes, lad."

"Back when your mate was alive, back when she was carrying her eggs, did she let you feel her stomach as they grew?" Brooklyn asked.

"Of course, lad. Why do you ask?" Hudson replied.

"I wish I had a love of my own to just be here with me during this time." Brook's smile faded. He had his other hand on his belly. "A child needs both its parents. I feel like I'm going to end up as a single dad only."

"Don't give up on finding your life mate, Brooklyn. She's out there somewhere. The right one will come." Hudson encouraged him.

"Thanks, Hudson." Brook stated.

"You're welcome."

Brooklyn petted Bronx's head. He knew he had a wonderful support system of a clan to help him raise this child. But it would be sad that he wouldn't have any playmates his own age. But then, there was Alex here at the castle too. But Alex would eventually go to school and meet other human kids to be with. His son needed gargoyle playmates. Maybe it would happen someday when the clans would all possibly meet. But that was only a dream right now.

…..

Sevarius and Ray were going to have their henchmen search the city and find one or two gargoyles of Brooklyn's clan. Ray wanted to meet them, but at the same time, one of them would be taken captive and the red gargoyle would have to come to ransom them. The other gargoyle would take the message to Brooklyn to turn himself over to them if the one taken was to be seen again at all. They wouldn't object to keeping him or her for experiments.

Ray had officially joined Gen-U-Tech for the sole purpose of genetic engineering, but in a different way than how Sevarius had done it. He might even want to breed his clan as well, but he wanted to get started with Brooklyn first off. He wanted to see what the baby had started to look like. He wanted to do an ultrasound on Brooklyn so badly, aside from taking the baby out of his stomach when it was time. He knew that being a male would require surgery.

Sevarius also told Ray about him coming up with a mutagen that mutated humans into special creatures that Brooklyn had once even taken an interest in. Well, a female human mutated. That intrigued Ray. Perhaps get the mate that Brooklyn wanted so badly that way. It had potential. But first, to get his gargoyle.

…..

The henchmen were of former workmen from Xanatos Enterprises. Sevarius now paid the employees. David no longer funded it. Anton was rich enough at the moment to fund it all. The men were looking in various places all over the city to try to find the clan of gargoyles.

One night, there were two gargoyles seen gliding over the East River area. It was Broadway and Angela. They were out patrolling but were also planning a date later. The men knew they had to set something up to get their attention. They knew from Brooklyn that gargoyles would protect the weak ones out there.

Just as they were planning to go home and get ready for their date, there were noises that got their attention. There was screaming and trashcans being thrown about from below.

"Hear that? We'd better check it out." Angela said.

"Yep. I'm with ya, my Love." Broadway replied. They both swooped down to where they would find a man being a target of what looked like robbers.

"Hand over your wallet or you're going to that one way ticket to the office in the sky!" One robber exclaimed.

"Just leave me alone!" The victim man cried out. He was cornered.

Then, a snarl came out of nowhere. "What was that?" One man asked.

"Three guesses." Broadway declared as he came down from the sky first and used his wings to knock some of the men away from the one on the ground. Angela came down next and roared her displeasure at seeing something like this. They both had their eyes aglow and some ran while other men tried to fight.

The one on the ground was amazed at seeing more gargoyles besides Brooklyn. They weren't beaked either.

When the robbers were all taken care of, knocked out or gone, the couple turned to the young man. "They're gone now. You can be on your way." Angela said softly.

"Thank you, noble gargoyles." The man nervously stood up.

For them, this was a first in a while. "You're welcome." Broadway replied. "Why were they trying to rob you anyway?"

Then, out of nowhere, two darts fired silently and came to hit both of them in their shoulders, making them both cry out in pain and pull the darts out of their skins. "Sweet dreams, Gargoyles." The 'victim' man said as they both fell to their knees and onto their front sides.

The other men came out of hiding. "Well done, Wellman." The leader declared. "You fooled them."

"Thanks, Boss."

"So which one are we taking?"

"The female. She looks easier to carry and lighter. Leave the ransom note to the male there. He can take it to the red monster our main boss wants." The leader declared. He made sure to tie the note around Broadway's left wrist to make sure he wouldn't miss the message.

They picked up Angela and used a big van to take her back to Gen-U-Tech. They would await Brooklyn there, or more of his clan mates.

Sevarius was pleased to see it was Angela that they had brought to him. "This is the only female of their clan, other than her banished mother. She is the daughter of the leader, Goliath." He explained to Ray.

"Wow. I didn't think gargoyles looked so human." Ray said.

"The red one was the only one with a beak. All the others have human-like faces. But the smallest one has webbing for wings." Anton declared.

"Such diversity among them. It should all be preserved and passed on in genes." Ray stated. "And if Brooklyn's pregnancy is any different than how you described it, I can make sure that there are more babies soon on the way, but not in the womb of a female. I don't want to incubate eggs for ten years."

Angela was put into cuffs in her new cell. She would be left unharmed for now, but Ray wanted to examine her later to see how her uterus made an egg happen. It would probably be most like a reptile or bird's reproductive tract, he guessed.

….

Back in the alley, Broadway awoke and he found the message tied to his wrist. He questioned what it was. He was spooked at where his mate was when he didn't see her. He opened up the message and said that Brooklyn was the ransom for the female.

Broadway's eye ridges went down in anger. They would ransom his pregnant brother for his mate! He would tell the others about this. If Brooklyn wasn't there by tomorrow night, Angela would be experimented on! They would get her back, but Brooklyn wasn't in any shape to go anywhere, even it was to rescue Angela.

The aqua male hurried back to the castle; his date forgotten. There was no date without his mate.

Goliath was furious when he saw the note. "What is it, Lad?" Hudson asked him. The clan of males was all there, even Brooklyn.

"This group that kidnapped Angela want Brooklyn in exchange for her." Goliath replied to Hudson.

The others gasped, then Brook asked, "What do they want me for?"

"It doesn't say, but you are not going, Brooklyn. You are in no condition to go anywhere." Goliath declared.

"Goliath, I'm not that far along yet. I think I could handle getting Angela back. I've been dying to get out of the castle for a while." Brook explained.

"Brooklyn, I know you have, but if you are discovered to be pregnant, you will become their test subject." Goliath proclaimed.

"How else are we going to get her back if we don't do as they say?" Brook asked.

"We could tell them that you aren't here. You were gone for a long time. We could tell them you never made it home." Lex declared.

"That sounds like a better idea, Lexington." Hudson said.

"We don't want you in any danger, Brooklyn. I'm sorry." Goliath stated.

"I understand." Brooklyn didn't know why he was wanted for the ransom, but he hated that he couldn't go rescue the female that he had thought he had loved. He still loved her and would do anything to protect her, mate or not. She was clan. That's what mattered, and humans were always doing what they thought was fun to separate them to harm them.

The clan took off from the castle to come up with a plan to get Angela back. They would search for her, no matter what it took.

Brooklyn watched his clan take off from the castle. He wanted a showdown with Ray, that was for sure, but he just couldn't do it in his condition. His pregnancy made him vulnerable. But he also felt responsible. This had happened because of his ignorance months ago. This was putting his whole clan at risk, not just his baby. Brooklyn felt his baby shift inside him and he put a hand on his belly.

"I can't let Ray hurt Angela or rape her after what happened to me and Elaine." Brooklyn decided. "I'm going to help her." Guilt still ate at him for what happened to his friend.

His belly was still somewhat small, but it was noticeable that he was carrying his child at this point. It was rounder in the lower part of it.

Brooklyn took off on his own from the castle. He had a hunch of where to start looking. It was where Maggie had been. He hadn't been told of where to meet, but he was going to start there.

He made it to Gen-U-Tech soon enough. He remembered from last time to not go through the window. He busted through the rooftop and got in that way. He didn't have Lex's expertise to look on the computer. Brooklyn just went looking through the building quietly. He was going to find Angela if it was the last thing he did. He caped his wings for more comfort. He was nervous about doing this, but he wasn't going to let fear stop him.

From some cameras, Ray was pleased that his gargoyle was here. He smiled gleefully. He looked at the belly. It was hard to tell because the wings were caped. His partner was out for the night but he was keeping an eye on all projects for tonight, and it was just his luck that the kidnapping of the female had brought his gargoyle here. He hadn't seen any trace of the others. Ray signaled a posse of some guards to come with him to go get the red male.

Brooklyn looked in every room he could find. Soon, he came into a room that had a big open plastic viewing. There was Angela inside it! She was still unconscious and cuffed. He went up to the front of it. "Angela?" he said.

The female stirred a little at the sound of her name. "Angela." Brook said again. "Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here." He said.

Brooklyn began to use his talons on the plastic to try to break through, to weaken it. It was harder than ever. "It feels like it's three feet thick." He declared.

Then, out of nowhere, a net dropped down from the ceiling on the red male. Brooklyn fell to the ground, struggling in the net. "Brooklyn!" Angela cried out now that she was awake.

A man in a white lab coat and many armed guards came into the room, locking the room down to make sure the gargoyle didn't escape.

Brooklyn had heard Angela's yell of his name, but he instantly froze in the net when he saw who the scientist man was in front of him. He had tried to make sure to not put pressure on his stomach. He was on his knees, keeping it covered.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Ray mocked him. "Long time no see, Brooklyn."

"Ray! Why did you take Angela?" Brooklyn demanded.

"Why? I wanted to draw you in. I needed you back, Brooklyn. You have something I want. And I figured you would have brought your clan members with you, given I have the only female of your clan here." Ray explained.

"Let her go!"

"Oh, but I have to study her too. Now I have one male and one female." Ray declared in glory. "There is nothing known about gargoyles other than you are protectors, though I got a lot of information from my friend, Dr. Sevarius."

"What would Sevarius know about us?" Angela demanded. "He knows nothing about us."

"Oh, you would be surprised, Girl. I learned what I know from your mother, Demona, is it? She had told Sevarius various stuff." Ray replied to her.

Angela's eyes widened. So did Brooklyn's. Demona had betrayed their secrets to a maniac, but then, so was she. And just when he had thought he could try to trust her again.

"You won't get away with this!" Brooklyn exclaimed.

"Sedate him just a little bit." Ray ordered. A man nodded and stepped forward. He had a gun aimed on the red male struggling in the net.

Brooklyn gasped as the man came forward. He tried to back up but couldn't. A dart came out of the gun into his right shoulder.

"Brooklyn!" Angela called to him, and she struggled too.

Brooklyn felt the effects of the drug taking him down, but if there was one thing he was going to make sure not to do before going down, he moved one of his legs to the side and he fell onto his undarted side. It had not let him lay on his stomach.

Angela could only watch as the other men came forward and took the net off of the red male. Both she and Brook were the Seconds of the clan, and now Ray had them both. This was bad.

Ray didn't want to notify the clan of anything. He was going to keep Brooklyn for sure this time. A gurney was brought into the room and Brook was picked up and put onto it. His wings were unclasped and he was laid on his back. Ray smiled big when he got a chance to finally view the red gargoyle's exposed belly.

"I want this male examined immediately!" Ray ordered.

"No…o…" Brooklyn said weakly. His vision was blurry as he was taken out of Angela's room to an exam room elsewhere. His head felt like it was spinning. Angela was worried for her companion.