Day and Night
Nine
Matt Bluestone hated press conferences and dealing with the media, but the brown haired middle-aged man in a trench coat faced the reporters bravely. "Thank you all for coming," he said briskly, "I'll be reading a brief statement from the police then taking questions."
There was a mutter from the crowd, but it swiftly silenced as Matt began to read. "The New York police department has determined there is no longer any purpose to the Gargoyles Task Force and are shutting it down," he said briskly. "There are several resons for this decision, including the possibility the data we based our decision to start the Task Force may have been faulty," he finished. Looking out over the media he smiled wryly, "Questions?"
One of the reporters waved a hand and Matt sighed as he recognized his old nemesis, Alexis Shakes. "Yes?" he recognized her.
The black haired woman gave him a steady look as Alexis said, "As I understand it, the Task Force was founded in part based on false information fed to the New York Police Department?"
"Yes, by a man we later identified as Jon Canmore, who posed as a reporter," Matt said, not too covertly pointing the finger back at the media. Thoughtfully he added, "It's interesting no one ever called him on his doctored footage."
Another reporter waved his hand and when Matt nodded to him the slick looking man asked, "Do you blame the media for the bias against Gargoyles?"
"I never blame the media for anything," Matt said with a saintly smile, and several reporters laughed.
Cameron Blaze was called on next, the redhead smiling slightly as she checked her notes. "Does the New York Police Department have a official position on the Gargoyle Demona and her vigilante activities?" she asked him pointedly.
"The Police do not have a official position on her at this time," Matt said briskly, "but we are always willing to accept the help of concerned citizens."
"Even if that citizen isn't human?" a reporter called.
"Ah, yes, and here come the tabloids," Matt muttered just loud enough for a nearby reporter to chuckle. "Is the Weekly World News still carrying your byline, Simon?" he asked politely.
Simon Bennet flushed but stressed, "It's a legittimate question, officer."
"Demona may not be human but she appears to be humane," Matt said dryly. "I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt."
"What's your opinion of figures like David Xanatos, Halcyon Renaurd and Dominique Destine coming out in support of the Gargoyles?" another reporter asked.
"I'm glad we have such civic minded citizens," Matt answered with a shrug. "Other than that I can't really say."
Matt fielded a few more questions, his expression calm as he dealt with what he felt were dumb questions from idiots, then finally ended the press conference. "Thanks for coming out, everyone," he added as he fled the meeting room the scrum was taking place in.
Assistant District Attorney Margot Yale met him in the hall, smiling wryly as she said, "Thanks for handling that."
"You owe me one," Matt said, not really joking with the other woman.
"I know," Margot agreed as she hurried off.
Matt went to the meeting room where his team waited for what was officially a final debrief. In reality it was more of a farewell, since the members of the group were simply returning to their usual duties in the police etc etc.
"Hey Matt, looking good," Elisa Maza teased, pointing to the TV in a corner where the press conference was playing.
"Gee, thanks," Matt laughed, sweeping his fellow officers with his eyes.
Agent Martin Hacker of the FBI gave him a cheery smile, his former partner now the FBI liason. Beside him was Maza, then officers Harris, Chung and Morgan. All of them had worked hard on the hunt for the city's Gargoyles, though only Maza had known he really hadn't really wanted to actually catch them.
"Everyone, it's been a honor to work with you," Matt said gruffly, "and I'd take any of you for teammates if we have another major case. Thank you for all your hard work."
There was much back slapping and talk as they made their farewells, then one by one they left to return to their usual jobs. Finally only Martin lingered, shaking Matt's hand as he murmured, "Our... mutual friends are still interested in the Gargoyle, Goliath. Keep it in mind."
"Yeah, got it," Matt nodded, not letting his annoyance show through.
As Martin left Matt watched him go, wondering how his life got this strange. Once upon a time he had been a self proclaimed conspiracy nut, chasing stories about the Illuminati. He moved to the 23rd precinct, met Maza, and eventually learned that the Illuminati were real, and that his friend Martin was one of them. Worse, Martin had deliberately fed him false information to keep him off track. Now Matt himself was a Illuminati, covertly trying to bring them down...
"Bluestone!" he heard from out in the hall, "One of the reporters wants to talk to you."
Grumbling under his breath Matt headed out of the room then up the hall, then frowned as he saw who was waiting for him. "What a pleasant surprise," he said flatly.
Alexis Shakes smiled, matching her nickname 'the Shark.' "Yes, isn't it?" she said cheerfully. "I wanted to talk to you privately."
Matt nodded to the lingering cop, "You can go. If she attacks me, I'll scream."
"Right sir," the younger man bit back a chuckle as he sauntered off.
"Very funny," Alexis glowered at Matt. Seriously she said, "If you're done playing comedian, I might have some information for you..."
"On what?" Matt asked skeptically.
"Dracon," Alexis said flatly, "seems he's getting back on his feet..."
"Tell me more," Matt said much more seriously.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Dominique Destine turned off the television in her office, feeling a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing the police task force that had been hunting the Gargoyles shut down. It had taken some string pulling on Xanatos' part, she understood, but she wasn't tempted to dig into it. Besides, she firmly agreed with the results of his actions.
There was also still a lot of good press on her rescue of the boy her actions had caused to be shot, which still bewildered Dominique. How human could celebrate her saving the life of a man endangered by her own actions confused her. She should have been aware enough to block the shot, not clean up the mess afterwards.
'Never mind,' Dominique shook her head firmly, 'it doesn't help to dwell on the past.' She smiled to herself wryly, knowing she had never been terribly good at taking that advice.
"Dominique, I got you lunch," Alicia called as she opened the door.
"Thank you," Dominique said with more than her usual warmth as Alicia carried in the large bag of sandwiches from the corner deli.
"I envy you when I see you eating like this," Alicia noted, the two of them sharing Dominique's desk as they ate.
Dominique chuckled softly, "I have a fast metabolism."
In fact, her voracious appetite was another effect of the curse Puck put on her. Normally, Gargoyles slept during the day, soaking up sunlight which helped power their unusual bodies. However Demona no longer had that ability, so to compensate she had to eat more, as well as putting aside times to 'power nap' in her human form. It was annoying, but she felt the trade offs were mostly worth it.
"So, this dinner we're going to," Alicia mused as she munched on her own sandwich, "is it black tie formal?"
"As I understand it," Dominique agreed, "though there's a lot of flexibility in what counts as formal. There's going to be various dignitaries whom it's presumed will wear whatever they like." For a moment Demona imagined David Xanatos showing up there in his Steel Clan armor and had to bite back a chuckle.
"I was hoping to see you in a tuxedo," Alicia admitted, blushing faintly.
Dominique blinked, looking at her assistant in surprise. For her part Alicia's eyes widened, then she blushed pinkly. "Oh really?" Dominique purred archly.
"I, uhm," Alicia blushed, looking away.
"Well," Dominique polished off her second sandwich, finally starting to feel full, "I have to admit I don't mind the idea."
"I think you'd look very good in one," Alicia finally managed to say, "you're very feminine, but you have a powerful presence too. I think a suit would increase that."
"True," Dominique agreed, "but I'll only do it on one condition."
Alicia looked at her curiously, "What's that?"
Dominique smiled slowly, "I want you in the sexiest formal dress we can find."
"Ah...," Alicia blushed again.
"Come on," Dominique encouraged her, "it's a fair trade, at least." She reached out and patted her hand, "You're a very attractive girl, I'd think you'd want to show it off a bit more."
"Thanks," Alicia looked down at her half eaten food then up at Dominique, "You really think I'm attractive?"
"You're beautiful," Dominique said simply, once again feeling she didn't understand humans.
Alicia smiled suddenly, her expression gentle as she mused, "The way you say that so promptly... I've had boyfriends who wouldn't do that."
Demonique was faintly startled by the sudden surge of jealousy she felt, firmly tramping it down before Alicia could see it. Some... deep, primal part of her saw Alicia as her's, somehow, and it did NOT want to hear about past lovers.
Alicia apparently caught a bit of her reaction, leaning forward as she asked, "What's wrong?"
"Just that the idea of someone mistreating my lovely assistant pisses me off," Dominique admitted frankly as she met Alicia's eyes.
Alicia blushed again, but smiled as she murmured, "Thank you."
To be continued...