"Cora! Are you positive this is the one?" Patrick demanded.
"The asshole that looks like bigbird, yeah I'm sure. Just take a look at his arm. It's him" Cordelia snapped.
Cordeila was referring to the hand print shaped scar on Brooklyn's arm.
Before any of either clan could jump at each other Owen popped up in between them.
"I don't know what you kids are all talking about. But we need to sit down and have a nice calm talk" Owen said to them, Pucks tone and word usage creeping in.
Cordelia snarled viciously. Dropping her leather coat and pushing the sleeves of her shirt all the way up. Holding her palms up she drew up licks of flame up that singed her sleeves.
This caused Owen to stop and slowly turn to look at Cordeila. Before spinning quickly and turning into the trickster Puck. Usually good natured and easily amused he looked like neither of those things right now. With a flash of magic he pushed all the gargoyles back up against the wall. Xanatos tried to run to his wife and son but Patrick blocked them before Fox reached to him.
"David is my husband, please stop! What is going on?" Fox cried out.
Patrick grabbed Xanatos by the shoulder and tossed him behind him closer to the women. Landing in a heap and rolling up.
Puck hauled Brooklyn foreword using his magic and then glowered at him, he looked...angry.
"Puck stop there has to be some sort of explanation" Xanantos told him.
"He has thirty seconds to explain himself." Puck answered, his voice some how deeper and more ominous in tone. The other members of his clan roared and growled at Puck from their places trapped along the wall.
Brooklyn hissed at him, the stranglehold Puck had on his throat not allowing him to speak. Lightening the hold Brooklyn just snarled and glowered at him. Eyes lighting up a bright white.
"Cute" Patrick laughed darkly.
"Speak, You better..." Puck cut himself off gagging again.
Brooklyn took the opportunity to break free of his grasp and knock the trickster back into the other wall. The other gargoyles breaking free as well while Puck continued to choke on the floor. Goliath stopping his clan and Patrick stopping Cordelia from pouncing on Brooklyn. While Puck got himself together.
"Alright kitten, Would you like to tell me what is going on?" Puck asked her more calmly than he had asked Brooklyn.
"That's the gargoyle that broke into one of my safehouses, chased me and tried to kill me" Cordelia snapped.
"And you?" Puck hissed, pulling Brooklyn forward.
"She started it" Brooklyn ground out.
Puck gave him a shake that rattled his bones.
"Alright! alright!. The night of the art gallery I was doing surveillance I saw you break off and go into a side room with her. Thought it was super weird for Owen to have female friend. I followed her to find out who the human was. And instead of just doing surveillance she picked up on me hiding and freaked out, it...went poorly from there" Brooklyn hissed out.
"I came to warn Puck so he could protect his wards" Cordelia said gesturing to Fox and Alex, "From the dam witch hunters."
"So you two kids meet and the first thing you try and do is kill each other?" Puck asked in great annoyance.
"Why not? he broke in my house and..." Cordelia got cut off by Patrick.
Patrick interjected "You didn't tell them about us? That would have saved us a whole lot of problems."
"I can't talk about any of you due to the gag order spell Cora put on me" Puck replied.
"So that's what the hell that was" Xanatos said, about to walk foreword.
"Are you absolutely sure this clan isn't a danger to you? To Fox and the baby?" she asked Xanatos. Her voice full of concern.
"Yes they are our protectors, there seems to have been a serious misunderstanding between their clan and... What are you two?" Xanatos asked.
Cordelia said nothing and looked back and forth at Puck and Patrick.
"We are very loosely categorized by the witch hunters as witches. Fae, human and gargoyle bloodlines mixed in each of all the clans. But the capabilities between each clan differ greatly and then each member is also an individual. So that about sums it up" Patrick explained.
"Sure Fae and humans can have children. But Gargoyles and the others... that's not even possible for them to be mates" Brooklyn growled at Patrick.
"Why not? Do you not see Patrick right here? Or are you so stupid that you need it drawn in crayon? Finger puppets maybe?" Cordelia laughed at him. "And I am fairly sure your leader is mated with a human, so are you just that obtuse?"
If Brooklyn could blush he would have again. Puck on the other hand broke out in laughter.
"Behave Cora" Patrick grumbled. She hissed back and the sound was decidedly not human. The gargoyles couldn't place it, but it wasn't a very reassuring sound.
"Just give me a second... and don't freak out" Patrick said.
With that and a roll of his shoulders Patrick quickly shifted into a very large winged gargoyle. With Ginger red hair like his human self, but dark tanned skin.
Each group eyed the other warily, Demona could shift with day and night, but that was a spell. These beings obviously used magic and had the genetics to do so on their own. Without being cursed by Puck. Calmly holding still Patrick waited. With Goliath being the first to step forward.
"We are the Manhattan clan, Protectors of this castle and our Human and Fae family. I am Goliath" He said watching Patrick keenly.
"I am Patrick of Clan Macnamara and Befana, This is my second, Cordelia." Patrick replied, Throwing an arm around Cordeila as she rolled her eyes, still mad.
"Your mate?" Goliath questioned.
"Ah no, Clans Mcnamra and Befana are kin. We are few in number due to the witch hunters and a dangerous fringe clan. So Cora and I stuck together to protect the younglings, our wards, as best we can. When Puck told Cora of the danger his wards Alex and Fox were in she demanded we help them."
"I have to stop and ask, how exactly do you know Puck? And how can he use his magic freely again" Fox asked.
"That is up to him entirely to divulge, its his head if Oberon picks a fight over it" Cordelia explained snarkily.
"Perhaps that is best left for another day" Puck replied.
"You have meet Fox and Alex. This is the rest of my clan" Goliath said with a gesture. "My daughter Angela and her mate Broadway. Lexington and his mate Katsumi. Our elder Hudson and Brooklyn my second. And you have already met Bronx."
"I have never gotten to see a beast before, hes amazing" Patrick told Goliath with a smile. That was the break in the ice so to speak. At least from Patrick if not Cordelia.
"You don't have any in your clans?" Hudson asked, hesitant to call them that. Moving forward to get a closer look at Patrick.
"Not since before Cordelia and I were born. Life has been...difficult for the clans for a while" Patrick answered him. "In fact you are the oldest gargoyle we have ever seen."
Hudson looked taken aback at that, he took digs at his age personally.
"No I don't mean it like that. Though our biology and culture are somewhat different we age like a gargoyle or fae does after we hit adulthood. After the last war very few of our elders survived" Patrick explained.
"Tell us about this war and how it affects my family" Xanatos demanded. Cordelia giving him a dirty look for it.
"Clan Orfeo is not anything like Cora or myself. Or pretty much any other clan still in existence. They fight for territory, finances and female mates constantly. And they go after the other clans for those" Patrick continued.
"Why fight for territory or money and especially mates, why not find them in their own clan?" Goliath asked disgusted.
"Because genetically for whatever reason Clan Orfeo almost always has male children and not female. They also won't try and take a clan in open combat first. They shift to their human form and then go and pay the moronic witch hunters to attack, trying to take out the elders and adult males first. Then pay the witch hunters to bring them the younglings and adult females. Which is why Cora was so worried. After the very public dust up you had with Oberon now Orfeo knows you exist and have children. And that's a problem" Partick explained.
"Patrick, I am fairly sure they can take care of themselves. Can we go now?" Cordelia asked.
"You were the one that was freaked out in the first place Cora. And no, they have how many mates and younglings to worry about. And ours are grown already" Patrick answered her.
Turning to argue with him in hushed tones. The others struggled to hear them.
"I don't trust any of them" She spat back.
"For not trusting us you had no problem helping Katsumi and myself last night. Or coming here to warn us in the first place" Angela told her.
Goliath and the others turned to Angela after she said that.
"Yes this... Whatever she is is the same being that helped us last night" Katsumi added warily. She was more than a little uncomfortable because Cordelia reminded her of some monsters in legend that she had grown up with.
"I'm ready to go Patrick, If you are staying I'll walk." Cordelia told him. To Fox, Angela and Katsumi she said "If you desperately need help Puck knows how to get a hold of me."
"Cora come on, I know you picked a fight with the one. But can't you just give it a chance. We see others of our kind so rarely" Patrick said to her.
"Yes little one, it seems that you two had a misunderstanding" Hudson tried to explain to her and was cut off.
Cordelia hissed at them both and walked to the edge of the room. Scooting around the gargoyles without turning her back to them. Backing out the door she walked out. Patrick grunted in anger and watched her leave.
"Does your second always obey orders that well?" Goliath asked.
"If its life or death yes, But when it comes to dealing with males she does not trust... no. Emphatically no." Patrick answered.
"Is the little lass safe to go home on her own?" Hudson asked.
"Usually. She is much better at hiding than myself or the boys. And can pretty much take care of herself in a fight" Patrick said running his claw through his hair, "She has taken care of our younglings and myself for long enough to get them to adulthood. Not every clan can say that anymore."
"So you have hatchlings together?"Brooklyn asked in confusion. Taking part in the conversation civilly for the first time.
Puck in the guise of Owen snorted at that for some reason.
"No, our clans current youngest are my brother and two of her cousins" he answered.
"It seems like our...clans have much to discuss in the future" Goliath told him.
"Yes. Our younglings will probably want to meet you at a later date and time, but for now I should show you the information we have on both the hunters and the other clans" Patrick added.
As the group dispersed the mated pairs peeled off to talk among themselves. With Goliath and Xanantos showing Patrick the way to the computer lab. Before they left Goliath turned to Brooklyn.
"If Patrick is not talking Cordeila back with him then you should escort her. And probably apologize while you are at it." Goliath told him as Patrick showed Xanatos and Owen information off a disk he provided.
"No freaking way!" Brooklyn snapped.
"Excuse me?" Goliath growled at him.
"She does not want me, or any of us anywhere near her. She has made the point very very clear" Brooklyn argued.
"And if something happens to her, after she risked coming here to warn us, after she helped Angela and Katsumi how careless and negligent would we be. Beyond that, its an order. Go right now" Goliath demanded his second.
With a huff Brooklyn walked out of the room. He figured he would tail her home and stay the good fuck away from her. If he glided perhaps she would never pick up on him being there.
It didn't take her long to get down all the floors. She must not have wings while the rest of her clan does if she said she'd walk instead of getting carried. That was some freaky shit Brooklyn thought to himself. But if he admitted it was somewhat logical. And possibly where so many of his kind had disappeared to over the years. Following her and keeping his distance. Enough that she didn't catch sight of him was difficult. She moved faster than a human. But at a glance she was just walking along checking her phone. Pausing she stopped to check it. Ah she must have gotten a text that she did not like. Because even from his vantage point hanging on the side of a old building he could hear her growl to herself. Picking up a phone call she paced back and forth. The street she was on was abandoned this time of night. He crept down a little lower to see if he could hear what she was saying.
"Yes Gio, he finally came home? Is he alright? I see. Did he say why he was gone for two dam days? Fine, Ill talk to him when I get back. You two keep him home for me. No you may not. I'm serious. Yes. Alright bye" Cordelia spoke into the phone.
Shoving her phone into her pocket she rubbed her face vigorously. She kept walking south like she was going to head out of Manhattan. Gliding along from building to building wasn't difficult for him. And he wondered how far she was going when she passed an ally. Cocking her head to the side at the noises in the dark. She then kept moving. But pulled her dark leather jacket off and throwing it over her shoulder. Then unbuttoning the top and bottom buttons on her shirt. Lastly pulling her hair out of the bun she tied it up in and let it fall in very long dark curls down her back.
"What the hell" Brooklyn nearly said out loud. She was very pretty for a human with her clothing as before. Now... He nearly lost his grip on the fire escape he was holding on to. Looking at her made him think of when she grabbed his neck on the roof and pulled himself down to kiss her. Snorting and shaking his head he pushed that image out of his mind.
She kept pausing like she was half thinking of waiting for someone. Then Brooklyn noticed the men following her. Oh how fucking stupid is she. Its not that hot out and she is walking around like that at night alone. Not exactly alone but since nothing had happened yet he hadn't let her know he was here.
Cordelia then quickly turned a corner and tucked herself into a dark part of an ally. The men following her burst into a run after her. Hitting the dead end and slamming to a stop in confusion. Behind them she walked out of the dark spot. Holding her arms palms up. Drawing up fire that crawled up her arms and dripped down to the pavement. The hot hissing sounds making the men turn around. Slowly like in a horror movie.
"So... Who is the hunter here? I mean its suppose to be you morons right?" Cordelia asked them in a voice that rang with amusement.
She fucking lured them there. What is she doing Brooklyn thought as he crawled down to get closer to her.
"What? Nothing to say? No die witch? No burn in hell? Oh wait. I can't imagine that's gonna be my problem by the end of the night, but maybe yours" She laughed.
One tried rushing her and she knocked him flying back into the brick with a fire ball. The next was going to pull a gun on her. Shit Brooklyn thought, if she get hurt I am never going to hear the end of it. Dropping down with a roar that would make a humans ears ring he picked up that man and the third and threw them out of the ally and all the way across to the storefront across the way. The last man that she had thrown and gotten up and skittered his way past them both. Before his friends picked him up and ran.
Cordelia looked at the fleeing men mouth open. Before turning back to Brooklyn.
"What in the fuck is wrong with you!?" She asked eyes blazing. "I wanted them right there! And you screwed it up and they got away!"
"Thank you is the usual thing you say when someone saves yours life. You're welcome" Brooklyn snapped at her.
"I didn't need any help. Those were hunters, I picked up on their scent after I heard them digging around in the trash. I wanted to find out what they were doing. Perhaps where there is more of them" Cordelia raged at him.
"Why the hell are there hunters out here if you are so worried about my clan and castle?" Brooklyn retorted. Not wanting to back down.
"My youngest ward hadn't come home. I knew he was around somewhere. And so did the hunters somehow. And now I might not be able to find out how they know." Cordelia replied with frustration in her voice.
"So you dress up like bait like your asking for some piece of scum to come after you. How is that remotely smart for a human" Brookyln retorted.
"One, I am just about as much human as you. Two don't look at me like a creep. Three yes of course I lured some scummy hunters after me. If they were decent men they might have looked up. But not chase a woman into an ally." Cordelia snapped. Pulling her coat back on and zipping it up. Only for it to tangle in her long hair. Causing her to make a face as she was pulling it out.
"Does your leader know his second in command is out trolling for hunters alone?" Brooklyn growled. The very idea about what might happen if she had bit off more than she could chew vivid in his mind.
"He doesn't know. Nor does he need to. Nor does it matter. I am the only other adult in our clan. I have to do everything I can to protect the rest" She told him.
"How are you the only other adult. You are the size of a child. You are what a teenager yet?" Brooklyn asked with a snort.
"Excuse me, you can't be any older than me, what maybe 36 or 37" Cordelia asked with a wave of her hands.
"I am... probably 40" He retorted.
"Probably? Can you not count? I mean you need crayon sketches for the rest of life you probably can't read either" she teased him.
His eyes glowing white he growled low in his throat.
"Whats that gonna do? Scare me? You've done way worse than act like a pissy hatchling and growl at me" she said to him. No longer amused and laughing.
Reminding him of him biting her was humiliating. But at least it appeared she hadn't mentioned that. Or the next night to the rest of her clan. Freezing he then turned to listen behind him. It sounded like heavy trucks. A lot of them.
"Is that...?" Cordelia asked. She could hear it now too. "Crap! You butting in then letting them go. They just went back to their friends and got more."
"That sounds like more than you or I can take on our on. Come on Ill fly you home. You have to trust me" Brooklyn asked holding out a claw.
Cordelia looked him up and down quickly. Before spinning and bolting the other direction.