Over a year later, Winston had studied the gargoyles all from a distance and saw just how magnificent they really were. He had never encountered them up close in person before. But he managed to get in contact with Xanatos on the phone.
Now that he was an ally of the clan, David was very wary of who he let see the gargoyles in his home.
"Mr. Xanatos, my name is Winston McGuffin. I would like to meet the red gargoyle. Brooklyn, is it?" Winston asked.
"Mr. McGuffin, I can talk to Brooklyn and see if he's up for it. If you give me a number to reach you at, I'll give you a call back." David said. "The gargoyles just have to be careful about who they meet."
"I understand. I'm not one of those people who wants to harm them. If anything, I want to be their friend. After seeing their picture in the paper, Brooklyn just caught my attention was all." Winston explained. "I saw his name in the caption below the photo, along with the rest of them. They were very heroic to save the train despite all the people hating them for so long."
"Yes, they persevered. It was hard, but I'm glad that ones who seek to cause them trouble will be brought to justice now if they are caught. But like I said, I'll talk to Brooklyn tonight. I'm sure he won't mind meeting you."
"Thank you, sir." Winston went on to give him his cell number. He hoped he could meet the red one soon. He had a plan for him, but it would wait until further notice.
…
David went up to the balconies that the gargoyles slept on during the day and woke on at night. He was going to talk to Brooklyn after he first woke up. The sun was almost down.
Moments later, it was down and all the gargoyles roared and stretched after their long day's stone sleep. The stone skins went flying everywhere. David kept his distance.
"Good evening, everyone." He greeted them. They all turned around.
"Xanatos, what has you up here tonight to greet us as we awaken? Is something wrong?" Goliath asked.
"I need to talk to Brooklyn about something."
"Me? About what?" the red gargoyle asked. It wasn't often that he was summoned for talking about important stuff. It was usually Goliath who was summoned for private talks.
"I'd like to talk in private."
Brooklyn followed the man downstairs to a hallway. His clan waited up above. They wanted to know what it was about. Then they would move on to their nightly activities.
"So, what's up?" Brooklyn asked curiously.
"I got a call today from someone called Winston McGuffin. Do you know who he is?" David asked him.
"No. Why?"
"He saw you in the newspaper after the train rescue and he wants to meet you. He says he's a gargoyle fan. I have a number to reach him, but I only will call him back with your answer if you want to meet him." David explained.
"Sure. If he's a friend, I'd be happy to meet him." Brooklyn smiled. He did like to make new friends. "But, do you know anything else about him?"
"No, not really."
"Alright. Call him back saying I'll meet him." Brooklyn then told him where he could meet him.
"Perhaps it's best if one of the others goes with you." the man advised.
"Of course. They would want to know I'm just being safe. I do too."
After the talk, David went to go make the call while Brooklyn went up to talk to the clan and tell them what they had talked about.
"That's good that someone is wanting to make friends with us." Angela declared with a smile. "He might be one of those friends from the P.I.T. group too."
"Let's hope so, Angela." Goliath said. "You are not going alone, Brooklyn."
"I know, Goliath. It's just for safety precautions. I'm not stupid."
Brooklyn hated it when his leader kept on treating him like a hatchling. He knew the rules. He knew how to be careful. He could take care of himself too.
The others went on to do their activities while Brooklyn waited for the results.
Winston was pleased to hear the gargoyle of his choice wanted to meet with him. And to meet one of his other clan mates too. He would be happy to meet on that rooftop.
David told Brooklyn the man was agreeable and they would soon be able to meet.
….
Brooklyn and Goliath glided over the city to the meeting spot.
"You can talk to him, but I'll be watching." Goliath stated firmly.
"I know. I'll be watching him too. We both want to make sure he says who he is."
They both soon landed on their appointed spot and shortly after, a tall man appeared and met them.
"Hello there. I'm Winston McGuffin and have been waiting to meet you for awhile. And you are?" he greeted in a warm, friendly manner.
"I'm Brooklyn, and this is my leader, Goliath." Brooklyn greeted warmly in return. So far, this man seemed friendly enough. But it would take some more observation.
"Pleased to meet both of you. I am one of the fans of you gargoyles. I'm glad they recently let you guys have more protected status. And that you'll be working with the police soon, more often."
"We recently heard that from our friend, Elisa." Goliath said. "But we will continue to protect this city from evil doers."
"That's great. But I was wanting to have an interview with Brooklyn too. Alone, if that's possible, Goliath?" Winston stated.
"Of course. But I won't be far off."
"Goliath, I'm not a hatchling. Please, trust me. I'll be watching him."
Goliath could see the pleading look in his second in command's eyes. "Alright. I just wanted to meet who you were meeting. I know you're not a hatchling, Brooklyn. Have a good time." He backed off and took off the building.
Brooklyn sighed to himself. He was glad he could talk to this guy in private now. "So, what do you want to interview me about?"
"Just gargoyle stuff. Like what do you know about yourself and other gargoyles. Goliath just seemed too intimidating to me to talk to him." Winston stated.
"Yeah, a lot of people seem intimidated by him. But they are of us too." Brooklyn said.
"I can see why. But we'll get off that subject and on to the better stuff. I live over a few buildings. If you want to come to my apartment, you can. Or we can stay up here."
"For now, right here's fine."
They both sat down and talked about what the man wanted to know. Brooklyn answered his questions the best he could. Winston took notes even. Brooklyn even talked about himself.
Throughout the interview, when the red gargoyle mentioned he was wanting a female of his own, Winston could hear the sadness in his voice. He was lonely.
Winston began to formulate a plan more so for the red gargoyle. He had also seen Broadway's interview a long time ago and had taped it. He just wanted to hear more about things from the red gargoyle. He was his new focus for now.
Eventually, Brooklyn did begin to feel more comfortable with Winston and he soon did want to see his apartment.
Goliath had watched from a distance and didn't see anything threatening about the man. He seemed friendly enough. He knew Brooklyn could handle things for himself, but would be there if needed. He let him spend time with him alone after awhile. He went back to the castle after a certain point when he didn't see anything bad going on. He would leave it up to Brooklyn for now when he was ready to come home that night, but if he wasn't back by shortly after sunset tomorrow, something might be wrong.
Winston was glad to show Brooklyn his home. He lived on the third floor of the apartment complex. He had a two bedroom apartment. It was really big. Brooklyn was happy to look around.
"I help out the animals at the zoo and at veterinary clinics as needed. I'm a doctor so to speak." Winston declared his occupation.
"So, if one of us got hurt, you would be able to help us?" Brooklyn asked.
"I would hope so. You mind if I examine your wing structure, how it's attached to your back?"
"No. Go ahead." Brook gave the okay.
Winston was all too happy to examine Brooklyn. His skin was real warm. His hair a little course, but just tangled too.
He ended up giving a complete physical. He had wanted to do it for some time. But he had permission to do so.
The gargoyles didn't exactly have a personal doctor, but Xanatos would always be able to find someone who could treat them should injuries arise. Stone sleep could only do so much.
When sunrise got close, Brooklyn chose to go. Winston understood.
"Can I come whenever I want to get away from my clan?" Brooklyn asked.
"You are welcome here anytime. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me."
"No problem. I wish we could meet more humans like you." Brook said.
"Hopefully, given time, more folks will come around once they know there's nothing to worry about really. Unless they're a bad guy." Winston said.
Brooklyn smiled and left after that.
Winston had a plan to try to give the red gargoyle something special. He had been told that there weren't many of their kind and with such a shortage of females in the clan, he was going to grant something that wouldn't be able to happen normally. And with such a small number of them, and no new life on the way anytime soon, he was going to do something about that, in a different way. Brooklyn had told him of how the only available female was with his bigger brother. He wanted to grant the red one something that was his and his alone.
He got on the phone with one of his associates from the zoo and talked to him the next morning that they were going to do something very special. But there would be one problem, getting it all accomplished. It would take some time.
I hope you readers enjoy this story. It will be something different from typical Brooklyn stories. This is also my first Brooklyn story that is being posted, that's not a crossover or anything. Leaving reviews also makes my day.