"We're home," Elisa called out. She set Liam down to run as she worked the key out of the special heavy duty lock that she'd had installed on the patio doors.
Finally getting the key free, she grabbed Liam up. "Ok, buddy. It's bath time for you, then into bed."
She carried Liam up the stairs and cleaned up, and into his favorite pajamas. She was just taking him to his room to tuck him in, when she noticed the light from under Skyler's door.
Elisa frowned. Skyler had gone to the castle about the same time that Goliath had taken them to the park.
She hadn't answered Elisa's call when they had gotten home.
Elisa had a high tech security system (a hazard of the job) that sounded a doorbell whenever someone entered or left through either door whether or not the alarm was armed, so Elisa knew Skyler hadn't come in after her.
Maybe she forgot to turn her light off?
Puzzled, Elisa continued to Liam's room, and tucked him in. Kissing his cheeks and tucking him in, Elisa quietly closed his door.
She sent another look to Skyler's door, concerned. It wasn't like her 'safety first' nanny to forget something like that.
She knocked softly, and when she got no response, she opened the door quietly.
"Oh, sorry," Elisa said when she spotted the young woman sitting on the bed. "I didn't mean to…" Elisa stopped abruptly, and took a step inside. "Skyler?"
Skyler blinked as if waking up. "Oh, sorry, Elisa," She said softly. "I guess I didn't hear you come in."
"Are you okay?" Elisa asked, approaching Skyler like she would any other person who seemed so out of it. With caution.
Not that she truly believed Skyler would hurt her, but she suddenly looked so…fragile.
"Yeah," Skyler said, then more firmly, "I'll be fine."
"If you're sure," Elisa said, "But I would be a really crappy friend if I didn't offer. If you need to talk, about anything, I'm here to listen. I have two pints of ice cream in the freezer, and we can work on them while you talk."
Skyler smiled sadly. "I'll be okay," She insisted, then hesitated. "Elisa… if something were to happen, you know, between me and Brooklyn…" She hiccupped on an unexpected sob, "Would that effect my place here?"
Elisa blinked in surprise. If her jaw had actually hit the ground in shock, she would not have been more surprised.
"Of course not," Elisa said firmly. "You have a position… a home… with us for as long as you want it."
Skyler started crying then.
Elisa placed an arm around her shoulders, gently guiding her towards the stairs. "We are going to dig into that ice cream," She said, "And then we'll talk."
-{- -{- -{- -{- -{-
Skyler fell into an exhausted sleep a few hours later.
Elisa didn't have the heart to wake her, so she simply covered her up with an extra quilt that she kept in the closet downstairs.
Brooklyn had broken off things between them, and Skyler was still in shock. What little Elisa had managed to get out of Skyler between crying jags hadn't made a whole lot of sense.
But then again, Elisa didn't have a lot of experience with heartbroken females. She, herself, had always been so focused on her career and training to be an officer in the NYPD, and later as a detective, that she hadn't really been concerned with her own love life.
Oh, she'd dated once in a while, but nothing too serious, and nothing that ended badly enough to turn her into a puddle of misery.
Even when her female friends had issues with their men, she tried to be supportive, but couldn't seem to identify with them enough to be very comforting in these situations.
She should have called Beth in. She was better at it than Elisa was.
Elisa sighed and opened the balcony doors to get some fresh air outside.
Closing the door quietly behind her, she made her way to the benches that were placed around the large open area.
What in the world was Brooklyn thinking? Something had to be horribly wrong, at least in his mind, for him to do something like this. She hadn't seen him so happy since… honestly, she hadn't seen him so happy since she'd known him. At least, not the constant contented happy that she'd seen on him over the last year.
She had hoped that her and Goliath's relationship was what had opened Brooklyn up to having one of his own with Skyler, and it had seemed to be working out fine.
Hell, she'd seen them together just the night before, and everything between them had seemed fine!
Elisa sat on the bench, propping her elbows on her knees, her chin on her clasped hands.
So, what had changed?
While she didn't feel it was her place to interfere, she was concerned about both Brooklyn and Skyler equally.
She could take care of Skyler here.
Elisa took her phone from her jeans pocket and called the castle on what they jokingly called the "Gargoyle Hotline".
"Hey Lex," She said, as the familiar cheerful voice answered. "How's things over there tonight?"
"Elisa!" Lexington greeted her. "It's all quiet here. What's going on?"
Elisa hesitated. "Has Goliath made it back there yet?"
"I don't know," Lexington said slowly. "I don't think so. I haven't seen him yet."
"Its fine," Elisa hurried to assure him. "Can you have him give me a call when you do? It's not an emergency, I promise."
"Will do," Lexington promised.
The two of them said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.
It was still early yet, hours before sunrise. Goliath had mentioned that he was going to join with the others running patrols and then stop by the castle after.
Hopefully he would get her message before leaving the castle. She had the feeling that Brooklyn may need someone to talk to.