"Gone?" Brooklyn's voice rose in dismay. "What do you mean, gone?"

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you," Angela said sharply. "I told you to keep an eye on him, and you didn't take me seriously."

"Korian has gone with him," spat Brooklyn. "I'll bet it was his doing, he's the one to start this business of wandering off for months without telling us what he's up to."

"You know it is different this time," countered Angela, "quite simply, Korian is the one who desires vengeance as much as Steelclaw. Olrun," she spoke gently to the lass, "did my brother drop any hint at all as to where he might be headed?"

"Because if he did, you had better tell us at once," added Brooklyn. Olrun shook her head.

"No," she said quietly, "he only said he will return."

"I don't doubt it," Brooklyn said tartly, "I just hope he returns in one piece."

"I think we all share this sentiment," noted Angela.

"Well, it's obvious where he's gone, isn't it?" Broadway walked in. "They went to find the Stonehammers. If we know where they are, we'll know where Steelclaw and Korian have gone."

"We have been trying to find the Stonehammers for years," said Brooklyn, "and I think we all agreed they aren't operating from a single base. This is precisely what makes them so evasive. Honestly, I don't know what this - this lad is thinking of, planning to take on them single-handedly."

"Perhaps this isn't his intention," suggested Broadway, "perhaps, once he realized you won't give him the support he wants, he went to find it elsewhere."

... Jason Canmore received him courteously, but there was a hint of reluctance in his eyes which Steelclaw despised.

"You know why I'm here, don't you?" he said.

"I have heard of your father's death," sighed Canmore, "and deeply regred it. I had great respect for Goliath."

"Yet you did nothing to prevent the Stonehammers from hunting us down," said Steelclaw sharply, his eyes alight, "you, who long ago extended a hand of peace to my father."

"And I kept my word," said Jason, "from that moment on, I have been a friend to the gargoyles."

"Not being an enemy does not make you a friend," said Steelclaw, "friends help when they are needed, and you could have helped us."

Canmore felt the justice of this reprimand, but he couldn't tell this young one why he kept so well away from the gargoyles, in particular after Elisa finally accepted his advances. Even now, the grief of his wife when she found out about the death of Goliath was too acute for a mere friend.

"What is it that you would have of me?" he asked wearily.

"Help," Steelclaw promptly replied, "I want to destroy the Stonehammers, to crush them. I want to avenge the deaths of my mother and father."

Canmore looked at him intently. Steelclaw had Goliath's heavy build, his square-jawed face and his raspy voice. But his coloring was his mother's, and it was her bloodthirst that Jason heard in the young gargoyle's voice. This unnerved him.

"What is your name, lad?" he asked.

"Our enemies call me Steelclaw," said the young one. Jason shook his head.

"This isn't right," he mused, "you shouldn't allow yourself to be defined by those who hate you."

"Will you, or will you not help me?" demanded Steelclaw.

"Look at me," the man faced him, and Steelclaw saw the graying hair, the wrinkled face, "my fighting days are over."

"I did not ask you to fight," said Steelclaw, "leave that to me."

Jason let out a sight. "My daughter, Anne Canmore, works in the NYPD," he said, "perhaps she knows something about where the Stonehammers case stands."

... "The Stonehammers? Why would you want to know about them?" Anne didn't understand. It has been many years since she and her father developed a relationship based on equal footing, fraternity and perfect unreserve.

Anne was lovely. With her mother's figure and her father's raven-black hair and blue eyes, she turned heads wherever she went, even when she wore her customary faded jeans with a black or grey turtleneck sweater.

"Well, strictly speaking, I am not the one who wants the information," said Jason, and gestured towards Steelclaw, who now stepped, cat-quiet, from a shadowy corner to dramatic effect.

Anne gave a startled jump, which was understandable. Steelclaw towered over both her and her father; he was over two meters tall, and almost as broad of shoulder as Goliath had been. But to Miss Canmore's credit, it must be said she got a grip on herself quickly enough, and extended a hand to the gargoyle.

"I have always wanted to meet one of you," she said, and her small palm disappeared in Steelclaw's taloned hand.

"My daughter, detective Canmore," Jason said fondly to Steelclaw. "You remember the stories your mother told you about Goliath, of course?" he turned to his daughter, "well, Steelclaw is his son."

"Oh!" Anne's eyes widened in understanding, "I am sorry for your losses."

"This is a kind thing to say," Steelclaw nodded appreciatively, "but as I have been saying to your father, words aren't enough."

"I think you had better go to Anne's apartment to talk," interfered Jason, "your aunt said she might be stopping by this evening, Anne, and I'm sure we are all keen to avoid giving explanations to Beth as to why there's a gargoyle in our living room."

In reality, he didn't want Elisa to see Steelclaw, and his wife was due soon to return from the gym, where he sent her to clear her head. He knew what painful memories might be stirred in her by seeing this gargoyle, so like her impossible love and her invincible rival.

... Anne Canmore's apartment wasn't messy, exactly, but there was an inch-thick layer of dust over all the furniture, and a musty smell suggesting the windows haven't been opened for a while.

"Sorry," Anne grinned apologetically, "I've been working long hours lately."

"It doesn't matter," said Steelclaw.

"So - erm - would you like a drink?" suggested Anne, who couldn't think of anything better to say to break the ice.

"Yes," Steeclaw shrugged, "anything."

"Beer?" offered Anne, taking two bottles out of a refrigerator that was nearly empty. She reached for a bottle opener, but Steelclaw wrenched the lids open with a lazy flick of his taloned thumb, and they both took a silent sip.

"So," said Anne after a pause, "I understand you want to find out more about the nutters who murdered your parents. I can more than sympathize, but the Stonehammers case isn't in my hands, and I'm new in the department, so..."

"So you are saying you won't help me?" Steelclaw said sharply.

"No," Anne placed her bottle on the counter and looked straight at him, "I'm saying I might get into very serious trouble if I do."

To this, he had no response. "Let's be honest," she went on, "you don't just want them prosecuted, do you?"

"To be frank," said Steelclaw, "I have no faith in a system of justice that has any punishment rather than death for such filth."

"So let's sum this up. You want me to help you find the leaders of the Stonehammers so that you can kill them," her voice rose slightly in irony.

"Yes," nodded Steelclaw, pleased that she grasped this so quickly, "does it make me insane in your eyes?"

"No," said Anne, and she spoke the truth. It made him admirable - and also highly dangerous, "but it might cost me my whole future."

"It might cose me my life," said Steeclaw, "but I'm still ready to go through with it."

"Well, it's your goal or whatever," she said, trying to feign indifference, "I, on the other hand, have nothing to do with it."

"Yet your mother, Elisa, was very much connected with our clan at one time," remarked the gargoyle, "my father told me about it many times, and he always spoke most highly of Elisa."

"Yes," Anne furrowed her brow and looked at him thoughtfully, "from bits and pieces I have heard over the years I've gathered that it was quite an extraordinary friendship... which makes me wonder why it was cut off before I was even born."

"I can't tell you anything about it," Steelclaw truthfully said, "that was before my time, and as far as my father was concerned, Elisa always remained his friend."

"Well, of course it was before your time," said Anne, "you are younger than me."

"I'm not so sure," he said, surprising her, "our kind don't grow old as fast as you do, because our metabolism stops completely during the day. I am not even of age."

"That explains a lot," Anne muttered, not exactly meaning for him to hear.

"Like what?" he asked sharply.

"Like why you came here on your own," she said, "the ones in charge don't approve of this plan of yours, do they?

"Our leader thinks we can evade the Stonehammers until someone finishes them off for us," said Steelclaw with a dangerous flash of his eyes and flexing of his claws, "but I find this idea an insult. So does my uncle, the only one of the clan who offered his help so far."

"Again, I more than understand," Anne looked at him thoughtfully, "those were your parents, and the Stonehammers are vile scum, but still, this doesn't sound like something I want to get involved in."

"I thought people come to work at the NYPD to uphold justice?" he threw at her.

"It's not so simple, see," reasoned Anne, "each sees justice in his own way, and that's why we have laws, legal processes..."

"Then you make complicated that which ought to be simple," snarled Steelclaw, "blood for blood!"

"Rest assured, the Stonehammers won't go unpunished," promised Anne, but she knew it sounded feeble.

"You know your law doesn't count my kind the same way as humans!" he exclaimed. "In the eyes of your system, we aren't considered intelligent, feeling creatures - we aren't important enough!"

Anne was silent, her heart thumping loudly. She knew she couldn't do what he was asking her to do, and it was absurd and unfair that she should feel so guilty about it.

"I see," he finally said, in a voice empty of emotion, and turned to leave, "well, I can't blame you. I am nothing to you, after all. But I'm still going to do it. I swore a solemn oath next to my father's body, and nothing will dissuade me."

His hand was already on the door handle when Anne finally found her voice.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, breathing fast as though she'd run a mile.