As he steps to the edge of the roof, he looks down and sees a digital clock that shows the time and temperature in front of a nearby bank. It's nearly 2 o'clock in the morning and he's ready for sleep now. With a tired sigh, Goliath spreads his wings and leaps off of the top Gwen's apartment building.
He quickly catches an updraft and drifts towards the clouds. The night has been one long emotional strain and right now he would gladly curl up with a good book in front of a roaring fire and stay there until dawn. A cool autumn wind carries him higher as he stretches his wings wider and reflects on the evening's events.
He's suddenly hit from above, sending him and his attacker tumbling through the sky. Claws and fangs sink into his hide and an all too familiar growl fills the air. It takes him several perilous seconds to pry her off and then kick Demona away from him.
He quickly rights himself and snaps his wings back into position, gaining altitude as fast as possible. An angry snarl warns him that she hasn't given up and a slight change in the wind tells him she's trying to get above him again. Her lighter size makes it impossible for him to stay above her and he knows another attack is coming.
He feels the air change again and this time he's ready for her. He flips over and catches her in his talons as she tries to sink her teeth into his neck just below his ear while he flips them both over and controls their decent. The action confuses him for a moment until the smell of the pheromones hits him like a speeding freight train. He freezes for a moment as she struggles to get closer to his neck and he only snaps out of his shock when he feels her hot breath on his neck.
Bringing up his legs as he pushes her further from him, he sinks his back talons into her stomach and kicks downwards. His sharp digits easily slice through her hide, leaving long, deep gashes in her gut. She screams in agony as he shoves her away from him again and he watches with grim satisfaction as she falls through of the air.
Just before she hits a skyscraper, her wings snap open and she glides away holding her stomach as a roar of pain and frustration reaches his ears. Knowing that while a normal gargoyle would die from such wounds if it was too far from daybreak, Demona will survive and will be back to haunt him for at least two more nights. With a sad sigh and an irritated growl, he heads for home, this time being much more diligent in his flight.
At long last he reaches home and he lands heavier than usual and he lets out a sigh of relief. But the relief is short lived as his own daughter all but attacks him from her perch where she had been waiting for his return. Neither one of them notice Bronx as he quickly runs back inside the castle.
"Well?" she demands as she all but lands on him.
"Brooklyn will fly again," he assures her as he steps back.
"Then where are they?" she growls, advancing on her father.
"He and Lexington are staying with Gwen," he tells her.
"WHAT?" she shrieks, continuing to advance on Goliath. "How could you leave them with that woman?"
"Brooklyn can't fly yet and is in a lot of pain," Goliath answers, finally stopping his backwards progress when he hits the wall. "Lexington is watching over him and keeping him company."
"They belong here!" she shouts, poking him in the chest with a talon. "How can that woman possibly take better care of him than us?"
Before he can answer or retaliate, he's rescued by Broadway and Hudson pulling her back. There's a brief struggle before she turns and storms off, snarling all the way. Broadway diligently follows her with a half eaten sandwich in his hand.
"Sorry about that, lad," Hudson says as he watches the couple climb the stairs back up to the top turret. "Broadway was keepin' an eye on things, but his stomach got the better of him. Said he was only gone for a minute when Bronx came in raisin' the alarm that you had returned. So, how is he?"
"She says he'll be fine in a night or two, but for now she wants to watch over him," Goliath distractedly answers, scowling at the retreating backs of the young couple.
"Perhaps it's for the best that those two are staying with the doctor," Hudson says, noticing where Goliath is staring. "It'll be soon, you know. Tomorrow night. The night after that at latest. Though I'm bettin' on tomorrow, m'self."
"Demona set a trap for me last night," Goliath states, still watching the couple as Angela paces back and forth with Broadway trying to calm her with his ignored sandwich loosing pieces as he follows her.
"You're only now figurin' that out, lad?" Hudson chuckles. "Was the cage your first clue, then?"
"She rose tonight," Goliath tells his old friend, finally facing him. "She came after me on the way home."
"That would explain the scratches," Hudson replies as he points to the various wounds all over Goliath's torso. "What are you going to tell Elisa?"
"I don't know," Goliath sighs. "What can I possibly tell her?"
At a quarter to nine, the buzzer to Gwen's apartment goes off. Still tired from the night before, she finally makes her way to the speaker in the wall next to the door about a minute later.
"Yes?" Gwen asks.
"Hey, it's Elisa," a crackling female voice replies.
"Come on, up. I'm in 3C," Gwen replies just before she presses the lock release button.
Several minutes later, there's a knock on the door and Gwen answers it with a toothbrush in her mouth and toothpaste foam on her lips. The vet waves the detective in before turning and disappearing into the bathroom. Elisa takes a quick look around and easily spots the gargoyles. Lex is sitting on the stuffed chair with a bored look on his face and his chin resting on his fist while Brooklyn is lying on the floor with a goofy look on his face.
"Why does Brooklyn look like he's stoned?" Elisa asks and realizes what she's just said when Gwen lets out a snort. "I meant, why does he look like he's high on something?"
"I gave him a shot of morphine a couple hours before sunrise," Gwen explains as she comes out of the bathroom and heads for the kitchen. "It hadn't worn off by the time the sun came up, so he was still a bit loopy when he went to sleep."
"I understand completely," Elisa says, smiling down at her stone friend. "Morphine can definitely do weird things to your brain. I can understand why people get hooked on it."
"If you don't mind my asking, when did you get morphine?" Gwen inquires as she starts to gather up the papers scattered across the counter.
"I was shot a while back," Elisa answers as she leans against the counter.
"It must be stressful being a cop," Gwen says quietly.
"It's even worse when the cop is shot because she carelessly left her gun lying around and a friend picks it up and starts playing with it," Elisa replies.
"Oh," is all Gwen can say to that.
"But it's alright, we've learned our lessons," Elisa continues. "If I'm not wearing my gun, I keep it locked up and Broadway now knows that guns aren't toys."
"One of the gargoyles shot you?" Gwen questions in disbelief, her eyes wide.
"Yeah, but like I said, we've learned our lessons," Elisa states.
"Which one's Broadway?" Gwen asks as someone knocks on her door. "The older or the younger male."
"The younger one," Elisa replies as Gwen steps past her to the door.
"Who is it?" Gwen calls through the door.
"It's me, Dave," a husky male voice answers. "I've got the stuff."
Elisa's eyebrows shoot straight up to her hairline as Gwen's face and neck turn beet red. Gwen says a few words in a language Elisa doesn't know as she takes hold of the doorknob. She then rips the door open, grabs the front of the shirt of the man standing in the hallway and drags him into the apartment. He lets out a startled shriek as she slams the door shut before releasing his silk shirt.
"Watch the couture, sugar, this shirt cost a very pretty penny," the man admonishes as he brushes at the front of his shirt, trying to remove any wrinkles, the husky voice long gone.
"Lars, what are you doing up here?" Gwen demands, her hands on her hips.
"I just came up to see what you wanted for dinner," Lars replies as he continues to fuss with his top. "But if this is the way you're going to be about it…"
"Lars, I'd like you to meet Elisa Maza," Gwen interrupts, waving a hand towards Elisa and causing Lars to look up from his shirt at the other woman in the apartment. "She's a detective with the NYPD."
Lars eyes get to be about the size of dinner plates as his face turns almost as red as Gwen's did and he lets out this high pitched squeak that quite possible only dogs can hear. It takes all of Elisa's will power to keep a straight face as the man puts a hand over his mouth and looks like he's about to have a heart attack.
"Breathe, Lars," Gwen growls as she goes back into the kitchen. "I don't need you fainting and landing on my patient."
"Ohmygod," Lars babbles as soon as he draws a breath. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod."
"Slow down, Lars, or you're going to hyperventilate," she warns as she starts stuffing her papers and lunch into her satchel.
"Oh my god, you must think that…," Lars says in a higher than normal voice to Elisa as he touches her arm. "Gwen isn't a…and I'm not a…"
"I kind of figured that part out," Elisa chuckles, no longer able to control herself.
"Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed," he continues to rant.
He turns to start pacing and nearly steps on Brooklyn. He lets out another startled squeak when he sees the stone being on the floor.
"Talk about getting stoned," he states as he takes in the sight before him.
"At least they can't ever complain about not getting a good day's sleep," Gwen states as she disappears into her bedroom.
"That's true," Elisa agrees.
"Are they aware of what's going on around them?" Lars asks as he squats down next to Brooklyn and takes a closer look at him.
"Not that I know of," Elisa answers. "But I do know that they dream."
"As fascinating as gargoyle sleep is, I'm late for work," Gwen states as she comes out of the bedroom with her black bag in hand.
Lars quickly lets himself out as Gwen grabs her satchel, swings it over her shoulder and then picks up her full travel mug. Elisa follows Lars into the corridor and Gwen is right behind her. Gwen quickly locks up and then heads for the stairs at a brisk walk.
"So, what do want for dinner?" Lars asks as he trots along behind her.
"I don't know," Gwen replies irritably. "Elisa, what do the gargoyles like to eat?"
"They don't usually eat all that much," Elisa answers as she easily keeps up with the shorter woman. "When they do eat it's usually things like pizza, hamburgers and hot dogs."
Lars stops dead in his tracks as he gives an inhaled shriek of horror.
"I do NOT do hot dogs!" he emphatically states, stomping his foot.
"Make what you want," Gwen calls back as all but flies down the stairs. "I'll see you tonight."
"You better not be late again!" he yells back.
"I won't!" she shouts back as she starts down another flight of steps.
A few moments later she's out the front door, thankful the Mrs. Welker wasn't awake yet. Blinking into the late September sunlight, she starts rooting through her satchel for her sunglasses as she continues her head long flight down the street.
"You want a ride?" Elisa asks, bring Gwen up short.
"Huh?" Gwen smartly replies as she turns around a looks at the detective.
"Would you like a ride to work?" Elisa clarifies, waving at her car sitting at the side of the road.
"Oh, sure," Gwen agrees as she steps closer to the car. "If it's not any trouble."
"Hey, no trouble at all for a pretty lady," a tall, thin man with short red hair states as he steps out of the car.
"Gwen, this is my partner Matt Bluestone," Elisa says as he pulls the back of the front bench forward. "Matt, this is Gwen Knight. She's the one that put Brooklyn's wing back together."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, my dear lady," Matt says as he takes Gwen's hand in his own and kisses the back of it.
"Pleasure's all mine," she barely whispers as she feels herself becoming light headed.
"Ok, you snake charmer, get back in the car," Elisa tells her partner as she heads around to the drivers side.
Matt slides into the back seat, leaving the front for Gwen. When Gwen protests, he refuses to relent and she shyly slides onto the seat next to Elisa. Elisa gives her partner a warning look and then pulls away from the curb.
"So, you're a vet at the Bronx Zoo, that must be pretty exciting," Matt states from his spot just behind Gwen.
"It has its moments," Gwen replies as she tries to twist her neck around to see him. "But usually it's just basic stuff, nothing exciting."
"Sounds like our job, hey partner?" Matt chuckles. "Lots of boring stuff with occasional bits of excitement."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Elisa laughs as she slows for a red light.
"Not at all," Matt replies as he turns his attention back to Gwen. "So, Dr. Knight, where are you from?"
"Switzerland," Gwen responds as puts a hand to brace herself for the inevitable slammed on brakes.
"Switzerland?" Matt and Elisa ask in unison as Elisa slams on the brakes.
"No way," Matt exclaims.
"Is English one of the spoken languages in Switzerland?" Elisa asks.
"No, it's not," Gwen replies as a honk from the car behind them indicates that the light has turned green. "However, my ancestors were refugees from the British Isles, so I grew up speaking English as well as French and German."
"So, when you found out about the reporters last night and when Lars showed up at your door this morning…," Elisa prompts as she drives on.
"My French was German," Gwen confirms.
"A woman with beauty and brains, be still my beating heart," Matt sighs.
"Turn here," Gwen quickly instructs as she can feel her face heating up again. "The employee entrance is down here."
"So, how did you end up in the United States?" Elisa asks as she pulls into the employee parking lot.
"That's a really, really long story," Gwen quietly laughs, trying to hide her nervousness.
"I'd love to hear it some time," Elisa tells her.
"Me, too," Matt pipes up from the back seat.
"I'm afraid it's going to have to wait," Gwen tells them as Elisa pulls up next to the employee's entrance. "Here's my stop. Thanks so much for the ride."
"Hey, it's the least I could do," Elisa replies. "I'll see you later."
"Ok, bye," Gwen responds as she gets out of the car.
Matt follows her out of the car and grabs her hand, causing her to turn around.
"Fare thee well, my lady," Matt says with a bow and another kiss on the back of her hand. "Until we meet again."
With that, he gets back into the car with a flourish and Elisa drives off just shaking her head. Gwen stands there for nearly a minute staring after they are long out of sight, waiting for her heart to stop pounding and a little less blood coloring her cheeks. When she finally walks towards the gate, the security guard is watching her with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't ask," she nearly growls.
"Wouldn't dream of it," he replies with a huge grin on his face as she walks past him into the park.
Author's notes: Well, even though my 4 year old decided to wipe out pretty much the entire apartment scene, I've rewritten it. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave a review.