She instinctively ducks as stone shards fly through the air while their roars fill the night. When she opens her eyes and lowers her arm after everything stills, she sees Brooklyn on the verge of taking off.
"Don't even think about it," she warns causing the red gargoyle to pause.
He glances over his shoulder and upon seeing Gwen behind him; he gets a guilty look upon his face. She raises an eyebrow at him and he meekly steps off of his perch. She crooks a finger at him before turning and heading back the way she'd come to where there is better lighting.
An angry shriek rips through the night and Gwen suddenly finds herself slammed against a wall. She's briefly stunned and when she's able to gather her wits about her, she can hear the animalistic screams and roars of fighting gargoyles nearby. She opens her eyes and is a bit shocked to see that Brooklyn has her pinned against the wall. He's using his body as a shield, but the look on his face gives her pause. His eyes are squeezed shut and a grimace is on his face as if he's in great emotional pain. His body is trembling and a quick glance up shows her that his talons are digging into the stone wall. A second later she catches a whiff of a strong musky scent and she's got a pretty good idea at what's going on.
Instinct taking over, she reaches up, gently grabs the back of his head and pulls him down until his face is against her shoulder. She can feel his hot breath on her neck and she pulls the band holding her hair out. She spreads out her tresses to form a type of filter so less of the pheromones reach his nose. They stay that way until, with a final shriek from Angela and a challenging bellow from Broadway, the night suddenly goes still.
She quickly releases Brooklyn's head and he shakily steps away from her. She quickly looks around as soon as she's clear of Brooklyn's body. The scene that greets her isn't a happy one and her training instantly takes over.
Scene change
Elisa stands back as small pieces of stone fly about her apartment and then turns down the TV once he's done waking with a roar. She's glad she doesn't have a roommate that she'd have to explain all the bits of stone lying around or the loud noises to. After turning the TV off, she turns to him and is rather startled to find him standing right next to her.
It still amazes her how a being so big can move so quietly, but she doesn't let it bother her as she looks up into his eyes. He gently runs his talons through her soft hair and she lays a hand on his muscular chest, feeling his heart beating under her hand. They stand there like that for what seems to be an eternity, though it's only for a few moments.
"I should check on Brooklyn," he quietly states, not bothering to move towards the door.
"He went back to the castle last night," she tells him. "Gwen is supposed to come and remove his stitches tonight."
"Shouldn't you be getting to work?" he asks.
"I have tonight off," she answers.
Neither one of them moves for several more minutes until, with a sigh, he caresses her face and then turns.
"I need to get back," he says as he steps away.
"Let me grab my jacket and I'll go with you," she responds as she turns towards the front door.
"I'll wait for you on the balcony," he replies as they briefly part ways.
A minute later she's joining him in the fresh air and shutting the door behind her. Without a word, he lifts her into his arm, spreads his wings and leaps into the air. The adrenaline rush causes her heart to start pounding and she doesn't think she'll ever get tired of the rush it gives her to be in his arms like this.
A few minutes later, the castle is in sight and they can see Angela and Broadway soaring away from it. They circle around until the find the others and what they see is not a pleasant sight.
Scene change
Bronx and Hudson are leaning over a small yellow form that's not moving. Gwen none to gently pushes them out of the way to get to Lex, causing the still conscious gargoyle's eyes to start glowing. She ignores them as she starts to examine Lex and Bronx begins growling while he moves threateningly towards her, making her look up at the hound.
"Sit!" she commands, staring Bronx down.
He's so startled by the order that he actually obeys her. Before he can gather his wits and change his mind, Hudson places a calming hand on the hound's head, placating him. She ignores them as she carefully checks Lex's skull and back for any obvious damage. When she's fairly sure moving him won't cause any further hurt, she delicately rolls Lex onto his back and gets her first look at his wounds.
Four gashes span his chest from his shoulder to the bottom of his ribs and there's blood everywhere. She doesn't waste time explaining what she's doing as she grabs her black bag and pops it open. As she's pulling items out of her bag, the sound of wind rushing past wings and talons scraping against stone announces the arrival of a gargoyle.
"What happened?" Goliath demands as he steps up behind Gwen.
"Broadway and Angela," Hudson simply answers and Goliath growls out a sigh.
"What do you need, Doctor?" Xanatos asks, stepping out of a dark doorway.
"Space, clean towels and better lighting," she replies as she pulls on latex gloves.
Xanatos doesn't say anything but disappears back through the door a second later and Goliath backs up to give her room. As she's pouring disinfectant over the unconscious gargoyle's chest, Owen arrives with a portable lamp and a stack of neatly folded towels. Ignoring the hairs standing up on her arm, she grabs the top towel and starts wiping off the blood. She carefully inspects the edges of the gashes and the depth before turning back to her bag.
"Well?" Goliath impatiently demands.
"The good news is that he won't need stitches," she answers without looking up.
"And the bad news?" Brooklyn inquires.
"He's grounded for the night," she responds as she pulls a small box out of her bag.
Nothing more is said as she uses small medical adhesive strips to hold the edges of the cuts together. As she's covering his chest with several large pads of gauze, Lex lets out a pain filled moan. He blinks his eyes open and stares at the doctor in a daze as she applies the last strips of medical tape.
"Lex, move your toes for me, please," she requests and he easily complies, though he's still to addle brained to ask why. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Two," he answers as a small scowl creases his brow. "Though, they're a bit fuzzy."
"That's ok," she smiles in relief as she sits back. "By tomorrow night you'll be as good as new. But until then, I'm afraid you're grounded."
She helps him to his feet and holds him steady until she's sure that he's stable. She carefully watches him as he less than gracefully makes his way to his waiting clan mates. Once he's leaning rather heavily on Bronx, she stands and catches Brooklyn's attention.
"Your turn," she tells him as she strips off her bloody gloves.
Without a second thought, he walks up to her and presents his newly healed wing. She quickly checks the wing to make sure the holes in the bones have healed and then retrieves tweezers and a small pair of scissors from her bag. She angles the wing under the lamp that Owen is holding before she starts removing the stitches. Within a few minutes she's done and putting her equipment away.
"Ok, you're all done," she states as she closes her bag. "Would you mind flying for me? I want to make sure everything is ok."
"Sure!" he gleefully agrees and he immediately runs for one of the outside walls.
A moment later, he's over the side and they can hear the snap of his leathery wings just after he drops out of sight. A second later he glides back into view and he lets out a whoop of joy as he soars over their heads.
"How does the wing feel?" she yells.
"Great!" he hollers back as he loops around a tower.
The others laugh at his infectious enthusiasm as he performs an aerial maneuver that would make a stunt pilot green with envy. A few minutes later he lands in front of her, a grin stretching across his beak and her answering smile is nearly as wide.
"Thanks, Gwen," he says whole heartedly.
"It was my pleasure," she happily replies.
"We are all in your debt," Goliath adds, stepping up to them.
"Aye, that we are, lass," Hudson agrees, joining their leader.
"You've been great," Lex puts in, adding his body to the circle of gargoyles surrounding the small woman.
"I'm glad I was able to help," she responds, bowing her head so her hair can cover her blushing as Bronx comes up and rubs his head against her, nearly knocking her over in the process.
"I must say that I'm impressed, lass," Hudson says as she starts to scratch Bronx along his jaw, causing the animal to hum with happiness. "Most people are frightened of the beast, but here you are scratching him and orderin' him to 'sit'."
"You ordered Bronx to sit?" Elisa asks in shock and Gwen finally notices the detective is there.
"I grew up around Bull Mastiffs," Gwen replies with a shrug as she keeps on scratching Bronx's head and he looks like he's about to collapse with pleasure as Gwen finds just the right spot to scratch. "Sometimes you can startle them into behaving when they start getting aggressive."
"Wish I had tried that when I first met Bronx," Elisa mumbles under her breath.
"You would have had to stay on the castle first," Goliath reminds her, causing Elisa to blush slightly and the others to look at them a bit confused.
"Lexintoon," a little voice happily cries out, effectively stopping any embarrassing questions.
"Alex!" Lex cheerfully replies, stepping towards the toddling child.
Alex happily throws himself into Lex's outstretched arms and while the gargoyle doesn't make a sound, he noticeably grimaces when the boy makes contact with his chest. Gwen cringes for both sympathy for the pain he must be in and the possibility of him starting to bleed again.
"Ok, son, you got to see Lexington," Xantos chuckles at the child as he gently pulls his son off of Lex. "Now it's time for bed."
"No bed!" Alex proclaims as he reaches for Lex. "Lexintoon!"
"Hold on, buddy, I'll come with you," Lex assures Alex. "Would you like me to read a story to you?"
"YEAH!" Alex gleefully yells, bouncing up and down in his father's arms. "WEAD STOWY! WEAD STOWY!"
Xanatos struggles to hold onto his squirming son as he turns towards Gwen.
"Owen will drive you home when you're ready to leave, Dr. Knight," the billionaire tells the doctor. "He'll meet you at the elevators when you're ready to go. If the gargoyles don't mind, please feel free to return and visit whenever you like."
"Of course," Goliath readily agrees. "You will always be welcome in our home, Gwen."
"Thank you," Gwen whispers, stunned beyond words.
"Come back and visit soon," Lex requests, a pleading look on his face.
"Yeah, you have to come back and tell us how your date with Matt went," Brooklyn adds, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Oh, god, I had forgotten about that," Gwen groans, her face turning bright red while she desperately looks around for Elisa. "Elisa, could you tell Matt that I can't…"
"No way," Elisa interrupts. "I have to the work with the man and there's no way I'm going to tell him his date's canceled."
"Do you at least have his phone number?" Gwen meekly requests.
"Yes, I do," Elisa replies. "But I'm not giving it to you."
"But why?" Gwen asks in shock and horror.
"Like I said, I have to work with him and there's no way I want to be in the same state with him when he's in a snit," Elisa replies. "It's bad enough that you don't want to go out with him, but me adding to it by being the one who have you his number. I don't even want to think about it, so keep me out of this."
"I'm doomed," Gwen moans.
"Hey, everything's going to be alright," Lex assures her as he starts to follow Xanatos. "Trust me."
"Lex is probably right, things will be fine," Brooklyn puts in.
"Yeah, I'm sure it will be," Gwen says, sounding completely unconvinced. "Listen, I should get going. I need get home and get my paperwork done. This whole week has put me really far behind."
"I'm sorry if we interfered with your job," Goliath states.
"No, it's alright," Gwen assures him as she picks up her bags. "I'll catch up this weekend. As long as it gets done, that's all that matters."
"Would you like to flown home?" Brooklyn asks, partially spreading his wings.
"No, that's alright," Gwen answers with a smile. "I'm not dressed for flying. You go have fun now that you're free."
"That sounds great," Brooklyn readily agrees as he looks at the clear skies above them, his wings rustling anxiously.
"Happy flying," Gwen says and Brooklyn starts to move towards the wall until he sees Lex watching him.
"You know, I think I'll just stay in tonight," Brooklyn suddenly states as he turns back towards the castle, folding his wings and Gwen catches a glimpse of Lex's grateful face just before the little gargoyle disappears through another door. "There's a movie I've been hoping to catch on TV."
"Aye, lad, now that's more my speed," Hudson agrees as he starts to follow the younger gargoyle. "Good night, lass. Have fun on your… 'date'."
"Good night, Hudson," Gwen calls back as she gives Bronx one final scratch on the head before he follows the others and then she turns to the two remaining beings still with her. "I guess this is goodbye. It was a pleasure meeting both of you."
"Thank you, Gwen," Goliath responds solemnly. "For everything you've done. Will you need to come back tomorrow night to take care of Lexington?"
"I'm glad I could help," Gwen replies, giving herself a crick in her neck looking up at him. "No, just remove the bandaging and he'll be fine."
"Come on, I'll show you the way to the elevators," Elisa offers as she starts walking across the courtyard they're in. "I'll be back in a bit Goliath. I want to talk to you."
"Thanks, I think I could be lost in this place for days and nobody would find me," Gwen chuckles as she starts to follow the detective.
"I know the feeling," Elisa replies with a smile as they walk through a doorway. "I wanted to thank you for the other night. For saving my life."
"You're welcome," Gwen responds. "Sorry about snapping at you the other morning."
"Yeah, well, I deserved it," Elisa mumbles. "I saw my doctor later that day and he yelled at me too."
"Have they done the scratch tests yet?" Gwen asks.
"They're going to do them tomorrow," Elisa answers, not sounding thrilled with the idea.
"I remember when I went through my test," Gwen commiserates. "It's not fun. Are they going to test for gargoyle saliva?"
"Not yet," Elisa responds. "They want to test me for everything else first and I don't react to the tests, than I have to get a sample to the doctor."
"Fun," Gwen mutters. "Listen, I know it's none of my business, but I can tell you and Goliath are close. If you ever do decide to take your relationship all the way, might I suggest something?"
"What?" Elisa asks, nearly growling the question.
"Use lots of lube," Gwen states causing Elisa to stop dead in her tracks.
Gwen feels her face heating up and is actually thankful when she sees the elevators and Owen at the end of the corridor. She quickly continues on her journey, leaving the detective behind in the hall.
"Good night, Elisa," Gwen calls over her shoulder, not quite having the courage to face the other woman. "I'll see you around."
"Night," Elisa quietly replies, still in shock.
Elisa watches as Gwen and Owen get into an elevator and continues to stare as the doors close. She stands there for a good minute still blown away by the doctor's suggestion. With a chuckle and a shake of her head, Elisa turns and heads back out to find Goliath, trying not to think about personal lubrication, where it would be applied and why.
Scene change
Gwen tries to discreetly stand as far away from Owen as possible in the elevator as they make the journey to the underground parking garage. She's not sure what it is about this man that makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, but it's giving her the creeps. Just when she's sure she's about a record breaking back shiver, the elevator stops with a ding and the doors slide open.
Owen silently leads her across the private parking lot towards a large, black stretch limo and then quietly opens the back door for her. She smiles her thanks to him briefly and then quickly slides into the back seat where an even bigger shock is waiting for her. Fox sits across from her, patiently waiting for her.
"Good evening, doctor," Fox greets with a self assured smile on her face. "Ready to do some shopping?"
Scene change
Author's Notes: A thousand apologies for taking so long with this chapter. It took me a while to figure out how to get Gwen out of the castle. At any rate, I hope everyone enjoyed and please leave review.