"How about I drive for a while," Matt suggests, holding his hand out for the keys as they step out of the elevators.
"No, that's ok, I can manage," Elisa replies, seeing right through his plans.
"You know, you look a bit tired," he points out as they make their way through the lobby.
"I'm fine, thanks," she smirks, as memories of last night slip past her mind's eye and certain parts of her body start to wake up just fine.
"Really, you look pooped," he insists while they step out into the cold night air. "Why don't you take it easy tonight and let your partner drive."
"Not going to happen," she answers with a laugh as they make their way to her car.
"Really, you look worn out," he tries one more time when they get to her car.
"Well, why don't you keep me awake by telling me about your date last night," she suggests as they both get in, her behind the wheel. "I'm sure that will help me stay awake."
"You know, Lex and Brooklyn might need back up," he implies while she starts the car. "We should make sure they're ok."
"I think they'll manage just fine without us," she replies as she pulls away from the curb.
"How about a quick drive by, just to make sure everything is quiet," he suggest.
"How about no," she snorts. "Give it a rest, Bluestone, you're not crashing Gwen's date tonight."
"Can't blame a guy for trying," he quietly grumbles and she just chuckles to herself and shakes her head.
"Wow," he whispers, in complete awe of the vision before him.
"J-J-J-John?" Gwen stammers, shocked almost beyond words.
"Yeah, hi," John replies with a nervous smile. "Surprised?"
"You could say that," she replies with a bit of a laugh.
The two of them stand there, shifting from one foot to the other, casting nervous glances at each other.
"Oh for heaven's sake, get your little butt down there," Lars orders, gently pushing her towards the steps. "I've got to get to the theater tonight you know."
"Ok, ok, I'm going," she grumbles as she takes her first cautious steps down the stairs.
About half way down, John meets her and helps her down the rest of the way. Try as she might, she can't help but blush and he just smiles at her.
"You look incredible," he quietly tells her as they exit the building.
"Thank you, so do you," she replies, blushing so hard now that the she can't feel the chill in the air. "I don't think I've seen you in anything but you're work clothes. You look really good in a suit."
"Thanks," he responds just before opening the car door for her.
After making sure that she's safely in, he shuts the door and takes a deep breath, letting the cold night air fill his lungs. He tries to calm his nerves, still not believing that after nearly three years of trying, he's finally taking her out.
"Ok, so what are we looking for?" Brooklyn asks as they land on top of one of the many buildings surrounding Rockefeller Plaza.
"I'll let you know when I find it," Lex tells him as he intently stares at the shops and restaurants in the area. "There it is."
"There what is?" Brooklyn questions as he looks towards where Lex is pointing.
"Alfredo of Rome," Lex replies.
"What? You in the mood for Italian or something?" Brooklyn inquires as he gazes down at the restaurant. "I don't think they do take out."
"Come on," Lex instructs as he takes off, forcing Brooklyn to follow him.
A few moments later they land on a closer building with a better view of the front of the restaurant and Lex eagerly scans the crowd of people going by below them.
"What, exactly, are we doing up here?" Brooklyn asks.
"There," Lex exclaims as he points down into the crowd. "There they are."
"There who are?" Brooklyn demands and then he spots them. "Whoa."
"I like her dress," Lex says conversationally as they watch the couple make their way to the front door of the restaurant.
"Yeah, she looks nice, but who's that guy with her?" Brooklyn wonders as they watch Gwen with a strange man go into the restaurant.
"I have no idea," Lex answers. "But whoever he is, she likes him."
"Why do you say that?" Brooklyn asks.
"Because she's laughing," Lex replies. "I didn't see her laughing like that last night."
"Wow," she breathes as she openly stares at the very posh restaurant.
"You like?" he asks, a smile seems to be permanently stuck to his lips.
"Yeah, this place is incredible," she answers in amazement as she continues to gawk at the décor. "Are those Hirschfeld's?"
"They most certainly are," he chuckles as the maitre d' indicates they should follow him.
He places his hand on the small of her back and gently steers her through the tables, pulling her chair out for her when they make it to their seats. She manages to pull her attention away from the pictures hanging on the walls long enough to open her menu and note that once again her menu is missing something.
"Do I want to know why there are no prices listed on my menu?" she asks without looking up.
"Not really," he answers, continuing to scan his on menu for something that tickles his fancy.
"Just checking," she says as she looks over the selection and tries to find something that doesn't look too expensive.
"Ok, now we know where she is and that we don't know the guy," Lex states. "So, now what do you want to do?"
"Now we sit and wait," Brooklyn answers, getting comfortable.
"Shouldn't we be patrolling?" Lex questions.
"We are," Brooklyn confidently replies as he waves his hand over the crowd. "We're keeping watch over the plaza."
"I don't think this is what Goliath had in mind when he told us to patrol," Lex points out, shifting around on his perch nervously.
"We're making sure nothing happens to Gwen on her date," Brooklyn assures his friend.
"They're inside a restaurant," Lex reminds him. "How much trouble can they get into?"
"Well, things could turn bad and she might storm out and then she'll need to be watched over to make sure she gets home safe," Brooklyn replies.
"Come on, we should really be patrolling," Lex insists.
"You go ahead, I'm going to keep an eye on things," Brooklyn says, leaning back and relaxing.
"Uh, Brooklyn, I really think we should both get going," Lex replies, suddenly becoming very jumpy.
"What's your problem?" Brooklyn asks. "Just relax and take it easy."
"Perhaps it's because he knows how much trouble you two will be in if you don't start patrolling right now," says a deep, angry voice behind them.
Brooklyn nearly falls off the roof in surprise and barely looks back at a scowling Goliath before taking off. Lex isn't far behind and Goliath watches them for a while before taking to the air himself and starts his own patrol.
The server leaves with their orders and menus and Gwen and John sit there in silence, neither one knowing exactly what to say. She decides to take another look at the pictures decorating the walls to try and not make it appear that she's completely tongue tied, but he sees right through it since he's feeling pretty much the same way.
He takes advantage of her distraction and admires the lady across from him, having to admit to himself that she cleans up a lot nicer than he ever expected. Granted, modeling agencies and movie directors aren't going to beat her door down, but she's pretty in her own way. He's still watching her when she reaches up to brush a strand of hair out of her face and his heart nearly stops beating.
"What happened to your arm?" he demands, reaching over and grabbing a hold of her wrist.
"Huh, what?" she asks in confusion until she realizes that he has hold of her arm and is examining it. "Oh, that…um…"
"These puncture wounds look like they were made by talons," he states. "They're definitely not teeth marks and the bruising looks like you were grabbed pretty hard. Unless you were attacked by one of the ostriches, there's no way this happened at work."
"Yes, well, you see…," she stammers, not sure what to tell him or even how.
"Did one of the gargoyles do this to you?" he asks, anger tingeing his words and she makes sure her other arm is out of sight.
"He didn't mean to," she hastily tells him, quickly checking to see if anyone overheard. "It was an accident."
"What was he trying to do, if he didn't do this on purpose?" he questions, a frown wrinkling his forehead.
"He was trying to keep me from walking away," she answers. "How'd you know about the gargoyles?"
"Tony told me," he replies, still holding onto her arm. "Why didn't he want you to walk away?"
"I had just given him a shot to put him under and he wanted me to stay with him until he was out," she quickly explains. "He didn't realize how hard he grabbed me."
"I guess they're pretty strong," he says as he releases her arm and forces himself to relax.
"Very," she confirms, trying to forget the memory of looking down at her more than likely death only a few nights ago. "Can I ask you something?"
"You just did," he points out and she gives him a mock glare to which he grins. "What would you like to know?"
"Why did you ask me out like you did?" she asks. "Why not ask me out like a people normally do?"
"I have been asking you out for nearly three years," he tells her a bit exasperated. "Every time you were too busy with paper work, didn't have the money, didn't have time. I was starting to get a bit desperate."
"When did you ask me out?" she questions, her turn to frown.
"When did I…," he gasps, stunned. "Stop me if any of these sound familiar. Do you want to go get some dinner? Want to see a movie? Let's grab a cup of coffee…"
"Scheißdreck," she mutters as she drops her face into her hands. "You must think I'm such an idiot."
"I'll reserve judgment until after you tell me what happened to your other arm," he says in a slightly strained voice.
She raises her face and looks at him in confusion for a moment before looking down and seeing the arm Angela grabbed with all of its lovely purple and green bruising. She's at least thankful that the puncture wounds aren't nearly as bad as they used to be and she drops her hands back into her lap.
"I'd rather not discuss that in a crowded restaurant, if you don't mind," she quietly replies, staring at the candle on their table instead of him.
"Gwen, I know I don't have the right to tell you how to run your life and I know that for whatever reason you're batty over gargoyles, but please keep in mind that we worry about you," he says after about a minute of quiet. "Me probably more than the others."
"We?" she inquires, finally looking back up at him.
"Everyone on the medical staff and a number of the keepers too," he tells her. "We've kind of adopted you."
"You've adopted me?" she questions, stunned.
"Yeah, we all try to do little things to help you out in little ways," he admits.
"Such as?" she asks.
"You know that bag of trail mix you keep in your desk?" he questions.
"Yeah, so?" she responds.
"Ever wonder why it never runs out?" he asks and she frowns at him for a moment.
"You've been replacing my trail mix with stale trail mix?" she inquires.
"Well, it's not stale when I put it in there," he laughs and she laughs with him.
"So, what else do you guys do?" she asks, not sure how she feels about being a charity case.
"Just little things," he replies. "Nothing major like paying your rent, but little things just to make life a little nicer for you."
"Like what?" she nearly demands, trying to think of what people could be doing for her.
"Nope, not telling," he snickers.
"I'm not sure I'm thrilled about being a charity case," she mutters.
"You're not," he assures her. "Before you came to work at the zoo, we just all were going through the routine, doing our jobs and nothing more. We were all caught up in our little worlds and then you came along and we all got the well deserved boots to the heads that we deserved."
"I don't see how me starting to work at the zoo suddenly changed everyone's lives," she states in confusion. "What did I do?"
"You didn't do anything, you just were," he answers. "Some of us were viewing our jobs as just that, jobs, but you viewed it as a life. The light in your eyes when you first walked into that clinic I just can't describe. The closest I can come is that you looked like a kid in a candy store."
"So I acted like some country bumpkin that's just seen the big lights for the first time," she says. "I still don't see how that got everyone so mother hen on me."
"Don't you see?" he asks. "That's just it. You haven't changed in the three years I've known you; most people become jaded after a few months, but not you. You're still that kid in the candy store every time you walk through those gates. There are people who just come to work to draw a paycheck; you come in every day expecting an adventure. Some of us needed to remember that feeling and our way of thanking you is to take care of you."
"I don't need to be taken care of," she points out, a bit disgruntled. "I'm a big girl now."
"That's why we've had to be sneaky about it," he grins and she has to chuckle.
"I'm not going to get people to stop, am I?" she asks.
"Nope," he says, his grin getting even bigger and all she can do is shake her head.
Luckily, their food arrives and the topic of mother hens gets shelved for the time being.
"Very pretty," she admits as she leans back into his embrace and sighs happily. "But I don't think this is what Father had in mind when he told us to go on patrol."
"What?" Broadway asks as he waves his hand towards the moonlit park below their perch. "This is great. We're keeping a watch out for muggers and getting a well earned rest. The only thing that would make this even better is if we had managed to bring a picnic."
"You and your stomach," Angela laughs while shaking her head. "We probably should get moving though."
"Alright," he grumbles and then points down to the path. "But let's make sure this couple makes it through ok first."
"Ok," she agrees as the sound of laughter wafts up to them on a cool evening breeze and she leans forward to get a better look at the humans strolling along the path. "That woman almost looks familiar."
"From up here, they all kind of look alike," he replies with a shrug.
"I suppose," she mumbles, a frown creasing her brow as she watches the couple below them.
"You're joking," Gwen grins as they slowly make their way down the path. "He really tried to ride a gnu?"
"Seriously," John chuckles. "Shortest career at the zoo to date."
"I'm surprised he was able to walk away from the experience," she muses.
"He didn't," he replies and she looks at him in confusion. "He ran out of that pen like his pants were on fire."
"That must have been some sight," she laughs as she shakes her head. "It takes all kinds, I guess."
He doesn't respond, so they continue their moonlit stroll through Central Park in silence. She pulls his suit jacket a little closer around her and she's very glad the had put it on her shoulders since it's pretty cold out. Her feet are throbbing, but she doesn't really care for a change and she's actually hoping the night can last a little bit longer.
"Gwen?" he softly calls her name.
"Hmm?" she replies.
"Can you tell me what happened now?" he asks as he stops in the middle of the path.
"About what?" she questions in confusion while she turns and faces him.
"About this," he says.
He carefully reaches for the arm that Angela damaged and delicately holds onto it as he gently strokes the arm the fingertips of his other hand. She takes a deep breath as a shiver runs up her spine. Why does that have to feel so good?
"Gwen?" he says and she briefly looks up into his eyes before dropping them down again.
She quietly tells him what happened on Monday, leaving nothing out and unable to bring her eyes any higher than the knot in his tie. She knows that he won't like the fact that she trusted a complete stranger with her life and then put herself in a very dangerous situation. But she refuses to apologize for her actions and she needs him to understand that it is her life to run, not his.
For his part, he remains quiet as she tells her tale and not even his body language tells her what he's feeling. When she's done, they stand there in silence as he digests what she's told him. He continues stroking her arm and she closes her eyes to fully enjoy his touch. She's known for years that he can be very gentle, but had never experienced it before. It's very lulling and when he stops, she nearly moans at the loss of his touch.
"I can't say as I'm happy that you willing went into that situation," he starts quietly. "But as you pointed out earlier, you are a grown woman and I have no right to tell you what to do with your life. But as someone who cares very deeply for you, I hope you never do that again."
"I doubt that Angela's going to be mating again anytime soon and since she now knows that I don't mean her or her clan any harm, I doubt she's going to try and drop me over the side of a building again," she replies, finally looking up into his hazel eyes and smiling.
"Good," he softly states as he brings a hand up gently strokes the side of her face. "I don't want to hate gargoyles, but it's really hard to like creatures that intentionally hurt you."
"Brooklyn didn't realize what he was doing," she reminds him as he steps closer to her and her heart starts beating faster.
"So you said," he whispers as he brings his face closer to hers.
One arm sneaks under the borrowed jacket and wraps around her waist while the other hand gently cradles her face. She knows she should tell him 'no', she knows she should push him away, but for whatever reason, her brain isn't functioning properly anymore. She's pretty sure that her heart is going to burst right out of her chest and her legs are going to give out at any second while she can feel his breath caress her face. Dear lord, when did he start smelling so good? She can feel his warmth on her lips and slightly tilts her head back just as all hell breaks loose next to them.
Author's notes: How about that? The muse is finally giving me ideas for my stories other than the X-Men one I've been working on, so I ran with it. I know there's not a lot of Gargoyle goodness in this chapter, but they'll be back in full force next one. As always, please review.