Harbinger part 2

Disclaimer: Disney owns Gargoyles, I own Kristi and Denice and... I'm getting awfully tired of saying this over and over lol

Summary: So much for quiet time...

Note: Once again, so sorry for the shortness of the last chapter. Hopefully, this should make up for it:) Enjoy!

Feedback: Always welcomed, as long as it's constructive. I thrive on constructive reviews:)

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Blowing out an exasperated breath, she turned away from him.

"I can wait under normal circumstances, but this... this whole thing has me on edge.'

"Did you get enough rest last night?"

The concern in the blond man's tone made her smile.

"It's hard to believe, but yes, actually. When I woke up though, I just felt... I don't know... drained. I didn't dream, or anything, just felt like things were off."

Turning back around, silver earrings dangling, she appeared to truly scrutinize him for the first time all morning.

"Did you sleep well?"

Owen thought back on his night, filled with horrible nightmares from the time of the Unseelie War. It wasn't something he wanted to repeat, Ms. Johnson's concern was genuine.

Strangely, he found that he didn't want her to worry.

"Yes."

He wasn't expecting the slight chuckle that escaped her lips.

"You're a horrible liar, Mr. Burnett."

Puck grinned inside him. Oh, if only she knew how accomplished a liar you actually are.

Ignoring Puck, Owen dipped his head in apology.

"I hadn't wished to cause you distress."

Kristi gave him a serious look.

"Mr. Burnett, I'm already in distress and I'm going to be in a lot more distress before this is over."

"That may be true, but I refuse to add to it."

She gave him an unreadable look, and he turned back to loading the weapons, not wanting her to see the expression of earnestness on his face. He wasn't usually this easy to read.

Seeming to sense his unease, she stayed silent for the next couple of minutes.

"Have you informed your parents of where you are?"

Owen's voice startled her out of her reverie and she blinked in confusion.

"Oh," she said, a smile on her face.

"I wanted to call them when we found someplace relatively safe. My father's aware that I'm okay though. Magic."

Owen nodded; if Ms. Johnson had been part of his family, he would have made sure to keep an eye on her whereabouts as well.

"I was wondering..." she started, then cut herself off, looking embarrassed.

"Yes?" he was curious as to what she might have had to say.

She was playing with the pendant on her chain, something he was starting to realise she did when she was nervous.

She seemed to be considering whether or not to continue, but smiled shyly in the end. Nodding towards his stone fist, she asked "How did that happen?"

Usually, Owen would tense up whenever anyone mentioned it, but he didn't feel that way now, to his surprise.

"An unfortunate accident."

"Mmmm." was her only response, but he saw her frown in concern.

"I've grown accustomed to it," he offered.

Instead of asking him more questions, she suddenly gave him a genuine smile.

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?"

He gave her his own faint smile in return and turned towards the security monitors.

What he saw made him blink.

Hudson had just landed. In the courtyard. In the middle of the afternoon.

Following his gaze, Kristi turned, and gasped.

"What... how?"

Owen was already moving toward the door, a small handgun in his palm.

"I have no idea, Ms. Johnson, but I believe we should find out."

Seeing the gun, she frowned.

"You think this is related to the Unseelies?"

"I think we should be cautious." was the reply.

Feeling uneasy all over again, Kristi followed him outside.

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By the time they reached the courtyard, Hudson was waiting for them.

Stationary, eyes glowing, expressionless.

It had seemed to both Kristi and Owen as if the elderly gargoyle was simply ignoring them.

He hadn't responded to either of them, and they were increasingly getting the feeling that something was definitely wrong.

The hairs on the back of Kristi's neck started to rise, and when she shivered, it had nothing to do with the snow outside.

She stared into the whiteness of his eyes, trying to gauge what was going on in his mind. It was so odd to see a gargoyle with glowing eyes who wasn't displaying any type of emotion.

Of course, it was odd to see a gargoyle awake during the day in general, but the more she observed him, the less she felt that he was actually awake.

"Who did this to you?"

She hadn't been aware that she'd asked the question out loud, and jumped slightly when Owen replied.

"I doubt whoever did it had his best intentions at heart."

Tilting her head in acknowledgement, she tried once more to push out her magic in order to find out what had been done, half expecting, like all of her previous tries, that it would be reflected back to her.

She most definitely did not expect the loud screams and wails that suddenly invaded her mind, and she let out a cry and clamped her hands over her ears instinctively.

She didn't hear Owen's shout to her, didn't feel him supporting her; all she felt was raw emotion... hatred, anger, despair...

Hudson now seemed to be looking right at her, and she found that she couldn't break away from that gaze.

Kristi felt tears streaming down her face, but she realised that she was rapidly being drawn into whatever was happening in Hudson's mind.

She could hear his voice, faint, far away, even throughout the entire din in her mind. The edges of her vision were starting to fade, and she tried to stop it.

No! Stop it! Let him go, let me go!

The last thing she saw was a flash of purple, then she knew.

She felt the jewellery which had been cold against her skin burn like a firebrand into her earlobes and her chest.

The time had come.

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"Racene!"

Seeing her blonde companion rushing through the entrance to the cave, the brunette fey quickly stood up.

"What? What is it?"

"She is gone!"

Struggling to make sense of what the younger woman was saying, Racene frowned.

"Gone?"

"Gone! Completely disappeared!"

Feeling a dark sense of forboding, the brunette looked out towards the entrance of the cave at the setting sun.

"Then the time is upon us then."

The face of the younger handmaiden, so often alight with wicked mischief looked positively terrified now.

"Now? So soon? Surely not, it's too soon and-"

"You know how our former Lord can be. Our mistress was obviously forced to accelerate the plan."

Racene turned and folded her arms.

This changed everything, but still she knew they could deal with it.

"Our Lady is Mistress of Time. Everything will proceed exactly as she says it will."

Coris looked uneasy.

"What about the joined one?"

Racene sighed.

"We must continue to believe that she will truly help us."

Coris snorted.

"Why should we need the help of a mortal?"

Racene's glare was a reprimand, and Coris stepped back from the force of it She knew how the head handmaiden's temper could get.

"Our mistress gives us our orders. Will you obey, or will I have to carry out her orders all by myself?"

Coris bowed her head.

"I will obey."

Racene acknowleged her comment and began moving deeper into the cave.

"Come then. We have much to do."

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Not much rattled Owen Burnett.

Puck had created him that way, always calm, cool, collected.

Unfortunately, he was rattled right now.

The body of the young hybrid Kristienne Johnson was slack in his arms, amethysts in her silver jewellery glowing.

The alarms he'd set in the building were just starting to go off, and the sun wasn't due to set for another five minutes at least.

Hudson was still again, but Owen wasn't reassured.

Picking her up, he ran back inside the castle.

Come on, come on, wake up... please wake up...

He heard Puck giving voice to his own thoughts and frowned.

As soon as he got her to the security room, he laid her down on the small cot.

"Ms. Johnson? Ms. Johnson, can you hear me?"

Pressing the button which activated the Iron Clan robots, he kept an eye on the hybrid, whose breathing had turned ragged.

"Mr. Xanatos. I believe our company has arrived." he said through the intercom.

Glancing back at Kristi again, he clenched his fist.

"Ms. Johnson seems to have suffered some sort of attack."

"Understood."

The billionaire's voice was calm, but Owen could still detect the trace of concern within it.

"Is she going to be okay?"

That was Fox's voice.

The blond man grimaced, taking in the way the girl was starting to shiver.

"I don't know.'

That thought irritated him.

We can't stay here, you know. We need to protect Alexander.

"Perhaps... we can carry her with us. They aren't looking for Alexander."

Owen answered Puck out loud, checking for Ms. Johnson's pulse with his fingers.

Are you crazy? They can detect her, having her near Alex is a bad idea. Do you want Fox and Titania to have our heads on a platter?

"But we can't just leave her here!"

Do you think I WANT to leave her here? I don't like the idea of Maddoc getting his hands on her anymore than you do!

Whatever is was Owen would have replied to Puck remained unsaid, because Kristi picked that moment to wake up, screaming.

Oh, no.

"Ms. Johnson! Ms. Johnson! It's okay, you're inside. You're okay."

Wild emerald eyes turned to meet his, and he could feel the way her whole body was trembling.

"No I'm not. Mr. Burnett... they're here."

"I know. What happened?"

Kristi struggled to sit up, unconciously rubbing at her chest where the pendant lay. She looked confused, and very, very scared, but she was already trying to hide it.

"I'm not exactly sure. Some kind of hallucination."

Her voice was calm, but he couldn't forget the look of pure terror he'd seen there just a few seconds ago.

Turning towards the monitors, he noted with some relief that the clan was waking.

"The clan is awake."

"It doesn't matter," she whispered, so softly his ears almost missed it.

"Time is up."

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Okay, here we go we're getting there lol review, review, review lol