Chapter 6 A/N Y'all will learn more things about Quinn in this chapter, along with a little bit of Quinn/Lexington friendship bonding, and some romance between Quinn and Brooklyn.
The Thrill of the Hunt
"I'm surprised Xanatos even let me come back here, after all, my Guardian arrested him for theft." Quinn was saying, jostling the strap of her bag on her shoulder as she and Owen Burnett rode up to the castle portion of the Eyrie Building. She was dressed in a dark green long sleeved shirt, with black skinny jeans, and brown hunter boots. She had her hair in that same messy bun at the nape of her neck, her bangs were as they normally were, and she also had the same silver ring on the golden chain hanging around her neck.
"Mr. Xanatos is not one to hold grudges, Ms. Stryker, therefore he wouldn't dream of denying you the opportunity to see your friends." Owen said as they made it up to the castle portion of the building.
The both stepped off the elevator to walk back down the newly redone hallway she had gone down the other night, 'They must've redone it during the day.' she thought as they walked up the staircase to get to the tower the six Gargoyles were resting on.
They got there just in time to witness the sun going down, and the remaining Wyvern Clan members burst out of their concrete skin with roars that live dinosaurs would dare to compare to.
"If you will excuse me, Ms. Stryker, I have some matters to attend to." Owen said as he turned and left the girl alone with the Gargoyles.
"Hey Quinn." the trio told her as they started towards the stairs, Brooklyn stopping long enough to give her a quick hug, then they went down to, possible, the TV room, loosely followed by Hudson and Bronx.
Goliath jumped down to stand next to Quinn, "It is good to see you back here, Quinn. Our home is your home, thanks to your help last night." he smiled at the young girl.
Quinn closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, "We may have a little problem, Goliath... You see, your castle is still resting on Xanatos' building. Therefore, it's his property. He signed the papers for it to be brought to New York, and now it belongs to him." she said.
Goliath raised an eyeridge, "That does not mean he will get this castle Quinn, it is our home, and he has been sent to prison." he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Quinn shook her heard, furrowing her eyebrows, "Yes, and no." at his puzzled expression, she added, "Xanatos was convicted, Goliath. He'll only be in jail for six months, maybe even shorter if his lawyers manage to woo the jury. The point is, he won't be in jail for too long, and I think you need to find a new home before he gets back.." she trailed off at his grimace.
Goliath shook his head multiple times, much like a stubborn child refusing sleep, "No, impossible. Castle Wyvern has been our home for over thousands of years, we are not abandoning it now!" he yelled at her before turning around and stalking away before another word was spoken on the matter.
Quinn shook her head as he left, turning around to go down the stairs, "I think your head stays rock solid at night." she muttered, descending the stairs and walking down the hallway until she came to a stop at the TV room.
She saw Hudson sitting in the reclining chair, Bronx at his left, with the Trio parked directly in front of the wide screen television.
Walking inside, she set her bag on the ground behind the recliner, "What are you guys watching?" she asked curiously upon seeing an auburn haired woman dressed in extremely tight red leather with a blue mark over her right eye.
Lexington turned around, an excited smile spread out on his face that reminded her about when Joaquin had gotten the G.I. Joe action figure for Christmas when they were twelve; Quinn had spent hours in the toy store just trying to find the exact kind he had wanted more than anything, "It's The Pack!" he exclaimed before whipping his head back around to watch the Evil Ninjas come out.
Quinn raised an eyebrow when the show suddenly turned on to a commercial saying The Pack would be performing live at Madison Square Garden tonight.
She watched as Lexington's smile widened to the point she was afraid would resemble the Joker's, "Can we go?" he asked his Rookery Brothers excitedly, Quinn thought it was pretty cute.
Brooklyn would have disagreed with the question, when he caught Quinn's eye, it was directed at Lexington, who was still smiling a rather pleading smile like Bronx's face when they were tossing old scraps around in the air.
Lexington's huge eyes widened in happiness when Brooklyn nodded his assent, before the red Gargoyle turned to Quinn, "Do you wanna go, Quinn?" he asked the girl.
Quinn seemed to go over her options in her head, 'Well... I've got that History Exam tomorrow afternoon... I should really study... But, I wouldn't mind hanging out with these three tonight, I could get to know them... Ah, what the hell.' she smiled, "Sure."
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"That was pretty fun, guys, thanks for asking me to come along." she told Brooklyn and Broadway as they neared Castle Wyvern when the show was over.
After the Pack had gotten off the stage, Lexington had asked to stay behind for a little while longer, leaving the three of them to go back to the castle.
Brooklyn, who was carrying Quinn, set her on her feet when they landed, "I'm glad you agreed to come." he said, just as Broadway's stomach growled.
Broadway chuckled nervously at their raised eyebrows and eye ridges, "I guess I'm hungry again." he said simply.
Quinn looked to Brooklyn, "But you ate just an hour ago." she addressed Broadway.
The blue Gargoyle nodded, "I know, Chinese food, it was good too. But, it never quite fills me up.." he trailed off as his belly growled again.
He sighed, "I guess I better go eat something." he sounded like he didn't want to eat again, but the face he made said otherwise, "I'll see you guys later." he told the two as he turned around and walked swiftly away, possibly to the kitchen area of the castle.
Quinn looked over at Brooklyn when he shook his head slightly, "Has he always done that?" she asked curiously as they started walking down the stairs to head into the Great Hall with the tapestries and such.
Brooklyn grinned, "Yep, for as long as I could remember, he's always been hungry. No matter what the situation." he told her as they sat down on the steps closest to the place that Princess Katharine had sat on her throne at one point in time. Quinn knew all about the Princess and how she shunned the Gargoyle clan, even though they fought for her and her people.
Quinn placed a hand underneath her chin, seemingly in thought, "If he got one whiff of the stuff Julie tries to feed us, I'm sure he'd never eat again." she said dryly as she remembered the 'casserole' said Detective tried to get down their throats the night before, after a rather long 'interrogation' between her and Quinn about how she knew about who stole the property from Cyberbiotics. Julie seemed to go for the 'I saw some of his people exit the hover craft when it fell in the river.' and made them eat something that looked like it distinctly had eyeballs.
Brooklyn chuckled, "Maybe he should go eat over there one night." he said, "So, what is Julie? I mean, is she your mother? Or what?" he asked the girl.
Quinn laughed dryly, "Luckily, she's not related to me in any way, shape, or form. Sadly, that doesn't give me the advantage of not knowing her. She's my guardian for all intentions and purposes." she sighed.
The red Gargoyle raised an eye ridge, "You don't sound too happy to say that." he remarked, earning himself a look that flat out screamed 'No Duh.'
"That woman... If given the chance, she'd drop Joaquin and I off at the next bus station and sleep like a baby." she shook her head, "Luckily I didn't grow up knowing her." she said.
"What happened to your parents?" Brooklyn asked after a moment of silence.
Quinn looked up at the dome like ceiling, "I never knew them. I don't know if they died, or if they're still alive somewhere; I grew up in multiple Foster homes, about six of them, actually. Julie's home would count as number seven." she explained this as she closed her eyes with her head tilted upwards.
Brooklyn blinked, 'Seven homes?' he asked himself, "Why didn't you stay with one home?" he asked her.
She opened her eyes and looked at him out of the corner, sending chills down his spine at the icy gaze, "I almost stayed at the first one, I managed to make it two years living with Mr. and Mrs. Stryker, I lived with them when I was a baby, then when they had dropped me off at a daycare for date night, they got in a car accident. Mrs. Stryker died on impact, but her husband stayed for about five more minutes before he joined his wife. I didn't know what happened until a few years ago when one of the paramedics told me about it after I asked what happened.
"Before you ask, yes, I got my last name from that couple", she intercepted when she saw him about to ask something, "After they died, when I was two years old, I was placed in a home with a martial arts master for a father. He taught me how to fight, and I still use his moves to this day. He was about fifty two when he let me into his home, I lived with him until I was five. And he died when I was almost six.
"After him, I was put in several other homes throughout the years. When I finish up Junior year, and get through Senior year of high school, I can go off on my own. Get my own place, without risking staying in someone else's home." she finished with a delighted smile as she thought of how she would model her own apartment.
Brooklyn was about to ask her multiple question, 'What's a High School? You mentioned Joaquin a minute ago, who is he?' but then he got a good look of the fast approaching sun in the windows, "Uh oh, I better hurry if I don't wanna freeze in stone here all day." he told her, standing up swiftly.
When Quinn stood up, they both made their way back up to the tower, stopping briefly for Brooklyn to yell out to Broadway, "Sun's almost up, Broadway, better hurry!" before coming out on the roof of the tower.
Brooklyn hopped up on his pedestal, "Here come's Lex." he told the others, who all followed his gaze to the growing khaki green Gargoyle as he came in for a landing.
"I saw The Pack!" he exclaimed in child like excitement when he was crouching on his pedestal next to Brooklyn and Broadway, who was wiping his face clean of what looked to be barbeque sauce.
Brooklyn raised an eye ridge, "Yeah, all four of us saw them, remember?" he turned his head slightly toward Quinn, "We're gonna be taking care of him in our old age." he mumbled under his breath as quietly as he could so that only him and Quinn could hear.
Lexington rolled his big eyes, "I know that, Brooklyn, I meant, after the show!" he spread his arms out wide in exaggeration, a hug smile on his face.
Goliath looked shocked, "You let them see you?!" he demanded furiously, crossing the distance from his position to standing before Lexington with his teeth gritted in anger, "You should have done that." he managed.
Lexington's happy expression faded to a frustrated one, "Why do we have to hide, huh? We lived with humans back in Scotland, why not here?" he demanded.
Quinn cleared her throat before Goliath could talk back, "Um, I think you should hold that for tonight." she indicated the rapidly arising sun.
Goliath looked at the direction she was pointing, before turning his furious gaze at Lexington, "We finish this at sundown." he said, glaring right back at Lexington as he did the same, his under bite sticking out farther than it usually did, just as the sun came up, turning all six of them into stone for the day; Brooklyn's face frozen in a 'Can't wait til tonight.' sarcastic look, straight at her.
Quinn sighed, shaking her head as she turned to go, "That's going to be a long night." she muttered as she walked away.
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The next night, Quinn was running late as she rode the elevator up to the castle, Julie had gotten angry at her for never showing up for dinner the night before, even made her stay up about three hours to listen to a lecture about making New York's finest worry ever so slightly about her.
She rushed out of the elevator when the doors opened, only to run right into a slightly muscular chest.
Quinn fell back on her butt with an audible 'Oof!', "Sorry about that." she said when she saw Brooklyn on the floor across from her.
He shook his head as he stood up, holding out his hand for her to take, "No problem, Quinn. I was actually just about to go look for you." he said, hoisting her up off the ground, then bending down to pick up the scattered papers that fell from her bag when she fell.
She took the papers from him when he handed them to her, "Thanks, so, what happened with Goliath and Lexington? I hope the little guy is okay." she asked him as they walked out of the main room, and into the TV area, where Hudson and Bronx were sitting in their usual places.
Hudson turned around when he heard footsteps, "Evenin', Lass. It's good to see yeh." he said in his Scottish accent.
Quinn waved at him, and pet Bronx when she saw the beast on the floor, "So? Is Lex in trouble, Brooklyn?" she asked him.
Brooklyn looked out of the window and up at the stars, "He might be if Goliath doesn't approve of The Pack." he told her, taking a seat on the red couch next to the wall and turning his attention on the red headed girl, "So, I'm thinking that'd be a yes." he said with a grin.
Quinn shook her head, "You sound almost happy about that little fact." she told him, setting her book bag down at the base of the couch and choosing to sit on the ground, pulling out her chemistry book.
Brooklyn looked at her book curiously, it had been a while since he had read a book, "What book is that?" he asked her, pointing at it with his talon.
The blue eyed girl looked up at him, noticing how his eyes twinkled a little bit at the sight of the hard backed book, "It's a chemistry book for school. I have to study the periodic table for my chemistry class." she explained, holding the book up by it's bindings to show him how big it was, "I think it could break a window if I threw it at one." she said.
"Hey, you mentioned something about 'School' the other night, what exactly is it?" he asked her.
Quinn raised an eyebrow, "Were you ever taught anything as a, um... hatchling?" she struggled to find the right word to add to the sentence.
Brooklyn nodded in an answer, "Yeah, how to fight, using a weapon, speaking different languages, like Gargoyle and English, and how our family is all Gargoyles we know." he looked at her, "Is that what you learn in 'School'?" he asked.
Quinn looked to Hudson for a split second, he was paying as much attention to her as Brooklyn was, even Bronx was looking straight at her, "Sort of, yeah. We learn languages, like Spanish or French, and we can learn how to fight from Martial Arts instructors, and how to use a weapon from a Weapons Specialist. But, we can learn other things in School, too. Like mathematics or World History." she said to the Gargoyles in the room with her.
"I should teach you to speak Gargoyle, it'll be fun." Brooklyn told her with a smile.
Quinn was about to say something back along the lines of "That sounds great, Brooklyn, thank you." when Broadway chose that moment to jog down the hallway.
He was yelling something that was at first hard to understand, but Hudson, more experienced in the art of listening to yelling, told them that Goliath and Lexington were back from their meeting with The Pack.
"Time to greet the dead." Brooklyn muttered in Quinn's ear as they ran down the hallway to go to the tower Broadway disappeared down.
They got up on the top just in time to see Lexington jump off the ledge, gliding over until he came to the opening in the court yard, then disappearing down the doorway.
Goliath sighed in agitation, turning around he saw Quinn and Brooklyn, with Hudson and Bronx behind them, "We have had a rather long night. Even if it will not be morning for some time, we will rest tonight." he told them, walking down the way they had come, Hudson and Bronx following suit.
Quinn looked at the two other Gargoyles, "What happened to Lex?" she asked them looking behind her to see if Lexington was still down there, he wasn't.
Broadway shrugged his shoulders, "It must've been pretty bad if he didn't even stop to say hi." he said, Brooklyn nodded in agreement.
Quinn looked at them, "I think I'll go check on him." she said, then turn and ran down the same hallway she had come from before the two Rookery Brothers could say anything in protest.
She ran until she came to a balcony that lead out to the open sky, there she found the hunched over form of the khaki green Gargoyle, he looked like he was sulking.
"Lex?" she asked him, standing in the doorway, looking at him in sympathy, "What's wrong?" she asked him.
Lexington didn't answer, didn't even turn his head to acknowledge that he heard her, then, "They fooled me. I thought they were the good guys who fought with honor, turns out they were the bad guys who wanted us dead." he said, then shook his head, bringing up his hand to his face, "I'm never trusting anyone ever again!" he exclaimed in anger.
Quinn pursed her lips as she walked over to stand three inches behind him, "Lex.." she calmly reached out a hand and placed it on his slightly muscular shoulder, "I know it probably doesn't mean much, but you can trust me. I will never let you down, Lexington; believe me." she told him with all sincerity in her voice.
Lex smiled a little, "Thanks Quinn." he said.
Quinn smiled, "Anytime, so, you wanna play on my laptop for a while? You look like you could use a stress reliever." she offered.
Lexington nodded after a moment's hesitation, "Sure, I could use it." he turned around fully and smiled, "Thanks again, Quinn." he said, before surprising the girl and hugging her tightly around her middle.
Quinn hesitated before she wrapped her own arms around his shoulders, "Anytime, Lex." she promised.
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Owen Burnett sat in front of Xanatos in the talking window of the prison in New York, showing him the photos he had managed to snap from the security camera of Quinn with the Gargoyles.
"I have done as you asked, sir. The channels were all changed to show only the Pack and nothing more, and Goliath went with the little one to see your team." he showed him the pictures, "And Quinn has taken a real liking to the small Clan." he said.
Xanatos looked down at the file Owen had given him, but he was more interested in the pictures of Quinn, "Who would you say she is most like, Owen? Her mother, or her father?" he asked the blonde man.
Owen looked down at the pictures that were in Xanatos' hand from under the glass, "I have to say, I have no idea, sir. I do not know the girl besides from the few times I have seen her in the elevator when she was visiting the Gargoyles." he answered.
Xanatos turned his head to the side and stared at the wall for a moment, "If I knew her better, I'm sure I could get my answer." he said, closing his eyes.
Sorry to say this is where I'm stopping this chapter.
Please review, tell me what you think.
Don't flame, I don't wanna hear it.
-Zabby