Chapter Fifteen A/N: Just to let y'all know, I was not very enthused about writing this particular episode, mainly because of Brooklyn's attention towards Maggie, and because I'd have to write Quinn as being the jealous type, but then I came up with a really cute ending that made writing this chapter better! On with the story! Oh, and the OC featured in this chapter belongs to DeadlyRose1992 :)
Metamorphosis
Quinn whistled the tune to Kill Bill as she placed her textbooks in her locker, her bag at her feet and her black leather jacket rustling with every move her arms made.
She was happier about going home today because last night, her father, she silently smiled at saying she had a father now; gave her permission to bring Katie over today to see where she and Cody, she was still a little shocked about him being Xanatos' son; had been disappearing to.
And if that went well, then she'd show Katie what she is.
She stopped what she was doing when two girls walked by at that moment, whispering to each other, but, curse her enhanced hearing, she still heard them.
"Have you noticed that blonde chick, what was her name? Tanya?"
"Yeah, Tanya Noel, hasn't she been missing for a few weeks now?"
"Yeah, I heard she was, like, murdered or something, right?"
"I heard something different, like her foster family got fed up with her and dumped her on the streets to be taken at will or something like that."
"That's probably worse than the murder story! At least she'd be dead instead of suffering from, like, starvation or something."
Quinn blinked as she reached up and fingered with the silver ring around her neck; so, this girl was missing, huh? She'd have to keep an eye out for her. 'Easy enough.' the elven looking girl thought as she unconsciously reached up and pulled her hair over her pointy ears a little more than they already were, 'She always had her hair up in a braid with a dark purple ribbon, easily distinguishable.' she let her ring and hair go as she turned around and slammed her locker shut, bending down to grab her bag from the ground, she stopped when she heard familiar footsteps.
She had gotten fairly good at that, listening to other's footsteps, that way she couldn't be snuck up on if she was in a difficult situation. Right now, the steps she was hearing were fairly light, but confident. Converse sneakers. A female.
Standing up quickly, she smiled at Katie, who responded by ignoring her completely and walking away.
Quinn pursed her lips as she raised an eyebrow, slightly irritated that she was still mad at her when the argument was a matter of weeks ago. Shaking her head, she ran up to catch up with her, "Katie! Hey, wait up!" she called as she made it to the brunette girl.
Katie didn't look at her, "What do you want?" she asked her calmly.
While it may not have been the friendliest sentence, it wasn't said in anger, and that was a start for Quinn. She smiled at the taller girl, "How would you like to see where I've been going?" she asked.
The freckled girl looked at Quinn in mock shock, "Isn't that breaking a major rule of some sort?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
The red haired girl rolled her eyes as Katie turned back to her locker, "Look, I'm sorry I haven't told you where I was going earlier, but I had to keep it a secret. It wasn't until last night that I got permission to take you there. I'm very sorry, Katie. Can you forgive me?" she asked her.
Katie sighed, before she turned her head in Quinn's direction, "Not until I see this place and figure out for myself why you kept it secret." she said.
Quinn rubbed at the back of her head, "That might not take very long." she replied as Katie grabbed her bag, then she lead the brunette out of the building and into the parking lot, where they saw Cody and Victoria were waiting in his car, this time they were silent.
When they walked up to them, Quinn raised an eyebrow, man she did that a lot, "Did someone die?" she asked them as she placed her bag next to Victoria in the back seat and taking Katie's from her to do the same.
Cody sighed, "I just told her who my old man is." he explained before he looked at Katie out of the corner of his eye and smiled at her, "Come sit up here with me, Kit Kat." he said.
Vivi scoffed at him, "I thought you said that front seat was only for your little sister?" she asked him.
The black haired boy turned to her, "Or for girls I'd like to date." he finished it before he looked back at Katie, "So, how about it, hot stuff? Wanna go out with me?" he asked her.
Katie looked at him with an annoyed expression, before she moved away from the passenger door and over to the back where, after moving the back packs out of the way, sat down next to Vivi and looked up at Quinn, "Can we go to this place now, please?" she asked her, completely ignoring Cody.
Quinn looked at Cody as she sat in the passenger seat, "To the Police Station, Code." she said as the black eyed boy, who looked dejected after being ignored but if anything his resolve to get her to go out with him even stronger, revved up his car and drove out of the parking lot and into the street.
Vivi looked at Quinn with furrowed eyebrows, "Did Goliath agree to this?" she asked the red haired girl with trepidation lacing in her voice.
Quinn looked back at the other blue eyed woman, halfway annoyed, "Of course he did, Vivi. You've got to have more faith in me." she said before she turned around to watch the road go by them at a fast pace.
Katie looked a little curious now, "'Goliath'? Are you talking about the biblical character?" she asked and her companions laughed.
Quinn calmed down enough to answer her, "He might be as big as the biblical character, but, believe me, he's nothing like him." she answered.
Victoria calmed down enough to get in, "What would he do if he heard someone say that about him?" then she started laughing at the look on the handsome Gargoyle's face if he knew.
After the laughter stopped, they spent the rest of the ride in silence, the only sound being the cars and the wind before they finally made it to their destination.
Together, Quinn and Katie got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk, before looking at the other two still in the car.
Quinn raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you two coming?" she asked them, lifting her bag over her shoulder.
Simultaneously, they shook their heads, before they both stopped and glared at each other.
Cody looked away from the brunette college woman, and at Quinn, "I'm gonna go confront daddy dearest and the Queen back there," Victoria glared at him again, "has to take a makeup exam because she was late to class this morning." he grinned at the woman in the back with an expression that said 'I was in class!'
Quinn tilted her head to one side, "Weren't you on a date this morning?" she asked him and laughed after his swift, urgent 'shh!', before they took off down the road and out of sight.
The red headed girl took in a deep breath before she turned to the girl next to her, who looked at her expectantly.
Katie raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, "So?" she asked, "Why are we at the Police Station?"
The red headed girl said nothing as she walked past her friend and up the stairs, "C'mon." she indicated the entrance before she walked inside and waited until Katie walked in beside her.
"Are you turning me in for something, Quinn?" Katie asked.
Quinn grinned at her as she lead the way through the Police Station, up the ladder, and into the Gargoyle's home.
Setting her bag down by the trap door, she looked at Katie and spread her arms out wide to indicate the spacious room, "Welcome to my home." she smiled.
The brunette girl raised an eyebrow, "You live above the Police Station? What happened to living with Julie? And what happened to Joaquin?" she asked.
Quinn let her arms drop as she looked at the sunlight still streaming in through the clock face, they didn't have very long until the sun went down, then she'd take Katie outside to meet her family, "Julie disowned me for some strange reason, even kept my dog to herself; so, I've been living here with my new family for the past few months. Joaquin has been missing for a while now, I haven't seen nor heard from him." she explained before grabbing the hazel eyed girl's hand and dragging her up the stairs to the terrace.
When they were standing there, Quinn walked over to the hand guard and leaned against it behind Brooklyn while Katie hung back against the wall, looking at the 'statues'.
"Okay, I'll bite, what are we doing up here, Quinn?" she asked the much smaller girl.
Quinn looked behind at her with a smile as the sun went down and cracks started forming on the Gargoyles.
Katie watched, breathless, as the stone Gargoyles came alive before her very eyes, automatically pressing herself closer to the wall in slight fear as all six of them roared into the night and the rest of the stone fell away.
"Evening, guys." Quinn greeted them when they turned around to see the girls and they jumped down from their pedestals.
Goliath looked at the brunette still pressed up against the wall, "This must be the illustrious Katie you were telling us about." he smiled at the girl, "It is nice to finally meet you, I am Goliath." he greeted.
Katie seemed to snap out of her shock and opened her mouth to say something, before closing it again and looking at Quinn, "I see what you meant about him and the biblical character." she laughed nervously, slowly coming away from the wall and walking over to Quinn, "So, this is why I haven't been seeing you so much outside of school?" she asked for clarification.
Quinn nodded as she hugged the Trio really quick before ducking down to pet Bronx when he came over and rubbed against her leg, wanting to be pet, "This is my family." she said as Brooklyn crouched down next her with a little difficulty since he was much bigger than she, and placed his arm over her shoulder.
Katie crouched down next to Quinn, "What are they?" she asked her.
"Gargoyles." Quinn said simply as Bronx walked away from them to go over to Hudson, "And, they aren't the only reason I haven't been hanging out with you as much." she started before she stood up straight and pulled off her jacket, before she slowly brought her wings and tail out of the prison she called her shirt. She stretched her blue and grey wings out as far as they could go, relishing the freedom, before she swiftly pulled them over to wrap around her shoulders as she pulled her hair back away from her ears and smiled at her friend, showing her fangs as well.
At first, Katie said nothing, but her eyes were wide, before she touched the leather of Quinn's wings with the palm of her hand, "What happened to you?" she asked.
Quinn sighed, "It's a long story, one that I will be happy to tell you about inside, okay? It's still a little cold outside and you look like your freezing your tail off." she said, her tail swishing lazily behind her as she watched Katie unconsciously pulled her black and yellow letter mans jacket over her David Bowie t-shirt before she nodded and turned to go inside after Hudson, Goliath, Lex, and Bronx went in.
Quinn turned around when she saw Brooklyn and Broadway crouched on the ledge, about to take off, "Where are you two going?" she asked them with a raised eyebrow.
"We've got patrol duty tonight, Quinn. But, it shouldn't take too long. Make sure there's plenty of dinner for us when we get back, okay?" Broadway smiled at her as he said this.
Quinn laughed, "Okay, be sure to come back in one piece, guys." she said.
Brooklyn grinned, "Which one? Me or Broadway?" he asked with a slight laugh.
"Preferably Broadway, Brookie." Quinn replied before she turned and started walking away from them.
"Ouch, that hurt, beautiful. We'll see ya later, adios!" she heard Brooklyn call out before the leather beating air sound and then they were gone.
The red headed girl shook her head with a smile as she walked into the main room, just in time to see Katie get knocked over when Bronx decided to charge her happily.
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Victoria hummed softly to herself as she walked down the sidewalk that lead to her apartment a few blocks away from the college she attended after she finished the makeup exam she was forced to take.
She was sorry she didn't get a chance to at least say hello to the Gargoyles, but if she wanted to graduate college, then she had to take every exam they dished out no matter how ridiculous the subject, like Divination. All the class was missing was a bug eyed professor with an airy voice that always predicted a student's death.
Laughing to herself, she didn't notice the white van that was following her until she felt something prick the skin on the back of her neck.
Wincing, she reached up and plucked a dart out of her neck, "What, hell?" she asked before her vision started fading into black and she passed out, falling backwards, she felt a pair of arms grab her before everything left her and she was out like a light.
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"I cannot believe that happened to you." Katie breathed out as Quinn finished telling her how she got her Gargoyle features.
The place was silent save for the TV's noises in the background as Hudson watched a new episode of Celebrity Hockey with Bronx at his side. Goliath was sitting quietly on the stone steps, reading Eragon, a book Quinn had recommended he try out, so far he was about halfway through the book. Quinn couldn't tell if he was enjoying it or not, she guessed he liked it if he hadn't thrown it away in disgust yet. And Lexington was, once again, playing with her laptop.
Quinn shrugged at her friend, before the sound of footsteps on the terrace caught their attention and they all turned in time to see Broadway dragging a drugged looking Brooklyn into the room, before he unceremoniously plopped in on the ground.
Quinn got up and ran to her friend's side, grasping his face with her hands, she brought his head up to look at his eyes, they were dilated, "Brooklyn, can you hear me?" she asked worriedly, vaguely noticing the others gathering around them.
Brooklyn closed his eyes, "Is that you, lion girl? Are you safe?" he asked drowsily.
Quinn blinked, 'Lion girl?' "No, Brookie, it's Quinn. What happened to you?" she asked urgently as he reached up and took her hands off his face before rubbing the top of his head with a grimace.
Broadway answered for him, "We found a woman that was being followed by a lot of bad guys in a white van. Brooklyn, thinking he could get her, took a tranquilizer dart to the shoulder." he explained.
Brooklyn started talking again, "She looked so helpless, she needed my help. If I was stronger, I could have saved her from them." he looked like he was beating himself up inside over not getting to her, and Quinn felt a pang of something that was entirely unfamiliar to her. It felt like slight hatred towards something, but towards what, she didn't know.
The light blue Gargoyle walked over to Quinn and handed something to her, "Here, loverboy pulled this off her wrist before they got her in the van again." he explained as he placed a white bracelet in her small hand.
There it was again, that same pang hit her gut once more and she realized it was centered towards the 'Lion girl' that Brooklyn was thinking so much about.
Quinn took it with much hesitation and merely glanced at it, "Gen-U-Tech labs. I read up on the internet that Xanatos owns them." she said as she stared at Brooklyn, who was still muttering about the lion girl. She couldn't tell what he was saying, but every so often, she caught the few words of 'Beautiful golden eyes'. Or, 'If only I could have saved her.' this did nothing to help Quinn's jealousy.
"Quit muttering about her wanting our help, Brooklyn. She backed away from us when we landed and said 'Don't hurt me.'" Broadway said, noticing Quinn's face as she stared at the red Gargoyle.
Brooklyn glared up at him, "You don't know that! You didn't look in her eyes, Broadway, she was practically begging for my help!" he argued.
"Funny, that's not what I'm hearing, Brookie." Quinn huffed as Brooklyn turned to look at her in shock, as well as just about everyone, including her, but Broadway.
Brooklyn's look of shock turned into anger and agitation really fast, "How would you know, Quinn? You weren't even there!" he yelled, yes yelled, at his best friend from his position on the floor.
Quinn breathed hard through her nose as she turned to look at anywhere else but the red Gargoyle still perched on the floor, her irises starting to turn grey as the white surrounding them started turning a feint red like a female Gargoyle's in her anger.
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Groaning, Victoria tried to reach up and rub her head to rid it of the headache she had started getting after she passed out, but found she couldn't due to the straps that were holding her down on a table.
Vivi's heart rate started beating at a fast pace as she tried to place where in the world she might be, but came up empty as she surveyed the lab looking area, shuddering in slight fear at the sight of the beakers and lab equipment surrounding her head.
"Do you think someone will come for us?" she turned her head sharply to the left when she heard a timid voice and shrieked in shock at the sight that greeted her.
There were five catlike creatures with bat wings, beating against the glass cage they were imprisoned in, well, three of them were, Victoria could tell they were the males.
"Miss? Can you answer my question?" a white cat girl with black spots all over her with honey blonde hair that was pulled up in a high braid by a dark purple ribbon asked the brunette girl on the table. Her companion, a lioness with sandy blonde hair that reached her waist, was sitting against the wall, not paying any attention to what was going on around her.
Victoria attempted to calm herself down, with much difficulty, "I'm sure someone is trying to find us, like someone's family member will get us.." she trailed off at the sad look in the cat girl's human eyes.
The white and black spotted girl slowly brought her hands away from the glass of her cage, "My foster family doesn't care enough to bother filing a Police report, and no one else here even has a family member that didn't disown them." she said, looking away from Vivi as one of the males, a black panther looking one with a blonde stripe going down from his head to his back, pounded on the glass.
"That's not true!" he shouted, "I'm sure my sister is out there looking for me! She can't have forgotten about me!" his hands glowed with electricity in his rage.
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Cody tried to look uninterested as he walked through the front steps of Xanatos' home and work place and over to the elevator after his father's assistant told him which floor to go.
He could think of multiple things that he'd rather be doing right now: hanging himself, drinking used toilet water.. Why did he have to be related to the one man who the Gargoyles, as well as Quinn, hated the most?
At least they were fair about it, they hadn't treated him any differently when they found out, well, Brooklyn acted more smug with him, but Cody could honestly care less about what the beaked Gargoyle did. Goliath started talking to him less and less, but, Quinn had told him, the lavender Gargoyle would get over it eventually, it was only a matter of time before he started treating him like a friend again.
The black haired boy was brought out of his thoughts when the elevator dinged, the doors opened, and he found himself on the floor where Xanatos' office was held.
Taking in a deep breath, he got out and started walking to the right where Burnett had said to turn; even if his father was evil beyond words, he couldn't help but feel at least a little excited to be meeting the man that helped to make him possible. While, he would admit, he didn't like the idea of being the arch enemy's son, he was glad to say he knew who his father was.
He paused outside the large door, looking down at his black sweat shirt and dark jeans, before he reached up one hand and made a feeble attempt at getting his hair to straighten out and look presentable, why hadn't he picked a better outfit or at least gotten a shower before he came?
Disregarding his hair and attire, he knocked twice and waited, "Come in, Cody." he heard through the door. Pushing it open, he poked his head in first, before moving the rest of his body in as well and shutting the door behind him.
Xanatos was sitting behind his desk with that smug grin on his face and Fox sitting on his desk, "Welcome home, son." he greeted, spreading his hands out as he stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of Cody, "Just call me dad." he said.
The black eyed boy looked at him with a fake smile, "Okay.. Dad.. Um, I wanted to talk to you." he started when Xanatos cut him off by looking behind him and at Fox.
He looked mad, "Fox, please have Owen bring the car out for me. I'm going to be paying a little visit to Dr. Sevarius in a short minute." he then turned back to Cody with a smile, "Until I have to go, you and I can talk, Cody." he said, placing his hand on the college boy's shoulder and steering him over to sit in front of his desk as Fox got up and left to carry out the orders he had placed.
Cody watched her go before Xanatos cleared his throat and got his attention again, "I'm sure you have questions, Cody." he made a motion with his hand to get him to talk.
"Oh." Cody was racking his brain with trying to think of something to ask him, "Um, why didn't you keep me? I mean, I heard that my mom died giving birth to me, but why couldn't you keep me?" he asked, watching as Xanatos took in a deep breath as he leaned back in his seat and pat his thighs once with his hands, trying to think.
Xanatos pursed his lips as memories came rushing back at him, "Before I explain to you why exactly I gave you to foster care, you have to understand something: I loved your mother, I truly did. She was possibly the most kindhearted, sweetest, most thoughtful person in this hell of a city. And when we got married, I was about eighteen or nineteen, somewhere in there, and my corporation was just starting to come out, when Maria got pregnant. We didn't have that much in baby care, but we were willing to get as much, maybe even more, for you.
"The small fortune I had gotten to start my business dropped very dangerously to the point that I could barely support your mother and I, let alone add you to the equation. Then Maria became sick. I almost lost you to a miscarriage, but your mother, as well as she was kind, she was stubborn, she refused to give you up. I tried to tell her that it would kill her to continue with the pregnancy, she was about seven months along at that point and flat out told me, 'There is no way in hell, David, I will give up my son.'
"So, instead of arguing with her further, I had a doctor tell her that she had to stay in bed twenty four hours a day, every day of the week. She hated the arrangement, but if it meant keeping you alive, then she'd go through with it. I had paid every doctor in the city to find out a medicine that I could give her that wouldn't harm you, but no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't find one. Finally, one day in the ninth month of the pregnancy, you weren't due for another week or so, she went into labor.
"It was a long and grueling fifteen hours that we spent in the delivery room, but, finally, you came out to greet the world. Sadly, your mother didn't get a chance to greet you herself." he paused to see if he had his son's attention, after meeting the eyes that reminded him of his late wife, he continued, "The medical bills were high. Too high to afford to keep you; and without your mother there to help take care of you, I saw the only way to keep you alive, give you to foster care. Maria would have had a fit if she knew I gave you up, but I'm sure she would have understood given the situation we were in while she was pregnant.
"So, you see, Cody," he leaned forward in an attempt to get closer to the boy, "I gave you up because I saw no way to be able to keep you, that doesn't mean I didn't love you as much as I loved your mother." he finished.
Cody was silent for a long time, before he licked his lips, "But, you've been in charge of the Xanatos Corporation for a long time now, Dad; why didn't you get me as soon as you had enough money?" he asked.
Xanatos stood up and walked around his desk to lean against the front, "I couldn't find you. There were a lot of kids with your facial features, a majority of them were boys. It wasn't until that day, when you came with Goliath and a few of the others to rescue Quinn, that I figured out you were the one that I lost all those years ago." he stuck his hands in his pockets as he smiled at the boy, "And I must say, you look more like your mother than I thought you would." he finished before the intercom on his phone started beeping. He reached over and pressed a button, "Yes, Fox?" he asked.
The auburn haired woman spoke through the speakers, "The car's ready, David." she said before she hung up with a click.
Cody watched his father press a button on the receiver before he turned and looked at him, "I want you to live here, with me, Cody. It's been far too long that you've been without a father, and I want to make it up to you. It's late right now, but, get some sleep, and then tomorrow, I'll call the college and let them know you'll be spending the day with me, then we can catch up. For right now, however, Owen will show you to your new room while I go and straighten out the good doctor." he finished explaining this before he walked closer and squeezed Cody's shoulder once before he continued walking and stepped out of the office, leaving Cody in there alone for the time being until Owen would get him.
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The next evening...
"..Fraking Cody... Fraking Brooklyn... Fraking lion girl.." Quinn was grumbling under her breath as she and Katie ran along the sidewalk away from the school to get to the Gargoyle's home again.
The day had been the worst day ever in her opinion, aced all the exams she had to take, ate her favorite lunch (baked potato with all the good stuff on), even spent the entire day in all the classes with Katie hanging out with her again.
...You know, honestly, the day could have been okay for Quinn if she didn't have this stupid jealousy thing flashing through her body at top speed.
They finally slowed down enough to a steady walk as they got closer to the Police Station, Quinn's facial expression read nothing but malice, "You know, Quinn, if you aren't careful, your face is gonna get stuck like that." Katie tried to lighten her friend's mood, only to be shot an extremely cold look out of the corner of her narrowed eye, before she swiftly looked away.
The brunette girl blinked as she pulled her letter man's jacket tighter around her Devil May Cry t-shirt, "Quinn, I don't get it. If you like Brooklyn the way he likes that lion girl, why don't you just tell him? You never know, he might like you back." she suggested.
The red headed girl clenched her jaw, "I do not like him like that, I just..." she tried to search for a word to describe what she felt, "I just.. Don't think it's right for him to be chasing after girls that refused him in the first place." she summed up, though she knew it was a lie.
Luckily, Katie let the subject drop and didn't say anything as they reached the entrance, only to stop before entering as Cody drove up in his convertible, shut it off, grabbed the keys, and jumped out of the side of his door with a smile on his face.
He ran up to the girls, his attire surprising both of them. He had on a dark red button down with the buttons undone and a black tank top underneath. He also had on khaki pants and nice black shoes.
Quinn's bad mood vanished for the moment, "Dude, what happened to you?" she asked him, her eyes wide as she looked him up and down.
He puffed up his chest as he strutted in front of them, "I just spent the entire day with my father, getting to know each other better after not seeing each other since I was a baby." his smile disappeared at the grimace that appeared on Quinn's face at the reminder of who his father was exactly, "He's actually pretty cool Quinnie, you'd be surprised." he said.
Quinn scoffed at him, her bad mood coming back in full swing as the jealousy took over again before they turned around and walked into the Station, going through the entire thing and up into the Gargoyle's home.
The girls dropped their bags by the trap door before walking up the stairs to the terrace, both of them were ignoring Cody's rambling while he talked about how great his day with Xanatos was.
"Guys, he even let me practice my guitar with him there." he said excitedly as they all leaned against the wall.
Katie saw how agitated Quinn was getting on top of her bad mood, "Cody, we realize that you had fun with your new daddy, but could you keep it to yourself right now? Quinn's not exactly happy at the moment." she said.
Cody looked like he was going to ask what was wrong, when the sun finally went down and the Gargoyles burst from their stone skin to stand there in all their glory.
Hudson yawned and stretched, "If yeh need me, I'll be watching my shows." he told the others as he waved at the teenagers and walked by with Bronx.
While her companions waved back at him, Quinn had her eyes trained on Brooklyn as he crouched to leave, but she didn't dare say anything, especially not when Broadway did.
"Geez, Brooklyn," he started, "Why don't you just drop it already? She didn't want our help! And I doubt she ever will, she looked like she was trying to escape us both!" he exclaimed, clearly agitated.
Brooklyn glared at him, "You don't know anything about her!" he yelled at his Rookery Brother, and that was when Quinn snapped.
"Neither do you, genius!" she shouted, alerting the red Gargoyle of her presence.
He turned his head in her direction so swiftly, she actually flinched, "Shut up, Quinn. How would you know anything about her?" he growled.
Quinn glared daggers at him, "Well, for one thing, I know she was so scared she might've asked for a murderer's help if they were standing in front of her." she ground out through gritted teeth.
Brooklyn suddenly stood up straight, turned around, walked and towered over her, his eyes glowing a feint white while the other beings around them watched, not daring to say anything, "What is your problem?" he growled.
"Problem?" Quinn asked defiantly, "I don't have a problem! Your the one with the unhealthy obsession over a girl you claim pleaded for your help! According to Broadway, she pulled away from the both of you!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
"You know what? Your just jealous!" he shouted right back.
Quinn looked taken aback, "Jealous? Over what? Dare I ask!"
"Because, unlike you, she is more human!"
"Human?! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Let me put it as simply as possible, she actually showed emotions! Like fear!"
"What do you mean? I show emotions! I show fear! I was scared when Macbeth kidnapped you, Lex, and Bronx! I was scared when Demona knocked you out on the bridge when Coldstone showed up!"
"Yeah, sure, that was fear, but it wasn't the kind of fear I was talking about! Do you even know what real fear feels like? I mean, your an emotionless robot with wings and a tail!" he turned away from her shocked expression, "Your so strong, you don't need anyone else to help you with anything! You don't need Goliath! You don't need Bronx, or Broadway, or Lexington, or Hudson... You don't need, nor do you want, me." he walked away to come over to the ledge, "Why do you even come up here? You've been alone your entire life, so why not just stay that way? Your fully capable of taking care of yourself." he ended.
Quinn blinked and took in deep breaths, "What are you saying, Brookie?" she asked him.
"I'm saying, get out of here, Quinn!" he snapped at her, before crouching on the ledge and ignoring everyone else around him.
Quinn stared at him in a shocked expression for a moment, before, "Fine!" she shouted at him before she turned around and ran out of sight.
Katie, Cody and Lexington ran to the doorway and watched as she grabbed up her bag and disappeared down the trap door, slamming it behind her as she left.
Cody looked at the others, "I'm gonna go after her. Try to get her to come back." he said, then, glaring at Brooklyn's back, he took off at a sprint after the small girl, Katie following behind him.
Lexington turned to his Rookery Brother, "What is your problem?" he demanded, "You do realize you just called your best friend emotionless, then you kicked her out of her own home." he growled, coming over to crouch on his pedestal as he glared at the beaked Gargoyle.
Brooklyn seemed to be ignoring him, however, such was proven when he started to stretch his wings to take off, when Goliath decided to speak, trying to not hurt the other Gargoyle after what he said to his daughter, "You cannot charge in there without a plan," he saw Brooklyn was going to disregard his warning, "And I have a plan." he finished.
The beaked Gargoyle slowly lowered his wings as he looked back to his Clan leader expectantly.
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"You know, I've never seen you care about her like this, Cody. It's always been cheesy player moves and sarcasm between you both." Katie said as she and the black haired boy stood outside the Police Station, looking up at the clock tower in time to see three shadowed figures leap from the building and glide off.
Cody looked away from the figures and at the street, searching for his childhood friend, "Well, that's one thing you don't know about me, Katie. I'm protective of my friends, even if it's something emotional that hurts them." he said, "Ah ha!" he cried when he saw a small shadow crouched low on the ground, and he made to walk over to it, when Katie held him back.
He looked at her inquisitively, her hazel eyes were uncertain, "What?" he asked impatiently, he had to go see Quinn, make sure she was okay.
Katie kept her hand on his own as she spoke, "You know, Brooklyn kind of had a point.. Not about Quinn showing no emotions, but about Quinn not showing true fear. Is she even afraid of anything?" she asked the boy.
Cody only looked at her, seeming to contemplate something, then he slowly took his hand out of the girl's grasp and looked back at Quinn's shadow, "If I tell you something, you need to promise not to tell anyone." he looked back at the brunette, who nodded slowly, "Quinn has been alone almost all her life, save for me or the people that either died or kicked her out of their lives, okay? The only person she had to comfort her was me."
"What does this have to do with Quinn never being afraid?" Katie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Because, no one else has had to hold her while she had a panic attack during a thunderstorm." he said before he turned and walked away from her, running across the street and crouching by Quinn.
Katie blinked, "She's a Ceraunophobiac?" she whispered in shock before shaking her head and running out to meet them on the other side.
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"She's in there, I can see her." Brooklyn muttered as he crouched above the skylight of the Gen-U-Tech labs.
They had made a quick stop at Xanatos Inc. to get the address for the laboratory, then they headed out to find the place, which, surprisingly wasn't as hard as they originally thought it would be.
Goliath reached over and broke the padlock on the outside of the window, before bringing the glass up and setting it to the side as Brooklyn jumped down to land on the floor, Lexington behind him, and finally Goliath.
Victoria looked up at the sound of footsteps outside the door, taking a risk, she shouted, "Help! Please, someone help us!"
She was in luck when the door was smashed open, and in walked Goliath as well as two of the trio.
The lavender Gargoyle gasped audibly when he saw Vivi strapped to the table, rushing forward, he had to fight himself to keep his anger in check before he completely lost it, and he clipped her straps, breaking them with the swipe of a talon; he helped her to sit up, "Victoria, are you alright?" he asked urgently, starting to check her for any sign of injuries.
Victoria nodded, before someone else interrupted, "Are you here to rescue us?" the white and black spotted cat girl asked form behind her and the lion girl's glass cage.
Lexington, as if in a trance, walked up to her and locked his huge eyes with her own more human eyes, "Who are you?" he asked in slight wonder.
She stared at him with the same expression, "I'm Tanya. Tanya Noel. You?" she asked him in return.
"Lexington." he answered before he smiled at her, she smiled right back, dazzling him to no end.
It was ruined, however, when the lion girl shrieked in fear as Brooklyn walked closer to her, "Get away from me!" she yelled at him, backing up to the wall with her eyes wide and mouth open.
Brooklyn looked at her in a pleading way, "We don't want to hurt you, we want to help you!" he tried, but all that got him was another shriek and then she reached over and pressed a button on the side of the cage.
She shouted, "Help! Intruders!" before Brooklyn, starting to get irritated with how she was acting, used one hand to break the glass, scaring her so much, she actually fainted.
He managed to make a hole big enough to climb through in the glass before he stepped in, picked her up, and climbed out, carrying her in his arms bridal style.
Tanya followed closely behind him as he exited the cage, "Can I come with you, please? I don't want to be here when the bug eyed creep of a doctor comes back to do something extra to us." she explained as Lexington walked up to her and stood to his full height, trying to seem impressive to her. Sadly, he hunched over again when he saw that she was the same height as he was.
"Of course!" Lex said enthusiastically and she turned to flash him another dazzling smile when the door suddenly burst open, and in came Xanatos followed by a creepy looking man with a glass vile in his hands.
Goliath growled low in his throat as he helped Victoria to stand, she still had a little bit of the sedative in her system and she was swaying dangerously on her own two feet, "I should have known you'd be behind this." he said to the tan skinned man.
Xanatos shook his head, "Trust me, Goliath, this is as much a surprise to me as it is to you, I had no idea that he was experimenting on teenagers such as the young ladies right here." he indicated the two cat looking girls, "I just spent the better part of an hour making Sevarius here come up with an antidote for their condition." he explained as two of his latest robot creations walked into the room, and upon seeing the Gargoyles, started firing at them.
Tanya's eyes were wide as a red blast narrowly missed her arm, before Lexington grabbed her hand, turned around, and ran in the direction of a set of shelves that lead up to the skylight.
He let her hand go, "Climb on!" he shouted as multiple blasts were starting to be fired at them. She slowly got on his back and once she was secure, he sunk his claws into the surface of the wall and scaled it until he made it up to the roof.
Brooklyn turned and started to run in the direction of the shelf Lex had climbed, "No! My creations!" he heard Sevarius scream before their was a crash and one of the male cat creatures screamed in anguish, but he didn't turn around to see what had happened because he was up the wall and out of there in a matter of seconds.
Goliath picked up Victoria as he turned around to get out of there before he or her were shot by the robots, when he heard footsteps coming at him from behind. Without turning around, he used his tail to hit whoever was stupid enough to approach him from behind, then he took off and followed the two younger Gargoyles.
He vaguely heard a crash and then a strange zapping noise, before the only thing to be heard was the string of curse words that flowed from the mouth of the panther male with the blonde stripe.
He didn't want to go back, though, they had gotten what they came for and then some, now all they wanted to do was get home before the sun came up.
Goliath saw that Lexington was flying with Tanya hanging on his back, and was a little worried about the youngest Gargoyle falling through the air with the extra weight from the cat girl, but thought otherwise when he remembered that, as small as he was, Lexington was one of the strongest Gargoyles he has ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Brooklyn had his eyes trained ahead of him, the lion girl was still passed out and was like a dead weight in his arms, but he was managing. His mind flashed slightly to a certain red headed girl that had rested in the same arms a few times, and how light she was, even when she was passed out like this lion girl. Of course, the lioness was much taller than Quinn, therefore, it was only right that Quinn was much lighter than her.
He looked down swiftly at the lioness, he wasn't sure it truly felt right to be holding onto this girl, but she needed his help and dammit, he was going to give it to her.
Goliath watched the exchange, before he looked away from the beaked Gargoyle, starting to get mad again, when Victoria placed her hand on his cheek.
"Goliath, what's wrong?" she asked him with searching blue eyes that always seemed to see right into his soul.
"Before we left, Brooklyn and Quinn had a fight." he said as the clock tower came into view, "I'd rather not repeat what was said, but Quinn ran out of the room." he finished this as he landed on the terrace and set the woman down.
Brooklyn and Lexington landed next to them; as Tanya got off of Lexington's back, Brooklyn stalked forward and entered the room, pausing where he stood when he saw Quinn sitting beside Hudson on the floor with Bronx stretched across her lap, Cody was beside her and Katie was talking to Broadway in the kitchen area of the room.
They all looked up at the sound of footsteps in the room, before Quinn told Bronx to get off of her, then she walked over to them, up the steps, out onto the terrace, and glided away, giving Brooklyn the coldest look anyone has ever seen.
Brooklyn tried not to take notice, he really did, but it was hard to not flinch as Quinn brushed against him as she passed him by.
Shaking his head, he walked over to the corner by the stairs and gently layed down the lioness before stepping back, fully prepared to wait for her to wake up.
Cody stood up and walked over to Goliath and Victoria, "Quinn doesn't want to be in the same room as him at the moment, and quite frankly, neither do I." he said before he waved at everyone and left through the trap door.
"I should be getting home, it's pretty late." Katie said suddenly, checking her watch before she dashed after Cody, out of the room.
Vivi looked up at Goliath, "Thank you for saving me, but I think I'm gonna head home too. I've got more classes tomorrow that I have to be awake for." she explained, before she gave him a fleeting hug and left the same way Katie and Cody did.
Tanya blinked before she looked at Lex, "Did I miss something?" she asked him, to which he shook his head as a sign to say 'not right now'.
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Maggie groaned as she sat up and rubbed her head to clear it, "Where am I?" she rasped with a croaky voice, opening her catlike eyes slightly, before uttering a silent shriek when she saw seven pairs of eyes staring at her.
She back up farther against the wall, "What do you want?" she asked in fear.
Brooklyn held his hands up defensively, "We want to help you." he tried as she scrambled to her feet and started sliding to the side.
"Were you human once too?" she asked tentatively as she reached the edge of the wall.
"No, we're Gargoyles." Lexington answered, but Tanya raised her hand from her position next to him.
"I'm like you, though." she said happily, hoping it would ease her in some way.
The lioness moved away from the wall, still away from the Gargoyles, "I'm Maggie. Maggie Reed, I'm from Ohio." she said, when she bumped into someone.
Goliath bent down to have his head closer to Maggie, "You can calm down, we are only here to help you." then he glanced at the window, "But, it will have to wait for sundown tonight." he said before he started walking away from them and up the stairs to go out to his pedestal.
Lex turned to Tanya, "Make yourself at home, we'll wake up as soon as the sun goes down." he said to her with a smile as he turned and followed the other Gargoyles up to the terrace.
Her interest peaked, Maggie followed then up. She stopped at the doorway as she watched them get into intimidating stances as the sun came up, then they froze in stone.
"Hoo.." she breathed out in fear as she sunk a little lower in the doorway, before, casting one glance in Tanya's direction as the smaller girl sunk into the reclining chair and fell asleep, then, she turned and jumped off the terrace, going in the direction of the castle that she knew that nice Xanatos man lived at.
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"Buddha, Brooklyn is gonna flip when he sees that his little damsel in distress isn't even here to say thank you to her knight in shining armor." Quinn muttered to the white leopard girl as they stood up against the wall eight hours later at sunset.
Tanya looked at her out of the corner of her eye, she looked drained for some reason, "Are you and this Brooklyn guy close?" she asked the girl.
Quinn blinked, and took in a deep breath, "We were." was all she said before the sun went down and simultaneously, the Gargoyles burst from their stone prisons.
As they turned around to walk inside, Quinn smiled at them, though it was fake, she was happy to see them, minus Brooklyn of course.
They looked happy to see her, "Quinn! Your home!" Lexington exclaimed as he and Broadway rushed forward to give her a hug.
Quinn hugged them back, catching Brooklyn out of the corner of her eye, he was heading inside. She didn't want to talk to him right now, but she knew she had to, "Your girlfriend's not here." she called to him.
The red Gargoyle stopped in his tracks and slowly turned his head to look at her, "What do you mean?" he ground out.
His Rookery brothers stepped away from the girl as she looked at Brooklyn, "She's gone. She must've left after you guys went to sleep." she summed up.
Brooklyn took in a deep breath before he turned and crouched on his pedestal again, "I'm going to go get her." he said.
"Do you even know where she is?" Quinn asked him.
"I'm taking a guess." was all he said before he jumped off the ledge and glided away in the direction of Xanatos' home, where he just saw four shadowed figures jump off the top of the tower.
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Quinn watched him go before she felt that same pang of jealousy again and had to turn her head away.
"We'd better go after him before he hurts himself." she heard Goliath sigh before multiple wings hitting the air could be heard and upon looking up, she saw Lexington and Broadway take off after their Rookery brother, Hudson walked past her to go inside with Bronx and Tanya at his heels.
Goliath was looking at her with a slightly worried expression, "Are you coming along, my child?" he asked her with sympathy.
Quinn sighed but nodded, "I might as well." was all she said before she stretched out her wings, jumped off, and glided after the Trio with Goliath behind her.
They glided in silence before, upon hearing blasting sounds coming from the castle, Goliath rocketed forward, leaving Quinn to glide leisurely towards the castle.
Upon looking at the tower, she saw Brooklyn trying very hard to convince that lioness, Maggie, she reminded herself what Tanya had told her, to come back to the tower with him.
She tried to ignore her feelings as she came in for a landing by where Goliath was fighting a black panther with a blonde streak going down from his head to his back.
She landed clumsily next to where the cat was attempting to strangle her father, before she rushed at him, knocking him to the ground and pinning him there by his shoulders.
"Why are attacking my father?" she was about to say, when she looked closer into his eyes, something about him was familiar.
She leaned down closer to his face, "Do I know you?" she whispered as she furrowed her brows and stared at him.
He furrowed his own eye ridges, before his eyes opened in shock, "Quinn..?" he asked breathlessly.
Quinn struggled with remembering who he was, when a specific face flashed through her mind, one that she hadn't seen ever since her transformation all those months ago, "JOAQUIN?!" she shouted in shock as she rushed to get off of the boy, scrambling to get a few feet away before she stood up, wrapping her wings around her shoulders as he did the same.
Joaquin turned away from his sister, holding his wings in front of his face, "Please, Quinn, go away, don't look at me." he pleaded to her.
Quinn wasn't having it, she walked forward and slowly placed her hands on his wings, "What happened to you?" she demanded, "Did Xanatos do this to you?" she growled, trying to pry his wings away from his face, sadly, this ended with her getting shocked by electricity and her falling backwards, clutching her hands in pain.
Joaquin turned around to look at her, holding his hands out as if he made to touch her, "Xanatos didn't do this, Quinn. Sevarius did. Xanatos is trying to help us, and you shouldn't have come!" he suddenly yelled, dropping his hands to his sides as he clenched them in fists, "He's trying to help us." he growled as Quinn turned and shot her glare at him.
"Joaquin, believe me, I know this man. He probably planned this entire thing." was all she said before her brother growled suddenly, turned, and stalked away from her, before he opened his wings, jumped off the tower, and glided away from everyone. The rest of the feline looking beings jumped up and followed him as he left the castle, off into the night.
The red headed girl glared up at Xanatos' shadowed figure, "This means war, Xanatos! I swear, you will pay dearly for what you did to him!" she yelled at him, looking like she was going to go after him, when at that moment, Goliath decided to step in, wrapping one arm around her middle, he lifted her off the ground and spun around, walking away from everyone, he jumped off the ledge of the tower and started to glide away, vaguely hearing the sound of leather beating against air.
"Dad, could you please let me go." he heard Quinn ask in a fairly calm way, and he reluctantly complied.
She unfolded her wings as soon as he let her go, folding her arms across her chest, she glided along silently beside Goliath while the other three Gargoyles glided behind them
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Brooklyn stood in the doorway that lead to the terrace of the Clock Tower, his wings folded around his shoulders and his expression sad.
He heard footsteps coming towards him, and then he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay?" Lexington asked, sympathy lacing his words.
Brooklyn sighed, "She didn't want our help.. She didn't want me.. She didn't even need me either." he closed his eyes sadly.
Lex pursed his lips as he looked to the far corner of the room, where Quinn was standing, shrouded in darkness, seeming to be just leaning against the wall, then upon closer look, he saw her shoulders shaking. It was small, and he barely noticed it, but they were shaking underneath the leather of her silver and blue wings.
He looked up at the other Gargoyles on the balcony in the tower, meeting Goliath's eyes, who nodded at Brooklyn as if to say, 'They need to make up.'
Lexington nudged his Rookery brother's shoulder, "I think someone needs you right now." he said, pointing over at the girl who had her back to everyone in the room.
Brooklyn followed Lexington's claw, before his eyes widened and he started walking over to her.
He stopped a few feet away to take in the slight sniffling noises coming from the girl, as well as the shaking from her shoulders, she was actually crying!
Walking closer to her, he slowly placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around, gasping quietly at the sight of the tear tracks down her cheeks, before he slowly started to bring her closer to himself, but stopped when she placed the flat of her palm against his chest.
He looked down at her teary eyes, his expression soft as he silently questioned her.
She took in a shaky breath as she stuttered, "I thought you said I should just stay alone?" she tried to throw his own words right back at him, but in her sad state, it was near to impossible.
Brooklyn shook his head, "I wasn't thinking, Quinn. I'm sorry about what I said, I was wrong. I know that now." he pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her as well as his wings, resting his beak on the top of her head, "Can you forgive me?" he asked silently.
At first, she said nothing, but the shaking of her shoulders told him she was still crying and he unconsciously held her tighter; then, she slowly wrapped her arms around his waist and nodded against him, "I forgive you." she whispered as she continued to cry over her brother.
Despite what had happened that night, Brooklyn smiled, because, well, holding Maggie in his arms? Not right. Holding Quinn in his arms?
Everything fell right into place for the better.
Happy New Year!
I promised myself that I'd get this new chapter up for the New Year, as a sort of present.
I don't think I did so well on this chapter, more numerous reasons, like the fight between Quinn and Brooklyn, or the big climax at Xanatos' castle.. You get the picture.
Anyways, please review.
Don't flame me.
Have a good New Year!
-Zabby