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AN: I don't own Gargoyles, they belong to Disney©

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Chap.16

Sundown. I felt my skin crack, and I belted a good huge yawn. The night was warm and I wanted to go out and enjoy the fact that I didn't have to hide this night. Halloween. I would go as myself since doing that was a rarity. Everyone would be wandering the streets tonight and I just hoped I could get a glimpse of Tam before the night was over…oh hell no. Not again…she invaded my thoughts constantly, and she would not go away no matter what I did to try and get rid of them. I gritted my teeth and tried to think of something other than Tam. I heard the rumbling of a motorcycle come closer and closer to I bent over the edge and took a look. A rider in a leather trench coat and on a wicked bike; made the person seem scary. The rider pulled up the building and parked it, and believe me there was no shortage of admirers around, and then took off their helmet. I squinted I could swear that it looked like Tam…oh holy hell! It was! She set up the bike took some cop up and motioned to the bike and went inside. She was here? Oh no. I had to try and get out of here before she came up. Elisa was here already and I didn't want to face them both…too late. The elevator dinged and out she stepped. The whole clan including Elisa went silent. Her hair was in a braid, as they called it, and she wore leather and silk. I swallowed. Hard. If this was her costume, she was a knockout. She spun around and looked over her shoulder shyly. "Well? What do you think?" "Wow, you look…great." Said a very dazed Lexington. Jealously rose on a wave of green but I squashed it firmly. She didn't like me in that way, she would looked away every time I looked at her and she seemed to be very closed mouthed when I tried to talk to her. "I ditto that." Said an equally stunned Broadway. I nodded; I didn't trust myself with words. Elisa was Belle from a movie called Beauty and the Beast, and she walked over to Tam and looked her up and down saying "I'm gonna assign one of the guys to you tonight." Tam looked confused. Elisa caught it and explained. "Sweetheart you're a walking invitation for trouble and danger." Tam went red and looked at the ground scuffing her feet slightly. "I was gonna go clubbing and I thought that this would be fine, especially since its Halloween…" she didn't need to say anymore… I understood. Goliath looked startled but he recovered quickly so did Hudson. "Well boys what do you think?" I don't think Tam was prepared for what was next. I heard myself and two others say in unison: "We'll go with you!" I assure you; I had no control over my mouth this night. She looked startled and she got shy again. "That would be cool…I could teach you how to rave…" She grinned an impish smile at the last bit. I think the room lost all of its air supply. For some reason my chest was tight and I opened my mouth and I was surprised to hear laughter come out. "I think we would love to accompany you this night, Miss Mysteria." I bowed and went off in search of scruffy human cloths that would fit me. It didn't take too long and as soon as we were all ready, Lex went as a skater dude, and Broadway as a detective. I went as a biker, but hey. At least I would match the bike. "Hey Brooklyn?" she asked blushing again. "Would you like to ride with me?" I felt the pit of my stomach drop. Lexington looked slightly jealous, so I jumped at the chance. "Me, ride with you?" I queried just to make sure I heard right. She nodded looking at the floor. "Sure." I found myself saying against my better instincts. She looked up and smiled a dazzling smile. "Alright then, let's go! You guys get to ride with Elisa!" she said as we ran to the elevator. Within moments we were on the ground and she sailed out of the building with me in tow, and she motioned the officer away and she slapped a fifty in his fist and handed me a helmet. She had another one, and she mounted the bike, and motioned for me to hurry up. There was a small crowd now, but she paid no heed. I earned a few looks of jealously and greed too in the process. I hopped on and she made the bike roar to life. The crowd parted like water, and with a whispered "Hold on." To me she popped a spinning 360 wheelie, and we were gone. I hung on to her tightly, almost unwilling to let go. The wind was flying though my hair and it stung my face, but in a good way. She was laughing and whooping, but she was having fun. But then again, so was I. we cruised for a good many blocks and finally pulled in front of her favorite bar/club. She parked in a reserved space and took off her helmet and mine too, she set them on the bike and she smiled at me again. "Come on! You're being slow!" I growled good naturedly. "Slow am I? We'll see about that." We went through the doors, and I immediately felt the bass pounding throughout the building. She laughed and dragged me throughout the pulsing and swaying crowd to almost the middle of the floor. I felt the music start to influence me and I watched her through silted eyes as she danced. She was sinuous in her movements and graceful in doing so. She moved like liquid and acted like a boneless being. She got looks of want and lust, but I decided I wanted her this evening. So I pulled her close and danced with her. She was surprised at first but it quickly melted into a sly smile. Uh-oh. I knew that look; I had seen her give it to many a poor guy. She twisted away and made the "come get me" motion. I grinned. Gladly. Two could play this game. She noticed and giggled and danced her way out of the crowd. I flowed with equally grace, and she smiled and made her way up the stairs. I followed, taking my time. The lights were flashing, and the fake fog was pouring so it made for a very eerie scene. As far as I knew Broadway and Lex were stuck elsewhere's. Poor them, but then, lucky me. She dodged other dancers and swayed between a few more. I did the same and many of the dancers were very appreciative. Others just let it build. I grinned. Oh yes this was fun. I found her shortly. She was facing the opposite wall thinking I was coming from that way, I snuck up behind her and scooped her up, earning a shriek for my services. She was giggling and laughing in between scoldings. She was also very wriggly. I chuckled and let her wind down, but she was giggling still but she finally stopped squirming. "Put me down you meanie!" she spoiled it by giggling again. "No, I think I rather like you off the ground, in fact…" I swung her around and set her on her feet. Her smile was worth it. Our eyes caught each others, and then the sounds just faded away, and her breath hitched, and I forgot to breathe in the first place. Just for a moment I thought that she loved me. And she took a step forward.

Suddenly there were screams and then a magnified voice saying: "Remain calm please, if you co-operate with us, this should be fairly painless." Tam stiffened and edged to the door and peeked out only to run back to me and pull me to the window. "We have to get out of here, now!" she whispered. She was edgy, and I realized she must be afraid. "What about your bike?" "If you can get us out of the building I can get the rest." She said confidently. Then someone rang out: "There she is! With that biker dude!" time to go. I nodded and scooped her up and jumped out the window with the people screaming and yelling behind us. We glided down, and we ran for her bike. We didn't bother with the helmets; we just stuffed them in the packs and gunned it. We caught a brief glimpse of a couple goons with guns and we were gone. This night had been ruined, but I would treasure it, because I was sure she just wanted a friend there, nothing more. I wished she could like me as much as I liked her…as the wind whipped my face, I felt her heartbeat. It was slowing, but it was still erratic. I waited till we had to stop before I asked: "so, would you mind explaining about what happened back there?' she turned her head slightly and said simply: "Dracon." I stiffened. "Why?" she shuddered and said unhappily. "I think he put the word out on me, and I think that he wanted a little talk with me for the…ah…incident I caused him." "We need to find the others. Now." I was mad, but I knew she needed to be safe. She nodded unhappily and pulled out a cell phone. "Elisa's speed number is 23." I punched in 23 and listened to the other end ringing. "Elisa here what's up?" "Brooklyn here, we have a problem." She got prickly. "I don't like the sound of that. What happened?" I think we've found who gave tam away." There was a brief silence from the other end of the line. She swore softly and said: "Meet us back at the tower!" and the line went dead. Tam was already heading towards the tower unbidden. I think she was feeling miserable for the whole thing. I bet she was regretting how she dealt with him in the first place. Well he deserved it yes, but she made herself a dangerous enemy in doing so. She radiated unhappiness, but there was little I could do about it.

She took the short way back.

When we arrived at the tower Elisa was waiting and she motioned me to go up, they would go up the normal way. I bet Tam was going to be grilled to the point of being charred about what happened. I didn't envy her about that. What I did envy though; was how most of the time she wouldn't look at me, nor spend that much time with me. She spent it elsewhere's with Lex, Broadway, everyone but me. As I was climbing the wall, thoughts just kept chasing themselves in circles all around my poor brain. I knew she would never like me for anything but a friend but, I still wished she would like me more than that. I knew that in a matter of weeks she would be nineteen, and she would have to leave, but I wondered when and how she would tell us. I reached the balcony and vaulted the ledge. She was something bright that had come into my life, and I could not have her. Yeah, the fates were laughing their asses off at this, and I was sure quite a few higher deities were too. Screw them, with a wooden rake that splintered and bent at odd angles. I sighed quietly. Life was fun right now. Really fun.