Over the next two hours, Brooklyn was sliding in and out of unconsciousness. Angela was doing everything in her power to keep him awake. She didn't want to lose him. He had been her only companion throughout all their misery for the past several weeks. And eventually, he would need to know that she was pregnant with his child. If he died this night, this child would be the only thing left of Brooklyn's bloodline, other than his clone, Malibu.
Angela talked to Brooklyn about adventures that she had had on her quest to try to keep him awake and entertained without him straining himself. She had his head on her lap and held his right hand. His left arm had to be down to keep the bandage over his wound. His blood was soaking through it but there wasn't much to do for it.
But sunrise soon came, and they both could finally breathe some relief as their stone sleep took over. Brooklyn was going to be just fine.
….
The next night, Angela awoke first with Brooklyn doing the same. It wasn't often he woke up laying down, but he had had no choice.
"How are you feeling?" Angela asked him.
"Hm, a little sore." He replied, stretching. He now took off the makeshift bandage. He saw that she had had to make it from her shirt. Most of her belly was now exposed. But nothing more.
He then flexed the former broken wing. It had healed enough. He still felt some pain in his ribs. It would take a few more days for them to heal. Other injuries were all healed. He had been lucky to not have died from the chest injury though.
"Come on, Angela. Let's go home." He smiled.
"Does your wing feel okay to glide home?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's fine."
"It was broken last night."
"It's fine now, I assure you." He said. "Come on. Let's go." He held out his hand for hers with a smile on his face.
She took his hand, and they went out of the building and took to climb the wall. They got to the rooftop and took to the air again. His wing must not have been that badly broken. There were still some painful areas in it.
They had to stop several times due to pain flaring in his body. He was still too sore to go too far without a break, but also that they hadn't glided much in weeks too. Their wings cramped up as well.
But on one of their stops, Angela was feeling the urge to throw up again even though she hadn't eaten anything. She ended up throwing up over the side of a building but directly into a dumpster.
"Angela? Are you alright?" Brooklyn asked in concern. He was standing by her, rubbing her back for comfort. She had been there for him, now he wanted to do the same for her.
"I'm okay. It's nothing." She said. "Just some nausea from not eating."
"Yeah, I understand. I'm hungry too. The sooner we get home, the sooner we can eat."
The two of them rested a few more minutes before taking off again. This time, they were able to make it into Manhattan. They were getting closer to home. With this, Brooklyn knew that his close time with Angela would soon be over, and she would be back in Broadway's arms, and he could go back to feeling lonely. Life just wasn't fair to him. But if there was something they both had in common was that they hoped they wouldn't be found by Theo again anytime soon.
Their wings were getting tired again when they finally touched down on the castle's battlements.
"Ahh! It feels so good to be home again." Brooklyn sighed big with a smile.
"I agree. But where do we find the others?" Angela asked.
"They're either out looking for us or likely patrolling." The red male stated. "If not inside doing something."
On the cameras, Owen was watching it. He saw them come home. He hurried out to the location. He cleared his throat. "On the contrary, you two."
They both jumped. "They are out patrolling and looking for you. Even Mr. Xanatos is helping look for you. And the Labyrinth Clan."
"Oh, how did you know we were here?" Brook asked.
"I saw you land on the camera." Owen replied.
"Will they be back here by morning?" Angela asked.
"They should be. They usually are." The man said.
"Well, we sure could go for something to eat while we wait for them. We've been away from home long enough." Brooklyn declared.
"I can make you a meal." Owen offered.
"That would be great." Angela said.
They all went to the kitchen and the two gargoyles sat down, waiting for some food. Owen saw they weren't super thin or anything. Wherever they had been taken, they had been cared for at least with food and water.
Owen made them some turkey sandwiches and glasses of water. Nothing major.
Angela was a little hesitant to eat hers as Brook dove right in to his. She looked over at him. He was ravenous. He was the lucky one compared to what she was going through right now, though he had almost died last night.
"Thanks, Owen." The female said.
"Yeah, thanks." Brook added.
"Well, I have work to do. The others should be back soon." The man left them to it.
Angela began to eat hers slowly. The red male was done before she was. But he waited for her.
Tears gathered in her eyes halfway through her sandwich. She started crying. She put her hands over her face. "It's alright, Angela. We'll get through this." He tried to comfort her. He went around the counter and took her into his arms.
"I don't know if I can bring… myself to tell them…" She sobbed.
"We have to tell them something. We don't have to tell them about our mating. But say like the tests they did on us were not good." Brooklyn suggested. She continued to sob into his arms. He was in distress about it too, but he was trying to be strong for her.
For Angela, she knew though that the mating would have to be told to the clan when they found out about the pregnancy news.
When the clan came home close to sunrise, Brook and Angela met them out on the battlements.
"Brooklyn! Angela! You're home!" Lexington greeted them in a shout. He hugged Brooklyn with all his might. His red brother did the same. "Great to see you too, Lex."
"Angela!" Broadway shouted in delight that his mate was back. He instantly went and hugged her. She hugged him back.
"Are you two alright?" Goliath asked.
"Where have you been?" Hudson asked.
Bronx also jumped on them, giving them kisses that he missed them.
"Okay, down, boy." Brooklyn laughed, something he hadn't done in a long time.
"Don't lick him to death, boy." Hudson said, directing Bronx away from the red male.
"We missed you too, Bronx." Angela smiled.
"Can you tell us where you have been for the last several weeks?" Broadway asked.
"We were both kidnapped by the same humans who wanted us for science experiments." Brooklyn replied for both of them.
"Figures that they would do that." Lex exclaimed.
"But are you both alright?" Goliath asked.
"We'll be alright, Goliath, but it's our mental health that was damaged more. They didn't do nice things to us, other than made sure we were well fed." Brook explained.
"They also kept shock collars on our necks." Angela started to cry again. Broadway took her into his arms. Brook saw that and wanted to do it himself but knew he couldn't anymore.
The others knew this wasn't good. Being shocked to make them behave was cruel.
"Who were these scientists?" Goliath asked. He knew the more information he got; he could tell Elisa.
"The head of them all was a guy named Theo something. Can't remember." Brook said.
"How did you escape?" Lex asked.
"They had made a dome for us to glide in to exercise our wings. It was nicely created, but we got out through an air vent in the ceiling. Broke through it. Then we were chased by the humans until they crashed into a log and each other. We were on the other side of Queens, in the country." Brooklyn explained. "Then we were shot at upon arrival in the city and I…"
"He was nearly killed last night. A building fell on him, and he had quite some horrendous injuries." Angela finished. "Including some broken ribs, a wing, and a wound in his chest."
The males all noticed that Angela's shirt had been ripped to pieces. Her stomach was exposed. It just made her look different than before with an intact shirt.
"Are you alright now, lad?" Hudson asked.
"I'm still sore, but fine, Hudson." Brook replied.
"Good."
The sun soon rose and trapped them all in stone sleep.
….
David soon came home from his search and he was glad to know that the two missing gargoyles were now home, but where had they been? He ended up calling Elisa to let her know she could finally call off the search party for them.
Elisa was relieved that they were alright and finally home safe. She would be there tonight to greet them as they woke up. She wanted to hear what had happened to them. She wanted to nail the people responsible for taking her friends. For now, she could get a good day's sleep finally. She also called the underground and told her brother Derek or Talon, that Brooklyn and Angela were now home.
The Labyrinth Clan were relieved at that they were now home.
…..
At sunset, there were quite a few people gathered around to hear the story of where they had been for so long.
The tests had definitely been more traumatizing for Angela. Brooklyn told the story the way he saw fit, not wanting to mention what really happened due to the embarrassment of it all. And he didn't want to get on Broadway's bad side while he was still healing a bit from his injuries.
The clan and human allies would take his word for it, though there seemed to be something off about what Brooklyn had said. But they could understand that they didn't want to reveal something right now that was so personal, they didn't want to mention it.
But when it was over, the clan was going to stay in tonight and celebrate their return. A great homecoming feast was made to help reunite their clan for the first time in a few months.
With the reunion of everyone this night, Broadway, Owen, and Fox set about making the feast. Angela knew that she wanted to stay away from the kitchen. She wasn't sure yet what would make her sick but she didn't want to take chances. But from some of the smells that were coming from the kitchen, it was starting to make her feel sick again.
She didn't want anyone to know right now what was going on. While they were still waiting, Angela went to one of the nearest bathrooms and threw up. She had no idea that pregnancy would be so difficult, but she would face it again in the near future when she would breed again. She was still uncertain right now if she wanted this child. For one, it hadn't been sired by her beloved mate. Two, it had also been forced on her as well as Brooklyn. But did she want to be with Broadway, or Brooklyn now?
Angela had gotten with Broadway just after the Coldfire and Coldstone event of letting them have their own personal bodies finally. Then the clan had lost their clock tower home to the Hunters and were now back in the castle. Broadway had been comforting her when they first kissed one another. Broadway definitely had a comforting demeanor about him. He was sensitive.
But then, Angela had spent the last several weeks with Brooklyn alone. She remembered that before the night of dealing with her father's once dead rookery kin, she and Brooklyn had been seeming to get closer. The red male had been quite attentive to her. He had also been more than attentive to her while she had been scared and he was protective of her. He cared about her feelings and had taken more of the tests and punishments for her to keep her safe while with the scientists. And they both had been raped by the humans just for this pregnancy to start at all. Then there was the incident last night when Brook had shoved her out of the way and kept her safe from that building falling on him, and thus getting horrendous injuries. Angela had been scared she was going to lose him. It had made her feel something for him then.
Angela finished in the bathroom and flushed the evidence. She was going to try to hide it for now. She was going to keep on trying to fit in with the clan. She just needed more time to think about what she wanted to do about the pregnancy before she even told Brooklyn, but she would tell him before she told the clan about this. She hoped there was still time.
Soon, dinner was ready, and the gargoyles and human allies got their food and sat at the table.
Brooklyn sat next to Lex. He was watching Angela, however. She was sitting next to Broadway and her father. She was trying to put on a smile for everyone. She didn't have much food on her plate. He wondered what was going on there when he had much more food on his plate.
He was still feeling guilty about all that had happened. He was happy to be home and with the clan again, but things were forever changed between them. He had mated with a female that wasn't his mate to begin with, but he had had no choice. Those scientists could have drugged him and made him breed her by force and he hadn't wanted that. He hoped she wouldn't hate him for life now. If Broadway found out, he knew he would be in for a world of trouble from his brother, or if Goliath found out, the big giant leader could also really harm him if he wanted to. Brooklyn hoped he wouldn't be banished from the clan. He hoped if it was found out about the matings that they would understand that it was forced on them. There hadn't been any choices.
There were topics discussed during dinner and how the two of them had been missed so much. They tried to enjoy their food too. Angela was eating hers slower than the others. She just didn't have much of an appetite right now.
After dinner, the Xanatos family went their separate ways from the clan to go do their own things. Elisa went off with Goliath to the library. Broadway and Angela went off to their own room to get more reacquainted. Hudson and Bronx were heading to the tv room when Lex had an idea.
"Brooklyn, do you want to watch some movies?" Lex offered.
The red male thought about it. He needed to take his mind off things. He hadn't seen a movie in a long time. "That would be great, Lex. I didn't get to watch movies when I was with the scientists." Brooklyn replied.
"Is it alright, Hudson?" Lex asked.
"Sure, Laddie." Hudson smiled. He wanted to see some happiness around here again. The whole castle had had a melancholy feel to it for so long. Lex and Brook went to have a movie marathon with Hudson tonight.
In the tv room, Brooklyn sat on the floor. Bronx couldn't help but come over and lay down next to him. "Oh, hey boy." Brook smiled. He put his arms around the gar dog. He needed some comfort for himself. This still felt strange being home again.
Some movies were picked out to watch and they watched them. Brooklyn didn't want romance ones tonight, but comedy ones were fine. He just wanted to take his mind off Angela.
…
In Broadway and Angela's room, the female sat on the bed wondering what she and her mate were going to do.
Broadway was just so happy that she was back. He had been lonely without her. While she had been gone, he had even gone out with Lex and helped Elisa more on patrols.
"Did my mother know I was gone too?" Angela asked.
"She found out when you weren't going to visit. She even tried to help find you. You might want to go see her soon to let her know you're safe." Broadway declared. He then sat down next to her and just wanted to kiss her.
He brought her sad face towards his gently. Angela definitely wanted to kiss him to know for sure about her choice. But when he began running his hands over her shoulders, it made her freeze and then she panicked.
She broke the kiss. "No!" She got off the bed and ran to the wall.
"What's wrong, Angela?" Broadway asked in concern.
The female was holding her shoulders with her arms and her wings wrapped around herself. "I'm sorry, Broadway. It's just I went through horrible experiments in the lab." She sobbed.
Broadway got up and came over to her slowly. "If we ever come across the ones who hurt you, I promise we'll make them pay for it." He swore.
"I'm sorry for panicking. I just want to lay down right now." Angela said and they went back to the bed.
"Did they hurt Brooklyn too?"
"Much more than me. He was even tortured and punished more than me." She stated.
"Do you know why they even wanted you two?"
"No. They just wanted to have test subjects. Probably to test differences in what we could take as different genders." Angela thought. She was still hiding her secret for the time being. She just wasn't ready to reveal the pregnancy yet.
They laid down together. But she didn't want to be touched very much. Angela managed to fall asleep for the time being. Broadway was left baffled at her behavior. If she wasn't going to let him hold her for comfort, he might as well not be here. But he wasn't going to take it personally this time. He just stayed with her to make sure she would stay comfortable. He had missed her so much. He didn't want to let her go.
Does anyone have an opinion on whether Angela should be with Broadway or Brooklyn? This is AU. (Forget the canon stuff for this story.)