There's no owning of Gargoyles on my part. I simply possess and overactive imagination that cannot be stopped. lol.

So, yeah, I own Gab and blah blah blah. Don't steal. It kills kittens and makes me cry :-(

Sorry for the long wait! This was the hardest chapter to write so far! Maybe you'll see why when you read it... lol.

So... tell me what you think about this one. Like I said, this was the hardest to write, and I kept making revisions, and revisions, and revisions...

Geeze, this was the longest one to write. Even though this isn't the longest chapter, (but still a fair size, I'd say...do you agree?) but it's more jam-packed with...stuff. A little bit more so than the other chapters (though I like the other chapters, too, and I've put a good effort into them, as well ^-^)

So, as usual, guys, tell me if I'm slipping.

Please Read and Review! R&R-ing makes me very happy ^_^

To all my reviewers-thank you very much for sticking wth me and being so loving and loyal :-)

I read each and every review, and it simply delights me that I actually have what one might consider fans. I get so happy and excited! It really means a lot, guys!

Thank you!

*CHAPTER 6*

"Wait…so you're afraid of heights?" Brooklyn laughed. They were half way to her apartment and Gabrielle was as tense as ever. "How can you be afraid of heights?"

Gabrielle, keeping herself tightly latched onto Brooklyn, did her best to shrug. "Let's just say, as you've experienced with me tonight, I have this bad habit of falling from high places."

He chuckled. "You should get that checked out. Sounds serious."

"You have no idea." Her tone was heavy and grim, in spite of his efforts to lighten it.

"You don't have to worry," He gently squeezed her shivering body against him. "I'll never drop you."

Gabrielle did her best to smile. "You promise?"

He nodded. "Of course." He smiled in return. "Besides, as a gargoyle, it's my job to protect you, especially since you're my new pal." His smile grew bigger. "And, hey, now that you're hanging with me, you just might get used to it." He dipped sharply to the alley by her apartment building, literally biting back a snicker as she clung even tighter to him during the dive.

As he landed, he noted how his companion shakily dismounted from his grasp. He tried to support her as she made contact with the ground, and was fairly surprised that she could stand on her own with such wobbly legs. "Gab, you gonna be okay from here?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She replied, her voice a little off from her normal key.

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, okay, then. I'll see you next time."

She smiled. "Yeah. See you!"

Brooklyn turned away and climbed up the side of her apartment building.

She started to turn away as well. She waved. "Bye, Brooklyn! Have a safe flight!"

He was already halfway up the building when he stopped, looked back down at her, and said, "Gargoyles glide, Gab, not fly."

She dropped her hand, not really understanding. "What?"

"Gargoyles glide with wind currents. We can't fly by ourselves."

Gabrielle's brows were raised. "Wow. I never would've thought of that." Then again, as Gabrielle recalled, she had heard Demona refer to gliding instead of flying in their earlier conversation. She smiled. "Well, have a nice glide!"

He let one hand go of the building and waved. "Later!" He finally reached the top and leaped from it, gliding away.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Then it's settled." Goliath declared, making a fist. "We should do this as soon as possible. We must discover what she is up to."

In spite of the chaos that the clan prepared themselves to face, the night was still and tranquil. It was only night ago since Gabrielle's first visit, but somehow Gabrielle felt right at home, and her new friends were very welcoming.

"Agreed," Hudson nodded. "Let's be off and do some discoverin'."

Just as Goliath turned to exit the clock tower, there was a creaking sound and a woman's voice. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

The clan leader whipped around. "Elisa," He paused, caught by surprise. "We have something very urgent to attend to—"

Broadway interjected. "We'll fill you in along the way."

"Wait!" She climbed out of the trapdoor and walked toward the clan. "Who's this?" She jutted a thumb toward Gabrielle.

"Oh, this is Gabrielle. She's new here." Lexington replied matter-of-factly.

"But she is also a friend," Angela added.

The woman walked toward Gabrielle, displaying a badge in one hand while holding out the other. "Hi. Detective Elisa Maza. I work in the station below this clock tower. Nice to meet you."

Gabrielle took it. "I'm Gabrielle Garnett. I'm a nurse at the hospital a few blocks from here." She pulled her hand away. "Same here."

Elisa smiled. The cop was very pretty. She had brown, intelligent eyes, raven hair, and dark skin. "Well, now that we're acquainted, I'm sure I'll have a handle on things once they're explained very slowly and with small words only." She smirked, turning to Goliath. "So, where are we going?"

0o0o0o0

Gabrielle felt no shame at all as she practically huddled into Brooklyn as he carried her toward their destination. She wondered how the gargoyles met Elisa and if Goliath was her first friend out of the clan. She thought about this because she noticed how easily Elisa slipped into Goliath's arms as they went on their journey.

"Gabrielle," Goliath called. "Is this the place Demona told you to have us meet?"

"Yes," Gabrielle nodded. "That's it." Gabrielle would have pointed, but she never would have considered letting an arm go of Brooklyn.

Simultaneously, the gargoyles swooped down to the building top. Gabrielle tried to get down with as much dignity and grace as she could (attempting to copy Elisa) but didn't at all succeed.

A few minutes had passed when Lexington finally asked, "Hey, where is Demona?"

Brooklyn scowled. "I hope we haven't just been stood up."

As if on cue, a distant cry sounded in the air. As it got closer, Gabrielle made it out to be an eerie but beautiful howling. Soon, Demona was visible and she joined them on the rooftop.

"Demona!" The clan leader roared, his fists clenched and his eyes glowing bright. "What is the meaning of this?"

Demona shook her head, holding up some papers in her hand. "You were always so high-strung." She laughed, her eyes even redder and fierier than her hair.

Gabrielle swallowed. She looked like the Devil, Gabrielle thought to herself, and she played the part very well.

She started to wave the papers. "Well, I've got something here to make things much more fun, if you're interested."

Goliath grinded his teeth. "We have no interest in you! What scheming have you been up to, now?"

She laughed again. "You are a fool, Goliath. An absolute fool." She walked slowly, closer to the group, folding her hands behind her back. "And you contradict yourself, as well. Surely you have some interest in me if you want to know what I'm up to." When she was a little over arm's length distance to the group, she smiled, studying Gabrielle. "And I see you've brought your humans." Her gaze shifted to Elisa. "Why do you let them keep you as their pets, Goliath?"

"We're not their pets!" Broadway yelled. "We're their friends! There's a difference!"

"Yeah," Lexington huffed. "Like you would know."

Demona growled, her eyes brightening. "I'll show you something better than mere friendship—" She whipped out the papers from behind her back and started to read them aloud.

"She's startin' a spell! Stop 'er!" And with that, the elderly gargoyle ran toward the enemy, thrusting his sword.

Demona dodged his attack, her eyes not even leaving the paper. Soon, she stopped looking at the inscriptions, and her eyes turned a pale green. Her head lolled back and her arms were widespread, as if she were surrendering.

The wind grew wicked, and though the night was already dark and starless, it blackened and grew colder.

Brooklyn embraced Gabrielle, closing his wings around her, yelling, "This can't be good!" but she could barely hear him.

Demona stopped chanting, her eyes returning to their original beady black. She smiled at the group like she was admiring an achievement. She laughed, repeating over and over again, "Fools, fools!"

Gabrielle felt something shift in Brooklyn. It was like his bones were realigning, and, at the same time, shrinking. She heard him gasp in horror as his wings peeled away. She looked up. "Brooklyn…?"

Gaping at him, she saw that his skin was no longer crimson, but it was a pale white, like hers. He had grown considerably shorter, though not exactly short. He was still a little taller than her, and his frame was muscular but lean. He had kept his snow white hair and warm black eyes.

He was still holding onto her even when his transformation was complete. She looked around, and saw that the others had suffered the same fate.

Gabrielle stepped back in astonishment. "You're… you're human!"

Brooklyn gripped her shoulders in bewilderment, studying her face like he was searching for an answer. He glared past her, and in a very gargoyle-like fashion, he growled, "Demona!"

By this time, however, the sorceress was mumbling something else from the papers in her hand. Although Gabrielle couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn that her name was thrown between some of the chants.

"Demona!" Goliath shouted. "What have you done?" Though he was trying to sounds intimidating, his voice faltered slightly.

"Gabrielle!"

Out of reflex, she turned her head to face Demona, a little afraid of her and the power she had. She half-glared at her, refusing to show her doubts or fears to such a monster.

The she-Devil glanced at the papers in her hand, and then looked into Gabrielle's eyes. Her eyes were wide and her mouth formed and opened smile from fervor and insanity. "Lapsus,"

Though all she said was one single word, Gabrielle felt the entire world cave in.

She fell to the ground, losing all feeling in her legs as well as all other parts of her body. She would have fallen face-first, but Brooklyn was by her side and settled her gently to the ground. She was so horrified and dumbstruck by her handicap that she was only vaguely aware of Demona chuckling "Somnus," enjoying the entire scene.

On the ground but still in Brooklyn's arms, Gabrielle started to feel dizzy. A black tunnel in her vision periodically opened and closed, like looking through the lens of an old camera taking snapshots.

In only a moment or two, Gabrielle was barely conscious, her eyes wide open and glazed over. Her eyes clouded, losing their kindness, color, and sparkle. As they continued to darken, she no longer had green eyes, but charcoal ones. She didn't even have any white in her eyes to surround her pupils, only blackness.

Smirking at the shrill voices of her enemies and their attempts to wake the human out of her magically induced comma, Demona examined the human from afar. The pitiful creature reminded her of wet clay, so lifeless, moldable, and yet flaccid.

Angela, now human with black hair, eyes, and the build of a female soldier, cried out, "Mother! How could you do this? How could you have done such a thing?"

The gargoyle shook her head. "She's fine."

Brooklyn glared up at the sorceress. "She better be!"

Elisa aimed her gun. "What did you do to her?"

Demona remained calmed and uncaring. "Meus agna!"

Gabrielle stirred, blinking. She had never closed her eyes in her state of limpness. Brooklyn feared something in the new eyes of his companion. There was something missing, something dead, about them. It seemed as if she was blind, staring through him, instead of looking at him. "Brooklyn?" Their was no relief in her voice, merely curiosity.

Brooklyn gulped as he quietly asked himself, was she really blind? He brushed away a lock of hair from her face with one of his newly delicate, human fingers. "Are you all right?"

Without warning, Gabrielle jumped away from him, pushing him away. "Don't touch me!" She glared at him, frowning. "I'm fine."

Lexington, now with the appearance of a brown haired boy, stepped forward. "Gab, he was only trying to help…"

Brooklyn's mouth dropped and he had one of his hands out in front of him like he was trying to reach out to her. Though he was strangely intimidated by her glowering, there was still something empty about her, something vacant, a foreign blankness over her entire demeanor that was not her own.

She looked around, studying each person's face. She seemed like a lost child looking for a direction home. Her anger appeared to have totally faded, replaced with a helplessness and vulnerability.

"Meus agna," Demona called again.

A smile stretched across Gabrielle's features. She turned around, spotted Demona, and skipped towards her. Standing directly in front of her, perhaps a little too close, she was completely motionless, peering into Demona's eyes, beaming.

"Pareo,"

Upon Demona's command, she kneeled and placed both hands on the ground. With a smile on her face, she bowed her head. "I live to serve you, mistress."

Cliffhanger! I'm sorry guys!

Oh, and don't worry. You'll find out what the Latin means next chapter...probably...lol.

So...you like...? R&R! Read and Review! Tell me what's what! lol.

I absolutely loved my friend's reaction when she first read this.

Lol, you know who you are.

Thanks for sticking with me, Koinu-chan! 3