The winds were blessedly in Goliath's favor, assisting him with his flight back towards the castle. The strong seasonal winds coming from the ocean caused strong updrafts that aided in his climb back to a height that was largely unobstructed from the tall buildings around the Aerie building.
The closer that he got, the louder the sounds of battle became. There was a large hole in the side of the building from the initial blast, and even though there was still a large amount of smoke around the building, the fire seemed to have not spread.
Once Goliath was close enough, he could see a small, familiar form flying erratically around the castle.
Lexington was distracting a figure on the parapets of the wall surrounding the courtyard, dodging what looked to a laser type weapon.
Once he was close enough, Goliath roared, and began a rapid descent.
Goliath grabbed the figure who had been firing at Lexington in a top speed tackle, taking the two of them to the yard below. Goliath ripped the weapon out of the startled figures hands, launching it with such force that the weapon exploded against the base of his tower.
The figure was struggling, fighting ineffectively against Goliath's massive strength.
"I'll take care of this one," Fox shouted, running toward the pair. "Goliath, go help Puck."
Goliath lifted the struggling figure, passing it to Fox to take care of, and hurried through the familiar hallways towards the sound of the fighting.
Only feet away from the nursery, two figures were fighting with David Xanatos.
Goliath hesitated only the briefest of moments before rushing headlong between the two figures. They were small, like the figure in the courtyard. They were human in appearance, looking to be in their teens, but it didn't make them any less dangerous.
Goliath grabbed one male by the back of the neck, flinging him into the wall beside him with just enough force to render the teen unconscious before turning to the other one.
The female turned to him in surprise. "How did you.."
She didn't get the chance to finish her statement as a large length of iron chains appeared above her head and dropped down to pin her arms to her sides.
She screamed as the iron singed her skin, rendering her powerless.
"Goliath," David shouted. "The children…"
Leaving the girl to Xanatos, Goliath burst into the large playroom that only hours before had rang with children's laughter. Now, it was largely rubble, the large explosion having opened a hole in the wall that allowed Goliath to see outside clearly.
Puck, having been called forth to protect his charges, stood close to the opening and was exchanging magical power blasts with a larger male. Puck's normally jovial face and demeanor gave way to the serious and ferocious expression of someone who was prepared to fight to the death.
At the sound of the door being broken down, the male's attention wavered long enough for Puck to render the man motionless with a spell.
"About time you got here," Puck said, "They're swarming like insects." He raised a hand, a glowing green ball of energy gathering on his open palm. "Duck."
Goliath knelt just in time to avoid the blast of power that hit someone in the doorway behind him.
Goliath turned and launched himself at the figures outside the door. He felt a burning on one shoulder, but kept fighting. He had one figure in front of him, and was wrestling the gun from their grasp when a familiar roar came from the brick red gargoyle as he launched himself into the fray.
Brooklyn grabbed the figure from behind Goliath and wrapped his strong arms around the young woman. Her arms held to her side, she gave an angry snarl of her own, and began fighting the hold on her.
Elisa was right behind him, and slapped a pair of handcuffs on the young woman as she attempted to fight Brooklyn's hold.
Elisa opened a door to an empty room beside her, and roughly forced the woman inside. She slammed the door. "David is activating the steel clan to help," Elisa shouted above the fighting noise. "Where are the children?"
"I don't know," Brooklyn shouted back, rushing forward to help his leader.
Elisa hurried into the now abandoned playroom, and made a cursory look around. Not seeing the children or their caretakers anywhere, and assuming they had been taken to another area of the castle, she turned to rejoin to fight.
The sound of helicopter blades pierced the night, and all of the remaining halflings stopped fighting to make a break for the courtyard.
They were broken up once more by both Angela and Broadway. Having only just arrived themselves, they began fighting the few of the half fae teens that were within striking distance.
A few managed to make it to the rope ladders that had been lowered from the helicopter before it took off, but there were still a few that were left behind that the clan had effectively taken out of commission.
As the helicopter began its journey away from the castle, the steel clan took to the skies and chased after it.
Hudson, out of breath from his strenuous and hurried return from the farthest point of the earlier search, landed on running legs and hurried to where the clan and their allies stood.
"Wha' happened?" He asked.
"They caught us by surprise," Fox said, disgusted. "One of them was able to cloak their presence enough that none of the castle's defenses knew they were here until it was too late."
Elisa looked around at their group. "Where are the children?" Elisa asked, feeling her chest tighten in fear.
"Skyler was with them," Fox said.
"Where?" Elisa demanded.
"She was taking them to bed," Fox said. "The bedrooms are in an area that they weren't able to get to, thanks to Puck."
Elisa heaved a sigh of relief, but she wouldn't breathe easy until she saw the children safe.
"What do we do with the few halflings that are still here?" Brooklyn asked.
"We keep them here," Goliath said, grimly. "We find out what they were after, and then we hand them over to the humans to face justice."
"I have just the place," David Xanatos said grimly. "I had a few special iron cages made in case any of Oberon's people got out of control again."
"Aye," Hudson said, walking over to pick up the squirming female who had been chained in the courtyard. "I'll bring this one."
"I will bring the one from the room," Brooklyn said, heading back inside.
"We'll look around and get any others," Broadway said.
"I want to see the kids first," Angela said.
"I'll go with you," Elisa said, walking towards the bedroom wing with her stepdaughter. Even though the gargoyle children slept during the day like their family, they had a nursery room set up for naps, and a place for them to go into the stone sleep during the day and be out of sight in case of attack.
Their rooms were closest to the courtyard, so the two females stopped there first. The twins were sitting, wide eyed but silent in the corner, holding each other in fear.
"Oh," Angela said, tears springing to her eyes as she rushed across the room to her children's sides. "I am so sorry, babies," she crooned, stroking their hair. She sat on the floor, gathering the twins to her and rocking them when they began to wail.
Elisa wanted to help calm them, but still needed to go find her own child. She backed out of the room, shutting the door quietly to give the mother and children a measure of privacy.
Something was wrong.
She could clearly hear the children crying through the door. Why couldn't she hear the others? Surely they had to be terrified, so why weren't they making noise?
Elisa hurried father down the hallway, towards Alexander and Christopher Xanatos' rooms, and the room that had been set aside for Liam. Alexander was not in his room, but had taken shelter in his brother's room. He was sitting in the middle of the foldable walls of the portable play yard, entertaining Christopher by levitating colored balls in the air.
Elisa peeked inside at the pair, waved silently at Alex and closed the door once more. Fox would be along soon enough to comfort her children, but it helped Elisa to know that they were alright.
Next door was the room where an extra nursery had been decorated for nights when Liam would be at the castle.
Elisa entered quietly, not wanting to disturb him if he had actually been able to sleep through the attack.
Elisa's heart stopped as she gazed at the empty bed. Hurrying to the doorway, Elisa slapped at the lightswitch, and the bright light flooded the room.
"Liam?" Elisa called out, and began searching in earnest.
"Oh, god," Elisa said, a sinking realization hitting her.
She hurried into the hall, and back towards the playroom, shouting Goliath's name as she ran.
She practically flew through the door of the ruined playroom, and began searching. She began frantically searching through piles of rubble, looking under the small child sized table and anywhere that a small baby might be.
"Elisa?" Goliath said from the doorway, "What happened?"
"Liam," Elisa panted. She couldn't seem to catch her breath. "Liam's not in his room."
Goliath called for the rest of the clan, and began making short work of searching the room.
Elisa went to move a large chunk of plaster that had fallen from the ceiling, gasping in surprise when small fingers curled around her wrist. Elisa looked down and found a familiar gold charm bracelet.
"Skyler!"
Elisa's shout brought Brooklyn and Goliath to her side, both taking a corner of the plaster and moving it off of the woman with ease.
Elisa knelt next to the injured woman. Skyler was gasping for air, an audible wheeze coming from her with every breath. There were multiple lacerations covering her face, and her right arm was obviously broken and was lying at an odd angle.
Elisa placed a hand on the woman's forehead gently, trying to comfort her. "Get help," Elisa called over her shoulder.
"...set," Skyler managed to get out, though it obviously pained her.
"What?" Elisa asked, leaning in close.
"Cl...set." Skyler tried again. Skyler's face showed just how much pain she was in, but slowly raised her left hand and gestured to the wall opposite her.
Elisa glanced behind her, and then what Skyler had been trying to tell her hit.
"Goliath," she called out. "Goliath, the closet!"
"Heard 'em come," Skyler struggled to say, her voice soft and halting. "Tried to hide."
There was a commotion behind Elisa and she turned to see the clan digging a pile of rubble from in front of the closet door. Behind the layer of rock, was the oversized, tall backed chair that had been braced against it.
"You moved the chair," Elisa said, looking at Skyler.
"Had to hide…" He voice drifting off, Skyler's chest began to hitch as she fought not to cry.
"He is here," Goliath said, lifting his small son from inside the small closet. "He is fine."
Liam let out an angry scream to punctuate the words.
Skyler's eyes closed briefly.
"He's fine," Elisa reassured her. "The children are all fine."
David Xanatos entered the room, a grim faced Dr. James following behind, both holding the end of a large portable stretcher.
The men laid the stretcher on the ground near Skyler, and Elisa aided them as much as she could.
Elisa helped to put the immobilizing collar on the young woman, while Dr James swung his portable first responder supplies from his back. He brought out the supplies needed to splint and support Skyler's body for the trip to the lower floors and his medical facility.
Skyler was too weak to scream, but she continued to cry out with every movement.
"We can help," Broadway said softly.
"Help get her to the clinic," Dr. James said. "The elevators were knocked out in the explosion."
Broadway and a seemingly shell shocked Brooklyn took up the ends of the stretcher, and the somber group moved as quickly as they dared to take their injured friend to get cared for.
Elisa, now that the fighting was over and her family was safe, couldn't get her legs to cooperate. She remained kneeling on the floor, covered in bits of rock and dust, her hands now covered in the bright red blood of the woman who had protected her son.
She began to cry then, great wracking sobs. Partly in relief, and partly in grief.
"Elisa," Goliath said softly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Come with me."
Elisa struggled to her feet, leaning most of her weight against Goliath as he led her from the room.
Once more, Elisa found herself walking down the halls towards Liam's room. Goliath opened the door and gently laid Liam in the sturdy wooden crib.
Liam wasn't crying any longer, and was back to his usual happy self. Young enough to be largely unaware of the destruction that had gone on around him, he was happily sucking on his fists.
Goliath and Elisa held each other, gazing down at their son. They had only been a family for a month, but already, they couldn't imagine life without Liam.
"I want to hold him," Elisa said softly, "but I need to clean up first."
"I will stay here," Goliath said, giving her a nudge to the small washroom connected to the nursery. "I will remain until you return."
Elisa nodded, and carefully, deliberately, she put one foot in front of the other until she reached the bathroom.
Elisa turned the tap, allowing the warming water to wash over her hands. The water ran pink from the blood that was running off to go down the drain. Anger hit then, a blinding fury that made her body begin to tremble. Roughly, she grabbed the bar of soap, and began scrubbing.
The blood was gone, and with it any visible signs that anything had happened, and still she scrubbed.
Suddenly, in need of releasing some of the anger, Elisa grabbed the soap once more and Elisa turned and flung it against the opposite wall. The bar broke into large pieces, and still Elisa didn't feel any better.
She grabbed the edge of the sink and tried to take some deep breaths to calm herself. There were still things to do, her son to be taken care of, and she needed to check on Skyler.
Finally, Elisa felt as if she had a good enough handle on her emotions.
She joined Goliath and Liam in the nursery.
Goliath had picked Liam back up and was cradling the small boy in his arms, humming in his deep rumbling voice as Liam lay contentedly in the crook of his father's arm.
Elisa placed a gently hand on the top of her son's head, allowing herself a moment to be at peace within the circle of her small family.
"I have to go," Elisa said, softly. "I need to go check on Skyler, and check in with work. They'll want to know about what happened here."
"What will you tell them?" Goliath asked.
"I'll tell Captain Chavez everything I know. Between the two of us, we'll think of something to tell the public."
Goliath nodded. "We will go with you to wait for word on Skyler."
"Okay," Elisa said, knowing better than to argue.
As the trio began the long walk down the hallway, they were joined by the Xanatos family as well as Broadway and Angela.
Both couples also had their children in tow. After the attack, none of them wanted to be separated again.
Walking in silence, the three families made their way down the few flights of stairs to the floor that housed Dr James and the medical facility.
In a building as large as the one that housed Xanatos Enterprises, having an entire floor dedicated to a medical practice was almost unheard of. David Xanatos had hired Dr. Bradley James as a kind of live-in medical professional for his family.
Xanatos had supplied every medical machine and gadget that any doctor could want or dream of. He had access to things that would make any Emergency Room in the city green with envy.
Of course, the official reason was that Dr. James was there to provide medical services to his employees and their families during the day. At night, he was on call for the Gargoyles and Elisa.
Dr. James even had a small apartment on the same floor as his practice, so that he was never far away.
He had even gotten engaged recently, to a young woman named Kiersten Hardy, who had been working as his assistant during the day. She had been run through the rigorous background checks and had passed with flying colors.
Her initial reaction to hearing that he was there to help with the Gargoyles had been to think he was making a joke. She had been introduced to the clan slowly, and had finally come to think of them all as friends as well.
...Which was a good thing at times like this, when someone was in need of care, and the waiting room was filled with Gargoyles.
Neither Dr. James or Kiersten had come out of the operating room yet, and the room was filled wall to wall with the Gargoyle clan.
Alex Xanatos, with a wisdom beyond his years, led his brother and the two gargoyle children to the corner where the children's toys were kept for visiting families so that the adults could have time alone.
Goliath placed a hand on Elisa's shoulder and all but forced her into a chair. He knew that she was trying to be strong, and he admired that about her, but she looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Elisa reluctantly sat down at Goliath's not so subtle urging.
After five minutes, she was on her feet. "I have to call in to the station," she said, bolting from the room.
The clan watched her go, knowing that Elisa didn't handle hospitals well.
She had spent her fair share of time in hospitals since meeting them. She had been shot, nearly drowned, had her memory almost completely erased due to amnesia, and had been on the wrong side of the bad guys often enough that she had grown to detest medical buildings.
Even if it wasn't her in need of help.
In the hallway, Elisa put her fist against her racing heart. She meant what she'd said. She had to call in to the station.
She really should go down to the station herself, but didn't feel right leaving Skyler's side.
Elisa walked over to Kiersten's desk phone and dialed Matt's number.
"Bluestone," He answered briskly.
"Matt, it's Elisa," she started.
"Are you alright?" he asked abruptly. "I heard about the explosion."
"Where are you, and can you speak freely?" Elisa asked.
"I was just in Captain's office, going over the events of the night, and trying to figure out where you were." Matt admitted. "When the Aerie exploded, you dropped your phone and took off. One of the officers near you recognized that you were from the 23rd, picked it up and brought it to the station."
"Yeah," Elisa admitted. "I couldn't remember where I had dropped it."
"Hey, the Cap and I get it," Matt said. "Are you at the Aerie now?"
"Yeah," Elisa said. "The elevators were offline as soon as the explosion happened, and I was lucky enough to catch a lift up with Brooklyn."
"Is everyone okay? Was anyone hurt?"
Elisa felt a hitch in her breathing, so took an extra moment before answering. "The explosion happened in the nursery."
"Jesus," Matt breathed. "The kids?"
"The kids are fine, Matt, but Skyler..." Elisa explained, trailing off with her reluctance to voice just how bad the situation was.
"Do you need me to come up there?" Matt asked softly.
"No," Elisa said firmly. "But I need you to keep eyes and ears out. The Halflings were here, and we still don't know what they are doing."
"What is the official story?" Matt asked.
"I don't know, Matt," Elisa admitted. "Gas leak? Science experiment gone wrong? Godzilla? You pick."
"Okay," Matt said, his usual calm demeanor taking back over. It wouldn't do anyone any good having Elisa this upset. There was nothing he could do for her right this moment, but he could try to talk her down. "The Captain and I will handle it, and we'll let you know what the story will be."
"Thanks, Matt," Elisa said, sagging against the wall. "I mean it. Thank you."
"Take care of your family, Elisa," Matt said. "If you need a safe place for the night, let me know, and you can come crash at my place."
Elisa had to smile at that. Despite having a long time girlfriend, Matt was the very picture of a bachelor. "You'd put up with me and Liam?"
"Hey, I like the little guy," Matt said. "We have bonded."
"You bonded?" Elisa asked slowly.
"Well, he peed on me that first day," Matt admitted. "I think it was more that he was marking me as his property."
Elisa gave a watery laugh. "Thanks Matt, I needed that. I'll let you know about the rest," Elisa said.
"Hold on," Matt said, and there was a muffled conversation on his end of the phone. When Matt came back on the line, he sounded aggravated. "Sorry about that."
"What was that about?" Elisa asked.
Matt sighed. "Hawkins was passing by, heard me offer you a place to stay, and he was giving me grief." More muffled talking, followed by Matt's aggravated reply, "Jesus, Hawkins! She's a married lady with a new baby!"
"What is the letch saying?" Elisa asked. Gary Hawkins was old enough to be Elisa's father, but it didn't stop him from hitting on her… and every other female officer in the building.
"You don't want to know," Matt said, disgusted.
"Okay," Elisa said, trusting Matt. If he said it was something that she didn't want to know, she would trust him.
"Take care of you, and call me if anything changes."
"Will do," she said before ending the call.
"Elisa," Angela called softly from the waiting area doorway.
"Yeah," Elisa answered, straightening up from where she had been leaning against the wall. "What's up, Angela?"
"Skyler's out of surgery, and Dr James just came out to talk to us."