Like mother, like daughter

by Slifer1988

One single meeting changed everything for one small re cunning than most Slytherins on the inside but on the outside the charming golden boy of Gryffindor. But he will not only affect Great Britain,no his influence will go beyond the sea.M for later

7. Chapter 6: Meetings and Decisions

Like mother, like daughter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Gargoyles, I have no rights to them and I make no money from writing these fics.

"speak" - talking

'think' – thinking

"chant" - chanting

"spell" - charm or spell

Parts of an AU, eventual OCs and rated M for what will eventually happen in this story;

Chapter 6

29-th of July 2002

9:30 p.m.

Clearing Central Park

There was utter silence between the three figures in the clearing at the moment. Everyone of them had their own thoughts on the situation at hand.

Harry found the situation a little bit amusing even if the whole thing was also somewhat awkward. There he was ready for a quite night for once and now it seemed like he wouldn't get it, at least not so easily. The fact that the other gargess knew Angela didn't really help.

Angela didn't really mention any other female gargoyles with the exception of Demona. Seeing that the two of them weren't at each other's throats let him think she was someone else. The problem here was that females often noticed when an impressive male specimen was up for grasp and acted accordingly.

It was official for Angela. Someone up there had to hate her. How else could someone interpret two nights that went mostly down the drain? With the exception of Sal's appearance in New York yesterday evening, everything went bad for her. First The Trio, then The Quarrymen, after that The Clan and now last but not least her own mother. Why? Those were just some of the thoughts racing through the head of the stunned clan leader daughter.

She was ripped out of her thoughts by the snapping of fingers or better said claws in front of her face. Looking up she saw the somewhat worried but also curious look on her mother's face.

BREAK

Demona was somewhat perplexed with the whole situation in front of her. She was worried about her daughter. The girl wasn't really herself tonight. As she started her little trip tonight at her apartment, she only had two things on her mind.

A simple trip around the city and temporary forgetting about her troubles. The last weeks were a mess in her humble opinion and that was putting it lightly.

After the whole "Hunter's Moon"-episode, she herself nearly had a total breakdown. First of all was the topic, that the Hunters found her after nearly 20 years of peace and quiet and that they infiltrated her company without much trouble.

That in itself was worrying, but the whole mess after that was just too much. First her daughter was nearly killed because of some stupid misunderstanding, then the near all-out war between the clan and the hunters and now the formation of those Quarrymen. That didn't even include the fact that her plan failed, again. As if the whole thing would have worked in the first place with these new circumstances. She would bet that even if she could have pulled the whole thing off, Puck or The Weird Sisters would have somehow interfered because of the new relationship between Titania and Fox Xanatos. She was sure of that.

Not to mention she had to rearrange her whole schedule. Even if she didn't want to admit it, but she was thankful that the owner of MI decided to stay for two more weeks instead of one.

She herself never had the chance to meet the CEO himself. All arrangements went through his assistants. She only met one of them until now but she knew the woman was very competent. She herself wouldn't have minded hiring Miss Clearwater, but regrettably the owner of MI found her first. That the woman was British only made her more interesting because she possessed something that she herself hadn't felt in a long time. A feeling of home.

It was probably that the young woman attended a private school, an old castle, in Scotland. That involuntarily brought the memories of Castle Wyvern back, before the whole massacre. Perhaps she could tolerate the woman because she was a reminiscence of better times.

About the CEO, Harry Potter, was very little known. Except that he was very young, only eighteen when he took over the company. Some other pieces of info commonly known were that he was an orphan after his parents were killed, only one year after his birth, by terrorists. The boy also attended the same school as Miss Clearwater. Perhaps he made some bonds there and took over the companies with the people he could trust. But that was already too much speculation on her part. Well she would meet the young man in one week at the latest.

The second reason for going out tonight was to see her daughter perhaps. She knew it was unlikely to meet her alone and have a civil conversation, but she had to try it at least. Angela was perhaps the only person left that wanted to be around her willingly without an agenda after the hunter fiasco.

Even though her daughter didn't know it, Angela was still a creature of habit. For a normal person or gargoyle there was of course no pattern, regarding what sort of spot she would chose at night. When she wanted to be alone. Demona doubted that the clan was so observant; they simply didn't know how the mind of a female worked. Especially that of a teenager.

Her daughter had a relatively simple pattern but it was also somehow brilliant. She went to places that fit her mood. Simple as that. From what she gathered from the news today, her daughter had been pissed off or at least wanted to be left alone. It was also very likely that she wanted to be left alone and get some frustration out of her system.

How did she know that? It was rather simple she had memorized the patrol plans and pairings nearly by heart now. Goliath for all his leadership qualities and strength was not the brightest and most flexible character in certain situations. If one way worked without much trouble, then there wasn't going to change anything in the foreseeable future. Same routes, same pairings and nearly identical times. Someone could nearly set an alarm clock if that person wanted to see them at a certain spot to a certain time. It had been her job, back then in Scotland, to prevent something like that. Mixing up the routines, so that there was no real or obvious pattern visible.

Once she heard the news report about the Quarries, it was clear that it had something to do with her daughter. She knew that because she saw the trio yesterday on her way home. So it was blatantly obvious that Angela had been alone on her patrol. But there had to be something else. She simply couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her daughter could have pulled off such a stunt.

First of all, Angela wasn't that tech-savvy. Of course her little girl knew her way around regarding technology, at least to a reasonable degree. But she wasn't that good to manipulate cameras, she doubted even Lexington could pull it off without leaving evidence behind. That was her first clue that something or someone happened last night.

Her second clue was the injuries that two of the four people got. It was well known that the clan mostly knocked their opponent out. Of course there were sometimes one or two broken bones but that didn't normally happen except someone did something drastic. Not to mention that Angela was tamer than most of the clan. It didn't surprise her, really. Her daughter didn't grow up in the Middle Ages like the rest of them. She was sheltered on Avalon. Sure life there also wasn't just sunshine and daisies but Angela didn't experience the true horrors of that age. She didn't know what people were capable of. Even her journeys showed her just a little bit of the human brutality. Someone also had to take into consideration the age of today was tame in comparison to back in the days.

Humans back then were a lot crueler and had little to no ethics. It was a constant battle of survival if you weren't born into the right families and even then it wasn't easy. That counted double if you were a woman. Back then, when you weren't of really high standing, you were merely a tool, a little bit more than a piece of furniture. Of course if you had a loving man or a loving family, then there were less problems but the fear was always there. You could wake up the next day and your family could be dead and you yourself were turned over to your new master. There had been times when one or another would have been better off dead.

So yeah she didn't believe that her daughter had it in her to rearrange the bones of someone like that.

These two things led her to one of her two destinations: Central Park.

The other possibility would have been Saint John but her trip already led her there and she had seen no sign of Angela.

When she found the hidden clearing it didn't surprise her to see her daughter there but it did surprise her to see another gargoyle there and a male one to boot. Even from up there she could see that he was very attractive. Easily in the league of Goliath but there was also an air of mystery around him because he wore armor, and it was no harness or body armor.

As she saw them there, she could only think that the two of them were on the verge of flying off. But there was something still preventing it. Deciding to act fast and embarrass her daughter a bit, she flew a small circle and let out a shriek.

After that she floated into the clearing and landed with a thud.

Seeing the shocked look of her daughter nearly made her night. Deciding to have some fun she spoke with mirth in her tone.

"Hello Angela. I didn't expect you to be here tonight. Imagine my surprise finding you here and not alone. Who is this unknown stud here? Why don't you introduce us?"

BREAK

That sentence broke something inside her. Finally regaining her voice Angela responded with some raising heat in her voice, clearly the events of the last two nights and the last months were catching up to her now.

"What do you mean with that? How did you even find me here in the first place? No one should even know about it and don't say that it was pure luck! I have had it with just about everyone now. First Broadway and the other two ditch me so that I had to do my patrol all on my own yesterday. Then there was an ambush laid for me on my route yesterday. Worse, it damn nearly cost me!"

Her eyes were glowing red by now. Clearly showing her agitation and Demona had the feeling that it was clearly good for her to let out some frustration.

"After coming back to the castle I thought that I had now some peace and quiet but no, it simply shouldn't be. A report about a robbery led my father to questioning me about the patrol. But my word was obviously not enough for him because I simply wasn't in the middle of the events. Those bastards don't really sent invitations to us for their gigs.

So it really could be possible that I missed them. Of course then he questions the one person who didn't really have a clue what happened last night. And what happens? That guy can't even use my story to really hide their true activities or to improvise on the fly. One contradiction after another followed. That went on and on, until I had enough about the whole thing and left them there.

Then I learned tonight that one of the other two jumped to his aid and placated my father with a believable excuse. After waking up and getting the girlfriend of my father and the wife of our host off my back with their questions, I had to dodge the others for nearly an hour just so that they wouldn't follow me here. My goal for tonight was to simply do what I had planned and nothing more.

But no I couldn't even get that. Now I have to deal with you too. What is your angle? Why can't I simply get what I want for once? Is that too much to ask for? Just for one night. I just want to …."

The rest of her words stuck in her throat as something happened that she really didn't expect to happen.

Her mother hugged her and it was not just a simple hug, no she encircled them both with her wings. That was something so uncharacteristic for her mother, it was no wonder she stopped ranting so suddenly.

Demona knew that that was out of character for her but as her mother she had to at least offer some soothing and comfort. Her little girl was at the end of her nerves. The events with the hunters, the current trouble with the Quarrymen, added with the rising tension between her and the trio, or better said Broadway, because they couldn't shape up and last night's events let her reach her breaking point. Trying to somewhat ease some of her daughter's tension she spoke soothingly.

"Shhh! Take it easy Angela. Let it out. I know that the last weeks were difficult for you. Goliath should have known that you didn't grow up like the rest of us. We grew up with war and fighting. For us it was a routine, but for you it was unfamiliar."

Seeing that her daughter wanted to object, Demona pushed further.

"I know you fought on Avalon and during your journey. But you must understand that we had to endure that every day in Scotland. You just had to endure it every other day; you didn't see what we saw and endured. What I want to say is that we lived with that for so long that we somehow end up doing things to cope with it. It simply became everyday life for us. Take for example Lexington, the boy tries to learn everything he can, but not only for the sake of learning but to get his mind off those events. Broadway copes with eating and Brooklyn looks for new thrills to get his blood pumping. Even Hudson and your father deal with such things. They probably didn't notice it with you because I think even they themselves forgot that they were not normally doing it. It just became second nature."

Sighing to herself she looked at her and saw that Angela still looked somewhat lost. So she decided to help her a little bit more. One or two advices wouldn't hurt.

"You could start reading for example; you could also simply glide around or start training to fight with me. I know the last one isn't really an option for you because Goliath likes to keep an eye on you but the offer is always open for you. If you have time, simply come over. Just find something to take your mind off such things or else it will happen again in the future. It isn't healthy for you to bottle it all up. You don't always have to be the small obedient daughter of the clan leader, from time to time you can also let the little spitfire part of you out. Also if anyone has problems with that, just give them hell. Ok? They should know where you come from."

Seeing her nod, she was somewhat glad that the whole thing worked out in the end. But she still didn't have an answer for her last question. Opening her wings and seeing that the unknown gargoyle was still there and waited patiently for them to finish. She decided to add some boldness to her next sentence.

"So now that that is over, how about you introduce me to that hunk over there? We let him wait long enough as it is. So is there something new I should know about? A new friend? A new crush? A possible interest? A lover? Or the father of your unborn child? Hm?"

Hearing this was just too much for Angela. It had been nice of her mother to comfort her. She saw that side of her just once and only for a short time. The words washed away most of her worries and aggravation. But now she had to do that and ruin the moment by totally embarrassing her in front of her somewhat secret crush. So it simply burst out of her.

"MOTHER! There is nothing like that between us 'yet', we simply ran into each other yesterday. Seeing that he is from England, I simply decided to help him so that he knew his way around the city. I'm just polite to him, nothing else. So don't jump to conclusions, please!"

That would have normally shut up her mother, but she forgot one little detail about the whole situation. Salazar was still there, so he heard everything and that guy liked to tease.

So she was a little shocked when another voice spoke up.

BREAK

It was official the "Potter Luck" still worked. His plan was a quiet and perhaps funny night with Angela and not one hour into the whole thing you could chuck everything in the dustbin. On the positive site he could say that he now knew not one but two attractive gargesses. The whole thing became better because the second one had green eyes, similar to his own, and red hair, similar to his mother's. That combination was nearly lethal for him. If there was one weakness he shared with his father, then it was their taste in women.

But as it always happened his "Potter Luck" kicked him in the metaphorical balls at Angela's exclamation of "MOTHER!"

Huh just his luck mother and daughter but one thing didn't add up for him why was Angela's mother nearly the same age as her daughter. At least to him the redhead didn't look a day over thirty. There had to be a reason for that but he didn't want to pry, everyone had a right to have their secrets. For now, he had to "help" Angela before she fell totally victim to her mother's teasing. But not in the normal way, Potters don't do normal; he would help her in his own way.

"Hey Angel, how about you introduce us to each other? If you want to we can still make our little tour after that." Harry suggested.

It wasn't clearly visible but Harry thought he saw the eyes of Angela's mother widen just for a second but he couldn't be sure because Angela decided to add her own two cents to the teasing.

"What? Already on pet name basis Sal?" came back in a sly tone.

"Sure but don't think you can grope me anytime now. Don't deny it, I know you snuggled and coped some feels yesterday." came as a reply.

"Awww, does the big boy want to feel a piece of this as a reward for last night?" was her answer as Angela traced her legs and upper body with her claws, while hoping to get a reaction out of him.

She probably would have gotten some kind of reaction if they had been alone. Unfortunately, they weren't as there came a rather harsh interjection before either of them could say anything.

"Ok, that's enough, claws where I can see them. Both of you and no more of this while I am here. I thought you wanted to introduce me Angela and not jump his bones." echoed Demona's voice through the clearing.

She wasn't entirely sure what was going on but one minute her daughter was acting totally normal and no two minutes later she acted as if she was in heat.

That were only two scenarios that came to mind where that kind of mood swings were possible. The first was rather simple. It was mating season and the two of them were partners but seeing that the two of them just got to know each other yesterday that wasn't an option.

The second scenario would make more sense to her but would also complicate things for them when they met the clan later on.

The second possibility was only possible if an active alpha male was near the female. The male would unconsciously emit pheromones that could only be recognized by females that weren't related to them and hadn't once mated yet. It would also only affect the females that were never before around another alpha. She herself had been around Goliath a long time ago so the pheromones didn't have any hold over her emotions. There were technically only two or better now three male gargoyles alive today that had the necessary genetic makeup to be recognized as alphas.

Goliath, Thailog and now Salazar, if she heard right, here. Goliath was already past the stage in his life where he unconsciously released his pheromones and Thailog simply didn't have them because he was a clone.

All in all, that was simply a new situation for Angela, she didn't grow up with the required knowledge and also didn't know why she acted so differently. But it had to be said that everything was voluntarily, the attraction had to be there for the chemicals to work after all. You simply couldn't generate something out of nothing.

The whole thing was amusing as far as she was concerned. The only downside was that stupid habit to become somewhat needy if you didn't know what was going on. So she had to intervene before Angela did something drastic. It looked like Salazar also didn't know what he did to her daughter at the moment but had at least a level of self-control. She would have to talk to them some other time about that. She had to trust the male gargoyle to keep himself in check for now.

That was the other problem with alpha males. They simply drew the females to them like the moths were drawn to the flame. She herself had to beat some of them off of Goliath back then to mark her territory. She wanted to at least remind her daughter of that point. But for now she would let her daughter introduce her at least. She would act according to their reaction, seeing that her daughter didn't introduce her as the public enemy number one yet.

"Salazar, may I introduce you to my biological mother." came as a reply.

'She let my name out?' were Demona's somewhat relieved first thoughts so she nearly didn't hear his reply.

"Greetings. My name as you no doubt already heard is Salazar. It's a pleasure to meet you and I also see where Angela gets her beauty from."

"Greetings to you too. Say, it may seem impolite to ask that but where are you from, your accent is somewhat familiar and I can't really place it. It is north west European but that is all I can hear at the moment." was her replay but also a question mixed in one.

"No, it is alright. You are right I'm from north west Europe. I already told your daughter that I'm from England. You're right my accent is not really clean but that has to do with the fact that I was born in Wales and spent a lot of time in Scotland during my teens. Am I right to assume that you're also from Scotland like the rest of your clan?"

"Yeah you're right with your assumption of my origins but that was a long time ago." came as a nearly melancholic answer.

Harry assumed that she missed the time before their sleep but something still bothered him and he really couldn't stop himself from asking this question.

"Seeing that you are Angela's mother and also the mate of the clan leader, it seems strange to me that no one else from your clan is here besides you yourself. May I inquire the reason for that?"

He didn't really expect a reply. Much less did he expect a humorless chuckling as she answered that somewhat private question.

"Yeah, yeah you're right that is indeed strange given my and Angela's standing. To tell you the truth we have lived separated for a long time now. The views of the clan and my own about the world simply clashed too much nowadays to live with each other. You could say that I myself am somewhat of a burned child. Not only once or twice was I burned but much more. It also doesn't help that the clan, with the exception of my daughter, and I are extremely wary of each other. My former mate, Angela's father, always had that outlook in life that there was just good or bad. It became better over time but he is still incredibly naïve regarding that. He just can't accept that the lines became blurrier than before." was her reply.

But she also added in a nearly inaudible whisper "It also doesn't help your outlook on life when you were hunted like an animal for a little more than a millennium. That damn bastard. I should have killed him back then. A scratch was simply too good for him"

Harry heard it thanks to his advanced hearing but he was sure Angela didn't. That was an interesting tidbit of info. He didn't know the whole context but it was clear the gargess in front of him had seen a lot more of humanity than most.

After that Demona turned to her daughter and tried not to sound too accusing or harsh but she had to get that out before it became too complicated.

"Well, I will take my leave for now and let you two enjoy the rest of your night. Take care; the Quarrys became a lot more active recently.

Oh and before I forget it, just a word of advice. Angela you shouldn't hide him for too long from the others. You were constantly on the move and no unknown gargoyle showed any interest in you, so you didn't really get to see that side of your father yet. He can be extremely suspicious of new people and gargoyles, especially when they are close to you.

I know that every father is leery of guys around his little girl but that is something else entirely.

He simply doesn't like it anymore when unknown variables or a new player appear out of nowhere. It also doesn't help that the two of you, from what I can see, just simply seem to click.

Remember you needed the better part of the last year just to be somewhat comfortable around the rest of the clan and now you get along with an unknown gargoyle within one night.

Because of that, he will suspect that nearly anything from deceit to magic is somehow involved."

With her piece said Demona took off and flew into the night somewhat relived that her daughter still wanted her in her life. Still there was also one thought that occupied her mind: How would the young ones take to the sudden competition that appeared out of the blue. Salazar was everything that she herself would have wanted in a mate back then and her daughter's taste was truly like hers if that short exchange was anything to go by.

It would either motivate Broadway to do better now that he had some real competition or it would break him. Also what would the others do because as far as she was concerned the clan thought the pairing between her daughter and Broadway was nearly set in stone. One thing was clear though life would be somewhat entertaining for her again.

BREAK

Seeing that they were alone now and that Angela was still somewhat out of it Harry thought he would throw her a bone and get the event rolling again.

"So" he said "that was your mother? I'm surprised you didn't mention her yet. She seemed like a nice gargoyle even if somewhat reserved but seeing that she lives separated from you that's somewhat understandable seeing that she has to look mostly after herself.

Don't take that the wrong way but if you are her child how does your mother still look so young? She could really pass for your older sister but not as your mother."

Angela shortly contemplated what to say to the questions asked they were reasonable and she could answer them without problems but the problem was how much was she willing to divulge. She didn't know the whole history herself, mostly a general overview and some facts that her father and her mother shared with her individually.

In the end she decided that she could give him some answers to his questions but wouldn't divulge some parts, like her birthplace Avalon, that her mother was Demona and that she just knew her and her father for about a year. She would let him form his own opinion about her, seeing that her mother somewhat liked him and that that was one of her few peacful meetings with her up to now.

"Yeah, that was my mother." she said somewhat fondly before turning around and speaking to him in a slow tone as if she had to think about what to say to him "Look Salazar, I can answer your question regarding her but not everything either because even I don't know the whole facts or it's still somewhat too personal for me. It is also a longer story so you better get comfortable.

I'm sure you agree with me that she was right with that statement that we simply click with each other but there has to be more time for us to get to know each other before I can tell you some things about her and my life up until now." seeing him nod with an understanding expression on his face she continued " You must know Salazar that up until one year ago, I didn't live with the clan let alone knew about them.

1000 years ago after the massacre at the time the clan was charmed to sleep on Castle Wyvern I was still an egg. The Magus who put the clan to sleep and some other people promised my father to take care of the clutch. The took us to a magical place where time had little to no meaning and raised us there as if we were their own children. That meant 1000 years for the clan was like 40 human years to us.

One to two years ago my father and two other people found their way to that place by chance and I decided to follow them to New York to meet the clan myself." seeing the nonexistent somewhat raised eyebrow she added "I didn't know at that time that he was my biological father, I simply followed them out of curiosity. My foster parents said that even as a child I always was a free spirit, something, they remarked, I seemed to have inherited from one of my birth parents.

But I'm getting off topic. The thing is the Magus didn't turn my mother to stone simply because she wasn't found during the massacre and the following aftermath. I don't know why she wasn't there but she told me one thing:

She never trusted the humans of Castle Wyvern because they saw the clan as beasts, simply as a necessary evil just another way to defend the castle. Princess Katharine at that time made that clear to her. So she was always wary of them, expecting betrayal at every turn.

Seeing that the clan didn't wake up during the next night, my mother went into a self imposed exil. She was always on the road, searching for a safe place to sleep, food and other gargoyles. During one of those nights, while she was raiding a stable of a small croft for food, a young peasant boy no older than twelve surprised and startled her. She fled and slashed him across the face, leaving three permanent scars behind.

That boy would become the first so called Hunter. He vowed to destroy my mother and every gargoyle he came across. You probably saw the news about the explosions some weeks ago. The was the latest fight between the current Hunters and my mother. I also became a target after they found out I was her biological daughter simply because we shared the same blood.

Years later my mother and other rough gargoyles lived in multiple caverns near Castle Moray, just getting by with raids on bandit and mercenary camps. On one of those nights my mother was informed by three old gargoyles that a visit of Castle Moray and acting without prejudice, when she saw it fit, would prove beneficial to her. Seeing no reason not to trust them she flew to the castle and rescued the son of the steward from being killed by a mercenary.

Years later the same boy, now a young man, and my mother fought by chance together against the first Hunter and successfully killed him. She thought that she had seen the last of the Hunter and let herself have some peace and quiet.

But the peace didn't last very long, the Mask of the Hunter found a new owner and that Hunter eventually found her clan by chance. My mother and her whole clan would have perished that night were it not through luck that the Hunter chose to attack near sunset. Only 4 gargoyles survived that massacre and they all had to escape that night only to be able to survive.

They also had to always be on the move again, never knowing peace because they were actively hunted again.

Because of her advancing age, my mother also couldn't effectively combat him anymore. More often than before she had to flee. Eventually she met the man again that helped her killing the first Hunter. He was now the Steward of Moray but also had his own problems. The king of Scotland, who was also his cousin at that time, thought that the man wanted to kill him and take the throne for himself.

Knowing no other option anymore the Steward looked for help from my mother, his old battle companion. She said to him that she herself had enough trouble on her own her advanced age not withstanding and what guarantee did she have that he wouldn't double-cross her in the end. The man said he would swear every oath to her that he would hold true to their bargain if she allowed it.

At that very moment the three decrepit gargoyles that warned my mother years ago appeared before them and said that that bargain needs a sign of good faith. Asking my mother what she desired and the Steward what he would be willing to give. In the end through sorcery they exchanged the years of life between the two. In the end my mother looked like she was in her late twenties again and the Steward in his fifties but their bodies still looked like they were in their prime.

The old gargoyles informed them that they were now linked together and if one of them died the other one would also.

That gave my mother the safety she wanted to have and the two of them formed an alliance. Together they fought against the king and killed him in the end. Thus making the Steward of Moray the new King of Scotland.

Their alliance stayed stable over the following years and my mother came to trust another human again. Years later my mother flew unannounced to the castle to talk about the plans on fighting against the invading English, with the exiled son of the king's cousin leading them. There she overheard that the king considered betraying her because his advisors mentioned to him that the English just allied with his nephew because it appeared he was involved with demons and sorcery and if that was proven false they would be left alone.

You must understand that neither my mother nor the king aged one day since meeting the three old gargoyles. Therefore leading to those rumors and tales.

My mother acted too rashly and left the king to fend for himself while allying with his nephew. During a battle between those three the nephew killed the king and also my mother because he heard a rumor about the link between them and having every intention to kill both of them in the end.

The thing was my mother and the king didn't stay dead. It appeared that besides aging they were unable to die through other people. They could feel each others pain if they were near each other but cursed with immortality.

Over the centuries a new line of Hunters, descended from the second one, had somehow learned of her survival and chosen to hunt her down like a beast again.

During that time she grew increasingly bitter towards humanity, she finally decided that she had to do everything she could to ensure her survival for herself and what little remained of her race.

I hope you can see Salazar that my mother is a product of her environment only willing to see the worst of humanity and doing everything in her power to protect the few things that are important to her. My father once told me that she was a wonderful woman but it seemed time scarred her too deep to forgive or to trust humanity once more.

The was the long history of my mother's young appearance and distrust in humanity Salazar. I hope you can still see her as the person she was today but I wanted that you got a better picture of her and that I wouldn't be ruined through the bias of other people."

Opening her eyes again Angela saw that Salazar had also closed his eyes during her story. It seemed like he was deep in thought over what she just told him. Seeing him open his eyes she was interested in his reaction.

Harry meanwhile wasn't totally sure how to react to Angela's story. He knew some things were left out because of her personal reasons and missing knowledge but he was sure that he got an adequate picture of her mother. He knew he could have also turned out just like that if he didn't have had his friends and parents.

Seeing that Angela was patiently waiting for his response to her story he chose his words carefully and replied slowly.

"I can't say that I don't understand your mother's reason for distrusting humans but she has to understand that there are also gargoyles that trust specific humans. She can't protect her race like that she will only rally her race against herself in the end. She has to understand again that there are also trustworthy people among humanity.

There is a reason I myself came to New York, it was planned that I came here it was no mere coincidence.

I can see that she still has people that she wants to protect even if their number is small. I believe if she experiences one or two more betrayals like those back then from people she trusts then there is no one that can help her anymore."

Hearing this Angela knew that she had to be one of the pillars that helped her mother stay sane and perhaps she could bring her to trust Salazar and his human friends too.

She knew from his explanation now that he came with humans to New York that he absolutely trusted and she knew with whom he would side if they were threaded within an heartbeat.

Perhaps it would help her mother somewhat to have more people to confide in again and that they were from Great Britain could only help in her opinion. But it would surly be a slow process but it could happen the requirements were there. Also it wouldn't be like her mother to fall head over heels for a human, would it?

Turning to Salazar she answered .

"Yeah, you're right she has to learn again that there are also trustworthy humans even if they are few and far between." seeing him nod she continued "But enough talking for now. What do you say stud are you still up for some fun tonight even if we have already nearly midnight?"

She didn't have to wait long for his response as he said playfully.

"That was the whole reason I came here tonight Angle!"

Feeling mischievous Angela stalked slowly towards him and responded.

"In that case, YOU'RE IT!" while tagging him playfully and giving him a soft peg on the cheek.

After that she jumped and climbed upon the top of a particular large tree and swung herself into the sky and out of his view.

A little dazed and still somewhat surprised by her daring Harry shook himself out of his stupor and said to himself.

"There she goes again. One minute she acts all responsible and the other she becomes such a minx. Well two can play this game sweety."

Readying himself he followed Angela's actions and swung himself into the sky with intention of following her while also having some fun for once.

BREAK

30-th of July 2002

~3:30 p.m.

Two hours before sunrise Angela landed on one of the crenellations from Castle Wyvern. She was in a great mood at the moment. Not only did she have a great time with Sal during their night out but she also got some nice private moments with her mother out of it.

She has mulled over some of the things her mother said to her during her flight with Salazar and decided at the end that she should make some things clear for her father and hint at some things to the clan.

She wouldn't outright say anything about Sal but she would hint that she and Broadway weren't as secure anymore as everyone thought they were. She would also outright say to her father if he pushed about last night that she would take her mother up on her offer for staying with her for some time if it all became too much for her.

If he had a problem with that then he could talk it out with her because she was one of the few people that wouldn't mother her and train her like she wanted to. Without further ado Angela made her way down the spiral staircase of the tower, navigating towards the kitchen almost on autopilot.

The night with Salazar was nice but also taxing on her stamina. The big guy didn't perhaps have the necessary fine control for fast gliding within the city with all its buildings but he made up for that with pure muscle power.

She would need two wing beats to cover the distance he could with one and an added bonus was that he could trace flying objects easier than most people she knew, it was as if he was trained in it for years.

While making herself a snack in the back of the room before sunrise Angela was so lost in thoughts that she didn't hear the door to the kitchen opening. Three pairs of feet entered the room while talking animatedly.

"...and I still stand by what I said yesterday Brooklyn. The 3D-movies will make a jump in the next three years. After that that will be the norm the quality of the effects will also sky rock." said the enthusiastic voice of Lexington. His thoughts were still clearly by their movie last night.

"Hah, yeah of course and and pigs will fly. There is no question that the tech and the quality will be better but not in that timeframe. Give it double the time, say six years from now and I would still question it but I would at least say it had a chance to get there."came the counterargument from Brooklyn.

"Buddy, you are underestimating humanity. They will progress faster than you believe possible. Look at what Xanatos, Sevarius or Renard did. Such leaps in tech were still a dream ten years ago but now they are there. Of course they keep most of it for themselves or sell some of it to the highest bidders.

But they are not the only ones out there anymore. You heard from Owen that there will be a meeting with a company from Britain sometime the next two weeks. They aren't into Robotics or Genetics but their level of tech is on the same standard and from what I gathered it is a tough nut to crack for the eggheads of Xanatos. They can't make heads or tails with it.

If that isn't a sign that we are in for a big jump forwards then I don't know what else it should mean." marveled Lexington. Totally ignoring the fact that he hadn't even touched his already prepared sandwich from the fridge yet.

"Be that as it may you geek, you know we have other problems at the moment. If I didn't already know you would forget to eat something as soon as you geek out the I would say you have the same problems as out big guy here." responded Brooklyn while redirecting the next part to their third member.

"Come on Broadway, eat your fill already, you barely touched anything since last night. You ate at most half of your usual volume. I don't need you collapsing on me during a fight just because you didn't have enough energy."

"Sorry guys, don't feel like it. I just don't know what happened last night. One moment Angela gave her report like normally and as soon as I struggled a bit with Goliath questions she just gets up leaves.

I don't know where I mucked up to deserve that, she could have helped me a little there. In the end you had to bail me out of it." came as a somewhat subdued response to Brooklyn's demand.

Sighing and shaking his head a bit Brooklyn decided to fill his friend in a bit. " Broadway you have to see it like that. We or better said you asked Angela yesterday to cover for our outing. She did that, the report was well thought out and covered most of our bases.

Even the thing with the Querrymen was covered. It was covered with unknowing but it was plausibly covered. Under normal circumstances there wouldn't have been a reason for Goliath to ask for more details. But we underestimated his paranoia a bit there.

First it was a patrol that involved Angela and you know he asks there normally for more details because she is not only his daughter but he also is wary that something like with the Hunters could happen again.

The other thing was that the simple idea of the Querrymen acting like simple thugs is so alien in and of itself that he simply needed confirmation that we didn't have anything to with that and that we didn't fabricate that as some kind of pity revenge against them.

Do you see my points there?" seeing Broadway nodding with his head he went on "The thing is that Angela gave nearly a free pass, you just had to confirm her standpoint and perhaps add a reasonable addition here or there and everything would have resolved itself.

We really have to work on your confidence there buddy. Because of that the whole thing went south, you couldn't build up on her story in front of Goliath and as soon as he started asking for more details you contradicted her story at some points so much that I thought the whole gig would go up in flames.

Perhaps she thought so too and that probably caused that reaction yesterday. Her reaction was perhaps a little bit over the top but all things considered I wouldn't hold it against her. We nearly blew her and our cover and seeing that we didn't pull that for the first time we can be happy that she didn't reveal what was going on and for how long.

You know the whole thing would have ended worse for us if Goliath had caught on that she was alone on patrol, it wouldn't have been her head that would have been on the chopping block.

It wouldn't have been a punishment like the breeding burrow back then but a combat lesson like with Coldstone, Desdemona, Demona and Goliath in tandem back in Scotland. You know we always felt these bruises even after one night of stone sleep. Believe me I don't want a refresher of that.

Do you understand now how lucky we were that she 'only' stormed off and let one of us take over?" seeing his friend nod a little faster he tried to finish it there with a little bit of advice for him.

"Look, big guy. Yeah, she was angry with you yesterday because you nearly blew her and our cover. I get that it looks rough for you but try to be a bit nicer to her over the next few days.

Give her a gift or two, don't try to be pushy about it but let her know you care for her and you're sorry about yesterday.

OK? It won't be instant but you will see if you give her time everything will be alright."

Broadway nodded his head and gave his friend an affirmative look, showing that he understood what he meant. "Yeah, you're right Brooklyn. I just have to show her that I can be strong and dependable for her. Then everything will be like before again. It just needs some time just like you said."

The three of them were interrupted from their conversation by a slow clapping sound. Turning around they saw exactly said person they talked about clapping her claws at them. Brooklyn hoped to whatever god was listening that she didn't hear too much but he had to confirm it.

"Hey, Angela! Nice seeing you here, what were you up to tonight? We didn't see you at all and also couldn't find you in the castle."

The gargess answered almost in an impish tone. "Well Brooklyn, after yesterday I just had to get my head free and went for a flight across the town to sort out my thoughts. You know the usual after such an event, just to unwind myself a bit. I also just came back and had to spoil myself a little bit. You do understand what I mean right?"

Feeling some dread build up in themselves by her tone and mannerisms, the three were also reminded again just who her mother was. They knew they had to address the elephant in the room, so Brooklyn bit the bullet for the three of them.

He answered in an almost sheepish tone, just hoping for the best. "Yeah, yeah, we totally understand that one has to unwind himself after some things in the last weeks and yesterday. But just out of curiosity, how much did you hear of our conversation?

We didn't really hear the door to the kitchen open and Broadway also didn't really make as much noise as usual."

Taking her last sandwich into her claw, Angela walked casually towards the door while answering to the trio. "Oh, you couldn't have heard me because I was already here before you. So I heard the whole thing since you entered the kitchen and I just couldn't find it in myself to interrupt you three.

It just wouldn't have been proper to do that. I'm sure you can understand that, can't you?"

The three could only nod in response as they thought that Angela was channeling Demona just now simply to punish them. Only Demona was capable of sounding nice like that while ready to cut your head off.

Not really caring anymore and only interested in going to sleep Angela made her way towards the door.

She opened it and was nearly through as she stopped and turned around. Her gaze fixed on Broadway, so that he knew that the following message was especially for him.

"By the way Broadway, I appreciate your dedication to make it up for me. I really do big guy, but tonight I thought about some things and came to a decision. I believe that perhaps I was a bit too fast in my decision letting you court me.

I think it would be in both of our interests that we take some more time for getting to know each other. And just so that you three really know what I mean with that I will be blunt to you. You have to show me that you have what I want in a mate."

Turning around she went fully through the door and closed it behind her while leaving three clearly dumbfounded gargoyles behind in the kitchen.

After a minute or two in silence Brooklyn and Lexington turned their head to the still shocked Broadway. Seeing that their friend was still processing the whole thing Lexington snapped his claws in front of his face and finally caught his attention.

Seeing that he now had his full attention the small green gargoyle summed it up for him one final time while padding his shoulder. "Well Broadway it seems like Brooklyn and I are in the breeding burrow for her but you my friend are fucked. Sorry buddy, but it looks like you are back to square one."

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After nearly 9 years I finally got around finishing Chapter 6.

I hope it doesn't take so long again to get another one out but RL and work had and still have priority sorry.

Well till next chapter then.