October 31, 1997
4:53 p.m.
Castle Wyvern
After nightfall, a subdued clan split up to prepare for the party. Goliath remained outside on the battlements and took a moment alone to ruminate on the various things weighing on him, trying to work them out in his mind.
He was worried for his clan. Not just because there appeared to be some kind of threat against them, but because the stress and fear of it was straining their relationships and trust with each other. They had nothing they could focus on, to rally against, and he feared they would break and turn on each other before the culprit could do so themself. He worried retreat would be the only thing to save them, and that did not sit well with him.
But where could they go?
Elisa would gladly put them up for a while, but he knew that would only be a short-term solution. Her generosity and hospitality, strained by so many in such a small space, could only go so far, and he hated the idea of imposing on her. She already gave and sacrificed so much for them, for him.
There was the Labyrinth, though living underground did not appeal to him in the slightest. It felt unnatural for beings who were born to inhabit the skies. Plus, Talon was the de-facto leader there, someone with whom he'd had a difficult relationship. Though things were better between them now, he could easily imagine their tenuous truce devolving rapidly if they tried to maintain separate clans and their leadership clashed. Goliath could defer to others if he had to, but after being the leader of his own clan for so long, it would be hard to swallow his pride. He couldn't help but wonder how Hudson did it so gracefully.
The best-case scenario would be finding a new place to live, like the Clock Tower. That had felt like a stroke of luck… though, Elisa actually deserved allf the credit for that good fortune. Everything she did seemed like magic to him. His thoughts grew wistful as his thoughts turned to his beloved, but then he also started to worry.
Something had been off with her lately. Something she didn't want to talk to him about, and that deeply troubled him. She seemed closed off to him in a way that she hadn't been before. At least, not since they had gotten together. It bothered him that she wouldn't tell him. She should feel safe to come to him with any problems.
But did she know that? Truthfully?
His reaction last night to her telling him about Jason Canmore had certainly not conveyed that. He'd mucked that up by getting defensive… and worst of all, jealous. Elisa had been right of course. He was jealous of the human for no discernable reason other than the fact that Jason Canmore was in love with his mate, and that made him uncomfortable. It didn't help that he'd been having a recurring dream, day after day, of Elisa leaving him for Jason, stating that it was because a relationship with him was easier. Because he could give her the children she wanted. It was his own insecurities and fears that had spoken up and gotten the better of him last night when she had only been truthful with him. When she had shown him nothing but fidelity, devotion, and love.
Goliath sighed heavily.
He had much to apologize for.
But just as he was contemplating how to make things right with his mate, he was knocked out of his thoughts by a cry of dismay from just inside the castle. Dreading what new horror had been wrought upon them now, he ran inside. No danger seemed readily apparent, and everyone appeared to be unharmed, but the same could not be said for everyone's costumes.
"They're ruined," Angela bemoaned as she held up her custom renaissance style dress that had been shredded to the point of being completely unusable. "What are we supposed to wear now?"
The rest of the costume bags were being opened and inspected. Not a single one had been spared. They'd all been torn, cut, or damaged beyond any use.
"I don't know what to tell you guys. They were fine when I checked on them last night," Fox said, implying that whatever happened to them didn't occur on her watch. "You can always just go as you are."
"We know the guests will think we're in costume, but half the fun is dressing up for ourselves," Lexington said disheartened as he held up the torn remnants of his NASA astronaut costume.
"Did you do this?" Angela accused Fox. "Because you believe one of us has been trying to hurt you?"
The red-haired woman scoffed.
"Do you really think I'm that cowardly?" she said, disgusted. "If I were going to do something to you, I'd do it to your face."
Angela's eyes flashed red, and Goliath put his hand on her shoulder to calm her, and she backed down.
"The bigger problem," he said, "is that we are all in danger—not just the costumes—until we find out who is behind all of the recent attacks."
"Isn't that why I allow you all to live here?" Xanatos replied as he strode casually into the Great Hall, fully clothed this time. "You get a roof over your head, turrets under your feet, endless food and supplies, the latest tech at your talon tips, even cable TV—all in exchange for the simple task of keeping my family safe. Lately, you haven't been fulfilling your part of the bargain."
Goliath rumbled low in his throat, then stepped forward and leaned in to speak privately with Xanatos, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I implore you again to reconsider the party you are hosting tonight," he said quietly, though his tone was still stern. "If you allow it to go forward, your guests could be walking into danger, and you would be responsible for putting their lives at risk."
"I've added extra security for tonight," Xanatos said flatly. "As long as you can keep your clan under control for the evening, we should be fine."
Goliath snarled at the insult leveled at his clan.
"Did you discover anything about what occurred with your robots last night?" he asked testily.
"No," Xanatos replied, frustration creeping into his tone. "I had security sweep the whole castle and building with thermal scanners but nothing came up. I also reviewed all of the surveillance footage. The culprit took out the cameras in the hall and in the storage room where I keep my robots, and other than that one suspiciously shapedshadow I mentioned before, nothing else came up. What I did find was that the Iron Clan seemed to be pursuing this shadow, not Coldstone, not until he shot at them and triggered their defense protocols. And whoever that was, they likely hacked into the system to cover their tracks. We're looking for someone with considerable tech skills. That's the only thing that makes sense."
Xanatos's eyes slid over to Lexington, setting off Goliath's ire.
"I refuse to believe it was one of my clan who set them off," Goliath replied stubbornly. He could not accept that Lexington or any other member of his clan could ever do such a thing. And though Xanatos had planted seeds of doubt, he resolved that he would not let the man get into his head and make him distrust his charges.
"And like I said, I'll find out the truth eventually," Xanatos replied. "Now, if we're done here, I have a lot to prepare for."
"I hope you do not regret your decision to continue with your party tonight," Goliath growled.
"I rarely regret anything, Goliath," Xanatos said with his trademark smirk.
"So you have made abundantly clear," the gargoyle replied, disgusted. "I only hope the rest of us do not have to live with the consequences of your lack of regret."
He looked back at his clan who were still taking stock of the damage that had occurred to their costumes. They had been looking forward to this night all year, and he hated to see their spirits so deflated. He did not care about the damaged costumes as much as he feared for the lives of his clan. Especially the defenseless unhatched egg. If Xanatos wouldn't help, they would have to help themselves, even if it required taking drastic measures.
"We will stay here tonight to ensure the guests' safety," Goliath announced with finality. "But if the one responsible for all of the recent havoc and threats on our lives is not found and held accountable, I will take my clan, and we will quit this castle."
Xanatos stared piercingly at him.
"Where could you possibly go? You cannot expect that you will all fit in Detective Maza's miniscule apartment," he sneered condescendingly.
"We will find our way. What matters now is that I will not continue to put my clan's lives at risk to fight a phantom threat for an ungrateful host."
And with that final statement, Goliath turned his back on Xanatos and walked away, his tail lashing angrily behind him.
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Matt's Apartment
7:20 p.m.
When Matt answered a knock on his door, he expected to find his boyfriend. What he didn't expect was to see him wearing a bowler hat and a three-piece tweed suit.
"Now who are you?" Matt asked as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Come on," Dev said as he held up an old Leica camera. "The Decisive Moment? Magnum Photos?"
"That doesn't help," Matt said.
"Henri Cartier-Bresson," Dev said, a little disappointed.
"Oh," Matt replied, a little perplexed. "I don't mean to disappoint you, but I doubt anyone at the party is going to get that."
"Well, in that case, I'm Dr. John Watson, companion to the greatest detective alive," Dev said before he kissed him and then pushed his way past Matt and into the apartment. Matt glanced down the hallway to make sure no one saw the kiss before shutting the door. Standing a few paces away now, Dev turned and let his gaze slowly pan over Matt's getup.
"You look too dapper to be heading to a Halloween party, even if it is a billionaire's Halloween party," Dev chortled. Is that the same tux you were wearing the night we met?" Dev asked.
"I needed to get some more use out of it," Matt said, and then he adjusted his cufflinks and affected a British accent. "And the name's Bond. James Bond."
Dev looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh.
"What?" Matt said, a little offended.
"Well, aside from your atrocious attempt at a British accent," Dev sniggered, "I don't think there's ever been a ginger Bond before… or a gay one."
"Hey, there's a first time for everything," Matt said with a grin.
"Does that make me your Bond girl?" Dev teased, giving a little one-shoulder shrug while batting his eyelashes playfully.
"You'd need a groan-worthy double entendre as a name first," Matt said with a smile.
Dev rolled his eyes. "I'm already groaning at the prospect."
"How about… Dev L. Inbed?" Matt offered.
Dev laughed and shook his head as he set his Leica down on Matt's coffee table.
"That's terrible," he said.
Matt gave him a sly smile before he turned and faced a mirror on the wall and clumsily attempted to tie his bowtie.
"I just hope no one crashes the party dressed up as a gargoyle like at the last event when you wore that tux," Dev said bemused.
"I didn't go last year, but I was told there were a few who dressed up as gargoyles at the party, including the ADA's husband. That really chapped her hide considering how much she dislikes gargoyles."
"Do you think there will be any real gargoyles there tonight?" Dev asked, intrigued, but Matt detected a hint of apprehension as well, like he was hiding his real fear at the prospect.
"Why would there be?" Matt questioned carefully to gauge Dev's response while avoiding an inadvertent reveal.
"There are a lot of rumors that Xanatos is harboring them," Dev said as he walked across the room to Matt. He brushed his hands away before gathering up the ends of the bowtie. "Here, let me help."
Matt let his hands fall to Dev's trim waist as his boyfriend started tying his bowtie for him.
"Thanks. Last time I tried to tie it myself, it took forever, and I was late for the fundraiser I met you at," he said smiling.
Dev smiled to himself as he deftly moved his hands, weaving and tucking the two ends of the tie together in a way that seemed like magic to Matt.
"I mean, it's a literal medieval castle perched up there. If I were a gargoyle, that would be a pretty ideal location…" Dev trailed off suggestively.
Dev's refusal to move off the subject tore Matt out of his trance, and his eyes reluctantly shifted from Dev's graceful hands up to his face, studying him once more.
"Do you really think Xanatos would invite the head of the GTF to his party if he was harboring gargoyles?" Matt said, choosing his words carefully.
"It would certainly take some pretty big bollocks… and Xanatos has giant brass ones," Dev replied.
Matt laughed. He wasn't wrong.
"Well, if there are gargoyles, I'm sure they'll be on their best behavior," Matt replied.
"And if not, I'm sure there will be some idiots dressed as Quarrymen to take care of them, right?" Dev joked.
Matt was taken aback by that.
"That's not even a little funny, Dev," he said, appalled.
"Okay, I didn't mean to bruise your ego, I'm sure you and Elisa could take care of them all on your own," Dev said, thinking he was appeasing him.
He finished tying Matt's bowtie before taking a step back to see if he'd tied it right.
"It has nothing to do with my ego," Matt said as he examined Dev's handiwork in the mirror. He'd tied it perfectly. "I don't want Quarrymen anywhere near a party of people or gargoyles. Those people are vigilantes. And not the good-intentioned, caped-crusader type. Quite the opposite. They're demented and they're dangerous, and they'll stop at nothing."
Dev put a hand lightly, appeasingly on Matt's arm.
"Okay, point taken. The GTF has it under control. Besides, despite how ballsy Xanatos is, he wouldn't intentionally allow dangerous flying animals anywhere near his party. Not without forcing everyone to sign some kind of liability waiver and NDA first."
"They're not, though," Matt said firmly.
"Not what?"
"Animals," Matt said. "And they glide. They can't fly."
Dev put his hands up in exasperation. "I'm not a zoologist, okay? They're dangerous, whatever they are. Plus, they make your job even more dangerous than it already is, don't they?"
"They make my job a lot easier, actually," Matt countered. "You have no idea what I have seen and experienced. The things that go on in this city. The media portrays the gargoyles as monsters, but they're not. Quite the opposite."
Dev gave him a confused look, like he wasn't understanding a word that was coming out of his mouth.
"If they're not dangerous then why is the GTF—why are you—after them?"
"I ask myself that every damn day," Matt said tiredly as he pressed a hand to his eyes. "Mostly it's politics. The local government has a scapegoat they can pin all their troubles on, and sicking the NYPD after them makes the mayor look like he's taking action. As for why I have the job… It was offered to me, and I don't trust anyone else with the position. Too many trigger-happy people with something to prove out there."
"Why are you just now telling me this?" Dev asked, struggling to process this new revelation.
"It's complicated," Matt answered opaquely.
"Okay, well, I still think the fewer gargoyles there are in New York, the better. We don't need them here."
Matt felt his stomach drop as Dev's words filled him with nervous apprehension. He didn't like where this conversation was going.
"Why?" he asked, dreading the answer.
"The same reason we shouldn't have tigers roaming around Central Park," Dev answered dismissively, like he was stating the obvious.
"They're not wild animals, Dev," Matt said exasperatedly. "We've already gone over—"
"And like I already said," Dev cut in defensively, "I don't know what they are. Do you?"
"Better than most," Matt said cryptically. "Enough to know this city has given them a raw deal."
"You're not making sense to me. You keep describing them like they're some kind of marginalized group, Matt."
"I'd argue that's exactly what they are," Matt shot back.
Dev looked even more perplexed, not sure how to respond to that odd statement. An awkward silence followed, stretching out uncomfortably between them, while Dev searched for what he could possibly say to defuse the situation.
"I can tell you're very passionate about them," he said at last, still totally baffled.
"They deserve to be treated fairly, that's all Dev," Matt said.
"I suppose you're right," Dev replied slowly, "but wouldn't they be happier somewhere else?"
"Where?" Matt asked incredulously, still concerned by what Dev was suggesting.
"I don't know!" Dev said, feeling exasperated by the conversation. "But right in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world can't be the right place. Surely the GTF is contemplating… something else. A different solution of some kind."
"Are you suggesting we forcefully relocate them? At what point in history has that ever gone well?" Matt spat.
"Matt, come on now—" Dev tried to interject, but Matt wouldn't let up.
"Maybe we evict them from the city, but as a consolation prize, we let them roam wild in the Catskills or the Upper Hudson Valley," Matt continued sarcastically. "Or better yet, how about the fucking suburbs of Connecticut!"
Dev didn't appreciate Matt's sarcasm, and gave him a level look.
"Matt, you're missing the point. I meant something more like a wildlife preserve. Away from people. Wouldn't they prefer that?" he suggested, trying to sound reasonable.
"A zoo, you mean? Or better yet—how about an amusement park where people can come and gawk at them? Maybe throw them a little popcorn through the bars." Matt didn't even bother masking the cynicism in his tone..
"That's not what I meant!" Dev said defensively
"Then what did you mean?"
"I don't know… something remote and protected. But I don't think having them here is a good idea. For them or for us."
"I told you they're not a danger to us."
"Weren't they responsible for blowing up your precinct?"
"No. That was another hate group called The Hunters. They're no better than the Quarrymen. They came to New York because they heard rumors about gargoyles and sought to destroy them."
"See! My point exactly!" Dev proclaimed. "Maybe gargoyles aren't violent or hostile to people, but we don't need to be their collateral damage either!"
Matt paused. He felt dizzy arguing in circles with Dev like that, and the stress of it was bringing on a splitting headache. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down so he could assess his options.
Given everything that he'd just heard, could he still introduce Dev to the gargoyles at the party tonight in good conscience? That had been his plan, but he wasn't going to divulge the fact that their gargoyle costumes weren't really costumes until after the interaction had played out. He'd hoped meeting them and talking with them, all while thinking they were humans, would allow him to see them for who they really are. And then he'd hoped finding out the truth of their identity later would help make it all clear for Dev, like it was clear for him. But did that hope still hold water now? Could that approach realistically change Dev's mind now that Matt knew his mind was in need of changing? Or would he just be creating another situation like Elisa had with Isaac?
"I live a life full of contradictions that can be really irritating, Dev, I know that," Matt began tiredly. "but this—them—it's a hard line for me. It isn't something I can compromise on."
"I still don't understand. Why do you keep defending them like you..." Dev trailed off and his eyes widened with realization before they narrowed at Matt. "Like you know them."
"Dev—"
"There really are gargoyles at the castle, aren't there? It's not just a rumor," Dev interjected.
Matt almost lied about it, but he couldn't. Not to Dev. And now there was no way to avoid the subject either. His plan was blown before it even had a chance. He sighed and nodded once.
"Wow," Dev said, drawing out the word with disdain. "First you stole that roll of film—"
"I panicked," Matt said honestly. "That was a really intimate photo. I can't have something like that out there. Not in private and certainly not in one of your shows. It could destroy me and my career. I've been down that road before."
"I would never put something like that in an exhibition without your permission. Give me some credit. But more to the point, you could have just asked me for it!" Dev snapped. "And just so you know—the only reason I didn't bring it up before now was because I felt sorry for you. I pitied you for feeling like you had to steal the film instead of just talking to me."
Matt looked away ashamed.
"And now this," Dev said, pained. "Why couldn't you have just been up front with me about this? About them?" he asked, disappointed. "I feel like I don't even know you."
"Look, Dev, I'm sorry, but—" Matt began, his tone pleading. He reached out for Dev, but he stepped back, and Matt's heart cratered into his stomach.
"But what?" Dev demanded icily.
Matt stood there, mute. He desperately wanted to explain everything to Dev, the whole thorny, complicated tangle that was his life—the fact that he was still haunted by Elliot's betrayal, his impulse to steal the film, his real connection to the gargoyles, his knowledge of Goliath and Elisa's relationship and why he had to keep their secret safe. Even when it came to the Illuminati, he'd really only let Dev see the tip of that iceberg. It pained him to carry all of that alone, and he wanted to unload all of it so badly. To let Dev in. But every time Matt opened his mouth, nothing came out. Only silence.
Dev stared hard at the man he had fallen in love with, the man he thought he knew, and watched him struggle with his inner conflict. The shadows of it were written all over his face. But as Dev watched, and waited, the outcome quickly became clear. Matt wasn't going to open up.
"Fuck it, I don't even know why I bothered. Save your excuses and your apologies. But most of all, save your lies. I've already had enough of that for one evening," Dev shouted, his face flushed. "I don't like mind games or being manipulated."
Dev moved toward the door.
"I'm leaving for London for two weeks tomorrow. Call me if you manage to get your head out of your ass."
With those final words between them, Dev left Matt's apartment, the door shutting quietly behind him in a way that seemed unfitting for the moment.
Matt stood in mute shock for several moments before he sank onto his sofa and hung his head, burying his face in his hands.
"Fuck," he whimpered.
Matt sulked for several minutes before he happened to notice Dev's antique camera sitting on the coffee table where he'd accidentally left it. He bolted upright. Maybe if he hurried, he could still catch Dev and fix things with him before it was too late.
He grabbed the camera and dashed out of his apartment. He opted for the building's stairs knowing the elevator would be too slow, and he flew down them. He pushed through the main doors and outside, his heart leaping up into his throat as he spotted Dev getting into a cab. Matt shouted his name, hoping to catch his attention, but the taxi door had already closed. A second later, the vehicle pulled away from the curb, leaving Matt standing there in his tux, stunned and broken, and still holding Dev's Leica in his hands.
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To be concluded October 27th.
