Back in Manhattan after the copter had left, Coldsteel himself was still hiding in their secret warehouse to plan his next move on getting Brooklyn back.
He stood at the entrance, gazing upward at that castle with cold contempt, knowing that in there, his vessel was groveling in self-pity during his 'healing'. But soon, oh soon he would return to Coldsteel.
"I haven't forgotten my little promise to you, Brooklyn. It doesn't matter how much you hide from me, no matter where you go. Sooner or later, we will cross paths again!" Coldsteel snarled, taking up a piece of wood and breaking it effortlessly in his metal hands, as he wanted to do with that puny red one.
….
When the sun settled on Xanadu, the gargoyles that were there woke up from their stone skin, all yawning.
Brooklyn stretched as much as he could though his limbs sometimes still ached from all the fat that still clung to his bones, rubbing his forehead afterward and looking over to see Coldfire there giving him a gentle smile.
"H… Hi, Mom," Brooklyn greeted in his small voice despite his body feeling quite refreshed from sleep.
Coldfire stroked his arm. "How did you sleep?" She questioned.
It made the red gargoyle swallow, holding his hands, not wanting to tell her about his dreams about Coldsteel haunting them every single night, wishing they could go away. "Alright. But I'm hungry." Brooklyn then said, gazing at her in a begging way.
Coldfire nodded. "We can get you something after we check your weight first, since we're still working on helping you get back to your right size."
Brooklyn rubbed his stomach again. "I just feel like it's taking forever." He complained, his hate towards Coldsteel messing with his weight, hitting him hard. The red male tensed from feeling the arm of Coldfire going around him then relaxed a little.
"You can do it; I know you can soon look like your original body size once more." Coldfire encouraged, a gentle hand on Brooklyn's cheek again. Brook sometimes wishing it were Goliath doing this with him right now instead of having his leader have him leave the clan like a coward.
Soon, Coldfire guided Brooklyn up on his feet into the restroom to the scale to check him over, Brooklyn feeling nervous as he stepped on it.
The scale numbers sadly said 225 instead of 210 like his regular weight was, stressing Brooklyn quite a bit but was relieved he didn't weigh 235 anymore while kidnapped by Coldsteel.
Coldfire looked pleased at what the numbers were for him. "That's showing some improvement, dear. Hopefully, some more exercise out in these open areas will soon help you lose more."
Brooklyn swallowed but nodded. "Thanks. Just want to explore for a bit now if that's ok?" He asked softly, taking her hand after stepping off the scale.
Coldfire nodded. "I'll meet you in the dining room for breakfast."
After that the two of them made their separate ways as Brooklyn strode down into the kitchen first, eyeing the sink and feeling like water could be one of the few things in this world to help him feel thin, stomach rumbling for it. Brooklyn had avoided soda every night since being rescued, which resulted into him having lost a lot of that fat, taking a glass of water, downing it rather fast, wanting to drink as much as possible to be back to normal.
Wiping his mouth, Brooklyn again filled up another, drinking even faster, not wanting to forget the taste of water ever unlike before when Coldsteel didn't bother leaving him even a tiny plastic cup of one. He even afterward put his head under the sink and started drinking in that way, which wound up startling Lexington when he arrived in the kitchen and spotting his brother in the sink.
"Brook? Are you ok?" He asked, which made Brooklyn jump, swallowing water down his air throat and making him cough, staring at Lexington awkwardly, flushing. "Yeah, f-fine. Was just thirsty." He claimed, eyeing the sink further.
Lexington didn't quite buy it, folding his arms. "That was quite a lot of water you'd been drinking. Was it because of—."
Brooklyn just snarled. "Don't even mention it!" He demanded in his raspy voice mostly from drinking the water in the wrong way, Lex tensing from how angry he sounded, stalking out of the room to join the others for breakfast.
He saw Fox, Elisa, Hudson, and Bronx all there while Lex followed him from behind, eying the plates of breakfast there on the table, knowing he would need to be careful at what he ate.
Sitting down, Brooklyn took up his plate, seeing what was on there which were eggs, pancakes, and bacon. Even a muffin was on the plate as well. Swallowing, his belly churning, Brooklyn began to eat, eating the eggs quite slowly while trying his best to be a good table guest, seeing that the others sometimes glanced in his direction while eating, which made him feel a little uncomfortable, recalling at how Coldsteel would eye him like that.
After eating one of the pancakes, Brooklyn's stomach churned for a moment which told him he couldn't eat anymore, a little bit of PTSD arising inside his head just from the meal, holding his forehead. "I… gotta go. But… thanks for the breakfast," He mumbled standing up to find a chair or a couch to sit on, hopefully in his room.
Hudson tilted his head, knowing something was bothering the lad, standing up to follow him. Brooklyn soon wound up back in his room, sitting on the bed and rubbing his stomach, wondering if he would ever eat the way he used to again, wincing silently from the idea.
His eyes suddenly spotted his elder Hudson and quickly looked away. "I know… I know I wasn't a good table guest and eating everything there. I just… couldn't finish." Brooklyn croaked, leaning into his pillows propped up on the wall.
Hudson knew then in his heart that Brooklyn needed some kind of cheering up, a little smile on his face. "Let me get somethin' to give you a little cheer, laddie, if that be alright."
The beaked gargoyle looked a little surprised he wasn't going to be scolded from before but then nodded, a grateful smile on his face as Hudson left for a few minutes, going over to where their little library was and took up a book, which was the Two Towers he figured Brooklyn would enjoy listening to. Hudson then came back seeing Brooklyn still there curled up on his bed for the moment staring at nothing in particular and still stroking his stomach.
Hudson himself hated seeing the young lad looking quite drained in this way as well as feeling overweight, sitting down on the bed with him, taking the Second's hand in his own. "How about we read for a while, lad?" The elder suggested, causing Brooklyn's ears to perk for he hadn't read any book for a long time.
Scooting close to the older mentor, Hudson had opened up the book and began to read, Brooklyn holding Hudson's arm tight while hearing the story, for he had grown to love Lord of the Rings when first learning how to read in the first place.
Elisa and Coldfire at one point brought the two of them lunch while in the middle of the book, Coldfire smiling softly at seeing Brooklyn being able to enjoy a good book again, seeing a smile on his beak as well. Brooklyn took his tray from them and they left again.
At one point however, during a section where Gandalf freed the Rohan king from Saruman, it spooked Brooklyn for a brief moment while eating his lunch, thinking about his own body being possessed, gulping when Hudson voiced Saruman saying, "If I go, then he dies!"Brooklyn let out a choked sound of fear, hiding himself with his wings causing Hudson to look over at him in concern. "What be wrong?" He asked.
Brooklyn didn't answer, wanting this moment in the story to be gone.
Then Hudson knew, his own ears fell as he stroked Brooklyn in between his wings in a caring manner. "I'm sorry if that frightened ye. We… we can stop now if you want." He suggested soothingly.
Brook peeked out, unfolding his wings from around himself again, swallowing that lump in his throat. "No. I-I want to finish." The younger one said shakily.
It had the elder smile again knowing that Brooklyn really did want to face his fears even if he was still terrified, stroking the boy's hand before soon continuing through the battle of Helm's Deep afterward, Brooklyn on the edge of his seat. Once as Hudson was able to finally finish the book, Brooklyn breathed a sigh. It felt good to hear someone else read something to him after him being held hostage.
"I want to ask. What was happing with you during our reading?" Hudson pondered after he closed the book. Brooklyn's ears flattened, not sure if he dared reveal his feelings since he was still not too open to anybody.
"Was-was really nothing. S-Saruman just scared me that's all." Brooklyn admitted in a small lie though that wasn't completely true. Hudson eventually shrugged and decided to drop it for now until he knew the lad was ready. "Thanks for the story though. I needed it." The red gargoyle thanked suddenly, smiling sadly at Hudson, who nodded at him. "Anytime, lad."
Brooklyn then decided he wanted some fresh air again and Hudson let him for a while until sunrise which Hudson didn't object to. He stood out there on the balcony of the cabin mansion staring into the trees, wishing his clan could just live here instead of in Manhattan where they had fewer enemies attack them and hide from Coldsteel forever. It was very peaceful in these woods, and he could see the stars.
He suddenly had an urge too to take another glide until something Brooklyn wanted to forget about came back to haunt him, which had something to do with Coldsteel having used his body for gliding without permission, causing Brooklyn's heart to beat wildly, staring down at the ground, wings faltering.
"You can't even glide on your own… I will get you back in Manhattan once again, scrawny gargoyle…" taunted Coldsteel's voice in Brooklyn's head.
Brooklyn snarled in his rage filled agony, wanting to rip his own head open to get Coldsteel out of there, chest heaving from stress, hating himself for having always been given the boot ever since Goliath returned from his world tour. The worst by far was now either his clone or Coldsteel that he still can't get over, feeling less like a leader and more like a lost puppy, wondering now if his family back home were actually glad he was gone, which made his eyes sting with moisture, wiping them.
"Do you all really need me?" Asked Brooklyn softly into the distance, one hand around his arm while the other leaned on the railing, thinking now that he may just be the lowly omega in the clan, even if one day he was going to be leader, he still felt like an omega one at best. The worst time of it being when they were searching for the missing Goliath and Elisa that night, not having taken any drastic action unlike the rest of his clan did, which humiliated him deeply. Brooklyn wasn't smart like Lex with all that modern technology, nor was he big muscled or a good cook like Broadway. Combine those two and you'd have a good leader. Him? All he felt like he had to show for himself was that he had a beak and can fly well. But what did that prove? He couldn't even win himself a girl.
These thoughts made Brooklyn cry again until Coldfire found him just 20 minutes before sunrise. She noticed her adopted hatchling hunched over, a sorrowful look on her face from whatever dark thoughts poisoned Brooklyn's mind. She walked gently over, a hand on his shoulder. Brook jerked upward, turning to see his 'mom,' who smiled. "Come on inside, little one. It is time to sleep." She informed, a hand on his cheek, which made Brooklyn nod, following Coldfire inside to his room where he soon would fall asleep again in his stone skin, wondering what it will be like when they soon get home after their three week stay here.