Brooklyn roared awake in the cage. He felt he was lying down still, but he was now on a softer surface. It was a bed. He stretched his body out and he pushed himself up to examine his new surroundings. He was glad that the blindfold was off his eyes. He didn't want to imagine what life would be like if he was blinded. But it was clear to him that the humans who had kidnapped him hadn't wanted him to see them.
He could see he was in a large cage. It was roomy enough. It was about 70x by 120x size. There was a solid wall behind his bed, and up to twenty bars in front of the cage. When he went up to check the bars out, he looked them up and down first. At first glance, they looked like any normal cage bars. He knew he could tear apart normal bars, but were these electrified?
Irene knew she didn't want her gargoyle harmed. She quickly went to inform him of his error if he tried to get out. He had muscle strength that surpassed human strength.
Brooklyn felt desperate that he wanted to get out of here. He was almost going to poke a finger onto one of the bars to test it, but before he could, a voice stopped him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He turned. "Why not?" he demanded.
"Because those bars are electrified by over two thousand volts of electricity. I don't think you want that streaming through your body." Irene explained.
"No, not really." Brooklyn replied.
"You might as well make yourself comfortable, Brooklyn. You're going to be here for a while." Irene declared. She walked over in front of his cage but not too close.
"Who are you anyway?" Brook demanded. He could see this woman was pretty, but he had no intentions of manners of the heart right now.
"My name is Irene." She replied.
"What was done to me last night?"
"Nothing that you wouldn't recover from. But how's your belly?" she asked.
"What about my belly?" Brook looked down at it, putting a hand on it at the mention.
"Do you feel discomfort or anything in the lower section?" Irene asked.
When Brooklyn tried to feel the area, he felt a little tender spot beneath his loincloth. "What did you do to me?!" he demanded angrily.
"Nothing big, but we needed a look at the intestines last night." Irene lied.
"Why? I was perfectly fine without any surgery needed." He glared at her.
"Like I said, tests were needed. But you seem better tonight. I need a look at your belly." Irene declared.
"No. You're not getting anywhere near me. The injury would be healed anyway. My stone sleep heals my injuries." Brook stated.
"Wow. That's really intriguing. You are something special after all." Irene smiled.
"Thanks, but you can't keep me here." Brooklyn declared.
"Brooklyn, even if you got loose, you won't know where you are. You are a long way from home. You're not even in New York anymore." Irene explained.
Brook's eyes widened. He hoped this was a joke. "Tell me you're joking."
"Nope. You're in Tampa, Florida. My hometown." Irene replied. She saw the gargoyle was in shock. "I had you transported here for my research on gargoyles."
Brooklyn couldn't believe this was happening to him. He was all alone in this strange place. He was silent. He wrapped his arms over the other.
"You'll get used to it here." Irene said.
"What are you aiming to find out about gargoyles?" Brook asked. He figured maybe if he told some things that it might make the research go faster and they could take him home.
"It would be wonderful if you tell me what you know of your kind." Irene insisted. "In a while, we'll also give you your first meal here."
"I'm not hungry." Brooklyn glared.
"I figured you need time to settle in first. But you need to eat to keep your energy up." Irene said.
"What are you going to do if I don't want to eat?" Brook demanded sarcastically.
"Brooklyn, we want to be fair to you while doing our research. If you refuse to eat because of nausea or something, that's one thing, but if you refuse to eat because you're starving yourself is not good for your health." Irene proclaimed. "I'm going to leave you now to let you settle in more and get you a meal." She said, then left.
Brooklyn then went about feeling the floor of his cage. It was a hard solid. Then there was the other wall behind his bed. He went over to feel it for weaknesses. It too was a no go. He couldn't even sink his talons into the wall or floor.
"This is just great." He muttered. He went back to the bed and sat down. He would be bored stiff just being stuck here in this cell. Is this what he would be kept for? A research project? He wrapped his wings around himself to try to soothe himself.
A while later, Brook felt the stirring of hunger in his belly, but he ignored it.
Not long after, a different human came into the room outside the cell. "Good evening, uh, Brooklyn, is it?" The man greeted him. Brook nodded.
"I brought you some water and some food." The man stated.
"I'm not hungry." Brook lied.
"You asked what could happen if you didn't want to eat. We could always tube feed you, Brooklyn." The man replied.
Brooklyn didn't want that. "Right. Just thought I'd ask, but I won't let you get near me again now that you've let me up."
"Oh, we have our ways to get you to cooperate. That's why we always have our own guards with us." The man explained. Then in stepped one of those guards. He had on a blue uniform shirt with brown pants. "The guns these men carry are loaded with tranquilizer darts to drug you if you don't cooperate or try to fight us. And our boss really does want to work with you consensually. Will you allow that to happen?"
Brooklyn figured that the more he cooperated, the sooner he could be released to go home. "Fine. Yes, I'll do it." He gave in.
"Good. But for now, here's your first meal. From the look of your teeth, we figured a meaty meal would suffice." The man stated, then slid the tray through the opening in the floor.
Brooklyn could smell the food from where he was sitting. The scent made his stomach growl in hunger. "But how do I know it's not drugged?" he asked.
"Just eat the food, Brooklyn, unless you want to be tube fed." The man blurted. "And those of us who feed you are not going to leave until we see you eat it."
The gargoyle knew he didn't have much choice in the matter then. He sighed as he reluctantly got off the bed and went to get the food tray off the floor. He took it back to the bed and keeping it on the bed, he picked up the plate with the pulled pork on it. There was a plastic fork in it he could use if he wanted, which he did.
Brook was more famished than he thought he was as he ate all the pork. Then he washed it down with the bottle of water. He didn't finish the water as he wanted it for the rest of tonight. He never knew when he might get another bottle of water. Then he put the plate on the tray and gave it back to the man on the other side. "Thanks." He said in gratitude.
"Good boy. That's a start." The man declared and got the tray and left.
Brooklyn then walked around the cage, pacing. He hated being locked up in cages. Was he ever going to be allowed out of here to spread his wings again? He needed to see the night sky and get fresh air. He had been grateful for the food, but he just wanted to do something.
It wasn't long before Irene came back in. "Have a good meal, Brooklyn?" she asked.
He turned. "Yes. Irene, is it? Please, you can't keep me in this cage. I need to feel and breathe fresh air every night. I need to have stuff to do, not just sit bored in this cage."
"Who said you were going to just sit in here and be bored?" She declared. "Don't worry. I have plans to give stuff for you to do. There are going to be exercises you can do in a different room, and there is even a good-sized dome for you to fly around in to spread your wings." Irene explained.
"Glide." Brook corrected her.
"Okay, glide in."
"Thanks." Brook said.
"And Brooklyn, there will be times when we need to examine you for health reasons because there is nothing known about your habits physically. Would you allow us to get these results voluntarily?" Irene asked of him. "Results may vary with when you are awake and when you are unconscious."
"How often are you planning to do these exams?" he asked.
"We need another in a few days' time, to compare when you were first brought here." Irene replied.
"Alright. But when can I see this done you spoke of?"
"We're going to wait until after your first exam. But starting tomorrow night, we're going to do some exercises with weights and movements." Irene declared. "Can we come into your cage and work with you voluntarily?"
"Yes." Brook agreed.
"For tonight, let's just talk and get to know one another. I will do my best to make this a comfortable home for you. Just tell me what you like. Do you have favorite music, arts, hobbies, food, activities?" Irene asked. "How old are you anyway?"
"I just want to go home." Brook looked down sadly.
"I know, but we really need the research away from New York." Irene declared.
Brooklyn was still reluctant to talk to these strange humans. He looked at the woman in front of him. She had on a very gentle look to her face, and she was asking him personal questions in a friendly way. She had also asked if he was willing to work with her consensually.
"I'm 38 years old, but really 1,038 because I was hatched in the year 958. My clan used to live in tenth century Scotland. My clan was a big clan once until it was massacred by being smashed in their stone sleep. Please don't do that to me." Brooklyn began to explain.
"I wouldn't dream of it. Fascinating in how you say that you were born in another century though. Sorry about your other clan members." Irene declared. "Please, go on."
"After the clan died, a magic spell was cast on me and a few other survivors and we slept for one thousand years. Then we were brought to New York where we were awakened and used, then we left our old home, found a new home, then that got destroyed too. We lived there for over a year just protecting the humans of Manhattan." Brook wasn't about to tell Irene where his clan lived. He was doing it for their own protection. He didn't know what this woman's full intentions were to him yet. "We were continuing to protect the humans of Manhattan even after our clan was exposed on tv to the world. But I know my clan will be worried about me."
"I know you want to return to them, and I will eventually, but I just need you here for right now." Irene proclaimed.
"I have interests in music like rock 'n' roll, I like motorcycles, to read, watch movies, go gliding, stop bad guys, was learning to be a leader, I like all sorts of foods, just about anything really." Brook explained.
"What do you like to read about?" Irene asked.
"Myth, folklore, action, some romance." Brooklyn replied about his reading topics.
"Interesting. I'll take those ideas into account. Well, thank you for your information. It's getting close to sunrise now. Our doctor wants to examine you tomorrow night. Can he come in and do that?" Irene asked. "And I'll make sure to inform you of what's going to happen ahead of time, like when our doctor needs to examine you."
"Okay. Thanks. Yes, he can come in and see me." Brook replied.
"Good." Irene smiled. "Well, sleep well when you change." She said then left the room.
Brooklyn was left to his own thinking. He was now sitting on the bed, holding his arms but also chose to take a drink of water too before he turned to stone again.
…..
Irene went to the lab. "How is studying Brooklyn's genetic code coming along?" she asked.
"I'm getting really close to designing an embryo for you." Hagan replied.
"Two. Remember, I want two of them." Irene corrected Hagan.
"Of course, Boss." Hagan replied. He worked most of the day away before he had to sleep.
I'm not sure what all Brooklyn likes to read, but I took some guesses. At least Irene wants to be nice and work with Brooklyn more consensually.