Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or locations from Gargoyles, those belong to their owners.

Author's note: This story takes place the summer following "The Journey", and though it ignores the comic's continuity, I'm using Fang's real name, revealed in Bad Guys #2.

Chance Meetings

Chapter 45

by Remtar85

When it came to being a detective for the NYPD, there were certain situations that everybody wanted to avoid. A shootout, hostages being taken, a high speed chase. And ever since the Quarrymen had been established, another type of situation had been added to the ones that Detective Elisa Maza wanted to avoid at all costs; that of the Quarrymen being a danger to her gargoyle friends, as well as to civilians.

And then there had been the problem with Fang, with the cougar mutate badly injuring Elisa's brother during his escape from the Labyrinth, then constantly staying just out of their reach in his son's apartment. And while a truce had eventually been reached between the fugitive and his would-be captors, Fang was rather notorious in terms of stirring up trouble.

Both of these two problems meeting and coming to a head was about the very last thing Elisa wanted to happen, so naturally, it did end up happening. Much as Elisa was apprehensive and felt guilty about intruding in that family's privacy with Lexington's tiny camera drones, they had proven to be a blessing, allowing Elisa and Matt to receive word of the Quarrymen's presence in the apartment and thus get to the building quickly.

To their eventual relief, no civilians had been hurt, but by the time they had made their way up the stairs, Fang was already trying to run and surrounded by Quarrymen, alongside Daniel and his mother. The situation had been tense, and it only got worse when Fang made a break for it and took his son with him. In part, Elisa could understand Fang's actions, wanting to keep his son safe, but on the other hand, by taking Daniel with him, Fang also risked putting him in more danger.

The pursuit down the stairs had been hampered by other Quarrymen, as well as by Fang being quite the fast runner, and by the time Elisa and Matt had gotten downstairs, with Daniel's mother close behind, they had lost sight of Fang and Daniel, as had the Quarrymen, who were scrambling around the area, trying to find the mutate. By then, the surrounding area had gotten crowded with curious people from the apartment building and other surrounding ones, making things more difficult due to having to deal with both civilians and the Quarrymen themselves, on top of Daniel's very worried mother.

Elisa was grateful when police officers arrived, as well as a number of the Gargoyles Taskforce members, helping put things in order as best they could, though Elisa and Matt had to keep Daniel's mother from searching for Daniel herself, as she could risk once more finding herself caught between Fang and any Quarrymen. The search for Fang and Daniel was proving fruitless, until eventually the boy came walking down the street alongside a police officer and a Quarrywoman, then the boy ran towards where they were and hugged his worried mother.

"Daniel!" Carmen exclaimed, relief evident in her voice as she hugged her son back. "I was worried sick!"

"It's okay, Mom, I'm okay," Daniel reassured his mother, who pulled back a bit and looked down at him.

"No, you're not okay! What's with these scrapes?" she asked, looking at his arms, then gasping as she saw the side of his head, near his forehead. "And this bump on your head?"

"Two Quarrymen did that to me when they tried to get to Dad," Daniel said in a low enough voice that the only ones who could hear him were Carmen and Elisa, who stood next to the mother and son. "They took him by surprise, then they hit me and threw me at some trash cans, and they said they'd beat me up after they were done with Dad."

"Where is he now?" Elisa asked.

"He got hurt pretty bad, but he took down those two Quarrymen and then he ran away," Daniel replied, then looked at Sarah Browne, who had just joined them. "Thanks to Mrs. Browne's help."

"What?" an incredulous Elisa asked, as she looked at Sarah, who had her Quarryman cowl back on.

"I saw what happened, and then they told me everything, including how his father was a mutate and not a gargoyle," Sarah explained to Elisa and Carmen. "I believed them and helped his father get away."

"And then Broadway showed up," Daniel said. "It was a bit tense, but nothing bad happened."

"I'm still trying to make sense of what that gargoyle told me," Sarah admitted. "I always thought gargoyles were monsters, but that one was so protective towards the boy..."

"Gargoyles have a tendency to surprise you, in the best of ways," Elisa said with a smile.

"Thanks very much for helping my son and his father," Carmen said to Sarah, then turned to Elisa. "But what happens now?"

"That's the difficult part," Elisa said to her, shaking her head as she looked at the vicinity. "Things are about to get worse."

Carmen and Daniel immediately knew what Elisa meant when they saw news vans pulling up along the street, with reporters and cameramen immediately exiting them and heading towards the building. By now, the street was pretty crowded with civilians, cops, Quarrymen and now with the news people, and Carmen and Daniel started feeling overwhelmed by it all.

"Come on, let's move you away before the vultures can get to you," Elisa told the mother and son, who started following her towards the one ambulance set nearby. "We'd best get those scrapes disinfected and that bump looked at, Daniel."

Carmen and Daniel nodded and walked over to the ambulance, where Elisa asked them to get in after telling a female paramedic to check on and tend to the scrapes on Daniel's arms, and Elisa noticed that the Quarrywoman who had helped Daniel and Fang stayed near them. As Daniel winced at the sting from disinfectant used on his scrapes while answering the paramedic's questions regarding how he felt and if he was injured elsewhere, Elisa surveyed the area. The reporters were questioning police officers and neighbors, trying to get the info they so craved, while most of the officers, as well as Matt and the few members of the Gargoyles Taskforce that had shown up, were trying to maintain the order and keep the Quarrymen in check, with the cowled figures trying to question the Taskforce if they knew where the gargoyle they sought had gone off to, and if they were covering for it or just trying to hog its apprehension by themselves. It was a clear example of the Quarrymen not trusting the NYPD and vice-versa. Elisa was at least grateful that Margot Yale had not shown up yet, and hoped she wouldn't show at all. Likewise, she was glad to notice the lack of presence of news reporter Travis Marshall, whom she knew well was not entirely impartial in news reports regarding gargoyles and his negative views on them.

The paramedic finished tending to Daniel's scrapes and, after making sure that the hit Daniel had on his head wasn't serious, she let the boy and his mother exit the ambulance. Elisa was now pondering on what they'd do regarding Daniel and Carmen when she noticed that the reporters and cameramen were all congregating in one spot. She wondered what was happening now, but didn't have to wait long to get her answer, and she felt an immense dismay when she saw the man who walked their way now, followed by reporters fielding him questions. Elisa could not have imagined a worse person to show up at that moment.

"Mr. Castaway, how did you find out about this gargoyle?"

"Did it manage to escape?"

"Were the Quarrymen able to hurt it?"

"Are the people in the apartment okay?"

The blond-haired, impeccably dressed man walked with great confidence amidst the crowd, followed by the reporters and cameramen, though he kept his face with an expression that displayed a mix of concern and relief; Elisa found it disingenuous and did not believe for a second that that was how John Castaway truly felt. Castaway stopped not far from the ambulance in front of the apartment building and faced the cameras, finally addressing the reporters and their questions.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, forgive me, but I cannot reveal how we found out that a gargoyle was invading an apartment in this building," Castaway spoke in a crisp British accent. "Suffice it to say, we are truly grateful for the concerned source that informed us about it and directed us to act and save the lives of the inhabitants, as well as any other people in the building."

"Was anyone injured?" a female reporter asked.

"My Quarrymen fought the monster bravely," Castaway replied. "They put their lives on the line to keep everyone in the building safe, especially the family inside the apartment. Thankfully, though some of the Quarrymen were injured in the process, no civilians were harmed inside the building."

"But we've heard from some of the building's tenants that the gargoyle ran off with a boy," a male reporter pointed out.

"Indeed, that vile creature had snuck into the child's bedroom and was using him as a shield throughout the ordeal," Castaway said with disgust, then he turned towards the ambulance, pointing at Daniel, whose attention, as well as Carmen's and Sarah Browne's, was now on the leader of the Quarrymen as the man now approached the ambulance. "But as you can see, one of my Quarrymen managed to safely retrieve the child with only very minor injuries. It's very unfortunate that the gargoyle managed to escape, but what matters most is that he won't put these good people in jeopardy any longer."

"But that's not what happened," Daniel spoke, unable to help himself, and all eyes turned to him.

"The poor boy is confused," Castaway said in a solemn tone. "Gargoyles are devious creatures, manipulative, and will try to get into the good graces of the innocent to take advantage of them."

Daniel shook his head. "No, you're wro-"

"It's a blessing we intervened in time," Castaway interrupted. "God only knows what depravities that foul beast would have done to this poor boy."

"What?!" Daniel shouted his response.

"Mister, you're really crossing a line there," Carmen now spoke as well. She didn't particularly like her son's father, but the implications that Castaway was making was something she found infuriating.

"I have to agree," Elisa said. "Mr. Castaway, I'd appreciate it if you didn't upset these people. They've been through enough tonight as it is."

"Indeed, Detective, and we know whose fault that is," Castaway now spoke directly to Elisa in an icy tone. "One of those monsters you seem so keen to protect."

"It was your Quarrymen that came into my home with weapons," Carmen said vehemently to the man.

"I apologize if my Quarrymen's actions upset you, madam, but we were only acting with your and your child's safety in mind," Castaway replied.

"Everything was fine until you guys came into my room swinging those stupid hammers around!" Daniel snapped.

"Daniel, please-," Elisa started to say, but a now quite upset Carmen interrupted.

"He's right. There wasn't any trouble until you people came into my home and started waving weapons around in my son's bedroom. He could have gotten hurt!"

"I assure you all, the Quarrymen are trained to eradicate gargoyles while keeping civilians safe. Not only was there no danger to the mother and child, but we had explicit permission from the lady's husband to enter their apartment and deal with that gargoyle," Castaway spoke to the cameras, then turned to Carmen. "Though, correct me if I'm wrong, madam, but from the way you're speaking, it sounds as though you knew there was a gargoyle using your son's bedroom as a hideout. Does this mean you were knowingly harboring a gargoyle and allowing it to endanger your child?"

"That's enough, Mr. Castaway!" Elisa spoke up firmly before Carmen could react to Castaway's words. "Like I already said, these people have been through enough tonight, and the last thing they need is you badgering them like this."

"Coming through! Let us pass, please!"

Before Castaway could reply to Elisa, a voice had sounded out loud from the building's entrance, and two paramedics, escorted by Matt Bluestone and Officer Morgan Morgan, made their way out of the building, wheeling a gurney with a Quarryman on it, both arms immobilized, though his cowl remained on. The injured Quarryman was wheeled towards the ambulance, and when he saw Carmen and Daniel, he spoke up.

"Wait, wait, stop!" he told the paramedics. "Carmen, Daniel! Are you okay?"

"No, we're not okay!" Carmen instantly snapped at him. "What in the hell made you think we'd be okay with this?!"

"Honey, I did this for you," Richard said. "I did it to keep you and Daniel safe, and once that gargoyle was dead, we'd be okay. We wouldn't have to worry about that monster sneaking into our home anymore."

"You kept a secret from me and brought weapons into my home!" Carmen retorted. "You brought strangers into my son's bedroom and allowed them to manhandle him! You never told me a damn thing about this, and you expect me to just accept it?!"

"But I already said it, it was for the best!" Richard insisted. "If nobody knew I was a Quarryman, that monster wouldn't suspect anything, and it worked. I almost had it, and now it'll think twice before coming back to mess with you again."

"Well, how about this? You go think twice too before thinking of coming back. I want you out!"

Richard's face covered with his cowl could not hide his shock, as he was silent for a couple of seconds before he could react. "Wait, what?"

"I thought you were being a better husband and stepfather simply out of the goodness of your own heart. But you kept secrets from me, brought weapons and strangers into my house, and you put us through this hell!" Carmen openly ranted. "I can't trust you anymore, and I won't. This marriage is over!"

"No, no, you can't mean that. Carmen, honey, I did this all for you!"

Carmen shook her head in disgust. "Dios mio, just take him away already."

"You heard the lady," Officer Morgan said, trying hard to not grin at what he had just witnessed, giving a quick look of admiration Carmen's way. "Let's load him up. I'll go along and take statements."

Richard was still pleading with Carmen as he got boarded up into the ambulance, accompanied by Officer Morgan, who told Elisa and Matt that his partner and fellow Gargoyle Taskforce member, Officer Phil Travanti, would pick him up later, and the ambulance left quickly afterwards. Everyone had silently witnessed the whole scene, but with the ambulance gone, and Richard with it, the reporters immediately jumped at the chance to get even more details.

"Mr. Castaway, is there any truth to these allegations?"

"Did your Quarrymen knowingly endanger this child?"

These and other questions were thrown at the leader of the Quarrymen, though after what had been a seeming moment of frustration at what had transpired, he quickly regained his calm, professional demeanor. "As you saw and heard, ladies and gentlemen, one of my Quarrymen is a resident of the apartment this gargoyle was invading, and as such, there was no illegal entry. We worked with him as best we could to eradicate the threat and keep his family safe."

The blond man then turned and looked at Carmen with thinly veiled disdain. "And I must admit, I'm rather appalled at how this lady has treated her husband for merely wishing to protect her and her son. Perhaps you truly did welcome this gargoyle into your home despite the obvious dangers."

Before Carmen or Daniel could retort at him, Elisa immediately jumped in. "Then why is it that it was two of your Quarrymen who gave this boy those scrapes on his hands and the bump on his head?"

"That is a preposterous accusation, Detective Maza, and I will not stand for it!" Castaway replied with a fierce tone.

"Are you calling my son a liar?" Carmen accused the man.

"They're making quite a serious accusation, Mr. Castaway," Matt said.

"The child is clearly confused," Castaway retorted, this time in a calmer manner than he did to Elisa a moment prior. "That gargoyle has tricked him into thinking they're friends, when it couldn't be further from the truth. My Quarrymen defend people from these beasts; they wouldn't harm innocent civilians, much less a child. Those injuries were an unfortunate result of the encounter between the gargoyle and my Quarrymen, and thankfully, they were not worse."

"I'm not confused!" Daniel snapped. "Those guys hit me in the head and threw me at some trash cans! Chaz and Lou, those are their names."

Castaway was clearly taken aback by the reveal of the two names, but quickly composed himself. "You knowing their names is no proof of any wrongdoing, young man."

"He's not lying, sir."

At those words, all eyes turned to the Quarrywoman standing amongst the group, who all but Matt and the reporters knew to be Sarah Browne. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then continued speaking.

"I heard shouts from an alley as I was patrolling the area. I made my way there and saw two of ours beating on the gargoyle. The boy tried to intervene, but they were violent towards him. One hit him in the head, and the other threw him at some trash cans. The gargoyle got angry and it took some sort of taser or stun gun from the bag it was carrying, and it used it on them till they were unconscious. I made my way over, and the gargoyle ran away while I checked on the child."

"Well, that statement supports what some officers informed me," Matt said, "about how they found this lady and the boy in an alley, with two badly electrocuted Quarrymen."

The reporters quickly reacted to this and started asking a multitude of questions of Castaway regarding the situation. The leader of the Quarrymen had been silent since Sarah had spoken, and Elisa was sure that she could see his benevolent facade starting to break. However, Castaway seemed to recover and finally spoke.

"Given this new information, I am very perturbed that two Quarrymen attacked a child. We carry out an extensive background check to make sure all our members are upstanding citizens, but it saddens me to hear that even with such measures, two of them acted in such a foul manner. I assure you all that I'll take drastic action to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again."

Castaway then smiled at Sarah. "Though on the other hand, it pleases me that one of our number displayed the upstanding moral attributes we Quarrymen value, and put the safety of the child before anything else."

"Mr. Castaway, I'd like you to come with me," Matt said, walking towards the blond man, "so we may discuss the charges to be set against those two Quarrymen for attacking the boy."

"Yes, of course, Detective," Castaway said.

Matt started to walk away, and before he started to follow, the leader of the Quarrymen shot a withering glare at Elisa before he moved away, the reporters and cameramen trailing them. Elisa frowned as she watched Matt take the big crowd away, with Carmen and Daniel thanking Sarah before she too walked away after Castaway.

Elisa had only interacted with the leader of the Quarrymen a few times, and he had made his disdain towards her quite blatant. For some time now, Elisa had had her suspicions as to John Castaway, being almost entirely sure that, despite his different accent and different face, that he was truly Jon Canmore, the youngest of the three sibling gargoyle hunters she had encountered before. However, she had no way of proving it. Elisa had no idea where the Canmore sister, Robyn, had gone to. She knew she had been arrested, yet somehow had been taken away from their custody via court order, though Elisa couldn't figure out how or why that happened. The eldest sibling, Jason, was in prison, where he was still slowly going through therapy and exercises to try to regain mobility in his legs, and Elisa visited him every once in a while. Jason would neither confirm nor deny Elisa's suspicions regarding Castaway being his youngest brother-which only made said suspicions stronger.

"Detective?" Carmen interrupted Elisa's thoughts. "What do we do now? Can we go back home? Do I have to give a statement?"

Elisa looked at the mother and child, then at the crowd in the street. "You could give a statement, yeah. I don't know how much good it would do against Castaway and his goons, but it could at least help keep your husband away from you."

"Thank God for that," Carmen commented. "I don't want that asshole anywhere near me or Daniel again."

"So, can we go back home, Miss Maza?" Daniel asked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that's a good idea for now," Elisa replied. "This whole thing's gotten too public. The media'll be trying to hound you for days, and that's not even going into Castaway, his Quarrymen, and God knows who else."

Carmen did not look comfortable with this in the slightest, but as she looked into the crowd for the reporters, she saw something that made her feel worse. Several tenants from the building, neighbors, looking at her and Daniel with glares of wariness, suspicion, some even of contempt. This disheartened and angered Carmen quite quickly, that some of her neighbors, whether they knew each other well or not, would be so quick to suspect her and Daniel or hold contempt towards them for the situation. Like it was her and Daniel's fault that all this had happened.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess we'd better grab a few things and stay away for a few days," Carmen said in a rather low voice, then she shook her head. "But where can we go? I don't have any family here. Maybe I can ask a friend to take us in for a couple of days? Or go to a motel?"

"I know a better place, Mom," Daniel interjected. "And no reporter's gonna be able to find us there."

"I think I know exactly what you're thinking, Daniel," Elisa said. "I'll call my captain and let her know that I'll take you to a safe place. You should go gather clothes and other things while I handle that, and I'll also ask Matt to place some officers to keep an eye on your apartment, just in case."

"Thanks, Detective," Carmen said, watching as Elisa went to talk to Matt.

And as she finally had some space to not be overheard, Elisa activated the communicator that she kept concealed in her ear and jacket collar. "Goliath? Thanks for coming with the clan. It's all under control for now, but you guys should move away. Castaway is seriously on edge tonight and I don't want him or his goons to spot any of you."

"Very well, Elisa," Goliath's voice rang into her ear. "We'll leave this to you. But what now for Daniel and his mother?"

"Unfortunately, this is the first time there's ever been a report or any news of a gargoyle entering someone's home and hiding out in it," Elisa said. "With the news all over this, there's too much of a spotlight on Daniel and his mom, so I'll help them lie low for a few days. We already thought of a place."

"Understood. Just let us know if you need anything."

"I can't believe you make this long walk so often," Carmen told her son as they both hauled rolling suitcases behind them, carrying clothing and other things they'd need to be away from home for a couple of days.

"I kinda got used to walking so much, I guess I don't really notice it anymore," Daniel replied. "I mean, there's a whole bunch of ways to get there, but this one's the one I use the most."

"At least I'll finally get to see this Labyrinth," Carmen commented.

"It's really something else," Elisa said. "Might not be the most private or the most comfortable place, but it's the safest. You'll be fine here till things quiet down."

After heading back to their apartment and Carmen had given statements to Elisa and Matt, she and Daniel changed into warmer clothes and packed a rolling suitcase each with clothes and a few basic necessities like toothbrushes, toothpaste, a pillow and blankets, among other odds and ends. The two got into Elisa's car, with Matt accompanying them, and then took off, with the rest of the Gargoyles Taskforce and other cops staying behind and helping run interference so no one would follow. Elisa eventually stopped near the entrance Daniel used most often, getting out alongside mother and son. Matt took Elisa's car, promising he'd leave it at her home parking area and quipping at her that finally he got a turn to drive her car. Elisa rolled her eyes and sent him off, then the three made their way towards the Labyrinth. Before the group had left, Elisa had used her communicator to get in touch with her brother, who had been watching the news and saw all that had happened.

"I don't know how to thank you for everything, Detective," Carmen told Elisa.

"You don't have to," Elisa said. "It's what I do. I'm just glad you're both safe."

"How long do we have to stay down here, though?" Carmen then asked. "I can take Saturday off work and Sunday was already my day off, but I have to be back by Monday, and I'd rather Daniel not miss school."

"Hopefully things calm down enough that we're able to have you back home by then," Elisa replied.

"We can always go to school and work from here, though," Daniel said.

"I know you like this Labyrinth place, Daniel, but we can't just move here permanently," Carmen said. "Especially so suddenly."

Daniel nodded, looking disappointed for a moment, but understanding his mother's reasoning. Elisa pointed out that they were close to arriving now, and shortly afterwards, the large, metallic entrance door came into view. Carmen looked with awe at the impressively sized door as they grew close. Daniel rarely saw the door closed, as it was almost always open to allow residents to come and go as they pleased. He paid it no mind as they reached it, and a moment later, the door slid open partway-and immediately a teal colored blur shot out and straight at Daniel, causing Carmen to gasp out loud and flinch in surprise, with Daniel himself taken by surprise at the suddenness of it.

"Daniel, are you okay?" Malibu asked Daniel in an almost frantic manner, quickly seeing the bandages on Daniel's arms to keep the scrapes covered, and the noticeable bump on his head, and the clone's eyes grew brightly in anger. "They hurt you!"

"It's okay, Malibu, it's nothing serious," Daniel tried to reassure his friend.

"Nothing serious, my ass! They think they can get away with hurting you?!" Malibu snarled, eyes still glowing. "When I get my claws on 'em, I swear I'm gonna rip 'em all to shreds!"

"Malibu, dude, calm down," Daniel tried to appease the gargoyle. "My mom's here, remember?"

This stunned Malibu, whose eyes returned to normal. He looked to the side and it was only then that he noticed Carmen standing there alongside Elisa, who was smiling in contrast to Carmen's rather surprised facial expression. Malibu had clearly been so worried about Daniel that he forgot about the presence of the boy's mother, and his demeanor changed in an instant, as he now stood straight while facing Carmen and dropped his intimidating air entirely.

"Um, ah... hi, ma'am. I'm Malibu, Daniel's friend," he said, smiling and looking rather sheepish. "I'm sorry about that, didn't mean to come across like, y'know, all beastly and stuff."

"It's okay... I guess," Carmen said, examining Malibu. "I'm glad someone feels so strongly about protecting my son, even if it was a bit hardcore in how you worded it. But, wow... I'm really talking to a gargoyle."

"Hehe. I do make an impression," Malibu said with a casual, friendly smile on his beak.

Daniel smiled as well, remembering Fang saying the exact same thing after picking him up from school on Halloween. His smile faded quickly, though, as he hoped his father had managed to make it somewhere safe. It was then that two more figures emerged from the door, Talon and Claw both looking relieved at seeing the small group.

"Hello," Talon greeted them, especially Daniel's mother. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, Mrs. Parks. I'm Derek."

"Hello, Roger, and it's nice to meet you, Derek," Carmen said, then sighed. "And that's soon-to-be ex-Mrs. Parks, so don't worry, you can just call me Carmen."

"Nice to meet you too," Talon replied, as Claw also greeted her with a smile, then went to check on Daniel. "I know down here's not what you're used to, but we'll do our best to make you comfortable for as long as you need it."

"Hopefully it won't be long," Carmen said. "I mean, no offense, it's just really jarring to have that big mess happen and then end up hiding underground."

"No offense taken," Derek assured her with an amiable smile, then he looked at his sister. "We can take care of Carmen and Daniel from here on out. You can go home and get some rest."

"Thanks, Derek," Elisa said, turning then to the mother and son. "I'll come by to check up on you as soon as I can."

Carmen and Daniel both thanked Elisa again for everything, then they followed the mutates and Malibu into the Labyrinth while Elisa walked away. Once inside, Talon asked Al to close and keep an eye on the door just in case, and then both mutates each took one of the rolling suitcases so their guests would not have to carry them. Malibu stayed at Daniel's side at all times and both of them pointed things out about the Labyrinth to Carmen, who seemed in awe of the place. Carmen and Daniel eventually got led to a room close to Claw's sleeping quarters. It was fairly tiny and had only two small beds, a small bedside table next to each bed, and one dresser drawer.

"I thought this room was already taken," Daniel said as they went in.

"It is, by two elderly sisters who lost their home in a fire and ended up down here," Talon explained as he and Claw set the rolling suitcases by the dresser drawer. "But when they heard about this whole situation when they went to make some late night tea a little earlier, they insisted on giving up their room while you're here, so you can both have some privacy."

"That's so sweet of them," Carmen said with a soft smile. "And thank you all too, for letting us stay. I hope we won't be much of a bother."

Claw smiled and shook his head, flashing them a thumbs up, and Talon spoke up to join his sentiment. "It's no bother at all. We're happy to help you out. Anyway, it's very late for you both, so we should let you sleep. We normally have meals at specific times of the day, but you feel free to sleep in and let us know whenever you're hungry, and we'll fix up something for you."

"Will do," Carmen said with a nod.

"Alright then. Sleep well now," Talon said, excusing himself from the room and taking his leave, with Claw following after giving Carmen a friendly smile.

"Can I borrow Daniel real quick?" Malibu asked. "It won't be long, I promise."

"Okay, go ahead," Carmen said, starting to prep her assigned bed.

"Sure thing, ma'am. Be right back!" Malibu said, walking out with Daniel by his side. The two walked far away enough from the room and to an area with no one nearby, so they could have a little privacy.

"What did you wanna talk about?" Daniel asked.

"Listen, I heard some of the play by play from Talon. How's Fang? I know he got away, but not without getting banged up. How badly hurt is he?"

"It was pretty bad," Daniel said, looking forlorn. "Between my stepdad and the two jerks that used to work for Dad, they gave him a beating with those stupid hammers and some laser guns. But at least he had enough energy to get away, and he heals quick, so as long as he stays hidden, he'll be fine. At least I hope he'll be. I don't know if he got any broken bones, so that part worries me."

"Yeah, me too," Malibu agreed. "I wanna try to sneak out to his place, see if he made it there safely, but between leaving here, going to check on him, and then coming back, I don't know if I'd have the time."

"Plus you're grounded."

"Yeah, don't remind me," Malibu grumbled in annoyance, but then he smirked and gave the boy a poke on the chest. "Especially when you're grounded too, boy."

"At least my grounding wasn't on purpose," Daniel replied, smiling a little bit now. "You're the bad influence here."

"Damn right I am," Malibu said with a smile of his own, but then his face slowly turned to concern as he eyed the bump on the side of Daniel's head, noticeable through the boy's short brown hair. "But, Daniel, those guys hurt you, on top of what you saw them do to your dad. Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, I am," Daniel assured his friend. "It was scary seeing them attack Dad like that, but at least Dad blasted them pretty good with his electricity, and they got arrested and he got away. And as for the scrapes and this bump, it's nothing serious. I'll be fine."

"If you say so," Malibu said, then he frowned and sighed. "Whenever I finally catch a glimpse of even one of those Quarrymen, I'm tearing 'em a new one."

"I'd rather you just stay away from them, Malibu," Daniel said. "Those guys are really bad news."

At this, Malibu put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Look, Daniel, the night that you and Tyler took me topside and we ended up at Xanatos's castle, it changed my life. I was a braindead idiot bootlicker to some psycho gargoyle with daddy issues. But now I'm like this, the real me, the one I should've always been, and it's thanks to you. That means more to me than you can imagine. As much as the people down here are part of my clan, you kids are part of it too."

Daniel nodded and smiled, feeling touched by his friend's words. "Thanks, Mal."

"And that's the main reason I don't ever wanna see you get hurt," Malibu told the boy, giving his shoulders a gentle squeeze that he meant as reassurance. "Whether it's the Quarrymen or even some bullies from school, if anyone ever hurts you, you just let me know and I'll handle them."

"Malibu, I really appreciate that," Daniel said, then shook his head. "But you shouldn't go out looking for the Quarrymen because of what they did to me and Dad, and you really shouldn't go scare the bullies from my school because they pick on me and the others. I mean, you can't just go out and scare or attack anyone who acts like a jerk to me."

After Daniel said this, Malibu stooped down enough to be at eye level with Daniel, and his eyes glowed a bright white. "Yes. I can. And I will," he said in a calm yet entirely serious, no-nonsense, matter-of-fact tone of voice to emphasize that he absolutely meant it; this together with the glowing eyes made Daniel feel a tranquil fury emanating from Malibu, which made clear that even the prospect of his young friend possibly getting hurt infuriated the clone in quite a strong way.

Malibu's eyes then stopped glowing as he took a deep breath, and he stood up straight again. "It's like I said, Danny, you're part of my clan. In a way, that makes you my brother. And if anyone so much as lays a finger on my brother, then they won't ever get a chance of doing it again, because I'll fuckin' rip their hands off."

Daniel was silent at this, torn between being happy and flattered that his friend had developed such a protective instinct toward him, and being worried over the possibility of Malibu getting himself and maybe others in trouble due to that fiercely protective instinct. Before Daniel could say anything, Malibu smiled at him and put a hand on his back to get him to walk alongside him.

"C'mon then, you really need to get some sleep," Malibu said. "And listen, if there's no news of your dad by the time I wake up, then screw Talon's punishment, because I promise you I'll go check his place to see if he made it there."

"Thanks, Malibu," Daniel said, stifling a yawn. It was only now that he realized that he was exhausted and very sleepy. It had to be around 3:30 AM, perhaps even later, and Daniel had never been awake at such hours. Malibu quickly took him to the small room he would be sharing with his mother, then said good night to both, closing the door to give them privacy.

"What did he want?"

"Just to check up on me and Dad, and that he'll see about going to Dad's place if we haven't heard from him," Daniel replied, purposefully leaving out the rest of what Malibu said.

"That's nice of him," Carmen said as she laid down in bed, having changed into her sleeping clothes as Daniel had been speaking to Malibu. "I just now realized the irony."

"What irony?" Daniel asked as he changed into his pajamas.

"That I grounded you for two weeks, and that included not letting you visit the Labyrinth. It hasn't been a week and here we are."

"Huh. Yeah. It'd be funny if we hadn't gone through all that stuff."

"Things'll get better, sweetie," Carmen said, though Daniel could sense a bit of trepidation and doubt in her voice as he climbed into bed. "Anyway, let's try and get some sleep now."

"Okay, Mom. Good night."

"Good night." With this, Carmen reached to the small lamp on the bedside table next to her and turned it off, plunging the room in darkness. Despite the overall stress of the evening and the worries of what could possibly follow, both mother and son fell asleep within a few short minutes.

Elisa was very tired as she leaned against the wall of the elevator in her apartment building while it took her to the top floor. It was close to 6:00 AM now and it had been a very hectic, very stressful evening. It was bad enough she had to deal with the obnoxious and overbearing Margot Yale, but then the whole debacle with the Quarrymen attacking Fang in his family's apartment as he was hiding out in it. The whole thing was made worse by John Castaway's presence, and Elisa wished she could find some way to investigate her suspicions about his identity.

At the very least Daniel had been okay, just a few minor injuries, and Elisa had taken care of getting them to the Labyrinth for safety and privacy. But she was still very concerned about what the repercussions for this whole situation could be, because as the first instance of a supposed gargoyle being caught inside a dwelling, and especially in the room of a child, it could become a very volatile problem. She feared that this would embolden the Quarrymen and turn more of New York against gargoyles and make things worse for them. This made Elisa feel a bit of a headache and the need for an aspirin, and she got off the elevator as it reached her floor.

After taking Daniel and his mother to the Labyrinth, Elisa had had to head back to the station, where she'd informed Captain Chavez that she had taken them someplace safe and secret-and fortunately, the captain had asked no more questions, trusting Elisa's judgment in that she was doing the best for the well-being of mother and son. And to Elisa's relief, Matt had handled having to talk to the press who had gone to the police station looking for more info on everything that had happened. Elisa had then met up with Goliath and the clan, with Broadway telling her in better detail about his talk with the Quarrywoman that had aided Daniel and Fang. After some more talk between them, Elisa had finally bid them goodbye and headed home, eager for some sleep, also taking Goliath's communicator with an offer to recharge it and give it back when they met again the following evening. Elisa now reached and entered her apartment, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Cagney?" she called out while she removed her jacket. "I'm home. Where are you, kitty?"

Cagney did not respond nor come to her. Elisa took her gun, and as she walked over to the kitchen to put it away in its safety box, she passed by the living room and stopped dead in her tracks. She now knew why Cagney had not come to her as he always did when she got home. Her cat was asleep, comfortably cuddled up to Fang, as the bruised and battered mutate laid unconscious on the floor of Elisa's living room. At this sight, Elisa could do no more than close her eyes and rub the bridge of her nose with her fingers, feeling that slight headache start to get worse and make the need for an aspirin more urgent now.

"Great," Elisa mumbled to herself. "Just... freaking... great."

To Be Continued...

Author's Extra Note- Oof yeah. Life has been tough for some time, just so busy that I barely have time to write, and sometimes I get hit with writer's block. But I really wanted to be able to post a new chapter before the year ended, so here we are, dealing with some of the aftermath of the whole problem with the Quarrymen attacking Fang. I felt this was the perfect time to have Castaway make an appearance in my story, and I also really wanted to give Elisa an unexpected guest, so there's something to look forward to, hopefully sooner rather than later. Thank you all for your patience, dear readers, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!