Neither Gargoyles nor anything associated with them belongs to me, but all original characters do and may not be used without permission.

Thanks to Hardwing and Silverbolt for giving me ideas!

This fic is dedicated to Lily Maza and Demona Taina, as celebration for their birthdays on the 10th and 12th of December!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DT AND LILY!

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Eyrie Building:

Dominique swore angrily, as she paced the floor of her room and now present cell. 'This can't be happening,' she thought to herself.

After Elisa Maza had mistakenly let slip out that she had once been a Gargoyle, Dominique had demanded an explanation. Thus, Goliath had been forced to revel to her the truth, or what he wanted her to believe was the truth anyway.

Apparently, she had been born, or hatched as the Gargoyle said, as a Gargoyle over 1000 years ago. The reason for why they were still alive was because she was immortal and he and the rest of the clan had been turned to stone for most of that time.

Dominique had actually laughed at that. Despite her enormous fear of the big lavender monster, the whole idea that she was an immortal Gargress, hundreds of years old and bent on destroying all the human race, it was so ridiculous that it sounded like something out of Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings. Just what kind of a fool did this Goliath take her for?

When she had told them as such, they had brought her here to this room. It was some kind of guest room, fitted with all the modern conveniences and was very suede, but it to her it was a cell nonetheless.

She continued pacing the floor in anger and fear. She didn't know which emotion was stronger, her anger at the Gargoyles for kidnapping her, or the fear for what they might do to her and the baby that was inside of her.

So intent on completing her 300th pace on the floor that she didn't notice the two white flaring eyes that were glaring at her through the window.

Suddenly, the window sprang open and Dominique turned in shock and then all she could do was gasp, as standing there was none other than the devil himself. A tall crimson red beast with a long beak, white hair and silver flaring eyes that growled ferociously at her.

Dominique gasped again and whimpered in fear, as she backed away slowly from the beast. So terrified she was that she didn't notice the creature curve its beak, almost as if it were smirking.

The creature then raised its arms and cried… "BOO!"

Dominique screamed and ran to the door and began pounding on it with her fists. "Let me out! Help, there's a demon in here!"

Brooklyn chuckled and began slowly moving towards her, in a Frankenstein impression, growling and snarling.

Dominique screamed again and ran to a corner, huddled up and whimpered.

Brooklyn was having a hard time keeping his laughter cooped up. He had been after Demona for ages, to get her back for using him to trap Goliath, so when he heard from Elisa about her apparent amnesia; he had to see if it was true. If she had no recollection of being a Gargoyle, then she might not remember anything else either, like how to be brave.

"Boogabooga," he waved his claws at her and despite how stupid that sounded, she was still actually scared and huddled up even more into her corner.

There was an instant pounding on the door from the other side, most like Goliath, but Brooklyn was having too much of a good time to stop now.

"Hey babe," he grinned and licked his beak. "Fancy some lunch? How about some nice… WOMAN PIE!"

Dominique wailed and cried out.

Finally, the door banged open and Brooklyn looked to see an angry Goliath's face, glaring at him.

'Whoops,' he thought, looking at the rage-full look of his mentor and leader. 'Something tells me that maybe I went a little too far this time?'

"Brooklyn," Goliath hissed, "get out now!"

"I'm going," Brooklyn replied quickly and sprang out of the room. He briefly considered making one final growl at Demona, but the look from Goliath told him better.

Angela came in, after giving one stern look at Brooklyn, and went to her mother.

"It's okay," she whispered, trying to calm the disturbed immortal. "That's Brooklyn, he won't hurt you. He just… acts immature sometimes, but he's no real danger."

Dominique quivered at the touch of the Gargress's clan, so Angela took her hands off her until she finally stopped crying. It was amazing for Angela to see her mother like this, as she had never dreamed of seeing her mother cry.

Goliath found it slightly unbelievable too, but he had already seen some of Demona's strange behaviour so he was used to it. He had even seen her cry when she still had her memories back, when she had turned the entire into stone. It had been one of the rare moments when he felt absolute pity for his former mate.

Angela looked to her father. "Father, may I have some time with her alone, please?"

At first, Goliath wanted to say no, to say that Demona was too dangerous and capable at anything, like he and Hudson had tried to warn her the last time she wanted to stay with her when they had supposedly captured her and imprisoned her in the labyrinth. However, in a way, this wasn't Demona, but a human female that was frightened and alone. Judging from the way she had acted when he found her, he knew that Angela was in about as much danger from her as a lion was from a mouse."

"Very well," he agreed and walked out the room, shutting it behind him.

Angela looked back at once had once been her mother and un-wished for enemy, and sighed.

"Who… who are you?" the woman stuttered.

Angela was surprised that Dominique had the courage to talk to her. "I'm Angela," she sighed again, remembering the last time she said what she was about to say, "Your daughter."

Dominique looked at her, her eyes as wide as saucers. "You… are… completely crazy!"

Angela felt a headache coming on. She didn't know which was worse, the time when her mother had accused her of mocking her when she had known the truth the whole time, or this time when she just didn't believe it at all.

"It's true," she said, trying to reach her. "I guess there's only one way for me to tell this story and that's from the beginning."

She took a deep breath and started to tell her mother all that she knew of the time of her life before the massacre. To when the Princess brought her and her rookery kin to Avalon, to when the clan awakened and finally, to when she and her mother first met though she left out the details of her mother using her.

After she told the whole story, Dominique could just stare at her. It was more or less the same story that that Goliath and Elisa had told her, but she just couldn't bring herself to believe it.

"I don't… This can't be true," she swore. "I am Dominique Destine, CEO of Nightstone Unlimited! I am NOT a Gargoyle, nor do I wish to be. Therefore you can't be my daughter and this is certainly not my clan! I have no family… "She had paused a little after that because of the baby she was having, which was family, but she didn't want to let them know about it. They might decide to hurt it.

Angela moaned. "I know it all must seem very unreal and incredible to believe, but nevertheless it is true mother, you are… "

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" she screamed. "I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!"

Angela winced at that. In all the words that her mother had ever spoken to her, the things that she had done. None had cut her so deeply than what she had just said.

"Yes I am," she simply replied, covering her pain, "whether you want to believe it or not be irrelevant, because in the end, it's still true. You are Demona of the clan of Wyvern, its former second in command and mate to Goliath and… my mother."

Dominique went quiet then, but in her eyes there was still the look of denial.

Angela chewed her lower lip for a moment. "Do you remember anything at all before the… accident, at your home, anything from your life, anything at all?"

Dominique stubbornly turned her head for a few seconds, but then she frowned and said, "Yes, a few things I do recall, but it had nothing to do with your kind, Gargoyle."

Angela winced again, but kept her cool. "What was it?"

Dominique sighed. "I remember some scenes from my mind, but… I don't actually remember me being in them. It's as though I'm just looking at them, like I look at the television."

"Well, what are they?"

Dominique shrugged. "Just… images, faces of people. Three to be exact, one is a tall man with black hair and a moustache… and three children, a tall boy who looked a lot like the man, a young dark blonde-hair girl with big blue eyes and a small boy with dark-blonde hair and little blue eyes."

Angela frowned, as she didn't know what the heck these memories meant? "Are they Gargoyles?" she asked hopefully.

Dominique sneered. "No."

Angela was slowly loosing patience with her… sort of mother. "No need to be rude. What were the people doing?"

Dominique frowned again, as she thought hard to remember. "Some scenes I remember were of all of them decorating a Christmas tree and such. Others were… I think they were training or something."

"Training?"

Dominique nodded. "Yes, mostly in martial arts and… other things. I also… "She stopped then and shuddered.

"What?" Angela pressed on.

"There's one other thing I remember clearly. The man, the tall man in my vision, I see him going off to… I don't know what he's doing, but the kids are scared for him. He's at a high building and goes inside to get to the top and then… "

"What?"

Dominique blinked a tear out of her eye. "I see him… falling off the building and dying."

Angela felt pity for her, but if this was some of Demona's memories then she doubted that she would ever feel any sadness for the death of one of their kind. She thought about the man and his family, thinking about how hard it must have been for the children to loose their father so young and… Suddenly she thought of something. What Dominique had told her sounded awfully like…

"Dominique," she began again, hurriedly. "Think! When the children and the man, their father, were training and fighting. Do you remember what they were wearing?"

Dominique gave her a funny look. "Why is that important?" she asked, but Angela just hurried her on.

"Answer the question," Angela said. "What… were they wearing?"

Dominique blanched a little at Angela's harsh tone. "Umm, I don't know, it was some kind of weird battle gear like out of a Ninja film or something. They were dressed mostly in black."

"Were they wearing masks?"

"Umm, yes... why?"

"Did the masks have any markings on them?"

Dominique thought for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, three or four red scratch marks on them."

"The Hunters!" Angela realised. As far as she knew, the last time, before the Hunter's Moon incident, Demona had encountered the Hunters had been over 70 years ago and she didn't face them again until then. If so then why did she remember the Hunters when they were young?

"I'll be back shortly," she said abruptly and left quickly to find Goliath.

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Goliath had come out of the room where Demona was being kept and glared at his cocky young second in command. "Would you mind telling me just what the Hell you were doing in there with her?" he ordered.

Brooklyn gulped and shifted his feet nervously. "Umm… making sure she was settling in okay?"

Goliath's eyes flared.

"Okay, okay," Brooklyn held up his hands in defeat. "I was just… having some fun with her, that's all."

"Fun?" Hudson bellowed. "You scared the livin daylights outta her!"

Brooklyn shuffled his feet a little bit more. "I didn't hurt her."

Just then, Owen came around the corner. "Forgive the intrusion, but Detective there is a phone call for you from your precinct. It's about a mister Morgan whom apparently you've been trying to get a hold of for some time?"

Elisa nodded and squeezed Goliath's arm a little. "I'll be back later Goliath."

Goliath nodded and watched while she went, before turning back to Brooklyn. "Well?"

"Well what?" Brooklyn said. "That's all that happened. I was just having some fun, that's all."

"By scaring her to death?"

Brooklyn's own eyes flared a little. "Sorry if I'm sounding selfish or anything Goliath, but considering that Demona used me to get to you and betray my clan, I thought I was entitled to just a little revenge!"

Goliath's eyes died down and he looked almost pitifully at him. "No Brooklyn, not selfish. However, your display here tonight has shown that you most definitely not a mature Gargoyle yet, if ever."

Brooklyn's face fell and he looked miserably to the ground.

Hudson sighed. "Dinna be too hard on the lad Goliath. As I recall, ye yuirself went ahead and played a wee trick or two on some of the humans and others of your generation when ye were his age."

Goliath blushed a bit, but looked annoyed at Brooklyn's smirk. "Maybe, but I never scared anyone with my antics."

Now Brooklyn looked annoyed. "Hey, at least I didn't go all vengeful and try to kill her like Coldsteel!"

"May I assume that your discussion is something to do with Miss Demona?" Owen's voice asked.

Goliath growled. "Yes!"

"What appears to be the problem?"

Goliath sighed. "We can't be sure, but I think it's fairly obvious that Demona must have been doing something magical, which… did not turn out like she had planned."

"YA THINK?" Brooklyn's astonished voice said, but looked away when he saw Goliath glaring at him with that 'watch it' look of his.

Owen cocked an eyebrow. "If it was magical then perhaps Puck and Alex could assist in some way?"

Goliath looked at him hopefully. "Could you?"

Owen nodded. "Yes, but I would require the knowledge of what kind of spell it was that Demona was involved in. Otherwise I dare not take a risk, as mixing is exceedingly dangerous and it might make the situation ten times as worse."

Goliath sighed and nodded. "That's what we're trying to determine now."

Just then, Elisa came hurrying around the corner. "Goliath, I just spoke with Officer Morgan, the guy who found Demona at her mansion. He said that when he found her, she was in a small room at the top floor. There were all kinds of strange trinkets and items in her place and she was lying in some circle drawn on the ground with a bowl of water next to her. He said she might have been bathing in it."

Owen nodded his head, as he processed what she was saying. "That does give me some idea as to what she may have been doing, but there are a number of different rituals and spells and she could have been using either one of them. Does anyone have any other information to give me?"

Elisa nodded. "Apparently, the same night that Demona had her accident, she was due to have a meeting with the directors of Golden Cup."

"Golden Cup," Goliath asked, he knew the name as he had seen the building multiple times.

Elisa nodded. "Yes, apparently she's been trying to fix a meeting with them for ages and Golden Cup doesn't usually do business with outside companies. However, they could only give her one meeting at night, the night when Demona had her accident."

"But that would mean that they would have seen her in her true form," Goliath said blankly. "I can't believe Demona would want this deal so badly that she would be willing to reveal her true self."

Elisa screwed her face up a bit in aggravation, as she concurred. That certainly didn't seem like Demona's style, revealing her to humans.

"Unless she had an ace up her sleeve," Xanatos's voice came from behind and they turned to see him with baby Alex in his arms.

"What do you mean Xanatos?" Goliath asked sharply.

Before anyone could answer though, the door to the guestroom sprang open and Angela fled out, looking wild eyed.

"Angela," Goliath began. "What is…? "

"Goliath," Angela said desperately. "I've just been talking with Demona… I mean Dominique and she says that she does remember some things, only she doesn't think they're her past and frankly after hearing what she just said, I believe her!"

"Wait, slow down," Goliath held his daughter's shoulders. "What do you mean? What memories?"

Angela took a few deep breaths. "Mother said she had some strange memories. However, when she told me about them, they were obviously not hers!"

"Huh?" Lexington, Brooklyn and Broadway both said, confused.

Angela then explained to them all that her mother had told her. When she came to the part about the Hunters, their eyes grew wide and flared white.

"I believe that I am beginning to see what has occurred," Owen said and everyone looked to him expectedly.

"Tell me mister Xanatos," Owen turned to his employer. "What were you going on about before Miss Angela strolled in?"

Xanatos shrugged. "I said that if I was Demona then I would have an ace up my sleeve. Like Miss Maza told us, she had been waiting for that meeting with Golden Cup for ages, like many other companies and I have. It would be a terribly big blow to her ego if she had to miss her one opportunity because the only meeting she could have was at night. However, as we all know, Demona is an accomplished sorceress and very powerful, so I'm sure that it wouldn't be beyond her abilities to find a spell that could either disguise or maybe even transform her temporarily into a full human for at least one night."

Realisation dawned on everyone's faces.

"So," Lexington finished Xanatos's summarise. "Something must have gone wrong with the spell that she cast and caused her both to change into a full human, and then loose her memory."

"Maybe," Xanatos admitted. "However, whatever faults Demona may have, stupidity and laziness aren't them. I remember when she and I worked together to bring Coldstone to life, she was incredibly thorough with her studies in the mystic arts and went over everything again and again to be sure that everything was accounted for and that nothing would go wrong. I highly doubt that she would leave anything to go for chance in a spell like this one where she might be trapped as a human forever."

Goliath had to agree with him on that. Demona had always been passionate about her studies, even as a hatchling and he certainly didn't believe that she would want to chance being stuck as a 'pitiful human,' as she would say.

"So what then," Brooklyn asked. "If it wasn't an accident on Demona's part then what caused this?" he said as he pointed to the door to the room where Demona was being kept.

"An outside job, perhaps?" Broadway mused, as he scratched his chin.

"Outside job?" Goliath enquired.

Elisa leaned over to him. "He means that maybe either someone, who Demona was working with, double-crossed her and caused the spell to backfire or… Maybe someone interrupted the spell and caused just that! Since I doubt that Demona would work with anyone, I'm leaning towards the second option."

"The Hunter," Goliath swore.

"Accurate assumption, Goliath," Owen said. "Since both Jason Canmore and his sister are still in jail then it must obviously be their younger sibling, John Canmore."

The clan nodded, but there was still much confusion.

"So the memories that Demona has, are not hers but Johns?" Hudson asked, still confused while Bronx whined miserably, not understanding anything that was going on.

"Yes," Owen replied, but Brooklyn just shook his head in exasperation.

"But if that's the case then why does Demona have some of his memories in the first place," Brooklyn said. "Furthermore, why didn't he stay to kill her when the spell backfired? He couldn't have been hurt because he wasn't at the house when the cops got there."

"Unless he managed to escape before they did get there?" Broadway said.

"From an explosion like that? The only reason Demona did is because she's immortal, worst luck."

Angela scowled at Brooklyn's last sentence, but said nothing.

"She would have survived anyway," Owen continued. "The magic of the spell she used might have protected her a little, not completely but some and if Canmore was in the line of magic when it occurred then chances are he might have been caught in the spell too."

"But the spell, we assume, was designed to turn a Gargoyle into a human. If it did that to Demona then what could it possibly do to Canmore?" Lexington said, while his brain was hurting.

The clan went silent then for a few moments, before something suddenly occurred to each of them.

'No,' they all thought simultaneously, especially Lexington. "It can't be true!'

"Damon," Angela whispered the name fearfully.

"Damon," Xanatos, having been the only one who hadn't thought of it, said. "What's he got to do with this?"

Goliath understood all too well, as he looked to Xanatos. "Recall that when we asked him about his clan and his past, he would forever evade our questions. Up to now, I always thought that he was merely suffering from a tragic past such as we had. Then, when he told us that story that sounded so remarkably similar to ours, we believed, but… Now that I think about it, I realise now his much his story is identical to ours, almost as though… "

"They were one of the same story!" Brooklyn concurred, his feeling of dread settling in.

"Meaning," Lexington continued the thought, his eyes filled with pain and denial. "That either Damon was in cahoots with Demona who told him our story, which is not likely given her current position, or… He shares some of her memories."

"Meaning he went through the same thing that Demona did and since he's no human then… "

Everyone went quiet again until Owen cleared his throat. "As I said," Owen said again. "I believe I can explain what has happened to Demona, and now it seems Mr Canmore." He took a moment to get everyone's attention and then continued.

"Demona was indeed doing a spell that would make her temporarily human for the night so that she could indeed attend her meeting at Golden Cup. However, mortal spell transformations are very delicate and require much concentration and accuracy, nothing must be amiss. So obviously, at the last moment when the spell was to be complete, John Canmore must have broken into her home and disrupted the ritual thus contaminating the spell. The end resulted in both Demona and Canmore being transformed. Since the spell was designed to change one Gargoyle into a human and there were two people in the circle at the time, one of them a human, it instead took Canmore's humanity and gave it to Demona and gave her Gargoyle-hood to Canmore, making him what he is."

Owen stared at everyone's shocked and sullen faces, them realising what Damon truly way.

"As for their loss of memories," Owen said. "I imagine that when they exchanged each other's human and Gargoyle-hoods, they also exchanged some of their memories as well, but only the really strong and most active memories in their minds. Canmore's strongest memory is obviously the time when he lost his father and spending Christmas with his family before then and Demona's is when she lost her clan."

Goliath felt a twinge of hope that maybe Demona wasn't as heartless as he had lead himself to believe all these years. He had hated her for so long for what she had done, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel pain whenever he thought of how she must live with herself for all the pain that she must know that she herself had caused.

"So… "Lexington began, almost tearfully. "Damon is actually… he's… "

"He is John Canmore, Lexington," Owen said regretfully, though his voice carried little of it, for as always, his voice was stoic.

The clan had never felt so dejected and sullen before in their lives. In the weeks before Damon had killed that human, they had grown to love him as if he were their own brother, yet to find out that all the time, he was one of their most hated enemies.

Angela felt grieved too, but right now they had more important things to discuss. "Owen, how can we help out mother?"

"Huh?" Brooklyn said in surprise. "What do you mean help her?"

Angela looked blankly at him. "Well, to help restore her memories of course."

Brooklyn looked at her as though she were insane. "Are you NUTS? This is the best chance we have at finally getting rid of her. As a human and with her memory gone, she has no memory of being a sorceress or even a warrior; she has no vendetta against humans and even believes herself to be one. She's completely harmless in the way she is now! Why the devil would you ever want her back to her old self?"

Angela snarled, her eyes flaring red. "She's… my MOTHER!"

Brooklyn retreated back a little at the angry snarl and red glow that Angela was throwing his way. She had never looked more like her mother than she did at that moment.

"Angela... " Goliath began, but stopped at the accusing look that his daughter was throwing at him.

"Don't tell me that you want her to stay that way as well, father?"

Goliath winced. "I have been… considering it."

"Considering it?" Brooklyn shouted. "What's there to consider? Angela, I know she's your mom and everything, but let's face facts, she just too dangerous to let loose."

Goliath frowned. "Normally I would agree, however she could be more dangerous in this state than she is in her normal one."

"Huh?" Brooklyn looked at his leader as though he had grown another head.

Goliath sighed. "Demona… or better yet, Dominique had a lover who was none other than one of the Quarrymen, who was killed by Damon."

The clan all shuddered and looked on, shocked by the idea of Demona having a human mate, even if she did have amnesia.

"Needless to say, she has less love for us now than she did even when she was a Gargoyle, if that is possible. Worse, she has all the resources of Nightstone, which she is willing to share with the Quarrymen to avenge the death of her lover."

Hudson looked sad, as he knew where this was heading.

"So?" Brooklyn said, obviously not understanding. "We'll keep her here then. She won't do any damage here."

Goliath looked at him in pity. "But it's different now Brooklyn. If it were Demona then there would be little chance; however this is not Demona, but a human named Dominique. She has immersed herself totally in human culture and has made companions, people who will miss her if she disappears. They would summon the police and eventually, they might find her here and then what will that do to our reputations?" He looked helplessly at his clan. "We have already been branded as murderers in the public's eye, what will they think of us if they discover that we are kidnappers too? Do you really think they will believe us if we were to tell them that Miss Destine is not really Dominique, but a 1000 year old immortal Gargress obsessed with killing humanity?"

Brooklyn looked sullenly at the floor, knowing when his leader was right.

Goliath sighed. "Owen… Puck, how do we restore Demona and Canmore back to their true selves?"

Owen pushed his glasses up his nose. "I believe it is time for Alex to have a lesson," excuse me for one second. He took his glasses off and placed them in his pocket. A second later, Owen began to spin around faster and faster, so fast that the clan felt dizzy just by looking at him until finally Owen stopped, and Puck was reborn.

"Heeerrrreeesssss Puck!" Puck said jovially and floated up to Goliath. "So, trouble with the little woman then?"

Goliath growled annoyingly at the little trickster. "Spare us Puck; we are not in the mood for your fanatics. Just do what you can to restore Demona and Canmore back to their former selves."

"Touchy," Puck remarked. "Very well, let me just get Alex and the lot of you bring Dominique and meet us in the cell room with Damon, alias Mr Canmore." With that, he vanished.

Goliath nodded to Angela, who took the hint and went to collect her mother.

A few moments later, there was a load of screaming and shouted insults, as the door opened and Angela came out with a struggling Dominique in her arms.

"LET GO OF ME!" Dominique yelled, as she kicked and screamed at her unknown daughter to release her.

Angela looked helplessly at her mate Broadway, who gave her a sympathetic look and took hold of one of Dominique's arms and gently, but firmly led her away, following Goliath to the modernised dungeon.

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Damon sat idly on the floor of his cell, flicking his talons and picking on the stones of the floor.

A moment later, the sound of the opening doors drew his attention and he looked up to see Goliath walk in. He smirked humourlessly at him. "Come to tell me what a bad boy I've been again, Goliath?"

For some reason, Goliath did not look at him with the usual sad pity that he usually wore. Now, he looked at him with pure anger. Whatever had he done now?

The rest of the clan came into the dungeon, as they called it, and Damon saw to his surprise a human woman, fair skinned with flaming red hair, being dragged by Broadway and Angela and screaming like a Banshee.

Elisa Maza was also there and any sympathy that she had once held for him seemed to have faded completely also.

"What?" he asked, as confused as Hell. "What have I done now?"

"Nothing," Goliath growled. "We just found out some things about you that you no doubt didn't know yourself."

Damon frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Goliath snarled. "You don't remember, but we do. Does the name Canmore or the title Hunter mean anything to you Damon?"

"No, it… doesn't," Damon/Canmore/Castaway replied in the same sarcastic tone that Goliath was using. However, he was lying as those two specific words, Hunter and Canmore, were practically ringing bells in his head as if they were forcing him to remember something, but couldn't.

"Goliath," Elisa spoke and touched Goliath's shoulder. "It doesn't matter. He doesn't remember anything about himself, so there's no point in going on about it. Puck and Alex will see to things and then we'll decide on what to do with him."

Goliath growled again, his fists clenching tightly. It was ironic that Canmore had done more damage to their clan in the form of a Gargoyle than he had done as a human.

Damon could not honestly understand what was going on. What was he supposed to remember, and who the Hell was that red-haired woman with the loud voice?

A few moments later, there was a bright flash that briefly blinded everyone, as they shunned their eyes at the flash. When it cleared, Puck was there in their midst, floating with a giggling baby Alex on his knee.

"Hallo," he greeted cheerfully again. If it was one thing about Puck that got on their nerves the most, it was his constant cheerfulness even in their times of grief.

"Well… are we all here then?" he said casually, making everyone give him a hard glare.

"Ooookaaaaaaaay, I'll take that as a yes then," Puck looked at Damon, then to Dominique and then back to Damon again. "Care to bring the Siamese twins a little closer together, please."

Dominique continued to struggle, as Broadway and Angela tried their best to gently bring her over to the cell where they were holding the Hunter that had been turned into his prey.

Puck cocked his head thoughtfully. "Hmmm… don't want to risk doing something to you guys… at least not yet and not while your dad is close by," he chuckled.

Goliath growled.

"Geez, talk about a tough crowd," he coughed and then pointed his finger at Dominique and pulled back his thumb saying, "bang." A long tendril of yellow energy snapped out of his finger and wrapped itself around Dominique, tying her to the cell bars.

Puck laughed. "I can't wait to see Demona's expression when she wakes up and finds herself all trussed up here in the dungeon." He coughed again and then whispered to his pupil. "Okay kid, now do it like we rehearsed, alright?"

Alex nodded his little head keenly, raised his hands and began speaking in his tiny but strong voice, despite his infancy.

"Gargoyle strength with human ignorance, let thy power fade and with it thy arrogance. Human flesh upon Gargoyle bone; let thy forms and memories revert to thine own!"

Dominique and Damon suddenly both yelled, as their bodies began to glow an unearthly white and they felt their bodies begin to shift and crack.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Damon demanded, as he felt his head getting ready to explode from all the pain inside of it. It felt as though his mind was splitting in two.

Dominique didn't answer and just screamed, not just from the pain but from the fear of what might be happening to her child. "NOOOOO!" she screamed and suddenly, it felt as though a super nova imploded within her and she felt a gush of force break out of her and made even the white-haired man and the strange child stagger back.

"What the…?" Puck exclaimed in confusion and then thinned his eyes at her. "Uh oh," he said. "Houston, we have a problem!"

"What is it?" Goliath demanded. "Why have they not changed back?"

Puck grinned a little, but blanched at Goliath's fury. Even he, a Fay, was not totally immune to injury and if looks could kill then he'd be dead and dust by now from the one Goliath was giving him.

"Simply because, I can't," Puck admitted.

"Can't?"

Puck sighed. "It would appear that Demona… Correction, Dominique, has a condition that will not allow me to complete the spell."

"Condition?" Angela said in worry. "What sort of condition?"

Puck shrugged. "Nothing that can't be cured in 9 months, assuming of course she decides to keep it."

"Keep it, 9 months… "Elisa's eyes widened in understanding. "You don't mean to say that… that she is… "

"Yup," Puck laughed and then with a snap of his fingers, a bun appeared in one of his hands and a small miniature oven in the other, "looks like old Demona's got a bun in the oven."

Half the clan looked on in shock at Puck and in amazement at Dominique.

"The… lass… is with egg?" Hudson stuttered out.

"Nope," Puck shook his head. "The… lass… is with child, as in she's having a baby, the human way!"

The whole clan swooned and held their hands up to their hands, feeling faint.

"Friggin Hell," Brooklyn muttered. "Wait a minute! If she was fully human when she… you know, got pregnant and the dad was human too then…Does that mean Demona's going to have a human baby?"

Puck shrugged. "Can't really say for sure until the baby's born, but I would imagine so."

Brooklyn blinked and then slowly began to grin. "Annnnd… you're sure you can still reverse the spell once Demona has had her baby?"

Puck nodded. "The reason why I can't now is because since the baby is most likely fully human and Gargoyles have their kids in an entirely different way, if I were to change her back then the transformation could have dire consequences on both her and the kid. For one thing, I doubt the kid will be able to survive the daily changes that Demona goes through every day, the stress would be too much."

Suddenly, Brooklyn burst out laughing. "Oh man! This is just too unfriggin believable, it's completely priceless!" he laughed hysterically, making everyone stare at him in wonder, except for Angela who just glared at him. "I can't wait to see Demona's face when she finally recovers her memory and she finds herself trapped with a human kid!"

The rest of the clan began to snigger too. They knew they shouldn't be laughing about such a thing, but it was too much and they just couldn't help themselves. Demona, stuck as a human, with a human baby on the way, it was all just so deliciously ironic.

Even Goliath, whose usually stoic face was starting to slightly crumple as a large grin appeared on it, began laughing.

However, they doubt that Demona would still want the kid when she recovered her memory, which brought up a problem, a problem, which soon had them all quietened down.

"What will she do when she does recover her memory?" Elisa asked. "If her feelings for humanity haven't changed, even after this experience, she might well… "She shivered slightly.

Angela looked horrified. "She wouldn't? Mother couldn't… not to her own child?"

Goliath looked at her in sympathy. "I don't wish to believe it either Angela," he said, "but tell me, from what you already know about your mother, do you believe that she wouldn't lower herself to kill a human child, even if it was her own?"

Angela paused. A really big part of her wanted to say 'no,' her mother would never do something like that. However, there was a small part of her also that constantly reminded her of her mother's intense hatred of the race that she and her clan had sworn to protect.

A few moments past and still, Angela was unable to come up with a good enough answer.

"So what do we do then?" Broadway asked, while comforting his mate.

"Does she even want to keep the baby?" Lexington wondered out loud.

Dominique suddenly screamed again. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM ME AND MY BABY, YOU FREAKS!"

Elisa sighed. "I think that answer alone answers your questions, Lex."

"I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!" Damon shouted. "WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT THIS WOMAN HERE? WHY HAVE… "

"Puck," Goliath hissed, to which Puck responded by twiddling his fingers and a second later, both Dominique and Damon fell fast asleep and the magical bonds on Dominique disappeared. Thankfully, Puck had also magically deactivated the electricity on the cell bars before she fell on them and slumped to the floor.

"Well, that's them out of our hair for a while," Brooklyn said and then noticed Lexington's hard stare at him. "Ummm… for those of us, who do have hair anyway."

"Fine, make a guy feel low why don't you," Lexington sneered. "But what are we going to do about them now?"

The clan probably wouldn't have allowed the idea of an abortion to occur even if they knew what it specifically was. They did not have the medical or scientific knowledge of what an abortion was, not even Lex as he had never thought of doing any research on human reproduction or the termination of foetuses. But to them, life was all precious and to deny a child the chance to live, even if wasn't fully formed yet, was nothing short of barbaric.

"Well we can't keep her here," Goliath frowned. "We've already discussed that she would be missed, which could lead to trouble from the public. If they even suspected that we had kidnapped her and were holding her here against her will then we would never know any peace."

The clan nodded in agreement.

"But what can we do lad," Hudson asked. "Puck said that he can't do a blasted thing until the wee bairn is born and that, judging by the look of her, won't be for months yet."

Goliath sighed, until Puck interrupted.

"I believe I may have a solution," he said jovially.

Goliath looked up at him. "You know of a way to ease this situation Puck?"

Puck nodded. "Yes, but… "

"But?"

Puck sighed. "But… you're going to have to trust me completely me for it to work."

Goliath felt weak suddenly. "What do you mean? What do you intend to do?"

Puck gently jostled Alex in his arms and then continued. "I could maybe accelerate the pregnancy and cause the foetus to grow rapidly so that before this night is over, it'll be ready to be born."

The clan looked at him in amazement and horror.

"You can't be serious," Brooklyn said.

"Yeah, "Broadway concurred. "What if you were to hurt the baby?"

"Tis unnatural!" Hudson growled.

Goliath and Elisa remained quiet and listen, as Puck continued to state his proposal.

"I admit that it is a little unorthodox," Puck admitted. "But there really is no danger to Demona or the baby, even if she weren't immortal. I will simply accelerate the baby's growth, making its body grow in the same circumstances as it would have done, only at a faster rate."

"I still say it is natural and too much of a danger to the wee bairn!" Hudson said adamant.

"I agree," Goliath said, but then sighed. "However, under the circumstances, we have no choice." He looked at the clan's startled looks. "We cannot possibly wait for Dominique to have her baby, especially with what's happened tonight. She would no doubt call the police and the Quarrymen and then we would be in even hotter water than we were before."

The clan shuffled their feet uneasily.

"We can't keep her here," Goliath said. "We can't let her go, so what can we do? Please, if anyone has any other suggestions then I gladly welcome them?"

But no one spoke or even moved. The truth was that they had no other options, their resources was limited and their choices few.

Goliath never felt lower in his whole life than he did at that moment. He was about to issue the order for Puck to advantage of a weak woman and force her to have her baby right now.

"Puck," he tried to sound like a leader, but ended up sounding more like a pathetic child. "Do it."

Puck swung round. "Watch closely Alex," he said to his young master. "You might need this someday. Child of the womb, yet to be born, let your cells multiple and features form. From Foetus to babe in one minute, come now to full circle… Let there be no limit!"

Another flash occurred from Puck and a tendril of blue light snaked out and touched Dominique. Despite her unconsciousness, she still felt some sensation in her sleep. This time however, she felt no pain, but she did feel a strange shuddering feeling in her stomach that was starting to grow with each passing moment.

The clan looked on in wonder and rapt fascination, as Dominique's stomach swelled up like a balloon. It lasted only for a few more seconds and then the light died down, leaving Dominique with a hugely swollen belly.

"And now for my favourite part," Puck said and grinned evilly. "OP-ERA-TION!" he cackled.

"HUH?" the clan chorused, but Puck didn't give them the chance to say anything else and floated over to where Dominique was sitting up against the bars of Damon's cell. He thrust out his hand and watched it as it actually disappeared into Dominique's stomach.

"Anyone wanna know what her insides looked like?" Puck called out, laughing.

"Puck!" Goliath roared in nausea.

"Okay, okay," Puck concentrated more and then slowly began to retract his hand. As he did so, Dominique's stomach began to shrink back into its normal size and… was there something in Puck's hand?

The clan watched, as Puck's hand slowly made its way out of Dominique, with something floating just above it, as it past through her skin as though it were nothing but air. The clan watched more closely and saw to their astonishment that the thing was nothing other than Dominique's child. The baby was all curled up inside the little pale blue ball of energy that was all around it, as Puck floated back over to where the clan was.

"Anyone got a blanket or something?" Puck asked urgently, to which Elisa immediately responded and took off her jacket. She handed it over to Puck, who shook his head and told her to hold it open.

Elisa did as she was told and Puck brought the baby over to where she was standing, with her jacket held open. The baby floated down into the cloth and Elisa felt the tiny weight of it, as it pressed down on her hands and watched as the blue energy ball faded, leaving the baby bare and lying in her arms.

With the energy ball gone, the baby instantly began crying and Elisa hurriedly wrapped it up in her jacket to keep it warm. The other all gathered around her to look at the new-born child, a human who wasn't a human and a Gargoyle who wasn't one either.

Angela smiled and kissed the baby. "What is it?" she whispered.

Elisa inspected the child and smiled. "It's a boy."

The clan all smiled and began holding out their hands, eager to hold the new addition to their clan. Elisa gave the baby to Angela, as she was his sister.

'A human baby born into a family of Gargoyles,' she thought amusedly. 'God, just wait till this kid starts school, those teachers are gonna get one hell of a surprise at parent's evening.'

The clan all held, stroked and tickled the little baby boy, laughing at how he wrinkled his nose and how Bronx tried to jump up to see what they were all gawking at.

"Ahem," Puck cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt a touching family moment, but in case you've forgotten, we still have work to do?"

Goliath collected himself and nodded. "Proceed."

Puck held Alex closer to him. "Okay Alex, take two!"

Alex's eyes began to glow green and his voice came out, as strong as ever. "Gargoyle strength with human ignorance, let thy power fade and with it thy arrogance. Human flesh upon Gargoyle bone; let thy forms and memories revert to thine own!"

As before, Dominique and Damon's bodies began to glow an unearthly white. After less than a second, they began to writhe about on the floor uncomfortably, as their bodies began to shift and the disturbing sounds of crackling bones sounded out through the room and their muscles began to knit back into their true fashion.

Dominique cried out, as her fair skin changed into a deep azure blue, making her hair all the more flaming red and from her knees, elbows, shoulders and spine... Knee and elbow spikes, wings and a tail sprouted out.

While from within his cell room, Damon alias John Canmore screamed as his wings and such began to shrink and shrivel up into his body, as it faded into a more human coloured skin.

The change lasted for just under a minute and when it was over, both Dominique and Damon were no more and Canmore and Demona were reborn, as they lay exhausted on the floor.

The clan stood still for a moment, as the ordeal of not one but two of their former clan member's transformations had past. Although they had known it to be a fact, it had never fully registered to them about who Damon truly was, until they had seen it with their own eyes.

The ones who took it worse were the trio, as happy as they had been with their brotherhood they had longed to have another male gargoyle enter their group. When Damon came and they had bonded with him, they thought that they had found a true friend and new brother, only for it to come crashing down on them when they discovered whom and what he really was.

Life was really cruel sometimes.

Lexington crept over to where, only moments ago, had lay his good friend who had helped him fix and talk about machines, who had taken cooking lessons from Broadway and who spoke with Brooklyn about motorcycles. He looked sadly at him and reached his hand in and softly stroked Canmore's hair, the only thing that had remain unchanged about him in Gargoyle form and now all that was left of Damon.

Lexington tearfully crept back over to the others.

Brooklyn and Broadway weren't that much better, but they chose not to show it.

"Will Canmore remember anything about what has happened since his ordeal?" Goliath asked Puck.

Puck nodded. "I tried to block out his memories, but mixing magic's is dangerous stuff. I was taking a chance when I tried to undo Demona's spell here, but when it came to the memory blocking; I just couldn't plain well do it."

Goliath frowned. "I don't know what to do with Demona as yet, but as for Canmore, we will have to deposit him somewhere and talk to Xanatos about upgrading the security systems here in case he should ever try to attack our home during the day. Brooklyn, will you…"

"I'll take him," Lexington suddenly said, making everyone turn in surprise at him.

"I beg your pardon Lexington," Goliath said.

Lex looked up. "I said I'll take him."

Goliath shook his head. "Lexington, normally I wouldn't deprive you because of your height, but please understand that you couldn't possibly carry Canmore all the way down to the earth by yourself."

"I'll go with him," Broadway said.

Goliath looked up surprised, but finally just nodded. "Very well then, Lexington and Broadway may take Canmore back down to the ground and deposit him wherever you see fit."

Broadway nodded and went up to the cell door, unlocking it with his DNA paw-print and casting the half-naked Canmore over his shoulder. Lexington followed him out the dungeon, that sad sullen look constantly in his eyes.

Elisa looked at him sadly. "Poor Lex, he's taking the truth about Damon the hardest."

"Yes, he would," Goliath agreed.

"What do you mean?" Elisa asked, confused.

"Well, Lexington is… "Goliath stopped then, as Demona had already started to awaken. "I will tell you about it later."

Demona moaned and tried to sit up. Angela was instantly at her side, but forgot about the baby, which was still in her arms.

"Mother," she asked concerned. "Are you alright?"

Demona moaned again and sat up, here opening and shutting, as she tried to focus where she was. "Where… where am I? How did I… "Suddenly, her eyes went round, as she stared at the baby in Angela's arms and a look if realisation came into her face.

Angela at once realised her mistake. "Mother, no!"

Demona roared and attempted to take the baby out of Angela's arms. Angela swore and moved to the left, clutching the infant close to her bosom as she tried to stay clear of her mother's deadly claws.

However, it wasn't fast enough, as Demona having anticipated that move, leaned to her left and snatched the baby out of her daughter's arms and sprang up from the floor.

The clan had moved in to try and stop Demona, the moment that she had even let loose a mere growl, but were not fast enough to reach her in time.

Demona roared and held the child high above her, her eyes shining blood red, glaring dangerously at the young child.

"Demona, no!" Goliath begged her. He had lost hope long ago that Demona could change, but her sudden love for Angela at the amusement park had made her think otherwise. "He's your son!"

Demona snarled back at him. "How dare you even suggest that! This… this thing is not my son, it's not even a real child. It's neither a human, nor a Gargoyle… it's just a mistake of birth, a genetic defect, a freak of nature!"

"And your own flesh and blood, whether you want to admit it or not, mother," Angela said, as she stood up.

Demona snarled.

"Listen to me mother, maybe it's not a Gargoyle, but it was you who gave life to it. It grew inside of you; it's a part of you!"

"It's a parasite," Demona's fangs gritted together. "Nothing more!"

"Oh yes, he is something more mother," Angela looked defiantly at Demona. "He's my little brother, and your son. Nothing you can ever say or do will ever change that!"

Demona opened her mouth and looked as though she was getting ready to rip the child's throat out.

"What about the human whom you mated with Mother, the man who just moments ago, you hated me and all of our kind for accidentally killing? That's his child as well that you're planning to murder!"

"As far as I'm concerned, it was merely the spell that forced me to act as a consort to that… that human!" Demona shuddered. "I will not… "

"You loved him! Whether you want to believe it or not, you did truly love him, the first kind of true love that you have had in a long, long time. Accept it, that you did love him, it's nothing to be ashamed of!"

Demona's claws clenched around the baby that began to cry madly, seemingly ignoring her daughter.

"Look at him!" Angela screamed desperately. "Look at his eyes, mother!"

Demona stopped, confused by Angela's request, but did as she asked. "What about them?"

Angela looked pityingly at her. "They're yours, mother. Your eyes, your soul, or at least part of it!"

Demona found herself staring into the baby's eyes. For one insane moment, she thought about how he would stand out, as you never saw eyes like that on humans. They were green and shone in the dark like a cat.

Demona looked at the baby, then at her daughter, the clan who were all standing on edge waiting for any kind of move she would make or looking for any opening they could find to take the baby off her. She looked at that accursed human Elisa Maza, who stood with her pistol drawn and aiming it at her and then looked back to the baby again.

Then, she looked to her daughter and saw the dozens of tears that were falling out of her eyes, tears for this… baby. This child that was the embodiment of all that she stood for, all that she despised and yet… Yet she could not stop looking into its eyes and Angela's.

The child cried and cried, as she held it too roughly. 'Was Angela like this as an infant?' she thought.

She looked back to her daughter. "I am not this thing's mother, never assume that I am!" With that, she tossed the baby into the air and both Angela and all the clan gasped and forgot about Demona, who ran through them and out the door escaping, and hurried to catch the falling baby.

Goliath, being the tallest and the one with the biggest hands, caught the child with ease and sighed as the baby cried, but was relatively unharmed. He handed the child back to Angela, who took her little brother and rocked him gently in the crook of her arm.

"Demona's escaped!" Brooklyn shouted.

Goliath nodded at him. "Follow her to make sure that she leaves the castle, but do not engage her in battle or follow her when she leaves."

"Huh?" Brooklyn stared at him, as though he had taken all his clothes off and had started dancing.

Goliath shook his head. "We know that we cannot keep her imprisoned for long and keeping her here would only endanger the baby. Just ensure that she has left the castle and then report back to me."

Brooklyn growled a little, but nodded and went to do as he was told.

'Oh well,' Brooklyn thought, 'at least I got to scare her real good.' He chuckled deviously.

The baby gradually calmed down, yawned and fell asleep in Angela's arms. Angela sighed I relief that the child was safe, but something else warmed her heart too.

"She didn't kill him," she said to her father, smiling happily.

Goliath gave her a thin smile too. He didn't know what to say, as he thought that Demona had merely spared the child because she knew that it was the best way to escape. The again, he had never seen Demona look that way at any human before since awakening in this new world.

Angela smiled again at the baby, holding it lovingly to her chest. "He's so beautiful," she said softly.

Goliath gave her a full smile then, agreeing totally with her and stroked the child's head. "Yes, he is."

Elisa tickled under the baby's chin. "What do you think we should call him?"

Goliath frowned, as picking names was not easy for any of them since their kind had originally had no names.

"I do not know, my Elisa," he sighed defeated. "What do you think we should call him?"

Elisa cocked her head slightly, thinking. "How about… Paul?"

"Paul?" Goliath asked, "Why Paul?"

Elisa shrugged. "Why not, it's a good name? Plus, do you have any better ideas?"

"Shouldn't we have…? " Angela paused.

"Demona in on the choosing of the baby's name?" Goliath finished what his daughter had been planning to say.

"I doubt it Angela," Elisa sighed. "You heard what she said before she… left. As far as she's concerned, she's not this baby's mother and never will be. So no, I doubt very heavily that she'll want to be even considered in the baby's naming."

Angela looked dejectedly to the floor, but deep down she knew that what they spoke was correct.

A few moments later, Brooklyn came back in. "Demona's gone," he said. "I was expecting her to at least try blowing something up, but she looked like she couldn't wait to be out of here."

Goliath nodded. "I doubt she wishes to remember this night for a long time, or anything else for that matter for the past few months."

Brooklyn grinned and then walked over to where Angela was standing with the baby. "Mind if I have a hold of the little guy, Angela?" he asked politely.

Angela gently handed over her little brother to him and Brooklyn held the kid completely in the palms of his two hands.

"His name is Paul," Angela told him. "We just decided."

"Tiny little shrimp, isn't he?" Brooklyn laughed.

His laughter woke the baby, who looked around him, wondering at where he was and what all the big people around him were doing.

Brooklyn smiled warmly. "Hey kid, how's it going?"

The child of didn't course respond, but it held out its hands and tried to grasp the end of Brooklyn's beak, and when it failed, it began to pound its little fists on him.

Brooklyn grinned. "Quite the little scrapper, aren't ya?" he laughed again and tickled the baby's belly with the end of his beak, making the boy giggle.

Elisa smiled, but then looked worried. "Do you think Lexington and Broadway got Canmore away safely?"

Goliath, who had been smiling just a second ago, frowned downheartedly. "I'm sure they'll be fine. It is Lexington whom I am more worried about, as he no doubt took Damon's revelation the hardest."

"Oh, he and Damon were close then?" Elisa asked.

Goliath sighed. "Not as close as Lexington would have liked, but close enough."

"What do you mean?"

Goliath looked at her a little surprised. "I had assumed that you knew," he said. "Lexington was… "

0000000000

A Back-Alley Downtown:

Broadway glided down with the unconscious Hunter in his arms, with Lexington gliding slowly behind him.

They landed gracefully down on the ground, their wings clocked around them. Broadway checked to make sure that no one was nearby before he lowered the clan's most hated and presently half-naked enemy down.

Lexington just stood behind Broadway, looking blankly at the Hunter.

Broadway noticed his brother's look and sighed sadly. "Do you want a few minutes along with him?"

Lexington seemed surprised. "What do you mean?"

Broadway put his hands on his hips and looked at him in pity. "Lex, I've known you since we hatched. You think I wouldn't notice you when you got the look by now?"

Lexington blushed and wanted to yell that it wasn't true, but he had never been able to deceive either of his two closest brothers.

"Demona's wrong you know," Lexington sighed, a tear running down his cheek. "Goliath's not the sentimental fool, I am."

"Lex," Broadway said, flabbergasted, and pulled his brother into a hug. "It's alright, you did nothing wrong."

"Except give my heart to the one person who would rather see us all dead," Lex sniffled.

Broadway pulled back and looked at him sternly. "None of us had any idea who or what he really was, let alone just you. It wasn't your fault; you can't help who you fall in love with."

Lexington blubbered. "I never even got to tell him. By the Dragon, I'm glad now that I never did. I don't know how I'd live with myself if I had… "He sobbed.

Broadway patted his back and then looked back to the sleeping Quarrymen leader. "Then… maybe you should, tell him I mean?"

Lexington looked up. "What? Are you nuts?"

Broadway pointed at John Canmore. "Look at him, he's sleeping like a baby now and he didn't even stir during the whole time while we were up in the air or dragging his ass all over the castle or down here. I think it's safe to say he won't be waking up for a while. So why don't I leave you alone for a while, let you tell him in his semiconscious state, all that you wanted to tell Damon?"

Lexington looked confused. "But… what's the point? It's not like he's going to remember any of it or leap into my arms or anything."

Broadway shrugged. "Maybe not, but at least you'll get it off your chest. It'll be the best and only way to tell him now and you won't have to carry it around with you, bottled up inside anymore."

Lexington looked thoughtful, as he considered Broadway's words before finally, he sighed and nodded. "You're right, I do need to say some things and since I can't tell them to the person who I… who doesn't even exist. Then I guess I'll have to settle for the next best thing."

Broadway nodded and turned to walk to the nearest wall. "I'll be on the rooftop if you need me," he called back, to which Lex nodded and waved.

After Broadway scaled up the wall, Lexington sighed and knelt down by the man who hours ago had been the dearest friend and now one of the clan's worst enemies.

Lexington felt a rush of fresh tears springing from his eyes, but he angrily brushed them away. "Damn you Canmore," he cursed under his breath, wanting very much to rip his claws into the Hunter right now and leave nothing for the police to identify.

It had happened again, first the Pack and now Damon alias John Canmore the Hunter alias John Castaway the founder of the Quarrymen. He had been used again, only this time was worse than the first, as this time his heart had been the one used.

He had fallen in love with Damon almost immediately after he first set eyes on him. He had been a handsome Gargoyle with a magnificent figure, plenty of muscles and a beautiful smile that lit up his whole face.

His eyes had been a little disturbing. Lex had often wondered why, but now he knew, as they had been the eyes of the Hunter.

At first, it had just been a simple crush like one of the many ones that he had had on their other rookery brothers and sisters back home. Over time though, it had developed into something more, something warm and deep. He had never felt such a desire to be so close to someone before, to feel their strong arms around him, his lips upon theirs.

Lexington grimaced a bit, as he thought of spending a night of passion with Damon, only to wake up the following night with Canmore grinning at him.

John Canmore groaned and Lexington froze, getting ready to leap out of there in case he awoke, but he simply rolled his head and fell back asleep again. Lexington sighed in relief and crawled a little closer to him.

His face hadn't changed all that much from when he was a Gargoyle. His face was now that common pinkish human hue and he had no horns, but it was more or less the same. He was amazed they hadn't made the connection sooner, but Lex guessed that the idea of Castaway becoming a Gargoyle was so ridiculous to them that they never even thought of it.

He crouched in front of him, staring down at the still handsome face. He didn't feel anything at that moment, not rage, hatred or a need for revenge like he had done with the Pack, but just an overwhelming sadness and loss.

He reached out his green skinned hand and stroked Canmore's soft blonde hair.

It was funny in a way because Canmore hadn't even planned this. He had just been trying to attack Demona and ended up spending a couple of months with him and his clan.

"Before I met you," Lex began, "I was content and happy with my rookery brothers. Neither Brooklyn nor I had mates and we weren't attracted to one another, but we still had each other's friendship, even Broadway despite he spent most of his time with Angela. Angela is as good a sister as any, she's loyal, loving and true, the best anyone could hope for. Hudson and Goliath are my mentors, Bronx is our loyal and faithful hound, who is constantly there for us and gives us comfort whenever we need it. I was happy!"

Lex breathed for a few moments. "But as happy as I was, I knew there was something missing and when you came I realised what it was, true love. I only knew you for a short time, but in that time I felt such warm passion and unconditional love, the kind I had never felt before. You talked, joked and worked on gadgets with me. You started out as a brother, but over time you became something so much more. I tried so hard to tell you how I felt, but every time the words came out… "

Lex trailed off, gazing down on the peaceful slumbering man. "I suppose I should be glad now that I never got to tell you, after all, what are the chances that even if you had felt anything for me, you wouldn't still want to shatter me in my sleep now?"

But try as he might, Lex couldn't bring himself to believe that. "Scratch that. Even if it did turn out like I just said, I still wanted to tell you. I regret I didn't tell you sooner, at least then I wouldn't be feeling so bad."

A tear rolled down his cheek and landed on Canmore's own. Lex reached down and gently stroked fit off.

"I don't know whether I want to hate you or still love you," he admitted. "It would be so much easier to hate you, as we'll no doubt be fighting each other again soon."

He stared at his face.

"If only you hadn't made me love you so damn much before all this crazy stuff happened," he sobbed a little and then leaned over. "No matter what happens, no matter how much you'll hate me and my kind, know this… There is one Gargoyle who will always love you."

With that, he kissed Canmore gently on the lips, softly so that he wouldn't awaken. However, no sooner had he kissed him, Canmore started to respond.

Lexington yelped and expected Canmore to start shouting and looking for his Quarry-hammer, but instead… he was kissing him back?

Lexington was confused, but in the rush he started to respond back and kissed him fully. He moaned a little as he stroked Canmore's hair and felt his smooth skin beneath his own hind.

Then, as quickly as it began, Lexington gently lifted Canmore's hands off him and pushed him back. It was then when he noticed that Canmore's eyes were still closed and he realised that Canmore was still asleep, or at least half-asleep. He must have been half-conscious and responded to his touch in his sleep.

Lexington didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed, or both. But if Canmore was only half asleep now that that meant the spell was wearing off and he had to get going.

Lexington raced to the wall and as he dug his claws into it, he took one last look at Canmore and whispered tearfully, "Goodbye Damon." And pulled himself up to the top of the building where Broadway was waiting for him with a sympathetic look on his face.

0000000000

"Lex is gay?" Elisa said in surprise, as Angela walked out the room with her new baby brother in her arms.

Goliath looked at her, curiously. "Gay?"

"Yeah, you know, as in he fancies other guys."

Goliath cocked his head. "I was unaware you humans had names for falling in love. I assume it was just called love."

Elisa looked a little blankly at him. "Goliath, not that I'm a bigot or anything, as I even have a few friends who are gay, but… Well, you're from the medieval times and back then, I would have thought that… You know, you'd be against this sort of thing."

"Against what?" Goliath asked, honestly confused and then his face lit up with realisation. "Oh, you mean the case of two people of the same gender falling in love with one another?"

"Yup, don't you find it a little… odd? Personally, I'm confused about Lex, as like Brooklyn and Broadway, he was all over Angela when she first arrived."

Goliath shrugged. "Gargoyles have never had a problem with two people falling in love, whether they are of the same gender or not. We were always taught that if those two loved one another truly, then their differences meant nothing, just as our differences mean nothing to you and me, my Elisa."

Elisa smiled. "Why didn't you ever try to court with me sooner then?"

Goliath looked a little ashamed. "I thought that you would be happier with a mate of the same race as you, as I cannot bear you any children. I didn't feel right asking you such a thing when it would mean such a great sacrifice."

Elisa laughed a little. "Funny, I thought the exact same thing. I thought that since I couldn't bear you any then I had no right asking you to when your race was, what we thought, near extinction. But know this, Goliath! You mean more to me than any child ever could. I mean yeah, I would have liked to have a child some day, but it's not necessary. I would rather go the rest of my life never knowing motherhood than spending a single night without you."

Goliath smiled and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her passionately.

"You and I are one, truly one! Now and forever, for all eternity." He whispered into her dark mane of hair.

"Forever and ever," Elisa whispered back and kissed him.

0000000000

Destine Manor:

Demona soared through the skies and landed roughly on the balcony of her mansion. She smashed the doors open and stormed right in. What she saw inside her home, made her pause and snarl incredulously.

She remembered nearly everything that had happened since that disastrous night with the spell that had turned her into no more than a weakling human. She remembered the miserable human Edward Kilby… Ed.

Demona paused slightly at the mere thought of her human… acquaintance, and immediately started back up again and raced through the rooms, gathering every photo and item that even reminded her of him and tossing them on the fire, burning them into ashes.

"BLAST that Hunter!" she cursed loudly, as it had been all his fault when he had barged right in here and disrupted her spell.

She continued rummaging through the house, shattering any little piece of ornament that she had bought when she had obviously been under the influence of the spell and the corruptive nature of the humans, who told her to buy them.

The worst part was that she had willingly supplied weapons to the Quarrymen to help hunt and kill her own kind. She had never felt so sick and disgusted in all her life. She had to have been under the influence of the humans. She just had to have been.

Well, she would get the last laugh. She'd go straight to the office tomorrow and pull out any and all of the weapons that she 'mistakenly' gave them and severe any link she had with the gargoyle slayers.

Finally, after a whole hour of storming through the corridors and hallways of her huge house, she came to the last room and marched right in, halting almost immediately at once.

She dropped the few pieces of an ornament that she had last destroyed and stared into the room. She had completely forgotten about this room, as her mind was still trying to sort out the new and old memories.

It was a nursery, a baby's room that she… or rather Dominique had decorated shortly after she had first found out she was pregnant.

She slowly walked in, turning the light on and gazing around at the stuffed toys, white painted cradle and rocking chair and the frilly curtains that she had installed.

Her mind suddenly wandered back to the baby that was now at the Eyrie Building with Goliath and his clan, her… NO! It was not her son, but another filthy human that had been brought into this world by a twist of fate that had corrupted her beliefs and violated her mind and body.

Still, she could not help but remember the way the baby had looked at her with her eyes and the sound of its cry.

She angrily shook her head and began tearing the place apart. She shredded the stuffed toys, spreading white cotton everywhere. She grabbed the cradle and the rocking chair, tearing them apart and throwing them out the window, from which she pulled the curtains down and tore them up as well.

By the time she was finished with the room, there was little or nothing left but a bare room with nothing, but bits and tatters inside it.

Demona had by then long since slid down to the floor, her chest heaving as the red flare in her eyes slowly died down. On her face was still the mask of horror and rage that she had worn for so many centuries.

She looked around again, making sure that she had left nothing out and that all had been destroyed or thrown away. She wanted nothing more to do with that baby or the memories that came with it.

Suddenly, something squeaked beneath her hand when she moved it and looked down to one stuffed toy still in tact. She angrily swiped it up and prepared to shred it just as she had done to the others, but… something made her stop.

She looked down at the toy's plastic button eyes. They were of the colour of green, like hers, just like her… like that baby's had been. The toy was soft and warm like he had been.

Demona stared at the toy for a moment longer, before she slowly got up and walked out the room, down the hallway and into the living room where the fire that she had started was still going.

She stood still for about a minute and then tossed the toy into the flames and watched it burn for over half an hour, the flames reflecting in her eyes.

She stayed standing where she was, as the toy turned to ash and the flames died out. No tears came from her eyes, as she had long since burned herself out of tears long ago when the Vikings destroyed her clan.

As the final flames burned out, she turned and walked out the room to her own to sleep.

The End!