Gargoyles Fan Fiction ❯ Of The Night ❯ Castle Wyvern ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: “Gargoyles,” its products and such, are copyrighted by The WB, and possibly some other things I don’t know of. The point is, I don’t own “Gargoyles,” in whole or in part. I am but a feeble fanfiction-writer out to amuse herself.

Of The Night

Two

“Where were you?” Lex asked as Brooklyn arrived. “You’re more than a little late.”

“Yeah, and now we’re out of snacks,” Broadway told him.

Brooklyn laughed. “You down all the snacks in five minutes anyway. I was helping a girl,” he explained.

“Is that it?” Lex said, laughing. “The movie hasn’t started yet; keep going.”

“I saw some guys toss this lady around on a rooftop,” he continued. “So I dropped down to help her.”

“You should say it in a more ‘cool’ way,” Broadway threw in. “Like this.” He posed. “ ‘There I was, just gliding above the building. And bam! This poor girl was,’ what was that word?” He paused to think. “Oh, I remember – ‘This poor girl was accosted by some thugs. Of course I wasn’t going to stand for that –’”

“Long story short,” Brooklyn cut in, “there’s four guys knocked out on a roof and she’s off to see a doctor.”

“Doctor? What happened?” Lex asked, concerned.

“One of the guys cut her on the neck,” Brooklyn said. “She’ll probably be okay.”

Broadway seemed to think about that. “You didn’t take her to a hospital?”

“It wasn’t bleeding much,” Brooklyn explained. “It was bound well; I just suggested she get checked out in case.”

“You were there for how long?”

“Until she woke up.”

“She passed out?” Lex all but snapped. “Why?”

“Uh. . .blood loss,” Brooklyn said reluctantly.

Blank stares were his reply from Lex and Broadway.

“Oh come on, she was okay enough to keep talking. We even joked. Now when’s that movie starting?” he said abruptly, hoping the change of subject would help ease the intensity of those stares.

It worked, but only for the course of the movie. Once ‘Hellboy’ was through killing a God, the three of them exited the theatre and were immediately back to the subject of Lydia. Gliding back to the castle, Lex was the first to bring it up.

“So. . .you never mentioned this girl’s name,” he pointed out.

“Why are you so interested?” Brooklyn snapped. “We all save dozens of people a week; what makes her so different?”

Broadway answered that. “Well, we usually help ‘em and that’s that. You hung out.”

Good point, Brooklyn thought. “Okay, fine. Her name’s Lydia. What else you gotta know?”

“Is she cute?” Lex asked.

“Lex!” Brooklyn snarled. “That’s a terrible joke.”

“Who’s joking? I wanna know,” Lex reasoned.

“I’m not answering that.”

“Why not?” Broadway interjected.

“Because. . .just because,” Brooklyn snapped at him.

“Okay, fine, I was just teasing anyway,” Lex told him. “Does she think you’re cute?”

Brooklyn’s reply was a heavy sigh.

Lex laughed. “But seriously, is she going to be okay?”

“The cut wasn’t too bad,” Brooklyn said.

“Bad enough that she passed out from blood loss,” Lex pointed out.

“She’ll be fine. It wasn’t a deep cut; I doubt it’d need stitches.”

“Well, as long as she’s not in danger,” Broadway reasoned, “I guess everything’s okay. I say Brooklyn did a good job protecting her.”

“Are you gonna see her again?” Lex said abruptly.

Brooklyn might’ve shrugged if he weren’t gliding at that moment. “Maybe. I know where she lives, and I told her where the castle is.”

“So maybe, but not for sure,” Lex summarized. “I guess that makes it a fifty-fifty chance.”

Brooklyn glanced at him. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it’s you who wants to see her.”

“She sounds cute,” Lex replied easily.

Brooklyn just sighed again. “Fine, just keep giving me a hard time. Maybe the next girl I see get attacked I’ll glide right past.”

“I doubt that,” Lex told him.

“Hey, is anybody else hungry?” Broadway asked, only having been listening about half the time.

Brooklyn chuckled. “Leave it to Broadway,” he said to himself. “Well, considering you ate all the snacks before I showed up, yeah. Let’s raid the castle’s kitchen again when we get there.”

“Owen’s gonna be mad at us,” Lex pointed out.

“Maybe, but ‘Puck’ is gonna be laughing inside,” Brooklyn retorted.

“Just why did Puck decide to be such a grouch?” Broadway asked. “Of all the kinds of people to masquerade as.”

“He must like the hairstyle,” Lex suggested.

All three reached the castle in good spirits, heading straight for the kitchen. After successfully destroying a few pots and many boxes of food, they were booted from the kitchen by Owen himself, looking more stressed than usual. About an hour before dawn, the clan regrouped and shared the day’s interesting points, which included Lydia. Goliath and Angela had been watching over Elisa, telling a story of an explosion that almost got Elisa in an attempt to kill her, though instead they helped capture several arsonists.

Waking up from the stone sleep the following dusk, Owen was waiting for them to descend. The first thing he said was, “We have a guest.”

“Wow, now that was pretty cool.”

Standing a little behind Owen and only slightly noticed by them on the way down was a girl, black hair fluffed forward and violet eyes. Brooklyn recognized her instantly as Lydia, and he imagined Lex and Broadway recognized her by the white bandage easily noticed around her neck.

She looked like a kid in a candy store, eyes darting between them in fascination. Yesterday, as he recalled, she’d been wearing blue jeans, a black shirt and a blue vest. Today’s style was vastly different, a purple halter top and matching knee-length skirt.

“Lydia?” Brooklyn said, wondering what to say.

“Imagine my surprise when I showed up an hour ago,” she told him, “only to be told you were still ‘asleep.’”

Goliath growled low, a sound of discomfort with her presence. “Normally Xanatos doesn’t allow strangers up here.”

“Mr. Xanatos has decided Miss Lydia is no threat,” Owen answered.

“Hear that? Miss Lydia. I feel big,” Lydia said, smirking at Owen.

Brooklyn couldn’t help a chuckle. “Okay, well. . . This is Lexington, Broadway, Angela, Hudson, Goliath, and the mutt is Bronx,” he introduced one by one. “Everybody, this is Lydia.”

Lydia nodded respectfully. When Bronx came closer to sniff her, however, she jumped and edged back. “Uh. . . down, Bronx,” she tried.

Bronx whined at her, then turned towards Hudson.

Hudson rubbed his neck. “Nice to meet ye, Lydia. Bronx and I will be off.” The two headed indoors.

“I must see to Elisa,” Goliath told them. “I likely won’t be back for some time.”

Angela was the first to approach Lydia. “I heard Brooklyn helped you yesterday.”

Lydia nodded. “Yep. I guess I was lucky to get away with just a cut.”

“The wound isn’t bad?”

“Nu-uh, I got it checked out and everything. Didn’t even need stitches. The doctor even mentioned it won’t leave a scar, so I’m good.”

“If everything is settled here, I will be on my way,” Owen said, bowing out.

Standing a bit higher, Lex leaned in towards Brooklyn and whispered, “I think she is cute.”

“Cut that out already,” Brooklyn snapped, pushing Lex away. He noticed that Angela and Lydia were chatting with each other now, leaving him a big door to straighten out Lex and Broadway before they did anything stupid. “Look, guys – Broadway!”

The larger gargoyle was already heading inside for breakfast. Lex laughed, obviously amused with the situation. “Don’t worry, Brooklyn; you can hang out with your new buddy in peace. See ya,” he waved as he followed Broadway.

Brooklyn sighed heavily. “Fine.” But looking at the girls told him that he wasn’t going to be able to insert himself into their little circle, which left him slightly jealous. Odd though it was, he found himself thinking that for a little while, Lydia had been a secret of his, which he’d been thinking of keeping for a while – until she showed up.

Finding no way of grabbing attention for himself without being rude or getting in trouble with the girls, he gave up and followed his friends inside. Spotting Lex and Broadway at the table with a plethora of different foods before them like every other night, he moved right in to help himself.

“What, you’re not with your new girlfriend?” Lex teased.

“Girlfriend?” Broadway echoed, pausing halfway to a bite.

Brooklyn rolled his eyes. “That joke died already. Stop it already.”

“Ah, okay. Hey, Brooklyn, if she’s not your girlfriend, can I have her?” Lex asked.

Brooklyn growled at him. “You don’t know when to stop, do you?”

“Oh I’m just having fun,” Lex told him, chuckling. “Cool off.”

“I don’t get it,” Broadway threw in. “Is Lydia your girlfriend or Lex’s?” he asked Brooklyn.

“Nobody’s,” Brooklyn snapped. “Lex is making bad jokes.”

“Now wait a second,” Lex threw back, “that’s hardly nice. What’s got you so irritated?”

“Nothing!”

Lex glared. “Right. And my real name is Daisy. C’mon, Brooklyn, something’s got you pissed.”

“Y’know,” Broadway added, “you did seem pretty on edge yesterday, too.”

“I’m fine,” Brooklyn told them both. “I’m not mad.”

Lex gave him a pointedly doubtful look.

“I’m not!”

“Well, I’m convinced,” Broadway said, though his flat tone betrayed his words.

“Fine, you want to know what the problem is?” Brooklyn snapped. At the expectant looks of his two best friends, he went on, “I was worrying about her all night yesterday and during my sleep. And you two are making jokes!”

At the silence he was greeted with, he became aware of an additional presence in the room. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted both girls, both of whom wore surprised expressions. They were staring straight at him.

“. . .Welcome to the dining room,” he tried, hoping to lessen the embarrassment he felt.

“Thanks,” Lydia replied mechanically. She touched the bandage on her neck absently. “You were worried about this?”

More than feeling embarrassed, now he was confused. “Are you surprised that a gargoyle would be?” he asked, trying to figure why she looked so shocked.

“I’m surprised anybody would be,” she clarified.

Angela turned her gaze from Brooklyn to Lydia. “Why is that surprising?”

“Nobody’s ever worried about me,” Lydia replied, pointedly towards Angela.

“Don’t you have a family?” Brooklyn asked her.

“Not really; I’m an orphan,” she told them.

Lex piped up. “Don’t you have friends?”

Silence stretched out then, Lydia remaining mute. After a little while she glanced away, turning her attention to a suit of armor against the wall. She approached it, touched it, stared at it; seemingly engrossed in the armor alone.

All four gargoyles exchanged looks of concern, ending with three of them looking expectantly at Brooklyn. That’s when it hit him that Lydia was still ‘his’ in a way. She might not be a secret all for him to keep, but she was definitely a responsibility to watch over. In that sense, it was even better; now he had reason to hang around her, though it puzzled him a bit as to why he wanted to.

“Hey Lydia,” he called, catching her attention. “Are you hungry at all?” With a gesture at the table, he invited her to join them.

She shook her head. “Afraid not. But thanks,” she added almost as an afterthought.

Now he didn’t know how to get her talking again. Neither did he have to, though; Xanatos chose then to enter the room, announcing himself as he did so.

“Good evening, gargoyles,” he greeted. “And Lydia, was it?”

Lydia looked up at her name. “Yeah. I’m glad you remembered. An hour is a long waiting time.”

“That sounded sarcastic,” Xanatos pointed out. “My reason for coming here is that you didn’t give your last name.”

“And?” she prodded.

He raised a brow. “And, I was fully planning on doing a background check on you, but I need your last name to do it.”

She gave a laugh. “I doubt you’d like what you’ll find.”

“Why, what’s in there?” Brooklyn asked her.

“Police reports, for one,” she replied easily.

“You’ve been arrested?” Lexington said, surprised.

“Yes and no,” she answered. “Police generally don’t keep juveniles on school nights.”

“Juvenile now,” Xanatos repeated. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“In which case it is a school night,” he told her. “You should be studying.”

“I graduated,” she countered. “Last year. Nowadays I’m emancipated.”

“Living alone?”

“You seem awfully concerned,” she snapped.

He just shrugged. “I’m a little wary about who comes to the castle.”

She crossed her arms, glaring at Xanatos. “Is there a reason to be?”

“Well,” he started, leaning against a wall, “I think it’s time we inform Miss Lydia just how dangerous it really is. Who wants to be the bearer of bad news?”

* * *

“. . .You’ve been quiet for a while,” Brooklyn said, keeping an eye on Lydia.

She was outside now, sitting on one of the walls overlooking the city. Being fully used to perching much like the way she was sitting now, he wasn’t fearful of falling, but he wondered why she wasn’t feeling vertigo. Humans usually became very scared this high up.

She was also fiddling with her hands in ways he could almost imagine being as drawing, tracing invisible lines with her fingers. She sighed now, looking over at him. “Put bluntly, I’ve always known there were darker sides of life. I guess it just didn’t hit me how right I was till – that talk.”

He nodded, understanding. “Yeah, most people have trouble believing anything that has to do with gargoyles. Magic and enemies included.”

“Not to mention technology,” she pointed out. “Here I was thinkin’ we – humans – have a long way to go before achieving some of the stuff Xanatos mentioned.”

“Well, you probably don’t have anything to worry about. These days the attacks are few and far between. You should’ve seen it a few years back,” he laughed. “It’s like we were fighting every other day.”

“You fought yesterday,” she shot back.

“That’s not what I mean,” he shook his head. “Imagine fighting stun grenades, laser guns, tasers, rocket launchers, robots, jet packs, mini missiles and magic all in the same battle.”

She raised her brows. “For my own sake, I’m going to believe that’s never happened.”

He laughed. “You don’t know the half of it. We’ve even been cloned. Goliath was brainwashed once, too. Just about any kind of unbelievable thing you can think of, we’ve done.”

She paused. “How about a spell to make you quadruple in size?”

His response was a smile. “Okay, you got me there. That’s never happened.”

“Ever shoot spaghetti out of your fingertips?”

“What?” he laughed hard, wondering where that idea came from.

She grinned. “It was part of a joke I heard once. He said something like, ‘What kind of super power would you like if you could pick? I’d like to shoot spaghetti out of my fingertips. Like if someone was bothering me and I wanted them to go, I’d be like, “I don’t think so,” and shower them in spaghetti.’”

He was still laughing. “I’ve never heard anything like that before.”

“Then maybe you should rethink the phrase ‘Any unbelievable thing you can think of’ in the future,” she teased, sticking her tongue out.

He lifted his hands in surrender. “I give. You win.”

She was smiling. “I thought so.”

In a bright flash, Puck chose to join them, simply appearing before them. Brooklyn glared at him.

“There you are, hard to find for a human,” he said to Lydia, touching ground on a slow fall. “Righto, I finally have a chance to chitchat with you. So, chitchat, girl.” He plopped down, looking expectantly at her.

Lydia stared right back. “Uh. . .”

“This is Puck,” Brooklyn told her. “We mentioned him a couple times, remember?”

“Oh, Puck,” she said, realization dawning on her. “Why am I of any interest to you?” she asked him.

“Well, it’s not every day we get a new member to the club,” Puck reasoned. He stuck out his hand to her.

She raised a brow. “Sorry, Puck, but I don’t shake hands. Hey!” she snapped when he snatched her hand for a shake anyway. She wrenched her hand free with a sound that was nearly a snarl. Then she smirked, saying, “Puck as in from A Midsummer Night’s Dream?”

“That never happened,” Puck shrugged. “Oh, but it was a good story. Plus Shakespeare got the names right.”

“Plural,” she pointed out. “Who else he mentioned actually exists?”

“Oberon and Titania, mother and father of the third race,” he said proudly, “namely, me.”

“You don’t look all that impressive to me,” she said cruelly. “More like a dandy.”

Brooklyn snickered. Puck, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes. “It’s lucky for you,” he pointed at her, “that I’ve got restraints against using magic. I could shrink you to the size of a pea; how would you like that?”

“It’d certainly be something new,” she smirked. “But you’ve yet to worry me, Puck.”

He frowned, then smirked back. “We’ll see,” he said, disappearing a second later – his grin remaining briefly like the Cheshire Cat’s.

“Can I expect to meet him again sometime?” she asked Brooklyn.

He nodded. “You can definitely bet on it.”