All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of Spacebabie

by: Spacebabie

Email:spacebabie@hotmail.com

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Possesive Hearts

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The waves of the sea near Jersey calmly lapped against the side of the large clipper ship. Small dark objects swam underneath the surface, catching the eyes of a few seagulls and albatrosses. The larger birds fought off the gulls who dared to fly near their ship and satisfy their hunger.

The sight of the birds flying low over the water and returning to the sky with a large fish in their beaks brought one of the ships crewmen to one of the portholes. He angled the end of the fishing pole handmade from carved wood. The reel was made from a small piece of wood and a large sewing spool. He fastened a large chunk of cork to the end of the line and speared a maggot found in the collection of stale crusts of bread onto the hook.

"Making sure we all have dinner, Vance?" The shrill female voice behind him did not cause him to jump, but it did send a chill down his spine. Turning around he saw the woman who addressed him. Bright red curls were piled on top of her head, resembling a ball of fire and kept in place with a few pearl tipped hair pins. Her billowy beige blouse had a collar cut low enough to give him a view of her freckled cleavage. A sash made out of fine purple silk wrapped around her waist, keeping the long red skirt in place. Her narrow face seemed even longer with her long nose ending in a sharp point that reminded the fisherman of the albatross’s beaks. The woman’s frost blue eyes sparkled mischievously, wondering what would be his response, while her overly made up lips were pulled back into a smirk. Her hands clutched onto a flat piece of wood used as a serving tray. Two apples with the tops cut off rested on the wood. They were full of a clear liquid.

"Not exactly dinner," the man never let go of his pole and turned around to face the sea. "More of relaxing. If I happen to catch a fish or two I will give it to Bama. May I ask what you are doing here? I thought you went with the captain on his latest raid."

"He instructed me to stay here," her voice had a disappointed tone. "Apple rum?" She shoved the plank out towards him.

"I’ll take one just to get you to leave." He took one of the apples and set it down on the small table next to the porthole. Their insides were hallowed out and filled with a mixture of rum and apple cider.

"Ah whats wrong? Ya don’ts ‘ikes me company?" She stepped up close to him, causing her large breasts to press into his back. "Are ya afraids I might scare away the fishies?" A movement out of the corner of her grabbed her attention. She elbowed the fisher in the ribs and pressed her face against the porthole, nearly sticking her head out. "Why that ‘ittle spoiled tart."

He pushed her back and stared out. The tart turned out to be a cloaked figure paddling away from the ship in a small lifeboat. Even if the hood was not pulled down over the figure’s head the fisherman could not see who it was. The weak light from sunset had almost faded completely away. "Who is that?"

"Don’t be stupid. That's Bryce’s loose sister."

"Belinda?" A wry smile crept across her face. "Looks like she is going to meet her lover."

"I can’t believe she got away. Bryce told her to stay in her room. He even sent Salty to guard her door. How did she get past him?"

"Knowing Salty, I’d say she gave him a few bottles of gin, water, rum, and wine."

She mumbled about how typical it was for Salty to get drunk before she stepped back. "How did she get to a boat. There are few of us still on the ship."

"She can climb out her window. I have seen her scale the side of the ship. She is quite talented."

"Talented or not she is going to get us all in trouble, and why? It’s because she is in love with a beast."

"Even the most brilliant scientist cannot figure out how the heart works."

Her face twisted up in disgust while she stormed over to the door. "Its disgusting, that what it is. I ought to go find Bryce and tell him of the whereabouts of that tart."

He shrugged. "I would suggest you choose your words carefully around the captain. I don’t think he will look fondly of you if you call his only sister a tart."

"I’ll becareful. In fact I will seek her out and try to advise her it would be best if she turned back now." She tapped the side of her teeth with her fingernail. "Yes, that is what I’ll do. I'll act concerned and tell her now is not the best time. I’ll promise I won’t tell Bryce, and I wont. When she sees that I kept my word she will trust me, even become my friend, and when Bryce sees how nice I am to Belinda-"

"He will ask you to marry him and you will live happily ever after." He tried not to laugh while concentrating on the water. He could no longer see the fish. The whole water appeared black. There was something in the water, and one of them was pulling on the line, taking the chunk of cork underneath the waves. "I do believe I have a bite."

"Good for you Vance." she reached for the door. "Listen I wants you to do something for me. I want ye to take the crows nest and watch the island. If something does go wrong I’ll sends a signal back to you."

Vance had one foot propped up against the wooden frame while he pulled and rewound the line. He turned a back to the red head. "You can count on me, Seri." He jumped back in time as a large fish came through the porthole and struck him in the chest.

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The cloaked figure did not risk being seeing by carrying a lantern of her own. She would use her uncanny sense of direction and the glow of the moon and stars to make her way through the island. It wasn’t easy and she tripped over several tree roots and ran into several shrubs, tiny branches and thorns cutting her skin and leaving thin red lines on her lightly tanned hands.

"Halt!" she froze dead in her tracks, hoping against all odds the voice was not directed at her. "You there in the cloak. Do not move." It was too late.

"Do I still have the permission to speak?" She searched the darkness, trying to find who had addressed her.

"You may speak." The voice seemed to have come from above her.

"Where are you?"

"Right in front of you." A large form landed in front of her. Standing at nearly seven feet the being towered over the cloaked woman. A glowing lantern held in his talons cast a brilliance around him and made his appearance sharp and clear to the woman. His skin was the same dark orange of sunset, contrasting with his shoulder length hair of ice blue. His hair matched the shade of his large wings. A triplet of spikes started from his temples and traveled across his head. His knees and shoulders were similar adorned with a large thick spike on each joint with smaller ones traveling up his arms and down his legs. He was garbed in the traditional suit of the port authorities. A crisp white puffed up shirt and blue jacket with double rows of large buttons stretched across his muscular frame. Beige knickers were held tight with a thick copper colored leather belt the area on his elbows were cut off to allow room for his elbow spikes, the same for his knees. A gold ring adorned his left ear.

The cloaked figure ignored his command and stepped forward. "That was a spectacular landing." She slid the hood up to reveal a heart shape face with a short and slender nose, large oval shaped eyes that were the same color as the sea during a storm. The hood flipped back completely and dark curls tied back with a violet scarf swung freely. Two thin silver hoops hung from her lobes and a necklaces made of copper coins were around her neck.

Without warning he reached out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her close to him. "You say that about all my landings, even the ones that are not that lovely to behold."

"They all are lovely. Even when you fall you look dignified." She squeezed him as tight as she could. She did not have to fear hurting him, no matter how hard she embraced him it was not enough to cause him physical harm.

In contrast he held her much more gently, afraid to harm her more fragile human form. "Not as dignified as you my Belinda." He brushed back a few stray dark strands out of her eyes. "You are the most beautiful creature on this entire planet."

"I wish I can see you more," she placed her head against his chest, listening the drum beat of his heart. "But my brother has made things more difficult."

"I know," He stroked the back of her head, feeling her soft hair against his talons. "My own brother had put everyone on high alert, but that shalt not put a hamper on our plans for tonight" He gently pulled her into his arms and picked her up.

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There was barely anyone walking around the village. Seri clung to the shadows as she made her way through the sea side town. Whenever she felt herself close to anyone she could hear the talk of being on high alert. She froze when she caught sight of a port authority guard standing under one of the lanterns.

"You there!" The words exploding out from the guard caused Seri to freeze in her tracks. This was not what she had envisioned. She was not supposed to be caught by the authorities. Maybe Belinda will help her get an early release if she talked to her beast lover.

"Yes sir?" The voice belonged to a child. Seri opened her eyes to see a young boy, no older than eight, approach the guard. She felt the weight melt off her shoulders.

"What do you thinking you doing out past curfew lad?" The guard crossed his arms.

The boy was still dressed in his regular clothes. He was even wearing his boots. "I did not wish to be out of my house. My friends dare me. They said I was a coward if I didn’t."

"It is better to be viewed as a person without bravery than one without brains. If your friends told you to jump off the roof of your home would you?"

"No sir, only a fool would do such a thing."

"Exactly. Now turn around and go home. It’s extremely dangerous to be out. Those pirates had already made off with the governors dining set."

They stole something form the governors house! Seri wanted to cheer, but kept to herself. It would be a foolish thing for her to make her presence known. She had to find Belinda and she was not going to stop until she found her.

Gunfire from nearby made her pause in her tracks. What if that could have been the authorities and they were aiming at Belinda? The beast gave her away. She had to go find Bryce’s sister before it was too late. She ran towards the direction the gun went off, not caring if she stepped out in the light or not. She had to find Belinda. A man dressed in the suit of the authorities flew backwards and struck the ground in front of her, bringing her to a halt. He pulled himself up, took one fleeting glance at Seri and ran towards the direction he was thrown from with his sword drawn.

She raced after the guard and nearly stepped onto a battle field. She had made her way through the village towards the docks where several soldiers were battling with her crew. "Bryce," her chest heaved as she whispered the name of the man she adored.

Captain Bryce Wallace’s light brown hair hung in a braid under his tri corner hat. Eggplant purple coattails hung out underneath his black belt and contrasted with his pale breeches. His angular tanned face ended in a pointed chin covered in the hairs of a goatee, a scar was placed on his right cheek and his eyes were narrow with determination. Eyes that were the same color as Belinda’s. His cutlass gleamed under the light of the moon as he brought it down against the blade of the only soldier who wore a red coat instead of blue: Captain Lyle Harris

"The others," she felt her voice return to her throat. "I have to alert the others, but where is the ship?" she remembered having to paddle out to the side of the island to find a place to dock, and if her bearings where straight the ship should be in the open sea in front of the docks. Peering out she could see the lights of the clipper sailing closer to the docks. She was glad they were closer.

Seri raced toward the nearest pier. She was careful not to get too close to any of the battles and no one seemed to notice she was around. She wanted to make sure she had a good vantage point where she can signal back to the ship and climbed a stack of crates secured together by yards of rope. After she sat on top of the pile she pulled out her mirror again. The glass reflected a sphere of moon light back to the ship. She had only hoped Vance had seen the reflection and notified the others.

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The gunshot was heard through out the village and the surrounding land. The echoing boom was picked up even by the dullest ears. There was no way it could have escaped a gargoyle. Sentry had wanted to take his Belinda for a glide over the island. He knew the pirates were going to raid the isle that night but he didn’t care. He wanted to spend a peaceful night with the woman he loved and ask her to be his mate.

The question had formed on his mouth when the gun had fired. He hoped it was not loud enough for her to hear, but she had sat up in his arms and looked toward the docks.

"Bryce," Belinda gasped her brother’s name. "Why did you have to schedule to loot for tonight?"

"You told him about the high alert?" Sentry asked as they veered back towards the village.

"I told him I spied on the authorities when I come to the island, but he knew I was coming here to see you." She grabbed onto him tighter and laced her face against his chest. "If only he had listened."

"Do not blame yourself. You did all that you could."

The glided over the buildings and landed on one of the houses closest to the docks. "Stay here my love." He set her down on the roof. "I promise to be soft on your clan."

"You be careful too," She wrapped her arms for a quick embrace.

He pulled back and ran two of his talons through her hair before he leaped off the building. He landed behind two pirates battling a single authority soldier. He spun his tail around and trailed it on the ground. The supple end of it struck against their feet, causing them to fall and land on their backsides. "I never did like the two against one advantage." He turned around at the sound of someone rushing towards him from behind. His hand shot out and struck the other person in the chest. The pirate had the wind knocked out of him briefly. Sentry picked him up before he had a chance to attack again and threw him on one of the tripped pirates.

"Thank you, Sentry." The one soldier who had the two pirates gang up against him said. He brought the edge of his blade down on the other pirate’s chest, and just let it rest.

Sentry glanced up to the building where his true love stood watching them. "Don’t kill them without giving them a chance to surrender."

"I understand mercy." The soldier glared at the pirate. "I am giving you a chance to surrender. Do you wish to give up fighting?" The pirate slid his arms from where they were laying by his side and swept them over his head and nodded

Canon fire from the sea brought silence to everyone else as they turned to the blackness. A large metal sphere fell from the sky and landed on the end of the docks, tearing off a portion and taking two guards with them.

From her place on the pier, Seri wrapped her fingers around the rope. She pulled herself down on top of the pile and held fast. Another explosion came from the ship followed by the whistle of the canon ball’s descent. She opened her eyes to see the large projectile crash into the sea on the other side of the pier. Sea water towered high above Seri and the few pirates and soldiers who spilled out on to her pier during the battle.

"Where are they aiming?" She asked after the salt water soaked her skin and hair. "Vance, aim for the soldiers not us." She raised her head and stared back at the ship. Another canon fire blasted out and she hugged the crates once more. Her eyelids flung open when the shrill sound of the canon ball slicing through the air was even closer than the previous one. She raised her head in time to see the metal sphere crash down right in front of her. The impact of the canon ball tore through the wooden planks at such a fast rate that it sent the crates and Seri tumbling backwards into the water. She clung to the top crates as it fell into the sea. She can swim, she will survive, or she would have if a piece of debris hadn’t struck the side of her head, knocking her out.

"Hold you’re bloody fire!" Captain Wallace waved to the sea with one arm while keeping his sword crossed with the commander. He watched as the form of a woman sink beneath the waves while another of his crew and two soldiers were floundering in the waves. "Seri?"

"I see you run a ship of fools, Wallace," Lyle sneered. "You may have taken some of my troops but I shall relish the thought of you taking a few of your own."

"You are the fool," Bryce grunted. "I do not know of your troops, but I can safely say that every member of my crew are excellent swimmers." He slid his blade from under his enemy’s and rounded it back, only to have the blade come in contact with the Captain’s.

"It appears we are locked again." Lyle said.

"That is one thing you have to watch out about appearances," he ducked down taking his blade with him. "They can be deceiving." He stepped to the captain’s side and stood back up. The blade of the cutlass struck against his hand. The port captain winced from the pain and fought hard to hold onto the hilt. He tried to swing again but Bryce quickly performed a downward cut striking him on the top of the wrist with the flat of the blade.

The pirate captain’s eyes brightened at the sight of the blade falling from his hand and clattering on the banks. "It looks like lady luck is not with you tonight." He kicked the blade away from his enemy. "One thing I want you too know is I do have honor. I will wait for you to retrieve your blade, but I doubt if you can fight with your injured wrist."

Lyle raised his other hand. "What you didn’t know is this is my dominate hand."

Bryce waited until the other man had turned his back. "And what you don’t know about me is I am a lier." He reached for his belt.

A blur of orange filled his vision as something shoved his enemy to safety. The pirate captain swore underbreath when he saw who was responsible. "Well Captain Wallace, it appears your pet beast has come to your aide.’

"I wonder how you can be related to Belinda," Sentry growled.

Bryce kept his fingers wrapped around his belt. "You stay away from her." His eyes narrowed.

The brilliant white glow faded from the gargoyle’s eyes. "I promised her I wouldn’t hurt you or your crew, but that does not mean I not stop you from stealing form my clan."

"She will thank me for this," he pulled a pistol out from his belt and aimed it at the gargoyle.

"Bryce don’t!" The captain heard his sister cry out at the same time as he pulled the trigger. The bullet had met it’s mark and pierced through the chest of the gargoyle.

Belinda felt the bullet had struck her heart instead. "Bryce how could you!" She demanded.

"Stay up there," Bryce ordered as he watched his sister try to climb down the side of the building. "I did it for the crew, I did it for you. I did-" Gunshot cut him off. He felt the burning pain a mere second after the sound. Glancing down he saw a bleeding hole in his chest. He looked up as Wallace lowered his own gun.

"That was my brother," Captain Wallace snarled. "He was my greatest friend, and my best soldier." He reached for the dying gargoyle’s hand and stared into his panicked eyes. "Don’t you die."

"You will die!" A pirate appeared behind him. "This is for the captain!" He shoved his dagger into the Lyle’s stomach. The port authoritiy captain fell forward as his white shirt was stained the same color as his jacket.

Belinda dropped to the ground and hurried over to scene of death. She ran to the gargoyle’s side and placed her fingers under his head. "Sentry."

"I’m not long for this world." He stared up weakly at her with glassy eyes. His deep orange pallor paled to a golden peach shade.

"Don’t you say that." She ran her fingers through her hair. She heard a cough and stared up at Captain Wallace. She was struck with deep anger at the stabbed man. He shot her brother, but he only shot bryce because her bother shot Lyle’s adopted brother.

"So many human males and you choose me"

She brushed her fingers through his ice blue hair. "Don’t talk."

"I need to tell you this." He paused, struggling to breath before he wheezed out the following. "Why me?"

"Unlike the louts of the ship and most of the men in towns I visited you treated me like a lady."

"I love you because you treated me in kind. You respected me when...most females would run."

"Don’t waste your strength on words. Use it to fight back. You must live."

"Even if there were... females of my kind... living on this isle... I would choose you." His pale skin had taken on a wax like appearance. His skin shone in the moonlight like polished amber. "I love you. I need...to ask...you...one last...thing. Would you...have...been...my..."

Belinda tried not to let her tears form. She didn’t want to blur out the image of her Sentry. "Sentry?" She grabbed on his hand and shuddered at how cold and limp it had become. She stared at his chest and watched it sink. "I love you." His chest did not rise again. "Sentry?" She did not let go of his hand as she stroked his hair and his brow ridge. "Sentry speak to me."

"No," The whimper came from Lyle between his coughs. The dying man’s body shook as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Belinda’s own dark aqua eyes were full of the warm crystal liquid. Her vision became even more skewed when she glared at the dead body of her brother. "We couldn’t make an honest living. That is why we became pirates, but you didn’t stop at just making sure we had enough to live on. You became greedy, and you died by your greed." She reached for her dagger. "Your greed cost many lives, including mine." She raised the dagger up, the tip of the blade aimed at her heart. "You killed me." She thrusted the dagger to her heart, not stopping until the hilt reached her skin.

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Tiny white flurries danced down from the thick clouds hanging over the city, touching the ground and coating it in a thick blanket of white. The icy chill of the winter wind that accompanied the flakes blew through the naked branches of the fenced in trees and burned against the cheeks of the cities humans.

Jason Canmore had a good view of the snow from his hospital window and was thankful he was in a warm building, resting on a comfortable soft bed with warm blankets covering him. It had been a few weeks since he had damaged his vertical cord clamp and a new one had been ordered. The night before he went under the knife and a new clamp, smaller than the previous one had been attached to his spine.

"How are you feeling Jay Bear?" The question was asked by his lovely wife. Christine stood on his right, holding their five month old son. The soft wisps of hair on top of the infants head had grown thicker to the point where it actually looked like hair, brown hair, like his mother.

"I’m feeling much better." He smiled at her. "I found some gray in my hair."

"I never thought I’d hear a man say that," Elisa stood next to Christine. The detective had decided to visit her ex lover when she heard the news the surgery was a successes.

"I like it," Chris said while searching for the silver amongst her husbands dark locks. "It makes men look distinguished. Finding a woman who is proud of their gray is hard find."

"I’m glad I have it. It means I’m human." Jason ran his fingers through his hair before staring at the people on his left side. His younger brother stood near Jason’s head. His long blond hair was tied neatly into a ponytaile while his pale blue eyes sparkled with concern. Next to him was his garnet trussed wife. Lorrie held onto to her two year old son’s hand, keeping him from meandering off and exploring. "Sorry Jonny. I didnae mean to offend ye."

The blond man shook his head. "Ye didnae offend. I understand what ye meant. I rather be human again meself, but I would rather be a weregoyle than that demon."

"Mama," Colin tried to wrench his hand from his mother’s fingers. "I hafta go potty." The back of his long coat tented slightly from his wings trying to stretch under the material.

Lorrie bent down to pick Colin up. "We’ll be right back." She carried Colin out the door, nearly bumping into Dr. Young.

"Hey folks," Young reached up and slid his clear framed glasses from a top of his salt and pepper hair to study the X-ray on the chart he was carrying. "I have great news. The new clamp seems to hold better than the old one." He paused at the foot of Canmore’s bed and looked up. "How are you feeling Jason?"

"I’m feeling good," Jason smiled. "I can feel the weight and the warmth of the blankets on my legs and I can wiggle my toes."

"Excellent. I don’t want you doing too much now. Get plenty of rest."

"He’s not going to need more physical therapy, is he?" Christine asked.

Young shook his head. "His muscles won’t atrophy in a few days, but if he was bench pressing around fifty I suggest dropping it back down to forty."

Jason folded his arms behind his head. "When can I leave?"

"We want to keep you here for a few observations. You can leave this Thursday."

"But that is Valentines day."

"Don’t worry honey. I’ll make sure you will have special holiday dinner."Christine kissed his cheek.

Jon noticed the slightly panicked look in his brother’s eyes and understood why Jason was worried. He leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "Donae worry I’ll get her something. Just tell me what ye plan on getting and I will buy it."

"I owe ye way too much."

Jon chuckled. "What are brothers fer?"

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Spending hours confined to an office chair and scrolling through hundreds of links, blocks of text, and dozens of addresses can cause a sharp headache to develop in a person. Most people would take a break to stand up and walk around the office, glance outside the window or even take a bathroom or coffee break, but not Gregory Leahs. The eldest of the Leahs brothers was on a mission.

"Where are you Reggie?" He learned through Jon who was told by his sister who was responsible for attacking the Wyvern clan. Reggie was not only part of the attack but he was one of the few who escaped unscathed. Further digging turned up the fact that Reggie had escaped a second time when the clan went to the compound Reggie was living in. "You think you can hide, but I will find you. Your luck wont last forever you know." He typed another keyword into the search engine and hit enter. "Did I just say what I think I did?" He rubbed his eyebrows. "Maybe I should take a break, I’m starting to sound like a cheesy cartoon villain."

"Mr. Leahs," Greg’s assistant, Zachary, spoke into the intercom. "Your mother wants to see you."

"Tell her I will be there in a few minutes."

"She wants to see you now."

Greg closed his eyes and sighed. When his mother said now, she meant at that instant. "Tell her I’m heading for the elevator as we speak." He grabbed his dress jacket he had placed on his chair.

The office of Ambrosia Leahs seemed to be draftier than usual to Gregory. The second he stepped inside he felt a chill seep through his skin and raised everyone of his fine hairs on his body. "Is the heat on in here?"

His mother did not raise her eyes from the stack of papers she was sorting into three smaller stacks. "The heat is on, I choose not to raise it to a ridiculous high number. Now close the door behind you and come on in."

He did as she asked and made his way to the chair in front of her desk, pitiful in size compared to the large leather covered armchair his mother sat in. Envious that he did not have such a fine piece of furniture in his own office he sat in it once. It felt as soft and smooth as a newborn baby’s skin. "May I ask what this is about?" He asked as he sat down.

"You have spending a lot of company time on the Internet."

"Yeah. I know. I’m just trying to find out where Reggie is."

"Why do you obsess over him?"

He shrugged. "He’s on a downward spiral if he continues this path he had chosen. He needs to feel the repercussions of his actions. He can’t keep getting away with murder like he has been."

"Why is it your concern?"

Again Greg shrugged. "I guess I feel it’s my responsibility as an older brother. I still check in time to time with Corbin. My god, he displays more maturity than Reggie." He paused when he felt two orbs of ice that were his mother’s eyes on him. "I’m sorry. I know you don’t want me to mention his name."

She blinked once and sat back, resting her body against the softness of the chair. Her pale bluish purple eyes stared at the ceiling. "You can say his name if you want. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice. Corbin was one of my best employees. I have called you in for a another reason." Her pale hands that seemed even more ghostly white with her red polished nails slid a computer print out to him. "This is a work order for some rare items I purchased. They have been shipped over from Europe and will be in waiting in a storage house on the docks. They will be here on the thirteenth. I want you and the Pack to guard that treasure."

"Doesn’t seem like too much to do, but how will I tell my wife?"

"Tell her you will use the extra money to buy her a gift, take her out to Cassios for dinner and then go out dancing." Greg took the paper and looked like he was about to stand up, but paused and stared into her eyes. "You are dismissed." Ambrosia smiled. She returned to her stacks of papers, ready to resume sorting them. She waited until she heard the click of the door before sat up again. She opened the drawer on the bottom of her desk and pulled out a small framed photograph. Corbin smiled back at her from under the his highschool graduation mortarboard. "Why did you let me down?" She whispered before she replaced the picture. Maybe she will call him during lunch.

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Most of the clan were out on patrol and the children were already fast asleep. Including the son and daughter of the clan leader and his human wife. The twins were tucked in safely under their blankets and were sleeping quietly. Their mother felt her self drifting off and reached over to her night stand to pick up the small remote to turn off the television set in her room. She had another grueling day ahead of her at work tomorrow and she was worn out after giving Re and Ro their bath. The tawny hued halfling decided to start a splash fight with his sister and half of the water in the tub ended on the floor and on their mother’s shirt.

Elisa’s eyelids opened when the door to her room opened and a crack of light highlighted the entrance for a brief second before it closed. "Goliath checking on me," she whispered before she turned over on her side.

The large leader of the clan did open the door to see if his beloved Elisa was still awake. He did not want to see what he was up to. After closing the door he continued on his way toward the computer room carrying several shopping bags from Ambercrombie and Fitch with images of bare chested young men printed on them.

He was half expecting a web wing to be in the room, but the gargoyle that was at one of the chairs was not the olive colored gargoyle. Goliath nearly dropped the bags at the sight of the bright red youth typing away at the keyboard. "What are you doing here?"

Mercutio leaped out of the chair at a high speed that caused the chair to tip over . He caught it just in time before he jumped back in the seat but sat backwards with his talons gripping onto the top of the backrest. "I’m typing," he eyed the shopping bags hanging from Goliath’s arms. "May I ask what you are doing with those?"

"Typing?" Goliath raised a brow ridge. "If you were just typing then why did you jump?"

"Okay I wasn’t typing I was preparing something to print, and you didn’t answer my question."

Goliath placed the bags in the middle of the floor. "These bags are large enough to carry everything that I need." He reached into one and extracted a large wicker basket. "I’m preparing Elisa’s Valentines gift."

"You are giving her baskets?" Mercutio asked.

"No, I’m giving her a bath."

"A bath?"

Goliath pulled out two more baskets, each half the size of the first one and set them down. "Yes a perfect bath." He tossed the two largest bags aside and reached for one of the medium sized ones. From it he pulled out towels and a face cloth. All four of the red cloths were made of thick soft material and had double pink stripes down the center. He picked up the largest and used his talons to remove the price tag. "I asked Fox Xanatos to make these purchases for me. This towel is big enough to wrap around Elisa’s body."

"I think I’m beginning to understand."

Goliath removed the contents from the second bag. "This is the bath itself." He removed a clear plastic jar of rose scented salt scrub along with a wooden scoop, a small bottle of bubble bath, bath gel, and lotion in the matching scent, a dark pink glycerin soap, rose scented candle, small spritser bottle of after bath splash, bottles of shampoo and conditioner. He filled one of the smaller baskets with the items.

"And what goes in the last basket?"

"Bath tools." He pulled out a pale wooden back brush and removed the tag. He set in the last basket along with a puffy mesh scrubber, loofah, snowy white bath mitt, nail brush, pumice stone and a pink bath pillow. He placed the pillow in last. "Once this is blown up it will look like a seashell. I’m going to scrub her back and wash her hair."

Mercutio sank, defeatedly, into his seat. "I see what you mean by giving her a bath. I wish I could be as creative as you."

"What do you mean?" Goliath turned over the smallest bag, spilling out wrapping paper sealed in clear flat packaging, a pair of scissors, tape dispenser, a Valentines card with rose colored envelope and a pen.

"Everyone has great ideas for Valentines gifts for their mates. Broadway is going to cook Angela a meal of her favorites and then they are going to watch their favorite romantic movies together. Brooklyn is going to give Marle a fancy dress, wear a tuxedo and dance with her in the ball room while Owen provides the music, Lexington burned Rayne a CD of her favorite songs and they are going to the P.I.T Valentines dance."

"And you have nothing to give to Cecilia?"

"Not exactly true," he did a doubletake. "How do you know I want to do something for Cecilia?"

"You two have always seemed close and recently you have been spending more time with her."

"Before Gawain left he asked me to watch over her."

Goliath paused from unfolding the paper. "Gawain asked you to watch over her?" He pondered the question for a second. "He was her mate?"

"Not exactly. When we were growing up on Avalon the three of us had been close. We both had a feeling she would choose one of us to be her mate, but I suspected she loved him more than me. I liked her a lot and I didn’t think my like had actually transferred to love until Gawain suggested she liked me too and I’m starting to see her as something more."

"Have you thought about asking her to be your mate?"

"I have been a lot, but I don’t know when I should ask."

"There is not better time to ask than on Valentines day." Goliath placed the basket on top of the paper.

"If you think I should." He turned around in his set and reached over for the mouse. With a gentle shove the screens savior of brightly colored balls dancing across blackness shifted back to blocks of text. "I don’t have a mating band."

"You don’t really need one. You can wait until the night of your mating ceremony, athough it is a good Valentines gift idea." He folded the paper over the basket, meeting at the top and sealing it in place with the tape. "Except you already have an idea planned."

"It’s not really much," The web wing shrugged. "I’m just searching for legendary tales of romance to print out. I have them formatted and saved. When I print them out I will be able to fold them and make them into a book."

"Make into a book?"

He turned toward the clan leader. "Yeah you fold each page in half and poke some holes down the center. Using thick thread and a needle you sew them together. I already have the cover made. You glue that to the spine of the book."

"You can make a book?"

He shifted the arrow over the print button and clicked on the mouse. "I’ve been watching all these craft shows and decided to give one a try. I’ve been practicing for a while."

"You are going to be able to make the entire book?"

"Not the entire book. I didn’t write the stories, I’m just printing it out, but I did write the introductory poem."

"Jalapena," Goliath gasped and continued to wrap Elisa’s gift, hoping that it would be nice and neat. He wasn’t going to let a single wrinkle form in the paper and would see if he could find some ribbon to add to it. "Don’t be too hard on yourself. Your idea is unique and the fact you can make these books is something to boast about, not everyone has this skill."

"You really think so?"

"Aye, I am curious about what kind of stories you are printing out."

"Classic romantic stories from both legend and history." He slid out of his chair and approached the clan leader as he used the scissors to cut the paper around the second basket. "The first one is about the man the holiday was named after."

"Saint Valentine," Goliath nodded.

"Then there is the story about Peter Alebard and his student Helioise. Her uncle did not like the fact Alebard got his niece pregnant and had him castrated." At the mention of castration Goliath’s legs trembled. "They were separated and wrote each other letters. There is also a story about an English prince who gave up his chance at the crown for the woman he loved."

"These are true stories?"

"Most of them. Some are displayed as legends."

"Legends do have a grain of truth to them."

Mercutio shrugged. "That is true, and I believe this last story I read about was more truth than legend. I think you will like it."

"And why is that?" Goliath cut off another clear piece of tape and placed it on top of the wrapping paper before rubbing it.

"Because this is a story about two lovers who were not only from different sides of the law, but were of two different species. She was a human pirate who sailed around on her brother’s ship, pillaging and stealing. He was described as a huge winged creature, strong as rock with a long tail. He was raised by the authorities of Jersey isle and eventual became a member of the authorities there. Their lives changed when they met each other and fell in love. He never reported her when she snuck onto the isle, and her looting had slowed to near non existence. They communicated by the trained Albatrosses used by the pirate ship."

"What happened to them?"

"It ends tragically," Mercutio sighed. "The two of them were on their date while her brother’s crew stole some bejeweled items from the governor’s home. There was canon fire, sending some soldiers to the water grave before an actual battle ending in the death of the captain of the port authorities, the winged warrior and the pirate captain. The poor girl was so grief stricken she ended her own life."

"I will make sure my love story with Elisa will not end with a tragic chapter." Goliath placed the last basket onto the last sheet of paper and folded up. He didn’t need the scissors to trim the edge.

_________________________________________________________________________

The windows to the human residents of the castle were sealed and locked tightly. Elisa Pressed her hand against the glass, feeling how cool it had become. The velvety plum colored curtains were pulled back. Elisa wanted to stare outside to see if there would be fresh snow dancing towards the ground. "You are taking a night off?"

"Even a leader needs one night to rest," Goliath said from Elisa’s bed. He never took his eyes off from the delicate form in his arms. "Hudson had told me I work to hard and should spend a night with my youngest children."

"I know you, as much as you want to relax you feel it is your duty to protect the city." She chuckled lightly, knowing her husband could hear her. Her smile changed when she felt a tiny hand grab onto the cuff her jeans and tug at it gently. She looked onto the floor where Rowan was grabbing at her pants.

"Mama," Rowan said. The caramel colored child sat on his round diapered bottom. The only other article of clothing he wore was a bright red shirt with long oval holes cut out for his black wings. The were no baby shoes that were big enough to get on his large high arched feet and Elisa already had to cut holes in his diapers for his tail. She did not want to take scissors to shorts and pants yet.

Elisa bent down. "What is it Ro? Do you want me to pick you up?"

"No pick up," Rowan shook his head. "Me up." He raised his hands.

"You want to stand up." She took his tiny hands into hers and gently pulled. Rowans toes held onto the carpet and the end of his tail pressed against the ground. Once the halfing was on his two feet Elisa let go. Rowan lowered his arms and spread them out.

"Dada ‘ook, Re ‘ook."

Goliath nodded at his son. "I am quite impressed. How long has he been doing this?"

"For the past two days."

"I am more than glad that I decided to stay behind tonight." He stared at the child in his arms. "Can you stand up?"

Large honey brown eyes stared up from under spiked brow ridges. Rebecca pulled her own wings closer to her as she held onto her father. Her dark sable hair, longer than her brothers was trimmed into a bob that increased her cuteness. "No up."

"She can’t stand?"

Elisa shook her head. "I’ve tried when Rowan first stood up. I think it’s because he has a tail and she doesn’t."

"She may be able to with plenty of practice." Goliath brushed down the skirt part of Rebecca’s jump dress. The orange and gold outfit contrasted with the light purple skin. Goliath lowered his daughter to the ground and waited for her small feet ending in four toes to touch the ground. "Are you ready?"

"No up," Rebecca shook her head.

"Here we go," Goliath let go of her hands. The female halfling ‘s legs wobbled before she tumbled forward. upon impact of the carpeted ground Rebecca began to wail. "Oh my little Re. I’m so sorry." He picked her back up and held her protectivly in his arms. "I didn’t mean to hurt you."

"Boo-boo?" Rowan asked before he lowered himself back to the ground.

"She doesn’t got a boo-boo. She just needs a tee-tee bug."

"Tickle monster?" Goliath arched a brow ridge. His daughter’s crying had slowed to a dull whimper. "Rebecca you must be careful." He pulled own arm away from her and curled his talons. "Or else the tee-tee bug will get you." His hand shook as it moved towards his daughter. Goliath vibrated his knuckles over his daughters stomach, emitting squeals and giggles.

Elisa picked up her son. "You see? your sister is fine."

"No boo-boo," Rowan nodded.

"Goliath, after we take these kids to their crib how about we spend some time alone together?"

The large gargoyle paused in his tickling to look at his wife. Elisa smiled while raising her brows repeatedly. Goliath’s tail twitched slightly at the silent suggestion. "That is an excellent notion. Although I want to be with my children tonight."

"You are giving up alone time with me?"

"Everyone will have tomorrow off," Goliath explained. "I have something special for you tomorrow night."

"I understand why you are not patrolling tomorrow night, but why tonight?" She placed her son back on the ground. The infant crawled over to the stacking toy made from a plastic pole and rings of different sizes and colors.

"I thought I had already explained."

"That was on reason. What is the other."

"Very well," he let out in a sigh of defeat. "I instructed Brooklyn to be in charge for tonight. He was told to divide everyone up into patrol teams."

She watched Rowan as he picked up the smallest of the rings and examined it. It almost seemed he was trying to find a smooth surface that had yet been marred by his developing teeth. "I’m glad you are giving him a chance to develop his leadership skills."

"I know I will have to step down someday and I hope when he becomes the leader he will still ask me to fight by his side."

"Like you and Hudson?"

"Exactly." He looked at Rebecca as she yawned and pulled closer to her father. As much as he wanted to be with his children he knew when it was time to take them to their beds. He hoped they will stay awake long enough to listen to a bedtime story.

_________________________________________________________________________

The frigid February air did not bother a gargoyle or a fur covered mutate. It did not bother cyborgs too much. Their flesh parts were kept warm by the heat produced by the cybernetic parts. The only ones who were weak against the temperature were human. While The pack could last all night in the outside Gregory Leahs could not. He knew it would be a better vantage point to watch the warehouse from on top of the roof, but because of the weather he ordered them to watch inside along with him.

"This is boring," Hyena complained before blowing on the roasted apple at the end of her ice pick like claws. "Why do we have watch a bunch of boxes?" She and the rest of the pack sat on top of the catwalk encircling the building. The storehouse was empty save for two tall crates, a small piles of cardboard boxes, and one small wooden crate that was directly beneath where they were sitting.

"Because we are being paid to do so," Greg answered. He was the only one wore was buried under a layer of winter clothes. The shelter cut off the chill from the Winter air, but the building itself was not heated, nor did it have enough insulation.

"So we get extra money," She removed the apple with her other hand and used the long slender blades to cut the fruit into several slices. "Big deal. This is still boring."

"Now, now sis," Jackal chided as he pulled another red delicious from the produce bag. "There is no reason to be bored when it involves money."

"Money is good," hands covered in gray fur separated a can of Coors from the six pack ring. "but I have to agree with Hyena. I need some excitement in my life."

"What can be more exciting than money?" Jackal held his apple with a metal hand and aimed his blow torch at it. The flame curled out and engulfed the fruit for a few seconds. The cyborge blew out the excess smoke and admired the seared red skin. "Here you go ,Jon." He handed the apple to the only gargoyle member of the group.

Lime green talons grabbed onto the fruit for a second before the gargoyle tossed it up. The fruit landed on the leather glove protected palms of his hand. "Ye could of held it a wee bit longer."

Wolf snorted out a chuckle. "Whats wrong? Big bad gargoyle can’t handle a little heat?"

"How man times do I have ta tell ye I am not a gargoyle, I am a weregoyle." He blew on his roasted apple.

"Touchy," Wolf drank from his beer. He nearly spilled the foamy liquid onto his fur when an apple core struck the back of his head. "What the fuck?"

"Bullseye!" The female cyborge smirked.

Greg tried not to roll his eyes. He had worked with The pack before, but that was for money under the table. The money his mother offered in comparison to the previous job seemed pitiful and the job did not have the thrills of hunting and capturing a few female gargoyles. "I wonder if I should put them in separate corners." He brought his cup of cocoa to his mouth.

"I heard that!" The screech was jarring enough to cause a person to drop what they were drinking but not Greg. He took a long sip and wiped the beige mustache from his upper lip.

"What are we protecting?" Jackal asked. The idea of having more green cash in hi pocket was enticing, but he was getting as bored as his sister.

"Could you heat up my cup?" The human asked while holding out his stainless steel mug. "My cocoa has gone cold."

"Only if you make it float." The cup left Greg’s hand and gravitated to Jackal as if it were drawn by a magnetic force. "Thanks." He set his flame under the bottom of the mug for a few seconds before he held it out to the human. He felt the metal pull and let go.

"I can never get tired of watching that," Hyena said.

"Now why are we gaurding a warehouse?"

The cup lowered itself next to the bundled up human. "We are not guarding the total storage house. We are guarding that crate." Greg pointed at the wooden box on the floor beneath them. "It contains the dish set mother ordered from Europe."

"Dish set?" Wolf groaned. "We are staying here to watch a box of fancy dishes?"

"That must be some fine china," Hyena agreed.

Gregory shook his head. "They are not china plates. They are gold plates. The silverware is made of real silver and the handles have tiny amethysts and pearls in them. The plates, bowls and goblets are made of gold and have garnets and sapphires. The napkin rings and candles stick holders are also silver."

Jackal let out a low whistle. "Somebody was trying to impress their in-laws."

"They are from the late seventeenth century and once belonged to the governor of Jersey."

Wolf scratched his head. "If they once belonged to the governor of New Jersey then why were they in Europe?"

Jon stared weakly at the mutate. "Are ye daft? He said Jersey, not New Jersey." He let out an annoyed groan when the mutate’s confused expression did not change. "It’s an island in the English Channel. Fer the love of Christ, ye are daft."

"Unlike the hairball here I have an intelligent question," Hyena said. "If they are as expensive as I think they are why doesn’t the heirs of this governor keep them?"

"The family got rid of the treasure the first time the curse went into effect three hundred years ago."

"Curse? Is there a story that goes along with this curse?"

"I’m intrigued as well," Jackal said. "Is there a story?

Greg glanced at each member of his team. Jackal was smiling and his sister has scooted up and folded her legs Indian style. She rested her head in her hands and placed her elbows on her legs. Wolf had his arms crossed and brows raised while Jon just shrugged. "Centuries ago there was a pirate ship that looted the European isles before they sailed off to their hideout in the Caribbean. One of their targets was Jersey. The Jersey officials had a special protector amongst them. He was described a large and strong with glowing eyes, wings, and a tail."

"A gargoyle," Jon said.

"I’m pretty sure it was. This protector and the sister of the pirate captain fell in love with each other. During a planned raid onto the Governor’s house the young female pirate stowed away to the island to be with her lover. The two lovers were interrupted when a small battle broke out between the authorities and pirates. Being the protector the gargoyle tried to assist the soldiers. During the battle the captain killed the gargoyle. The captain of the officers killed the captain and was quickly killed by another pirate. The grief stricken pirate girl took her own dagger and stabbed herself."

"Wait a second!" Hyena held her hand in the time out pose. "You are saying because the man she was in love with was murdered she ended her own life?"

"That is how the story goes."

"Women like that piss me off!" She held her head back and placed her hand across her forehead. "Oh my Romeo is dead. I’m going to join him, or wah, wah, wah. My fair love is going off to war and I wont get to be with him. I’ll wait by the sea for his return, even if he dies I shall stay. Good lord what is wrong with them? It’s not like their lovers were the last men out there. You don’t seem me throwing myself into the trash compact whenever Coyote is blown up again. I get angry and know another model will be rebuilt."

"I don’t think he’s ever going to get rebuilt," Wolf said.

"Do I look like I’m waiting for him? I’m not waiting for him to come back and I’m not going to take my own life for some man or machine. Weep a little and find someone new. There are plenty of fish in the sea."

"Ye have no sense of romance," Jon shook his head. "I’m sorry fer the interruption Greg."

The human lowered the silver mug from his mouth. "I needed to take a breath. I know, I know. You want me get to the good part. It doesn’t occur every year at the same date and time. It only happens when the tableware is out of it’s box and there are a group of people that number in at least five. When the group gets near the treasure the spirits of those who were killed in the pirate tragedy and the whole event is reenacted."

"Does that mean the possessed people die?" Hyena asked.

"I’m afraid so," Greg shrugged. "There have been unexplained cases of murder suicides near the treasure."

"Lovely," the female cyborge rolled her eyes back.

Wolf shook his head. "Only she would think that’s lovely." He noticed the way she was staring at him tightlipped. "What?"

"You didn’t let me finish." She aimed her hand at him while he middle claw extended four inches in length. Electricity sparked around the extension and radiated toward the mutate. Wolf’s yelp and the scent of burnt fur brought a smile to the cyborg. "Always let me finish. Now before I was so rudely interrupted, I was about to say how lovely it was for this whiny bitch to not only take her own life but to cause the death to others because she has to come back everyone and then and live the epitome of wussy romantic schmaltz."

"You burnt me for that?" Wolf rubbed his hand before placing his fingers into his mouth. "Somebody forgot to take their-"

"Wolf, Shut up!" Greg interrupted. "I’m not going to risk you receiving several third degree burns on you body because you don’t know when to stop."

The banter between the mutate and cyborg continued while Greg kept groaning. Jon wanted to interject but something was bothering him. Jackal was too quiet. Jon glanced at the male cyborg. Instead of joking around with the rest of his former costars he was staring into the darkness of the storage house. The weregoyle tried to figure out what he was doing when he tapped the side of his head. His class covered bionic eye slithered forth on its long stalk. It slid down onto the floor.

"Trying ta see better?" Jon asked. His own eyes could see further than the eyes of a human. He glanced across the room and saw nothing.

"I can’t see the front entry."

"Is yer night vision working?"

"Yeah but I can’t see all the way to the door."

Jon watched the eye seemed to slither past the treasure like a snake. "How about now?"

"I see it nice and clear." The double door entrances were clear enough to the cyborge to the point he could actually make out where the red paint had chipped off. The chrome hand of the door seemed to jiggle, but that was probably his eye. "Except the whole door isn’t jiggling."

"What?"

"Can you hear with your super hearing?"

"Super hearing," Jon grumbled and concentrated on the direction Jackal was focusing on. There was nothing super about his hearing. He just considered it enhanced. "I hear-" he paused in midspeech at the distant clicking sound. "I hear clicking."

"Yeah, just as I thought."

"Just as you thought?" Hyena’s shriek disturbed his focus. "Why the hell are you two so quiet all of the sudden?"

"Shut up." Jon barked. The clicking grew louder and seemed to double.

"Oh shit," Wolf turned to see Hyena clench her fists and jaw. Her left eyelid twitched while her nostrils flared.

"Did he just tell me to shut up?" Her voice was thin and high, more of a squeak than it’s usual shrill tone.

"I’m trying ta listen." Jon hissed.

"Trying to listen what, and what for?" Wolf asked.

Jackal kept his cybernetic eye out while sitting and back and giving his sister an annoyed glance. "Could you keep your temper in check sis? We are trying to do our job."

"Don’t forget the soul reason why the five of us are here," Greg pointed to the two more obnoxious members before whispering into Jackal’s ear. "What’s going on?"

"I think we have been broken too," the long stalk quickly withdrew back into the skull. "Wolf, sis The fun is about to begging." He lapped down over the side.

"About fucking time," Wolf leaped down after the male cyborg followed by his sister.

"Remember you are to only stop the criminals, not maim them." Greg called after them and shook his head when he knew it fell on deaf ears.

"Do na worry," Jon spread his wings to their full span. "I’ll be gentle with them."

"Tell the others to be just as gentle." Greg reached for his flash light as soon as Jon had left. He might as well try to see where the hell he was going.

Several small circles of lights swirled around over the floor and up the nearest wall. The six would be thieves were dressed in matching black denim pants, cotton t-shirts, sneakers, Jackets gloves and wool knit hats. All of them had flash lights but only one had the green night vision visor.

"Are you sure this place is empty?" the shortest thief asked while his beam found the pile of cardboard boxes. "I just have this bad feeling."

"I want you to do me a flavor and quit your belly aching," the visor wearer said. His voice was louder than the rest of the group

"Maybe you keep your voice down," one of the female members said. Her dark brown ponytail stuck out from under her cap.

"Why should I?" He did not loose his cocky grin. "I can talk as loud as I want there is no one-" Nobody saw the limber man shrouded in darkness as he raced forward and tossed their leader aside.

"Here," The man said. "I just wanted to finish for him."

The brunette waved her light towards the limber figure. The light reflected of the golden metal plates covering his pants. Her light traveled up his body, revealing more plating. It wasn’t until it shone over his face did she learn he wasn’t wearing armor. "He’s a cyborg."

"So am I," the vocal equivalent of nails scratching down a chalkboard was screeched from behind. The girl with the ponytail turned around in time for her light to catch the cyborg man’s twin. Before she had an opportunity to scream she felt a sudden pain in her stomach and doubled over. Another blow to her back was felt and she crumbled to the ground.

Beams of light stirred around in several directions, each beam trying to pick up the cyborg freaks that were attacking them. Two of the thieves pulled out a pair of guns. One of the gun holders followed the sound of metal soled feet striking the ground and aimed at the limber dark figures. His finger wrapped on the trigger, and was ready to pull back when something stuck the weapon from his hand. He felt a heavy hand strike his side, lifting up a few inches before he toppled to the ground.

The tallest of the group decided to play it smart and run. He raced back to the silver of light that poured in from the lights outside. The thief had only ran a few feet when something landed before him. Something tall with a pair of eyes illuminated with a pearl white glow. "What the hell are you?"

"I’ll let ye look at me," the beast’s voice was soft and low.

The thief smacked at his flashlight even though the batteries were still going strong and shone the beam over the creature standing in front of him. One look at the bat like wings tipped with a single claw, long supple tipped tail, sharp claws and spiked dinosaur frill above it’s eyes was enough for him to drop his light. "Don’t hurt me."

The visor wearing thief rubbed where the cyborge had struck him. "Next time I won’t open my big fat mouth." He slowly stood up and noticed he was facing the wall and something else. It was a flat panel with several switches. He reached up and flipped one to the opposite side. Two lights appeared in the opposite side of the warehouse. He smiled as he flipped on the rest of the switches, illuminating the rest of the building.

"Now why didn’t I think of that?" The voice belonged to a blond man in a dapper eggplant hued suit, and long black overcoat. Golden hair was styled in the latest haircut. "I’ll tell you why, because it was so obvious. The light would tell you someone was still inside, and I had to make sure The Pack had fun."

The visor wearing thief turned away from the man. The two cyborgs and the werewolf like creature were familiar. He had seen their faces on the news before and he remembered when they were once human and part of a popular television series. The gargoyle was mystery to him, but it didn’t matter. They were all going to be dead. "I think I’ll start with you." He pulled a gun from underneath his jacket and aimed it at the only normal being besides him and his group of thieves.

"Not tonight." Greg stared at the gun and caused it to fly out of the would be criminal’s hands.

The visor wearing leader blinked before he brushed the green glasses above over his hat. "Did you do that? Are you some kind of mutant?"

The blond human shook his head. "Let’s just say I am one with the force."

"So you beat us," Visor crossed his arms. "I bet you wouldn’t be so cocky if you didn’t have your ability to make things fly, your freaks and your gargoyles."

Greg couldn’t keep himself from laughing. "How cute. You get caught with breaking and entering, and attempted robbery and are stopped by me and my employees and all you can think of is trying to take a shot at--gargoyles?" He turned around in time to avoid being stuck by Wolf’s body. The mutate fell backward when a black gargoyle with blond hair had pounced on him. It’s deep growl rumbled in it’s throat while his eyes held the crimson glow normaly owned by a female.

The red hued beaked gargoyle held two of the black clad criminals in each hand. "I don’t know who is hiring you freaks," He snarled at the cyborg twins who seemed more shocked than annoyed with his presence. "but your partners are not so stealthy."

Hyena was the first to get over her surprise. "You big nosed idiot! You gargoyles are always trying to ruin our fun, even when we are paid to do it legit you have to butt in."

"There is something you should know," Brooklyn allowed the light to leave from his eyes but they remained opaque. "Just because you are paid to commit a crime does not change the fact you are committing a crime, and since you want to have some fun then you can play a brief game of catch." He threw the humans and the twins. He watched as Angela wrestled Jon Canmore and Gloria ducking away from being shot by one of the other crooks. The orchid weregoyle used her split ended tail to whip around and smack the weapon out of his hands.

Greg let out a sigh. "As usual I have to fix the situation." He snapped his fingers. The criminal behind him vanished and reappeared onto of one of the two tall crates. Seeing that one of the would be threats to his mothers treasure had been secured he ran to where the gun Gloria had knocked out lain. He stepped one foot on the weapon as Brooklyn reached out for it.

"Excuse me," the crimson gargoyle grunted before he looked up. "What are you doing here? I mean, you shouldn’t be here."

"I am here because my mother hired The Pack and myself to watch over an expensive tableware set she had recently purchased."

"She hired you and The Pack?" Brooklyn blinked. A sheepish smile appeared on his beak as he slowly sat back. "Whoops."

"What are you doing here?"

"We saw the people in black sneak inside here and we knew they had to be up to something, and when we saw The Pack we assumed they were working together."

"You just made an ass of you and me."

"Right, right." The second in command stood up and waved his hands for attention. "Othello, Gloria, Angela, freeze!" He waited until both Othello and Gloria had his attention. "Get the people in black only. The Pack is not the enemy."

Othello kept on holding Wolf’s face with his talons when he turned back to the second in command. "I thought they were the enemy as well."

"They’ve been hired to protect the warehouse, not rob it."

Othello allowed his hand to relax. "I believe we have misjudged you this time." He stared into the mutate’s eyes and was met with hate.

"Idiot," Wolf punched the gargoyle in the jar. He rolled out form underneath and sat up to meet with his ruby gaze.

Greg ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Wolf just work with them. The job will be done much quicker."

"He’s right," Brooklyn said. The gargoyle searched for the rest of his clan. Gloria was holding one of the thieves in the air by his shirt. Jackal and Hyena had the two crooks he threw at them on the floor. Their feet were planted on the backs of the thieves, pressing them down and keeping them from trying to stand back up. The only one who as still fighting with the Pack was Angela. Her eyes still held the crimson glow while her talons were curled around Jon’s wrists. "Angela, they are not the enemy, not this time."

The lavender female allowed the glow to drop from her eyes and relaxed her grip on the lime green gargoyle. The second her fingers were released from his wrists Jon reached for her throat. Angela sank the sharp tips of her talons into his arms and raked down, leaving red trails behind.

Greg cupped his hands over his mouth. "Jon stop fighting them!"

Jon leaped back before crouching. A snarl escaped his throat as he leaped forward and pounced on the lavender gargoyle. "Never. She is the Demon’s daughter."

The human’s fingers have never left his hair. "Will you forget your vendetta for one night?" He slid his fingers through golden hair one last time while staring at the two fighting gargoyles. "Don’t tell me I’m going to have separate you two."

"I think you might have," Brooklyn said. "I know Angela doesn’t want to fight. I’d help separate, but I heard your way causes less harm."

Greg sighed and held out his hand in front of him, aiming at Jon and Angela who were both holding their heads. "I may not have to." His joy was short lived when he saw the activity going on behind the two gargoyles. The visor wearing thief had opened his mother’s crate. "How the hell did he get down?" He glanced at the tall crate he had placed the thief. "Jon, could you grab him?"

"What’s wrong with everyone?" Gloria asked. She lowered the other female thief. A glasses wearing blond who had fainted. The orchid weregoyle pointed at Othello and the pack. All four of them, along with the other three thieves, were holding their heads. Their brows wre scrunched. It reminded her of people suffering from headaches in comercials for over the counter pain killers.

"A spell?" Brooklyn whispered.

"Don’t look at me," Greg held up his hands.

"I’m not blaming you. Maybe one the thieves."

Greg shook his head. "There is now way-"

"Don’t lay about like dogs with your legs cut off," Othello’s voice boomed. The former cyborge stood proudly with his chest jutting out and fists placed at the waist. "This is the night we have been planning. Do we want the riches of the governor or don’t we?"

"Aye captain," Wolf gave him a salute.

"Anything for you Bryce," Hyena clasped her hands together and swooned. Her normal grating tone had become smoother. Both she had the mutate seemed to have adopted slight British accents.

"I appreciate you devotion, Seri," Othello said. "but call me Captain Wallace when we are out on our raids."

"Thieves," Jackal spat. Like his sister his accent had swam across the Atlantic. "You are all nothing but a group of petty thieves."

"Stop them!" The thief with visors stepped around the crate. "They are after the governors bejeweled dishes."

"Yes sir!" The three thieves near The Pack responded and reached for their belts. Only one of them carried a gun.

Wolf reached out and struck one the thieves in the chest while Hyena kicked the one holding the gun in the crotch. The gun struck the floor a second before the thief’s knees did. Hyena reached up to smack the black clad criminal but he toppled of before he had a chance to move.

"It appears port authority officials are not so brave without their weapons." She watched as he remained on the ground, curled into the fetal position. "Now for the treasure," she blinked. "I remember why I left the ship. I have to find Belinda."

Brooklyn wasn’t aware his beak was open until he forced himself to speak. "What the hell?" He turned to Greg who appeared to be as stunned as he was. "What kind of spell was that?"

"What’s going on?" Gloria approached the two of them. "Why are they saying those things, and what is with those cheesy fake accents?"

"The curse," Greg swallowed.

"Curse?" Brooklyn asked.

"The tableware set is cursed. Whenever a large group of people is near it they become possessd by those who died trying to steal and defend it centuries ago."

"Who died?"

"The pirate captain and some of his crew, and the captain of Jersy military and some of his soldiers. The most important were the tragic couple, but I don’t see them around."

"Unless they are inside them," Gloria pointed at the two unconscious thieves on the ground.

Greg stared at the two thieves. One was male and the other was female. The could be housing the couple. "Where are Angela and Jon?" The question asked by the red gargoyle made him remember they were holding their heads like the others.

"You go find them," Greg said. "I’ll try to get control of things here. We can’t let them reenact the tragedy."

"Gloria make sure the sleeping beauties are safe and help him." Brooklyn dropped to all fours and raced across the floor.

Wolf grabbed onto Jackals shoulders and tried to force the possessed cyborg to the ground. "I have fought many soldiers and guards, but I never have fought one like you. Even though you are unarmed you are powerful. Tell me one thing before I defeat you. How did you get so strong?"

"It’s a bit of a mystery to myself," Jackal thrust his leg up, meeting the mutate in the chest. "Even if I did solve this mystery I shall not reveal the answer to you."

"Mores the pity." The mutate grunted while rubbing his chest. "That is odd, I don’t remember wearing any fur." He raced forward and struck his fist against jackal’s chest. His knuckles met the metal plate with a clang. He reeled his hand back. "You have a metal plate under your shirt."

"I’m sorry to inform you are wrong."

Othello raised the two remaining thieves, on in each hand. "I can not believe you are having difficulty with an unarmed soldier." The possessd gargoyle stuck the thieves heads together and dropped them on the floor. "These two were incredibly easy."

"You may find me different Bryce Wallace," Othello turned to see Visor approaching him. the gun Greg had wrench from him earlier was back in his hand.

"Captain Lyle Harris," the name rolled off Others tongue.

"I will not shoot an unarmed man if he surrenders," Visor said.

"You might as well pull the trigger, but you won’t be able to kill me. All of your soldiers have been defeated."

"I don’t see any of your pirates around, but if you insist." The man aimed at the gargoyle and vanished.

Othello blinked his eyes. "What sorcery is this?"

"No sorcery," the possessed gargoyle turned to see a blond man dressed in a strange outfit approach him. "I just teleported him to the roof."

"Who are you?"

"I’m Gregory Leahs of PrometheoTech," Greg said. "It seems you can see me."

"Well of course I can see you. You are not invisible. Are you a soldier?"

"No I’m just hired by my mother to protect her recent purchase." He pointed at the direction of the crate he and The Pack were asked to watch over.

"You are a guard."

"Get off me you winged monster," both men turned around and saw Gloria clinging to the back of Wolf. Jackal stood back with his arms crossed. A satisfied smile was painted across his face.

"More gargoyles," Othello gasped. "Harris has more of those beasts at his side."

"Like the one your sister is in love with?" Greg asked.

The black gargoyle blinked at the question. "How did you know?"

"I know your story has become legendary. I also know you and the others who have died the night you tried to steal the governor’s tableware keep coming back and possessing groups of people.

"I am not dead."

"Afraid so. You are a ghost and you are in the body of a gargoyle." Greg reached for the gargoyle.

Othello smacked his hand away. "What are you up to?"

"Hold still," he touched the side of Othellos’ face. "I don’t know if you can see the truth but I will help lift the veil from your eyes." Closing his eyes, he imagined a small bright charge jumping form his hand to the gargoyle’s head and a small blue light bulb floating over his head. "Look at your hands and tell me what you see."

The possessed gargoyle held out his hands before him. Instead of seeing creamy peach colored skin and normal human hands he saw black gargoyle talons. "Bloody hell! He’s right, but how?" he glanced at Wolf and Jackal. "Sweet Davie Jones’s Locker. Matey, you’re a werewolf."

Wolf paused in his struggled and turned to his captain. "What did you say captain?"

"You are in the body of a wolf man and he is in the body of a man who has parts of him covered in metal." He pointed to Jackal.

"We have to figure out how to get you out of your present bodies without killing them," Greg said. "Once that happens then perhaps you can finally rest in peace." Greg chewed his lip. He had no idea where to start and hoped Brooklyn had better luck with Jon and Angela.

_________________________________________________________________________

The lavender female had discovered the ladder leading up to the catwalk first. She lead the lime green gargoyle up the thin metal steps. "I’m pretty sure we will be alone up here." She sat down and took in her surroundings. "Wherever here is."

"I do wonder how we suddenly appeared in this strange building," Jon said.

"I am only glad I arrived her with you."

"There is no place I would rather be my love."

"Curious building," Angela said. Her eyes fell on the remaining beers in the six pack Wolf had brought. "What are these things?"

"I have never seen such objects before." Jon noticed several more unique things lying around where they had sought privacy. He picked up a silver cup and sniffed at the thin layer of chocolate near the bottom. He set it down and picked up the other shiny metal object that was lying near him. It was one of the strange cylinders Belinda was holding. "Here is another one." He picked it up and was surprised by how light it was. He noticed the hole in the top. "I believe they use these to store liquid in." He brought one of the cans to his nose. "They keep beer in them."

"Beer," Angela wrinkled up her nose.

Jon smiled. "Ah yes my love does not care for beer." He picked up the clear bag half fuill of apples. He rubbed the meterial between his talons "A fascinating material, and look there are apples in here."

"Thanks to Seri, I do not care for apples."

"Well if you had something to say about my cooking then ye should have told me back on the ship." The two lovers turned back to where the ladder rested. Hyena had climbed up to the top. "Everyone else ‘ikes me apple rum."

"Seri," Angela narrowed her eyes.

"Don’t ye worry your pretty ‘ittle head. I’m the only one who knows you have left the ship. I didn’t tell a single soul."

"What are you doing here?"

"I come to talk some sense into you. It’s dangerous to be out on a night ‘ike this, and with such beastly company."

"Sentry is not a beast."

"Course he isn’t, but he is one of the enemy."

Angela pulled herself closer to the other gargoyle. "He’s not my enemy."

"As pirates he is our enemy, now lets go back to the ship and you can apologies to Salty for getting him drunk."

"How did you know?"

"It was easy to figure out since Salty was guarding your door."

"You snuck past guards to see me?" Jon asked

Angela smiled at him. "I’d swim across the Atlantic for you. Seri go back to the ship. If I find myself in trouble with my brother then so be it."

"I’m only trying to help ye because you are a friend."

"You’re not my friend. You are just being nice so you can whore yourself out to my brother."

Hyena’s fake smile shifted into a sneer. "Whore myself out? At least I’m not a tart who sleeps with beasts."

"I told you he isn’t a beast," Angela growled. "Now leave us be."

"Not without you," Hyena grabbed onto the gargoyle’s wrist and pulled. To her surprise. Angela pulled her arm away.

"She does not want to leave," Jon snarled.

"I’ll just have to do what is good for her." Hyena reach for her waist and grabbed at the empty air. "Where is my dagger?"

"I won’t allow you to hurt him," the possessed female gargoyle stood in front of her lover. "Now leave us."

"You heard the lady," Curved angular wings carried the crimson being through the air toward the catwalk. The gargoyle with a beak landed on the cyborg, pushing her backwards over the edge of the walk.

"Seri!" Angela’s chest came in contact with the railing as she reached for the falling female.

"If there is one thing I hate its spirits possessing vessels and making them interrupt the romance between two other beings possessed by spirits." Brooklyn said and stared at Jon. The green gargoyle’s eyes were wide with shock.

Angela stared at the motionless body on the ground. "Is she dead?"

"Hyena isn’t dead," Brooklyn said. "As for the one you call Seri, yeah she is. She’s been dead for centuries, and so have the both of you."

"Another gargoyle," Jon whispered with a smile. "Where do you hail from brother?"

"Jon reach for you chest."

"I believe you are mistaken, my friend. My name isn’t Jon, its-"

"Just grab onto your chest."

The weregoyle narrowed his eyes at the rude suggestion, but complied. His eyes winded when he felt the gold ring hang from the chain around his neck. "What is this?" He glanced down. "I do not see this jewelry that I feel."

"It’s Jon’s wedding ring. You both see yourselves and the others as you did when you were both alive. You are in the bodies of two different gargoyles."

"That is impossible."

"Is it, Sentry?" Angela asked. She was touching the bottom points of her wings and the end of her tail. "You and I may not see it, but I can feel wings and a tail." She touched each of her talons. Her finger reached for a fifth digit that did not exist. "I have four talons, and I’m pretty sure I only have three toes." She reached for her ears. "and my ears are pointed. I think he’s right."

Jon closed his eyes. "You said we have been dead for a while. How did we die?"

The beaked gargoyle shrugged. "I’m not sure, but I do know you keep possessing people and reliving the tragedy."

Angela’s eyes widened at the news. "We have been killing innocents?"

Jon pulled her closed to him. He stroked her back while he felt her body shake with each sob. "Why are we now learning this?"

"I’m not sure. I guess there hasn’t been time when all those died have found bodies with a few leftover."

"How do we end this?" Angela’s voice creaked from crying.

"I also don’t know. Usually with ghosts they don’t rest until their murderers have been brought to justice, or their body has been discovered, or the one thing they have wanted to do has been accomplished."

"And you don’t know how we died?" Jon closed his eyes at the sight of Brooklyn shaking his head. "There is not much I want to do, just ask my love something."

"Then ask her."

Jon slipped his fingers under Angela’s chin. "I want to look in your beautiful eyes when I ask this important question." He wiped away the tears that trailed down her cheeks. "Belinda, I love you more than life itself and even know we are dead I want to spend eternity with you. Will you be my mate, my wife?"

"Sentry I will always be with you. I accept your proposal. I want to be with you, now and forever." She leaned up and with her eyes closed placed a her lips on his mouth. Jon closed his own eyes and wrapped his arms around her.

Brooklyn thought he saw a ghostly white aura surrounding the two lovers, illuminating them. He rubbed his eyes and blinked. The glow was gone.

Jon’s eyelids snapped open first. He pulled away from the young female gargoyle while neither staring at her with love or hate, but confusion. "Go."

"Pardon?" Angela asked.

"Leave before this beautiful feeling does. Leave before I want ta kill ye."

"I’ll take it the ghosts are gone," Brooklyn said. "Come on Angela, I think we should take the advantage of the head start he is giving us."

"What abut the others?" Angela glanced over the catwalk. "Are they going to be all right?"

"I’m pretty sure they are back to normal." He jumped over the side and used his wings to glide down to the ground next to Othello and Greg. Angela landed next to him.

The black gargoyle was rubbing the sides of his head. "Jalapena, now I know what it’s like to be at the receiving end. I’m sorry little sister."

"Don’t be," Angela said. "Every time I’m possessed something romantic happens."

"Where’s Hyena?" Jackal asked. He and the mutate were treating each other’s wounds while apologizing to each other.

"Sleeping," Brooklyn mumbled. "I’m sure she’ll be fine. About your guests and our blunder." He pointed at the unconscious thieves. "Should we take them or do you want them?"

"If it were just us we would have called the cops," Greg said while staring in the disgusted eyes of Wolf and Jackal. "The only problem with that plan it is these guys are not very fond of cops."

"We’ll round them up." He pointed at three unconscious forms on the ground. "We got these three and Gloria hid the other two out of harms way. Where is the other one?"

"Shit, he’s still on the roof."

"I’ll get him," The crimson gargoyle raced towards the exit, galloping on all fours. "Angela I want you, Othello ,and Gloria to bring the others out side. I’ll join you." He grabbed onto the outside walls and climbed up the side in a mere matter of seconds. The visor wearing thief was no where to be found. "Can’t anything go right tonight?"

__________________________________________________________________________

Hyena felt pain in only two locations: the back of her head and the area behind her shoulder. She had been thinking about getting the flesh of her back removed and replaced with more machine parts, perhaps even add a pair of wings to go with the rocket thruster. Considering the pain she felt it was probably damaged. She probably had dings and dents through out her body.

"How the hell?" She moaned as she slowly opened her eyes. The blurry outline of a gargoyle shared into focus. She smiled at the handsome green face and the dark eyes of Jon. "Well I’m glad this is the first thing I get to see."

"How is she?" Jon was shoved aside by Jackal. Her twin brother grabbed her by her hands and pulled her up.

"Ye shouldna be moving her."

"She’s part machine. She can handle it." He pulled her wrists complete until she sat up. "How are you feeling?"

She slapped his face. "You moron. You nearly removed my hands from my arms."

"I take it she’s okay," Wolf said.

"I’m fine, except for my shoulders and the back of my head. What the hell happened."

"It turns out the curse is real," Greg explained. "All four of you, two of the gargoyles and four of the thieves were possessed by those who died in the story."

"You mean I had a ghost inside me? Please tell me it wasn’t that whiny bitch."

"Ye had a different female pirate inside ye," Jon explained. "The Demon’s daughter had the star-crossed lover and I had the monster she was in love with in me."

"They have left?"

"Aye, The two of them needed ta pledge their love to each other. They left our bodies after I kissed Angela." Jon cringed and touched his ring. "I betrayed Lorrie again."

"Don’t blame yourself." Greg said.

"How did I end up on the floor?" Hyena asked.

"One of the gargoyles threw you there. The spirit inside ye was trying to keep Belinda and Sentry apart."

"You remember their names?" Jon shrugged and nodded at her question. "What about he goods."

"Resealed and locked," Greg explained. "I guess we can resume our posts, but I think I’ll keep the lights on, and I think I’ll stay down here."

"I left my beer up there," Wolf grabbed on the metal ladder first, and climbed up to the cat walk. He was followed by Jon and Jackal. Hyena rubbed the back of her head while staring up, and decided to sit next to Greg.

_________________________________________________________________________

Goliath clutched the delicate small hand of his wife as he led her down the path to her bedroom. A black velvet sleeping mask covered her eyes. It was a loaner from Fox, but Goliath was sure the television director wore it for other purposes than sleeping. "We are almost there my love."

"You are not leading me to the library are you?" Elisa chuckled.

"No, not at all." They walked past her bed and writing desk to her bathroom. He opened the door and flipped on her light switch. "Enter and take over your blindfold."

Elisa slid the black material off over her face and opened her eyes. She was expecting a gift, but not in the bathroom, and certainly not three of them. " Goliath you have done so much." She turned to smile at him. She felt somewhat crummy at the fact the only thing she gave him was a gold plated Id tags that hung from a gold chain. The tags did not have his name but the most important dates in their relationship. They contained the date they first met, the Halloween they first danced, their first kiss, their mating, wedding and they days the twins were born.

"I believe my gift to you pales with what you have given me."

"I won’t be so sure," she tugged at the large ribbon of the largest gift. He hand pressed against the top and felt an unfamiliar softness. "You did a great job at wrapping this."

"You have Mercutio to thank for the presentation."

"His wrapping isn’t nearly as good as yours." She neatly tore through the paper. Her eyes brightened at the image of the soft red material. "My own towel set. I can see why The gifts are here."

"Not his wrapping, but his artistic skills. I could never make a book like he did."

"That was sweet and creative. He almost looked like he was about to faint when she kissed him."

"I was hoping he was going to ask her to be his mate," he helped Elisa hang up her new towels on the brass rack.

"I that it was chilverous when he asked if he may court her."

"That was an actual gargoyle custom." He slid the hand towel in-between the two larger towels and adjusted them on both ends. "It is the equivalent to going steady for humans."

"I guess the next step will be asking her to be his mate." She tore through the smaller gifts. "I’m sensing a theme here." She lifted out the bottle of bubble bath and shampoo from one basket and examined the back brush from the other.

"I wish to give you a bath."

Her eyebrows raised. "Do you prefer bubble bath or a salt bath?"

"It is up to you my love."

She took the small jar and scoop with her to the bathtub. After she turned on the water she unscrewed the lid and inhaled the fragrance. "Smells like heaven. I think I’ll try this. When I have a bubble bath there usually is a layer of pearly white bath foam floating on the surface. The suds will block out the image of my naked body."

"Um," Goliath licked his lips and selected the back brush and bottle of shampoo. "May I scrub your back and wash your hair?"

"Sure you can." She took a scoop of the scrub and poured under the jet of warm water pouring into the tub. "But I think you will have better luck using the bar of soap on the back brush than shampoo."

Goliath collected the remaining items he would need for her bath: the bar of soap, conditioner, shower gel, mesh pouf, and loofa. He set them down on the thick bathroom next to his wife and helped her slide of her red bomber jacket. "Happy Valentines day."

"Happy Valentines day big guy."