Disclaimer: OK, this part I really hate. Gargoyles 
belongs to Disbey and Beana Vista Teliision. Any 
characters you see here that aren't on the show are mine,
 do you here me? Mine!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! (ahem) 
anyway...it took me the whole stinkin' school year to write 
this sucker. Can you believe it? Hopefully the next Fanfic 
won't take that long. Plus this is my first fanfic that I have 
ever written. So pleeeeeeeeease be gentle. 

"NEW BLOOD"

          The stars twinkled brightly over Manhattan, but the 
lights below where even brighter and more beautiful. Red, 
yellow, blue, and any other color you can imagine flashing 
in a ray of patterns. But a lone gargoyle didn't notice. She 
glided as fast as her wings could carry her but the 
tranquilizer dart was taking it's effects. She  wisped a stray 
strand of red hair away from her face. She didn't  want to go
back to that PLACE ever again. But she ended up  getting 
caught by them anyway. 

          But she was older now and stronger, she knew how to
fight back. They thought she was weak since she didn't look
very  strong. But now she was starting to feel weak. Her 
whole body  ached from escaping and her muscles started 
to relax. She felt  like turning to stone for a year. Have....to
find......a  place....to....rest. Up ahead she saw a big patch of
greenery. A  park. She could spend the day there. Her
wings began to collapse on her as she descended down
towards an opening in the trees. She crashed through the 
branches but hardly noticed as she fell into  
unconsciousness.

*****************  
THE NEXT EVENING
        
          What a boring night, Brooklyn thought as he glided  
towards the park. One mugging and one robbery. How slow 
can you  get? He yawned, showing off his sharp teeth. 
Would be nice to  have a little excitement every now and 
then. As Brooklyn glided  over the lake he spotted 
something below. A gargoyles figure.  Female. And a head 
of blood red hair.         
                                
          "Demona." he growled as his eyes began to glow.  
That bitch always has a scheme of some sort up her sleeve.
        
          Mary was too scared and to busy mentally kicking 
herself to glide around the city. She didn't know if  THEY 
were still out there or not. She didn't want to find out. Damn 
it girl, how could you let yourself get caught? You should 
have known better! The others would probably say that she 
deserved it.  She remembered those nights with her "clan". 
The fear and anger  at what happened to them. But it was 
different then, the other  gargoyles protected her. Here she 
was, hundreds of miles away  from any family and 
surrounded by a  human city.       
           
          These thoughts ran through her head as she sat by 
the lake with her knees pulled to her chest. Tears began to 
flow  down her face as she buried her head in her hands. 
From above  she heard a loud battle cry. She looked up 
and saw a red fist  head straight for her face.
        
          Brooklyn knocked the figure back a good couple of 
feet.  Make that yards. He landed and was ready to have a 
good  claw-to-claw fist fight but when he approached the 
red-head he  got the shock of his life.

          "Uh oh." He said, this was not Demona at all. He 
walked  over cautiously and looked closer. The female 
looked to be in  her late adolescence and was a lavender 
color with a face identical to Angela's. She had four small 
bump-like horns on the  top of her forehead. Her hair was 
as red as blood and long and  flowing, framed around her 
face. She didn't have a very mascular build like a warrior. 
She looked rather thin. Her wings were spread out at  full 
length against the grass. They were also the same as  
Angela's. She was definitely of Scottish breed.        
          
          Her clothes were very unusual. In stead of a top and  
loincloth she wore a pair of denim jeans cut-offs. She also 
wore a green spaghetti strap  shirt that fit her defined torso 
rather snugly. And around her neck by a  silver chain was a 
silver cross of some kind. She was very beautiful.
         
          "Great," Brooklyn muttered, "I find a female gargoyle 
and I  go ahead and punch her lights out!" He smacked his 
horned head.  I've got to be a jinx when it comes to women!
He looked at her  relaxed face with a black left eye. He 
winced. Well, no sense  leaving her here. 

 *************

          "Where did ye find the lass, lad?" asked Hudson. He 
was  very surprised to see a new gargoyle face. Even more 
when he saw  that she was Scottish, considering that their 
clan and the  rookery children on Avalon were the only 
Scottish left. "And  what happened to her eye?"       
                                         
          Brooklyn gently put the girl on the couch in the main 
hall. He  looked down and muttered, "In the park, I thought 
she was Demona.  I am such an idiot!" He pounded his fist 
into his head again.  Bronx looked at the strange girl and 
whined.
    
          "Don't be too hard on yerself lad. Ye didn't know"  
replied the old warrior as he patted Brooklyn's shoulder. 
"Maybe  she's one a' Angela's rookery sisters from Avalon 
commin' to  visit."          
          
          Foot steps could be heard from outside. Broadway, 
Angela,  and Lex came in, back from patrol.  "Hey, Hudson, 
who's  that on the couch?" Lexington asked, pointing to the 
couch.
        
          "Don't know lad. Brooklyn found her in the park. 
Angela,  by any chance, might this be one of your rookery 
sisters?"Hudson  asked.         

          "No," she said. She walked over to the sleeping 
stranger and looked at her in wonder. "She looks a lot like 
me. Could someone have made a clone of me?"

          Lexington looked at the stranger carefully. "She can't 
be," said Lex, " 'cause if she was, her skin coloring would 
be different. But it isn't. Plus she has four bumps on her 
head. But you haven't Angela."

          "Smooth move Brooklyn, you find a female and you assault her." said Broadway.

          "Oh, go eat a tank, Fatso!" he snapped. Brooklyn then
gazed at the stranger with her big black eye. Boy, is she 
going to be pissed.

          "Well if she's not a clone, and not one of my rookery sisters, then who is she?" asked Angela.
         
          "Well I guess we'll found out when she wakes up."said
Broadway.
         
          She was having that dream again. From so long ago, 
she didn't know when.  A blue-skinned, red-haired gargoyle
woman. The  gargoyle woman was holding her small body 
in her arms. She was  showing her something. Was this her 
mother? She didn't know,  everything before the PLACE 
was long forgotten from all that torture. She began to drift in 
a dream-like void just like  before. She heard voices, but 
they sounded so far away.        
          
          Then something began to lick her face. As the void 
went  away, she opened her eyes slowly and was greeted 
by a gargoyle dog as ugly as the back of a bus.
        
          "Hey, she's waking up!" said a voice. She looked up 
and was surprised to see five gargoyles standing over her.         
         
          "Are ye all right lass?" asked one of them. She looked
at each gargoyle. A red- beaked male with white hair, A 
small yellow male with no hair and wings attached to his 
sides, a fat  green male, a lavender female who looked A 
LOT like herself, and an old sand colored male with  a 
Scottish accent.
        
           "Got Asprin?" she asked simply with a small smile. "What  ever hit me doesn't have bad aim." She tried to sit up
but her  head felt woozy.          
           
          The red one came forward rather sheepishly and  
said, "That was me. Sorry about that. I act kind of 
impulsively." He was actually kind of cute.

          "Don't we all?", she looked at the others," Aren't you 
from Scotland? I thought I was the only one left."         

          "Aye lass, but there are only seven of us living here.  
My name his Hudson," he introduced the others,"Do ye 
have a name lass?"
        
          "Yes, I'm Mary. May I have an ice pack or something  
please?"she asked. Brooklyn fetched an ice pack from the 
freezer, came back and handed it to her.        
           
          "What were you doing in the park?"asked  Brooklyn.

          "Hiding." she replied.

          "From who?" asked Lexington
           
           "Some humans who wanted to perform experiments 
on me." she growled.     
  
          "Don't worry, you'll be safe here." said Brooklyn. He 
gently put his hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him. 

          "Have ye been living on yer own lass?" asked 
Hudson.

          The gargoyle girl thought for a moment for the right 
words to say and said, "No, before I was captured by those 
humans I was living with my clan in the Rocky Mountains."

          "There are gargoyles in the Rocky Mountains!?!" they 
all shouted.

          "Yes," she looked down sadly. "but they're all from 
different parts of the world. We were all captured and sent to
a research facility many years ago. Later we escaped, but I 
was the only one who wasn't physically changed. The other 
gargoyles lost their instinct to protect. So I never was very 
close to many of them. Later they abandoned me because 
they thought I was a burden."

          The others looked at her in horror. Clan living was a 
genetically imprinted need for all gargoyles. To be taken 
from the clan of your birth ( hatchling, whatever! ) and to 
never see them again was the one fear every gargoyle had.
And to no longer feel the need to protect was even more 
alien to them.

          "I didn't know there were still gargoyles in Scotland." 
spoke Lexington after the silence.

          "There aren't. I was found as a statue in Scotland 
when I was a hatchling. I guess there was some kind of 
spell on me because I only woke up the first night on land 
outside of Scotland."

          "What about before that?" asked Angela.

          "I don't remember." Mary said simply. She did try 
sometimes, but it only came in fragmented dreams and 
nightmares.

          "You can stay here with us if you want, if Goliath says 
it's alright." Broadway      
                   
          The clan showed Mary around the castle, she was 
enchanted with the idea of castle above the clouds. It was 
like something out of a fairy tale.  Oddly the castle looked 
very familiar to her but she put that out of her mind. As she 
walked down the halls with the others, she would run her 
talons against the wall, feeling better for some reason that 
she was here. She always did have a fascination with 
castles.  She wasn't sure why.
          
          Brooklyn couldn't take his eyes off of Mary. The others 
noticed. She's so beautiful. A lot like Angela, but she's more
spunky and cheerful in a interesting way. Then with a pain 
in  his heart, he decided not to go in that direction. He had 
had  bad attempts with girls from the start. Demona, Maggie
the Cat,  and Angela. As far as he could see, when it came 
to girls, he  knew ziltch.        

          Brooklyn's thoughts were interrupted when Goliath 
came  back. He was rather alarmed to see a red-head as he
came near the  castle, but the stranger was luckily not who 
he thought she was. 

          "Father! We're so glad you're back! Look who 
Brooklyn found!"said Angela.

          Goliath just stared in astonishment at the new 
gargoyle. Then he finally regained his composture. 

          "Um..Welcome to our clan young stranger. Forgive me
for acting rudely, we haven't seen very many gargoyles in a
while. What clan are you from?" Goliath asked.

          "Thank you Goliath for the welcome. Actually, I haven't
got a clan. They abandoned me long ago."she said sadly.

          "Well then, where are you from?" Asked the leader.

          "Out in the Rocky Mountains. I 've lived there for nearly
all my life."

          "Wait a minute. You lived in the mountains after your 
clan abandoned you? Alone?"Lex asked.

          "Uh..well...yeah."Mary said. The young gargoyle 
wasn't about to let this strange new clan find out everything 
about her. At least, not yet.

          "That's awfully sad. Don't you miss the companionship
of a clan?" Angela asked.

          "Huh, not really. Not with MY former clan." Mary 
muttered

          "You never knew what it was like to really live in a 
clan? What about your real clan? I mean your biological 
one?"Goliath asked. He was very intrigued with the mystery
that was beginning to grow thicker and thicker around the 
young girl.

          Mary just shrugged her shoulders. "Who ever THEY 
were, they didn't do a very good job at protecting me from 
harm." 

          "Well Mary, what would you say if I decided to let you 
into this clan?" Asked Goliath. The whole clan looked at 
Goliath in shock. He would let in a perfect stranger? So 
soon?

          "Whoa, Goliath, compadre, hold the phone a minute! 
Do you really want to do that? I mean, I'm flattered and all, 
but, is this something you want for your clan? I'm kind of a 
strange person for one thing, and for another, I barely know 
you guys!" exclaimed Mary.

          "She does have a point lad," spoke Hudson, "It's not 
quite like you to jump into a desion like this."

          "Hudson, there are so few of us in this world," said 
Goliath, "we have to stick together and trust each other. That
Is what being a clan is all about. Well, Mary, would you like 
to join this clan?"

          Mary tapped her chin for a moment. Should she really
do this? What about her child? She was only 5 years old. 
What if they wouldn't want her because of her father's 
background? It would probably be best to learn about the 
gargoyles in this clan more to see what they would tolerate. 
Then reveal her hatchling and see their reaction. 
                                                 
          "Alright Goliath, I accept. I hate to say this, but my 
warrior skills are a little rusty. You guys are going to have to 
help train me." said Mary. To think after all these years, I'll 
have a clan again!

          Goliath smiled. "You have a deal Mary." Goliath 
noticed the sun slowly rising in the East, "We better get to 
our posts, the sun about about to come."

          Everyone went up to the tower to settle for the day. 
Goliath sat on his perch over the others as always. Hudson 
perched below on the far left. Lex perched next to him, 
followed by Bronx, then Broadway, then Angela (those two 
really looked like a tight pair to Mary), and Brooklyn sat next 
to them.
        
          "Umm...Mary would you like to perch here for the 
day?" asked Brooklyn hesitantly pointing to the perch to his 
right. Mary smiled at him. For someone who assaulted a 
girl, she thought, he sure knows  how to make her feel 
better. He's also kind of cute.

          "Sure. Thank you, Brooklyn." she said as she jumped 
on the perch. She posed a vicious attacking look as the sun
came up.
        
          When Brooklyn saw her smile at him he couldn't help 
feeling warm all over. As the gargoyles turned to stone all 
had typical threatening looks on their faces as usual. Except
Brooklyn. He wore a smirk on his beak.

  ******************

          "Mr. Xanatos, forgive me for interrupting but there is 
something on the tower concerning the gargoyles I think 
you should see." said the never smiling Owen. Xanatos had 
just gotten back from trip to Europe, and right now he was 
feeling rather tired. He was in his office at his desk with his 
feet on the desk. Even a billionaire can get exhausted from 
making money.

          "Yes Owen, what is it?"he asked. In minutes they were 
on the tower where the gargoyles were roosting.

          "Take a good look at the gargoyles sir."said Owen. 
Xanatos looked at Goliath, Hudson, Lexington, Bronx, 
Broadway, Angela, Brooklyn, and- who was this?

        "It seems we have a guest here Owen. Who is she?" 
Xanatos asked pointing to the human clothed female.

          "I don't know sir, but it seems we will have something 
to look forward to these next few weeks."

          "Yes Owen, I believe we will." replied Xanatos.

 ***********

          The next evening, after the gargoyles woke, Elisa was 
there to greet them as usual. But was surprised to see a 
new gargoyle in the group. They introduced Mary to Elisa 
and told her she was joining the clan. Brooklyn was 
obviously pleased, and Elisa was hopeful that Mary and 
Brooklyn might become friends. Brooklyn had started to 
look pretty lonely.

All of the others went on patrol and were starting to teach 
the new girl about the city and their job. But Hudson went 
inside with Bronx to watch TV while Goliath stayed behind 
at the tower to talk to Elisa and tell her what happened to 
Mary.

          "This isn't very much like you Goliath. You don't take 
things like this too lightly." Elisa commented.

          "I know that my love. But for some odd reason, I have 
a very good feeling about Mary. There's something about 
her that just makes me feel that she belongs in this clan."

          "Goliath, I understand how you feel. Mary seems to be 
very likable. But,  haven't you noticed something about 
her?" asked the detective.

          "You mean besides the fact that she wears human 
clothing? Yes, I have. She looks very much like Angela."

          "But what really doesn't make sence is that you guys 
and the clan on Avalon are the only Scottish gargoyles left. 
Yet some how another Scottish gargoyle has seemed to 
pop up. How?"Elisa asked.

          As Goliath and Elisa tried to debate about Mary's 
origins, the young gargoyle was being shown the highlights 
of Manhattan. She had seen cities before, but she had only 
seen them from a much higher altitude and never got to stay
for very long. I never thought that humans could be so 
creative. This city is so big and bright, she then covered her 
sensitive ears, and LOUD! Of course, I HAVE been living in 
the mountains for a decade or two. 

          Angela glided up next to Mary and said, "You can't 
imagine what it's like being the only female in the clan. I'm 
glad you're here Mary. At least now I'll have someone other 
then Elisa to talk to about girl things." She glared at the Trio 
who stayed behind them with sheepish looks on their faces.

          "Same here," Mary replied with a small grin. She 
looked at Angela for a moment and said, "How is it that we 
both look so much alike?"

          Angela looked at the new girl thoughtfully for a 
moment. She was curious as to how they could look so 
much alike. Save for their hair and clothing, they could have
been mistaken for twins. But she wasn't one of her rookery 
sisters from Avalon, so she couldn't be related to her.

          "Who knows? Maybe some gargoyles can look alike but not exactly alike." she said.

          "Hey you two, we have to start splitting up." said 
Lexington. 

          The Trio and the girls split up. Broadway and 
Lexington, then Angela, then Brooklyn and Mary.

          "What kind of changes happened to those other 
gargoyles  Mary?" Brooklyn asked after a mugging. She 
had watched him from a rooftop as he brought down three 
thugs who were attacking a young woman. She was 
definitely impressed with his fighting skills.

          "Well, they were injected with some kind of stuff that 
made them twice their original size, so a female about my 
size would then become taller then Goliath." She explained.

          "Wow! And I thought Goliath was the biggest gargoyle 
around." exclaimed Brooklyn.

          "And they were also given some stuff so that they don't 
turn to stone any more. But they're not quite as strong 
during the day. And-" but she was interrupted by a yell for 
help in the streets. The looked across the street from where 
they were and saw two men running out of a store. One of 
them had a young girl and was pointing a gun to her head. 
Another had a duffel bag stuffed with what was probably 
money.

          "Help!!! Somebody help!!! Those men have my 
daughter!!!" yelled a man has he left the store trying to 
follow the men.

          "Quit yelling old man or your kid's going to have a big 
hole in her head!" yelled the man with the gun.

          "NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!!!" screeched a voice from 
above. Mary flattened her wings and dove at the gunman.

          "AAAHHH!!!" he yelled and fired at her. Mary spun 
around in the air and avoided the bullets while Brooklyn 
went after the man with the duffel bag who was running (like 
there was  no tomorrow) down the street. 
 
          The gargoyle girl swooped down behind the man           before he could turn around. With one arm she grabbed the 
hand that was around the terrified girl's neck and grabbed 
the other arm with the gun, and jerked him up so high and 
tightly that he dropped the girl and gun at once. He 
screamed in terror and tried to kick the strange creature that 
was holding him up in the air from behind. But Mary quickly 
wrapped her tail around his legs like a phython so he 
couldn't move. She grabbed his shirt collar and looked him 
square in the eye.

          "IF I EVER SEE YOU HARM ANY CHILD EVER 
AGAIN, YOU'LL WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!!!!" she 
hissed with eyes blazing crimson red. She then threw the 
man against the wall and knocked him out. The little girl 
was all ready by that time in her father's arms. Mary saw the 
two holding on to one another and her rage softened. The 
ache in her heart grew a little more as she longed to do the 
same thing with some else she knew.

          "Well I guess these two will be making some career 
changes soon." said Brooklyn as he dumped the other man, 
who was 'tied' with a metal pole, next to the one knocked 
out. He put the duffel bag that was in his other hand down 
on the ground and looked at Mary. He saw the way Mary 
looked the parent and child together and wondered.  

          "Come on, we got to get going." he said. Mary 
snapped out of her trance and followed the red gargoyle 
into an alley way and up a wall. As soon as they were in the 
air and several blocks away, Mary began to really miss her 
own little one. Her arms ached to hold her, and she felt like 
crying. 

          "Mary, are you alright?" Brooklyn asked. She had 
started to look down in the dumps when they left the scene. 
Mary looked at him and he could see there was sadness in 
those ebony colored eyes.

          "Yeah, I'm fine." she muttered. From the little time they 
were together, Mary started to really like Brooklyn. 

          "Let's go back to the castle," said the red gargoyle, "I 
think you did pretty well tonight for a first timer. Are you a 
first timer?"

          "No, I used to protect a small community in the 
Rockies. But half the time I had to worry about being shot 
at," she said and chuckled, "Nothing like the sound of a shot 
gun being loaded to keep you on your toes."

          They both laughed as they glided higher into the night 
sky. 

***********************************
TWO WEEKS LATER

          Jake had just fallen asleep as the phone rang. He 
through his pillow over his head. Damn it, I'm never going to 
get any fucking sleep! He looked at the clock. It was 1 a.m. 
Who ever is calling better have a good reason! Jake 
searched for the phone on his dresser.

          "Hello?" he said sleepily.

          "Jake! It's Mary."

          "Mary! Where the hell are you!?! Lily has been asking 
for you and I don't know what to tell her!" He said.

          "Oh please don't tell me that Jake, it breaks my heart. 
Listen, I'm in Manhattan. I found those gargoyles that were 
on TV a few months ago. They're Scottish like me."

          "You have!?! That's great! Oh wait, what about the rug           rat?" he asked, "Have you told them about her?"

          "Not yet. I'm still not sure what they would say about 
her father's side of the family."

          "Well tell them when you can Mary. Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.

          "Yes Jake, I'm fine. Tell Lily I'm alright and that I love 
her. OK?" 

          "OK. Promise you'll call back as soon as you can. If 
you need to come back or Lily needs to go there. Alright?" 
he said.

          "I promise. Gargoyle's Honor. Bye!" she said and hung 
up. 

          Mary put the phone back in it's place as carefully as 
possible on Xanatos's desk. She tip toed out as quietly as 
she could and went back to join the others who were 
watching TV.

          Little did she know that a stiff walking Burnett was 
watching her from a surveillance camera. He studied the 
figure on the screen as she made the phone call. He ran the 
tape over again to when she was dialing. He enhanced the 
picture around the phone. Then the man wrote down the 
number the gargoyle called.

          "Mrs. Xanatos just might be interested in this phone 
number." Owen said to himself. 

**********************

          As the weeks past, Mary began to really love her new 
clan. Having other gargoyles around that were normal was 
odd at first, but she adjusted very quickly. She was as 
protective of her family when any of them got into danger, 
as any of the others were for her. 

          Since now that there was another female around, 
Brooklyn and Lexington tried to impress her with their 
fighting skill and how much they knew about the city, just as 
they had with Angela. But as soon as that started, Mary 
turned the tables and impressed them.

          She was an elegant and swift glider, she could do 
loops and plummets that left the others' mouths gaped wide 
open in shock. Since she grew up with gargoyles from 
around the world, she learned many different forms of 
fighting. Japanese, Australian, South American, and Italian 
to say the least. Sometimes, she would combine a few and 
end a large fight of ten people in five minutes.

          One night, Brooklyn was in the garage working on his 
bike. He was planning on going for a ride, but then he found 
some motor parts that had died. He had almost given up on 
trying to fix it himself when he heard a voice.

          "Wow! Now that's a set of wheels!" 

          He looked up and saw Mary looking at the bike like a 
kid looking through a candy store window.

          "Thanks. Unfortunately it has some parts that I can't 
figure out on fixing. I guess riding through the streets of 
Manhattan will have to take a rain check." he got up from 
looking at the parts underneath.

          "Mind if I take a look?" Mary asked.

          "Uh...no. Go ahead." he said. Brooklyn was surprised 
to hear another gargoyle that had any interest in 
motorcycles. Mary got down and inspected the motor 
carefully. She looked over every inch and then grabbed 
some tools and started to work on the bike.

          "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"  Brooklyn 
asked.

          She smiled at him, "Trust me Brooklyn. This bike 
couldn't be in better hands."

          In moments Mary was done and the engine was 
purring like a kitten. Brooklyn was delighted to have his bike 
running so soon.

          "Where did you learn about motorcycles?" Brooklyn 
asked as he sat on the bike testing the engine.

          "Ohh...around. But before you go off, you have to pay 
the bill." she said with a sly smile.

          "You're charging ME when YOU volunteered?" he 
asked. 

          "Yup. You gotta take me for a ride on that sucker." She 
said smiling.

          "OK but I should warn you, I go pretty fast." said 
Brooklyn with an evil grin as he put on his leather jacket 
and helmet.

          "Fine by me." Mary replied. She wrapped her wings 
around herself and hopped in the back. When she put her 
arms tightly around Brooklyn's chest, he became a little 
nervous. He almost jumped out of his seat as they pulled 
into the street and certain parts of her anatomy pressed 
hard against his sensitive back.

          They rode through the streets of the city, like two kids 
seeing it for the first time. Brooklyn was used to riding alone 
when he was depressed, but with Mary he seemed to feel 
more alive. They rode on through the park and stopped by 
the lake. Mary hopped off with some spring in her jump.

          "I haven't done anything like that in ages!" she 
exclaimed. Brooklyn chuckled as he got off. 

          "Brooklyn, who was it you thought I was when you first 
found me?" she asked as she looked across the lake. She 
heard him gulp over her shoulder.

          "A female gargoyle named Demona that was cast out 
of the clan a few years ago. She's on the border line of 
insanity with trying to destroy mankind. She's also Angela's 
mother." He said. Mary heard a low growl come from his 
throat.

          "What a great role model for Angela!" she said 
sarcastically.

          "Yeah, you should see how proud she is of her 
bazooka collection." Brooklyn said.

          Mary gazed out over the dark blue lake as she 
chuckled. She remembered someone else who used to 
make her laugh, but he had been dead for so long that she 
had to forget about him in order to move on. He would have 
wanted her to do so.

          Brooklyn looked at Mary as she was remembering her 
past. God, she's so beautiful. That face, the way her hair 
frames around it, she's even beautiful when she fights. And 
she's so graceful, like a dancer. Poor Brooklyn wanted so 
desperately to hold her hand, but doubts kept filling his 
head. She'll probably not want me as anything more then a 
friend.

          "This lake really does remind me of home," Mary said 
after a while, "the atmosphere, the vegetation, the only thing 
that makes it different is the city noise. How could you have 
lived with it all your life?"

          "Actually, we didn't. We originally came from Scotland 
in the 10th century. We were put to a thousand year sleep 
and woke up here." Brooklyn replied. Mary didn't seem 
shocked with the idea.

          "Magic always has to interfere with your life and make 
changes." she said with a sigh.

          The two continued talking as they walked around the 
lake. They talked about music and motorcycles, family and 
friends, clan and solitude. Mary had a lot in common with 
Brooklyn. They both had been lonely most of their lives, but 
were thrill-seekers all the same. But the two still had their 
differences. Brooklyn thought plans out when things got 
serious and was cautious, reasons why he was made 
second-in-command. Mary put too much emotion into her 
fighting, that is, she would take attacks she saw on the 
streets personally and get too hot tempered. But they both 
used their sense of humor to cool down a hot situation. The 
two were able to keep each other good company.

***********************
WEEKS LATER

          The office was empty, much to Mary's relief. She 
quietly crept into the billionaire's office once more to make 
her secret phone call.

          "Hello?" asked the familiar voice.

          "Jake! It's me. Is everything all right over there?"

          "Mary, you have an annoying habit of calling me when 
I'm trying to fall asleep." Jake said irritably. "Those gargoyle 
hating Quarrymen are still around. They don't care about 
the fact that your friends saved a train full of people. But 
that's the least of our problems. They made a trip to Lily's 
school and talked about 'purifying the world of filth.'"

          "Oh God, is Lily OK?" Mary asked.

          "As soon as she heard them talking about going over 
to Manhattan and crushing gargoyles, she screamed and 
ran. The teachers had to pry her out of the closet, and she 
started to cry when those slime balls got near her."

          "Oooh I like to show them a thing or two about getting 
rid of filth!" she growled.

          "And the teachers have been getting suspicious of 
Lily's 'talents'. Not every 5-year-old can climb a tree as high 
as your's can, you know!" Jake said.

          "Alright, bring Lily here. I don't want her to be without 
my protection. I'll give you the name and address of a hotel 
and I'll meet you on the roof in three nights. Can you do 
that?" she asked.

          "I think so. Have you told your clan yet?" Jake asked.

          "I'm going to tonight, at least, one of them." she said.

          "You're pushing the time you have, you know."

          Mary gave him the hotel address and hung up. She 
had a queasiness in the pit of her stomach. Within these 
past few weeks, she and Brooklyn had become good 
freinds. 'I really do like him, he's funny, sweet, and he's got 
a great butt.' Mary heaved a sigh. 'But am I really ready for 
another guy? Peter has been gone for nearly 6 years. But 
the pain still hurts.' She sniffed back some tears. 

          "I hope nothing troublesome is occurring at home." 
said a voice from behind.

          Mary jumped and spun around to see Fox  standing 
there casually with a smug look on her face. Owen stood 
right behind with his usual no-expression look.

          "I...I...um...uhh..." she stammered. How did they know? 
Did they hear her talking? Oh shit, now your in for it Mary. 
She began to fidget and tried to estimate how long it would 
take her to get her ass out of there before these two humans 
could call the others and pin her down. Probably 15 
seconds.

          "Now Mary, you don't have to worry about me. I'm just 
curious as to why you're sneaking into my husband's office 
and making calls to a Jake Flanders in the Rocky Mountain 
Territory." said the wife of the billionaire in a calm voice. 

          'Might as well spill a few of the beans girl, you were 
already going to tell your boyfriend how fertile you are.' 
Mary thought. "Do you promise not to tell the rest of the clan 
or anyone else?"

          "Mary, I won't even tell David." she said. Fox had been 
watching the young gargoyle for weeks as she made her 
phone calls on the camera. She always made a worried 
face that only a mother would use, and that made her very 
curious.

          The young gargoyle pulled from her back pocket a 
small photo and handed it to Fox. "This is a picture of my 
daughter." she said simply.

          Fox looked at the picture and a look of shock crept 
over her face.  

**********************************
     THE NEXT NIGHT

          As the sun set over the city that never slept, a young 
man awoke in his hotel. But not to an alarm clock, or his 
own biological clock. He woke to a little 5-year-old jumping 
on his bed.

          "Wake up Uncle Jake! I want to go to the park! Wake 
up! Wake up! Wake up!" chanted the kindergardener as she 
jumped on Jake's bed. The two new comers to Manhattan 
had just gotten off the plane two hours ago. Jake had had 
only 30 minutes of sleep. With some family members, they 
seemed to make it a hobby to destroy his sleeping pattern.

          "All right Lolly Pop, I'm up. I'm up." he said. Jake got   
dressed and took the excited neice outside to the Central 
Park he'd heard of, since it was just across the street. 

          The sun was gone and the park looked dark and 
spooky. But to his niece, it was like being back home 
compared to the crowded and noisy city that surrounded it. 
The little girl ran passed her uncle and began to whoop and 
howl like the imp she always was.

          She was a cute kid. Her skin a peach color with rosy 
cheeks and dark blue eyes. Her hair was a shocking blood-
red. The little girl looked very normal. Except for her hands. 
Jake's niece had only four fingers on each hand instead of 
five. She could use them like any other kid could use a 
normal hand.  All Jake could say to people was that it was a 
rare birth defect. And if anyone got a chance to look hard 
enough, they would notice that her ears were different. 
Something she got from her mother.

          Jake strolled down the pathway slowly as he watched 
the 5-year-old leap through the bushes and climb every tree 
in sight. 'Man is she a handful' he thought, 'How does her 
mother do it? She's either out on patrol or at home taking 
care of this little rugrat.' He sighed, Jake had never seen 
much of his niece anyway.

          "Well look who's in the neighborhood!" chirped a 
female voice from the brush. Jake turned and saw a red-
headed gargoyle standing there with a big smile on her 
face.

          "Well look who's decided to move in to the city!" He 
replied back. He turned to the batch of trees behind him. 
"Oh Lily! Look who's come to say hello!"

          Lily looked down from the tree to see her favorite 
gargoyle. "Mama!" she cried and leaped from the tree in 
one bound. She ran to Mary and jumped into her arms. 
Mary held the little girl close to her as she wrapped wings 
around her.

          "Oh, how I've missed holding you, you little imp!" Mary 
said as she laughed and spun her daughter around in the 
air.

          "What are you doing here Mary? I thought we were 
going to meet in two more nights." Jake asked. 

          "I got assigned to patrolling the park tonight with 
Lexington. He's on the other side of the park." she said.

          "Mama, what are the other gargoyles like? Are they 
really nice?" chirped Lily.

          "Oh Honey, they are the nicest bunch of folks anyone 
could possibly wish for!" said the young mother,  then she 
noticed that Lily's wings were hidden, as usual. "You know, 
I think  it's about time you started to learn how to glide 
young lady." then she began to tickle the little 5-year-old.

          Lexington carefully watched the whole scene from his 
hiding place in a tree. He listened carefully to the 
conversation that was taking place as he looked at the 
human man. He was about 5'7" and had a medium build. 
His hair was a dirty blonde and he seemed to have blue 
eyes. His clothes were also interesting. He wore hiking 
boots, torn jean shorts, and an old tan T-shirt. Definitely not 
something you would see in Manhattan.

          As the gargoyle and the two strangers finished up 
their conversation, Lex carefully slipped out of his hiding 
place and glided back two the other side of the park.

*****************************

          Brooklyn jumped, with sword in hand and charged at 
Broadway. Broadway leaped to the side and smacked his 
rookery brother on the back, temporarily paralyzing him.

          "Let's see how ya like that!" said Broadway.

          "Not as much as I'm gonna like this!" shouted 
Brooklyn. He charged Broadway, and sent him flying on his 
back.

          "Ooofff!" he said. Brooklyn took his sword and rammed 
it through Broadway's head. The screen on the TV flashed 
'Game Over'.

          "Care for another round?" Brooklyn asked with a big 
grin. 

          "Hell no. If I wanna play someone to win next time, I'll 
play Angela." he said. Losing three in a row to Brooklyn was 
not his idea of a good time.

          "I heard that Broadway!" said Angela. She popped her 
head into the TV room where the two rookery brothers were 
playing video games.

          "Oops! I'm sorry Love, didn't mean it that way." 
Broadway said apologetically. He jumped up and 
'accidently' hit Brooklyn on the head with his tail. Then he 
gave Angela a kiss on the cheek.

          "Hey Romeo! Watch it!"  said Brooklyn.

          Broadway put his arms around Angela and gave 
Brooklyn a smug look. "You're just jealous."

          "About the fact that you could eat an ocean liner? Not 
in the slightest." he snapped back.

          "Both of you just stop it, right now!" Angela said 
sternly. She gave Broadway and Brooklyn 'the look'. They 
shied away sheepishly. The clan knew what pushed 
Angela's buttons. Being called 'Angie' and bickering.

          Mary and Lexington walked in, back from patrol."So 
who's starting a fight now?" asked Mary with a sly grin. Mary 
was her usual perky self, but Lex looked kind of dazed.

          "Wasn't me." said Brooklyn innocently. He gave her 
his 'Bambi look'.

          "Uh huh. That's believable." replied Broadway as he 
rolled his eyes.

          Brooklyn eyed his rookery brother and decided not to 
carry on the argument in front of Mary. He got up and 
stretched. "By the way Mary, there's a new movie opening 
tonight, want to come see it with me?"

          "Sure! What's the movie?" she asked.

          "I think it's called  Men in Black." Brooklyn  replied.

          "Oooh! I heard that movie got great reviews. What are 
we waiting around here for? Let's go!" Mary walked back 
down the hallway and headed towards the courtyard.

          As Brooklyn followed her, he gave Lexington and 
Broadway a big dopey grin. Ever since Mary joined the 
clan, he felt like a million bucks. The two practically GREW 
on one another. Brooklyn couldn't have found a better girl 
like Mary. She was sweet, spunky, and she was a biker 
chick!

          The others watched the two friends leave. But 
Lexington looked pretty uneasy. Something seemed to be 
on his mind.

          "Hey Lex, what's the matter? You seem a little 
worried." said Angela.

          "You two are not going to believe what I saw when I 
was out in the park with Mary tonight." he said.

          "What?" asked Broadway.

          "I was on one side of the park, and Mary was on the 
other. All of a sudden I heard whoops and haulers coming 
from somewhere. I went to investigate and I saw Mary 
talking to a human."

          "What's so strange about that? Ever since the train 
incident, the humans are calling us heroes. Maybe it was 
just someone who wanted to aplaud her for help him with a 
mugging or something." replied Broadway.

          "No, see when they were talking there was this 
strange little girl there. She wasn't afraid of her at all. In fact, 
she seemed thrilled to see her. As if she knew Mary or 
something."

          "That is weird." said Angela.

          "What's even stranger, when I got a good look at her, 
is that she has only four fingers on each hand. They don't 
look abnormal at all. Just that she has four fingers. And if 
anyone could look closely,  she has pointed ears too! They 
look exactly like a gargoyle's ears."

          "Are you serious!?!" exclaimed Broadway

          "I am dead serious." replied the small gargoyle.

          "Sounds like Mary has some explaining to do." said 
Angela. She crossed her arms over her chest.

***********************

          As the night progressed with it's darkness, Brooklyn 
and Mary made their way through the city to a good movie 
theatre Brooklyn knew. They glided side by side singing 
songs from Smashing Pumkins.

          "The world is a vampire," sang Brooklyn, a little of key.

          "Sent to drain," Mary continued.

          "Secret destroyers,"

          "Hold you up to the flames,"

          "And what do I get, for my pain,"

          They continued to glide on while singing. Brooklyn 
relized that Mary was a very good singer. She could rise 
and fall on a scale without a crack. Her voice was sweet 
and high. And was the audible equivalent to honeysuckles. 
When he heard Mary singing the rest of the song on her 
own, it sent a deep shiver through his body. 

          At last they reach the theatre. The two gargoyles 
landed on the roof, and then carefully snuck into the 
building through a door that had a broken lock. Carfully they 
snuck through the attic that was directly over the screening 
room. Brooklyn showed Mary the corner where a hole had 
been made.

          He slipped through it and landed with a small thump. 
Mary followed, and discovered four old seats in a small 
abandoned balcony.

          "We have the best seats in the house." whispered 
Brooklyn with a grin.

          "This is really cool. I haven't done anything fun in a 
long time." She whispered back as she took her seat next to 
her companion and waited for the preveiws to begin.

          Brooklyn looked at her for a moment. "Exactly how 
long have you had no fun?" he asked.

          Mary shot a look of worry in her eyes. 'Oh God, now 
you're slipping up girl! The only reason you've haven't had 
this much fun lately is because you've got a kid!'

          "Oohhh...about 5 or 6 years." she said matter-of-factly.

          Brooklyn's eyes shot wide open at the idea of fun-
loving Mary, a girl who loved having a good time, doing 
nothing but patrol every night. "What have you been doing 
in the mean time? Fighting evil hillbillies!?!" he asked. Mary 
burst into laughter.

          "Boy I wish!" Mary exclaimed.

          Slowly the lights began to dim and the the screen 
began to show the previews. Their conversation was 
dissolved as Will Smith came into the picture. Mary was too 
captivated by the movie to notice Brooklyn watching her.

          I really do like her. The way she laughs, and sings, 
even the way she gets so easily excited.  His hands began 
to sweat, and even though it was a cool night, Brooklyn was 
feeling hot in his seat. Ever so gently, Brooklyn put his hand 
over Mary's. She noticed. And squeezed back. 

************************

          Hudson was sitting in the library, busying himself with 
trying to read "Oliver Twist". He had been trying to finish 
reading it for the past couple of nights, but patrol had been 
leaving his old bones too tired to bother.

          "Such an awful thing to do to a wee lad. Eh boy?" he 
asked Bronx. He patted the faithful doggoyle's head. Bronx 
made a whimper as if in agreement.

          The doors opened to the library, and Broadway, 
Angela, and Lexington came waking in.

          "Hudson, have you seen my father? We need to talk to 
him." said Angela.

          "Why no lass, he must be out with Elisa. Why do ye 
ask?" he asked.

          "There're a few things Mary neglected to mention 
about herself." said Lexington.

          "Yeah, like the fact that she knew some strange 
humans before she came here." added Broadway.

          "Now hold on just a minute lads and lass, what's 
going on?" asked Hudson.

          Three younger gargoyles looked at each other, then 
Lex took a deep breathe and said, "Seems Mary had 
another life after she was banished from her clan. She used 
to live with some human named Jake and a strange little 
girl." he paused for a moment, "There's something strange 
about that kid I just can't place."

          "Well," began the old warrior, "we'll just have to asked 
the lass. Where is she anyway?"

          "She and Brooklyn are at the movies." said Broadway.

          Angela sighed. "Poor Brooklyn, and he was really 
beginning to get attached to her."

***********************************************

          "Now that was a cool movie." Mary commented. The 
two gargoyles were on the roof of the theatre. The film was 
over, but the two were still wrapped up with the story line.

          "And did you see how that alien punched out that 
guy? Wham!" replied Brooklyn.

          "Oh I know! That was so cool!" Mary said.

          They fell silent for a while. Mary looked up at the stars. 
She sighed. She felt better now that she had seen that Lily 
and Jake were alright. But she didn't know how to explain to 
this new clan of hers about her past. What would they say? 
What would they do? Mary knew that her old clan would 
probably have killed her for giving herself to an enemy.  
She was like that way herself once. But her human had 
proven that not all humans were bad.

          Brooklyn thought about the weeks that had passed 
since Mary arrived. She was the best warrior he had ever 
seen in combat, despite her frail looking frame. And oddly 
enough she seemed better then Angela sometimes. The 
two gargoyle girls were very different. Angela took after 
Goliath with her cool attitude and often bad temper, which 
she also got from her dad. Mary seemed more like fire that 
had come to life. But she still had a kind side at all times. 
She was just plain spunky.

          Mary shivered. "Let's get back to the castle. It's rather 
cool tonight."

          "What? Oh, OK." Brooklyn said as he broke out of his 
wondering thoughts. They two took off into the air and 
headed towards the Eerie Building. It was a cool night for 
summer. Brooklyn didn't mind much but Mary sure did. She 
wrapped her arms around herself and continued to shiver.

          "Mary, are you OK?" Brooklyn asked. Mary shouldn't 
be shivering, gargoyles aren't effected by the cold. 

          "Oh, I'm OK. Just slightly cold. I wish I could ignore the 
cold like you guys can." she said.

          "Why can't you?" he asked.

          "When I was really little, I got sick with some kind of 
gargoyle illness. The sun didn't heal me much. And the 
disease I got weakened my ability to with stand the cold. It 
also made my muscles shrink a little bit. But I'm as strong as 
anyone." Mary replied.

          Brooklyn's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "That's 
terrible!" he said. Brooklyn sympathized for her.

          They finally reached the castle and headed in side. 
They were walking down the hallway when Mary Suddenly 
turned and said, "Brooklyn can you pucker your lips?"

          He gave her a puzzled look. "Yeah, why?"

          Mary didn't answer him. She simply leaned over and 
gave him a kiss on the beak. Brooklyn stepped back for a 
moment, not knowing what to say except, "What was that 
for?"

          "Aren't guys supposed to give a girl a kissed after 
coming home from the movies?" she asked with a little grin 
on her face.

          Brooklyn didn't know what to say. He just leaned 
forward and gave Mary a long tender kiss. He would have 
continued if the others hadn't interrupted.

          "Woo-hoo look at him go!" said Broadway. The others 
were right behind him. Brooklyn and Mary put some 
distance between them and blushed.

          "Hey guys." Mary said meekly.

          "Mary, we need to ask you about something." said 
Angela. She has a rather accusive look on her face.

          "OK. Come on, the sun is going to come up in about 
three mintues. Come walk with me, talk with me." Mary 
replied in her usual manner. The group of gargoyles walked 
up to their tower and got to their ledge. Goliath wasn't back 
yet. No doubt he was at Elisa's.

          "So what do you guys want to talk to her about?" 
asked Brooklyn. 

          Angela ignored Brooklyn's question. "Who's Jake?" 
she asked.

          Marry eyes bugged out of her head. "J...J... Jake? 
Never heard of him" she said.  Oh God! How did they find 
out?

          "Oh, come on Mary. I saw you talking to him back at 
the park." said Lexington

          Mary started to feel hot and nervous. She would like to 
tell them, but she didn't like their attitudes to the situation. 
She started to fidget.

          "Well I could explain but-" she said. But then the sun 
came up and turned them all to stone.

*********************************

          Jake and Lily were blissfully sleeping in their hotel 
room that morning. They hadn't gotten much sleep due to 
their unexpected encounter in the park. 

          Lily was all curled up in her bed, holding her green 
gargoyle doll in her arms. Jake was no where near looking 
like he had gotten ready for bed. He was still wearing his 
clothes, and he was in dire need of a shave.

          Just then, the phone rang. Jake bulted up in alarm, 
then looked at his suroundings and saw where he was. He 
went and picked up the phone.

          "Hello?" he asked.

          "Hello, Mr. Flanders? My name his Owen Brunett. I'm 
the personal assistant to Mr. David Xanatos."said the voice.

          Jake's jaw dropped. "The David Xanatos!?! As in 
Xanatos Enterprise!?"

          "The very same one. I'm calling in regard to your 
sister-in-law, Mary Flanders. She and Mrs. Xanatos have 
been making plans for you to come to the Eerie Building. 
She says that she has found it the right time to reveal her 
past to her friends."

          "Wait a mintue! How do I know that this isn't some kind 
of hoax? How do I know you can be trusted?" he asked. 
Jake wasn't to sure about this whole idea coming out of no 
where. He'd did want anyone bad getting their hands on his 
neice.

          "I assure you Mr. Flanders, nothing will happen to you, 
Mrs. Flanders, or her daughter." he said.

          Jake thought about for a moment. "All right. I accept 
the invitation." he said.

          "Very good sir. There should be a limousine at your 
door in about ten minutes." said the bland voice.

          "All right. Good-bye." Jake said and hung up the 
phone. He looked over at Lily in her bed. She was still 
sound asleep. That little girl was going to have a very 
interesting evening ahead of her. As was he.

***************************

          That morning, Fox was waiting in the main hall. She 
was very interested in the guest that she was to meet. She 
paced back and forth.  Mary had told her the whole story. 
The research facility, the illness, her husband, everything.

          "Are you all right my dear?" asked her husband as he 
walked into the room. Xanatos had not been told quite yet 
about his wife's plans.

          "David. I'm glad your here. We need to talk." said Fox.

          "Of course my dear. What about?" asked the 
billionaire.

          "It's about the new gargoyle, Mary. She told me some 
things about herself that she hasn't told the other gargoyles 
yet." confessed Fox.

          "Really? Like what?" asked Xanatos.

          "It's a long story."

          "How very interesting." said Xanatos. A sly smile 
crawled across his face. 

          Fox crossed her arms over her chest and looked at 
her husband with concern. "David, the last thing Mary is 
going to need is your sceaming and planning. I thought you 
stopped that with the gargoyles a long time ago."

          David through up his hands in defence. "I never said 
anything about planning or sceaming my dear. But old 
habits do die hard."

          Just then, the elevator bell went 'ding' in anouncing 
new quests in the castle. The doors opened, revealing 
Owen, a man dressed in mountain clothes, and a little red-
haired girl in overalls.

          "Mr. Xanatos, this is Mr. Jake Flanders and his niece 
Lily."said the personal assistant of the billionaire.

          Jake took no time to be friendly. He boldly stepped 
forward and shook Xanatos's hand  vigorously.

          "Mr. Xanatos, it's a pleasure to meet you. I never 
dreamed that I would get to meet the richest man on earth." 
said Jake.

          Xanatos was startled by the man's boldness. But he 
excepted the handshake without screaming in pain at 
Jake's grip.

          "It's a pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Flanders. I 
must say, that's quite a grip you have there." he began to 
rub his poor hand and try to get the circulation back into it.

          "Hey, a grip like mine is needed in my line of work." 
Jake said smuggly.

          "And what kind work might that be?" Xanatos asked.

          "I'm an ecologist. I study the wildlife in the Rockie 
mountains. You gotta be strong to handle the hiking there."

          Lily watched with very little interest at the conversation 
between her uncle and the man with the funny name. She 
was, on the other hand, very interested in the woman with 
red hair and tattoo on her face.

          Fox noticed the small child staring at her and smiled. "I 
have a little son in our nursery. Would you like to see him?" 
she asked. No child could resist the wonders of a baby.

          Lily perked up at the idea. "Can I?" she chirped.

          "Sure. He loves meeting new people."replied Fox. 
She led the little girl to the nursery. There in the medieval 
style crib, slept the red-headed heir to Xanatas Enterprise.

          "He's soooo cute! Can I hold him?" Lily asked. She 
looked up at Fox with big dark blue eyes and gave her the 
I'm-so-cute-how-can-you-possibly-resist-me look.

          Fox was amazed at how well Lily handled her son, 
despite her age and size. Lily was sitting on the floor Indian 
style rocking the little baby. She sang under her breath an 
interesting song that Fox didn't seem to recognize as one of 
the usual lullaby.

          "Apon the banks of my home 
          I spied a young maiden as fair as can be ...

          With hair like fire 
          And a voice so sweet
          I prayed that she
          Would come to me.

          We danced through the night
          On winds of love
          I heard her laugh through the heavens 
          I called her to me
          And told her she was
          My Angel of the Night."

          "My goodness! That's a very beautiful song Lily. Who 
taught it to you?" asked Fox. From what Fox could guess 
from the style of the song, it sounded Scottish.

          "My Mama taught it to me. She always used to sing to 
me at night when I couldn't sleep." she said. Fox to the 
sleeping baby back and put him in his crib.

          "That's right. Your mother always had a very good 
singing voice," said Jake as he and Xanatos cam in, " Used 
to put you straight to sleep as a baby." Jake picked up his 
niece and gave her a kiss.

          "Uncle Jake! You don't have to kiss me! I'm not a baby 
anymore!" Lily exclaimed and wiped her face of with the 
back of her hand. She gave her uncle a little pouty face.

          Xanatos laughed. "So is this what it's going to be like 
when my kid gets older?"

          "Oh yeah, and it gets even worse when they get into 
high school!" Jake replied. 

          "Uncle Jake," chirped Lily, "Where's Mama? You said 
she'd be here."

          "That's right! Xanatos, where's my sister-in-law?"

          In minutes the four were out on the tower where the 
gargoyles were in thir stone sleep. Jake looked at the statue 
form of Broadway and rubbed his chin. ""This fella really 
needs to go on a diet. Has anyone ever tried to talk him into 
one?"

          "Not at all," said Fox,"but if anyone did, he'd probably 
sit on 'em."

          "What's his name?" Jake asked.

          "Broadway." Xanatos answered.

          "Hmmm. How fitting." he said. Jake walked around the 
balcony and examined each unfamiliar staue. "Well I must 
say, Mary picked a very interesting clan to join. I've never 
seen a male of her kind before, and I'm surprised they come 
in such a variety of shapes. But do all the females look 
alike?"

          "What do you mean?" Xanatos asked.

          "Well this female here looks a lot like Mary. Same face 
structure, same wings, plus they look to be about the same 
height."

          "Well actually no Dr. Flanders," said Fox using Jakes 
scientific name, "from what I've learned from that one 
gargoyle (her name is Angela by the way) is that females 
look as different from each other as the males do."

          "I hate to have to interupt this discussion of the 
genetics of gargoyles but," said Xanatos, " what do we plan 
to do when the sun goes down and we have two more 
guests in the house?"

          While the grown ups were having their conversation, 
Lily had climbed up onto the perch where Mary stood and 
had fallen asleep at her feet, curled up into a bal with her 
gargdoll in her arms. Normally the little girl went to sleep for 
a few hours after school. But she had never gotten the 
chance to sleep with all the excitement that was going 
around.

          Jake noticed his sleeping niece and carefully scooped 
her up into his arms. "Looks like for the moment we'll have 
to find a place for Lily to finish her nap. Do you have a place 
for me to put Lily until she's rested up?"

          "Why of course! Follow me this way." said Fox. The 
Xanatoses led Jake back down the stairs and back into the 
main part of the castle. Fox led Jake down one of the halls 
to the guesst room. THe room was practically never used 
since they couldn't have guesst due to their other people 
they shared their home with. Jake put his niece down on the 
bed and closed the door behind him and left Lily to sleep.

          "Mr. Flanders, let me show you some of my company's 
research labs. I think you will find them most facsinating." 
said Xanatos.

          Jake's eyes lit up like a Chistmas tree. "Really? I 
would love to see this!" The three adults headed towards 
the castle's dungeon, which the billionaire had made into a 
laborotory.

          The sun had set when Lily woke up again. She knew 
it had from the prickly feeling she was getting on her skin. 
Her skin always started to prickle after dark. Lily sat up and 
stretched. She had been very interested in the other staues 
she had seen earlier. One looked like a flying squirrel, 
another had a beak like a bird, and another looked like 
some kind of gargolyized version of a dog.

          Lily's wings began to itch like crazy under her 
overalls. She hated it when she had to cover her wings. 
They always got tingly from lack of curculation and achy 
after she let them out. She took of her shirt and put it on the 
bed. As soon as her shirt was off Lily let her wings stretch 
out as far as they could go. She flapped them a few times to 
get the blood moving in them. Lily then went to the door and 
looked around the hall. No one was around. Good.

          "Elizabeth," she said to her doll, "remember those 
stories Mama told us? Castles and princesses and 
sorcerers? Do you think that since we're in a castle we 
might find them?"

          The doll just simply stared at her in silence. Lily just 
simply took that as an answer to her curiosity. In her own 
little head Elizabeth was saying, "Yes we should! It would 
be so much fun!"

          "Well come on Lizard Head! No reason just lying there 
on the bed! Let's go!" Lily said and scooped up her doll and 
headed out into the hall.

          The gargoyles brushed off the remaining of their stone 
skin from their awakening. But their conversation from the 
night before was NOT over.

          "Mary we're not accusing you of anything wrong. We 
just want to know who this Jake person is!" exclaimed 
Angela. The others were standing around the two females 
of the clan. Partcially to keep her in for questioning, and 
partcially out of curiosity.

          "I'm telling you I don't know any Jake!!!" Mary 
shreiked. The whole situation was begining to get a little bit 
too familiar. And she didn't like it.

          "Lass, we are a clan. We don't keep secrets from one 
another." said Hudson. The Trio nodded in agreement.

          Lily heard voices when she was exploring the huge 
kitchen. She had found a box of cookies in a cabinet and 
had finished nearly the entire box. Her ears perked up 
when she heard her mother's voice. I wonder where Mama 
is, she thought. Lily picked up her doll and got up off the 
floor, leaving the empty box and crumbs where they were.

          Using her keen hearing, Lily tracked down where the 
voices were coming from. She was led outside and looked 
up at one of the towers. The voices seemed to come from 
the top.Who ever the voices belonged to, they sounded like 
they were in an argument with Mama. Lily quietly walked up 
the stairs towards the top of the tower. She then flattened 
herself against the wall and listened to the gargoyles' 
conversation.

          "Mary there's no need to be scared. We aren't going to 
do anything to you if you tell us what's going on!" said 
Angela. She detected that Mary seemed to be a little scared 
about their questioning her.

          "That's easy for you to say! Youv'e never been in my 
position before!!" Mary bellowed.

          "And what kind of position would that be lass?" asked 
Hudson.

          All of a sudden, there came a small sneeze from the 
the doorway at the top of the stairs. Mary recognized who it 
was that sneezed, and her heart stopped beating for a 
moment. For better or for worse, it seemed they were going 
to get the shock of their lives.

          "Who's there?" asked Lexington. He carefully walked 
over to the doorway and peered in.

          Lily saw the face of a small olive-yellow gargoyle and 
giggled. This gargoyle looked nothing like her mother. He 
was only a little bigger than she was, and had funny looking 
wings, like a flying squirrel.

          "Hi!" she said.

          Lex just stood there in amazement. This was the same 
girl he saw at the park with that other human! He saw the 
small pair of wings sticking out of her back. They were the 
same style as Mary's wings.

          "Um..guys you might want to come see this." he said.

          The other gargoyles starred in shock at what they saw. 
A small child who simply looked at tthem in curiousity as 
she held her small gargdoll close. This child was half 
gargoyle!

          "Who are you?" asked Brooklyn.

          "She's my daughter." said Mary. She walked over and 
picked Lily up and held her protectively. She didn't know 
wheather these gargoyles were going to like this or not, but 
she was going to have to find out.

          "You have a daughter!?! But she's half human!!!" said 
Broadway.

          "I..I know. I met her father several years ago when I left 
my clan. But that's a long story." Mary said.

          Lily looked at the beaked faced gargoyle. "You have a 
VERY funny looking nose!"

          "Lily!" gasped Mary. 

          Brooklyn rolled his eyes, "Kids say the darndest 
things."

          "So this is what you've been hiding from us? Your 
daughter?" asked Angela.

          Mary looked away as if she were ashamed. "I didn't 
know how you guys would react. I know some members of 
my old clan would kill me for having her. I was scared that 
you wouldn't accept me, or her."

          Hudson put a hand on her shoulder. "Lass, ye have 
nothing to be ashamed of. The wee bairn is the only blood 
family ye have. But we are yer're clan now. We would love 
to take in the wee lass."

          Mary looked into the old warrior's eyes to see if he 
was being truthful. She saw honesty and trust in his eyes. "I 
guess you guys would like to hear the whole story about 
what happened to me, right?" she asked.

          "Well, it would fill in some wholes for us." Brooklyn 
said giving Mary a small grin.

          "I should warn you though, it's a very long story."

TO BE CONTINUED . . .