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Never Meant to Be	By : Nightbloom Category: +G through L > Gargoyles Views: 8691 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gargoyles, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
A/N: Here's another chapter by yours truly... I debated on a lot of things while doing this chapter...First and foremost... how to keep it from becoming mostly focused on my originals here... since I think way back when I had mentioned that I'd focus more on Brooklyn and Roberto. Pfft... there went that idea as what the others were involved in had something important to do with what was going to happen, and for people to speculate just how each side would react to the news of the impending relationship. So with this being the last chapter -- hopefully -- following my originals a lot, I will do my best to get back to the gargoyles. Especially since Elisa came under attack in the last chapter. Although I did try with this chapter by keeping the OC scenes shorter than planned... but trying to keep key details known.

Chapter 11
The sound of familiar voices were what roused him at first. Someone yelling, then pain. Someone held him tighter, hurting him more. Oblivion. Then comfort. Green eyes staring down at him, and then peaceful slumber.
X
Elisa trembled as she held onto Roberto as if he were her life line. Surrounding her were flashing lights from police units, people combing the scene, others blocking the media and the public from entering the garage level. The slight breeze flowing through chilled her exposed skin on her back, and she attempted to pull up the shirt to cover herself up some more.
Mike was tossing one of her attackers to a couple of the officers. It had all happened so quickly she wasn't sure what happened. She knew that a few had escaped, and it stunned her to realize that it had been more than the three she saw that were involved. They had walked into an elaborate ambush.. She wasn't sure how he rescued them, but Mike showed up and fought the first three off. And then... Well, she knew she would have to explain what followed afterwards carefully.
"Miss Maza?" asked one of the cops.
"I'm fine!" she snapped, shrugging away from his hand on her shoulder. "Where are the paramedics?"
"They'll be here shortly," the officer replied, backing away. It was his mistake to approach her. Being a cop, he expected her to be more composed. But at the moment, she wasn't a cop. She was a victim, and her only friend was the unconscious man at her lap.
Roberto stirred briefly, and she held on to him tighter, despite the painful moan that escaped his lips. Whatever they gave him, it was obvious that it was putting Roberto in a lot of pain. His face had a soft sheen of sweat on it, and his breathing came out in small gasps. She blinked away the tears that threatened to fall as she kept telling herself she was a cop, and she needed to remain composed.
Glancing up, she saw the arrival of Gary and Matt. She couldn't help but feel a huge sense of relief at seeing her partner there. So relieved that she stopped paying attention to her surroundings and was slightly startled when she felt someone taking Roberto from her arms. She tightened her grip once more, moving her head sharply to meet the eyes of Gary.
"Let me take him," he said gently.
She relented, feeling the pressure in her chest increase again as she let him go. Her arms immediately crossed her chest as she shivered from the loss of warmth. She watched intently as Gary dropped to his knees and drew Roberto into a gentle embrace, brushing the hair from his eyes, whispering soft words.
Roberto's eyes fluttered open, meeting briefly with that of Gary's. The looked like they were filled with pain and confusion, but then it faded out to one of complete trust before they closed again. Roberto let out one more shuddering gasp, then settled down to a more regular breathing pattern.
Gary pulled back and let out a tired sigh. Elisa stood up on shaky legs and made her way towards Matt, arms crossed against her stomach, trying to look unaffected.
"Elisa," Matt cried, as he rushed over to her. "What happened?" he asked in a softer voice, taking in the appearance of her state. Having looked around, Matt had also seen the destruction that had occurred in the garage, and that not all of it could have been caused by the men that had attacked his partner and Roberto, nor by Mike who really worked over one of the men.
"We were attacked," Elisa began. "They..." At this point, Elisa lost her composure. Matt reached out for her and pulled her close and tight as she began to cry. She clutched at his jacket desperately seeking assurance that the nightmare was indeed over, and that she had survived with only a few scratches and a torn shirt.
"It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay," Matt whispered over and over again. He held her for a couple minutes, trying to hear what she way saying. Between the hiccups and the sobs, he was able to gather that at last minute, the Trio and Angela had rescued them.
The four gargoyles had flushed out the other men from hiding. Cars were damaged in the fight, and one human was seriously injured, but most of them were caught by the time a few ran off with the gargoyles hot in pursuit. It was around that time Mike made his way to the parking level and fought with the remaining people as back up arrived.
Matt continued to hold her, guilt settling in. He knew it wasn't logical, but he couldn't help but feel like he had failed in protecting his partner.
X
Brooklyn roared in rage as he slammed against the edge of the building's rooftop. "I can't believe they got away!" he shouted.
Broadway and Angela approached him cautiously.
"Brooklyn, they used a smokescreen," Angela said. "If you're going to blame yourself for losing those two then you might as well blame us. We were too far behind to be of any help."
Brooklyn closed his eyes and sighed heavily. How could he possible explain the anger and sense of failure to these two. It wasn't because they had been attacking Elisa and Roberto. It was because one of the men that got away had his hands on Roberto! He was the one Brooklyn wanted to catch the most.
And he failed.
"I know," he forced himself to say, in a softer tone. "It's just... they were hurting them. I didn't like what they were trying to do to them."
"Let's go back the castle," said Broadway. "I'm sure Elisa will call with information as soon as she can."
Brooklyn sighed. "Yeah, there's that, too. I'm sure Goliath isn't going to be happy that I let one of her attackers go."
X
The crime scene area was finally clearing out. The perpetrators that had been caught were already on their way to be incarcerated. Roberto had been transported to the nearest hospital, and Gary had left directly behind them.
Elisa was laying in the back of Matt's car, having refused everything but the precautionary check up. All she had were a few scrapes and bumps, nothing serious.
Matt moved away from his car when he saw Mike making his way towards him. There was something in the visiting detective's face that warned him the impending conversation was not going to be an easy one.
"All right, out with it!" Mike hissed before Matt could even greet him.
Matt immediately took to defense. "Pardon me?"
"I saw them, those things! They leapt out of the third level! Just what or who are they? I came here and they were throwing shit left and right, and I know I heard one of them call out to Elisa. What has she said about what happened here before I arrived!"
"Nothing. She made no mention of them."
"Matt, they were fucking monsters. How could she not mention them?! And why do they know her name?!"
"Look, Detective Lee, I don't know why she hasn't mentioned them, all I know is that she is in no state to say anything!" Matt was doing his best to remain calm, and to hopefully calm Mike Lee down as well.
Instead, Mike's hostility seemed to grow, affecting Matt. Especially since Lee was verbally attacking his partner.
"What do you mean she's in no state? She's a fucking cop! She should have better control of any situation and be able to set herself apart from what happened and report! I'm going to find out myself!"
Mike went to move towards Matt's car, and Matt reached out to grab him by the arm.
"Now wait just a minute..."
"Let go of my arm." Mike's voice was deadly, which only infuriated Matt even more. Nonetheless, he let go of Mike's, but he did not back down.
"She was nearly sexually assaulted, Lee, and from what I gathered, so was your partner, Roberto. She is in no state to answer any of your questions and that whole bit of her being a cop is bull and you know it! No one can easily shut themselves out of a victim mentality when they've gone through such trauma!"
"But you just said it yourself. 'Nearly!' She wasn't raped, Bluestone. She was just roughed up because those things came."
"And you think if Roberto hadn't been drugged up like that he would be all fine?"
"As a matter of face, yes. Roberto has been kidnaped, beaten up, raped, just about every fuckin' thing you can think of and he does fine! If Roberto can brush off being raped, she sure as hell should be able to brush off an attack that never fully went through."
"My God, would you listen to yourself!!" Matt was flabbergasted by how easily Mike mentioned Roberto's previous plights. "Do you honestly think that man is fine with being... victimized like that?!"
Mike stopped cold at Matt's words.
"How can someone actually be okay with something like that? Are you just taking for granted that you have someone you can throw out to the wolves to fish out information?"
"I am not taking him for granted."
"Well, you sure are making it seem like you don't care about the frequency he's attacked! Having seen him at work I realize his a damn good actor. Maybe he just acts all composed because you guys expect that of him and he doesn't want to seem like some weak failure!! For all we know, he could be this close to having a mental breakdown because he might be hiding the fact that he feels used! What will you do then if he suddenly snaps and does something drastic to escape?!"
Mike had been ready to interrupt Matt when the final question was asked. The blonde man became still, his eyes taking a distance look, reliving some memory.
Matt caught the look but continued to plunge ahead, feeling the need to punish the man for his insensitive and tactless behavior.
"And I know he's a couple years younger than me, but I heard references to him working with you for several years! What, did you use him as a teenage to catch pedophiles? Is that why he can just brush off being raped now as an adult? Because he got use to doing it for you guys when he was still in high school?"
"Stop," ordered Mike, in a soft voice.
Matt stopped and took a good look at Mike.
The detective was no longer looking at him, but towards the care were Elisa was resting.
"I get the point. And no, it is never our intention to use Roberto to that point... I ... it's always difficult... for all of us. It means we failed him. Again. Nothing happened this time, but... it was too close. I just wanted to know what the hell was going on." Mike turned to look at Matt. "And I will find out, one way or another. I need to know. Anytime something non-human shows up, it always means trouble for Jack or Roberto."
With that said, Mike turned to walk away. "One more thing. I'm headed to the hotel. Take Elisa back to her apartment, or if she has family here, take her to them. She'll be needing them. It does ease the mind."
X
Matt's words kept echoing in Mike's head as he made his way to his hotel.
Reflecting on what he had said, he knew he came off as an incredibly insensitive jerk. Which was why he wished Stacey had been there. She always found a way to shut him up before he said something that got him into too much trouble.
He wanted to go back and tell Matt the truth, but it wasn't his place to disclose any of the information, and besides... Matt probably wouldn't be very receptive to any form of apology.
Truth was, Roberto was never just okay after an attack. He just seemed like he was okay to the outsiders. Only they knew how to read him. He would withdraw from social interaction, a small smile on his face, locking himself up whenever he could.
Gary and Jack were the only two that could force him out of hiding. Jack's contagious smile and genuine care for Roberto would help pull him out of his depression. Gary's tactless and reckless approach always distracted him, usually resulting in a few injuries to Gary.
Roberto experienced enough shit to drive anyone to suicide, and that was what panicked Mike the most when he thought about it. And there were several times when it was attempted.
Society had failed Roberto when he was a kid, and they failed him when he was under their protection when he was just reaching adulthood. Mike could still recall vividly the day Roberto let himself fall out of the window.
Sheer luck and craziness is what saved him. The name Callahan always left a bitter taste in Mike's mouth. But the name of Xavier left him feeling ill. He had first been amused when he learned about Xavier. What could be so bad about some delusional man thinking he was a vampire and running around with a comic hero's name?
Then they found out the evil creatures of the night did exist. When Jack was left to die, halfway drained, and Roberto snatched away by the known pedophile... Jimmy, Stacey, and himself found themselves completely helpless. Whatever sense of control they felt the had was viciously torn away from them. They could no longer promise to keep the kids from harm.
After that, it was as if someone was always trying to remind them that they were failures.
No, he never took Roberto for granted. Truthfully, he would have preferred to keep him and Jack locked up safe, in a bubble of some sort. But that was impossible.
And now more non human things had appeared. It always made him nervous. Non humans meant bad news. And he would have shot them on sight if it weren't for two factors.
One, he only had three bullets in his gun. Oh, sure he had an extra clip, but he wouldn't have had enough time to reload while the surviving gargoyle attacked him. Sure he was a master in martial arts, but what good did that do against some thing that could come flying from above? Not much.
The second thing that kept him from shooting was that the little yellow gargoyle had called out Maza's first name. How interesting.
They did help, he had to admit that. If it weren't for them, he probably would have been too late. Not to mention overwhelmed. They were everywhere. There were two at each entrance, guiding traffic, saying there was a gas spill and they wanted to keep people away from that level. There were people at the stair well, inside and out. So the only place to go was from one level up, out and over the wall, and hope to God that his balance would keep him from missing the ledge beneath and fall straight down to the bottom.
Regardless, he wasn't about to accept those things so easily. After all, two of the humans escaped with those things in hot pursuit. He would find out just what their connection was to Maza, one way or another.
What also disturbed his was that he was almost certain he heard the red beast call out Roberto's name. But he didn't want to believe that. It would seem too much like betrayal.
X

Gary adjusted the door to be partially closed and the curtain pulled enough to block the view of himself and the window. Sitting down, he took Roberto's hand and watched his face. The pained expression eased up.
He couldn't help but sigh.
No one could explain it, or they didn't want to. He always felt like Doctor Octavion was keeping something from him each time the subject came up.
Roberto's powers of seduction could also become more offensive. With enough concentration, he could produce blasts of fire. However, Gary had to be physically close by. Otherwise, nothing. And when either one of them were hurt... they always seemed to heal much faster when the other one was nearby. The closer the person, the faster the healing process.
Gary had to resign to the fact that he would be stuck with Roberto so long as they both worked against the baddies of the world, normal or not.
"You better fucking wake up soon," he muttered. "I don't want them catching me holding your hand."
Roberto let out a soft moan, as if to protest the harsh words. A smirk appeared on Gary's face.
"You know, I can say everything that's on my mind and you can't do anything about it right now. Why you're probably telling me to shut up but I can't hear you. Bummer that. Ha! Little fruitcake can't defend himself. Of course, I could take the chance that you'll pummel me after you feel better but then again, how can you be so sure that you're not delirious and imagining this conversation because it is something you expect from me?"
A tap against the window pane interrupted his flow of words. Glancing at the door first, then back behind him, Gary stood up and opened the window.
"Uh, I don't think you can fit inside this time," Gary said, stepping aside to let the red gargoyle look at Roberto.
Brooklyn clung to the ledge, seemingly unbothered. "That's okay... I just wanted to see if he was fine."
Gary looked back at the patient. "He's doing better. Whatever drug they gave him seems to finally be passing."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Gary looked at the gargoyle, surprised to hear such strong remorse in his voice.
"I failed. I failed to keep him safe."
Gary stepped closer to the gargoyle, lowering his voice so as not to draw the attention of anyone passing by.
"Look, it's not your fault. I know I asked that you keep him safe but that was unfair of me. It's our job to put ourselves on the line, and sometimes those jobs follow us home. I can't... well... we, if they knew about you, uh, we can't expect you to keep Roberto safe if we can barely do it as a group of seven. Shit happens, and he or Jack are the ones that usually suffer."
"But I..."
"Have you apologized to Matt?"
Brooklyn remained silent.
Gary gave himself a satisfied nod. "You know the danger Elisa puts herself through. Do you blame yourselves each time you fail to keep her completely safe?"
"Well, Goliath does."
Gary faltered. There was something in his voice that made it sound as if he were comparing himself to Goliath.
He almost sounded like Roberto when talking about Brooklyn. But if Brooklyn insinuated that this Goliath seemed really protective of Elisa, than could Brooklyn..?
Gary really didn't want to think about it. Things were complicated enough as it was.
"Look, you stopped them from causing serious damage. Believe me, you helped. You're trying to keep the whole city safe. Roberto admires that, I'm sure. I'm also sure he would say that it would be selfish of him to expect that you keep him from harm one hundred percent of the time. Don't stress yourself out. Just be grateful that you kept both him and Elisa from serious harm."
Brooklyn looked more relaxed.
"Thanks," he said.
"Roberto should be fine tomorrow evening, so why don't you go visit him then?"
"I will." Brooklyn pushed off with a "See you later."
Gary stepped back with a wry grin on his face. Who'd have thought he would ever play psychologist to a gargoyle.
A soft whirring sound caught his attention and he turned around. Roberto was slowly sitting up with the help of the bed's remote. He had a very tired look on his face.
"Well, look who's finally woken up," Gary said with a grin, stepping his way over to him.
Roberto mumbled something.
"What?" Gary moved in closer.
Roberto whacked him across the jaw, forcing his head to turn to one side. "Defenseless fruitcake, am I?" he croaked out, looking somewhat annoyed. "Be grateful that I couldn't lift my hand any higher to hit your nose, bastard."
Gary worked his jaw to make sure that it could close and open properly, stunned by the unexpected blow. He narrowed his eyes and turned to glare at Roberto. "Nice to see you're feeling better... oh! You fucker."
Roberto had fallen asleep again, oblivious to Gary's need to yell at him.
X
"I can't believe we fucking lost our chance at nabbing the vessel!" hissed Sam, looking up into the sky. It had been a harrowing four minutes as they did their best to lose the creatures that were following them.
Running into a club had been a brilliant tactic as it seemed that these creatures would rather avoid being in direct line of sight from the humans. Although, Smith setting the place ablaze was a rather reckless tactic. That was when they lost their airborne pursuers; the flood of panicking people served as a cover for them.
Now they both sat in one of Smith's waiting vehicles.
"So what are you gonna tell Mr. F? He don't take kindly to failures, you know. Ha, and he had such high hopes on you. And look, you had the same luck we did! So much for being the secret weapon, I..." Sam gasped as the nuzzle of a gun was shoved up under his chin.
"Don' temp' me to use ya as a replacement now, ya hear? Ah los' meh toy. "
There was an unholy gleam in his eyes that scared even Sam.
He wisely decided to keep quiet.
Mr. Smith put the gun away and continued driving.
Sam leaned against the passenger door, wishing he were in another vehicle. He hoped Mr. Fable knew what kind of wild card he had hired.
X
Lexington could feel himself tremble as he made his way into the castle, Broadway and Angela right behind him.
"Whew... I though Goliath was going to have a coronary!"
"And I thought he was going to have a heart attack!" exclaimed Broadway.
The tense look on Angela's face faded into one of amusement. "Same thing, my love," she giggled.
She grew serious again. "A good thing Elisa called when she did to calm him down."
"No kidding! Too bad Brooklyn wasn't here to dish out the news though." Lexington let out a frustrated growl. "What type of second-in-command lets his subordinates deal with a deadly situation alone?"
"A smart one," quipped Broadway.
"You exaggerate," commented Angela.
"Well, it sure felt like we were gonna die. I am never telling Goliath any news in that Elisa had to be saved ever again!"
X
Puck yawned as Brooklyn changed into his human clothes. "You know, even Avalon's Children need to sleep every now and then." In his arms, Alex fussed a bit.
"Sorry," muttered Brooklyn, zipping up his jacket. He was quickly realizing the one downfall to being human was that the air felt a lot cooler now.
"It was a pretty close call you had there this morning," Puck continued, trying to rock Alex to sleep.
"I know. I just had to see if Roberto was all right."
"Hmm, you really have taken such a fancy to this fellow. Again, I'd really like to know him myself and see what you find so fascinating, other than good looks."
"Puck," growled Brooklyn, his human features blushing.
"You missed seeing the display Goliath threw when Lexington told him about the attack on Elisa."
"It wasn't meant for Elisa, it was meant for Roberto!"
"Oh, you've got it bad. Well, to your other friends, all they could focus on was Elisa. You are going to have to come up with something to make it up to them for leaving them in the line of fire."
"I know, I know, I am sorry... it's just... it's getting complicated."
Brooklyn sat down on the ledge next to Lexington's stone self.
"Running two identities? Believe, me, it's like preaching to the choir. One side of you wants to turn the world upside down, the other side has to be one hundred percent boring, loyal, and yada yada yada. Don't tell me you're just realizing this all now."
"It's not that... as a human, I can be myself around Roberto. As a gargoyle... But he's always getting hurt while I'm a gargoyle and as a human, I can't ask him if he's okay, especially when he's not saying anything to 'Brody' about his job!"
"Well, maybe it's time you tell him the truth."
"I can't do that. What if he... what if he stops liking me?"
"What if he's only falling for Brody. Do you really think that's fair for him... and for you?"
Brooklyn hesitated in his answer, his human features looking lost.
"You know... Alex's magic is for learning. The spell isn't going to last forever."
Brooklyn looked at Puck in surprise. "It isn't?"
Puck gave him a sad smile. "If I had complete control, believe me, it would have been fun to make this a wish granted type of thing... but being as it is... it's all Alex's doing and he's still learning. His spells aren't meant to be forever. I don't think it would be very healthy to find yourself turning to stone while running late, whether on ground or in the air."
"How much time?" Brooklyn croaked out.
Puck shrugged. "Couldn't tell you. Truthfully, I'm surprised you've lasted this long. I really thought it would only be a week, tops."
Brooklyn panicked. What if today was his last day as human?
Puck yawned. "As much as I'd like to stay here and chat about your made for soap drama love life...Again, even this handsome face does need his beauty sleep."
Brooklyn couldn't help but chuckle. Puck's arrogant look was ruined by a sleepy, drooling Alex clinging to his shoulder.
Puck became serious again. "You should sleep, too, you know." He then grinned. "No one looks attractive with big black circles under their eyes!"
X
Roberto dropped himself on his bed. It was late noon and he was finally discharged from the stupid hospital. Somewhere nearby, he heard Gary chuckle.
"With all of us working together, insurance companies and worker's comp will probably drop us off their lists!"
Roberto was too tired to comment so he just groaned.
"Now that I'm done with delivering the package, I'll just head over to my place and enjoy my time. Alone! Like it should be."
Roberto just grunted. "Good. Go."
"You know, a little gratitude would be appreciated."
"Go and you'll make me the happiest man on earth."
Gary rolled his eyes. "Leaving. Just thought you should know, they'll be interviewing that cop tomorrow, Officer Kale, about his report, or lack of. And Christina expressed her desire to visit you as soon as she was done with whatever she's been up to. She'll keep you good company."
Roberto could only sigh. He really didn't feel like company at the moment, and Christina was like a whole bunch of people in one. He could hear Gary chuckle evilly as he left.
"Bastard."
X
Brooklyn paced in front of the hotel, knowing that the sun would set in roughly one hour and a half. He had yet to go up and see Roberto.
He wanted to... he really did. But he knew that if he did, he wouldn't be able to act normal. He wanted to ask if he was okay, but then Roberto would really suspect something.
But what if his time were running out? Roberto would still find out.
Brooklyn felt as if his heart would stop. He didn't know what to do. Obviously Roberto had no aversion to his human side, but as a gargoyle, would Roberto feel disgusted learning that it was a non-human that liked him, that held him, that kissed him?
He had run into the bathroom the other day when things were becoming intense. If he panicked like that while a human...
But Puck was right.
It wasn't fair to keep Roberto in the dark like that... and it wasn't fair that he was gaining Roberto's affection through someone that really wasn't him.
With a heavy sigh, Brooklyn made up his mind. Tonight... tonight would be the last night that Brody and Brooklyn were known to Roberto as separate identities. He turned towards the sun and closed his eyes, relishing the warmth. Opening his eyes he began to walk to his home, suddenly finding himself trying to hold back tears.
A sense of doom had settled in his heart, and it wasn't going away.
X
Night fell and the temperature dropped several degrees. Hanging outside of Roberto's suite, Brooklyn could hear Roberto trying to get Christina to leave.
He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. It seemed that the girl had outstayed her welcome.
As he sat there, he couldn't help but think to earlier that evening. It left him feeling slightly bitter.
No sooner had Goliath woken and emerged from his stone slumber (and now Brooklyn understood why Elisa liked to come and watch them wake when she could) and Brooklyn himself transformed into a gargoyle, his leader turned on him and berated him for not following through with his responsibilities.
Brooklyn had immediately fought back, stating that his responsibilities did not involve keeping an eye on Elisa when Goliath wasn't available to do it himself.
He realized too late that Elisa had arrived to visit them and overheard a majority of the argument. Brooklyn couldn't help but express complete embarrassment.
"I didn't mean it in a bad way, Elisa," he said, attempting to apologize.
Elisa waved his words away, still looking worn from the attack. "No, you're right. Goliath, I don't expect you guys to always be there for me. Don't forget that earlier when he had met, you guys almost blew my cover in a set-up."
"But Elisa..."
Elisa had shut Goliath up by placing his hand on his lips. "Look. What's important is that I'm okay. And I understand Brooklyn's need to check up on Roberto. He was injured and he's a new friend. You guys were like that with me, too."
"That was different," started Goliath.
"No it wasn't."
"See?" interjected Brooklyn. "Now if you don't mind, Gary said Roberto should be out of the hospital by now."
Whoops. That had been one bit of information he hadn't intended on letting Goliath know. If he had been bothered by his friendship with Roberto, he was inscenced at learning that Brooklyn had revealed himself to yet another human.
So he took off, leaving Elisa to calm Goliath down.
Yeah, he was going to have to make it up to Elisa, too, one way or another.
The lack of sound suddenly coming from the room below him alerted him to the fact that Christina was gone. He dropped down to the balcony just as Roberto slid the door open, startling him.
"Sorry, sorry," he said, chuckling.
"Sure you are," Roberto replied, his voice cracking. "Damn, it's cold. I think I'll prepare some hot chocolate."
"Yum." Brooklyn followed Roberto into the suite. He had the opportunity to try Roberto's chocolate before and loved it. He cleared his throat as they entered the kitchen portion of the suite. "You look like you recovered okay."
"What?"
"The attack? The hospital."
"You were there?"
"Yeah. Me, Lex, Broad, and Ang chased them away. I checked up on you later on in the hospital. Gary was there, didn't he tell you?"
Roberto shook his head, looking puzzled, and slightly worried. "No. Guess he forgot. Although how anyone can forget they held a conversation with a gargoyle is beyond me."
There was a bit of silence as Roberto finished preparing the hot chocolate. During that time, Brooklyn observed Roberto, wondering what was going on in the man's head. The worried look didn't fade, and at one point, it looked like Roberto was going to ask him something.
A few minutes later, they both made their way out to the balcony, Roberto grabbing a jacket on the way. Despite that, it became obvious that he was still cold, judging by how his hands were shaking as the held the mug of chocolate.
Brooklyn could feel his stomach knot up as he tried to figure how to bring up the conversation. He went for the first instinct, which was to try and keep Roberto warm.
He felt Roberto jump as his wings draped around him, and arm going around his waist to pull him back and against his chest. Standing taller than Roberto, it was fairly easy to make out the blush that tinted the man's cheeks as he glanced at him. To help ease the tension, Brooklyn let out a playful chuckle. "Can't have you freezing to death out here now, can I?"
Roberto let out a shaky laugh. "No, I suppose not. It would be a lame way to die."
Brooklyn smiled in satisfaction as Roberto slightly leaned into him. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Brooklyn could feel that Roberto's shivers had subsided. Then he began to talk.
"There's been something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
"Oh?"
"Is it true... that your interest lies in men?" The question came out cautious.
Roberto immediately stiffened in his arms, and his breath hitched.
Brooklyn loosened his grip in case the man wanted to pull away.
"Where did you hear that?" Roberto asked calmly, not looking at him. Despite the tone, Brooklyn could tell that Roberto was everything but calm.
"I...it doesn't really matter."
"It was Gary, wasn't it?"
Brooklyn remained silent. It was obvious that Roberto was angered by the question. So was he denying it because he was actually ashamed of it? In that case, Brooklyn couldn't help but feel a bit hurt that his human side was probably considered a shameful secret.
Roberto, in the meantime, took his silence as an affirmative.
"That bastard!" Roberto pulled away.
"You haven't answered my question."
Roberto turned to look at him. "Please, don't make me respond."
"I need to know. I mean, I noticed the way you seem really comfortable with me. Almost like Elisa and Goliath. Almost like Angela and Broadway. Do you... is your interest in men... affecting our friendship that way?"
Roberto visibly paled, and he held onto the railing. "Please," he begged again, his voice coming in a whisper. "Please don't make me answer that, Brooklyn, please!"
The sorrow in his voice almost caused him to stop, but Brooklyn wanted to know. He needed to know.
"Why don't you want to answer?"
Roberto turned away from him. "Because it shouldn't matter!" he shouted. "And yet, it always does," he added with a hiss, glaring out into the open. And just as quickly, the anger left, leaving him sagging against the edge.
"So it is true."
Roberto remained silent.
"What about your feelings towards me? Are they just simple friendship... or were you entertaining thoughts of something more?"
Roberto turned to look at him, and Brooklyn's heart stopped. The word "simple" had almost crossed Roberto's lips, before it died out. He turned away again.
"I don't know," he finally mumbled.
Brooklyn nodded and glanced out into the night. His mind was set. He would reveal himself with the sun came out.
He leapt up onto the railing and glanced at Roberto. "We'll continue this later. I need to start my patrol."
And he took off into the night.
He did not see how Roberto slid onto his knees, and he did not see the man crying.
X
The tear tracks on his face stung as the cold wind whipped around him. He sat there for several minutes, trying to swallow back his grief.
Brooklyn couldn't wait to take off. He had lost another friend because of what he was. With a strangled cry, he cursed Gary for giving such sensitive information.
Yes, he accepted that he was gay, but that did not mean he wanted everyone to know. It wasn't anyone's business! And here, once again, he had ruined things for Roberto. He pulled himself up and dragged himself back into the suite. He wanted to call the bastard and chew him out, but he couldn't even stop shaking enough to grab the phone and hit the "talk" button. With another angry shout, Roberto flung the phone across the room.
He sat on his bed for a while, until the shaking slowed down. He glanced at the clock. It was only nine, and he was exhausted. Sniffling, he took off his jacket and made his way back to the balcony's sliding doors. He shut it all the way, finger on the lock button. After a moment's hesitation, he left it alone. Brooklyn said he would be back later, but whether or not he had been trying to let him down easy, he didn't know.
Many new friendships had ended when they learned the truth about him. Many had turned away in disgust, while others tried to destroy him. He believed that Brooklyn would abandon him, and yet... there was still that hope that at least Brooklyn would return and provide closure to this friendship.
He crawled under the covers of his bed and wept silently, already missing the companionship of the gargoyle.
X
Dawn was not far away. Brooklyn glanced behind him, glad that Goliath did not follow like he had threatened to. He knew he was pushing his luck, but he just had to take this chance. When he had arrived from patrol, he was able to have a few moments of peace until Goliath arrived.
For once, Broadway and Lexington hung back, concern apparent in their face, but fear as well.
Goliath was apparently still mad about earlier that evening. This time he had yelled that even though he was second in command, he should not travel on his own. They were to always be, at minimum, in pairs. Brooklyn was annoyed, to say the very least. He felt as if Goliath were treating him like a hatchling again.
And so he told Goliath to trust him and his friend. But Goliath was a stubborn as ever and Brooklyn said he'd prove Roberto's loyalty and trustworthiness and use his own life as a betting chip. In a way, it worked out to benefit Brooklyn. The rest of his clan would believe that he was stuck in his stone form with Roberto to guard him and not panic at the sight of seeing his there at dawn, and gone at dusk. Yes, they would be worried, but they knew where he was staying.
It was a lot better than thinking your stone self had been kidnaped during the night.
Brooklyn landed on the balcony of Roberto's suite. The light was off, meaning that the human was still asleep. He slid the door open and stepped in. A light flickered on and he was greeted by the sight of a disheveled and confused looking Roberto.
"Brooklyn?" came the sleepy question. Roberto stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "I... what are you doing?"
"I said I was coming back, didn't I?"
Roberto looked at the digital clock by his bed. He quickly shot up out of bed. "Estas loco?! It's almost dawn! You're never gonna get back to your clan on time!"
"I know," Brooklyn responded.
Roberto turned to look at him. "You're spending the day here?! There are maids that come in here to clean up the area! How do you expect me to hide you? It's not like I can throw a blanket over you and put a lamp on top!"
Roberto's concern amused and touched Brooklyn. That was when he got a good look at him.
Roberto's eyes were red and slightly puffy. Elisa had that same appearance in her eyes after crying once. So that only meant one thing.
"Were you crying?"
Roberto immediately became silent, his body stiffening. He quickly turned away. "It doesn't matter," he said.
"Was it something I said?" Brooklyn asked, baffled.
"N-no, no, not at all! I just... Well, you left in a hurry and... most of the people I knew never looked back." Roberto's voice had dropped to a whisper.
"I'm sorry," murmured Brooklyn. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way."
"Why are you back?" Roberto asked, turning to look at him, and looking completely confused. "I mean, aren't you disgusted with what you know? It's not natural to your kind, I imagine. Aren't you afraid that... I don't know..."
"That you might want me more than a friend."
Roberto turned beet red but didn't say anything.
"I actually wanted to tell you something. I just didn't know how to do it," Brooklyn rushed in, before he lost his nerve. Not that it mattered. He could almost feel the sun getting ready to peak over the horizon. One way or another, the truth was about to come out.
"I kind of already knew about you."
"What?"
"I... I had some questions, and I wanted to know more... so I got Puck to help me."
"Puck? Owen?! Help with what?"
Brooklyn raised a hand. "Let me finish, please. He, well, Alex, put a spell on me, so that I could watch you during the day."
Roberto became really still and pale. "Were you invisible?" he asked softly.
"No. I... well..." Glancing behind himself, Brooklyn could see that the sun was about to speak for him.
He let out a soft moan as he felt his muscles and bones shift and condensing. Roberto stumbled backwards in alarm.
Brooklyn quickly grasped at his belt to keep his coverings from falling as he shrank in size. A couple of moments later, he stood, almost naked, in front of Roberto, who stared at him in shock.
"Brook...Brody? I... que?" Roberto had stepped forward, one hand reaching out to touch his face, before suddenly having it pulled back in fear and confusion.
"It's me. I'm Brody, and Brooklyn. It was me all along. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid," Brooklyn replied, letting all the words rush out. "That's why I pushed on asking you those questions earlier because I needed to know if I had a chance... if you'd give me a chance."
Roberto let himself drop backwards onto the bed, sitting up. He ran a hand through his hair as he stared at nothing in particular, letting out a strained laugh. Then it faded and the expression on his face became blank as he then focused on the floor.
"Roberto?" Brooklyn called out, reaching for him.
The reaction he got was not what he expected.
Roberto twisted away from his hand and stood up, backing away from Brooklyn.
"No!" he shouted. "Don't touch me... I ... Just don't touch me right now."
"Roberto?" Brooklyn felt ill.
"Don't talk to me, either."
Brooklyn watched as Roberto turned to his dresser and yanked clothes out of the drawers. He gave Brooklyn a blank look before going into the bathroom.
Brooklyn began to feel awkward standing there wearing nothing but his belt and pelt. A few moments later, Roberto came storming out, dressed in street clothes. He glared at Brooklyn as he grabbed his wallet and cell phone and shoved them into his pockets.
"You can use whatever you find here to dress yourself up," he said, as he headed for the door.
Brooklyn was at a loss of what to do. He felt that if he let Roberto leave like this, he would completely lose every chance of at least remaining a friend.
"Wait!" he called out.
Roberto paused at the door.
"Does... do you... hate me?" he asked, pitifully.
Roberto's shoulders slumped. He then turned to face Brooklyn.
"You lied to me since the very beginning," he said. "I don't know what to think right now. So... look. I'll be back later on, okay? I... I just need to think." With that, Roberto left, letting the door close gently behind him.
Brooklyn sat on the bed, dejected... and feeling very lonely.
X
Roberto walked down the sidewalk, feeling numb. He just didn't know what to think of his situation.
On one hand, he wanted to laugh at the absurdity he now found himself in. He had been stressed about his feelings for Brooklyn and how he was most likely transferring them to Brody. Only to find out that they were one and the same. He had been stressed out over nothing.
On the other hand, he also wanted to cry and lash out in anger. Brooklyn had lied to him by keeping his identity a secret. It was something he didn't have to hide at all. Roberto hid his secret because past experience told him that the outcome was generally not a good one. But if Brooklyn wanted to know what human life was like, why not tell Roberto that it was him and let him properly show him what life was like among humans.
Everything he said to him as Brody, Roberto didn't know if Brooklyn had been playing him for a fool or if he really meant it. Simple curiosity is what it could have been. Curiosity is all that it could be right now.
Plus being attracted to Brooklyn had been safe. Roberto knew that nothing would come of it so he allowed himself to feel that attraction. With Brody, that had been a mistake that he couldn't pull himself out of. He wanted to be intimate, and the intimacy that Brody was giving him was one of complete innocence, no ulterior motives... at least until now.
It was the doubt whether Brooklyn was honest in those words, or just experimenting, that made him want to cry.
He really didn't know what to do.
If only he had cut his ties with 'Brody' at the beginning. If only he hadn't pursued this friendship with Brooklyn.
If only he hadn't been rescued that night when he fell off the building.
X
Karl marvelled at how well of an actor he could be. The fools in front of him certainly seemed like they believed his story, not even questioning his lame excuse. How easy it was to state that he thought Jenson was taking detailed notes as he took ones of his own, trying to train himself to listen for the truth between the lines.
Well, at least the blond one seemed too trusting. He was able to turn the conversation away from himself and into the investigation. He knew he had succeeded in posing as reliable and trustworthy when Detective Luxer spoke freely that the ones they were seeking weren't as done as they thought they were. It seemed that a necklace remained, one that was suppose to be placed around the neck of the statue , assuming it had been assembled. They knew where the last item was, for it was not on public display, and an organization they had ties with had possession of it.
He also found out that they were going to move it to a more secure place. He tried to find out the exact place it was hidden, but Detectives Lee and McDonald stepped in and kept Luxer from giving out that information.
It didn't matter. It seemed that they trusted him enough that they hinted they would call him if they needed additional escorts to remove the piece.
Karl stood up and shook hands with Luxer and Lee. McDonald stayed on the other side of the room and just nodded towards him.
"I'd be honored if I was chosen to help you guys," he said.
"No problem," replied Lee. "We've got your number."
Full of confidence, Karl left.
X
Stacey watched as the officer left the room.
"What is it?" she heard Jack ask.
"I don't like him."
Mike paused. Over years of time working with her, he had finally begun to trust her instincts. Jack was always too trustworthy and he was a bit surprised to realize that Jack's complete trust in Officer Karl didn't raise any alarms.
"So what don't you like about him?" he asked.
"He seemed to confident about something," she replied.
"Hmm... maybe we should bring him aboard to keep a closer eye on him. Jack?"
Both of them turned to look at Jack and were somewhat surprised to see a serious look on his face.
"I agree," he said. "He seemed okay, up until he left. Then I just got a weird... vibe."
"Yeah... we're definitely keeping an eye on him."
X
Gary was heading towards the nearest diner he could find. He was racing around meeting with several of Dr. Octavion's people and he was starving. Where was Roberto when he needed him. Roberto was the paper boy, not him.
He would have recommended his sister but knowing her, she would have forgotten her duties at the sight of some available cute looking guy.
He briefly wondered what she would have been like if she had been born a guy. Gary had no doubt that he himself would have lived a life in celibacy because Christina would have beaten him to everyone he had an eye on. Then the thought became slightly more disturbing. Considering how obsessed she sometimes acted over Roberto, what if Christina had been bi? She would have fucked everybody that Gary wanted and then some.
He shuddered.
"Must get thoughts out of my head," he muttered to himself.
Looking up, he was somewhat surprised to see the bane of his existence, other than his sister, walking towards him. He smirked, ready to egg the spanish man on when he realized how downcast the man looked.
Glancing around to make sure nobody that knew him was nearby, he dropped the smirk and approached Roberto cautiously.
"Hey. Uh, you okay?"
Roberto looked at him as if he didn't know who he was. Recognition finally dawned on his face. "Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry. Didn't see you."
"Okay, um. I'm heading there for lunch," Gary said, pointing to the diner across the street. "You can join me. Of course, you gotta pay for your own food, man."
Roberto agreed to the invitation with a meek nod of his head. That only deepened the concern that Gary was loathe to admit.
Once seated inside, Gary ended up ordering for himself and Roberto. When Roberto was this quiet, Gary knew that a salad would suffice until he pulled himself together and decided if he was really hungry or not.
"So, what's wrong?" he asked, munching on the chips that served as an appetizer.
"Huh?"
"Whoa, you're really out of it. What's bugging you? Did Brooklyn not visit you last night or something?"
"Wha... what makes you ask that?" responded Roberto, as their server placed their drinks in front of them.
"Well, you seem to get this way when it involves either Brooklyn or Brody."
Roberto flinched.
"So it is one of them." Gary sighed. "Look... I'm not cut out for this. I mean, the idea of me giving you love advice is threatening to give me hives."
Roberto finally began to act normal as he gave Gary a dirty look.
"But here goes," continued Gary, ignoring him. "Do what makes you the most happy. You can't hide your need to be with someone forever. I know you. If you want to stay, then stay. They'll just partner me up with Jack or something. Don't feel obligated to stick with us. Sure I'll, er, we'll, they'll miss you, but it's not like they can't call you."
Roberto was smirking, coming out of his funk. "You said 'I'll.'"
"Shut up, don't ruin the moment," huffed Gary, as their food arrived. "Now where was I. Ah, yes. Now I don't know Brody, but he seems like an okay fellow. As for Brooklyn... he's a gargoyle, Roberto. I doubt his kind even have views like ours. A relationship with him won't work. But he does seem to have some form of affection for you." He sighed. "Kind of annoying, really."
"What?"
"He felt incredibly guilty about the attack on the parking garage. Kept apologizing over and over again how he failed to keep you safe and all that."
"Keep me safe?"
Gary shrugged. "Don't know where he got the idea that he needed to keep you safe." Actually, there is no way in hell I'll admit that I asked him to keep you safe, he thought to himself afterwards. "But regardless... he was worried about you. And he certainly seemed determined to visit you the following night."
"Oh." Roberto stared at his salad, picking at it, before actually taking a bite.
"So which one was it?" Gary asked again.
Roberto choked. "Can we not talk about it?" he asked. "I'm still thinking. I... I feel like I need to make a choice, and I don't know what's best for me, or what's best for him."
"So you already have picked one."
"No, I said 'them.'"
"You said 'him.'"
"I meant 'them.' Maybe I am leaning towards one 'him' but I meant 'them.'" Roberto looked like he was trying to cover something up. Gary decided to let it slide. It wasn't his place to know the complete details, nor did he really want to know.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence. When the server came back with their checks, Gary made to grab them both. Roberto beat him to them.
"I appreciate the talk," he said, stretching out his arm to keep the checks out of Gary's reach. "I'll treat you as a thanks."
"Fine," grumbled Gary. "But don't forget..."
"This never happened," they both said in unison.
Both of the chuckled as Roberto left money on the counter, enough to pay the bills and tip the server. As they exited, Gary couldn't help but comment, "I hope no one thought we were on a date or something."
Roberto whacked him hard across the back of his head.
Yeah, Roberto was feeling better.
Gary stopped him from proceeding forward. "One more thing," he said, trying to ignore the throbbing pain on his skull. "Mike saw them. And he wants answers. So I suggest you stay clear of him as long as you can until he calms down... although my guess is he's gonna go after Maza as soon as he has the chance."
X
Elisa sighed as she entered her apartment. It would be her first night back since the attack, which was only two nights ago. And while the attack happened no where near her apartment complex, she still felt apprehensive about staying there alone.
Not to mention that she was being plagued with feelings of guilt and shame.
She tried to reason with herself that her reaction was normal for a victim... but her sense of pride kept telling her that as a cop, she should have been able to remain more composed. And that she should have been able to fight off her assailants... and be able to help Roberto.
That was where all the guilt came in. From what she understood, Roberto was more of a consultant than an officer, and while trained in using firearms, he was not registered to carry one.
In other words, he was still, technically, a civilian.
To make her feelings of guilt even worse, she was unable to make herself go and see if Roberto was okay. She couldn't even call him to check up on him.
She sat in her couch for half an hour, just thinking. Her cat, Cagney, rested on her lap, offering some comfort.
A knock at the door set her on edge. She carefully removed her cat from her lap and made her way to the door. She removed her gun from its holster and peered into the peephole.
Although the face was familiar and trustworthy, Elisa remained apprehensive. She knew why he was here.
""Good afternoon, Detective Lee," she greeted when she opened the door.
Michael Lee nodded and stepped into the apartment when she moved aside to let him through.
"I figured it would be easier for you if we could discuss something in a place were you would feel safer."
Elisa sighed and settled into the couch. "What is it that you want to know?" she asked.
Lee sat in a chair in front of her. "I have a feeling Matt probably mentioned it, but I'll tell you either way. I arrived at the sight during the last minutes of the attack. I saw them. And while I would be able to explain them away as a stroke of unbelievable good luck, I can't explain why the little yellow one called out your name."
Elisa didn't say anything. She didn't know how to responds. She didn't know if she should.
Lee leaned forward. "The shit I've had to deal with has taught me to shoot first and ask question later, Elisa."
Elisa looked him in the eye, knowing that he was using her first name as a means to get her attention. While in normal interviews it was a way to sound like a friend, Detective Lee sounded threatening.
Still, she said nothing.
Lee stood up. "I'd appreciate it if you'd led me know something here. I wouldn't want to shoot one down not knowing they're a friend of yours. But I will if I deem them dangerous to me or my companions. I won't let them go if I have doubts."
Elisa tried to form an answer in her thoughts.
The asian man sighed. "I'm going to Roberto's now. I wish I didn't hear it... but I'm pretty sure one of them called out his name, too.."
"He knows of them," Elisa blurted out. "And has befriended one of them."
Lee didn't look happy. "And you?"
"They're close friends."
"Supernatural creatures cannot be friends!"
"Roberto warned me you'd be like this. That's why we haven't said anything."
Lee stood still for a bit, before making his way back to the chair. "What more can you tell me of these creatures?"
X
Lunch time rolled around and there was no sign of Roberto. With a heavy heart, Brooklyn set about to make himself a snack with what was available in the suite.
He wore a pair of jeans and a button up shirt, both of them open as they were a bit on the small side.
While both him and Roberto were roughly the same size, there was a bit more bulk in Brooklyn's muscles.
Fortunately, one of Roberto's sleeping shirts was big enough to cover him, as right before lunch the maid came knocking on the door to clean up the inside.
Brooklyn slowly ate his meal, alternating between staring at the clock and staring at the door...waiting.
X
Karl buttoned up his shirt with one hand while the other held a cell phone.
He stared at himself in the mirror, smoothing out the wrinkles in his uniform.
A moment later, the person he was calling finally answered.
"Have the address and I'm on my way. Letting you know in case your other two want to get there ahead of time." A pause. "One of my colleagues suddenly got sick." Karl smirked. "Must have been something he ate."
X
"What happened to Officer Morgan?" Mike asked, watching as Officer Karl was joining Christina and Jimmy.
Bluestone looked over to the group. "Morgan ended up checking himself into the hospital. They think it's food poisoning."
Mike's eye narrowed. "Oh, really? Suddenly? Just like that?"
"Pretty much."
"How interesting," Mike then focused on Bluestone. "I spoke to Maza."
Bluestone became still. "Oh?"
"She finally came clean about them. I'm not happy... but I think I understand why you didn't say anything when you could have."
Bluestone stared out towards the street. "Yeah. She found them first, so it'll always be her story to tell."
X
Jimmy and Christina's car pulled up in the parking lot of the port side warehouses. Another police car pulled up beside them, Officer Karl and another Manhattan cop occupying that one.
Jimmy walked over to the arriving car and spoke to the driver. "Wait here for us."
The officer nodded and set his car to park.
Jimmy motioned to Christina and they both walked towards the warehouse. As they got near, they slowed down.
The door that led into the office of the warehouse was ajar. Upon closer inspection, it was apparent that the door had been forced open, the wood near the bold splintered.
Jimmy looked at Christina and she nodded in return. Both of them pulled out their guns and slowly entered the office.
Everything was in shambles and the interior door leading into the warehouse was open.
They quietly stepped out into the warehouse and paused.
A body lay sprawled on the stairs, three bullet holes in his back. Jimmy knelt down on felt for a pulse. The body was still warm but there was no more life in it.
Christina made her way past the body and down the stairs.
A slight scuffling sound caught their attention.
Jimmy landed beside her and together they headed towards the source.
The sound of a metal door bursting open signalled them to run.
"Guys, we have an intruder, possibly armed. DB inside!"
They reached the door and raced outside, catching a glance of a white male in dark clothing.
They gave chase as he dashed around the corner.
Gunshots were heard and as they rounded the last corner, a black two door sedan took off.
Officer Karl sat on the floor holding his arm. The other officer was laying on the floor in the center of a growing puddle of blood.
The car was too far away to get a tag number.
"What happened?" Jimmy demanded.
"That guy just came around the corner and shot at us!" Karl hissed.
"Officer down, officer down!" Christina was shouting into her radio as she checked over the other officer. She turned to look at Jimmy. "He's gone," she said, looking ill.
"Dammit," Jimmy cursed. "How much do you want to bet that it was the necklace that guy was looking for?"
X
Mike was pissed. It was late noon and the day had long been shot to hell.
"Are you positive?" he asked over the phone. He listened to the answer and sighed. "Well that's just fuckin' great," he muttered. "Thanks."
"What's wrong?" asked Bluestone, as Mike hung up the phone.
"It was Officer Joe. Someone got to the piece before we did... barely."
"What?!"
"We have two casualties and an injury. We need to get rolling. Let your chief know and see if Elisa wants to join us."
As Bluestone made his way to his Captain's office, Mike whipped out his cell phone and dialed a number. A moment later, he got a response.
"Roberto? Listen up. I need you to stay put... What do you mean you figured I'd be calling to check up on you? ... I am not a mother hen!!... I know you didn't say that but you were thinking it, I could tell by the sound of your voice! And you better not be rolling your eyes at me, young man. Not to mention there's still some shit we gotta talk about, but I'll save that for tomorrow. Ja ne."
Mike hung up the phone with a huff and shoved it back into his pocket. Looking up, he saw that everyone in the vicinity was staring at him.
"What?!"
Everyone went back to what they were doing.
X
"Mike?"
"Yeah." Roberto put his phone away and turned to face Gary. He chuckled softly. "I think he heard you cluck 'cause then he nearly blew a gasket and accused me of calling him a mother hen."
Gary laughed. "That's was great, I could hear him and I wasn't standing that close to you!"
"Whatever. It was my ear drum."
Gary looked at his watch. "Well, I gotta go. You, in the meantime, better do what the hen says and go stay put in your room."
Roberto's good humor left him instantly. But he kept a smile on for Gary's sake. "Si, si," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Going." He turned to head back.
"Hey!"
"What?"
"Uh... just... watch yourself... okay?"
Roberto turned back to glance at Gary, slightly perplexed. The way it was said... "Careful there. People might begin to think you actually care," he joked, trying to shrug away the feeling.
"Whatever, bastard. I just don't want to be suspect if something happened."
Roberto flipped him off and continued on his trek. As soon as he was out of Gary's sight... he slowed down, contemplating his situation once more.
He would have to go back and face Brooklyn. And he would have to make his choice.
While he could spend the entire time going back mentally debating himself and being rational... he knew that it would all change when he stood face to face with the human/gargoyle. So he would wait until then and, following Gary's advice, go with what his heart said.
All too soon, Roberto found himself staring at his suite's door.
X
Brooklyn sighed as he sat in the couch that faced the door. The day was almost gone and in a couple hours, the sun would set. He had tried calling Owen but was unable to get through. And there had been no sign of Roberto.
All this time he had spent with the human was going to waste, and it tore at his heart. If Roberto didn't show up by the time night fell...
Brooklyn wasn't sure what he would do.
The minutes ticked by and he felt more and more dejected.
And then the door clicked open.
Brooklyn scrambled up and then stood still, apprehensive eyes watching as Roberto stepped in.
He tried to catch Roberto's eye, tried to read what was behind them. But it proved difficult. Roberto was not looking up at him.
The tan man placed his keys and cell phone on the little table by the door. He took off his thin jacket and draped it on the chair, meticulously going through each step. With a hitching sigh, he stepped towards Brooklyn before looking up at him.
Brooklyn held his breath as Roberto apparently searched his eyes as well.
After a moment of silent, Roberto spoke first. "What is it that you want from me?"
"I..." Brooklyn hesitated, not sure how to proceed.
Roberto's eyes still searched his own, seeking out the answer he couldn't verbalize.
Roberto leaned towards him, slowly, hesitant. He searched Brooklyn's eyes once more, and then brushed his lips against his.
It was like a spark of electricity that travelled all the way down to his toes. He felt Roberto pulling away, and he knew he had to stop it. Brooklyn's arms shot forward and wrapped themselves around Roberto's slimmer body, yanking him forward, keeping him in place.
There was a moment of resistance and a brief yelp of surprise as Brooklyn grasped Roberto's hair with one hand, pulling him forward, tongue desperately trying to taste the man before him.
And he could feel Roberto melting into his arms as he accepted his questing tongue into his mouth. His body felt like it was on fire now, that odd sensation in his nether regions. The desire to be as close as possible to the warm body in his arms.
Brooklyn twisted Roberto around, both of them crashing into the couch. Roberto's hands clutched at him, but Brooklyn only paid attention to the sensations his body was feeling as his hands explored the firmness beneath him... the soft skin underneath the shirt... the silky hair... the somewhat dry fingers that proved the man beneath him was not as fragile as he appeared.
Roberto pushed at him gently, and Brooklyn pulled back to peer at the man underneath him.
"You didn't answer my question," he said softly, a small but amused smile on his lips. "What do you want from me?"
"I don't know how to answer that."
"Then show me."
Brooklyn felt his mouth grow dry as he became nervous. He was vastly inexperienced, and Roberto's comptemplating stare made him even more nervous. So he went with instinct. He lowered himself back down and kissed Roberto... his hands running across the body much slower than before, wanting to memorize as much as possible.
He quickly learned that Roberto let out the sweetest of moans when his kissed and nipped alongside his neck. It excited him when Roberto lost that look in his eyes, how the man just arched into him, clutched at him, and how his eyes fluttered closed for a couple seconds.
But other than that, he didn't know what else to do. He had some idea, but he wasn't sure how to proceed.
"I want to be one with you," he whispered.
Roberto became still. "Are you certain?" he whispered.
"Yeah."
X
Roberto could feel his heart pounding against his chest as he led Brooklyn into the suite's bedroom. He stopped before the bed and turned to face the human shaped Brooklyn before him. He slowly slid out of his shirt, and then reached out with one hand to pull Brooklyn's head to his, giving him another kiss.
Brooklyn's hands came up to stroke his now bare arms as Roberto used his other hand to tug at Brooklyn's shirt. Then undershirts soon followed as Brooklyn followed by example, and bare skin touched against each other.
Roberto pulled Brooklyn down onto the bed, where they finished undressing one another. Roberto slid on top of Brooklyn, kissing his lips, his cheeks, his neck, travelling down. Hands ran across the human-shaped gargoyle, as lips, tongue, and teeth followed.
Roberto paused when he reached Brooklyn's crotch and gazed up at him. Brooklyn stared at him, passion apparent at his eyes, as well as trust. It was Brooklyn's first, and in a way, it was Roberto's first. Never had he guided anyone in such an act. Never had he willingly touched another man to please him like this since he was taken for an emotional ride back in his high school days. All other acts had been, or felt, forced.
Roberto lowered his head and licked up Brooklyn's length, feeling it harden. He could here the surprised gasp that Brooklyn let out, and held onto his hips to keep him from bucking upwards to far.
Sucking a man's cock had never been a pleasant experience for him. But this was different. Once again, he wasn't being forced to commit this act... he just knew this was the quickest way to stimulate Brooklyn. It was a pleasurable experience for the receiver, and judging by the soft moans that Brooklyn let out, he knew that he was succeeding in his intentions.
Roberto took all of Brooklyn in, let out a hum to send vibrations.
Brooklyn bucked and gasped.
Past experience warned Roberto that Brooklyn's first time was going to be quick. It usually was. There was little sense of control in such matters. Roberto pulled away just when Brooklyn first let out a shot of cum. Roberto slid his hand over the opening, attempting to catch as much as possible to use as lubricant. He kissed Brooklyn on his stomach, and waited for him to come down from his orgasmic bliss.
As soon as Brooklyn's eyes looked a him with a bit of coherency, Roberto whispered into his ear. "I need you to do something."
Brooklyn looked at him.
Roberto moved downward. "I need you to do this to me," he said softly. "A male and female are made to accomodate one another naturally. A male needs to be prepared. I need you to relax just enough for me to show you what to do to me."
Brooklyn tensed briefly as he felt Roberto touching his back side. It stung as a wet finger entered him.
"Relax," whispered Roberto. "It hurts if you tense up."
"But won't I hurt you if I do this to you?" Brooklyn asked, his breath hitching.
"It will hurt me more if you don't."
Roberto pressed up where he knew the prostate was. Brooklyn jerked at the stimulation.
Roberto pulled his finger out and slid up next to Brooklyn, who lay panting, a confused expression on his face.
"You won't hurt me," he said.
Roberto rested on his stomach.
"Go ahead."
Brooklyn followed Roberto's example, and coated his fingers with his essence that remained on his abdomen. His hands trembled a bit, still believing that he would hurt the man.
Roberto hissed as he felt Brooklyn penetrate him with his fingers. "Slowly," he said. "It's been a while."
He could feel Brooklyn hesitate before moving again.
With soft words, Roberto encouraged Brooklyn as he prepared him.
When he felt that he was prepared enough, he guided Brooklyn into entering him.
Brooklyn gasped above him, and Roberto continued to whisper words of encouragement. Roberto grasped at the blankets beneath him as Brooklyn slowly thrusted into him, awkwardly.
It felt pleasant enough for his part, but he knew he wouldn't get complete satisfaction from the act. Brooklyn was far too inexperienced. He could already feel him increasing his speed, driven by the desperation to experience the need that was growing in him.
All to quickly, Brooklyn came, filling him. The young man collapsed on top of him, panting.
Roberto was panting, too, but not as harshly as Brooklyn.
"That was... incredible," Brooklyn breathed out, sliding off of Roberto so that he could look at his face better.
Roberto gave him a soft smile.
Brooklyn's blissful look became troubled. "You didn't enjoy it," he said quietly.
Roberto was taken by surprised. Probably because very few "lovers" had ever taken his own pleasure into consideration.
He gave Brooklyn a gentle smile and rolled to his side, pushing at Brooklyn's shoulders so that he would roll onto his back. "It 's your first time," he said. "I expected that you would find release before me. But don't worry too much. It doesn't have to be over yet."
Roberto straddled Brooklyn, pushing past memories of Callahan behind, and focusing on the male before him. He leaned over and kissed Brooklyn again while thrusting his pelvis against that of Brooklyn. He could feel the male underneath him begin to harden again. He continued the teasing movements as his hands caressed the skin.
Then he stopped and pushed himself up. Keeping his eyes connected with Brooklyn, Roberto lifted himself up, and then lowered himself down onto Brooklyn's shaft. Brooklyn gasped as his hands flew to Roberto's waist, grabbing hold of it. He thrust upwards, shoving himself to the hilt into Roberto.
Roberto shuddered at the contact, his forehead breaking out into a thin layer of sweat.
He let out a moan as he continued to move above Brooklyn, focusing on pleasuring himself and Brooklyn at the same time. Brooklyn let out a strangled cry as well.
Roberto kept a steady and slow pace, tightening his thighs around Brooklyn's waist, trying to keep the younger male from bucking upwards out of sync. Roberto could feel his heart rate increase, and could feel the pressure building. It had been a long time since he felt this way. Far too long.
He felt himself tense up, legs quivering both from the pleasure he was receiving, and the stress they were in from holding his body up. He began to move faster, losing his sense of control. Brooklyn's hands held on to him tighter, and soon began to pull and push at him, setting up his own pace to which Roberto abandoned his own control to.
They both cried out as Roberto found release and found himself being filled once more.
Roberto collapsed on top of Brooklyn, his body limp. He smiled as he closed his eyes, catching his breath.
X
Brooklyn was far from sated. He caught his breath, relishing from the heat and weight of the human on top of him. His hands moved up to caress Roberto's sides, feeling Roberto's heating heart against his chest. He could feel himself hardening again, wanting to be inside Roberto one more time while he still had the chance.
With renewed energy, Brooklyn rolled over, pinning Roberto underneath him.
Sleepy but amused eyes looked up at him, and he found out that Roberto was suddenly very pliable.
He offered no resistance as Brooklyn pulled him down towards the edge of the bed. Brooklyn caught one of Roberto's legs with one arm, lifting it upwards and holding it against his ribs. He pushed in once more, using his other arm to stabilize him above Roberto.
Roberto let out a gasp that excited him even more, and he watched as Roberto writhed underneath him, his face becoming flush, hair spread out against the blankets.
The slow love making that they had been doing up until now was no longer enough for the passion that Brooklyn was feeling. He thrust into Roberto hard and fast, his most primitive need surfacing. Roberto had accepted him, and Brooklyn wanted to claim his mate again and again.
The speed of his thrusts caused Roberto to cry out and become more vocal, and the sounds of his moans and cries made Brooklyn shiver in anticipation. He wanted Roberto to completely enjoy this. Wanted to show Roberto that he was a quick learner.
He kept up his fast pace as Roberto's hands reach up to grasp at him, and he paused only once. He pulled out of Roberto completely, lowering himself down to kiss Roberto, before thrusting back into him and resuming his pace.
He lost track of time, until Roberto threw his head back and suddenly became tense.
Brooklyn almost came, if it weren't for the sudden plea to stop.
"Don't move!" Roberto shouted, his legs tightening around his waist.
Brooklyn looked down at him and could see the fear and uncertainty in his eyes. Glancing up, he could see the sun sink into the horizon.
Brooklyn let out a growl as he felt his body stretch out. His wings extended out of his back, and he felt the warm cavern around his cock become tighter. He could hear Roberto muffle out a cry of pain as his body increased in size and length.
Feeling his transformation complete, Brooklyn glanced back down at Roberto, whose face was contorted with a mixture of pain and pleasure. "Don't move," he kept whispering, over and over again. "I need to adjust."
The knowledge that Roberto wanted him, even in his real form, kept him erect.
When Roberto moved experimentally, it took every ounce of will power not to move himself.
Roberto looked at him and nodded.
Brooklyn scooped him up with one arm, lifting him onto his thighs and began to thrust upward, driving himself into the human. His other hand rested against the bed, using it for support. He watched Roberto's face, trying to determine whether or not he was hurting the now smaller male, or bringing him pleasure.
X
Roberto could only gasp as he felt himself being impaled on Brooklyn's huge cock. The length and thickness pressed tight against his prostate and would continuously rub against it. He could scarcely breathe through the constant stimulation.
He wasn't going to lie. It hurt when he felt Brooklyn suddenly expanding inside him. But he was able to cope with it, having been through worse. And now that pain was a pleasurable kind of torture.
The pressure, while delightfully stimulating, kept him at his peak, unable to cum.
He could feel himself growing faint from the lack of air, and suddenly, Brooklyn held him more securely, lifting him upwards as he pulled out of him. Roberto let out a cry and took in a deep breath of much needed air as the pressure against his prostate finally relented. His body involuntarily jerked as the tip of Brooklyn's cock brushed past it and stopped short of coming out.
The Brooklyn slowly pushed his way in deeper, lowering Roberto, causing him to jerk once more and gasp, fingers desperately clutching at the red skin beneath him.
Brooklyn continued this, slowly pulling all the way out of him before pushing back in, then he would thrust rapidly like before, constant stimulation. It was driving Roberto mad from the sensations. He'd cry out when he was able to, and just gasp when he could get enough air in his lungs. Brooklyn was a beast of brute strength, and Roberto was holding on for the ride.
And then it was over. During one of Brooklyn's slow motions, Roberto finally came, and his whole body became tense.
Brooklyn thrust into him hard, falling forward and pinning him back to the bed, where he thrust in twice more, and he could feel Brooklyn's sperm overflowing.
Both lay gasping for air, as Brooklyn's hard shaft began to soften and withdraw on its own.
X
Brooklyn couldn't believe it. He had a mate. An unorthodox one, but one nonetheless. One that had accepted him in either form. In this form.
Roberto moaned underneath him. "Heavy," he murmured. "Get off." It was said with tired amusement.
Brooklyn rolled to his side so that he could look at the figure that he just mated with. Roberto's face was flushed, and his hair was sticking to the sides of his face from sweat. Tired eyes looked up at him, and a small smile graced his face.
"You should probably use my shower to wash yourself off before you go," Roberto croaked out. Brooklyn smiled and carefully brushed some of Roberto's hair out of his eyes.
Roberto blinked a couple of times, before his eyelids closed completely. His breathing became slower, and was soon fast asleep.
Brooklyn covered him with some blankets, wincing as he realized that in his passions he had clawed up the mattress. "Be back at dawn," he whispered in Roberto's ear.
X
Roberto woke in the middle of the night, his body sore and sticky. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the mattress springs peaking through a slash that could have only been made by a certain someone's claws. He took the time to take a quick shower, threw on a tank and a pair of boxers before making his way back to bed.
He settled in, still feeling content about the night, and fell asleep again, a small smile on his lips. He remembered hearing Brooklyn saying he would be back in the morning... and this time, he believed him.
tbc...

a/n2: Holy smokes, that was completely difficult trying to word it out. I imagined it... but it was hard to put to words. Evil me tempted to end the chapter waaaaayyyy back when Brooklyn left Roberto on the balcony... and then I was tempted to leave it off when Roberto returned to the suite just to annoy you guys more... then I figured, whatever... here is where my outline ended so I went with it. ^^ It will be a while before I even start p with Chapter 12, as I am now going to work on revising two other fics I've been working on, and try to get ahead of schedule with Fading Innocence... my online comic, featuring Roberto. ^^ Okay, the whole original cast but I like to pick on him the most. ^^
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Never Meant to Be