When Graeme Met Lucy…

A TGS-based story

By C.S. Hayden

Characters from the "Gargoyles" show are the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Happa is borrowed with permission from the fanfics of Kimberly T. All other characters are from The Gargoyles Saga fanfiction series.

Part IV– The Wyvern Junior Leadership Summit

Manhattan, 2010

The metal doors crashed open against the rough stones of the castle wall. A dark-haired woman in a red jacket rushed out, gun held low at the ready. "What's going on?" she demanded. "I heard the alarms halfway up the express elevator!"

"We're not sure, Elisa," Goliath said as she joined her. "All our guests have arrived, or so we thought."

"I don't see anybody," Elisa shouted. "Is it a false alarm?"

"Cut the lights!" Goliath bellowed over the klaxons. "And do something about that noise!"

"I'm on it!" Lexington shouted back as he accessed a hidden control panel. The skylights and alarms shut off a few seconds later. "Sorry – something triggered the security systems. I'll access the A.I. and see what's going on." He reached behind his ear for his computer access cable.

"Hold off on that." Brooklyn had his nose up, sniffing the air. "What is that?" His head swiveled around as he followed the scent. He froze, staring directly at a deep shadow near the helipad.

There was a brief movement in the shadow as the intruder became aware of their observation. Goliath strode forward. "Come out," he said sternly, "we know you are there."

"S-stay back!" The voice was strangely sibilant but high-pitched and soft. "I will defend myself!" Her silhouette was slim and she swayed like a tree in the wind.

Goliath narrowed his eyes as he peered into the darkness. "That will depend on you," he said. "We do not welcome intruders here."

A loop of serpentine tail slithered out of the shadows and slid back in when Ariana and the first wave of young gargoyles arrived, chattering excitedly amongst themselves as they perched on the parapet walls. Goliath silenced them with one look over his shoulder.

Angela came up besides him. "I think she's frightened." She called out, "It's okay – we're not going to hurt you. Come out so we can see you."

Slowly, the serpentine tail reappeared. It was nearly as wide as a human's torso at the base, with several feet of tapering coils. Sinuously, the rest of the body emerged. The wide scales on the front of the body were ivory but the rest formed a mosaic patterns in colors from a metallic bronze to a greenish-grey. From the waist up, she was humanoid wearing leather armor, two metal forearm gauntlets with protruding blades like giant snake fangs, and a metal helmet that resembled a gargoyle's head including side fins that looked like curved ears. Feathered wings completed her unusual features.

"My name is Scylla," the newcomer said haltingly. "You invited me." Her scales hissed as she nervously coiled up her tail around her.

Goliath took a step towards her and she flinched away from him like a deer in headlights. "Let me, Father," Angela murmured as she caped her wings to make herself seem less imposing. "You remind me of some of the beings that we met on New Olympus. We sent an invitation to Icarus but we never got a response."

Scylla swayed slightly. "I know… Icarus presented your proposal to the council but everyone argued against it. Taurus and Icarus are the only ones that have ever been to the outside world." She reached into her gauntlet and took out a folded piece of paper. "I volunteered -- Icarus gave his permission."

"Then how did you get here?" Angela prompted gently.

"Taurus took one of the shielded ships out," Scylla answered. "He said that I would benefit from your guidance but if you don't want me to stay, he gave me a contact button." She began to dig in the satchel slung over her shoulder. "He said he'd be offshore for a few hours."

"Wait!" Angela turned back to the others. "She's come such a long way, Father, and she came on her own. I think shows courage and strength of character, don't you?"

"It does indeed," Goliath rumbled. "What do you think, Elisa?" he asked, deferring to his human mate.

"If Taurus vouched for her," Elisa said, "then that's good enough for me." She came forward and held her hand to the New Olympian. "I'm Elisa Maza -- welcome to Manhattan."

Scylla stared at Elisa's hand for a few moments. It was clear that she wasn't sure what to do. Giving a quick twist of the wrist, the blade on her right arm slid up into her gauntlet. "I was told that humans have this custom," she said as she accepted Elisa's hand very tentatively. "This is correct, yes?"

Elisa shook her hand very quickly and released it. "Yes, it is. I think you'll fit in just fine." She glanced over her shoulder and Ariana came over. "I'm going to let Ariana take over – she's hosting the girls and her brother Graeme is hosting the boys." She looked around. "Graeme?"

"He was right behind me," Ariana said, glancing about. "That's weird."

"Graeme-kun?" Sata was counting heads anxiously. "Brooklyn, he's not here."

"Hang on," Dodger called out. "Lucy's gone too." He gave a barking laugh. "Don't you get it? The lovebirds have flown the coop."

"'Lovebirds?'" Mawson asked curiously.

"I thought as much," Midori said from her perch on the parapets with the others. "They turned back towards the park, just before we hit the thermals."

"They met in Ishimura at the first World Gathering," Happa said. "I didn't realize that Graeme and Lucy were still in contact."

"Please!" Ariana rolled her eyes. "If anything, they're tighter than ever." She turned to Scylla. "We might as well go back down to the party. C'mon, I'll give you the scenic tour of the castle."

Goliath shook his head. "This isn't like Graeme," he rumbled. "What could he be thinking?"

"Well," Lexington said, "if you'll recall, this originally got started because Graeme wanted to bring Lucy over for a visit. Don't you think we should cut the kid some slack, just for tonight?"

"Besides," Brooklyn said, not taking his eyes off his gauntlet display, "his transponder's on. I'll keep an eye on him."

Sata grabbed his arm and looked at the readout. "Are you sure?"

"He's fine," Brooklyn said and smiled at his mate. "I know exactly where he's going."

o o o O O O O o o o

Lucy couldn't remember when she'd had this much fun. Graeme had whisked her away from the Eyrie building and sent them soaring high over Central Park. They'd startled the animals in the zoo and had been serenaded by a chorus of roars and howls. Sailing over Sheep's Meadow, Lucy began to wonder where Graeme was taking her. They passed a lake with a boathouse and a wild, rambling stretch of trees. She could see some sandy areas far ahead and as soon as she recognized them, she gave a little laugh.

"Honestly, Graeme," she teased, "I know you're hooked on baseball, but we should've brought the others."

"Nope, not tonight." His fingers tightened around hers. "Close your eyes for a moment – I've got a surprise for you."

"You're not going to fly me into a tree, are you?"

"I don't plan on it."

Closing her eyes, Lucy let Graeme guide her over the warm air currents coming off of the trees below. They shifted to the left – westerly, she decided – and the currents shifted. She didn't need to see to know that they were gliding in towards some kind of building. The air patterns themselves told her that; even a novice flyer could sense the changes. Before she could shift around for a landing, Graeme pulled her in for a mid-air scoop into his arms.

"Graeme!" She was pleasantly surprised as she instinctively put her arms around his neck – his chest and shoulders had become more muscled since their last meeting in London.

"Keep your eyes closed – almost there!" His voice sounded breathless with excitement.

A rush of wind blew her hair around Lucy's face as they descended. She smelled a cacophony of flowers, the mustiness of stones, and the sharp green scent of duckweed. Graeme landed with light bounding steps, his feet thumped hollowly on whatever surface was beneath them. Gently, he put her down.

"Okay, you can open them."

Lucy's jaw dropped. It was like she had awoke in a tiny fairy tale kingdom in the middle of the busiest city in the world. They were standing at the top of what appeared to be a Victorian folly; there had been one on the Marter estate that had been partially destroyed during World War II. In the reconstruction that followed after the Unseelie attacks of the late nineties, Leo and several of the other elders decided to restore the Marter folly. As Una adroitly put it, it kept her father and his cronies out from underfoot.

"It's gorgeous, Graeme," she breathed finally. "Where did you bring me?"

"This is Belvedere Castle," he said with a nervous smile. "It's the second highest place in the park." He led her up the walkway to the tower. "This overlooks the Turtle Pond and the Great Lawn on this side," he pointed back the way they'd came, "and the Shakespeare Garden and Sheep's Meadow are over there."

"It's lovely." Lucy sighed blissfully and leaned against the ledge. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"Actually, I didn't bring you here for the view." He rubbed the back of his head, making his hair stand up even more.

"Really?" Lucy turned to face him. "And what reason would that be?"

He put his hands on her waist and lifted her up on the wall. "I thought it would be the perfect place for a first kiss."

Lucy nearly laughed. "We did that already, silly."

"Yeah, but that was in London," Graeme said. "This is our first kiss in New York." There was a certain seriousness in his manner – a glint in his eye, an arch of his brow – that hadn't been there before and it gave Lucy a delicious shiver all the way down to her toes. Before she could say anything, Graeme's beak was on her muzzle and they were kissing as if they had never been apart.

The kiss at Belvedere Castle had only been the beginning. Graeme took Lucy on a whirlwind tour of the city landmarks – the Empire State building, the Chrysler Building, Times Square, and Chinatown – but the place that he absolutely had to take her to was down in the Village. He just knew that it would be the perfect place to finish their date.

"This is it," he called out as he and Lucy circled the building. "What do you think?"

"'The Rockaway?'" Lucy read off the marquee on the roof. "What is it? Is it a theater?"

"It was once," Graeme said as they touched down, a tricky maneuver with the metal tables and chairs clustered around the perimeter. "As I understand it, the Rockaway has been a lot of things. It's been a movie house and a speakeasy but now it's a nightclub. You'll love it here!"

"We're going in?" Lucy grabbed his arm. "But I thought that New York wasn't gargoyle friendly yet – you're always telling me how much trouble you still have here."

Graeme grinned. "Not at the Rockaway – it's a very friendly place." He reached over and rang the bell.

It was a minute or two before someone responded. "Yeah? Who's up there?"

"It's me, Graeme and I've a got a guest."

The speaker crackled. "Gimmee a minute – I'll send someone up."

Lucy raised a brow. "Suspicious lot, aren't they?"

"Just cautious," Graeme said mildly. "We're not the only guests that come in from the roof."

"You're kidding, right?"

Before he could answer, they both heard loud footsteps coming up the stairwell. The heavy door swung open and a short human girl dressed from head to toe in black stood there. A brunette with long bangs that almost covered her eyes, she was wearing a lacy top over a velvet bra and a short pleated skirt with fishnet tights and combat boots. The most unusual thing was that she had a pair of cat's ears peeking through her hair and a long furry tail. Lucy supposed that it was some sort of human fad – they got all sorts back home at the magic shop.

"Graemster!" the girl called out, flinging her arms out. "It's been too long!"

"Hey, Winnie," Graeme replied pleasantly. "How's tricks?"

"I haven't turned anyone into a frog all day," Winnie shot back, "but the night's still young." She looked Lucy over and grinned even wider. "Well, well… who's this?"

"This is Lucy – she's visiting from London."

"No kidding – with that Union Jack on her chest, I would have never guessed."

Lucy suddenly felt horribly underdressed. Until Winnie had commented on it, she hadn't given her swimsuit a second thought. "Oh, dear," she murmured. "Graeme, I don't know that I'm properly dressed to come in here."

"That's very true, chicky-poo," Winnie agreed. "Fortunately, that's why we keep a collection of wearables up here for our discerning gargie guests." She waved them in. "C'mon, I'll set you up."

Following Winnie down the metal stairwell, they wound up in a narrow hallway with several doors. There seemed to be a dull throb vibrating through the floor that made Lucy's toes itch. Winnie shoved Graeme playfully towards a door marked 'The Balcony.' "Go on," she said," you go order drinks and munchies. I'll take care of Miz Lucy. G'wan – shoo!"

"Graeme?"

He waved at her as he reached for the door handle. "It's okay – you'll be fine."

Winnie went a little farther down the hall and unlocked a small room. "Here we go," she said as she went inside and turned on the light by pulling a ball chain that was dangling from the ceiling. "Welcome to Winnie's Wardrobe of Wonders!"

The room wasn't much bigger than a walk-in closet but it was packed from top to bottom. There were racks on both sides and the back wall was divided into labeled compartments with plastic bins. Lucy was reminded of the clan's collection of clothes, except that they had considerably more.

"Okay, all the women's fashions are on the left," Winnie began as she started rifling through the hangers, "and all the men's stuff is on the right."

"Where did you get it all from?" Lucy fingered a low-cut gold dress that looked like it was made from glittering snakeskin.

"Oh, this is all from the lost and found box." Winnie took a bright pink outfit out, looked at Lucy, shook her head and put it back. "You'd be surprised what people will leave behind. Once or twice a year, we box it up and send it off to the charity of the week but since Graeme's clan started coming around, we started saving a few things and keeping them up here."

"That's generous of you."

"Hey, it saves us having to haul it up the stairs whenever Lex drops by without his pants."

Winnie giggled and Lucy was startled to see the cat ears twitch back and forth. "Poor guy, those wings make it tough to dress the part here but my boss has a strict 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' policy."

"No… shoes?" Lucy looked at her feet. "But---"

"Well, we fudge a bit on that one for you guys. Oooh… perfect!!" Winnie came up with a short pleated skirt in bright red. "This will go great with what you're already wearing. Here," she took it off the hanger and handed it over, "try it on."

Winnie politely turned away and began digging through a plastic bin while Lucy stepped into the skirt. It actually wasn't a bad fit, she had to admit, even though it wasn't something that she normally wore.

"Oh, yeah!" Winnie turned back with some big red and blue bangle bracelets wide enough for a gargoyle's wrist. "We'll just add these and you're ready to go! Perfecto!"

"Thank you." Lucy paused for a moment. "You're being awfully nice about this."

"Please!!" Winnie rolled her eyes. "Good karma comes around, I say." She laughed. "Besides, I'll bet you happened to be 'THE' Lucy that Graeme's always talking about, right? That automatically puts you on my VIP list!"

"How did you know?" Lucy asked curiously, flattered that a complete stranger would know her.

"Hey, as often as Graeme brings his laptop in here and sits in the corner to chat with you, how could I not?" She laughed and her tail lazily swished around her legs. "It's cute, it really is." Leading the way out across the hall, Winnie opened the door to the Balcony. "Now, let's see what your boyfriend thinks, hmm?"

Lucy stepped through the door into a wall of sound so solid that it was almost blinding. It took a few seconds for her to get her bearings; luckily, the Balcony was softly lit with antique wall lamps and candles on the tables. It was furnished with paisley sofas grouped for conversation, several small tables, and a row of old wooden telephone booths. One of these had an 'In Service' sign lit up and Lucy could only imagine what might be going on.

"Wow!" Graeme jumped up from the table he'd procured overlooking the stage. "You look great!" He tripped over a chair but recovered nicely. "I got us a primo spot! The band's really good tonight!

"It's awfully loud!" Lucy said as she took her seat.

"What?"

"Is it always this LOUD?" Her ears instinctively mashed themselves flat against her head.

Graeme leaned in. "You'll get used to it!"

"You're kidding?"

"No, really!" His beak was brushing her cheek. "You're lucky that they're winding down – some of the bands they book in here can get REALLY loud!"

Winnie arrived with a loaded tray. "Awww…. you two are so adorable, I may just squee!!" She set down two glasses of a dark liquid and a large basket of assorted foods. "Okay, that's two Rockaway Reds and a gargoyle-sized batch of wings, skins, and poppers. Enjoy!!"

Wings, skins and poppers turned out to be spicy chicken wings, baked potato skins with cheese, sour cream and onions, and breaded cheese-stuffed jalapenos. Lucy ate the spicy food sparingly but Graeme happily crunched up the chicken wings bones and all. The beverages went down so smoothly that it wasn't until Lucy was on the second one that she realized she was drinking beer.

"Graeme!" she said as she stared at her glass. "Ariana said that we weren't allowed to have alcohol!"

"Yeah, AT the castle" he said as he waggled his brows, "but not here at the Rockaway."

"Grrrrrrraeme…" She tried to sound reproachful but deep down there was a small part of her that resented always having to lead by example. Just once, she reasoned, it might be nice to rebel just a bit. "Do we dare?" she finally asked.

"Ooooh, let's!" Graeme shot back, imitating her accent.

o o o O O O O o o o

"So, Scylla," Ariana said in an effort to break the ice, "you're from New Olympus. I've never been there but I've heard about it. What's it like?"

"It is a place," Scylla said, her voice echoing hollowly in her helmet, "like any other." She had followed them back to the arboretum where Alex was sprawled out on a chaise lounge asleep. The New Olympian had taken one look at him and wrapped her coils so tightly around her that she stood as rigid as a tree. The rest of the young gargoyles had retreated to the food tables where they could study the newcomer from a distance.

Unfortunately, as hostess, Ariana didn't have that luxury. Casting a desperate look at Midori, she tried again. "Angela said that New Olympus was originally populated by Oberon's Children and that a lot of them resemble beings from ancient mythology."

Scylla stood perfectly still for a moment. "I suppose that is true," she said, lisping slightly on the sibilant consonants. "Icarus procured a number of human books on his journeys to the outside world. In ancient times, before humans began to slaughter our kind, certain of us were memorialized in literature. We have many different clans on New Olympus besides gargoyles."

"Centaurs?" Midori asked, gamely joining the conversation. "They were my favorites among the Greek myths."

"Yes," Scylla answered, turning her head so that the sharp beak of her helmet pointed straight at her. "One of my teachers was a centaur named Kyrios. He taught astronomy and mathematics."

"You know, Scylla," Midori began sweetly, "I am dying to see the color of your eyes. Would you mind terribly if you took the helmet off?" She tilted her head to one side. "Please?"

"It would be nice if you would," Ariana added. "We're supposed to be getting to know each other after all."

Slowly and deliberately, Scylla reached up under the edge of her jaw piece and detached it with a loud click. She leaned forward to slip off her helmet so her face was hidden for a moment. When she lifted her face, everyone stepped back. A delicate pattern of scales framed the edges of her face, going back to what had seemed to be hair, but was actually long, tapering quills growing out of her scalp. Her nose was merely a slight ridge in the center of her face with two slits for nostrils and likewise her lips were thin and barely noticeable. What held everyone's attention, however, were her eyes – they were pale green with gold surrounding diamond-shaped pupils. Staring into Scylla's eyes had the strange effect of the world slowly drifting away.

"Stop!!" Scylla slapped her tail on the tiles hard enough to rattle the dishes on the table. Everyone blinked and drew a sudden breath. "You mustn't look directly at my eyes! It can be very dangerous!" She turned her face away, glancing nervously at them but clearly taking care not to mesmerize them again.

"I'm sorry," Midori said gently. "We didn't mean to stare."

"Yeah," Ariana said, "I mean, I don't know about everyone else but I couldn't help myself. How'd you do that?"

Scylla shrugged. "I don't know. It's something I inherited from my father – he could do it too. No one else in the clan can."

"Well," Mawson said as he ambled up, "it would be a damned useful skill to have out on the ice. There've been times that I would have given anything to put a leopard seal in a trance like that." He smiled, his protruding tusks giving him a rakish air. "You must come visit us in Antarctica."

"I wish I could," Scylla said with a shy smile, the first that anyone had seen since her arrival, "but I do not do well in the cold. Father and I always moved into the lower caverns in winter."

Mawson nodded. "That's only sensible – it's warm and snug in our clan's caverns no matter how cold it is outside. It's the peak of winter back home – that's why I was happy to come here. What's it like on New Olympus?"

"Well…" Scylla began hesitantly, "our island is shrouded in mists to conceal us from the outside world but the weather is very pleasant now. Our climate is temperate with a long rainy season in mid-winter." She gave a small hissing laugh. "I've only seen snow twice in my life and only then on the highest peaks."

"Only twice?" Mawson laughed and waved Kirima over. "Did you hear that, Kiri? We consider it a heat wave if we see bare ground."

The others joined in laughing at his joke. Ariana gave him a thumb's up from behind Scylla's back and Mawson winked back.

"I think you've made a friend there," Midori murmured. "If I were you, I'd be sure to thank him properly."

"Hey, you helped," Ariana answered back. "Thanks for smoothing things over."

"Sometimes it's necessary to stir the soup." Midori smiled at her friend's puzzled look. "It's something that Miya says – she says that the most important job that a hostess does is to help things move along, like when all the miso sinks to the bottom of the bowl."

Ariana nodded. "You have to stir the soup."

"Exactly." Midori glanced around the arboretum and noted the other Asian gargoyles clumped together. "So, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll mingle."

Dodger crossed the room. "So," he said with a rakish tilt of the head, "where d'you suppose Biscuit took Lu?"

"Yeah, I meant to ask about that," Mawson said, coming into the conversation, "Aren't they awfully young to be paired off?"

"Paired… off?" Scylla blinked. "I do not understand. I thought this was a leadership conference."

"That's what the adults decided to call it," Ariana said with a smirk, "but it all got started because Graeme wanted Lucy to come for a visit." She laughed. "They met on the Internet years ago but after they found out that they were both gargoyles, well, let's just say it got serious pretty quickly."

"Ah, I had wondered," Happa said as he came over with the rest of the Asian gargoyles. "I overheard Kai and Sakaki – that's our clan leader and rookery mother -- discussing this. You and Graeme do have a disadvantage, being the only two gargoyles of your age and too closely related to be mates."

"With my brother? Eeeuuw!" Ariana wrinkled her nose. "Unfortunately, that's one of things that came up once the World Council got involved."

"It's just another excuse to bung things up," Dodger snorted. "Remember th' mix-and-match mating disaster of 2007? They wanted to match Tiberius up with someone and he took to the hills."

"I remember that," Kirima said. "They wanted to put him with Aurora, our junior healer. To tell the truth, she wasn't that disappointed when the arrangements fell through."

"How is Aurora?" Ariana asked. "She was a lot of fun when she was staying here at the castle."

Kirima grinned like a knife. "That's what she said about Manhattan when the elders were making up their minds about this trip. They very nearly didn't let us come!"

"'You young scamps,'" Mawson said, drawing his face down comically so his tusks jutted out, "'aren't leaving the ice to have fun! The world is for serious people doing serious things!'" He rolled his eyes. "I'll spare you the litany about being contaminated by humans, blah-blah-blah."

"Your elders too?" Li Kao said, raising one brow ridge rakishly. "We were warned about humans as well." He glanced over at Alex who was snoring with his mouth open. "Somehow, they're not as menacing we were told to expect."

"They never are," Ariana laughed. "People are people, no matter what species. You have to judge for yourself."

o o o O O O O o o o

By the time the headliners had taken the stage, Graeme and Lucy had made their way downstairs to the dance floor. Lucy had protested but Graeme had taken her hand and pulled her into the crowd. The few people who objected to their presence had been firmly but politely removed by a dark-haired brooding man with headlight eyes.

"Don't worry," Graeme said by her ear, "Gomez is on the job. Nobody starts trouble in his club."

"He's the owner?" Lucy asked. "I thought he was the bouncer."

"Gomez is a hands-on kind of guy. He books the acts too."

Lucy glanced around carefully. Back in London, people no longer panicked when gargoyles passed overhead but even in the bohemian surroundings of the magic shop, humans were unlikely to be this friendly. The young people in the room were too involved with the music and each other to give them a second glance but she was surprised when several of them called out to Graeme.

"You seem popular," Lucy said loudly. "Do you do this often?"

"Not that much," Graeme replied just as loudly. "I love Indie Rock night though – a lot of people from school are into it."

"School?" Lucy grinned. "NYU let you in?"

"Yeah! It's going to take me a bit longer because I have to take all my classes at night or online but that's okay." Graeme swung her around jubilantly. "Higher education rocks!"

"You're such a geek."

The music dropped into a slow ballad and Graeme pulled her close. "But I'm your geek."

Lucy rubbed her cheek against his. "This is true."

Without saying a word, Graeme folded his wings around her. It was like being held with two sets of arms; Graeme's wings with their opposable 'hands' on the tip of his spurs were more flexible and dexterous than most gargoyles. Her feathered wings, by comparison, could only drape over her shoulders like a fluffy white cape. The significance of his gesture was lost on the humans around them but Lucy was deeply touched.

"Penny for your thoughts."

"Oh, tosh." Lucy stretched her arms over his shoulders. "You, sir, are being terribly bold tonight." She rubbed her nose against the end of his beak. "You weren't acting like this at the castle."

"Well, at the castle there's more of an audience."

Lucy threw back her head and laughed. "That's silly – this place is packed!"

"Yeah, but my sister isn't here or my parents or Dodger or any of those other guys that turned up," Graeme said. "I know Goliath means well but I only wanted to be with you."

"How do I know this is you or the beer talking?"

"Trust me, this is all me. Knowing Winnie, everything after the first or second round was non-alcoholic."

"Really?" She pouted. "I'm disappointed – I thought we were living on the wild side."

"You want wild?" Graeme grinned and maneuvered them off the dance floor. He led the way into the bar where a bald human in a tacky bowling shirt was mixing drinks. "Hey, Frank! Two Pugsleys!"

The bartender looked them both over with experienced eyes. He barely raised an eyebrow at their wings. "Dude, it's not Wednesday," he said slowly, "and I'm willing to bet that neither of you are legal."

"C'mon, Frank!" Graeme pulled a wallet out of his pocket and took a card out of it. "See? 'Born 1978' – that makes me thirty-two and she's the same age that I am."

"Uh-huh." Frank began putting glasses into a rack above his head. "Well, as I understand it, you guys age at half the rate of humans so if I did the math right, that makes you sixteen."

Graeme leaned over the bar. "Fraaaaank…," he said in a low, pleading tone, "it's her first time in New York! Lucy can't leave The Rockaway without having one of your Pugsleys."

Frank glanced down the bar at a hooded figured nursing a drink. "Well," he said, "it's your call."

Lucy and Graeme both looked down to see an olive green four-fingered hand lift a glass up to the face hidden by the hood. Graeme wrinkled his nose. "Lex? How come we didn't smell you?"

"As packed as it is in here, I'd be surprised if you did." Lexington swiveled around on the stool to face them.

Lucy bit back her impulse to laugh. He was dressed in a striped hooded jacket and the baggiest jeans that she'd ever seen. The strange thing, she realized as she took a delicate sniff, was that he had no discernable scent. A gargoyle's scent was as distinctive as a fingerprint; a gargoyle without a scent was like seeing a ghost.

"You didn't think you'd be missed, did you? If Brooklyn wasn't so occupied with all those young males hovering around your sister, he would have come himself."

"Huh?"

Lexington tapped his arm and pointed to Graeme. "He tracked you."

"Awww, man!" Graeme smacked the heel of his hand against his forehead. "I should have thought of that!"

"Tracked him?" Lucy asked. "How?"

Turning so she could see his armband, Graeme explained, "I've got a transponder in this thing. It's a redundant system from when we were still time-traveling. Dad's got a search-and-find function on his gauntlet."

"I hope you two are done here," Lexington said. "Goliath wasn't too happy to find you two gone but Brooklyn and I convinced him to cut you a break. We really should be going." He nodded to Frank. "Three for the road."

The bartender crooked an eyebrow back at him. "You sure?"

"I'll take full responsibility." Lexington sighed. "Besides, I am not facing Red Wind sober."

"Red Wind?" Lucy whispered.

"His Chinese mate," Graeme whispered back. Before he could explain further, Frank put three shot glasses filled with an iridescent liquid on the bar and, with a flick of his lighter, lit them. Pale blue flames danced on the surface of the drinks.

Laughing at Lucy's startled expression, Graeme said, "And that's why they're called 'Flaming Pugsleys.'"

Lexington took his and blew it out. "Cheers," he said and tossed it down. "Cotton candy and Crown Royal."

Graeme offered one to Lucy and then touched glasses with hers. "Here's to more nights like tonight," he said before extinguishing his drink and downing it. "Waaaaaaaaasabi! Woo!"

Puzzled by their reactions, Lucy followed suit. "Bottom's up," she said tentatively and drank her first Pugsley. Warm alcohol rushed over her tongue and wafted up into her sinuses. Just as she was preparing for the burning sensation down the back of her throat, it happened. The flavor of sweetly tart berries burst in her mouth and cool cream swirled around them. Wide-eyed, she swallowed and smiled at them. "Amazing! Raspberries and clotted cream! How did that happen?"

"Easy," Lexington said as he thrust his thumb at the bartender. "Frank Ester is a genius."

Frank buffed his nails on his shirt. "I prefer master mixologist, thank you."

"Nobody knows why," Graeme said, "but Pugsleys react differently to individual body chemistries."

"It's wonderful!" Lucy beamed at Frank. "Thank you!"

"I like her," Frank said, winking Graeme. "You have my blessing."

Graeme glared. "Stop channeling my mother!"

"That'll do," Lexington said sternly as he tossed some money on the bar. "You and Lucy head upstairs. I'll be there in a minute."

The crowd was thinning down as they made their way to the stairs. "It's odd," Lucy commented as they went up, "but why doesn't Lexington have any scent? I know he did earlier, back at the castle."

"Oh, that." Graeme made a face. "Lex probably had a fight with his mate. They haven't been getting along for months. When he wants to get away from her, he uses this stuff that he found down in the Xanatech R&D labs. You spray it on," he mimed the action, "and it neutralizes your scent." He shuddered. "I tried it once and it really creeped me out."

"I thought Red Wind was rather nice," Lucy said. "I could tell that the Chinese and Koreans were really overwhelmed but Red Wind was doing everything she could do to make them at home."

Graeme snorted. "That's ironic, because she wouldn't step foot out of the castle for nearly a month after she arrived. She used to flinch whenever a human came near her."

"Can you blame her? Kwan Lin told me that they rarely interact with humans in China and the Korean clan has been in hiding for years." Lucy shook her head. "You and I have an advantage, growing up with humans, but even we've had our troubles being accepted into the mainstream."

Winnie met them in the Balcony at the top of the stairs. "Hey, did Lex find you?"

"Yeah, he'll be along in a minute." Graeme nodded towards the door to the roof. "We're headed home."

"Did you have fun?" Winnie asked Lucy.

"Yes, I did," Lucy answered back. "It was delightful!"

"Here, you two kids go on up," Winnie said as she unlocked the door. "I can't wait to get Lex out of his pants." Her cat ears twitched back and forth as she giggled and went back into the club, her tail swishing lazily behind her.

"Okay," Lucy said as they came out onto the roof, "I didn't think it was polite to mention it before but what's up with the kitty ears and the tail? We get people with fur fetishes in London but those things are real!"

"Winnie probably gave you bonus points for not asking. She gets tired of people bugging her about it," Graeme said wryly. "The truth of it is that Winnie comes from a long line of witches. Gomez's wife, Tish, is her aunt and she's training her. The problem is that Winnie is accident-prone."

"Really?" Lucy took this news with ease; growing up with a sorceress for a mother and living above a magic shop made one believe in the unbelievable. "You mean she did this to herself?"

"She managed to transform into a cat all right but going back to human, she took a detour." Graeme shrugged. "Tish helped her out, but for whatever reason, Winnie's stuck with them for the duration. Fortunately, she fits right in at the Rockaway ."

Lucy was speechless at this statement, but before she could reply, Lexington came up the stairwell with Winnie wrapped around his arm. They were both laughing at something and when they caught sight of Graeme and Lucy looking at them, they laughed even harder.

Graeme cocked his head at them. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Winnie tittered as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Just a cheap giggle between friends." She slapped Lexington playfully on the arm. "You're so bad, telling me things like that!"

Lexington winked at her before stepping out on the roof. "Well, you did ask."

"So I did." Winnie stopped at the doorway. "You need to drop by more often, Lex – I miss your jokes!" she called out as the three gargoyles hopped up on the roof's edge. "Come back soon!"

o o o O O O O o o o

To get the newcomers adjusted to their new environment, Goliath and Brooklyn divided the younger gargoyles and took them out to do sweeps of Manhattan. Goliath and Broadway took Happa, Li Kao, Yong, Mawson and Dodger with them to cover the west side. Brooklyn and Sata took Ariana, Midori, Kwan Lin, Jin-ho, Kirima, and Scylla with them to cover the east side. Owen had appeared just as Alex was preparing to suit up and determined that the teenaged boy was too sleepy to operate a flight suit. Alex protested loudly as Owen escorted him away but everyone could tell it was all for show.

Although New York City was reputed to be 'The City That Never Sleeps,' it did slow down in the wee hours of the morning. Dodger and the Ishimurans took the tour with ease but the others were less enthusiastic. As they all met up over Central Park and sailed back towards the Eyrie Building, Ariana couldn't help but worry over the group's dynamics. Kirima and Mawson had a slight advantage in that they had spent several weeks in London acclimatizing to urban life but the Koreans and the Chinese remained cautious. Scylla remained a mystery; she was eagerly taking in all the sights but still she remained quiet and reserved. Even her method of flight was curious – her snake-like lower body actually flattened out while she was gliding, giving her extra lift in the air.

As they approached the castle, they could see Nudnik running back and forth along the parapets. He wasn't howling but he was clearly excited about something.

"What is the matter with your beast?" the Chinese female, Kwan Lin called out as they began to circle in.

"That's Nudnik," Ariana called back. "He's probably waiting for Graeme – Nudnik always fusses when my brother leaves him behind."

"They… are bonded?"

"Graeme raised Nudnik from a pup, if that's what you mean."

Just as they began to glide in for a landing, angry voices rose on the wind.

"—and erasing your scent! How many times must I say how that offends me?"

"You know, Red Wind, at this point, I just don't care."

"I can smell it on your breath – you've been to that place again." There was an audible pause. "You've been dallying with that freakish wench again!"

"At least she's nice to me – maybe you should take lessons from her."

The sound of their talons clicking on the hard stones and the loud swoosh of their wings drowned out the argument for a few moments. Nudnik bounded up to Ariana and whined, butting his broad head up against her.

"Yeah, I know, Nuddy-wuddy," Ariana said as she scratched his ears. "Somebody forgot to take you along, yes, he d---"

"Ni juede wo hen ben ma?" Red Wind shouted angrily.

"No," Lexington snapped as the younger gargoyles peered cautiously over the wall at them. He and Red Wind were a level down in one of the smaller courtyards and their voices echoed off the rough castle stones. "I never said you were an idiot. This has nothing to do with you – I was sent out to retrieve Graeme and Lucy. Why do you think that just because I go out and have a few drinks that it has something to do with you?"

Red Wind glared at him and growled something in Chinese that Ariana didn't quite hear. She glanced at Kwan Lin whose eyes were as round as saucers. "What'd she say?" Ariana hissed.

Kwan Lin looked down, biting her lip, but Li Kao answered, "She said that there is no reason for her to expect any consideration from him." He raised his brow ridges as Red Wind continued. "Ah. Some nasty marital comments here -- I don't believe I'll repeat them. Kwan Lin doesn't like that kind of language." He clucked under his tongue. "Not a happy couple, are they?"

"No… not really," Ariana said slowly. It wasn't anything that she hadn't already been aware of but it felt awkward to have her clan's dirty laundry out in front of her guests. "Let's go that way," she said pointing down the parapet, "and let them fight without us."

Nudnik started off in the direction she pointed, stopped to sniff and then gave a happy chortle. He broke into a gallop, leaping out onto a ledge at the far side of the parapet where he began baying at the top of his voice.

"Someone's happy," Kwan Lin said with smile. "That's a recognition call."

"It is?" Ariana asked. "Nudnik makes such a racket all the time that we just assume he's making noise."

"Guardians have their own forms of communications," Kwan Lin said as they went to see what Nudnik was looking at. "My clan specializes in breeding them. I've been studying them as part of my healer apprenticeship. Nudnik is a classic example of the Chinese 'fu-dog' breed but I've never seen anything like Bronx. His bloodline died out long ago."

"Actually, Angela says that there's a female guardian beast on Avalon, a couple of generations down from Bronx."

"Really?" Kwan Lin's eyes lit up but before she could inquire further, Graeme and Lucy came spiraling in from the south. They were laughing as they landed awkwardly with two large insulated cups in their hands.

"Whoops!" Lucy yelped as her drink sloshed over her fingers. She giggled as Graeme swung her around. "Stop it! Stop it! You're making me dizzy!"

Ariana and Dodger exchanged a look and shook their heads at each other. "Well, well," Ariana said loudly, "just where did you two get off too?" She glanced at their cups critically. "You've been to the Last Mug, I see. How's Abe?"

"Abe is fine," Graeme said, releasing Lucy. He reached into his vest and took out a long cookie from a pocket, offering it to Nudnik. "And Abe asked about you, yes, he did!" He gestured, and Nudnik stood on his haunches, front paws up and stubby tail wagging furiously. "Yummy-ummy ginger almond biscotti for Nuddy!" He tossed the treat and Nudnik caught it, crunching it up happily while Kwan Lin watched in open-mouthed horror.

"So," Ariana asked Lucy, "where'd you go?"

"Oh, all over, really!" Lucy said enthusiastically. "We went to Central Park, then a quick whip-around to all the sights, and then we went to the Rockaway." She grinned. "It was such fun!"

"The Rockaway?" Ariana turned back to her brother. "Who was playing?"

"Well, we were too late for the Stumble Bums but we got to hear the Rocket-Propelled Mullets and the Golden Falcons." Graeme grinned. "Then we had some Flaming Pugsleys."

"Aw, man!!" Ariana punched him in the arm, rocking him back on his feet. "That is so not fair!"

"What's all this then?" Dodger sniffed Lucy's breath. "You 'orrible little rotters! You went off on a boozer an' left us here?"

"We went on a date, furball," Graeme said belligerently. "Wanna make something of it?"

Dodger ignored him but examined the drink in her hand, going so far as to open the lid and look at the contents. "Your usual?" he asked gruffly. "Tea, light, two sugars?"

"Yes."

"All right, then – drink it down," he told her. "G'wan, Lu… all of it."

"What's this?" Lucy giggled. "You go off and drinking all the time!"

"Yeah, but you've never had anything stronger than ginger beer in your life." Dodger scowled briefly at Graeme and then lowered his voice. "As your wing second, I'm not gonna have you pukin' your guts up all over New York City."

"Awwww…." Lucy smiled over the rim of her cup. "That's so sweet."

"Yeah, yeah… drink your tea, you lush."

"Let me get this right," Mawson said, "you went to a human place and nothing happened?"

"I wouldn't say that," Graeme said thoughtfully. "We had munchies and drinks—"

"We danced," Lucy giggled, "and I got a makeover." She brandished her new bracelets.

"Winnie?" Ariana asked with raised brows.

"Of course," Graeme replied. "I had a word with Gomez. He says he can reserve the place for us mid-week."

"Band?"

"He's working on it."

"Coolness!"

Dodger rolled his eyes. "I hate it when you two do twinspeak."

"Trust me, guys," Ariana said with a gleam in her eyes, "when we can ditch the adults, we are going to party!"

o o o O O O O o o o

Elisa and Goliath strolled out onto the tower roof arm-in-arm like an old married couple, making idle small talk about nothing and everything. They paused at the roof's edge and watched as their young guests spread out on the parapet below to pick a roosting spot.

"It's quite a crowd," Elisa observed. "Are you having second thoughts about hosting this conference?"

"No, if anything, it reminds me of the old days of Castle Wyvern," Goliath said, breaking into a rare grin, "as it does Hudson. It's cheered him up considerably, having so many new faces in the castle."

"I noticed him holding court by the fire," Elisa said.

"Red Wind tells me that the little female from China is fascinated with Bronx," Goliath said, looking over the edge where Broadway was helping Hudson into place. "It will do my old mentor good to answer her questions."

Elisa watched Happa and Mawson vie for the right to roost next to Ariana and laughed as Brooklyn stepped in and directed the two young males to their roosts. He and Sata took up the spots immediately next to their daughter. "No guesses on what those guys are interested in," she said. "Brooklyn's going to tear his hair out if Ariana starts dating."

Chuckling with his mate, Goliath nodded. "I don't know about the lad from Antarctica, but I know that Kai is anxious to restore Sata's bloodline to Ishimura. I didn't realize his offspring would be the proper age though."

"Kai?" Elisa made a face. "Are you sure?"

"No, but they have similar features," he answered. "There was a time when I wouldn't have noticed but when I recognized Angela as my own daughter, it changed the way I looked at younger generations."

Elisa wrapped her arms around his bicep. "Hopefully, you'll feel the same way about our baby when it hatches." She and Goliath had taken an unusual route of using a surrogate to have a child but they both considered the purplish egg down in the rookery as theirs.

"Of course, I will, beloved." He caressed her cheek. "I look forward to having hatchlings underfoot again." Giving her one last kiss, he took his place up on his perch. "Elisa," he said as an afterthought, "if you can, try to contact New Olympus and see what Taurus has to say about our young guest."

"You suspect something?"

"The New Olympians are a strange lot." Goliath looked towards the eastern skyline and unfurled his wings. "Everyone else arrived in the open. Scylla arrived in secret. I can't help thinking that there's something she's not telling us."

"That's true," Elisa agreed. "She was a little uneasy around me but I blame that on the whole 'evil human' thing. I'll see what I can dig up."

At that moment, the sun came up and Goliath's lavender hide turned to grey textured stone. Elisa patted him on the leg. "Sleep tight, sweetheart."

By the time Elisa reached the bottom of the tower, the eastward-facing stonework was tinted pink in the early dawn's light. Red Wind had moved away from Lexington to a roost next to her Chinese kinsmen. Elisa shook her head. She'd come in on the tail end of Red Wind's fight with Lexington and if they'd been a human couple, she would have run them in on a domestic disturbance and called Family Services. Unfortunately, as gargoyles, they didn't have that option. The best the clan could do was to separate the mismatched couple and hope for a non-violent state of détente until the next squabble.

She continued down the line, following the Chinese gargoyles to the Koreans and then to the Japanese. The Asian clans had formed their own sub-group upon arrival but plans were underway to separate them up. Goliath had big hopes for this young group of up-and-coming warriors in breaking the isolationism that threatened each clan's development. She was strolling by Ariana's friend Midori when she realized that she was stepping into a block of sunshine and not a gargoyle's shadow.

There was a gap on the wall between Midori and that tusked male from Antarctica.

Cautiously, Elisa drew her gun. With a clear view of the parapet in both directions, she tallied up gargoyles. The resident clan was all accounted for and the guests quickly paired up – except for one.

Movement out of the corner of her eye drew Elisa to a nearby archway. It led to one of the smaller courtyards that Hudson occasionally roosted in when his knees wouldn't let him make the jump to his perch. A few fallen leaves whirled against the stones of the walkway, a dead giveaway that someone or something had just passed by.

Following the motion, Elisa pivoted and looked down the barrel of her gun at Scylla. "How come you aren't in stone sleep like the others?"

Coiling up even tighter, Scylla appeared to shrink in upon herself as she replied, "I can't."

"Come again?"

"Taurus said that you could be trusted with secrets." She glanced at Elisa nervously. "Can you?"

"Of course I can," Elisa said firmly, holstering her weapon. "I kept Goliath's clan a secret for years and I haven't said word one about New Olympus." She took a step closer.

"Good," Scylla said, her eyes taking on a bright metallic sheen as she slithered into the sun. "Then you won't say anything about this either."

o o o O O O O o o o

Blinking furiously, Elisa shaded her eyes against the morning sun. She felt strangely disoriented – she remembered kissing Goliath before he turned to stone and then coming out of the tower to check on the new arrivals. To see so many gargoyles lining the parapet wall made Elisa feel like she'd stepped back in time to the old days of Castle Wyvern. There was a gap between the male from Antarctica and the female from Ishimura. Elisa found herself staring at it and frowning.

"I've got to be working too hard," she said finally and went inside.

Scales hissed in the shadows.

To be continued in Part V…