Discussions by Kudara

Saturday, December 20th 1997

Early Morning - Destine Manor, Forest Hills Gardens, Long Island

Dominique smiled fondly at her sleeping lover. This was definitely one thing she had noticed about Kendra, she woke up easily enough, but left to her own devices she would lay in bed much longer than the redhead would. "Kendra, time to get up," she said and watched as the blue eyes opened slowly, blinked once and then the black haired woman sat up and stretched, arching her back and extending her arms upward. Dominique allowed herself to enjoy the sight, it was unfortunate that they didn't have time for her to go over and run her hands up her lover's back, over her shoulders and then downward. She held out a cup of coffee instead, "Sharon has a list of five apartments and two different stables that she wants to see, so it shouldn't take that long."

Kendra accepted it and took a long sip before slipping out of bed, "I hadn't expected you to gain a rookery sister in Sharon," Dominique finally had to comment on yesterday's behavior between the two.

The black haired woman looked startled, and then her expression became thoughtful, "I guess, I wouldn't really know." That was right, the redhead realized, Kendra had been an only child. Her lover shrugged, "I like her, and it's funny how she's trying to show me she can be just as much a warrior type as I am. Don't worry though we won't do it at work," she assured the redhead.

"I'm trusting that you won't," Dominique replied. She wasn't quite certain that Kendra had read the situation correctly, though she did agree that Sharon was trying to prove something to the black haired woman. "I'm not sure though that she's trying to prove that she's a warrior or just trying to prove herself to you in a more general sense," she commented.

"Prove herself to me," Kendra said, pausing to frown at her before heading into the bathroom.

Dominique stayed where she was, giving her lover some privacy, "Well you are older."

"Only by four years," the black haired woman protested.

The redhead smiled, "And you are Jaguar's chosen."

"Which means?"

"I don't think she's trying to show that she's your equal, so much as get you to recognize that she's capable," Dominique explained.

There was a long silence from the bathroom, "I guess I shouldn't tease her so much about it then," Kendra finally responded, "I have no doubts that she's capable. Though I guess I should spar with her a few times just to make sure she knows how to protect herself."

Dominique smirked; she had no idea if Sharon was quite ready for Kendra's idea of a friendly sparring session. They hadn't really had time for more than one or two spars since they returned from Canada; she was hoping that once Sharon got up to speed she and Kendra could start sparring regularly once again.

On a more serious note though, "Did you want to talk about Jon yet?" the redhead asked. When she read the headlines yesterday, she had been very worried for her daughter until she read the whole story. From what the paper said witnesses saw four gargoyles involved in the battle and they saw those same four flying away carrying one of their number between them. From the description of the hurt gargoyle, she guessed it was Lexington, since he was the only web wing. He must have been knocked unconscious she guessed, since otherwise Goliath would have carried the small gargoyle in his arms and not let Brooklyn and Broadway hold him in between them by the arms.

Kendra hadn't said much after reading the article, but the fact that she had gone upstairs and worked out for a full hour made its own statement about her reaction to the news.

"What can I say," her lover finally responded to her question, "I was concerned that he would continue doing crazy things despite me removing the enchantment on him, and he did. His stunt the other night firing off anti-aircraft guns in the middle of Manhattan endangered the other gargoyles and sent a lot of people to the hospital. He's obviously learned nothing from what he did to Jason because he still gives no thought to how much harm his actions can cause, or if he does then he doesn't give a damn. The only other thing I can think of to explain his actions is that he's so desperate to get a hit from the enchantment that he doesn't care who he has to hurt to kill a gargoyle and he doesn't realize or want to realized that it's no longer there" Her voice was tense, angry. Apparently, she had only cooled down slightly from her initial reaction yesterday.

Dominique lowered her head, damn it, why had she ever conceived of the carrier virus or that mad plan in the first place, "I'm sorry." It didn't really matter that the cleanser and carrier virus mixture she had made was completely harmless, what mattered was that all this had come about because of the events of that night. Jason had been crippled and Jon became John Castaway leader of the Quarrymen because everyone there, including her at that time, had thought it was real and that she was about to wipe out the entire human race.

"Why?" came the puzzled question from the bathroom.

Dominique lifted her head, staring into the bathroom through the open door, "Because if it hadn't been for me they wouldn't have been in the cathedral, and Jon wouldn't have shot Jason, starting all of this," she stated, her tone bleak.

Kendra came back out of the bathroom, as nude as she had went in, and came over, placing both hands on Dominique's shoulders and staring into her eyes. "You are not responsible for Jon's actions, whether those actions are caused by his inability to accept that he was the one who pulled the trigger and wounded Jason, or the fact that he can't accept he's no longer going to get a feel good hit for killing a gargoyle, or a combination of both," she said rather forcefully. The redhead stared at her wide eyed, not having expected the strength of her lover's response to her statement.

"And as for why you were there in the first place with the master plan to wipe out humanity that couldn't possibly work as advertised," Kendra continued, "Well, we know whose enchantment is to blame for that. It's the same three fey whose enchantment on my cousins is probably at fault for Robyn failing to realize that the carrier virus bound to a disinfectant could not possibly do what you claimed it could on that disk."

The black haired woman exhaled in a loud sigh, her expression unhappy, "There's plenty of blame for that night to go around. Jon for shooting Jason, all of my cousins for not thinking logically about what the disk was claiming. Jason for forcing the other two into continuing the hunt after Charles died when they really didn't want too. The Weird Sisters for enchanting my family to hunt you and for the enchantment on you that caused you to drive your clan away from you."

Dominique opened her mouth as if to speak, but Kendra beat her to it. "If," she stressed the word strongly, "you are to blame for any of it," she removed one hand and measured out a space between her thumb and index finger, "then you can only claim a slice of it, the majority of it goes to those three fey and my cousins."

The redhead stared uncertainly at Kendra, her feelings in a jumble from everything that the black haired woman had said to her. Finally, she simply leaned forward and rested her head on Kendra's bare shoulder. She knew her lover was right, she, Jason, Robyn and Jon Canmore, and the three Weird Sisters had all made choices and done things that lead to that night at the cathedral on the Hunter's Moon. The events there had lead to the formation of the Quarrymen by Jon as John Castaway, and then to Jon's arrest for illegally purchasing military anti aircraft weapons and then firing them inside the city.

Kendra's arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer, and Dominique snuggled into the embrace, turning her head to bury her face into the hollow of her neck and shoulder and enjoying the feel of her lover's warm body against hers. She felt an uncomfortable mixture of guilt over her own actions, anger and embarrassment because that entire disaster the night of the Hunter's Moon had been an unwilling hoax on her part caused by the Weird Sister's enchantment, and dismay that removing the enchantment on Jon hadn't caused him to give up the hunt. She took in a deep breath, scenting her lover's distinctive faintly musky scent; it soothed her, quieting the chaos of her emotions.

A hand gently stroking through her hair and then cupping her jaw had Dominique lifting her head to look up into Kendra's face. "I love you," the black haired woman whispered before gently capturing the redhead's lips with her own.

When she returned to the kitchen, Rachael held up the New York Times "Did you see this Dominique?"

The redhead glanced at the paper warily, at least it didn't appear that Rachael was referring to the front page, "See what?"

The Cree woman handed over the NY/Region section of the paper, down the page some she saw the article title, 'CEO of Nightstone Comes Out on the Side of the Gargoyles.'

"That's quite a sizable donation," Rachael commented, referring to the one million dollars quoted in the article.

"It was a nice round figure," the redhead commented, beginning to read the article, "and advertising in papers like the Times is expensive." The article was very short, noting that Dominique Destine had never indicated any opinion on whether gargoyles were a threat or not before making this donation to PIT. It also mentioned that this was the largest donation ever made by an individual to the organization, and that its leaders were excited by the opportunities the donation opened to expand their efforts to inform and educate people about gargoyles and disprove the myths and outright lies circulating about them by groups such as the Quarrymen.

She looked up from the article, "If they're smart they will take out some ads in the Times as soon as possible and capitalize on the Quarrymen's actions Thursday night."

"From what I've read that does seem to have changed some people's opinions of the Quarrymen, they damaged a lot of buildings with those weapons," Rachael said, "the concussion from the rounds exploding broke out windows for blocks around the entire area and sent some people to the hospital with injuries from the falling glass."

Dominique nodded, keeping silent. She felt rather conflicted about the injuries; on the one hand, she was pleased that it had happened because those injuries hurt the Quarrymen's image much more than the property damage. On the other hand, innocent people, perhaps even people who didn't hate gargoyles or think they were demons, had been hurt, some of them seriously by the falling glass. All she had to do was think about what if Robert or Margaret had been in the area and injured to understand the anger and worry their friends and family must feel.

Morning - Xanatos' Residence, Wyvern Castle, Eyrie Building, Upper Manhattan

Xanatos looked up as Owen entered, a stack of papers in his hand, "You may want to look at the Regional section of the Times first," the blond man advised calmly as he handed them over.

David looked at him curiously as he accepted them, but Owen's face was giving nothing away. He opened the Times after a cursory glance at the front page and turned to the indicated section. The slight widening of his eyes revealed his surprise, "That's quite a sizable donation," he commented after reading the article.

"Coming so soon after the Quarrymen's actions and Castaway's arrest this is bound to provoke a reaction from them," Owen noted.

Xanatos shrugged, "It would have provoked a reaction from them no matter what," he noted.

"Perhaps I should have said it will provoke a stronger reaction from them than if this had been announced before the Quarrymen illegally bought anti-aircraft weapons and shot them over the city resulting in Castaway's arrest," Owen stated.

David smiled, "Now on that, you may be right."

Afternoon, District Court House, Manhattan

"Sorry that took so long Mr. Castaway, we couldn't get a bail hearing set any sooner," the lawyer explained.

Jon waved his hand; he had much more important things on his mind right now than the extra night he had spent in jail waiting for the bail amount to be decided. "I want to arrange a press conference, I have something important I want to announce."

It was too much to be borne, first his cousin had deserted them entirely by going over to the side of the Demon and now the Demon was supporting those who actively sought to corrupt others with the idea that the demons were not demons but living creatures that deserved respect and tolerance.

One hour later John Canmore stood on the steps of the courthouse where his trial would be held in a few weeks.

"My fellow citizens of this city we are in the midst of a war." He paused for a moment letting that idea sink in, "A war against these alien monsters who have invaded our city. Who terrify the citizens with their attacks, and cause us to keep our children indoors once the sun goes down out of fear of them. The Quarrymen have stood against these monsters and will continue standing against them without fear, without hesitation, taking the battle to them wherever we find these demons."

These reporters were not a good audience for him, he realized, seeing the skepticism on their faces. Perhaps it would be better to simply make his announcement and then let the Demon deal with having the entire city knowing what a monster she really was under the human appearing illusion she wore during the day.

"But that is not why I am speaking to you today. We all know that these monsters, these unholy demons turn to stone by day. However, there is one of them that does not, and that one is the most terrible, the most cruel and evil of them all. The Demon does not turn into stone during the day, but into a human…" he paused, looked at his audience, he finally had them, he could see the interest on their faces, "Dominique Destine."

Late Afternoon - Collin's Residence, Union City, New Jersey

Dominique let Gregory assist her from the limousine, she paused a moment, focusing upon the image she wanted to project before beginning the walk to Robert's home. She didn't have to look around to know that Kendra had already fallen into step behind her.

To her surprise, it was a balding, pot-bellied male human, and not Robert's Aunt who answered the door. He had a belligerent look on his face, and immediately after opening the door he leaned forward aggressively giving every impression of being about to start an argument with her. This must be the frequently absent Uncle, "Mr. Edward Collins I presume," she said coolly before he could say anything. "I'm Dominique Destine," she turned around slightly, and the black haired woman stepped forward, "and this is Ms. Kendra Canmore, the Division manager of New Technologies and Special Projects. It is for the internship in her Division that we are considering Robert."

She wasn't quite certain what he had been ready to argue about, but she could see that the way she had introduced herself and Kendra had disarmed him for he was no longer leaning slightly forward and his initial belligerence was rapidly being replaced by surprise. "I thought he was lying about that," he blurted.

Dominique held her anger in check, instead raising one eyebrow at the human male. "It is unusual that he would be considered at his age," a variation of this had worked on the aunt, so it should work on the uncle, "but Ms. Canmore would prefer to have the same intern for several summers in a row rather than a different one every, or every other summer."

Or perhaps not, she thought taking in the skeptical expression on the uncle's florid face, "Oh you don't have to trot out that nonsense for me, I understand," he assured her with a wink and sly smile.

"Indeed," she responded shortly, she had no clue what he thought she meant and her brain was racing trying to figure out the various possibilities.

"You need a handicapped person to fill out your numbers," he didn't even make the effort to lower his voice, "You don't have to lie to me, people like us, we understand the world." The redhead gritted her teeth, his statement rankled, she was nothing like this man…at least not anymore. The Uncle continued, "What I don't understand is why you're buying him things like that suit and that wheelchair." Some of the belligerence crept back into his tone, and now she could guess the reason for his antagonism.

Dominique forced herself to smile back at the odious human, and to not betray how much she already detested him, "Well as you say, we understand the world," she forced the words out, feeling tainted by just saying them, "and you know people make their initial judgments based on appearances. I could have put him into the most expensive suit in the world and it wouldn't have done any good at all if he were in his old wheelchair."

Now he looked surprised, "You meant all that stuff you said to Nancy about him representing your company was true?"

The redhead nodded, "Provided he continues to perform as he did last evening, yes. He will be Ms. Canmore's intern and accompany her on her visits to companies that interest Nightstone Unlimited. It is imperative that he represent the company properly and that extends to his appearance, thus the wheelchair."

Robert's uncle scowled, "And the other wheelchair?"

She waved the question away with one elegant hand, what she was about to say was certainly an outright lie, but she suspected he would believe it, "I expense accounted them, I didn't want him using the other when he goes to school and then to college."

"Ah," the angry expression disappeared, the human gave her a knowing look and laughed, "I get it now; you're taking all this off on your taxes. I do the same thing," he admitted confidingly, "handicapped kids are expensive." He took a step backward and turned slightly to the side, "Robert get over here, don't keep Ms. Destine waiting on you."

Dominique willed her expression to smooth before the human turned back around, inside she was seething at the thought of Robert hearing this conversation. Hopefully the young man knew better by now than to believe that she thought that way about him.

Robert appeared from around the corner; his aunt followed him and came to stand beside her husband. "Mrs. Collins," Dominique spared a moment to acknowledge the woman before examining Robert's appearance. The two-button virgin wool black suit they had picked out at the Armani store, and then had tailored for him looked just as good on the young man as she had thought it would, subtly accentuating the muscles he had built up in his arms and shoulders without bunching in an unsightly manner. She glanced into his grey eyes, they were calm and when he saw her looking at him, he gave her a reassuring smile. She let out a relived breath, but was careful not to let her emotions show on her face. She nodded to him, "Yes, that will do nicely indeed; you look every inch the young gentleman Robert."

"He does, doesn't he," his Aunt agreed, an odd note of surprise in her tone.

Robert glanced at her uncertainly, giving her a tentative smile before turning back to Dominique, "Thank you, Ms. Destine," he replied politely.

Edward gave his nephew a hard stare, "Now you mind your manners tonight." His wife glanced over at him, a hint of disapproval in her eyes that surprised the watching redhead, but she didn't say anything.

"Yes, Uncle," Robert replied; only the slightest tightening around his mouth betraying how he felt.

The balding man glanced at the suit Robert was wearing and he scowled again, "I don't know why she got you a designer suit, but don't let it go to your head."

"He will be representing Nightstone Unlimited to other company CEO's and owners," Dominique interrupted him, "and men like David Xanatos and Halycon Renard would instantly recognize the lack of quality of his clothing. It would reflect badly upon me if he attended such meetings in less than appropriate clothing."

She could see that the names made an impression on him. The scowl faded and Edward looked dubiously at his nephew, "Are you sure you want him going to those types of meetings? I mean," he glanced meaningfully at the wheelchair.

Dominique ignored the insinuation that Robert's handicap made him unsuitable as a representative for her company "That is what events such as tonight's dinner at the Savoy and the theater are supposed to determine," she responded, she looked at her watch, "Speaking of which our reservation time is in thirty minutes, we need to get going."

"You'll do fine Robert," his Aunt reassured him, "just remember what we talked about earlier and watch out for your suit sleeves."

Dominique barely stopped herself from betraying her surprise at the woman being so openly supportive of him. Perhaps the woman wasn't as bad of an elder to Robert as she had initially thought.

As soon as Gregory got Robert into the limousine and closed the doors, the redhead leaned forward, reaching out and placing her hand on the young man's arm, "I want to know everything you remember about your inheritance and what your parents might have left you."

Robert stared at her with wide eyes, not having expected the question at all, "Umm I don't really remember much," he said embarrassed. He was painfully aware that Rachael, Margaret and Sharon were watching them curiously.

"All I need to start with are their names," Dominique assured him, "most of the information such as the initial size of your inheritance, and the details of how your trust fund is set up will be available in the public court records."

"I'm named after my father, Robert, and my mother's name was Mary, she was a Maguire before they married," Robert answered quietly, his expression uncertain.

Dominique squeezed his arm, "I'll let you know what I find out, at the very least I'll find the starting amount of your trust fund and let you know the details of how and when you will come into control of it." Robert nodded, still not quite certain why the Ancient One's chosen was suddenly interested in his inheritance.

"Do you think you will find something?" Rachael asked, looking intently at the redhead.

Dominique released Robert's arm and sat back in the seat. Her jaw firmed, "I'm fairly certain there will be something there to find."

"Why?" Robert asked his grey eyes wide as he stared at her, trying to think of what his Uncle had said that would cause her to be so sure.

The redhead stared at him, her eyes distant, melancholy, "Because of the assumptions he made about my motivations," she responded after a few seconds. She drew in a deep breath, "What people assume about others frequently indicates what they would do in a similar situation." Her green eyes finally focused on him, she should know, she thought to herself grimly, in the past her assumptions had said quite a lot of unflattering things about what she would do if she were in the other person's place. "He made several assumptions, that I would only hire you because I needed a handicapped employee to prove I wasn't discriminating against them in Nightstone's hiring practices, and that I would claim the cost of your wheelchairs and suits on my expense account, which by the way I did not," she assured him. He nodded since the way she was staring at him seemed to indicate she wanted an acknowledgement.

Dominique fell silent for a long moment before continuing, "The strongest reason that I think I will find something, however, is the statement that he made that he claimed your expenses on his taxes. You've told me that they've been using your trust fund to pay for all your needs. Your Uncle cannot do both. If he's been using your trust fund to pay for your living expenses, then he can't claim you or any of your medical expenses on his taxes," she explained. "At the very least I suspect I'll find that he's guilty of tax fraud."

He stared at her, thinking about what she had said, what he remembered his uncle saying both when he was talking to Dominique and at other times. What she was saying made sense, his uncle had stated quite a few times that almost all of his trust fund had been used up in taking care of him, and yet he had also heard his uncle say that he claimed his expenses on his taxes. "If you do find out that he's been doing that will you let me decide whether or not to…" he hesitated, trying to decide on the right words to use, "do anything with it?"

Dominique saw the pleading in his eyes; it reminded her of her daughter, and all the mistakes she had made by not listening to the younger female, by insisting on her own way of doing things. "I won't do anything with the information I find unless you tell me to," she promised him quietly.

"Do you know where your Social Security survivor benefits are going?" asked Margaret.

Robert looked over at her confused; he had no idea what she was talking about, "I'm sorry? I don't know what those are."

"Your parents died, you should be getting their Social Security benefits since you're their child. I got checks until I turned nineteen after my father died in a car accident," Kendra responded.

Sharon leaned forward in her seat, "Do you get an allowance?"

"My aunt gives me fifty dollars a month," Robert responded, while it wasn't that much, he knew it was more than some kids got.

The shorthaired brunette frowned, "I don't know how much you should get, but I would think it would be several hundred dollars a month."

"Around a thousand or more I would think," Kendra answered.

Robert noticed that Rachael looked troubled; he felt a sinking sensation in his stomach, the senior Owl's chosen also suspected that Dominique would find out that his uncle had been lying on his taxes. "Well let's see what Demona finds out first before jumping to conclusions," Margaret spoke once again. "By the way Robert, you look very handsome this evening," she smiled at him.

He was flushing by the time both Sharon and Rachael added in their complements as well, off to the side he noticed Kendra grinning at him. "Shall I add my complements as well, and see how much more you can blush?" she teased.

He grinned back at her and shook his head, "Please don't." That caused a round of soft laughter among the women. He looked around at them thinking of how strong and assured they all were, even Sharon who was the closest to his age. He wanted to be more like them, not like his uncle or his aunt.

Dominique leaned back in her seat, relieved to see the young man looking less distressed. She hadn't meant to upset Robert, she had only been thinking of what his Uncle had said and realizing there was a good chance the man was misusing Robert's trust fund. And, she had to admit to herself, she had been looking for a way to distance herself from the man. She had been disturbed by who she had pretended to be to Robert's uncle, by the assumptions he had made about her motives, and by the fact that only a few months ago it probably wouldn't have been a pretense and he probably would have been right about her motives. There was also the fact that she didn't find it at all comforting to think of Robert being in the care of a man who was reassured by the idea that she was using his nephew. She glanced out the window, and one never knew when such information might prove handy to have, she wouldn't use it unless Robert said it was all right, but she wanted as much information on the Collins as possible now.

Late Afternoon - 23rd Precinct Police Office, Upper Manhattan

"What utter nonsense," the drawling tones of Margot Yale greeted Elisa as she stepped into the precinct headquarters to begin her shift. The Assistant District Attorney was talking to Captain Maria Chavez, "Why I saw her just last night at Luger's Steakhouse and then later at the movie theater where they had gone to see the new Bond movie."

Maria shook her head, "I guess it was her donation to PIT that set him off. I wish he hadn't made bail today, but I guess you couldn't stall the hearing any longer."

Elisa frowned wondering what they were talking about, she hadn't heard anything on the radio during her short drive to the station, but that didn't mean much.

"He's legally entitled to a bail hearing and he had the five million to pay it." Mrs. Yale shook her head sadly, "I can't believe that they did what they did, the Quarrymen had such a promising beginning standing up and saying those gargoyles are menaces and need to be stopped. Castaway though is obviously unstable, first buying illegal military weapons and firing them in the city, and now accusing Dominique Destine of being a gargoyle. The Quarrymen really need to get rid of him, he's going to be a laughing stock by tomorrow. I've already talked to Travis Marshal of WVRN about seeing her out last night with her friends."

The detective stared at the woman; surely she hadn't just said what she thought she had said.

"Detective Maza, what are you doing in here? You're supposed to be off for a few more nights," Maria said to her, noticing her for the first time.

Elisa glanced over at her, "I just came in to finish a piece of paperwork for Castaway's arrest, what are you two talking about?"

"Castaway made bail this afternoon," Chavez answered, "and then an hour later he called for a press conference where he made a rather big production of announcing that Dominique Destine is actually a gargoyle." The dark skinned woman's voice was dryly amused.

Elisa drew in a sharp breath, she had heard what she had thought she heard, Jon Canmore had revealed that Demona turned into a human during the day, but...

"Utter nonsense of course," Margot spoke up, interrupting the detective's stunned thoughts, "it just proves how unstable he is."

"I don't know why he thought he would get away with it, I know she's usually a recluse and doesn't go to any of the big social functions, but all she has to do is show up once at night to disprove it," Maria shook her head, an incredulous expression on her face. "And as Margot just pointed out she saw Ms. Destine out with her friends just last night."

Elisa just managed to keep her shock off her face, she hadn't misheard what they were talking about when she came in. "Really, where?" she asked weakly, not quite knowing what to think of this new twist.

"As I said before, Luger's Steakhouse and then later at the movie theater," Margot looked and sounded impatient with her.

The dark haired woman fought off her shock at the idea of Demona going to something as mundane as a movie to remember what else Margot had said. "You said she was with friends?" she asked, feeling more in control and calmer as she started thinking of this as an information gathering mission.

"Oh yes, and they were having a good time at Luger's," Margot said with a smirk, "between the five of them drinking they went through several bottles of wine, I know I noticed the waiter brought at least four or five bottles over. It's a good thing they were using a limo, because the only one not drinking was the young man in a wheelchair with them. Dominique must really like him," the woman commented, "because when I spoke to him at the theater he said that she had just bought him the nice looking wheelchair he was using."

Elisa stared at her for a moment, the image in her mind of the redhead drinking and partying too much for her to believe. Nor could she figure out why the gargoyle would befriend a young disabled man and buy him a wheelchair. "Are you sure it was Dominique Destine?" she finally had to ask.

Margot stared at her, her eyebrow rising at the question, "Of course, I would think that I knew who I was speaking to at the theater," she responded curtly, her annoyance clear.

The detective nodded, only too aware of her Captain's sharpening eyes on her, she had to control herself better, she didn't want to be explaining to Maria why she was so surprised that Dominique Destine wasn't a gargoyle at night. "It's just that the times I've had to talk to Ms. Destine she hasn't seemed like the type of person to make many friends."

The ADA smirked, "Well, people aren't usually at their friendliest when their being questioned by the police," she commented. "I don't know who everyone was, but I did recognize Kendra Canmore with her, I guess they became friends during their trek across Canada." She paused for a second, adding as an afterthought, "Oh and the young man's name was Robert, I remember her calling him that."

Thirty minutes later Elisa was done with filling out the paperwork she needed to complete. After the way Maria Chavez had stared at her after Margot Yale left, she didn't dare leave it undone. She had also managed to find out about the donation they had been discussing when she walked in; Demona had given a million dollars to PIT, and that had probably been what provoked Jon Canmore into revealing her dual nature.

Elisa stepped outside the police station, glancing up at the setting sun. She needed to get to the Eyrie building, the clan definitely needed to know about all this. She had no idea how Demona was managing to pull off appearing as a human at night, but she didn't doubt that she was, Margot wouldn't make a mistake like not recognizing one of the richest women in the city.

Evening - Savoy Restaurant, Lower Manhattan

Dominique raised her eyebrow at the host, wondering why in the world he was giving her such an odd look. "Destine party, we do have reservations for this time," she just managed not to snap at him, but her irritation with his behavior was clear.

Her tone seemed enough to snap him out of whatever had been distracting him, "Of course, Ms. Destine, pardon me. It's just that…" his voice trailed off uncertainly and he seemed to wilt under her gaze.

"Ms. Destine," Gregory's slightly out of breath voice had her turning around, wondering why he had followed them into the restaurant and why he was out of breath as if he had been running. The dark haired man paused, took off his cap and took two deep breaths before continuing, "I just heard something on the radio you should know about, Ms. Destine." She noticed his dark eyes were worried, he glanced over at the host for a moment and then a subtle wave of his hand indicated that he wished to tell her whatever he had to say out of the man's hearing.

She nodded to him and turned back to the other women. She met Kendra's eyes, nodded, and then glanced over at Rachael, "If you would get our table, we should be back shortly."

"Of course," the Cree woman agreed smoothly, stepping up to the podium and looking at the host expectantly.

Dominique turned and followed Gregory out of the restaurant, Kendra falling into step beside her. "Gregory?" she questioned when they stepped outside.

"I was listening to the radio," he began, "when the news came on, that man that was arrested the other night for firing those anti aircraft weapons, Mr. Castaway, claimed that you were a gargoyle." Gregory shook his head, looking bemused, "I thought you should know Ms. Destine, just in case the press tries to contact you for a comment."

Kendra snorted, "You mean just in case they come looking for her to see if it's true," she remarked dryly.

Gregory flushed, gave a small shrug of his shoulders, as if to say what can you do about the press.

After all these months of silence, Dominique thought, it was too bad for Jon Canmore that he hadn't revealed that particular fact sooner. She wasn't worried for herself or Kendra, but the others and especially Robert, might find a crush of journalists with their camera's flashing intimidating. "Perhaps we should skip going to the theater after dinner," she grimaced; she didn't want to deprive the others of seeing the play they were looking forward to but…

"Ms. Destine," Gregory offered hesitantly, "We have a company we usually work with to provide security for celebrities that we chauffeur; I could call them for you and arrange for them to meet us here." His voice firmed, "They will make sure the press doesn't get anywhere near you or your guests."

Dominique stared into his eyes, he appeared confident that these security people could do what he claimed. "Very well," she responded, "make the arrangements, and make sure there are enough of them to provide protection to Robert while he's being moved into and out of the vehicle."

"I will Ms. Destine," he assured her.

As they walked back into the restaurant, Kendra observed, "Well at least now we know why the host was staring at you so strangely."

"Did he expect me to turn into a gargoyle in front of him?" the redhead asked sardonically.

Kendra shrugged, "It's not as if it really matters anymore," she observed, her sapphire blue eyes meeting Dominique's green ones.

The redhead smirked, "No I guess it doesn't, does it." The smirk on her face faded slightly as she considered what might have happened had Jon publicized that piece of information just a few months ago when she wouldn't have been able to come out at night and disprove it. The suspicions that Castaway might be right would have grown until it would have been impossible for her to go out at night at all lest she be seen departing her home as a gargoyle.

A light touch on her arm drew Dominique out of her less than pleasant thoughts, "Rachael and the others are seated over there," Kendra said, pointing toward a large table near the center of the restaurant.

Dominique noticed several startled looks as people recognized them on the way to their table. She ignored them, by tomorrow Castaway would be shown for a fool, discredited even more by his wild accusation. Her step faltered for a moment and her green eyes widened as she realized that the clan and Angela would also hear about this, and about the fact that she had been seen in her human form at night. Suddenly she wished she hadn't been so secretative about this with Xanatos, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

"You never told me you got a cool gargoyle transformer ring with a million dollar donation, Dominique," Kendra said teasingly as they sat down at the table, "you've been holding out on me."

"What?" Sharon looked up from the menu, giving them a puzzled look.

"I'll second that what," Margaret remarked, staring at them curiously.

Dominique stared at Kendra, taken aback by the levity before she realized how many of the people around the table were listening in on the conversation. She smirked, "I guess I forgot to mention that, fortunately Mr. Castaway was kind enough to remind me that one comes with every large donation to the People for Interspecies Tolerance."

"I am so lost," Sharon commented, looking bewildered, "Why would the crazy guy who fired anti aircraft guns in the middle of the city have reminded you about a ring coming with your PIT donation?"

Robert, who was sitting next to her, commented, "Don't feel alone, I have no idea what they're talking about either."

Kendra chuckled and began relating what Gregory had told them.

"Well that would have been a news worthy item," Margaret commented when she finished, "except for one small detail." She made a show of looking Dominique over, "No wings." There was a general chuckle around the table at this quip.

"What I want to know though," Rachael commented once the laughter died down, "is once you get your nifty ring, whether it comes with flying lessons; otherwise the learning curve could be rather painful."

"Yes Dominique, when you get it can we watch?" Margaret asked, her hazel eyes sparkling, "I believe the first steps are pretty much a controlled plummet from a height."

Dominique gave her a dirty look, when she had been learning how to glide she had done so away from her rookery brothers and sisters. If she were learning to glide all over again, she would hardly do it where Margaret and Rachael could critique her progress.

"I think that was a no," Rachael commented with a laugh.

Margaret chuckled, "I think that was a bit stronger than just a no."

Almost Sunset - Wyvern Castle atop the Eyrie Building, Upper Manhattan

"Detective," Xanatos' voice greeted her as she stepped out of the elevator, "I guess you're here to tell the clan the news about Castaway's little bombshell?"

"That and something she forgot to mention to you," for once she didn't bother glaring at him, "what exactly did Demona say about how she's able to transform into a human now?"

The dark haired man glanced quickly at the fey in human form beside him before answering, "That Puck's spell was no longer on her, and that the spirit had provided her with an alternate means of changing into a human form." He stared at her curiously when he finished, "Why?"

"Apparently that alternate means included an alternate time frame as well," she responded tartly, "because Margot Yale saw her out at Luger's Steakhouse last night." She glanced at her watch, "I need to get up there."

"Interesting," he replied as he joined her in heading up to the battlements, "I wonder how Castaway will respond to the important news that he called a press conference to announce being so quickly disproven."

"Margot Yale was calling him unstable and saying that the Quarrymen should get someone else as a leader," Elisa said to him as they stepped out onto the battlements just as the last of the sun's rays disappeared. The roars of waking gargoyles made his reply unintelligible, but his surprised look was enough for her to guess the essence of it, the ADA's statement was quite a turnaround from her past opinion of the Quarrymen leader.

"Elisa," Goliath said as he stepped down from his perch, he had expected to see her here tonight, but the presence of Xanatos and Owen was unexpected, "Xanatos, Owen," he greeted them as well.

"Let's get everyone inside," she said to him, "I think we're going to want to keep an eye on the news channels tonight."

"We can use the one in my office; I can set it up to scan the channels for mention of specific terms. I suspect Dominique Destine and Castaway will work for tonight," Xanatos commented dryly.

"Elisa?" Goliath questioned, staring at them both puzzled.

"More Demona news," Elisa explained, "though it might actually be an attempt to help the clan that's caused this latest…" she shrugged, not entirely certain how to classify this, "revelation." She knew her exasperation was creeping into her tone, without really doing anything Demona had the clan in more of an uproar lately than she had since the first few months of them being reawakened and the latest news was almost certainly guaranteed to make it worse.

"Help the clan?" Brooklyn's disbelieving comment didn't surprise Elisa. She was beginning to be worried about the fact that he seemed incapable of even considering that what they had found out about Demona might actually be the truth.

"Let's go inside," she repeated, speaking to Goliath and huddling down into her coat, the wind had picked up and it was a cold night tonight.

"Dominique Destine donated one million dollars to the People for Interspecies Tolerance today to promote their efforts to educate the public about gargoyles," the dark haired woman said as soon as they stepped into the main hall.

Angela straightened at this news, "Mother is trying to help us," she said, sounding surprised and pleased.

Elisa gave her a brief smile, "That does appear to be her motivation," her smile slipped, "unfortunately that news coincided with Castaway making bail today and being released."

Xanatos commented lightly in an aside, "He seems to have taken it personally that Demona donated to them."

The detective glanced at him, "He does," she agreed, "and he called a press conference to tell everyone that Dominique Destine is Demona."

The entire clan's eyes widened in alarm at this, "Oh no," Angela said alarmed.

"Don't worry," Xanatos assured her with a grin, "he seems to have been a day late and a dollar short with his news."

"What?" rumbled Goliath looking confused and a bit annoyed, he wasn't sure what Xanatos meant by that statement or why neither he nor Elisa appeared more worried by this news, this was certain to make the people of the city even more afraid of them.

"Demona failed to explicitly mention to us that the alternate arrangements made by the spirit for her transformation apparently included control over when they occurred as well," Owen finally spoke up, delivering the news with imperturbable calm. Inside Puck was laughing at the stunned looks on the gargoyle's faces, his timing had been absolutely perfect.

"What?!," Lexington asked rather loudly, looking stunned. It was so unlike the normally quiet male that everyone stared at him in surprise.

"Dominique Destine has been seen out at night," Elisa said shooting Owen an irritated glance and drawing everyone's attention back to her, "Margot Yale and her husband saw her last night at a restaurant and then later again at a movie theater." She waited a beat, "With friends." She saw that got a raised eyebrow from Xanatos, apparently he hadn't known that fact.

Goliath's eyes widened and she could see by the troubled look on his face that he didn't know whether this was a good or bad thing. Right now, it was good since it disproved Castaway's claim, and in the process hurt the Quarrymen. On the other hand, it opened up the world to Demona in a way it hadn't been before, and made her possibly even more dangerous than before if she decided to go back to her old ways.

"Demona doesn't have friends, she just has people she uses," Brooklyn commented bitterly, his eyes glowing white. The comment drew an angry glare from Angela that actually seemed to get through to him that he had gone too far. The reddish gargoyle stared at her in surprise, the white glow fading from his eyes as he took in the look of dislike on her face before she very pointedly turned away from him.

Elisa stared at the two in concern, she knew the reason for Brooklyn's deep-seated anger at Demona, Goliath had told her about the close mentor like relationship that had existed between his clan second and the younger male before the massacre at Wyvern. She understood the beaked males anger, but it was clouding his judgment, even she had finally accepted that the evidence overwhelmingly supported that Macbeth had told them the truth. A spirit had intervened in his and Demona's lives, removing all the fey enchantments on them and showing them the truth about their past and the Weird Sister's role in it. She wasn't as certain about Demona's abrupt change of heart as a result of it. She would give the ancient female the benefit of the doubt that she meant it right now, but what about in a few years?

The ringing of Owen's phone drew her attention away from the two younger gargoyles and her thoughts. After several seconds Owen slipped his phone back into his pocket, "Mrs. Xanatos has just informed me that WVRN is currently reporting on this, and that they have information that Ms. Destine is having dinner at the Savoy."

"I guess we should head to my office then," Xanatos said, he turned and started walking briskly in that direction, Owen following dutifully behind him. Elisa waited for Goliath before following the dark haired man.

"Sources inside the restaurant have confirmed that Ms. Dominique Destine, owner and CEO of Nightstone Unlimited is having dinner there along with Kendra Canmore three other women and one younger man," Travis Marshal's voice said from the flat screen monitor on the wall as they walked into Xanatos' office. "The mood at her table is described as light hearted, and joking comments about Castaway's announcement and Dominique Destine's current lack of wings have been heard from her party by other diners."

Fox Xanatos, who was sitting in her husband's chair holding Alexander in her arms, commented, "Castaway is going to pop a cork over this." Elisa could only agree with her, Jon Canmore would probably not take the news that Dominique Destine was making jokes about his announcement very well at all.

Abruptly the picture on the TV screen changed from the newsroom to the outside of the Savoy restaurant in Soho. "Travis," the female news reporter now on the screen said, "We have news that Ms. Destine's party is ready to leave, and certainly the private security that arrived a short time ago is moving into place to keep the press and onlookers back." The view panned around onto what looked like a black stretch van, "What you're seeing now is one of the few handicapped accessible limousines in the city, one of the members of Ms. Destine's party tonight is in a wheelchair."

The view panned back up toward the door, one could see the security people moving into place along either side, opening a path in front of the door. A few seconds later, the restaurant door opened and an olive toned woman with long midnight black hair and piercingly blue eyes stepped out and surveyed the scene intently. She was wearing a black woolen coat over a black pants suit, and a blue scarf that matched her eyes was draped around her neck, "That's Ms. Kendra Canmore whose stepped out first," the reporter identified her for those people who didn't recognize the woman from the reports on the kidnapping.

Kendra glanced back inside and nodded shortly before returning her attention to the small crowd outside the restaurant. Instead of Dominique Destine exiting next though, a tall woman wearing a dark brown cashmere coat over her wine red dress walked out the doorway followed by two other women who moved to stand slightly to either side of her. The young man in a wheelchair followed them and moved into the center of what was obviously a protective wedge around him.

"That must be the Robert, Margot Yale mentioned," Elisa said as she leaned forward trying to get a better look at the young man. Margot was right, she noticed, the wheelchair that Demona had bought him was rather nice looking compared to the wheelchairs she normally saw.

The three women and the young man made their way to the limousine while Kendra remained where she was, watching everything. "They're just a little bit protective of him aren't they," Fox commented.

"I notice Demona's not helping them," Brooklyn noted snidely. Angela's gaze shifted his way, her eyes glowing faintly red and her face angry, but she didn't say anything, instead pointedly looking away from him after a second and back toward the monitor on the wall. The reddish gargoyle didn't notice her reaction, nor did he notice Goliath giving him a brief narrow eyed look before the big lavender male returned his attention to the monitor.

"She would do more harm than good," Xanatos remarked. "Her presence out there would guarantee that the press would try and rush them, right now the reporters are leaving him alone because they're concentrating on the door waiting for Dominique Destine to leave." The reddish gargoyle scowled, but even he could see that the gathered reporters were ignoring the four humans moving toward the vehicle and concentrating on the door of the restaurant.

Only when the young man had been loaded into the vehicle by a lift in the back and the three women seated in the vehicle did Kendra Canmore move from her position and go back inside the restaurant. Finally Dominique Destine appeared, stepping out of the door of the restaurant and then pausing for a moment with Kendra Canmore right behind her as she calmly surveyed the gathered reporters. The cream-colored coat she was wearing contrasted with the green dress she wore that perfectly matched her eyes. Her vivid red hair was gathered up at the front in double French braids that met in the back to form one long braid over loose hair.

She stood still and composed for a few moments under the barrage of light from the various cameras before taking a step forward. Kendra Canmore joined her and the two women walked together down the middle of the corridor formed by the security personnel, the black haired woman pacing with a graceful deadliness that was all the more apparent because of the elegant regalness with which the redheaded woman beside her carried herself.

"Ms. Destine, do you have any comment to make about Mr. Castaway's accusation that you're supposed to be a gargoyle at night?" one of the reporters called out loudly.

Dominique Destine paused, glanced over at him with one arched eyebrow, "I should think that the answer to his accusation is fairly obvious," she responded, dry amusement clear in her tone, "as to why he would make such a patiently ludicrous statement," she shrugged. "I can only think that it has something to do with my recent donation to the People for Interspecies Tolerance."

It was the voice that reassured Angela that she was actually looking at her mother no matter how strange it was to see her as a human woman. As she watched the two women continue their journey to the vehicle waiting for them, she was struck by how it seemed that Kendra Canmore was protecting her mother, the way the black haired woman held herself, the way she watched the area alertly gave the unmistakable impression that she was ready to leap into action should it be required.

"Interesting that Kendra's acting as her bodyguard," Fox remarked, echoing Angela's thoughts.

"I noticed that too," Elisa seconded her. They watched as Kendra paused by the vehicle, keeping watch while the driver assisted Dominique into the limousine. The redhead woman paused for a second to say something to the young man in the wheelchair. The WVRN news camera just happened to be placed where they could just see Dominique's face and the concern there, whatever the young man's response it caused her to smile and reach out and ruffle his hair in an affectionate gesture before sitting down. Kendra Canmore then finally got in herself and the driver closed the door behind her. The long vehicle pulled away from the curb and the excitement for the night obviously over, the scene switched back to the studio and the regular nightly program.

"Well I guess that removes any doubt that she can be Dominique Destine at night as well as in the day," David Xanatos commented as he turned down the volume of the monitor.

"Who do you think those humans were with Demona?" Hudson asked.

Elisa looked toward the Xanatos', "I don't suppose you know any of them? I didn't recognize anyone."

Fox shook her head, but David nodded, "The woman who walked in front of Robert is Margaret Jackson, a rather well known work-life effectiveness consultant who is currently working with Nightstone to implement the employee benefits Demona wanted to add," he said. "I don't know the identities of the other two women."

"Do we know anything about the young human, Robert? Who he is, where he lives?" Brooklyn asked. He had seen the fake look of concern on Demona's face, the way she ran her hand through the young human's hair. It made him feel sick inside; she was doing it again, acting as if she cared to make the young human trust her and then she would betray him, use him for some evil purpose of her own. The fact that the young human was handicapped just made what she was doing worse in his mind. He had to find out who the young male was so he could warn him not to trust Demona, not to trust her lies.

Elisa frowned at his tone, the intense way he was asking, "No, just his first name," she admitted reluctantly, staring at him.

"Maybe they're Kendra Canmore's friends and Demona is just with them," Broadway offered.

"Hmm," Goliath rumbled, "That sounds reasonable."

"Except for Robert," Fox commented, "even if Demona met him by way of Kendra Canmore, she appears rather fond of him now."

"She bought that wheelchair he was using tonight," Elisa added to the discussion, "Margot Yale asked him about it and he told her that Dominique bought it for him."

Angela remembered the way her mother had looked at the young human, the concern she had shown for him, the warm smile and then the gargoyle equivalent of a human kiss she had given him by running her hand through his hair. The young female frowned unhappily, who was this young human to Demona that her mother would give him gifts and be so openly affectionate toward him.

"We have to find out who he is so we can warn him about her," Brooklyn blurted out, "she's planning on using him for something."

Angela turned around with a silent snarl, she was getting so tired of Brooklyn's attitude toward her mother, before she could say anything though, someone else responded.

"I don't think that will be necessary," David responded smoothly, "I doubt he's in any danger since he has a summer internship at Nightstone."

"How do you know this?" Goliath rumbled out before Elisa could ask almost the same question

"Yes," seconded Hudson frowningly, "how do you know this?"

Fox and David glanced at one another before Fox replied, "I saw Dominique, Kendra and Robert the weekend they came back from Canada, they were out having lunch together. I managed to get a table near them and overheard enough of the conversation to hear Demona offering him a position in Kendra's Division."

"And you didn't tell us about this?" Elisa stared at the two angrily; she couldn't believe they had kept this information from them, and it made her wonder what other information they might be keeping to themselves.

"No," Fox replied calmly, "because the person I saw that day wasn't acting anything like the old Demona we all knew and loved so well. David and I wanted to try and figure out why before you and the clan confronted her and ruined any chance we had of gathering information without her being aware of what we were doing."

Goliath rumbled his displeasure while staring at Fox narrow eyed and Elisa flushed angrily, mostly because she couldn't disagree with the statement. "So did you find out anything?" the detective asked tersely.

David and Fox stared meaningfully at one another for a second, and Brooklyn said his eyes glowing angrily, "She is up to something, I knew it, this was all a scheme of hers."

Fox glanced away from her husband to raise an eyebrow at the reddish gargoyle, "It's just that type of reaction we were worried about. That knee jerk Demona must be up to something, let's run over and stop it."

"Enough," Goliath rumbled, staring at his second in command, his disappointment with his behavior clear. The glow in Brooklyn's eyes faded as he realized the clan leader was not pleased with him. The big lavender male turned back toward the woman sitting behind the desk, "What information did you uncover." He was unhappy with Fox and David Xanatos for keeping this information from them, but he was less happy about the way his second in command was behaving.

"That Kendra Canmore spends most of her time with Demona," David answered the question, "she stops by her apartment occasionally but the rest of the time she's at Demona's home."

Elisa stared at them incredulously, surely they weren't implying that… she stared at the two and realized that they were, "You think they're lovers?" she asked disbelievingly. She let out a short bark of laughter, "You can't be serious," she stated flatly, "did it escape your notice that Kendra Canmore is not only a woman but a human as well."

Fox shook her head, "No it didn't, and that's why we've had them followed for so long because it didn't seem possible to us either. But we're certain enough of it now to tell you about it."

"Impossible," Goliath responded calmly, "this gayness," His voice clearly indicated his disapproval, "does not exist in the gargoyle race. You are misinterpreting what you are seeing, they cannot be mates."

Angela stared back and forth between her father and the Xanatos', both seemed so certain about what they were saying, but both of them could not be right. The idea of her mother having a human lover seemed exceptionally unlikely given the ancient gargoyles opinion of the entire race. Add that to the fact that her mother's past mates had been male and Kendra Canmore was definitely not, and the idea seemed even more improbable. Father was right; the Xanatos' were misinterpreting what they were seeing.

"You said that the Canmore lass was also immune to fey magic, the obvious answer is that they're staying together for safety against the Weird Sisters," Hudson said confidently, "and quite frankly given what's been said about those three that sounds like a wise choice on their part. Goliath is right there have never been any gay gargoyles, it simply doesn't exist in our race."

Fox stared at them, a crease forming between her brows, "Demona is human part of the time," she pointed out. She wasn't however, looking nearly as confident as she had before, Goliath and Hudson seemed very certain about what they were saying.

Hudson waved a taloned hand, dismissing her comment, "She is a gargoyle no matter what her appearance, what you're saying simply isn't possible."

"Well what you're saying certainly is just as likely an explanation for their behavior as what we thought," David admitted after sharing an unreadable look with his wife.

Elisa saw the satisfied expressions on Goliath and Hudson's faces; they believed they had successfully argued their point. She decided it was probably the wisest course of action not to mention to the frequently stubborn clan leader that she doubted they had persuaded Fox and David Xanatos of anything at all except the fact that they wouldn't believe them. Out of the corner of her eye, the detective noticed Lexington standing off by himself a miserable look on his face and his arms folded across his chest. When she turned her head to look at him he glanced over at her his expression turning wary for a moment before he turned to Fox, "Mind if I take Alex to the nursery?"

Lexington successfully made his escape from the rest of the clan and Elisa's sharp eyes. He didn't want to hear anymore of Goliath's opinions on the subject of homosexual gargoyles not existing. He had heard the clan leader's opinion on gay humans before, so Goliath's proclamation in Xanatos' office hadn't exactly come as a surprise to him. "I guess I'm not a proper gargoyle am I Alex," he whispered with bitter hurt to the child he was carrying, "not that that's exactly news," he added thinking of his unusual, for a gargoyle, fascination with computers and machinery.

When they got to the nursery, he pulled out one of the child's toys and amused the young infant with it awhile before leaving Alex to play on his own while he went to the computer and pulled up the encrypted file where he had stored the chat room conversation. Demona could stay human at night, which meant that Greywolf could have been right when she said she saw Kendra Canmore and Dominique Destine together at a gay club.

He knew how he felt, Angela was a beautiful female, he could see that, but he felt nothing for her besides affection as a rookery sister. He had only joined in the competition for her because Brooklyn and Broadway would have harassed him about why he didn't like her. The truth of the matter was he felt more for Brooklyn than he did for Angela, he found the reddish male's muscular physique and confidence attractive, but he would never dare let Brooklyn know because he was certain that the second in command did not feel the same way.

Goliath and Hudson were wrong in saying there were no gay gargoyles because there was at least one gay gargoyle, him, that meant that they could be wrong about Demona as well. If Greywolf was right and the Xanatos' were right, then… "Wow," he said aloud and then looked around, only Alex who was still playing with his toy was there to hear. Demona had a human lover who was female; he glanced once again at the chat from that night before encrypting the file.

He didn't know quite what to think of his realization, on the one hand at least he didn't feel so quite alone anymore, on the other hand the very idea… He shook his head, his mind struggling with the concept. Then he remembered the way Demona and Kendra Canmore had walked together, their steps perfectly matched, the blue-eyed human so watchful and protective of the gargoyle that only looked human beside her. Suddenly he didn't find the idea of their being mates so hard to think of after all.

Lexington joined the child on the floor, "What should I do Alex, I should tell him about what I know, he's the clan leader." The young child grabbed the stuffed toy and tried to stuff it into his mouth, "No, that's to play with not to eat," the web winged gargoyle pulled the toy away and began playing with its arms, "like this." Alex just stared at the toy and him solemnly, "I guess you're bored with this one huh," Lexington said looking around the room for something that would interest the young child.

A shape sorter puzzle caught his eye and he brought it over, "How about this, see the round piece goes into the round hole and the square goes into the square hole," he explained to the young child. He emptied the toy and laid out the pieces for the child to play with while he considered his options. He could tell Goliath and maybe the clan leader wouldn't ask many questions about where he had gotten his information. Of course the clan leader might ask and then what could he say? I was in the chat room because I was curious might work and that had been where it had started, so it wasn't exactly a lie. With Goliath believing there were no gay gargoyles, it would probably never occur to the big lavender male that there might be another reason.

He looked over at Alex who was trying to fit the triangle shape into the square hole of the puzzle, "No that won't work, you can't fit that into the square hole, it's not a square it's a triangle," he explained while giving the child the proper shape. What he had just said struck him and he stared at the triangle shape in his hand, "You can't fit a triangle into a square hole," he repeated to himself. He would never fit into the shape Goliath seemed to think was the only shape that existed, because he wasn't a square, he was a triangle. He wasn't certain what Demona was, but she definitely wasn't a square, and right now it seemed that she was more of a triangle as well like him.

David and Fox Xanatos had tried to tell Goliath that Demona and Kendra were mates and he hadn't believed them. Even though Goliath and Hudson might not ask questions, Lexington wasn't so sure that Brooklyn, Broadway and Angela might not and he was almost certain that Elisa would want to know. The green gargoyle's jaw set, he wouldn't tell, there was too much of a chance that questions would be asked that he didn't want to answer.

Then there was another reason for not telling, and thinking of how much he didn't want his own secret revealed made him appreciate it even more. He had learned in the chat room that you didn't out people, you didn't tell people who weren't gay about those who were gay. That was what the Xanatos' had tried to do to Demona, and had only failed because of Goliath's stubbornness. He wouldn't do that to her, especially now that it seemed she was changing and not being the enemy of the clan anymore or trying to kill off the human race. It was her personal life and her choice whether or not she chose to tell the clan just like it was his choice to tell or not to tell the clan.

Continued...