T H E H E A L I N G by Dasha Ariel "Tigris" (Dasharia@juno.com) Looking out from a rooftop a comforting paw rests upon her shoulder naked once again of lavender shade drives away all fears but one and all that is born is a tear. A concussion of light the whirl of wind flying tumbling spinning through the air a sudden retching if the flesh reels the senses in her creation and rebirth. Kneeling upon the floor once more with companions crying her name she stands in a daze a touch never before felt tingling through her shoulders exciting them with energy and the desire to fly to glide upon her wings his touch. For a single moment holding eternity spread upon the wind beneath the velvet of her wings everything is different everything is the same looking out in her bathrobe without a wink of sleep from her apartment window as the sun rises again a calm memory rises: "I never realized when you were human how beautiful you are." I am human once again have I lost my beauty in your eyes? Is it possible I long to hold you? to hear your voice to be by your side Is it possible myself your Angel with wings of flame and hearts afire might the wind carry us. So far apart now and I a mere mortal woman who loves you. and it can never be real. After Hunter's Moon, in the future... In the pique of the early morning before dawn, a single figure drifted heavily on the wind. Her wings were torn, blood dripping from her sinuses, a single dirty rag tied over her leg kept the flesh from spilling apart. This gargoyle was not going to make it to dawn. In desperation, she pushed northward. A single object on the ground held her attention she concentrated on it. She HAD to make it to the house. She just barely missed, coming to a roll on the ground in front of the door, tumbling head over heals on the cement patio, coming to rest just before the door. Weakly, the figure tapped it's claw on the door. The sound of footsteps was heard inside, and the door opened hesitantly with a creak. "Hello? Anyone there?" The gargoyle moaned, wincing at the sound. The man at the door reacted, startled at first, but then became concerned seeing she was so desperately hurt. He looked at the gargoyle's clothes, blue jeans, black midriff, and torn red jacket. The man almost could not believe what he saw. He took the creature's face in his hands. Underneath blood and tears, it was exactly who he thought it was. "ELISA?" Peter Maza exclaimed. "What... what happened?" "Escaped... Xanatos..." she muttered weakly, as Peter tried to lift the massive woman. "What? Who is it, dad?" Derek's voice came from inside. "Yes, Peter. What is it?" "IT'S ELISA!" Peter called back, "She's hurt badly!" He hesitated to say anything about taking her to a hospital. Diane and Talon came rushing into the hallway, and gasped simultaneously as they saw her. Peter was struggling with all his might to lift his daughter up, her arm over his shoulder. Elisa clung to her father like glue. "You're a... a..." They gasped as they saw her, and gasped as they realized she was no longer human. Talon rushed forward and took Elisa's other arm, and began to pull her over the patio into the house. "What happened?" Diane asked with concern, referring both to her injuries, and to her change in form. "She said something about Xanatos, and mentioned escaping." "I thought she told us Xanatos was being friendly to her and the gargoyles again!" Diane announced. "That's what she said, but I guess it was just a cover for this." Talon added. Laboriously, they carried the gargoyle into the livingroom and gently laid her down on the couch. The trail of gargoyle blood on the floor and the pool forming on the sofa were the least of Diane's worries now, but her daughter on the couch. "Get me all those ace bandages and some iodine, quickly!" Diane ordered. Talon rushed off to the medical cabinet. "...and get me something to clean these up with!" Peter coaxed the girl, rubbing her chest like his father taught him long ago. "Com'n Elisa, stay with us, we're all right here. Tell me what happened, now." "Went... see... guys..." "You went to visit the gargoyles at Xanatos's castle, right..." Elisa's breath came fitfully and erratically. "Talking... genes... machine... supposed... help mankind." "Who was talking about this genetics device?" "Xanatos..." "Xanatos? Help people? Unlikely." "I thought... too... told him... show me..." "Yes?" "Didn't know... standing on... Xanatos... turned it on..." Talon swore, "Xanatos is going to die for this! What happened to Goliath and the others...?" Elisa turned her head, and began to cry. Talon watched with amazement. Elisa NEVER cried! "Goliath... didn't catch me... the machines..." Peter and his son looked at each other with expressions of incomprehension. Diane, meanwhile, worked vigorously to dress the injuries. "Oh, why can't Beth be here when we need her?" Elisa groaned, in pain. "Beth might have an anesthetic in her kit." Peter suggested. "I'll go check." Talon offered, and ran off again. The telephone rang. With frustration and anger, Peter answered it. "Mazas." "Ah, hello Peter, so nice to talk to you again!" Peter cursed under his breath, and mouthed the word 'Xanatos' to Diane. "Listen, you..." Peter began. "I believe you have something that belongs to me?... A gargoyle perhaps?..." Peter gathered his anger together, and worded his reply carefully. Talon, seeing the problem, slipped into the other room and pressed a small button on his father' pager. It lit up red. "The only _gargoyle_ on the premise is my daughter, you bastard..." "Yes, Mister Maza, and now she belongs to me. We have patent rights on the experiment." Peter's jaw worked. "You are going to have to go through us first." Peter slammed down the phone without waiting for a reply. "We gotta get her outta here.." Talon said, tossing Peter the pager. "Get the stretcher from the attic." Diane nodded. Elisa was rolled onto her back onto the stretcher, and quickly lifted out of the house, which was locked up behind them. "Why does this happen every time I visit my kids?" Peter muttered to himself. Already, Peter could here the thrum of the chopper's blades before the spotlight showed hit them. "That's as far as you go!" the XCG shouted from above, levelling their guns. The Maza's paused, and stood up before them. "WE ARE NOT RATS TO BE EXPERIMENTED ON, XANATOS! YOU WILL NEVER HOLD US!" Talon shouted defiantly. As if on cue, the NYPD chopper came roaring in from the other direction. The Xanatos one nearly got away, but another NYPD chopped from the same direction forced them to the ground. Talon took a piece of Elisa's jacket, and flagged the choppers. * * * The dream betrayed her, and brought memories. It had been a pleasant afternoon, as mounted the attic stairs of the clocktower. "Hey guys." "Hey Elisa!" Lexington called back from the clockdoor as he and Brooklyn were turning to leave. "Bye Elisa!" "Bye Elisa!" Brooklyn echoed, waving, and they left. "What's happenin'?" Broadway added. With her hands in her jacket pockets, she looked over at Goliath. "Bad news, I'm afraid. I think Demona may be back." "Good thing Brooklyn's already left." Goliath scowled. "What is her plan now?" "I'm not sure yet, but somebody turned over a library over on 11th looking up information old castles. The description of the place sounded a lot like her style." "What was she looking for?" Broadway inquired, placing a paw to his chin thoughtfully. "She made off with a page out of an old antiques collector guide about an old mirror called 'Titania's Mirror'." Elisa said, trying to remember the jumbled half-description the depressed file clerk had given her. There was a sudden growl from Goliath. "What? You know of it?" "I know that it would be a mistake to allow her to have it." Goliath grumbled. "Alright. I tracked this thing down, it's the park museum. I've already agreed to meet the manager tonight." Goliath was already moving in the direction of the door. "Hey! What's the big rush! I'm not sure he's ready to meet gargoyles yet. Let me handle Demona this time." "No. I must handle this. Demona wants to kill you, and I will not let her." "Fine." Elisa gave in. "But I can take care of myself." * * * The sun had set, and the panther roared. The world spun dizzily and her eyes hurt, but Elisa decided that perhaps it was best not to try and open them yet. She moaned, and leaned to one side. "Elisa!" "You're awake!" "Thank the Lord!" The voices of her family stirred some comfort in her mind. "Wh... where am I?" The walls of the hospital were unfamiliar for a moment, but all the time she'd been spent there after being shot suddenly kicked in, and she remembered. Sure enough, there was Doctor Sato off to one side, looking as bewildered as ever. She didn't even hear her family's answer. "Am I still...?" she was almost afraid to ask. Raising her hand to her face, all she saw was dull red-orange skin with four talons, reminding her of Delilah's dark tan when Elisa had met her in the labyrinth... Derek... Her cat-morph brother looked down on her from her bedside as he always had. Elisa felt him take her paw in his. "It'll be alright..." Then Elisa was crying again. Like heck it was alright! The last time this had happened, it hadn't hurt this much! It had been a simple, blessed switchover that left her innocent of the change. And Goliath...? What had she said? That's the way it is. It wasn't anymore! What was she supposed to do this time, she'd barely understood it last time! She had lied -- human had not been the only way it would be if she stayed this way... "This isn't right... I can't be this way..." Elisa moaned. Derek swallowed hard. He remembered all too well giving those same pleas to Xanatos. Even if he did find a cure... Elisa knew it wouldn't make that pain go away -- at least the one in her head, but not the one in her heart. Being back in this form again hurt in a way she couldn't describe, like it was killing her from the inside. Only when she changed back this pain would remain. Why? Why did she hate the idea so much of her being a gargoyle? Derek looked with large glassy eyes at Diane and Peter. There had to be something. Their eyes were large and hopeful... but they lacked any idea what to do, except perhaps murdering Xanatos themselves. It was Goliath, Elisa realized. Why would she feel this way? Not if she had to stay like this forever... It was hard for Derek to see her cry. Derek couldn't stand seeing her cry. Elisa never cried, blast it all! "Her system is very unstable, and probably still recovering from the shock..." Doctor Sato was saying, but Derek hardly heard. "Yes, Elisa. I will find you a cure." Derek replied gruffly, a dark expression crossing his face. Leaving her paw by her side, he quickly gathered his wings and leapt from the window. "Oh sweet land..." Elisa thought amidst alien tears of confusion. "What have I done?" Angela awoke beneath Goliath on the rim of the tower, and together they gathered on the top. Bronx bounded up the stairs, and hudson settled to the tower floor to pet him. Owen Burnette was standing there, looking as straight and uncaring as ever. Goliath faced him. "Yes?" "I'm afraid I have some grave news." Goliath remained unruffled. "What is it?" "Detective Maza was somehow attacked yesterday. They are still working to determine exactly what happened, but the Detective is currently at Manhattan General, and possibly awake by now." There was a slight sigh of relief from the gargoyles that hadn't realized they had held a breath at such news. It couldn't be that bad, they all seemed to be thinking. However Goliath did not treat it as such, and was immediately upon the balustrade and gliding away. The other gargoyles followed. * * * The dream came again. Somehow she hadn't been able to imagine it. What had she been thinking? All that had happened last night, and she had hoped to get a halfway decent night's rest. Well, just a little while Elisa told herself, no longer. Slipping out of bed, she looked out the window. Momentarily, she wished the gargoyles stayed on her apartment ledge so that she could look at them as the day passed. The feeling... it had been protective... yes... she remembered she had felt protective. Of what? Of Goliath? No, of Manhattan... _her_ city, _her_ territory... Elisa shook her head. She still did not understand it. How had she thought something so insane as being a gargoyle all her life? She had thought she was saying "human", but it had come out wrong! Everything had gone crazy last night. Still, Elisa couldn't deny she loved it. So what if Demona wanted to kill her? She'd tried that a long time ago. Elisa had beaten her! With her own two hands... paws... whatever. It was over now. Elisa remembered thinking of Goliath, feeling for him? He was a gargoyle. She _was_ a gargoyle. No problem, she had thought. What had she been thinking? That wasn't what she wanted out of life, she wasn't romantic! She had no innocence now. Not to mention how impossible it was. "I never realized... when you were human... how beautiful you are..." As hard as she tried, her pride couldn't knock down or explain why Goliath had said that. Was it possible that he had feelings for her...? Jalapena, then what was she then? Some ugly little animal for him to rescue from the clutches of Demona every once in a while? A play thing, even? Elisa clamped down on that train of thought, and closed her eyes. Am I ugly now? A tear escaped her eye. Elisa looked out at the sun, hanging above her window, reminding her that she needed to get some more sleep. Her sun... the one Goliath would never see... that they would never share...? "Stop it! It's over now!" Elisa rebuked herself. ...but the feeling remained. * * * There were a lot of police cars and fire vehicles surrounding the Aerie Building. Probably due to the flames billowing out of the third level, just above the street. Police rushed with a man in handcuffs. "Listen to me! I had nothing to do with it!" David Xanatos struggled in the handcuffs as the door of the car was closed on him once more. On the street, hundreds of employees, and a mother and son stood in agony on the street... Fox and Alexander. Derek thought he saw through it. Nice show. I'm sure you have the police force totally fooled, Xanatos. Look at you, in cuffs once more. The only better place for you is dead. Hiding on one of the pylons by a darkened window, Derek listened to the news reporter standing out front. "...that David Xanatos brutally beat and raped police Detective Elisa Maza. Although the police refuse to give details, eye witnesses, and an amateur video shows a gargoyle looking like police Detective Elisa Maza crashing through the glass ahead of the fire still blazing now, a day later. There is no word as to the Detective's condition. David Xanatos will be sent before the Grand Jury on..." That was all Derek needed to hear. David Xanatos looked out with a fearful expression at Alex and Fox... wondering what was about to happen to his son... Matt Bluestone had never imagined he'd ever see Elisa Maza in this kind of mood. Her arms were under the hospital blanket, trying to make her form the least visual as she could. "Could you do me a favor, Matt?" Elisa asked in a small voice, as though it meant swallowing her pride. "Sure! What is it?" "Keep Goliath away from me... for now..." Matt paused. "Why...?" "I... ... want him to be working on Xanatos." "Don't lie to me." Matt shook his head. "You're afraid of him, aren't you?" "I am not, I'm just..." "You're afraid to admit it, too." A red look appeared in Elisa's eyes, and if Matt hadn't ever seen it before, he would have been frightened. "You have a real habit of trying to read me, don't you?" "I'm a detective. Can you blame me?" Elisa growled. Matt backed off. "Alright... alright... I'll keep Goliath busy." "What on earth is wrong with her?" Matt thought. "But why?" Goliath's concern overshadowed his usually straight demeanor. "Is it Xanatos?" "I might be that." Angela looked down at the rooftop. "I think she liked being human." Goliath turned to his daughter, who met his gaze with a sad expression. "Elisa...? The one person in the world who had all the reason to hate being human? Why?" "It might be that she was more proud of being human." Matt sighed. "She once confided in me that she felt special having you guys for friends. It made her feel needed in the world." Goliath sighed. "And now someone has taken that away." "Who knows what else they did to her. It could have been pretty traumatic..." Matt began to ramble. "Angela, Lexington -- you two stay and watch over Elisa. Bluestone -- what about Xanatos?" "He's being held without bail for trial. He's still pleading innocence." Goliath said nothing for a long moment. "I wanted to believe what he said." "Should we leave the castle?" Hudson asked with disappointment. Bronx whined. "What're they gonna do with Xanatos gone? Turn us into humans or something?" "We're not leaving again... not unless there is real danger there." Angela looked across the night sky at the hospital where Elisa slept. Goliath wished he knew what she was thinking, let alone what she was feeling. "Angela, talk to Elisa." Goliath told her, holding her shoulders. "Tell her she is still needed... by all of us." The gargoyles all nodded in assent, and Bluestone smiled. "If she'll listen to anyone, it would be you." Bluestone told Angela. "That's everything he said?" Elisa asked with anxiety. Angela nodded. The lights were out, and Elisa was supposed to be sleeping. Angela had found her lying awake restlessly. Angela was glad Doctor Sato was not around -- he could treat a woman turned into a gargoyle, but who could tell how he would react to a real gargoyle since the destruction of the clocktower? Elisa sighed. "He's hurt, isn't he?" Her gaze flickered to the window. Angela seated herself in one corner. "I don't know, but father was very anxious." "What am I going to say to him?" "The truth." "That it hurts to think about being a gargoyle for the rest of my life? What will he think about that?" "He will understand. He knows who you are." "I'm... not a gargoyle." "You are Elisa Maza." The dark room was silent for a long time, and Angela just watched the figure lying in the bed for some hint as to her feeling, almost as though if Angela watched her long enough, she could tell what Elisa was thinking. "I guess I'm just afraid." "Of being a gargoyle?" "Of Goliath... I always thought 'No, it could never be real -- it can never happen.' So I wouldn't let myself think it could ever happen. Then Puck turned me into a gargoyle, and under that spell I had no idea that there could be anything wrong with thinking that Goliath and I could be... in love." Angela drew a breath at those words. She'd long suspected it was true... but now...? "And Demona..." "Mother." Angela echoed. "She still hates me... if she knew I'd stolen her husband..." "Princess Katharine always told us Gargoyles mated for life." Elisa sighed. "I envy you, Angela." "Me? Why?" "Because you grew up with the good guys. I've spent my whole life trying to nail one dirt bag after another. Humans were the always the enemy -- I could never trust any of them. You grew up with so many people you could trust..." "You can trust Goliath." "Can I? He's violent, hot tempered, short fused... a bomb waiting to go off..." "A poet... a dreamer..." "A romantic." Elisa concluded. "I never did go for romantics, did I?" Angela couldn't answer. Elisa's tail twitched, and she sat up in bed, looking at Angela. "What do you think I should do?" "I can not advise you." "Do you want me as your stepmother?" Angela's head turned to one side. Elisa guessed Angela had never considered the possibility. "And if Demona reforms, and finds I've come between Goliath and her?" Angela turned away from Elisa, looking steadfastly out the window, avoiding Elisa's eyes. Elisa slid back down onto the bed. "The last thing I want to do is make things worse." Angela, frustrated, stood up, and prowled by the window. "What is it you want, Elisa? Isn't there something _you_ want?" Elisa thought for a long moment. "I... always want to be there for the gargoyles." "What do you want us to do for you? What do you want Goliath to do for you?" Elisa looked away. Now she could not answer aloud. "We can deal with Demona when it is necessary. You must learn to grow, Elisa. Become more yourself now." "I am a human." "No, you are Elisa Maza." "You're sound more and more like your father, do you know that?" "Stop changing the subject! What do you want from Goliath?" Elisa turned away. Angela sighed, and sat down again. However, in several moments, Angela her a muffled sound from Elisa's bed. Angela walked to her side, folding her wings about her. Elisa's face had a tear on it. "What is it?" "I don't want to be the only person I can trust. I don't want to be alone. When he's around... I'm never alone..." "You love him. That's more than I can say for Demona." Elisa sighed. "Demona's married to Macbeth anyway." Angela smiled. Goliath was poised on the parapets when Elisa hobbled up the stairs on crutches... again. "If you need anything else, Ms. Maza..." "Thanks for your help, Mr. Burnette." Goliath turned around, to see the determined Elisa Maza work her way up the steps on a pair of crutches -- perhaps a rather comical sight to anyone else, to see a gargoyle hobbling on crutches. Goliath turned around, with a face of surprise. "Are you alright, Elisa?" he asked. "Doctor Sato says that at the rate I'm going, I should be back to normal after another day's stone sleep -- if you could call this normal. We need to talk." "Yes. Will _you_ be alright?" "Look, Derek's out there going after Xanatos, determined to find me a cure." "If he found one, would you take it?" Elisa brushed a bit of hair out of her eyes from the climb. "I don't know. I wanted Puck to just keep us both human." "Then I could not protect you from Demona." Elisa smiled. Something about the straight way her said it made her laugh. "What would you do if I stayed this way?" Goliath spontaneously picked up Elisa in his arms like he used to, causing Elisa to forget the crutches on the stone floor of the tower. "Yikes... What about Xanatos? He's still in jail. I think... I think Derek's after him..." "The same thing we've always done." Goliath spread his wings, and swept off into space with Elisa in his arms. 'We continue on, just like we did before.' Elisa sighed to herself. 'We always seem to make these things work out.' Once again, the dreaming time had betrayed her. Elisa remembered trying to cry out. The liquid in the vat was boiling hot, and boiled against her skin. She fought for breath until the device forcefully slapped across her mouth began to force air into her lungs. Then it began. The first diode, attached to a small, snakelike metal wire, made a rushing noise in the water and implanted itself inside her ankle. She howled in pain at the pain. Then another attached itself to her other ankle. Elisa floundered in the water, moving to swipe to blasted wires and get them out of her, when suddenly she began feeling more of them, in her back, in her stomach, in her neck, under her arms, and finally in her head. There was a very large tube connected to her arm, pumping something into her, there was some sort of foul tasting chemical in the water she was being pumped with. The water became cloudy with it. It stung at her eyes. She felt herself burning up in the hot gelatin-like liquid. She became dazed, half coherent. She fought to keep conscious. The temperature, thankfully was dropping. Occasionally she heard the sound of cloth tearing in the water-like liquid, and thought of the little wires tearing her clothes apart. Slowly, she fought for more strength, more awareness, until she suddenly tore her left arm free of one of the diode. An alarm klaxon, muffled and faint, was heard, gradually becoming louder and louder. It was as if she was hearing it underwater. She struggled more, and managed to tear the second arm device out of her skin. Realization came to her she could break free! Then, she did something she had never done before. She pushed against the water with her wings. The sudden force pulled the other diode free, tearing their way out of her flesh. She emerged above the surface of the nutrient bath, sputtering. No sooner had she cleared her vision, than a laser bolt shot past her head. She ducked down. Another bolt impacted the glass of the chamber. It began to leak out the hole. Elisa began to beat against that hole with determination, breaking it apart, making it bigger. Finally, the entire casing fell apart, and Elisa landed on the floor in a heap of broken glass, fluid, and her own blood from where the diode had torn her skin, and the breaking glass had cut her. There were more security guards taking shots at her. Suddenly, she felt her eyes fill with flame, but she could still see clearly. Racing forward, she took out two guards before making a mad dash for the nearest way out. She found herself in a corridor, as blood and bio-chemicals dribbled down all over the floor. She spied a window in this part of the hallway. The succession bangs announced gunmen firing bullets at her. She dodged some, but felt several hit her. She was not fast enough to get out of their way. She made a mad dash for that window. "DON'T HURT MY CREATION, YOU FOOLS!" a voice echoed down the hall. Elisa wondered if it sounded like Anton Sevarius before she dived through the window. Instinctually, she opened her wings, and began to glide. SHE HAD WINGS! She looked at the glass windows of Xanatos's office building. Reflected by moonlight was the feline shape of a gargoyle with her face. Elisa screamed in horror. The table was not meant to be that of a war room conference table, but there Dr. Sato was on display in front of Detective Bluestone and Police Captain Maria Chavez. The victim's family were also there, Peter and Diane Maza, as well as the hulking feline form of Derek Maza, or Talon. All waiting for Dr. Sato to give them answers. Answers which he... simply didn't have. Rubbing his glasses on his lab coat, he began. "I...I really don't have anything to tell you, except that it appears she has stabilized, thanks to the rejuvenating effect of her daylight-hibernation. It appears to be the only sleep she's getting, as any other sleep is too troubled to be of much good for healing." He paused, in the depth of his humiliation. "I have called on a specialist, someone who I knew personally would keep the tight security of this case." he said. Turning, he opened the door to the room once again, admitting a slim young woman of no more than Beth Maza's age. She had long, wirely brown hair and a perky but cynical disposition. "This is Grace Robbins, a graduate-assistant from the university. Her major was in experimental human genetics, and seems to have some... personal interest in the case." She nodded to Dr. Sato, and turned the lights down, and began to run a slideshow. "Most of my work has been done with the theory of using the human immune system to implement a genetic change. Our bodies defend us from diseases using lymphocites and other specialized cells to destroy infections. The way these cells determine what is a hostile disease, and what is a benign cell that belongs in the body is simple - if it belongs in the body, it carries the body's genetic code. If it is hostile, it does not." The two police officers and the Maza family all nodded that they understood. Ms. Robbins went on, using a small laser to point to the screen where the slides were displayed. "This photograph is of a normal, healthy lymphatic cell., taken from Detective Maza's blood. There are no signs of her immune system fighting any kind of foreign organism, nor has it in the past for several months since the Detective last had a flu, besides the normal flim-flam of everyday living. This is very unusual. The traditional technique for genetically manipulating a human being or an animal is to introduce a home-made virus, if you will, into a person's body, and cultivating it. These custom made retroviruses will infect the body's cells with new genetic material, but unlike a naturally evolved virus, it will not attempt to destroy the cell, and will die out without outside intervention." "So what your saying," Matt Bluestone deduced, "Is that she was changed by something not presently known to science." "That's correct, detective, but it is not beyond the bounds of scientific explanation. It appears that whatever happened to the Detective could very well have been a natural function of her body's immune system. How? I don't know. Why aren't other people affected? I don't know." "Is it contagious?" Diane inquired. "Have any of you felt any urges to jump off rooftops or turn to stone during the day?" Grace asked, smiling. Derek was not amused, and pointed a talon at the young assistant. "I cannot believe that her body just suddenly decided to change itself. Something happened to her, we know that." "I agree, but I'm still working on the details. The big question now is, what on earth could cause a person's body to suddenly start to go through this kind of human-to-gargoyle metamorphosis completely on it's own? And why a gargoyle?" "Why indeed?" Peter agreed. Grace turned the lights back on. "Mom?" Elisa's voice still wavered a little, but it was sounded a lot more hale now. Diane took her daughter's hand, remembering the warm, leathery feel of Angela's paw back in Nigeria. "Elisa, how do you feel?" "Pretty good for a cop who got pounded on." she replied with her usual wry sarcasm she had picked up after so many years of being a police detective. "They are trying to use all this... science to help you." Diane interjected. "These friends of yours are magical creataures. Could all that magic have touched you somehow? I saw two people turn into panthers with my own eyes, and my own son..." She tried not to look at Derek. "I don't know mom, but I've heard what they're saying - that my body did this all by itself. You can't believe that." Elisa replied angrily. "I heard Sevarious's voice!" "Sevarious!" Derek exclaimed, infuriated. "How can he still be alive." "Huh! I sometime wonder how *I've* managed to survive." Elisa thought aloud, bitterly. Matt Bluestone, however, had a far more introspective look on his face, leaning against the doorpost, rubbing his head. His red hair had been moused up for his visit to Elisa in the hospital. "I admit that Xanatos and Sevarious are great suspects, but they're not the ONLY suspects." Elisa sat up in bed. "Who else has messed with genetics?" "Dominique Destine." Captain Chavez answered, professionally, holding open a manilla folder. She handed it to Peter Maza, who looked at her mug shot, and her rap sheet. "Anton Sevarious has been under her employment for quite a while, it seems - even through the present time. She's paying him quite a considerable sum of money." "Demona!" Elisa exclaimed. "She and Thailog created the clones." Derek stepped in, not needing to see the folder. "Thailog died along with the other clones because of Sevarious's sloppy work." "Until you've investigated Dominique Destine, there's nothing the Grand Jury can do with Xanatos." Chavez closed the manilla folder. "Just let me talk to Xanatos!" Elisa replied. David Xanatos had one chance to visit his family, Fox, and Alexander. When he was told Elisa wanted to see him, he accepted. With Goliath and Angela at her side, Elisa was collected, glad to finally be away from the her hospital bed. David was handcuffed behind his back, and around his ankles. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY PROOF THAT YOU COULD SHOW ME, XANATOS!" Elisa scream irately, half on the verge of tears. "I _SAW_ YOU! I _HEARD_ You!" "What you saw was a lie, detective! All I want to do is prove it to you!" David protested hotly. The security guards were getting itchy, unsure if they should attack Xanatos or Elisa. "We were making a homevideo of Alexander, and there's a timestamp on it that shows I wasn't there." Elisa snarled, grabbing the man's collar, and looked about to do something highly vicious when suddenly Fox interposed herself between them. "STOP!" Elisa felt Angela's paw on her shoulder. "Elisa, stop. If you hurt him, you become just as guilty as Demona. Not when he is determined to prove himself to you." Elisa, eyes aflame and burning red, flared her wings. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! I'm sure he could find somebody that can tell me the president himself organized this conspiracy! ALL I WANT IS JUSTICE! JUSTICE FOR WHAT HE DID TO ME, WHAT HE DID TO DEREK! ALL FOR HIS PETTY LITTLE WISHES!" Then Goliath was beside her, leading her away. "You don't want justice anymore, Elisa. You want revenge. Listen to yourself. Is this anger the voice of Elisa Maza, or of someone else?" Elisa collapsed into his arms. "But I'm not Elisa Maza anymore, Goliath. I'm a gargoyle and gargoyles don't have names." she wept bitterly. There were several long moments as Goliath held her, and David stared at the floor morosely. "While I was away in Paris, someone broke into the computer network. Lab 14 had been shut down for a year or so, but they brought it back to life. A lookalike android that I designed was the man you met with the night of crime. All the rest of the guardsmen were just obeying what they thought were genuine orders. Sevarious is not even on the payroll, and hasn't been for years. I think it was a tape recording." "Judging by the remains of the equipment they left, they have developed some kind of technique that just stinks of Sevarious." Fox snorted. "He was able to determine the exact genetic differences between a human and a gargoyle, and wrote a computer program to reorganize DNA into this new shape, yet still retain all the qualities you had before, your face, voice, fingerprint, everything that was uniquely you." "Except my very identity!" Elisa protested. "I can't even have children anymore! I have been robbed of myself! Raped!" "You *can* have children. Whoever designed this program, they solved the problem of previous genetics experiments. This person was a genius." Fox said. Elisa's expression was puzzled. Fox continued, "We think it had something to do with the level of this genetic manipulation. He convinced your immune system that your DNA was supposed to be this way, and your own body made the changes, with some help from the accelerated growth factor he uses to grow his clones." Elisa cried again, and Fox bit her lip. "Why would Sevarious want to attack her?" Goliath cut in. Xanatos nodded. "I remember hearing him rant and rave about the creature farm he wanted to create. I suspect that Elisa was just another victim in a long line of experiments before some final goal. It's possible Elisa pissed him off one too many times." "Goal?" "To use subservient humans to become the creatures he wants, and then masquerade them like pets." David suggested. "I've ordered all of my resources to find out what happened that night." "Now according to the information they gleaned," Fox cut in. "The technique he used did not use the standard retrovirus technique of delivering the changes. That would have taken too long. He introduced a virus to your body, that ate away your immune system like an AIDS virus, but instead of making more viruses, the captured cells made more white blood cells of the new gargoyle code. The virus died out, but the new white blood cells took over the old and it was all natural from there on out. This virus could be released onto the world if made to be passed in the air." "A weapon." Goliath surmised. "Yes." "We need to keep Elisa under guard. If he wants to make an example of her before the world, we need to keep her protected." Goliath announced. "You are NOT going to lock me up again. I can take care of myself!" she protested hotly.