A Night at the Zoo
Kellie Fay  KFay198120@aol.com
  
Disclaimer:  Gargoyles is the property of Disney, but I often feel compelled
to borrow them.  The Bronx  Zoo for Wildlife Conservation. belongs to
The Wildlife Conservation Society.  The Triborough Bridge belongs to the
City of New York.  The Honda Accord belongs to Honda

I'd like to thank my editors and creativity demon keepers. Constance
Cochran, Demon Spawn, Batya Levine, and Demaka Draconus  (aka
Johnny Gilbert)



I've seen the following quote in a dozen zoos, but I don't know who
originally said it.  But it's perfect for this story.

"Extinct is forever, endangered means there is still time."
*********************************************

A Night at the Zoo.  

~ So this is how the high class live.  Going to parties, and giving high
priced gifts to charities. ~
   
Brooklyn watched slightly amused as New York's elite hobnobbed with the
executives of the Bronx Zoo, including his landlords.
  
It was through Xanatos  that he had learned of the fund raising dinner. 
They had asked Lexington  to baby sit because Owen was away on another
assignment.  Lex had agreed instantly. 
  
Brooklyn has always been curious about the zoo.  He had visited there
once, but most of the animals were taken in at night.  Because of the
fund-raiser the animals were still on display tonight.  Brooklyn knew that
this would be a rare opportunity to see animals from all over the
world.
  
Broadway and Angela declined to go with him.  Lex  was baby sitting and
Goliath and Hudson wanted to go out on patrol.  Goliath trusted Brooklyn
though, and had given permission for him to go out there alone.  Brooklyn
had the impression that Goliath didn't like zoos.
  
Now two hours later Brooklyn was beginning to understand Goliath's
opinion.  At first he was in awe of the variety of animals he saw, but
gradually he became more aware of the enclosures.  The
animals were prisoners.  
  
Brooklyn was about to go home when he noticed Elisa talking to Fox in
the corner.  He watched as Elisa finished her conversation and went over to
speak to a few uniformed officers.  As soon as they moved away, Brooklyn
picked up some gravel from the roof he was sitting on.  When Elisa
came near, he sprinkled some in her hair.
  
Elisa looked up, and he waved.  Then he followed her to a deserted part of
the zoo.  "Fox told me you'd be coming," she said to him.
  
"Yeah I was curious, but now I think I know why Goliath doesn't like this
place.  Why are all the animals locked up in cages, or trapped on islands?"
  
Elisa glanced at him, slightly amused.  "These animals aren't like gargoyles,
Brooklyn.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to end up on the menu
for a lion or tiger."
  
"You mean that they're dangerous?"  Brooklyn asked. When Elisa nodded
he added, "Then why are they here?"
  
 "Without zoos, most people would never see elephants, or lions, or a lot
of other animals.  It helps them to understand the world around them."  She
saw some other people coming.  "You'd better get back to the roof tops
before you become an exhibit here," she teased.
  
Brooklyn hopped back up to the rooftops.  Once there watching the
humans below, he digested Elisa's comment.  It was true that before
tonight he had never seen most of these animals before. 
Still he didn't like the fact that they weren't free.
  
The party was just closing up.  From above Brooklyn watched as the
keepers took the animals in after the party.   He was about to leave when
he saw a building still lit.  Puzzled, he glided down to see.  He landed as
quietly as possible, and peered into the skylight.
  
There were three humans in the room.  There was a long table, and a few
chairs.  A black and white TV was on and nestled in the corner.  There
were two female humans there, one with earthy brown hair tied into a tail
with curls  that threatened to escape their band.  The second
female had hair of a golden red that fell in gentle waves around her
shoulders.  The male human had short cropped blond hair.  All three had
white jackets on.
  
~ They must be doctors or scientists. ~  Brooklyn guessed.  He wondered
what they were still doing around.  As he watched he realized that there
was some camping gear in the corner.
  
The golden red-haired female was speaking to the other two humans.  "My
gear is still the car."  She left the room, and moments later Brooklyn heard
the door open.  The girl appeared to be going out to the parking lot alone. 
That was a bad idea as far as Brooklyn was concerned. 
Silently he followed, gliding above the girl.
  
There was a high fence surrounding the parking lot.  Brooklyn perched
there and watched as the young woman walked to her car.
  

************************************************************
   Cathy Lindsey was not concentrating on her surroundings.  She was
thinking about Libby, a pregnant Indian Rhino.  She wasn't afraid of being
out there all alone.  The guard was in shouting distance, and the lot was
well lit.  She opened the trunk of her Honda Accord, and pulled out her
sleeping bag.  Libby  was taking her last month in pregnancy rather badly,
and they all wanted to keep an eye on her.  Suddenly her thoughts were
interrupted as she felt an arm around her front,
and a knife at her throat.
  
"Scream and you're dead, sweetheart," a vicious voice spoke.  Cathy stayed
perfectly still.
  
In the next instant there was a thud, and a male voice that said, "Let her
go."
  
Still pressing the knife against  Cathy's  neck the stranger turned her to face
the second speaker.  A few yards away was a gargoyle.  Wings out, eyes
blazing it glared at the man impatiently.  "I said let her go!"  It repeated.
  
"One step closer and I'll kill her," her assailant said pressing the knife still
closer to her neck.

The gargoyle didn't move a muscle.  Cathy didn't think he had the slightest
idea what to do.
  
"Hold it!"  Another voice shouted.  Out of the corner of her eye Cathy
could see George, the security guard.
  
Her captor turned toward George, and quicker than she could see, the
gargoyle jumped forward on all fours.   He used his tail to whip the knife
out of the man's hand.  
  
Cathy backed away, toward George.  The gargoyle and the man faced each
other.  The stranger tried to rush the gargoyle, but the gargoyle easily
blocked the attack.  He picked up the man and flung him over his shoulder. 
The man landed with a dull thud on the asphalt.  He did not rise.
  
The light faded from the gargoyle's eyes, as it turned towards Cathy.  The
guard began to raise his weapon, but Cathy stopped him.  "No, gargoyles
are protectors.  He won't hurt us."

Cathy took two tentative steps forward.  The guard tried to hold her back,
but she ignored him.  "Thank you," she said.  
  
The gargoyle eyed the guard suspiciously, but his eyes gentled as he looked
at her.  "Are you all right?"
  
George gasped.  Cathy smiled, and nodded.  The gargoyle was now slightly
puzzled.  
  
"You're not afraid," he said with wonder.
  
"I've seen gargoyles before."  She answered.  The gargoyles eyes widened
in shock and surprise   Then she saw a shadow move behind him.  "Look
out!"
  
************************************************************
Brooklyn couldn't hide his surprise.   He was about to ask her where, and
how she had seen a gargoyle  when her eyes showed fear. But she wasn't
looking at him, but something over his shoulder.  "Look out !"  She cried,
pointing.  Brooklyn made a half turn.  The human he had struck before was
trying to run past them.  
  
Brooklyn instantly tried to block the man's path.  When their bodies
collided Brooklyn felt something hot and painful connect with his side. 
Brooklyn knocked the guy off of him with a right cross.  The guard ran
over and handcuffed the semiconscious man.  
  
Brooklyn knew he was not in good shape.  He was having a hard time
breathing, his side hurt, and he felt queasy.
 
The girl looked at him with horror, but not fear, in her eyes.  "Oh no!" she
said.
 
She wasn't looking at his face, but at his side.  He looked down and saw his
hand and side soaked with blood.
  
That was too much for Brooklyn to deal with.  His head swam and he felt
himself sink to the ground.
   
************************************************************
A sharp stinging sensation brought him partially back into consciousness. 
He was laying on the ground.  The nylon sleeping bag had been unrolled,
and was covering him.  Pain shot through him as  he felt something being 
pressed into his side.  "No...stop...that hurts."   He protested weakly.
 
"I know, but I have to slow your bleeding.  That creep stabbed you.  Don't
worry I'm right here."  The voice seemed to be faint and far away, but he
recognized it as belonging to the girl he had just saved.  Other voices soon
joined hers.
  
"Lisa, Joe! We've got a male gargoyle with a three inch laceration!"
  
"Where did it come from?"
  
"Holy... What is it?"
  
"What are you two waiting for?  Let's go!"
  
The world went gray for what  he thought was a few seconds.  When he
came to again he was on a hard table made of metal.  He felt cold and
weak.  Something was wrong with him.  He felt a bright light even with his
eyes closed.  He opened his eyes slightly.  People in white lab coats
surrounded him.
  
He was in a lab.  Fear rushed into him, and then anger.  He tried to rise.  A
lancing pain burned in his side, and a heavy arm came down on his chest.
 
"Oh man, it's coming to!"
  
"Hold him down!  We've go it to get an I.V. into him now!"
  
"No!"  Brooklyn yelled.  "Let me go!"
  
"What are you going to give it?"  The man's voice demanded.  "It's not like
we can get gargoyle blood out of the freezer."
  
A sharp business like female voice  answered him.  "I'm going to give him
human plasma.  His blood has a couple of proteins I never saw before, but
otherwise it's not so different from ours. 
We have to replace his blood with something.  For crying out loud Joe! 
Hold him down!  Sedate him already!"
  
Brooklyn, despite his pain and fear was desperately trying to get off that
table and escape.
 
"I'll take care of it."  a second female voice announced.  Somewhere in his
foggy memory he recognized it as the girl from the parking lot.  Someone
grabbed his hand.  Brooklyn turned and looked at the girl.  Her eyes were
filled with concern.
  
"Take it easy gargoyle, your in a hospital.  My friends and I are trying to
help you, but you have to hold still."
  
Brooklyn stopped struggling.  He had no strength, and every time he
moved it hurt.  Instead he watched suspiciously as the human tied his arm
down and placed an needle into his vein.  "What's that for?" he asked.
  
The girl turned his head away from what was going on, and explained. 
"You've lost a lot of blood.  We're giving you some plasma.  That will help. 
Joe  is going to give you something that will make you more comfortable
too."
  
Brooklyn wasn't sure what that meant, but in the background his sensitive
ears heard a worried whisper.  "Give him twice as much as we give Hector
and Achilles."
  
Brooklyn saw the man prepare another needle.  As he placed the needle
into the receiving tube of the I.V. device the girl tapped his hand for her
attention.  "Do you have a name?"
  
"Brooklyn," he answered hesitantly.
  
She nodded as if she found the answer satisfactory.  "Brooklyn, I want you
to close your eyes and take a deep breath."  When he complied, she added,
"Okay now I want you to count slowly backwards from ten to one."
  
Brooklyn decided that he didn't have much of a choice so he obeyed.  "Ten,
nine, eight, seven, six, five....five........"

************************************************************
"five.....five....." The gargoyle's voice was fading as the sedative took
effect.
  
"Brooklyn, what comes after five?"  Cathy asked softly.   When silence
answered her, she sighed with relief.  "He's out."  She announced.
  
Lisa, the head vet, grunted an affirmative as she stitched up the wound. 
"At least now I can work without worrying if he's going to take a walk or
not."
  
Cathy gave her supervisor a hard look.  "Lisa, he was scared!  You know
what people have been saying about the gargoyles.  If I was one people in
lab coats would scare me silly too.
  
Lisa turned and looked at her young colleague.  "I know, and I
acknowledge that you are the resident gargoyle expert, but as soon as I'm
done here he goes in the heavy duty quarantine cage.  I don't want him
pulling out these stitches or taking off before I can check him out.
  
Cathy nodded.  The more they could learn about this gargoyle, about
Brooklyn, the better they would be able to treat him.
  
************************************************************
Lexington drew the antique rocking chair closer to the window.  He rocked
absently with Alex in his lap.  He looked expectantly at the night sky
waiting for Brooklyn to come home.  Lexington heard the door open
behind him, but he wasn't concerned.  He recognized the footsteps.  In a
moment Fox and Xanatos appeared on either side of the Rocking Chair. 
"Is he still awake?" Fox asked.
  
"Shhh, no he isn't," Lexington whispered harshly.  When Fox gave him a
questioning look he said sheepishly, "after he fell asleep, I didn't want to
put him down."
 
Fox smiled.  From her expression Lexington knew that she understood. 
She bent down and relieved him of his little burden.  Lexington got off of
the chair and went to look out the window.  "Did you see Brooklyn out
there?"
  
Fox put Alex in his crib and joined him, and Xanatos by the window.  "I
saw him at the zoo, but the party ended hours ago.  Didn't he come back
yet?"
  
Lexington shook his head.  "No, and he promised to come right home.  The
Bronx is pretty far away even by air.  I'm getting worried."
 
 
************************************************************
Matt Bluestone silently observed his partner as she came back into the
station.  She had been on a special assignment that night, the fund raiser at
the Bronx Zoo.  He had too much work with the Gargoyle Task Force to
go.  He gave her a sly grin.  "So how was your night?"
  
Elisa smiled back, and said, sounding bored, "I watched the rich folks, I
watched the animals, I talked to Brooklyn, I came home.  A real interesting
night."
 
"Sounds like it,"  Matt laughed.  Then, more curious, "Brooklyn was
there?"
  
Elisa sat on her desk and accepted the cup of coffee he offered her.  "He
wanted to see the animals.   They didn't have zoos in the tenth century." 
Then in a lighter tone of voice she said, "So, how goes the search for the
gargoyles?"
  
Matt tried to keep the laughter out of his voice as he said, "Very funny." 
Just then the phone rang.  Still glaring at his partner Matt answered it. 
"Twenty third, Matt Bluestone.   What?   He did what?  How long ago?  I'll
be right there."  Matt hung up the phone.  "Come on Elisa, we're
going back to the Bronx."
  
Elisa followed behind bewildered.  "Why Matt?  What's wrong?
  
Matt turned to his partner, worry in his eyes.  "Because our guys in the
Bronx just called.  They picked up a mugger from the zoo, and he says that
he killed a gargoyle."
  
Tears began to threaten in Elisa's eyes the moment she heard that.  She
raced Matt to the car.  As she placed her hand on the door handle Matt
could see her hand tremble.  He placed his hand on top of hers.  "No, I'm
driving," he said.
  
Elisa looked at him rebelliously, but then relented, and went to the
passenger side.  Matt got in, started the car, and prayed that this report was
a hoax.
   
************************************************************
Sensations came back to Brooklyn slowly.  His body felt like it was already
made of stone.  he couldn't move or open his eyes.  The strange thing was
that he couldn't feel any pain, or much of anything.  He could only drift in
and out of consciousness as he listened to the voices.
  
"So how did the plasma transfusion work?"  
  
"Better than I hoped.  I'm not sure what his blood pressure is suppose to
be, but it's steady.  The same goes for his body temperature.   He hasn't
rejected the transfusion, and there's no sign of infection.  As long as he
doesn't rip out the stitches he'll be fine."
  
"And then what, Lisa?"
  
That was the human who had spoken to him before.  He vaguely
remembered her saying that she had seen gargoyles before.
  
"You know we can be famous.  We have a live gargoyle in captivity," the
male voice said.
  
The parking lot girl answered back, protesting.  "He's not an animal we can
display, Joe!  Gargoyles are sentient!  They have feelings!  You can't lock
him up forever!"
  
"Okay Cathy.  Geeze!  Take it easy!  It was just a suggestion.  If you don't
want grants, and fame, that's your decision."
  
"You just don't understand," she shot back.
  
Then the third voice, another female, the one who had spoken about his
treatment, spoke again. 
  
"So you recommend re-release,  Doctor Lindsey?"  This woman had a cold
professional tone to her voice that reminded Brooklyn of Owen Brunette.
  
"Lisa, he saved my life.  He's in this mess because of me.  In my
professional opinion we should treat him like a human."
  
"But he's not human," the male voice said.
  
"The parking lot girl shot back icily, "No, gargoyles are more civilized than
most humans I know."
  
"That's enough, both of you," the second woman commanded.  "When he
comes around I'll decided what to do.  Until them no on is to talk about
this to anyone.  Right Joe?"
  
Joe's answer was sullen.  "All right."
                    
Brooklyn heard the sound of footsteps leaving, but only one set.  The he
heard the first woman speak.
  
"Thanks Lisa.  You'll see.  He'll be so much nicer  to us if we let him go."
  
"I believe you," her companion answered.  "It's just such a pity that we
can't learn more about them.  Well I'm going to check on Libby.  She's been
neglected enough for one day."
  
"How is Libby."
  
To Brooklyn's surprise the unemotional, professional woman gave a small
laugh.  "Still eating, still  standing, and still pregnant.  You know the baby
pool is up to two thousand dollars.  Some friends of mine from the
aquarium have put in.  That makes all five parks."
  
"Is there a time limit for pregnant rhinos?"
  
"If I find out I'll let you know.  You can stay with your friend for a while,
but try to get some rest."
  
Brooklyn heard the footsteps leave.  Then he felt a tender touch on his arm. 
It reminded of when he was little, an adult gargoyle would caress him that
way.  Somewhere deep within himself he found the strength to speak. 
"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me."  The hand drew back instantly.
  
"You're awake?"  Brooklyn opened his eyes, and saw the golden red-head
from the parking lot.  Her eyes were wide with surprise, and looking at him
from behind iron bars.
  
"Yeah."  Brooklyn tried to sit up, but a combination of dizziness and pain
forced him back down. "I guess I have to be.  I hurt enough to be awake."
  
Cathy reached through the bars and arranged the pillows under him so he
would be more comfortable.  "You should be resting."
  
Brooklyn smiled as she fussed over him.  "When dawn comes, I'll get
plenty of rest, don't worry."
  
Instead of asking what he meant, Cathy said, "You have another hour
before sunrise."  Brooklyn looked into her eyes, and realized that she had
understood what he meant.  She knew.
  
"So where did you meet other gargoyles?"  Brooklyn asked.  "You seem to
know a lot about us."
  
Outside of the cage Cathy used her ankle to hook a stool behind her.  She
sat down still facing
him.  "Five years ago I went to Guatemala with one of my professor's
research teams.  We were tracking jaguars."
  
"One night we had just caught a magnificent specimen.  We were just going
to take some blood, and some vitals.  Then we were going to tag him and
fix a radio collar on him.  Just as we began about a dozen gargoyles
attacked us.  I was scared and I got lost in the jungle.  Just before
sunrise I came across this Mayan Temple.  That's where the gargoyles
lived.  At first they took me prisoner, but once they understood that I was a
researcher and not a poacher they were pretty nice.  They even helped me
find my way back to my professor, but I did spend a few days with
them.  They asked me not to tell anyone about them, and until a few
months ago I never did."
  
"A few months ago?  Wait a minute, let me guess.  When my clan got on
the eleven o'clock news."  Brooklyn replied.
  
Cathy nodded.  "That when I told my bosses that gargoyles don't attack
unless they're protecting themselves or others.  I'm not sure they believed
me, but Lisa's cool.  Once she's met you, she'll understand."
  
Brooklyn nodded.  He tried to reach up to Cathy, and to his surprise, found
a thick leather band was tied to his wrist.  Looking at his other arm he saw
the IV still in it, and a second leather binding.  "What's all this for?"  He
asked.
  
Cathy looked embarrassed.  "I told them you didn't need this, but Lisa
insisted.  She didn't want you to pull out your stitches."
  
Brooklyn frowned, but as he tested the strength of his bindings.  If he
pulled the leather tightened to the point of being uncomfortable.  At his
best he could have snapped them without hurting himself but not now.  He
found they weren't very restraining though.  He was able to move his
arms a little bit so he could get comfortable.  He could prop himself up on
his elbows, and look around, but he couldn't reach the IV in his arm, or his
belly.
  
Of course now that he could see the bandage around his middle he was
curious to see what had been done to him.  "Can I see?"  He asked.
  
Cathy looked torn for a minute.  Then she pressed the code sequence to
open his cage.  "I'm going to get into a lot of trouble for this."   She locked
herself in with him, and slowly and gently undid the bandage.
  
Brooklyn surveyed the work.  The stitches were neat and even.  The area
around the stitches was pale and swollen.  
  
Cathy bound up the wound again.  "We used absorbing thread so don't
worry about them vanishing when you wake ."  Then she paused and
looked unsettled.  "Brooklyn, can I ask you  something?"
  
"What?"
  
"I haven't told the others about your unusual reaction to sunlight, and I
don't think they would believe me if I told them, but I don't want to show
you off like a specimen."
  
Brooklyn nodded.  "It's all right.  I'd rather they understand.  That way
they'll leave me alone, and keep me safe until sundown.  Just one thing."
Here he sat up and looked Cathy in the eye.  "I want to meet the dawn on
my feet."
  
Cathy acknowledged him with a nod.  She reached for her walkie talkie. 
"Lisa, can you and Joe come here for a bit?  I have something to show
you."
  
Cathy was removing Brooklyn's IV when they arrived.
  
"Cathy, what are you doing in there?  Lisa demanded.
  
"Hey, he's awake!  Get out of there before he hurts you"  Lisa said.
  
Brooklyn turned and eyed the two humans with a bit of humor.  "Now why
would I want to hurt the one human here who understands me?"
  
Lisa's jaw dropped open.  Cathy had been right!  This gargoyle was
intelligent and sentient.
  
Brooklyn now glanced around.  In a cage next to him was a gorilla.  In
other cages.  there were llamas, a rhinoceroses,  a leopard, and a large
turtle.    In incubators were a pair of snakes and three featherless baby
parrots.
  
Brooklyn still wasn't feeling well, but he felt good enough to crack jokes. 
"You told me I was in a hospital," he said with a grin.  "We're still in the
zoo."
  
Lisa made a confused face.  She looked as if she wasn't sure he was serious
or not.  "You're in the zoo hospital."
    
"Brooklyn's eyes gleamed slightly with mischief.  "So you're not doctors."
  
Lisa looked indignant.  "We're veterinarians.  I'm doctor Christian.  This is
doctor Rockwell, and suppose you know doctor Lindsey.  For what it's
worth a human doctor would have had no idea how to treat you.  In the
span of a week. I have treated a cheetah with a toothache.  A pregnant
rhino, a gorilla with arthritis, a love sick toucan, and an alligator with a skin
condition.  A gargoyle with a three inch knife really wouldn't faze me, and
I'm better at guessing what would work than anybody else."
  
Now his face matched his eyes in a smile.  "I stand  corrected."  Then he
glanced at a high window. "Speaking of standing, Cathy, it's almost time."
  
Lisa looked confused.  "Time for what?"  She saw Cathy help Brooklyn to
his feet.  "Hey now! Wait a minute!  He's in no condition to go anywhere! 
You'll pull his stitches out.  He needs rest."
  
The gargoyle groaned and grunted as he struggled to stand.  "Don't worry,
doc.  I'm not going anywhere.  I just want to be on my feet at sunrise."
  
"Whatever for?"  Lisa asked.
  
Just as Cathy was about to answer, a ray of morning sun came into the
room.  Before Lisa's and Joe's eyes, the gargoyle turned into a stone statue.
  
Cathy did not seem surprised.  She patted the statue on the back and said,
"have a nice nap, Brooklyn."  And then she boldly walked out of the cage. 
Joe looked a little distraught.  Lisa thought she understood.  "I guess it
would be too hard to put him on display during zoo hours." 
She said with a grin.
  
"Considering all the public would see is a stone statue, yeah,  Cathy agreed. 
"Besides, like this gargoyles are extremely vulnerable.  Any damage to the
statue means the end of the gargoyle."
 
Lisa understood now why Cathy was so protective of this gargoyle.  "All
right, Cathy.  He's your responsibility, but when he changes back I want to
give him a complete physical."
 
Lisa took Joe and walked back to the operating room.  When she turned
back she saw Cathy staring at the gargoyle with wonder in her eyes. 
"Cathy?"  She asked.

"We have a gargoyle as a patent," she said softly, not taking her eyes off of 
Brooklyn.  "I'm finally paying them back for helping me.  I never thought
I'd see a gargoyle again."

Lisa shook her head and smiled as she left the room leaving her colleague
with her thoughts.
  
 
************************************************************
*********
  
"Are you sure?" John Castaway's voice sounded strained with amazement.
  
The elderly man nodded once.  "Yes sir.  He said it several times.  The man
claims to have killed a gargoyle."
  
Castaway smiled eagerly.  "Do we have proof of this?"
  
His assistant,  a thin wiry little man, shook his head.  "No sir.  The zoo
security guard brought the man to the police station and reported the
mugging.  He said that the man stabbed the gargoyle, but he didn't know if
it was dead."
  
Castaway leaned on his desk heavily, and laced his fingers together.  "What
a prize a gargoyle carcass would be to the cause.  We must find this body. 
If it is dead we shall stuff the carcass and display it in our headquarters.  If
it is still alive ......"he chuckled cruelly.  "....his fate will be the
same."
  
************************************************************
 "Elisa, you don't have to do this.  I can question the vets.  Go home and
get some rest."  Matt said gently to his partner.
  
Elisa's face was determined as she shook off the offer.  "No way, Matt.  I
have to know if Brooklyn is alive."  A quick call to the Xanatos household
had told them that Brooklyn was the only gargoyle unaccounted for.  When
they arrived in the Bronx, questioning revealed that the mugger wasn't sure
if his attack killed the gargoyle.  He knew he stabbed it.  As far as the
mugger knew the gargoyle had been left in the zoo.
  
So now Matt and Elisa were at the zoo to find the vet who had been
attacked.  Matt had wanted to go alone, but Elisa wouldn't hear of it.
  
They entered together the small zoo hospital together.  In a stall on the side
was a fat antelope of some kind.  A young woman with golden red hair was
examining the animal with a stethoscope.  She looked up and asked, "May
I help you?"

Matt used his complete business voice.  He showed her his badge.  "We're
looking for Doctor Catherine Lindsey.  Do you know where we might find
her?"
  
The girl looked at Matt and his badge suspiciously.  "Wait, I know you. 
You're Matt Bluestone.  You head that Gargoyle's Task Force."  Elisa
noticed that her voice had grown tight and slightly frightened.  "Well she's
not here.  She was real upset about last night so Doctor Christian sent her
home."  The woman said.
  
She was lying.  You didn't get a detectives badge without spotting a liar or
a scared witness.  That was it, this woman didn't want to talk to the cops,
but why?
  
Elisa half listened conversation between Matt and this woman.  "We had
reports of the murder of a gargoyle in your parking lot,"  Matt said.
  
"Murder?"  The woman's voice was surprised and puzzled at once.  Then
she recovered and said.  "We don't know if the gargoyle died.  After he
saved Doctor Lindsey he ran away."
  
"Do you know how badly it was injured?"  Matt asked.
 
As they spoke Elisa looked around.  There were several clipboards with
names and records scattered about.  One in particular caught Elisa's eye.  

             Male:           Age: Unknown, possibly adult or late adolescent.
             Symptoms:  Three inch horizontal laceration between abdomen 
                                 and lower torso.
             Treatment:   Given human plasma to stabilize blood pressure.  
                                 Given penicillin to prevent  infection.  
             Note:           Sedation required.  Subject is not used to human 
                                 handling.
  
Suddenly a hand came and snatched the clip board from under her eyes.  It
was a young man with close cropped blond hair.  "Can I help you?"
  
"We're investigating the murder of a gargoyle."  She answered evenly. 
Matt and the other woman he was speaking to came forward.
  
"I told you both, he's not here, he ran away."
  
"Do you mind if we look at the crime scene?"  Matt asked.
  
The girl shrugged.  "Suit yourself, but I don't think you're going to find
anything,"  she answered.
  
Matt and Elisa went to the parking lot.  On the ground was a large stain the
same color as Brooklyn's hide.  "That's a lot of blood," her partner said,
bending down to look more carefully.
  
Elisa nodded.  "But did you notice that there's only this stain here?  If
Brooklyn ran why isn't there a trail of blood?"
  
"Good questions,"  Matt agreed.  "By the way, what did they snatch out
from under your eye before?"
  
"A treatment chart for something male in his late adolescence with a three
inch knife wound."
  
Matt nodded once and rose to his feet. "It sure sounds like our boy, but we
need more evidence."
  
"Hey, you're Matt Bluestone, aren't you?  You're in charge of the gargoyles
task force?"
  
Elisa and Matt eyed the newcomer suspiciously at first.  It was a zoo
security guard.  He didn't seem unfriendly.  "You're here because of the
gargoyle attack last night?"
  
"We don't call them attacks if they're stopping a crime."  Elisa said.  "Were
you on duty last night?"
  
The guard seemed a bit excited.  "Sure was.  You wouldn't believe that
thing.  He swooped down right behind that guy.  He scarred the wits out of
me, but Doctor Lindsey wasn't afraid.  She walked right up to him.  She
said she'd seen his kind before."
  
Matt digested this slowly.  "Did you see the way the gargoyle ran after he
was stabbed?" Elisa asked.
 
"Ran?" the guard looked at her, puzzled.  "He had a hole in his side this
big!" The guard gestured with his fingers.  "He knocked the guy down so I
could grab him, but then he fainted. Doctor Lindsey took him to the zoo
hospital.  I think they put in quarantine.  When I saw her this morning she
said not to tell the public, but hey, you guys are investigating this.  You
should know."
  
"Wait just a second," Elisa said alarm in her voice.  "Did you say that
Doctor Lindsey came in today?"
  
The guard laughed.  "Came in? Detective, she stayed all night.  She's got a
pregnant rhino that she's been watching.  Between her and that gargoyle
she wasn't going anywhere."
  
Elisa would have asked more questions but Matt placed a restraining hand
on her arm.  "Thank you, we'll be in touch."  Matt forcibly dragged Elisa
away from the guard.
 
Back in the car Elisa said, "That woman lied to us!"
  
"I know," Matt said, nodding.  "Most likely she was Doctor Lindsey, and
most likely she lied to  us to keep us from finding Brooklyn."
  
Elisa thought about that for a moment.  "Do you think she's protecting
him?"
  
Matt didn't answer for a few seconds.  He seemed to be concentrating on
the road.   "The guard said something about her seeing gargoyles before. 
Maybe she knows them.  Besides zoo people like the strangest creatures.  I
know, my cousin's a keeper in Queens.  Even if she hadn't seen
gargoyles before I doubt If a zoo veterinarian could leave one injured
without helping it."
  
Elisa nodded.  "You're probably right."
  
They traveled in silence together.  As they crossed the Triborough Bridge, 
Matt said , "So what do you want to do?"
  
"You are going to tell Captain Chavez that I'm sick.  I'm going to get some
of our friends and come back tonight."
  
 
************************************************************
Lisa was practically growling at the guest in the lab.  Something deep in
her gut, some instinct, told her not to trust this man.
  
"And the gargoyle escaped?"  The man asked again.
  
"Yes, Mister Castaway.  The gargoyles ran away.  We don't know where it
is."  Lisa knew that Castaway did not believe her.  She just wanted him to
leave.  She knew that in a few minutes the gargoyle in the quarantine room
would wake, and Castaway would find it.
  
"What is in that room?"  Castaway asked moving toward the door of the
quarantine room.
  
Lisa grabbed onto his arm.  "That's where we keep new animals.  You can't
go in there, they might be contaminated."
  
Castaway made a face.  Suddenly  the roar of a great beast was heard from
behind the door.
  
There was only a small window with a curtain on the inside barring
Castaway from seeing in the Quarantine room.  Lisa glanced out of a
window.  Sunset.  "That our new male lion from the Miami Metro Zoo. 
We're hanging onto him while they refurbish their exhibit.  He's really
touchy right now so we're not allowing guests to go in,"  She explained
hastily.
 
The man took a step back.  "Of course.  If you'll excuse me, Miss
Christian."
  
"That's *Doctor* Christian, Mister Castaway, and by the way, how many
of those gargoyle things are there?"
  
She saw a puzzled look cross the man's face.  "We don't know.  Why?"
  
Lisa's expression was as stony as her guest had been a few minutes ago. 
"Well I was wondering if they were an endangered species."
  
Castaway looked as if he didn't like the direction her thoughts were taking. 
"I intend to make sure they become extinct, *Doctor*.  They are too
dangerous to be running around loose."
  
Lisa decided she didn't like Castaway at all.  "Mister  Castaway, when the
Europeans first came to New York State they killed all the wolves.  They
were afraid the wolves would kill their cattle.  Well, when the wolves were
all gone the deer began to overbrowse their habitat.  To this day deer
are a nuisance to farmers in the area."
  
Castaways expression was unreadable.  "And your point is?"
  
"The wolves, though they appeared to be threatening, had a purpose.  By
wiping them out humans made a mistake.  Right now I think you're making
the same mistake."
 
Castaway stepped forward angrily and shook his fist.  "You don't
understand!  They are monsters, vicious brutes!  They attack decent
citizens for no reason!"
  
"Mister Castaway!"  Lisa moved into his face with her hands on her hips. 
"This Society was founded  to preserve all living things and to learn about
them.  And no....two bit poacher in a hood is welcome here!  Good day
sir!"
  
Castaway opened his mouth to say something, then he must have thought
better of it, because he closed his mouth again and walked to the exit. 
"Well if you are protecting that creature, I hope you don't regret it.  Good
day Miss Christian."
  
Lisa watched impassively as Castaway showed himself out.  "That's Doctor
Christian to you," she muttered after he left.  Then with a sigh she went to
check on her new patient.
  
************************************************************
Brooklyn woke feeling immense pleasure at being able to move without
agony again.  It felt great.  He wasn't hurting, and he wasn't full of
tranquilizers.  He stretched and let out a normal gargoyle
roar.
 
"Gee whiz man, be quiet!  If these guys catch you you're sunk!"
  
Brooklyn swallowed half of the roar and looked at his companion oddly.  It
was Joe, the human who had wanted to put him on display in the zoo.  He
was looking nervous at a small video monitor.
  
Brooklyn couldn't see the images on the monitor.  "What's wrong?  What's
going on?"
  
"You're an awful popular gargoyle, pal."  Joe kept watching the monitor. 
"This morning a pair of cops came looking for you, and right now there
one of those Quarryman dudes out there with Doctor Christian!"
  
~A Quarryman? ~  Brooklyn became instantly serious.  "Does he know I'm
here?"
  
Joe made a dissatisfied face as he watched the screen.  "We've been telling
everyone you up and ran off with the hole in your gut, but I don't think
anybody's buying it.  Castaway sure isn't and I don't think that gargoyle cop
and his partner did either."
  
Brooklyn's ears perked up a the mention of police.  "What do you mean
gargoyle cop?"
  
Lisa and Cathy entered the room as he explained.  "That cop that's always
on TV when you guys do something that gets you on the news. That guy
who stabbed you told the cops that he killed you so they came looking for
you."
  
Brooklyn didn't even hear that last part.  He was too busy trying to piece
together the what he said first.  "Matt Bluestone, head of the gargoyle task
force was here?  With his partner, a lady cop?"
  
Joe eyed the gargoyle hesitantly.  "Yeah, how did you know that?"
  
Brooklyn leaned back against the wall and let his body sink a little.  "I am
such an idiot!"
  
"Brooklyn what's wrong?"  Cathy asked.
  
Brooklyn sighed and straightened up again.  "I should have told you last
night.  Matt Bluestone and his partner are friends of ours.  You could have
told them I was here."
  
The three looked at Brooklyn in shock.  "What?!"  Lisa said.
  
Joe started to laugh.  "What a kick!  The whole city thinks he's protecting
them from you guys when he's actually protecting you!"
  
Brooklyn gave a sly grin and nodded.  "That is the general idea.  Honestly
though, normal law abiding humans don't have to worry about us at all. 
Gargoyles protect their homes and all who live there.  We only go after
crooks, thieves, and other scum, like the Quarrymen."
  
Brooklyn placed his hands on the bars of his enclosure.  He could bend
them easily and free himself, but he didn't want to frighten the vets. 
Goliath was always telling them to be gentle with good humans because
you can never tell where you could find a friend.
  
No, he wouldn't free himself.  If he explained it right they would let him out
on their own, and he would have three new friends in the deal.
  
"Speaking of which," he said with his hands still on the bars, "If the
Quarrymen are here then maybe I'd better go now.  Could you please open
your cage so I can leave?"
  
Lisa gave Brooklyn a hard look.  It reminded him of one of the mothers
when he was young.  "You aren't going anywhere.  Did you forget about
your three inch knife wound yesterday?"
  

Brooklyn grinned wickedly.  Cathy probably didn't know that part of a
gargoyle's stone sleep.  He ripped the bandage off and allowed it to fall to
the floor.  "What knife wound?" He asked mischievously.
  
All Three vets gasped in shock.  Lisa moved as close as she could and bent
down to look at his middle. "There isn't even a scar," she said in wonder. 
"How is this possible?"
 
Brooklyn had an amused lilt in his voice as he answered.  "When we turn to
stone we heal."
  
Lisa was still looking at his stomach, amazed.  She looked up to meet his
eyes.  "You're kidding."
  
"Nope," he answered.  "As long as we last until sunrise most of our injuries
heal."
  
"Incredible," Lisa said.  She was clearly fascinated.  She looked into his
eyes, and he felt very pleased.  Few strange humans ever did that.
  
Then she rose and faced him.  "I'd like to give you a physical anyway.  That
way we can make sure you're healthy."
  
~ Yeah and you can get as much physical information on gargoyles as you
can . ~  Brooklyn thought wryly.  He recognized the yearning look in her
eyes.  Lexington often had that look, it was a desire for knowledge.
  
"All right," he agreed reluctantly.  Cathy opened the cage and the three vets
entered.
  
Brooklyn tolerated the poking and prodding for the most part.  He
managed to answer some of Lisa's questions about his diet, and where he
had come from.  He was less successful in explaining stone sleep, and how
it cured him of his injury.  
  
"I don't know.  Gargoyles have been turning to stone at sunrise like since
forever.  The only thing we know of that stops it is magic."  Cathy and Lisa
both sighed at that and asked another question. 

For his part Brooklyn asked questions about everything they were doing. 
He found out that his blood pressure was slightly lower than a humans, but
his body temperature was three degrees higher.  He let them take his pulse
and feel around his middle.
  
Finally the three veterinarians proclaimed Brooklyn a healthy male member
of his species.  "I would love another gargoyle to compare results to, but as
far as I'm concerned you're in the green."  Lisa said.
  
Brooklyn nodded, satisfied.  "So I can go now?"

Lisa looked reluctant, but she said, "I guess, but if you have any discomfort
at all, I want you to come back.  I'd also like you to come back next week
for an MRI. I want to be able to check your internal organs."
  
Brooklyn gave her a suspicious glance.  "I'm healed already.  You won't
find anything."
 
Lisa nodded, but that hunger for knowledge still gleamed in her eyes.  "I
know, still that wound did go into your stomach lining, and I'd like to
check it."
  
Brooklyn was about to agree when the phone rang.  All three humans
looked at each other confused.  Then Joe carefully answered the phone. 
"Hello infirmary........Are you sure?......Well how many of them are
there?......Yeah thanks, we'll take care of it. "  Joe hung up the phone and
cast a worried eye at the group.   
  
"Joe what's wrong?"  Cathy asked.
 
Joe came back into the cage and hurriedly helped the two women clean up. 
"I just got word from the Asia gate that thirty Quarrymen just forced their
way in here.  No doubt looking for you."  He pointed a finger at Brooklyn. 
"We've gotta keep them away from the hospital until the cops get
here." 
 
All of the vets left the cage.  When Brooklyn tried to follow Lisa gently
forced him back.  "Sorry Brooklyn, you'll be safer here in the hospital."

Brooklyn, enraged that his hopes of freedom had been destroyed again,
kept his voice level as he said, "Gargoyles protect.  We don't like being
where it's safe."
 
Lisa stepped forward and shook her finger at Brooklyn severely.  "I just
spent all of last night sewing you back together.  I'm not doing it again
tonight!  Now you just stay here and we'll take care of them."
 
"But......."Brooklyn began, but Lisa closed the cage door, and followed the
other two vets out of the room.
  
Still trapped in the cage Brooklyn growled low in frustration.  These zoo
vets wanted to protect him from the Quarrymen, but he wanted, no,  had
to, protect them.
 
A low hooting sound made Brooklyn turn around.  It was a large black
furry creature that stood about as tall as Lexington, but was build more like
Broadway.
 
Brooklyn remembered that it was a gorilla.  The animal gave him a pretty
intense stare.  "Don't look at me like that,"  Brooklyn grumbled.  "I like
them and all, but I need to get out."
  
Brooklyn eyed a book on a table near by.  The table was too far away for
him to reach.  He managed to wrap his tail around a leg and pulled it over
to him.  "I might as well do somethingconstructive."  He grumbled to
himself.  He was too worked up to read, so he tried to distract
himself by looking at the pictures.
 
Most of the photographs were of animals.  Some in the wild, while others
were in zoos, often shown being attended to by humans.  Every now and
then his interest was piqued enough to read a caption.
  
Suddenly Brooklyn turned a page and his blood ran like ice water in his
veins.  The photograph was of an elephant.  It's face was brutally hacked
off and the body was misshapen by decay.  Swallowing his revulsion, he
turned back a few pages.  The pictures of live elephants showed
them   possessing huge white tusks.  Another photograph showed a human
walking among rows of the  tusks.  
  
Then it occurred to him.  Humans had killed the elephant for its tusks.  He
remembered in one of Goliath's stories about his journey from Avalon how
they came upon poachers in Nigeria.  Now he  understood.
  
"They're trying to protect me like one of their zoo animals,"  He said softly
to his gorilla cell mate.  "They know I'm not an animal but still they see me
as being like their elephants or panthers.  They think I need protecting from
the Quarryman, but they're the ones who need protecting now."
  
A slight noise attracted Brooklyn's attention.  The source was very far
away, but Brooklyn smiled in recognition.  As the sounds drew closer the
animals nearby became restless.  "Easy guys," Brooklyn said in a soothing
tone.  "That's good news.  Cathy, Lisa, and Joe just got some
unexpected help."
  

************************************************************
 "Goliath, where do we start looking?"  Lexington asked eagerly, as they
landed on the building.  Goliath knew that the young gargoyle was worried
about Brooklyn.  If he wasn't careful Lexington would slip away and search
on his own.
  
"It's an awfully large zoo."  Angela said, looking over the area.  
  
Elisa was still in Goliath's arms.  If they had to take off quickly she was
ready.  "If they still have Brooklyn they won't have him in the public areas. 
He'll be in the zoo hospital that's behind the children's zoo."
  
"So how do we get there?"  Hudson asked impatiently.  A wolf howled in
the distance.
  
Lexington pulled out a map of the zoo that Xanatos had given him.  "The
children's zoo is here." He pointed.  "And here's their health center."
 
"That's the hospital," Elisa said, "and this is where we are now.  The
Giraffe Building."
  
"So we just have to glide over the marsh and that parking lot,"  Broadway
noted.
  
Goliath nodded in agreement, and was about to give the order to go when
Angela gave a start.  "Goliath! Listen!"
  
They all paused and listened to the night sounds.  Angry voices were
coming up the road near the building.  Lexington peered into the darkness. 
His voice grew alarmed.  "Quarrymen!"
  
Elisa peered back behind them.  "Goliath, over there!"
 
Goliath turned.  Between a group of huts, and past the African plains, more
Quarrymen appeared.
  
"What are they doing here?"  Broadway asked.
  
Hudson's face was grim.  "The same thing we're doing here, lad.  Looking
for Brooklyn."
  
"Our task has just become more urgent, and more perilous."  Goliath
pondered for a moment.  "Hudson, you and Elisa follow that group in the
African village, but do not engage  them."  He passed Elisa over to
Hudson.  "Where else would the Quarrymen converge?"
  


"Astor Court."  Elisa and Lexington said simultaneously.
  
Goliath nodded.  "Broadway, you and Angela go and observe the
Quarrymen there.  Lexington and I shall go to the hospital."  
  
They all nodded.  One by one the gargoyles left the building.
  
"Come on, Goliath,"  Lexington said.  The little gargoyle leapt off the
building and into the air.  After a few seconds hesitation,  Goliath followed.
  
Goliath and Lexington perched on a Skyfari tower, and looked at the low
building.  It resembled  a warehouse more than a zoo building.  Most of the
buildings Goliath had seen were ornately decorated.
  
"Goliath, this is a behind-the-scenes building.  They don't want this building
to be noticed!"
  
Goliath nodded, understanding.  Then he noticed a skylight.  "We do not
wish to be noticed either.  Go and investigate the building.  Perhaps we
shall find Brooklyn here."
  
Lexington nodded.  He silently glided over to the hospital, and landed near
the skylight.
 
~Hmmmmm, no wires, no boxes, no alarms.  Well it's not like there's
anything worth stealing I guess. ~  He gently unlocked the skylight, and
peered inside. 

The room gave Lexington the shivers.  Metal cabinets,  a metal examining
table in the center, and a number of small cages. Lexington sighed and
jumped down.

"A regular chamber of horrors,"   he muttered  to himself.  He hated labs. 
A small line of security cameras caught his attention .  Peering close he saw
that two were showing two separate views of a Rhinoceros, another
showed a gorilla, and the last showed Brooklyn calmly reading a book.
  
Lexington's first reaction was relief, but anger was quick to follow.  Here
everyone was worried sick about him and he was reading a book!  A closer
inspection make him feel slightly more worried.  There were bars around
him.  Brooklyn was in a cage!
  
Lexington was now confused.  Brooklyn was a captive, but he wasn't
trying to escape either. 
"I've got to find him."  Lexington said to himself.  He wondered where this
room was.
 
Lexington took his eyes off the video monitors, and looked around the
room.  There were only four doors in the room.  One was the front door,
he tried a second, but only found a closet.  he was about to try the next
door when he noticed the sign on the last one.
 
                        QUARANTINE:  VETERINARY STAFF ONLY

"Quarantine?"  Lexington said in realization.  "Of course!"  Ignoring the
sign he opened the door and entered the room.
 
There were cages all over the place.  In one very large cage a rhinoceros
chewed her hay.  In an incubator was a pair of baby birds.  Another
incubator had a baby monkey in it.  The last two cages were as large as the
rhinoceros cage.  A gorilla dozed in one, and in the other.......
 
"Brooklyn!"  Lexington shouted.  He scampered on all fours to the cage.  
  
"Lex!"  Brooklyn ran to the front of the cage, and reached through the bars
as if to make sure he was real.  "Man am I glad to see you!"
  
"What happened?"  Lexington asked.  "Elisa said some mugger said he
killed you!"
  
"I turned my back on the jerk when I thought he was down."  Brooklyn
explained, slightly embarrassed.   "Cathy and the other vets took care of
me."
  
~ Took care of......?~  Lexington decided not to ask about that. He looked
at the iron enclosure.  "I've got to get you out of here."  He tested the
strength of the bars, but Brooklyn stopped him.
  
"No Lex, I don't want to break the cage.  They need them."
  
Lexington gave him his rookery brother a very strange glance.  Then he
turned his attention to the electronic lock.  "What's the keypad sequence
sound like?"  He asked
  
Brooklyn grinned.  "Mary had a little lamb," he said sardonically
  
"Be serious!"  Lexington snapped.
  
Brooklyn's smile did not waver.  "Lex, I swear I am.  It's seven notes, and
it sounds exactly like Mary had a little lamb."
  
Lexington sighed then he punched the sequence.  Sure enough the cage
unlocked.
  
Brooklyn looked at his smaller rookery brother slightly impressed.  "How
did you know the sequence from the sound?"  He asked amazed.
  
Lexington grinned.  "Each key is a note," he explained.  "When I play the
right notes the lock opens."  Lexington pulled open the cage door.  "Come
on, let's get you out of here."
  
Suddenly Brooklyn placed his hand on the open cage door.  "Wait Lex."
  
"What?"  Lexington exclaimed.  Brooklyn had a strangely thoughtful look
on his face.  "We've got to get out of here before those humans come
back."
  
The look on Brooklyn's face suddenly became more determined.  "No," he
said stepping back away from the opening.  "Lex,  those vets think they're
protecting me.  They know about Quarrymen.   How can they learn to trust
us if I run away?"  He sat back on his haunches, his voice becoming  more
certain.  "No Lex, I'm staying here.  When they come back they'll find me
where they left me."
  
"You're crazy!"  Lexington said, surprised and a little worried about
Brooklyn's attitude.
  
Brooklyn's eyes narrowed as he stood up and looked down at Lexington. 
"If you want to bring Goliath down here to argue with me fine.  Otherwise
I'm staying here."  He got down to Lexington's height again, and said
gently.  "Lex, these vets are nice people.  They want to protect me.  If we
want them to trust us we have to trust them.  I have to trust that they are
going to release me on their own."
  
Lexington looked into Brooklyn's eyes.  He saw a lot of things there.  The
adamant flare in Brooklyn's expression was still new to Lexington, but he
was getting used to it. It began to show up when Goliath vanished off  to
Avalon.  Now it appeared with an amazing regularity.  It never appeared
alone either.  In his rookery brother's eyes he saw the trust that had
developed between the two long ago in Wyvern.
  
"All right,"  Lexington said with a sigh, "but I still think you're crazy."
  
Brooklyn nodded with a small smile.  "Yeah I am.  Now fix the lock so that
it will stay open even if it's closed."
  
Lexington pulled a screwdriver out of his belt pouch and  complied. 
"There, I pulled out two wires That should be easy enough for them to fix." 
He again looked at Brooklyn in the eye.  "Don't think I'm not telling
Goliath now."
  
"Of course you should  tell Goliath where I am.  In fact tell him that there
are three humans out there Trying to take out the Quarrymen armed only
with tranquilizer guns.  They probably won't hurt a gargoyle but  be careful
not to scare them.  I'd like it if you guys took care of them.  They
saved my life."
  
Lexington then realized why Brooklyn was so desperate to make friends
with the three humans."  It's as good as done," he answered.  Together they
made the cage appear closed.
  
"If there's any trouble at all you get out of here,"  Lexington said. 
Brooklyn gave his rookery brother an amused grin. 
  
"Sure I will. Now get out of here, before Goliath really starts to worry."
  
"All right,"  Lexington agreed.  He left the room and climbed up the side of
the wall.
  
It was a short glide back to Goliath.  He saw the hope die in his leader's eye
as he came back alone.
  
"I found Brooklyn!"  He announced as soon as he was within earshot. 
"He's at the hospital, and he's just fine."
  
"Why didn't he come back with you?"  Goliath asked showing incredible
relief.
  
Lexington scrunched up his face, unsure of what he should tell Goliath. 
"He wanted to stay where the human vets could find him again.  He said
something about him showing that he trusts them."
  
Goliath looked surprised for a moment, then nodded somberly  as if he
understood Brooklyn's position. " Did he tell you anything else?"
  
Lexington began to scan the ground as he answered.  "Brooklyn said that
the three humans who helped him went looking for the Quarrymen.  He
wants us to look out for them.
  
  



Goliath and Lexington began to search.  After a few seconds Goliath
spotted three humans clad in white lab coats.  He and Lexington glided
closer and hid in the trees.
  
 
************************************************************
"What's that?"  Joe asked as a rustling sound came from the trees above
him.
 
Lisa glared and hissed at him.  "Quiet!  It's just the wind.  Quarrymen do
not climb trees."
  
Joe shrugged nervously.  "Sorry, I never thought I'd be going after a
member of my own species with one of these things."  He hefted the
tranquilizer rifle in his hands.
  
Holding one of the weapons herself, Cathy felt like she was back in Africa,
or the Amazon.  All the skills she learned there began to come back to her. 
"It's just like tracking animals in the wild.  Only this time I'm going to enjoy
it."
  
"Don't enjoy it too much, Doctor Lindsey.  Set your priorities.  Once these
clowns are tranqed and tied up, we get your friend out of here.
  
Suddenly a cat-like roar was heard near Astor Court.  "I'll check it,"  Cathy
said.  She headed out slowly in the direction of the sound.
  
Cathy pressed her body as close to the old lion house as close as possible. 
There was  no cover in this area except for some young trees.  She sat
down on the steps of the building, and peered out from her shelter.  She
saw nothing.
  
A static charge sounded by the sea lion pool.  Cathy ran over there using
the trees to hide.  She dropped to her knees by the sea lion safety rail, and
using that  for cover, she crept around to see.
  
It was a lavender female gargoyle surrounded by six Quarrymen.  She was
turning slowly trying to watch them on all sides at once as they closed on
her.
  
"Time to even the odds"  Cathy said.  She checked the dosage on the darts. 
It was just enough to keep an adult male human out for three hours.  She
took careful aim at one of the Quarrymen's gluteus maximums and fired.
  
The Quarryman stood straight up as the dart struck him.  He cried out then
began to stagger as the tranquilizer took effect.
  
Quarrymen and gargoyle alike were startled.  Cathy took advantage of the
confusion to shoot another Quarryman.
  
The first and second Quarrymen fell to the ground asleep.  A third, by the
looks of him the leader of the group, noticed her.  "Look there!  It's one of
those gargoyle loving vets!"
  
Cathy didn't care much for his attitude.  "Well look, there's one  of those
gargoyle poachers!" She shot back. 
  
"Why you..."  The man started, but the female gargoyle struck him with her
wing, then she tripped him with her tail.  He fell to the ground unconscious.
  
Cathy relaxed for a minute, but then she saw three more Quarrymen behind
the gargoyle.  "Look out!"  She called, but too late.  The Quarryman lashed
out with his hammer, contacting the gargoyle's shoulder.
  
Cathy loaded her rifle and shot two of them, but the last one  was getting a
bead on her with his laser.  "Hold it doc, no more help from you!"  He said. 
  
Suddenly  a small green gargoyle with wings  came out of the trees. He 
reminded Cathy of a sugar glider, or a flying squirrel.  He landed squarely
on the Quarryman's head.  He was no trouble after that.
  
The gargoyle looked down at the man he had tackled with a satisfied grunt. 
Then he turned towards Cathy with a grin.  
  
Cathy smiled in return; then she saw movement behind him.  She raise her
rifle.
  
The little gargoyle held up his hands in defense.  "No, wait, don't shoot!"
He said.
  
"Down!"  Cathy ordered.  When the gargoyle flattened himself to the
ground, she shot a dart into the thigh of the Quarryman behind him.
  
The little green gargoyle's eyes widened as he realized that he had not been
her intended target.  He looked at the tranquilized Quarryman then at the
vet.  "Thanks."
  
Cathy smiled.  "No prob," she answered.  A sound from the fountain steps
made  her raise her rifle again.  She relaxed and lowered the gun when she
saw that the approaching figure was another gargoyle.  
  
He was big, bigger than Brooklyn.  He looked at the smaller gargoyles and
said, "I thought you were with Goliath."  He looked at Cathy
questioningly.
  
The little one answered absently.  "We had a change in plans.  Don't worry
about her she's on our side."  He nodded once in Cathy's direction.  "We've
got to take care of Angela, I think she was hurt."
  
Broadway didn't give Cathy a second glance as he rushed to Angela's side. 
Angela was half sitting against the sea lion safety rail.  She was leaning on
her left side.  Her right arm and wing drooped unnaturally at her side.
  
"Angela!" Broadway called.  He rushed to embrace her but stopped in his
tracks when she cried out.
  
"No!  Don't touch me!" 
 
Broadway drew nearer.  "Angela?"  He asked gently, kneeling at her side.
  
Angela was gritting her teeth as tears streamed down her face.  "Oh, it
hurts.  I've never felt pain like this before.  No!" she cried as he reached out
to touch her right side.  "No, it hurts worse when you touch it."
  
Cathy surveyed the situation.  She turned to Lexington.  "Boyfriend?"  She
asked glancing in Broadway's direction.  When he nodded she asked,
"What's his name?"
  
"Broadway," the little green gargoyle answered.  He took a guard stance
behind her as she knelt down next to the couple.  
  
"Hi," she said in a soft gentle voice.  She looked at Angela.  "It hurts bad,
doesn't it?"
  
Angela nodded warily.  Cathy asked, "Can you do this?"  She flexed her
fingers into a fist and back again.  
  
Angela copied the gesture slowly with some anguish.  "Yes, but it hurts to
do so."
  
"Hmmmm," Cathy thought.  She turned back to Lexington.  "You there,
what's your name?
  
Very confused he answered, "Uh, Lexington." 
  
Cathy smiled at him.  "Lexington, I want you to come over here and help
me rip my sleeve off."  
  
"What for?" Lexington asked as he complied.
  
"You'll see,"  Cathy returned.  Once the sleeve was free she twisted it tight
and braided it down the middle so that it was a solid mass.  Then she
turned back to Angela. "Angela honey," she began uncertainly,  "I think I
can help you, but I have to be sure I have a correct diagnosis.  I'm
going to have to touch you."  Angela looked pained at that, but Cathy
continued.  "Now normally I'd tell you to just shout out, but we don't want
any remaining Quarrymen to hear you.  So I want you to bite on this,"  She
handed Broadway the twisted rag, then she turned to him.  "Broadway, I
want you to hold Angela's good hand and let her squeeze to her heart's
content."  She heaved a heavy sigh.  "This is going to hurt."
  
Angela and Broadway braced themselves.  Ever so gently Cathy probed
Angela's back.
  
Angela moaned, bit down hard on the twisted rag, and squeezed
Broadway's hand for all she was worth.  Cathy hated to put her through
this torture, but if it were the gorillas, or any of her regular patients she
would have had to sedate them.  
  
Finally her examination was done.  Angela was breathing heavily leaning on
Broadway.  "Guys you're not going to like my news,"  Cathy said.
  
Broadway gave her a sharp look, as he rubbed his hand.  "What!  What's
wrong with her?"
  
"Well, she has a dislocated shoulder and wing strut.  That's very painful,
but not too hard to fix.  I just wish I knew more about how your wings
were connected to your back."  She gave Broadway a sharp glance. 
"Broadway, come over here."  
  
The turquoise gargoyle obeyed.  Cathy ran her hands over his back
professionally.  "I see,"  She said absently, then with more wonder.  "I
seeeee!"  Then she gave Broadway a friendly pat on the back.  "Okay I
know how they're connected now."  When he sat back down, she faced the
two of them.  "I can fix this, but with no pain killers, or anesthesia, it's
going to make what I did before look like a moonlight stroll."
  
Angela nodded.  "Do what you have to."  She said as she grasped
Broadway's hand.  Broadway gently put the rag between her teeth.  She
indicated that she was ready.
  


Cathy made a pensive face then, gritting her teeth, she made two quick
shoves on Angela's back. One forced her shoulder back into its joint.  The
second restored the wing.
  
The rag dropped from Angela's mouth and a full Gargoyle roar was heard
throughout the zoo. 
then she quieted and looked at her three companions.  "I'm sorry, I didn't
mean to....."
  
"It's Okay, Angela," Cathy said as she helped the gargoyle to her feet. 
"But lets get out of here.  I don't' want to find out who heard you."
  
The three gargoyles agreed. Broadway and Lexington helping Angela,
while Cathy took the point with her rifle.
  
************************************************************
Hudson and Elisa thoroughly searched the African Village, but saw no
signs of the Quarrymen.   "I don't like it,"  Hudson said.  He was about to
suggest they split up when they heard hurried footsteps.  They ducked
behind a hut.  Ten Quarrymen went past.  
  
"They're headed for the hospital,"  Elisa said.  She sounded worried.
  
"Then I'll make them go the other way."  Hudson let his warrior nature
creep into his voice.  "You handle the stragglers," he whispered.  Then he
raced out of hiding with a roar,  running at his full speed.  Hudson barreled
into the Quarrymen, knocking down three of them.  Six of the men
followed.
  
"No!"  The leader shouted out, but the men paid him no heed.
  
The leader helped the others up.  "That old gargoyle was just a decoy," he
said.  "What we really want is that way."  He pointed toward the hospital.
  
~ That's what you think, ~  Elisa thought.  Slowly she followed behind.
   
************************************************************
Hudson wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do with the Quarrymen
that were following him.  Then he saw a field full of tall rushes.  That was a
good place to hide and ambush from .  He ducked onto a side path and into
the rushes out of sight.  The quarrymen followed but two didn't like the
marsh much and had to leave.  The other four entered the swamp.
  
Hudson found that the tall grasses hid him perfectly.  He moved about
noiselessly while the
Quarrymen searched for him.  When they split up Hudson saw his chance.
  
************************************************************
One of the men paused to get a breather.  He didn't like zoos, and he
wished he hadn't come.  Some flies buzzed in his face.
  
"I hate flies!"  He complained into the air, as he lit a cigarette.  "I hate
Animals, and I hate this zoo!"
  
"Really now,"  a gravely aged voice came out of the rushes.  "Perhaps you
would like to be closer to the plants then."
  
It took a second for the Quarryman to realized who the voice belonged to.
  
It was a second too late.
   
************************************************************
Hudson left the unconscious Quarrymen in the rushes.  He took a second
man out in a similar manner.  The other two who had entered the marsh
were less foolish.  They stood together and covered each other's back.  He
needed something to distract them.
  
He threw the unconscious body of one of the fallen Quarrymen on the path
in front of the pair.  They were startled enough for Hudson to attack them.  
The other two that had followed him were gone.  He guessed that they
returned to their leader.  He hoped that Elisa was going to be able to
handle those quarrymen too.  He wanted to rejoin her, but first he had to
deal with these four.
  
Right at the entrance of the marsh there were a line of old cages. 
According to Lexington most of those tiny cages were no longer in use. 
He used one to contain the fallen Quarrymen.  He broke the lock, but then
sealed them in, by squeezing the bars together. " Now," he said to the
unconscious men.  "How am I going to find Elisa and the others?"
  
A roar came from beyond the trees.  Several roosting birds fluttered at the
noises.  Hudson at once became taut and ready for action.  Even in a place
like this full of animals, Hudson knew that sound.
  
It was a gargoyle's roar.
  
Some of the Quarrymen awakened to find themselves trapped, but Hudson
paid them no heed to their calls as he ran  toward the sound on all fours.
  
 
************************************************************
  Lisa and Joe slowly prowled around the zoo trying to find the Quarrymen. 
Lisa wasn't sure if what they were doing was legal, but from what she had
heard about gargoyles, there was a good chance that they were
endangered.  As far as she was concerned  any loss of an endangered
species was too much.  
  
A sound made the two hide behind a clump of trees.  Three Quarrymen ran
past them, the hospital clearly their target.  At the same time two gunshots
were heard.  
  
Lisa and Joe looked at each other.  "I've dealt with poachers before,"  Lisa
said.  "You take those three, I'll handle the gunshots."
  
Joe didn't like it, but Lisa was the doctor in charge, so they split up.
  
Lisa ran in the direction of the gunshots.  She had no idea what she would
find.  Her mind flew back to Africa when she rode shotgun for five months
trying to catch poachers in the game reserve.  As far as she was concerned
these Quarrymen were no different.
  
She came to the entrance to the Children's zoo where she saw two
unconscious Quarrymen and the police woman that Cathy had seen earlier
today.  She wasn't sure whose side this woman was on, so she aimed the
rifle.  "Hands up!"  She called out.
  
The dark haired woman spun around.  She looked at the weapon
dubiously, and put up her hands.  "This isn't necessary," she said calmly. 
"I'm a friend of the gargoyles.  We came to find Brooklyn."
  
~ She knows his name? ~   Brooklyn said that Matt Bluestone and his
partner were his friends, but how much could she trust this woman?
  
"Hold it!"  A masculine voice said.  Both woman turned to see another
three Quarrymen.  advancing towards them with their laser rifles.  One of
the Quarrymen strode ahead of the others. 
  
"So, Detective Maza, we meet again."  He said almost hatefully.  
  
The cop must have known this Quarryman.  "Castaway!" She said angrily.
  
The man she addressed spoke in a quiet cheerful voice that made him all
the more threatening.  "Now why protect a gargoyle that's already dead?" 
He leaned forward almost eagerly.  "He's alive, but he won't be for long."
  
"Why you-"  Lisa began but the cop grabbed her hand. 
 
"Don't move no matter what."  She cautioned.
  
"Smart move detective.  We'll just wait for your friends to show up."
  
"What friends?" The detective said casually.
  
Castaway chuckled.  "Oh, come now.  You don't expect me to believe you
came out here in the middle of the night all by yourself now, do you? "  He
looked up into the night sky.
  
A gigantic gargoyle  appeared from behind a clump of bushes and tackled
Castaway on the ground.  Castaway had been expecting an air attack.  The
other two men went for their weapons, but Lisa was faster.  She shot one
of the Quarrymen with a dart.  The police woman  pistol whipped the
other.
  
"You beast!"  Castaway shouted.  The gargoyle  growled  and dug his knee
into the man's back.  
  
"Be quiet or you're taking a nap too!"  Lisa said.  She leveled the gun at
him.  Castaway kept silent as he was handcuffed.  Then the gargoyle rose
to face her.  
  
He was much taller than Brooklyn.  At least by a foot and a half.  His
shoulders were broad, and he had a massive, square  jaw.  Enlarged canines
jutted from his mouth.  Lisa took an involuntary step backwards.  "Oh my."
  
The gargoyle looked at the police officer, who walked up to him without a
trace of fear, and gave him a hug.  "Did you find Brooklyn?"    She asked.
  
"Lexington has found him in the hospital."  He answered in a deep rich
voice.  He looked over to Lisa and said with an almost imperceptible smile,
"He wanted to wait for his new friends, but he did ask us to watch over
them."
  
Lisa swallowed.  Brooklyn was waiting for them?  She was about to ask
what he meant when a roar came from the sea lion pool.
  
"Angela!!"  The gargoyle called out.  He began to run in the direction of
the cry on all fours.  The police officer ran past Lisa asking, "You coming,
Doc?"  
  
  

Lisa looked at the two running figures, and followed.
  
************************************************************
Brooklyn heard the gunshots, but he made a supreme effort to stay put.  "I
said I'd wait for them, and I will," he insisted to himself.   A sound from the
main operating room made him start.  He gingerly opened the door to his
cage and peered out of the window to the inner room.  It was a pair of
Quarrymen.
  
~ Okay, smart guy what do you want to do now?  Be a sitting duck, or
run? ~  He liked neither idea.
  
Then he looked at the hay covering the floor of his cage, and the stretcher
he had been on last night.  Brooklyn's beak broke into a broad grin.
   
************************************************************
 Joe saw the three Quarrymen enter the hospital.  Grimly determined, he
followed, his rifle ready.  When he got into the main operating room he
saw them enter the Quarantine room.  A second later he heard the hum of
electricity, and a smashing sound.  
  
Joe raced into the room and let off two shots, hitting both Quarrymen  As
they slumped to the ground and he relaxed, he felt a gun at his head. 
"What's up Doc?"  The vicious Quarryman asked.  
  
~ 'Go out in the blaze of glory, Joe,' my dad used to say.  Well, here I go. ~ 
Joe gave his captor a disgusted look.  "I hate that joke," he said dryly.  
  
"Tough luck, bleeding heart."  The Quarryman said.  "Now tell me, where
is that thing?"
  
"What thing?"  He replied.  He had a pretty good idea what the Quarryman
wanted, but he was damned if he was going to give in without a fight.
  
The gun was jabbed into his head.  "The gargoyle, pal, the gargoyle! 
Where is it?"
  
~ He's not here?~  Joe looked at Brooklyn cage.  Right in front of it were
the mangle pieces of the stretcher they had brought him in there last night. 
The other two Quarrymen must have mistaken it for Brooklyn.  Brooklyn's
cage was empty, except for the fact that the hay bedding was gathered up
into a pile-- a rather large pile. 
  
"I don't know,"  Joe said 
  
The gun went from his head to his back.  "Sure you do, and we're going to
go looking for him."  The man said.  He prodded Joe with the gun forcing
him from the room.
 
"He really doesn't know where I am right now."  Brooklyn's voice came
out of nowhere.  The Quarrymen turned toward the cage, where the voice
came from.
  
Joe took advantage of the Quarryman's surprise to jab him in the chest with
his elbow.  The man doubled over and fell back against the cage.
  
"Joe!  Out of the way!!"  Brooklyn ordered.  He suddenly appeared from
out of the hay, and opened the door to his cage.  He pressed the
Quarryman between the cage and the door.  Joe heard a few bones crack as
the gargoyle used his impressive strength to pin the man.  
  
Joe was in minor shock for a number of reasons.  One, that he came so
close to having a hole in his head, second was that the gargoyle was
actually loose and not sedated or injured for the first time since they found
him.  Third, Brooklyn had picked up all three Quarrymen
and closed his own cage on them;  then, using a piece of the broken
stretcher, he bent it around the cage door and cage creating his own lock. 
The electronic one had a few wires missing.   ~ Woah! I didn't know he
was so _strong!_ and how did he get loose? ~
  
Brooklyn finished his improvising on the cage with a satisfied grunt, then
turned to Joe.  A few stray pieces of yellow hay were stuck in the
gargoyle's mane of white hair.  The look on Joe's face must have been
disturbing to the young gargoyle because he looked hurt.  
  
~ Okay Joe, stay calm! ~   He swallowed twice and said.  "Uh, thanks."  
 
The gargoyle gave an amused snort.  "You're welcome,"  he said.
  
Joe still was trying to compose himself.  "How did you, I mean the cage
was...."
  
Brooklyn gave him a casual look.  "Oh, a friend of mine came by, he's good
at electronics.  He opened the lock then disconnected the wires so it would
stay open."
  
"But that means it was open,  and the bars, I mean you could have..."  Joe
stared at the piece of stretcher now bent around the cage door to secure it. 
"You could have left any time you wanted."
  
The gargoyle's answer was simple and precise.  "I know."

In that instant Joe realized that he had nothing to fear from this creature.
  
Suddenly a roar was echoed through the zoo.  Brooklyn's head went up
instantly and he leaped, a good seven feet into the air.  He clung to the wall
with his claws as he looked out of a high window.  "Angela," he muttered.  
  
At that same moment Libby let out a moan as well, and stamped about in
her stall.   Joe looked at her and shuddered.  "No, not now!"  
  
Brooklyn dropped to the ground.  "We've got to get out there I think......." 
Brooklyn looked at Joe who was staring at the rhino.  "Joe, what's wrong
with him?"
  
Joe looked up into the gargoyles eyes.  This was the only help he had right
now.  "Brooklyn, do you think you can find Lisa and Cathy real fast?"
  
"I can try.  What's wrong?"  
  
Joe let out a forced breath.  "What's wrong with our Indian Rhino is that he
is a she, and  she is in labor."
  
Brooklyn's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.  "La-bor??"
  
Joe repeated his first request.  "Can you find Lisa and Cathy real fast?"
  
Brooklyn was already leaving the room, and heading for the skylight in the
operating room.  "You better believe it pal."   He leaped onto the table
where they had saved his life, then up to the skylight, and was gone.
  
************************************************************
It only took a few moments to locate Goliath.  He and Elisa were with
Lisa, the head vet.  "Goliath!"  He called out.  The three looked up. 
Brooklyn had never seen Goliath look so happy before.
  
"Brooklyn!"  Goliath called out, as he and Elisa rushed forward.   As soon
as he had landed, they  gave him an enormous hug.  "You're all right!" 
  
"Yeah! Yeah, of course.  I'm fine!"  Brooklyn said, gently brushing  Goliath
away.   Goliath and Elisa stared at him, slightly surprised, as Brooklyn
turned to the veterinarian.  "Lisa, your rhino just went into labor!"
  
Lisa blinked a moment then recovered her senses.  "Libby?"
  
"Do you have any other rhinos in quarantine?"  Brooklyn asked sharply. 
He saw Goliath watching him with an odd expression on his face, but
Brooklyn didn't care.  ~I owe these guys. ~  "You have to get to the
hospital,  I'll look for Cathy."
  
"You don't have to look for me, I'm here."  Cathy said.  She lowered the
rifle she had been holding, and faced the others.  Broadway  was behind her
helping Angela while Lexington brought up the rear.  Cathy nodded at
them all, not at all surprised at Goliath's presence.  "What's wrong?"
  
"Your rhino is in labor."  Brooklyn said shortly.
  
Cathy took a step backwards for a second.  She rolled her eyes.  "It never
rains but it pours."  She turned back to Broadway.  "Lisa, I just fixed a
dislocated wing and shoulder in Angela, we're going to have to get her to
the hospital."
  
Elisa whispered something to Goliath, who nodded at her.  "I will take care
of Angela,"  He announced.  "Broadway, you and Brooklyn help the
humans to go to their...rhino."
  
Broadway made a face, but he didn't offer a protest as Goliath came
forward to help Angela.  He picked up Cathy, as Brooklyn picked up Lisa. 
They both began to climb trees.
  
"Is this really necessary?"  Lisa asked from Brooklyn's back.
  
"You want to get to your rhino fast?"  He asked as he reached the right
height for gliding.  "Then hang on!"  He leaped off into the night.
  
Lisa grabbed a little tighter when he jumped, but after a seconds she began
to relax.  By the time they reached the hospital, she was actually enjoying
the ride.  "I want to do that another night,"  she said, as he set her gently
on the roof.  Broadway and Cathy followed.
  
"Sure thing, Doc," he said with a grin.  He jumped down through the
skylight.  He caught Lisa and Cathy, then Broadway jumped down.  They
moved over to where Joe had already changed into surgical scrubs.  He had
a pensive expression on his face.
  
Lisa caught the scrub top Joe tossed at her.  "Joe, report!"  She ordered.
  
"We have a big problem," he said nervously.  When the two women, and
the two gargoyle looked at him he said.  "I just checked her, I think it's a
breach."
  



"Damn!"  Lisa swore.  She raced over to the stall, where Joe had placed a
number of machines Brooklyn never saw before.  Lisa began barking
orders.  "Cathy!  Set up the Sonogram, and prepare a tranquilizer in case
she gets ornery.  Joe!"
  
"I need Joe to prepare a pain killer and an anti-inflammatory,"  Cathy said. 
"One of the gargoyles I  ran into had a dislocated shoulder and wing.  I
realigned the  joints, but she's in an awful lot of pain."
  
Lisa thought a moment.  "Alright Joe, get on the medication for the
gargoyle, but hurry  we're going to need all the help we can get."
  
Brooklyn watched as the three vets busied themselves.  He was already
accustom to this place, but Broadway was nervous.  "Cathy, is there
anything Broadway and I can do?"
  
Cathy was about to say something, but Joe whispered in her ear.  Brooklyn
could only  make out the word 'cage.'  Cathy glanced over to where the
Quarrymen were just coming to.  Cathy widened her eyes, then looked at
Brooklyn squarely.
  
"Hang around," she said, "I might find something for you to do."
  
************************************************************
"I'll be....oh!.....alright father,"  Angela was saying as they entered the zoo
hospital.  Brooklyn and Broadway greeted them.  It looked as if the two
had been arguing, and had come to an uneasy truce.  "Good,"  Brooklyn
muttered absently.  He called over his shoulder.  "Lisa , they're here!"
  
Instantly Cathy left the three,  went over to a tray, and took out a needle. 
Slowly she walked over to the gargoyles.  "Angela," she began, showing
her the hypodermic, "this will take away some of the pain, but it will make
you sleepy, and it will help you heal faster too.  Okay?"
  
Angela looked at Goliath, who glanced at Brooklyn.  Brooklyn nodded
solemnly.  Goliath turned his  gaze to Cathy, and nodded.  
  
Cathy went over to Angela.  "Now this is going to hurt a bit," she said. 
She administered the shot in  Angela's arm.  Then she made her
comfortable on the operating table.  "Just lie there and relax. You'll feel
better in a little while."
  
Angela lay down on her good side with Broadway next to her.  Brooklyn
and Cathy both checked   her over, then went back to the stall in the next
room.  Curious Goliath followed.  
  
Brooklyn was in front of the stall watching as the human who had just
given medication to Angela entered the enclosure.  There was a huge
animal such as he had never seen before, with gray baggy skin, and horns
atop its nose.  It was struggling weekly and moaning.  The male human
was  trying to comfort it as the women worked. 
  
Lisa suddenly came up for air.  "This is bad," she said.  The others looked
at her.  "It's breech."
  
Goliath and Brooklyn noticed the stress on the veterinarians faces increase. 
"What's breech?"  Brooklyn asked.
  
Joe answered.  "The baby's in the wrong way.  Most mammals are born
headfirst, if they don't come out that way, there's a chance that they can get
caught, and die.  
  
Lisa gave the rhino another shot.  "Cathy, can we go for a caesarian?"
  
The other vet shook her head.  "Too late.  We have to get in there and turn
the baby around."  She said.
  
Lisa frowned. "Libby's not going to hold still for that, and we don't have
enough people to restrain her."
  
Joe suddenly gave a strange smile.  "Oh yes we do!  Brooklyn can you and
the big guy next to you  hold Libby down while we get the baby
straightened out?"  
  
Brooklyn nodded.  "You know it, Joe!"  He lightly over the wall lightly and
took Joe's place at the animal's head.  "Come on, Goliath!"  He called.
  
Brooklyn's readiness to help these humans took Goliath aback for a
moment.  What did they want them to do?  "But I do not--" he began.
  
"Goliath, they need our help or this baby could die!  These rhinos are like
us in a lot of ways,  we have to help them!"
  
Goliath wrestled with his indecision for a moment more, then jumped over
the stall to move next to  Brooklyn.  "You will explain it to me later,"  he
said.
  
Lisa sighed, relieved.  "Okay, you guys get ready, this isn't going to be
comfortable for her."  She slowly began placing her hand inside of the birth
canal.
  
The rhinoceros immediately began to moan and struggle.  "Easy girl," 
Brooklyn intoned to her.  "Just easy does it."  He and Goliath struggled to
hold the huge animal down, as the vets continued
their work.
   
************************************************************
"What on earth could they be doing in there?"  Broadway asked amid the
roars and moans of the second room.  Angela, leaning against him,
murmured something comforting, but she was under the influence of the
drugs the vets had given her, and wasn't really aware of what was going on.
  
"Brooklyn said that the rhinoceros was in labor.  That must be our noise
maker."  Elisa said, but she  was as worried as the others.  If it was the
rhino making all that noise, what were they doing to it.?
  
Hudson, who had come in after Brooklyn and Goliath went into the
quarantine room, placed  a gentle hand on Elisa's shoulder.  "Don't worry
lass.  Those two are probably just fine."
  
Suddenly the sounds stopped.  "Hey, it got quiet,"  Lexington observed.  "I
wonder what happened."
  
Just then the door opened and Goliath came forward.  He had an
extraordinarily pleased expression on his face.   "Goliath, is everything all
right?"   Elisa asked. 
 
Goliath glanced at his daughter, "How is Angela?"  
  
"Once that shot or whatever took effect,  she fell asleep," Broadway
reported.
  
"I'm not asleep,"  Angela mumbled, barely awake.  
  
Broadway gazed down lovingly at her, then turned to Goliath.  "I'll stay
with her, Goliath.  It's okay."
  
Goliath nodded, still looking very satisfied.  "In that case I would like to
show the rest of you something."  He led them into the quarantine room,
and over to a stall.
  
Brooklyn was in the stall with the three vets, and the rhinoceros.  Goliath
swept a hand over the group.  "This is Libby, a..."he stumbled over the
word. "rhinoceros?"  At Lisa's nod he continued. 
"And this is her daughter"
  
They all leaned over and saw the baby.  She was a tiny copy of her mother,
minus the horns.  She was standing next to her mother sucking noisily at a
nipple.
  
Brooklyn looked up proudly at his clan.  "Hey Goliath!  Lisa said I'm her
godfather!"
  
"Boy, that kid's in trouble,"  Lexington quipped.  He was smiling too. 
They all were.  No one had expected such a small miracle at the beginning
of the evening.
  
"Without Brooklyn's and Goliath's help she wouldn't have lived."  Lisa said. 
Her eyes were also shining with happiness.  "We're very grateful."
  
Brooklyn brushed off the praise.  "You saved my life," he said.  "The least I
could do was return the  favor."
  
Goliath  and Elisa watched the exchange with interest.  Elisa's interest then
turned to the baby.  "What are you going to call her?"
  
Hudson and Goliath glanced at each other as if sharing a private joke. 
Elisa playfully glared at the two, then turned her attention back to the vets.
  
"I don't know,"  Cathy said.  "I mean, the board always makes that decision
normally, though we often make up our own name for her.  If Libby had a
boy we could have named her after Brooklyn,  but that seems silly for a
girl.
  
"So does Goliath,"  Joe put in.
  
Brooklyn got up and moved toward Goliath.  "How about Angela?"  He
said with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
  
Goliath knew he was teasing but he glared at him all the same.  "What are
you implying?"  He asked.  Brooklyn stifled a giggle.
  
"How about Demona,"  Lexington suggested.
  
"Or Dominique,"  Elisa put in, enjoying the game.
  
"Now, why would you want to insult the poor lass naming her after that
banshee."  Hudson said.
  

Brooklyn couldn't keep the laughter in anymore, and soon he was joined by
the others.  "Okay, Okay, I've got a real idea this time."  He knelt down
near the baby and mother, and turned to Lisa.  "You said you wanted to
learn more about us.  Well  my clan had been under a sleep spell for a
thousand years before waking up here in New York about three years ago. 
Before that we lived in  Scotland, in a castle called Wyvern.  Vikings
during a raid destroyed most of our clan.  So why don't  we name this little
girl here Wyvern.  She could represent all the gargoyles; not just us
seven who survived, but all the ones who died long ago.  I learned from
that book that gargoyles are most  likely endangered now, just like these
two.  So we have to stick together to help each other survive."
  
Cathy brushed a tear away from her eye.  Lisa walked over to him and
kissed him on his cheek.  "You are a poet," she said proudly.  "And I think
Wyvern would be a perfect name for her, no matter  what the board says. 
Now come on.  I have one more patient to call on."
  
They took X-rays of  Angela, but nothing was broken.  Despite Goliath's
assurances that Angela would be fine the next evening, Lisa did give him
several pills for her discomfort.  She also briefed  Goliath on exactly what
had been done to Brooklyn.  
  
"I can not thank you enough,"  He said to the three humans.  "I have read
about your endangered species before, and it is said that each one lost is a
terrible loss for all.  That is how my clan would have felt if we had lost
Brooklyn.  
  
"We'd do the same for any endangered species,"  Joe joked.  The girls were
more serious. 
  
"Especially a sentient one."  Cathy said.
  
"Goliath, I speak for Cathy and Joe when I say that if you guys are ever
hurt or injured in any way,  feel free to come by."  Lisa pressed a piece of
paper into his hand.  "That's my beeper number.   Call any time at night. 
I'm used to weird hours."
  
Brooklyn then took his turn to say good-bye.  "Don't go out to the parking
lot alone at night anymore," he ordered Cathy.
  
"Stay away from muggers with knives."  She said in the same tone of voice. 
"Bye Brooklyn."
  
"Bye Cathy,"  I'll see you again.  With that he followed his clan up the side
of the hospital.  Elisa in  Goliath's arms, and Angela's in Broadway's.  The
three vets watched below as the gargoyles took  off into the night.  Then
they went back inside to look at their new arrival.
  
************************************************************
Epilogue.   *one month later*
  
Lisa groaned as one of the board members came in leading a small group of
people.  She hated it when she was asked to let guests come in.  They
asked such stupid questions, and usually had no idea how important her
work was.  They'd just ask about their animals as if they were pets.
  
"Doctor Christian!"  He called out.
  
Lisa sighed.  "Yes sir?" she asked.
  
"Mr David Xanatos is here with his family.  He's asked for you to give him
a tour of your facility." 

Lisa pasted one of her plastic smiles on, and rose to greet the guests.  ~
Xanatos, the name sounds  familiar.  Oh yeah, he just gave five grand for
some new equipment and wrote out a grant for  Cathy's work last week. 
He gives enough every year not to need to do that just for a tour. ~  
  
She led them around as she would any other filthy rich guest.  To her
surprise all of their questions  were intelligent and probing.  They were
very interested in Cathy's work in reproductive biology, and her own
research in parasitic resistance in scavenger species.    He even
asked some questions  about Joe.
  
"And what research is Doctor Rockwell doing?  I hear he's no longer here," 
  Xanatos asked.
  
 Lisa eyed the man suspiciously as she answered.  "Doctor Rockwell was
just doing his residency here.  He's now on an expedition to Brazil, and
Guatemala to study some rain forest species and work on our Panther
Project."
  
"Ah, I see."  They finally arrived at the Rhino enclosure where Libby was
again nursing a growing Wyvern.
  
"This female rhino gave birth last month.  Doctor Lindsey has been
working with her for a successful birth for the last three years."  Lisa said
with practiced tiredness
  
"Wivin"  The Xanatos baby  suddenly said pointing.  "Wivin"
  
Lisa's eyes popped wide open.  ~ No this kid is not saying Wyvern.  There
is no way he could know her  name. ~
  
"Yes, Master Alex,"  Xanatos' assistant said, holding the child.  "That's
her."
  
Lisa decided to ignore what she couldn't understand.  The baby  was
happily babbling to his caretaker.  Lisa found herself also ignoring words
like:  "Bukin, Giath, and Lex."
  
Xanatos' wife, who looked as pretty as a fashion model, and as dangerous
as one of her big cats smiled at the tiny rhino.  "I'm glad Alex wasn't a
rhino.  What's her name?"
  
"The veterinary staff named her Wyvern.  We had some help from a
volunteer that night, and he came from  a place in Scotland named
Wyvern."  Lisa explained.  She hoped that would satisfy their curiosity
about her name.
   
"What an extraordinarily coincidence,"  Xanatos said leaning on the fence.
"About four years ago I  purchased an ancient castle from Wyvern
Scotland.  I moved every piece of the castle, brick by brick, and rebuilt it
on top of my corporate headquarters.  You must come see it some time. 
We have a wonderful art display. "
  
Lisa made an effort to hide her expression.  ~ Brooklyn said a castle in
Wyvern.  No.  It's too weird. " Animal art, Mr. Xanatos?"
  
"Well I have some pieces like that in my private collection,  but what came
with the castle is even more fascinating.  I have the best display of stone
gargoyles anywhere in the city."
  
Lisa nearly choked.  "Gargoyles?"  she asked calmly.  "You mean those big
winged creatures that are supposedly loose in the city?  We get calls about
them occasionally."
  
"Do you believe in gargoyles, Doctor?"  Xanatos asked.  Suddenly it was
becoming too warm for Lisa.  
  
Relief came in the way of Cathy.  "Dr Christian, I need your help with a
patient."  She said.
  
The baby squirmed in his caretakers arms.  "Fix Bukin!"  He said pointing
at Cathy.  Cathy's eyes widened but she had the presence of mind not to
say anything.  Later after they were done with their patient they found
Xanatos  and his assistant still waiting for them.
  
"Doctor Christian, Doctor Lindsey, I have a business proposition for you. 
I have a special project that needs the attention of a competent and ethical
veterinarian, one who doesn't care much about  public opinion.  It doesn't
require you to leave your zoo job, but you will be asked to be on hand
for  certain events.  The details  of the project are here in this envelope. 
I've already discussed it with  your supervisors, and they agree you can be
spared on occasion.  All you need to do is read  it over,  and sign it, and
you will have more research grants than you shake a test tube at."
  
Hours later over a cup of coffee Lisa and Cathy pondered the contents of
the envelopes.  "So do you think he's really on the level?"  Cathy asked.
  
Lisa took a sip of her coffee.  "I don't know, but there were too many
things that were going on for  me to think it was a coincidence."  She
nibbled at her strawberry rhubarb pie.
  
Cathy drank her tea slowly.  "Should we do it?"
  
Lisa dreamily looked out the window.  "We'd have more grants than we'd
know what to do with. 
  
"But what if they don't want us to?"
  
"Oh, we'll ask them to be sure, but I can't think of where else Xanatos got
our names from, and they  do think they owe us."  Lisa looked up from her
cup.  "I think we should."
  
Cathy smiled and nodded.  "Yeah, we should."  She and Lisa stood up.
  
"Well, the man gave me an open invitation to visit, and it's nearly sunset."
She put on her light jacket.  "Lets go see some friends."
  
The two women left the cafe, and strode down the streets of Manhattan
towards the Aerie building.
  
The End.