Checkmate: Brooklyn and Galatea by Kiki the Weird This a group of love stories of the Moongrove clan. Each segment will focus on a couple. This starts three months after Lessons. Gargoyles belongs to Disney, Star Trek belongs to Paramount, and the rest are mine. Finally it was their night off. Brooklyn had been waiting for this night ever since Galatea's clan had joined with their clan. The clan got out of their daytime sleeping positions and hurried inside of the castle. "When's the concert?" Galatea asked. "Huh...Oh, It starts at nine." The two just stood staring at each other in a confused silence. Goliath broke the silence, "It is already eight o'clock now. You two should get going. Be careful and stay out of sight." "Thanks. We'll be careful," said a relieved Brooklyn. The two took off and began to glide toward the concert hall. When Brooklyn had found out that their favorite group was giving a concert, he practically begged Goliath to let them go. But the best thing that happened was that he and Galatea were going to the concert alone. Brooklyn had asked everyone else if they wanted to go but they all had plans. Broadway and Angela were planning to try out some new recipies. Lex and Artemis were going to be on the Internet all night long. Goliath would help Elisa with flying lessons. And the others weren't interested or were busy. Brooklyn knew that he had fallen in love with Galatea. She was so reckless and fun to be with but at the same time it seemed that she felt the same loneliness as he did. It was ironic that the first time he saw her, he was going to attack her. In the dark of the night, he had mistaken her flaming red hair and her blue-green skin for Demona. She was being chased by the Hunter, who had also mistaken her for Demona. They had eventually beaten the Hunter. And after a small adventure, their clans became one. They reached the concert hall, got in and found a comfortable place in the rafters, well hidden from anyone's sight. The group had not come on stage yet. Brooklyn sat, lost in his thoughts until, "Brooklyn, are you okay?" He turned to face Galatea's smiling yet concerned face. "Yeah, I'm okay. I've just got a lot on my mind." He was about to say something but then the group appeared on stage and the crowd began to cheer. They sat through the concert and they both enjoyed it. Soon the concert was almost over. Suddenly Galatea just got up and left. After a few minutes, Brooklyn looked over and saw that she was gone. He quickly jumped up. He exited the builing. The night was cool. He looked around the roof. Galatea was sitting in the corner of the roof. She was staring at the floor. "Galatea, what's wrong?" "Nothing." "You're lying." "What do you care?" "What!?!" "I know you don't like me! You've been ignoring me ever since we've met!" "I'm not ignoring you! It's just that...I just don't know what to say. It seems that anything I say sounds so stupid." "I don't think you sound stupid. Actually I think you're quite nice." "Really?" "Brooklyn, I always thought that you still had feelings for Maggie or Angela. And that was why you were ignoring me." "I did have feelings for them but what I've felt for you is so strong. I pursued both because each time I felt that this was my last chance of finding someone. Maggie, I felt sorry for. She was scared and needed help. Angela, I was just lonely. So I hid behind a mask of what I thought she wanted. But you are strong and beautiful. I like you for you and I don't feel that I have to hide what I am." Galatea smiled. "I like you too, Brooklyn." Music began to emanate form the building. "They're playing an encore. Do you want to dance?" Brooklyn cautiously opened his arms. Galatea accepted his offer and went into his embrace. They held each other, rocking gently back and forth to the music. They started kissing and cuddling when, "FILTHY BEASTS!" They both dodged away from the spot. Just in enough time to avoid being shot by a Quarryman's laser gun. The Quarryman shot at them both and they managed to dodge the shots and fly away. They flew for a few blocks and landed in an alley. Galatea was crying, "We made a mistake Brooklyn." Brooklyn held her and began to reassure her, "No, they're the ones that were wrong." "Silly hatchling, I didn't mean that. I meant that we should have found a more private spot." Then grinning at her, he asked, "Then shall we?" She smiled at him and they flew away. Galatea and Brooklyn flew side by side. She followed Brooklyn. Her head was too full of thoughts to concentrate. Half of her was happy; Brooklyn loved her and she loved and cared about him. But the other half was sad for the friends she had lost. The wizard, Terrog, had killed them. Her rookery brothers and sisters would never find love. Tears fell down her face. They landed. Brooklyn looked over and saw Galatea's tear-streaked face. He held her in his arms and asked, "Beloved, what's the matter?" "I was just thinking of my clan and rookery siblings. They didn't survive the ordeal with Terrog. I just feel sad and guilty about it. Sara calls it "survivor's guilt". She say that sometimes when one has survived a disaster they feel guilty because they had survived and the victims died. We spent months locked away wondering if we'd ever fly again. And some of us never did fly again." Galatea burst into tears. Brooklyn tried to comfort her. He rocked her back and forth. "You shouldn't feel guilty about surviving. You're alive, you shouldn't act like you died." "I'm sorry." "You don't have to be. I love you and I want to spend the rest my life with you. I know how you feel. I felt the same way when our clan had awakened. I had lost all of my friends except Broadway and Lex. I kept asking myself, 'Why me? Why didn't I die with the rest of my clan?' I felt guilty for weeks. But I got over it by realizing that these things happen and there was no way for me to help those who were lost." "Thank you for understanding." He kissed her over and over again. Soon Galatea responded to his kisses. They slowly sank to the ground, exploring each other. Galatea made a noise in her throat, a mixture of a purr and a growl. Brooklyn responded with a noise similar but deeper than hers. His eyes flashed white while hers glowed red. Galatea surrendered herself to sensation until her entire world exploded with pleasure. For a few minutes, Galatea lost consciousness. The first thing that she was aware of was warm pleasurable feeling all over her body. Her eyes focused and saw Brooklyn regarding her with such a loving look. She kissed him and rested herself against his body. They held each other and they both fell asleep. About three months later, Brooklyn paced nervously outside the rookery. Brooklyn was really worried. Usually females only took two months at the most to lay their eggs. Galatea had grown much larger than the other females usually got. He continued his pacing as he listened to her whimper in pain. Brooklyn knew that something was wrong. Females didn't get that big and laying eggs wasn't supposed to be that painful. Everyone in the clan tried to comfort him but still he worried. Also it was taking too long. After an hour Valkria went in to help Galatea. It was two hours later and neither of them had emerged. Eventually Valkria walked out. She looked at him solemly and said, "I think you had better go in there." Brooklyn walked in, overwhelmed with fear. When he shut the door behind him, Valkria smiled. Brooklyn went into the dark room. "Galatea?" A weary voice answered him, "I'm here, beloved." He walked through the dark room. He finally reached the cot on which Galatea was lying. He sat on the bed and held her. "What happened?" She kissed him on the beak and told him, "You'd better turn on the lamp." Brooklyn turned on the bedside lamp. He looked around the room and saw a nest of old blankets. In the nest were two wet eggs. They smiled at each other. Brooklyn couldn't believe how happy he was. He squeezed Galatea, "Two? Well that explains a lot!" Galatea sighed softly and fell back to sleep. Brooklyn slowly got off the bed so he wouldn't disturb her much needed sleep. He then covered her with a blanket. Brooklyn left the room to find that the entire clan and friends were there. Goliath smiled at him, "Congratulations!" he teased. Brooklyn blushed, "Oh! Thanks," he mumbled. Brooklyn went outside. As he looked at the city, he was filled with joy over the bright future that awaited the clan.