Werewolf at Midnight By Mercedes of Clan Winslow a.k.a. Jennifer De Salme chimura_delphi@mailexcite.com DISCLAIMER: I don't know why I'm bothering with this, since every character in this story is mine, but here's the long and the short of it. Alexis of Clan Winslow was created by Esther "Alexia" Bullard and for all extents and purposes is co-owned by her and me. Tony Regino is copyrighted by me. Gargoyles is a licensed trademark of Disney and Buena Vista. Werewolf: The Apocalypse is owned by White Wolf, Inc. This story does have MATURE CONTENT, in the form of swearing and mild violence. Many thanks to my best friend and rookery sister Eddie (a.k.a. Amy K. Cyrway) for being my editor and sounding board. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Eddie and I are working with the same characters and timeline. If you haven't read "...Love and War" by Eddie, you might want to do so before reading further. That story introduces Alexia (a.k.a. Alexis) and the rest of Clan Winslow. ****** Mid-October, 1997 11:30 p.m. Alexis glided silently over the Maine woods. The moonlight made even the bright colors of the autumn leaves seem silver. The young gargoyle was not enjoying the scenery, however. "I hate patrol." Alexis grumbled, brushing a strand of golden blonde hair out of her face. "This is so friggin' boring!" Tonight was the crimson female's turn to patrol the North Vassalboro area and, as usual, nothing had happened. The only reason this area was up for patrol was to look out for humans hunting illegally. Why humans hunted for sport was beyond her, they were mostly idiots anyway, with a few exceptions like Elly and Wentworth. As she was gliding low over an open field, she heard a shout from below her and the crack of a gun. Glancing at the ground, she felt a sudden jolt of pain shoot up her side. She roared and spiraled towards the earth. A few yards before collision, she succeeded in spreading her wings and slowing her fall. She crash landed at the edge of the field, slid across the slick grass and slammed into a tree trunk. She placed a hand to her side and pulled it away when she felt sticky wetness. "What the fuck..." She started, but fell silent as the sound of voices echoed across the field to her. "That creature must have landed 'round here somewhere." The voices came closer and were joined by the sound of tall grass swishing against pants. Alexis growled quietly and crawled slowly into the woods, holding one hand over the wound. Fiery pain shot up and down her side as she struggled behind some bushes. She sat down, her breath hissing silently between clenched teeth. Footsteps approached and stopped a few feet from her. "It couldn't have gotten far with the hit it took. Jay, you go over there; me and Brian will head towards the stream." The footsteps began again as the men went off in opposite directions. The blonde gargoyle leaned back against the tree for a moment. She tried to analyze her situation calmly. "Okay, I'm out in the middle of the fuckin' boondocks. The rest of my clan is friggin' miles away and they probably won't even notice I'm gone for hours yet," she thought silently. "I'm being hunted by a bunch of fucking humans." Her breath began to quicken. "I've been friggin' shot in the side...." Her eyes widened and she looked down at the hole in her shirt. The blood that leaked out was barely discernible against the black material and the bright red skin underneath, but she could feel the sticky warmth with her hand. "Shit! I'm bleeding!" She rasped aloud. She tried to stop up the wound with her hand, but the blood just seeped around it. She closed her eyes and turned her head away. Her mind raced frantically as she tried to think of something to do about her predicament, but the sight and smell of her own blood kept penetrating her thoughts. The minutes slipped by and the woods around her remained silent. The young female opened her eyes and struggled to her knees, peering over the bushes. She scanned the forest, taking in every detail. Just as she was about to stand up, her sharp eyes caught a slight movement to her right. The sound of the fallen leaves being walked through reached her ears. She crouched lower and backed away from the bushes, eyes glowing scarlet. A human male approached the thicket. The man stopped in front of the bushes and stared at the gargoyle female. Alexis pushed herself to her feet and spread her wings. If she was going to die, she was going to go down fighting. Growling, she waited for the human to lift up his gun and shoot her. The man did not. He slowly raised both his hands to where she could see them. They were empty. "I won't hurt you." His voice was gentle and quiet. He pushed silently through the brush and stood only a few feet in front of her. Alexis mentally snorted at the human's assumption that she was afraid. She carefully scrutinized the man standing calmly a few feet from her. He was tall for a human, taller than her, and thin from his narrow face to his wiry frame. His dark hair was cut short except for a lock that fell over his left eye. He carried no visible weapon and his arms rested loosely at his sides. The crimson light left her eyes, but she remained in a guard position. "What do you want, human?" The red female snarled. He glanced at her wounded side and grimaced. "I saw the hunters shoot you down and thought that you might need aid, if you lived." He took a step closer the gargoyle and reached out his hand. Her eyes began to glow again and she backed up into the tree. Lightning shot up her injured side as the gun wound scraped against the rough bark. Alexis roared in pain and crumpled to the ground holding her side. She felt a gentle hand lift up her talons, exposing the injury to the cool night air. The gargoyle hissed as something was placed on the wound and pressure was applied. She looked up at the man holding a strip of fold cloth against her side. He looked back calmly. "What's your name, human?" Alexis asked as she struggled to sit up. "Tony Regino, gargoyle," he retorted sarcastically. He helped her into a sitting position, her back against the tree. "Am I to be privileged with knowing yours?" He questioned while he pulled a roll of gauze from his coat pocket. He glanced up at her face. "You do have one, don't you? I know that some of your kind do not." She stared at him for a moment in surprise before answering. "Alexis," she hissed through clenched teeth as he cleaned the gouge in her side. She looked down at his long fingered hands as they worked deftly on her injury. He had pulled her black tank-top up enough to reveal the slowly bleeding hole that the bullet had made. He frowned as he examined it, wiping away the blood as it oozed out. "The bullet didn't go all the way through. I think it may be lodged in your rib." Tony pressed the strip of cloth, which she now realized was ripped off of his tee-shirt, against the wound and wrapped the gauze around her waist to hold the pad in place. "It's a good thing you gargoyles have tough bones, or that bullet may have gone through your rib instead of just lodging it self in it," he remarked. "How is it you know so much about gargoyles, hu-Tony?" He smiled at her near slip up and gently pulled her shirt over the wound. The two heard the click of a gun hammer being cocked. They whipped their heads up to see one of the hunters standing on the other side of the waist high bushes. He shined his flashlight on them momentarily and Alexis shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness. He placed the flashlight on the bushes and raised his rifle. "Hey, Brian! Tim! I found the monster!" The man shouted, not taking his eyes or his gun, off of the two in front of him. He smiled maliciously. "Looks like it's got a friend, too." Answering shouts were heard in the distance. Alexis growled weakly, baring her fangs as her eyes blazed a fury red. She struggled against increasing nausea and vertigo to rise, when a strong hand pushed her back down. She glared up at the black-haired man who stood next to her. "I don't think you want to do that." Tony took a few steps towards the hunter. The other man snarled at him and aimed the gun at taller man's head. "You protecting this thing?" He barked a laugh and placed his finger over the trigger. "Then maybe I'll just kill you right along with it." Tony continued to walk towards the him. "Don't come any closer," the hunter said, something indescribable creeping into his voice. Alexis heard a deep growl coming from the direction of the two humans and then the gun went off. Alexis fought to remain conscious as blood loss began to take its toll on her. What transgressed next was seen in patchy segments, as if she were watching an old filmstrip. Somehow, the black-haired man managed to duck in time, so the bullet whizzed past his head and into the tree above the injured gargoyle. Her vision blurred for a moment as she watched her friend begin to change. The transformation took place seemingly in the blink of an eye. One moment she saw a lank human standing in front of her. The next, a wolf-like creature stood in his place, and it leapt through the wall of brush towards the hunter. She blacked out for a moment. When she came to, the hunter was gone and the werewolf was dropping the bent rifle to the ground. She gasped and the creature turned its lupine face to look at her. It slipped through the bushes and crouched in front of her. As she watched, its features shifted; grey and black fur became clothes; its entire form seemed to shrink. Tony watched her with eyes that no longer seemed entirely human to the young gargoyle. "What the fuck are you?!" she whispered, wide-eyed. He smiled faintly and shrugged. "We call ourselves *garou*," the young man stated. "You've just seen for yourself what we are." "Fuck!" Alexis swore loudly. "I've just been saved by a friggin' werewolf!" He chuckled at her awestruck expression. "I guess I've got a lot of explaining to do." *************************************** Whoo-Hoo! That's it, the end, fini! *dances around triumphantly* Any questions, comments, or criticisms? Send them please! This is my first FINISHED fanfic and I want to here what the populous has to say! Talk to me people! Thanks! ~ Mercedes