GARGOYLES: Re-Awakening

Rubicon: 3

Matt was slouching in his car because he didn't want Elisa to see him. He was outside the apartment he'd seen Elisa stash Everly Levy in. It was just a half an hour before their nightshift, and he intended to get some answers before he saw her again. He perked up just a bit when Elisa came out the door. He watched her jay walk across the street to her car, get in, and pull away. Here we go, he thought to himself.

As he reached for the door handle, he noticed a person step out of a car a few spots down. Matt hesitated. There was something about this man that was off. He watched him as he too jay walked across the street toward the building Elisa had just exited. There was something about the way he looked, the way he moved. Matt could not put his finger on it, but he had learned to trust his instincts. In fact, that was something Elisa had taught him to do. She'd taught him a lot, he thought to himself.

The man hopped up the curb and then walked straight into the building Elisa had come out of. Now Matt really felt unsettled. That was ominous timing. He got out of the car and became the third person to jaywalk in the last three minutes. As he crossed the street, he checked to see if there was anyone else in the car he'd seen the man emerge from. It was empty. Matt approached the door cautiously, but saw that the lobby was empty except for the doorman; he went in and held his badge up.

"Good evening," Matt said with a smile. "I'm Detective Bluestone. I'm here to take over for my partner, Detective Maza."

"Oh? I thought somebody just went up for her?" The doorman answered.

"Excuse me?" Matt asked.

"Ya, just a second ago a detective came in, showed me his badge, and said that he was here to relieve her."

Matt started. "What room?!" He asked, frantically.

"She's on the eleventh floor. Number twenty six," the doorman said, confusedly. "Don't you guys talk?"

Shit! Matt thought. The elevator was still up on the eleventh floor now. He'd have to wait for it to come down, then for it to ride all the way back up. In that time, it could be too late, but he would be even slower running up the stairs. He jabbed at the button and paced as the elevator began its decent. He watched each floor light up, the space between them felt like an eternity. When the doors finally opened he rushed in, pressed eleven, and then jabbed at the door close button. He wondered if it was true what they said, that the door close button is not actually hooked up to anything. That it's there only to give people the illusion that they can get the doors to close more quickly.

The ride up was interminable. It felt like the distance between each floor got longer the higher he went, as if gravity were becoming more powerful the closer he got to his destination. Finally, the door chimed and opened. Matt carefully poked his head out. The hallway was empty. The door across the hall and to his right was number thirteen, to his left eleven. The room he wanted would be around the corner on the opposite wall. Matt moved quickly, but quietly, toward it. The floor was carpeted, which he was grateful for. He passed number twenty, then twenty two, twenty four. He slowed as he came to twenty six. As he got to the apartment, he first put his ear to the door. Suddenly, his eyes widened. He heard a muffled voice, as if someone were trying to scream but couldn't. Without thinking, he grabbed the handle and charged in.

— —

Elisa was on the rooftop of the precinct, looking out at the night sky. She was still trying to convince herself that she was waiting for a flying creature from one thousand years in the past to come pick her up. She smiled. Actually, it occurred to her that "pick up" meant, literally, pick up, jump off a rooftop and then glide up to Xanatos Enterprises Headquarters. Of course, nothing could be orthodox where Xanatos was involved. Perhaps this plan would work precisely because it was so insane.