Spirals
Chapter Eight: By The Light of Day
***
Xanatos watched from his office as the gargoyles turned to stone for the day. Last night had been very eventful, and they all deserved the rest. Unfortunately, David did not have that luxury. He stood up and walked out of his office.
He checked in with Owen, but his fae-turned-human assistant was busy with paperwork. He looked tired in David's opinion. Perhaps I should get him an assistant, he thought to himself.
He ran into Fox on his way to the nursery.
"Good morning, darling."
"Good morning David," Fox yawned. "I've been up all night. We keep the strangest hours."
"Would you prefer a normal life?" David asked, arching one eyebrow.
Fox chuckled. "I've forgotten what normal was like." She looked at her husband. "Why aren't you tired?"
"Oh," he replied, waving his hand nonchalantly, "I slept while you were gone."
Fox smacked him in the stomach. "Well, it's my turn now, so tell Owen to keep an ear out for Alex."
David frowned. "I'll do it. I'm worried he's working too hard. Do you think I should get him an assistant?"
Fox creased her brow in thought, then yawned. "Who would you get? I mean, you couldn't get just anyone, with the gargoyles, and other things that happen around here."
David put his arm around his wife's waist. "Let me deal with that. You just get some sleep, you look terrible."
Fox shot her husband a tired glare before retreating to their bedroom.
***
David was reviewing old files to see if anyone could fit the position of Owen's assistant. He found no one. Then, something caught his eye. An old resume, from a woman who had been accepted but never replied. He read it over silently.
Jessondra Laine, twenty-two, a very impressive list of credentials that included Nightstone Unlimited.
"Why does that seem so familiar?" he murmured. Curious, David went through the system until he found a picture. He stared at the familiar picture for two minutes before it hit him. He sat back in his chair and smiled.
At that moment, muffled cries came through the baby monitor. David had borrowed it from Owen for the day. He walked quickly to the nursery where his son was on the verge of waking up. He brought Alexander back to the office with him.
He pushed all the papers and pointy objects out of the baby's reach. "Alex, look," he pointed to the monitor. "Who is that?"
He had never expected Alex to recognize her, but the baby gurgled for a moment, then answered, "Lay!"
Xanatos looked surprised, then smiled. "Smart boy. Yes, that's Layne. Now, let's see," he tapped on the keyboard as Alex amused himself with a spherical paperweight.
***
Fox knocked on Owen's office door.
"Come in."
She approached the desk and frowned at all the paper work. "David's right, you do need an assistant."
Owen looked up at her. "I assure you, Mrs. Xanatos, I do not need an assistant. I'm perfectly capable of handling my workload."
"And what about Alex? After work, you teach him, plus you're working with Layne."
Owen sighed. "Mrs. Xanatos, I appreciate your concern, but I do not need an assistant. If the workload gets to be too much, I'll simply filter more through the lower levels like I always do. I only have this much because we are in the middle of a very important business contract."
"Alright then. I guess I'll just go check on Alex then."
When she got to the nursery, it was empty. For a moment, a rush of maternal panic went through her. She hurried down to David's office. She opened the door and sighed in relief. She smiled as she saw Alex playing with the carpet, while his father was slumped over the desk, asleep.
The red-haired baby raised his arms toward his mother. "Ma ma!"
"And how is my big guy, huh? What were you and daddy up to?" She scooped up her son.
"Help Lay," Alex gurgled.
"What was that Alex?"
"Daddy help Lay!" he repeated.
Fox just chuckled. "Well then, we'd better let him rest. He must be very tired, he looks terrible," she smirked.
As they headed for the kitchen, Alex babbled. "I help too."
"We'll see," Fox told him.
***
Later that day, David took a walk to clear his head. He walked along the parapets where the gargoyles slept. He envied them at times, although he never voiced it. They got a full day's sleep, no matter what. Sometimes he wished he could do that, but his life was much too full and busy.
"Excuse me, sir."
David turned towards Owen, who had suddenly appeared behind him. "Yes, Owen?"
"Mrs. Xanatos informed me that you plan to find me an assistant."
"That's not exactly what I said, but I just thought…"
Owen held up his good hand. "You had good intentions sir, but I have no need or desire for an assistant. One may cause more problems then it solves."
"Of course, Owen. It was only a passing thought to begin with. Consider it forgotten. Though if you do find yourself overworked, feel free to complain, in a civilized manner, of course."
"Thank you, sir." Owen left David on the tower. He looked over the city. Not too long ago he would have seen a city he sought to control. Now it was simply a city, his home, where he would raise his family. Goliath was right; a child does change a person.
He watched the sun go down, and noticed cracks on Goliath's statue out of the corner of his eye. He pulled his coat closer as the stone chips flew in every direction.
"Good evening, Goliath," David greeted without turning to face the lavender giant.
"Xanatos. To what do we owe the visit?"
David turned towards the stairwell. "I was just out for a breath of fresh air." He disappeared down the stairs and Goliath stared after him. He would never understand that man, he decided. A soft cough turned his attention to Angela who had come up to see him.
"Are we patrolling tonight, Father?" his daughter asked.
"No," Goliath rumbled. "I think we need to rest after last night."
***
Damon propped his feet up on his desk. This week had been very eventful, concerning their plan, anyway. Vanessa strolled in, holding a manila folder.
"What have you got for me, sweetheart?"
"Xanatos sent another chopper down to New Jersey. What did our friends there say?"
Damon sighed. "If there were any gargoyle sightings, they would have been dismissed as the Jersey Devil. But he must have brought them back, and if he did, it meant they found nothing worth while."
"Can we begin, then?" Vanessa asked eagerly.
"Not yet, not without the signal."
"What's the signal?"
Damon shrugged.
Vanessa threw her arms into the air. "You don't even know what we're suppose to be looking for!"
"We'll know it when it happens," he assured her,
"I don’t like it, why don't we just attack them now?"
"Because, my dear, that's not the plan."
Vanessa clenched her fists. "This plan better go into motion soon. I'm losing patience very quickly."
Damon simply chuckled and pulled his hat down over his eyes. Before a minute had passed, the telephone rang. Vanessa picked it up.
"The Daily Tattler, Damon Salvatore's office. Who is calling?" Her smile widened. "Good afternoon LaCroix."
She handed the receiver to Damon. "It's Lucien."
***
Matt glared at Elisa as she walked into the room.
"Hiya partner. You owe me, I had to cover for you with Chavez. Again."
"Fine, just put it on my tab." She grabbed a paper cup and poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Hey, partner, you okay? Is everything alright at the castle?"
"I don’t know, Matt. I'm just worried. Between what happened in New Jersey, the Quarryman, and everything, it's just getting more dangerous."
Matt shushed her. "Keep it down, Elisa, you want someone to hear? Look, I'm not crazy about it either, but there's nothing we can do. I'm trying to redirect the Task Force and I'm even calling in a few favors. Don't worry, we'll get through this, we always do."
Elisa forced a smile, then it fell. "But I can't help but feel like something's coming. Something evil."
Matt laughed, "And they say I'm the paranoid one."
"Bluestone! Maza! In here now!"
They both cringed and Matt murmured under his breath, "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
"We'd better go," Elisa said. "It's better than staying here and watching out hair turn gray."
***
Bacio kicked a can down the street.
"Damn Castaway. He posts bail for me, only to chew me out." He passed a blonde woman yelling at her husband.
"Brendan! I told you we should have left earlier."
"Relax, Margot. It’s not even dark yet."
They continued arguing as they got into their nice, expensive car and drove away.
"Damn yuppies." He entered a building and made the long trip up to his apartment. Halfway there, his landlady stopped him.
"Hey! Bacio, you’re late with your rent."
"I’m havin’ a bad day Ms. Kriston."
"As if I give a damn," she said in a thick Jamaican accent. "Two days."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered as he climbed up the flight of steps. The second he unlocked his door, the phone rang.
"Yeah?"
"Bacio, my recruits don’t leave in the middle of a debriefing."
"Well, maybe, I ain’t one of you recruits then, am I?"
"Don’t talk back to me. Without me, you’d still be locked up in that asylum. I helped you take revenge."
"I haven’t gotten one gargoyle since I’ve been here, and my head’s really killing me. I need to find another way." He slammed the phone down.
Castaway slammed his own phone down and ran his fingers through his blonde hair while recomposing himself. He was losing people left and right. A new group, People for Interspecies Tolerance, or the PIT Crew as they were commonly called, was gaining support. They’d managed to cut government funding to the Quarrymen.
He pulled open a desk drawer. Inside was a black mask with three red slash marks across the front.
"I guess if ye want somethin’ done right, ye do it yourself. Th’ old methods are th’ best."
***