"That should be it."

Owen nodded, in agreement. A sudden flash of light on the exam table between them snapped them out of their self-congratulatory mood. Almost instantaneously, the light disappeared, and in its place stood Alexander Xanatos and a bundle of flesh and bone that had been the massive gargoyle Goliath.

"Clear out! Give us space!!"

Steve did as Alexander asked, while Owen turned back to the refrigerator, opening the door and pulling out three bags of the synthetic gargoyle plasma. He hurriedly handed the bags to Alexander.

Sensing he would be in the way, Steve decided to leave the medlab. He turned the corner to see Rosanna standing there, waiting in anticipation.

She was on the brink of tears.

Samson and Broadway sat in the TV room with Lexington, listening to him regale about his new clan in Detroit. Pontiac had chosen to stay with Ariana, continuing the reconnaisance notations that Rosanna had begun, while Graeme and Slash took Cadillac on a tour of the castle.

"You heard me right. I swear to you, that dog can drive. I fixed up an old Buick Skylark for him, and now he joins us on patrols. Makes him feel more useful than he probably would have been."

Broadway sighed. "Man, I miss Bronx. It's too bad about him."

Samson nodded in agreement with his blind father. "Yeah, but he was old. It was his time, he lived an active life while he was on this plane."

Lex leaned forward. "Sometimes, I worry about Dodge, our elder in Detroit. A lot of what he does reminds me a lot of Hudson, but other times ... he puts himself at risk way too often for my taste."

Broadway harrumphed at this. "And what's so wrong with that?"

"No offense, bro," Lex chuckled uneasily.

All three took a deep breath, sitting silent for a long time. Finally, it was Broadway who spoke up.

"I hope Goliath's okay."

"Not just him," Samson interjected. "I hope Rosanna's okay."

Lex gave Samson a quizzical look. "Why? The last time I visited, all indications were that she had disowned him, pretty much."

"You've never seen her go to her mother's grave. I happened upon her one time, talking to the thin air ..."

Samson flew over the graveyard on a regular basis; it was usually on his assigned patrol routes. But tonight, it seemed a little different to him. A shadow on the ground drew his attention. He dipped down, alighting a distance away from the shadow's path.

Hiding behind a tree, he watched as the shadow stopped at a gravesite not far from where he stood. The shadow knelt down, pulling debris away from the headstone. It was only then he realized who it was, when he saw the name reflected in the moonlight.

"Rosanna," he whispered to himself. He turned to leave.

"Hello, mother."

He stopped as soon as he heard Rosanna speak. Quietly, he crouched closer to the tree to listen.

"I brought some new flowers for you. Lilies. I know you like them." Rosanna took a bundle out from under her folded wings, approaching the side of the headstone and planting them in its flower holder. She knelt back down by the marker.

"The clan is all right. We're safe, we keep the city safe, everything's under control ... no, I'm lying. Everything's not all right."

She slumped down, closer to the ground, now. "It's Dad. I don't know what's happened to him, but he's ... aging faster lately. He's starting to look his age, in human terms, if you know what I mean. It started when you left us, but I think it's begun going faster since Angela left. She could never understand him. Quite frankly, neither could I."

Samson turned away from the scene, but his ears kept listening.

"I'm worried, Mom. He worries me a lot, just sitting there, brooding. It's almost like ... he's given up. I can't snap him out of it, he frustrates me so much! I'm at my wit's end with him." She started sobbing. "I don't know what to do, mom!"

Samson could feel himself beginning to soften. Before he could let himself go too far, he stood up quickly, running to take off.

"I'm all right, Steve."

"No, you're not. As much as my father could read Elisa's moods, I can read yours."

Rosanna gave Steve a sideways look. "Am I that emotional? Was she?"

"No. Just call it an inherited Bluestone family weirdness. This is really upsetting you, and I want to know why."

Rosanna took a deep breath. "Did your father ever tell you the circumstances around my mother's death?"

"No. If he did, I don't remember."

Rosanna nodded. "He told me a couple years ago, because he felt it was my right as her daughter to know ..."

"I hate daylight raids."

Matt Bluestone turned and looked at his partner, Elisa Maza. They were standing outside of a dockside warehouse, waiting to commence a raid on a smuggling ring.

"Why? Because your winged hubby isn't here?"

She smirked at him. "Very funny, Bluestone. He'll be here shortly." She looked down at her watch: 5:44. Only eight more minutes until sunset.

"So, how are you guys?"

"We're okay. I'm just glad that Xanatos was able to foot the bill for Rose's private school, I don't think she'd be able to handle kids around here."

Bluestone shrugged. "Folks in Connecticut are more tolerant anyway." Her down expression suddenly caught his attention. "You miss Rose, don't you?"

"Who wouldn't? I'm just glad she's away from Quarrymen and most of the other assorted New York anti-gargoyle wackos."

Their conversation was interrupted by SWAT captain Jeff Reed, calling on their radio. "Detectives? The warrant came through. Commence when ready."

Bluestone pulled the radio out of Elisa's car. "Copy, Reed. Operation is a go, repeat, operation is a go."

Elisa pulled her service pistol out of her jacket. "Let's go, Matt!"

"Good evening, Goliath. We have a surprise for you." The elder Xanatos smiled wider as he stepped aside, letting the person behind him rush forward.

"Daddy!"

Goliath happily greeted his younger daughter, Rosanna, pulling her into a tight embrace. "When did you get back?"

"This morning. I'm spending the weekend here."

He hugged her for a moment longer, then set her down, turning out toward Manhattan. "I'm sorry this is so brief, but I must go. Elisa needs my help on a raid this evening."

"Cool! Take me with, I'm not missing this!"

Goliath shot a glance at her. "Why?"

"I am half-gargoyle, Daddy. Wouldn't you like a spare set of wings?"

She did have a point, Goliath scolded himself. "All right. Try to keep up."

Rosanna unfurled her wings, revealing a wingspan that nearly rivaled Goliath's. The father and daughter launched themselves from the wall, into the dark Manhattan sky.

Reed's instructions were answered by a barrage of gunfire from the warehouse's top floor. Amid cries of "Take cover!" Elisa found herself behind the lead SWAT vehicle, next to Reed.

"Well, I take it that's a 'no.'"

Reed pulled his radio out. "Team A, Team B, move in. Sniper A, be ready!"

"Copy."

Elisa cocked her weapon, checking on the security of the Kevlar vest she wore, and turned back toward the warehouse. A ventilation duct caught her attention just to the left of the main entrance. She smiled.

"Reed, cover me. I've got an idea."

"Oh, God, I know what that means, Maza." Reed turned back to the radio. "Team C, provide cover fire for Detective Maza, she's going in!"

"Copy." Semi-automatic weapons began firing from the police line toward the windows of the warehouse, as Elisa scrambled toward the duct she had seen.

"It's a shootout! Be careful."

Rosanna smirked, something that reminded Goliath so much of his mate. "Always am, Dad." She went down to all fours, crawling toward the front edge of the roof, where her father was waiting.

A blur of red motion caught Rosanna's eye. Focusing, she suddenly recognized the red streak.

"Dad! Mom's in the middle of the crossfire!"

Goliath's face took on an expression of unadulterated horror. He pulled himself up to full height, beginning a suicide dive toward the love of his life.

Suddenly, he saw the one he was looking for. True, it was part of their merchandise, but it wouldn't matter much if they were caught. He slapped the clip into the feed slot of the weapon and continued firing.

The vibrations of the gun stopped only momentarily to show the yellow text stenciled on the clip:

Armor piercing.

Absently, she heard Bluestone behind her, screaming something about armor-piercing rounds. She didn't take heed until she heard something from above.

"ELISA, GET DOWN!!!"

At that moment, another burst of weapons fire erupted from the top floor.

It was aimed perfectly.

"MOM!!"

Matt Bluestone stood in utter shock. Deadened for a moment, he finally got the composure to reach for the radio in Elisa's car.

"Officers down." His voice broke. "Repeat, officers down, one SWAT squad and Detective Maza."

The fourth had hit dead center in Elisa's chest. It too had pierced the Kevlar vest.

Weakly, Elisa opened her eyes. She saw Goliath first, then Rosanna. She smiled for a moment, sighed as deeply as she could, then brought Goliath's head down to her.

"You'll be all right, Elisa. I'll get you to a hospital."

She gasped a weak breath, gave her mate one last kiss, then breathed a short message to Goliath.

"With your shield or on it."

Her eyes closed. Her chest sank. Her entire body relaxed.

Goliath and Rosanna were lost in their grief. Tears flowed freely from the eyes of both father and daughter, tears which were followed by outraged roars. Leaving the body where it lay, the two gargoyles savagely punched through the roof, scratching and clawing at the band of smugglers, a mere six men, savagely tearing into them, letting all their fury loose on the cop-killers. Finally, all six were unconscious, carried by Rosanna out the front door of the warehouse.

The cops were more than grateful to the two gargoyles, but they didn't care. Goliath climbed back up the side of the warehouse, coming back down with Elisa's body cradled in his arms. Bluestone approached them cautiously.

"Are you ..."

Goliath glared at the detective, handing him the body. "We are physically well, Bluestone. But my soul has been hurt beyond repair."

Goliath turned away, walking out toward the next warehouses on the pier. Rosanna jogged to catch up with her father. When she finally caught up with him, he dropped to his knees, consumed in grief. Rosanna could do nothing more than wrap her arms around her grieving father.

Alexander sighed. "He'll live, at least. He had some internal injuries that were pretty serious, but I mended his bones, which is mostly what I had to do. Sunrise is pretty close, so his stone sleep should heal his internal injuries."

Owen exited, as well. He motioned to the gargoyle and the cop. "You can see him now, but not too long."

Rosanna nodded, entering the lab with Steve not too far behind.

"Rosanna ... I ..."

Rosanna smiled. She couldn't hide the tear slowly rolling down her cheek. "Hi, Daddy."

Goliath smiled. "It's been too long since you've called me that."

Steve came up behind Rosanna. "I need to know, Goliath, what happened? We need to know."

Goliath sighed. "I went to Elisa's grave." He gave an embarrassed look at his daughter. "I'm ashamed to say this, but I went there to die."

Rosanna sobbed again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ..."

"It wasn't just what you said tonight, my daughter. You were right. It's just ... I've felt so weak since her death. I wasn't fast enough ..."

"And I shouldn't have kept you from leaving so long. It's nobody's fault. We have to let it go. If we don't the Rokkans will surely defeat us."

The mention of the alien race suddenly startled Goliath. His eyes widened, as he tried to sit up.

"Rosanna, it was the Rokkans that did this to me. The Rokkans ... and Demona."

A small fire lit itself inside Rosanna's heart. The mere mention of her stepmother's name gave her over to rage.

"Let us take care of her, Daddy. We'll get rid of the Rokkans and Demona. She'll be sorry she ever crossed us."

Goliath sighed again. Another smile came across his face. "You've become so much like your mother ..."

At that moment, the sun came up, and Goliath turned to stone, still prone on the exam table. Rosanna smiled.

"Sleep well." She turned around, walking into the embrace of Steve Bluestone. She was so emotionally spent, she didn't even react as she folded back into the human Rose Maza.