Coldsteel's Target

Chapter 18

When the gargoyles, minus Coldfire and Coldstone were stone for the day, Sato had been taking the opportunity to research Brooklyn's blood to see what had been harming it besides that drug.

What he had seen in there upon his research was rather worrisome; for it was quite a bit of sugar intake from what the doctor learned from Brooklyn when he mentioned some of the foods. The blood also contained a lot of high cholesterol that wasn't normal.

Sato knew he would have to tell Coldfire and Elisa about the results and what they would have to do to get Brooklyn's blood to behave normally once more.

Coldfire meanwhile, sat there on the bed, watching Brooklyn in his stone form. Over the past hours, she somewhat had been growing a fondness to the younger male in a motherly kind of way, happy to be in charge of caring for him. She put a hand on his stone one, hoping he would wake up soon.

"I am sorry my horrible brother did this to you. You'll soon be back gliding in the air with your clan," Coldfire spoke gently until she saw the sun going down. The stone began cracking. Brooklyn let out a small roar, stretching and his eyes glowing.

When he settled, Brooklyn's eyes darted about, thinking Coldsteel was still around until he felt a hand on his. Turning, he felt his ears flatten at the sight of Coldfire, who gave him a smile.

"Good evening, Brooklyn. Are you alright?" she asked him softly, getting a blanket to cover him after brushing the stone skin off of his bed.

Hands feeling clammy, Brooklyn trembled. "A... little." He croaked, until seeing his still rather round belly. Just seeing that instantly made him break out into tears. It was going to take so long to get his body size back to normal!

Coldfire noticed that right away, taking him into her arms again. "No need for tears. We will get you some more healthy soup. How about it?" She asked, her voice like honey in Brooklyn's ears, who buried himself into her arms. He gave a weak noise of agreement, seeing the glass of water on his nightstand.

The golden cyborg gargoyle took it in her hands, offering it to him. "Here. Drink up." Managing to get it on his lips, Brooklyn drank the fresh water, happy to not have any more soda. This water was heaven.

Goliath and the others had heard Brooklyn's sobs, coming to see what was going on. Lex looked in and smiled when seeing his red brother experiencing motherly care again. It had been too long since either of them had such love like that.

Brooklyn smelled their presence, turning in fear. His eyes were still a little bit full of feral fear, remembering his vision of them in that maze, afraid to be cast out.

"Hi, bro. You do look a little bit better than the last time we saw you," Broadway tried to greet, stepping in but Brooklyn squirmed, shaking his head, not wanting them to get close.

Coldfire held his arms gently. "It is your family, little one. They'll never hurt you."

Brooklyn's heart thumped noisily, still reliving that moment where Goliath and the others said mean things he couldn't forget, wanting to hide under his blankets and never come back out.

Lex could clearly see that Coldsteel probably did something horrible to make Brooklyn to not even want to be calm around them, which broke his heart. "If... if you want us to not be so close for now, Brook, I-I understand," Lexington said in a sad way, slowly backing away, his eyes threatening to spill a little. Goliath kept a hand on his shoulder.

"This isn't your fault, Lexington. Brooklyn, you're in no danger here. We won't let Coldsteel back, we promise." The lavender gargoyle tried, but Brooklyn wanted to have solitude again. He felt vulnerable around his family right now, no thanks to that monster, not wanting to reveal any weakness that Coldsteel exposed.