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.
Elisa perceived a slight fleck against the moon. As she watched, the fleck became bigger. Then it became one big fleck with two small flecks, like Mickey Mouse ears. It was the Elder, his body flanked by his two wings. He was getting closer. Elisa took a deep breath. Some of her anxiety was at the plan she was about to execute, some was about the ride over the city she was about to take.
The Elder landed with whoosh that sounded like when someone shakes out a large bedsheet.
"Evenin' Lass," he said. "Ready t' go?"
Elisa smiled. "You don't mess around, do you?"
"Mess around?" The Elder said. "If by that yeh mean faff about, then no, I can't say that I do."
In spite of herself, Elisa gave a slight shrug, then held her arms out in a big here-I-am-come-and-take-me gesture. The Elder smiled and, with a swiftness that seemed surprising given his older looking features, swept her off her feet and into his arms.
"Now, just so I..." Elisa began but got no more out. The next thing she knew the Elder had planted a foot on the edge of the building and lept out into the open air. Elisa squeezed with all her might.
"Lassie," the Elder said somewhat strained. "If yeh want us to make it safe and sound y'll have tuh let me breath."
Elisa said nothing, but loosened her grip a bit. With one eye, she peaked down at the streets below, bustling with people. If they simply looked up, she thought, they'd see this craziness. Fortunately, New Yorker's nearly never look up. They are used to the tall buildings and don't look anymore.
"I'll set yeh down on the south wall. From there you should be able to see whatever happens," The Elder said. "Demona and Goliath have already left, so the wait should not be long."
Elisa opened her eyes once more and looked out. She saw the Xanatos Enterprises headquarters with the castle above the clouds. She could tell that they were rising slowly on an updraft, working their way up to the altitude of the castle. She wondered if she would ever get used to this form of travel. Then again, she wondered how often it would happen in her life. For a moment, she relaxed and looked out at the view she had. She could see the whole island of Manhattan. To the right was the East river, to her left the Hudson. The waves reflected the glow of the buildings, sparkling amidst the black of the rest of the water.
"The Hudson is always so beautiful at night," Elisa said.
"The what?" The Elder replied.
"The Hudson," Elisa said. "The river to our left. That's it's name, the Hudson."
"You humans and your names," the Elder replied. "Can you never just let something be what it is? Must everything always have a name?"
Elisa thought about this for a moment, feeling slightly defensive about the Elder's hostility toward a simple name.
"It's how we make sense of the world. If I told you I wanted to meet at the river, how would you know which one I meant if they didn't have names. I could mean the East River or I could mean the Hudson."
"Yuh just answered yer own question, Lassie," The Elder said. "Yuh say the east river or the west river. Why not call this Hudson the west river and leave it at that?"
Elisa was amused. He had a point. Why didn't the East River have an actual name?
"Names elevate things. Everyone has heard of the Hudson River. And it makes us feel more connected to it. I don't know. It's like a river with a name becomes an old friend—someone you can turn to on a lonely night. I guess that seems pretty silly to a Gargoyle."
The Elder reflected.
"Nay, Lass, I understand yuh. I suppose we Gargoyles feel connected to each other and to the castle. We seek no further connections. Perhaps that is why we have no need for names. We know each other, and that's enough."
"Isn't it lonely—having so few connections?" Elisa asked.
"Lonely? No. We are happy with what we are."
Elisa liked the simplicity of that statement. Suddenly, she felt very lonely. Elisa did not have many friends, and very little family. She'd poured her soul into being a police officer. She suddenly realized she had more in common with this creature than she did to a lot of humans. The same way he felt bound to his castle, she felt bound to her city. But she did not quite agree with him that this was enough. Maybe for a Gargoyle, she though, but humans should have more. Everyone should have more. She smiled. She had an idea.
"You know," she said. "There aren't many Gargoyles around these days." As soon as she said it she felt badly. She could see in the Elder's eyes that this was an all too painful fact for him.
"I'm sorry," she said. "What I want to say is that sometimes our little circles aren't enough. Sometimes we need to reach out." Elisa thought about the turmoil she'd seen over the last few days. The fear of the other that was sweeping through the city. She did not like what she had seen. "Isn't that what you and I are doing?" She asked. "Making a new connection?"
"I suppose so," the Elder replied.
"It may be very human of me, but I want to give you a name."
"Me, a name. So I'm to be branded too?" The Elder said, skeptically.
"It's not a brand," Elisa replied. "Think of it like a gift. A sign that you and I can trust each other." Elisa was certainly hoping they trusted each other. She had certainly placed a lot of trust in the Elder, given that he was holding her about a hundred stories above the pavement.
"A gift, yuh say," The Elder replied, sounding skeptical.
"Yes. A symbol of a connection between you and me," Elisa said. "You know, I've noticed you call me 'Lassie.' I assume it's because you like me, at least a little bit."
"I suppose so," The Elder replied. "And what would you call me, then?"
"Hudson," Elisa said, with a smile.
The Elder gave a chuckle. Clever, he thought.
"Very well, Lass. Yuh may call me Hudson if it suits your fancy. But for now we best be focused on the task at hand. We'll soon be there."
Elisa looked up and saw the castle wall approaching rapidly.