The Egg
Evil Overlady (evil_overlady@excite.com)

Summary: There's a new thief in town, and she has a profound effect on Goliath... Story 3 in the "Wheels and Wings" series (crossover with "Viper").

Author's Notes: Gargoyles belongs to Disney and Buena Vista. This story and every other in the "Wheels and Wings" universe come before and in place of "Hunter's Moon" and the whole Goliath Chronicles. Viper belongs to Pet Fly (the car to Dodge) and this story in that universe continues the 1994 season, disregarding the 1996-1999 continuation. The Gárgola mythology and the concept of guardians belong to me. Please, don't use them without permission.

The Egg
Evil Overlady

~ Prologue ~

A pine-green form against the black night, Vipra landed softly on the Manhattan rooftop, cloaking green-black bat wings around her slender form.

A quick glance for onlookers and four-taloned gargoyle claws punctured and peeled back a single roof tile like so much sticky note paper.

Below was her quarry. A pink tongue licked autumn-red lips in anticipation. Black leather flew, wrapped around a nearby pipe, and Vipra swung down into the hole. Trained fingers traced along the whip and Vipra was soon hovering above the glass display case on its heavy wooden stand.

A pointed ear tuned to guards, the gargoyle kicked off the case, freed a hand, and scooped up the precious citrus-green Fabergé egg with its golden Romanov griffins bearing its weight on their shoulders. You're mine...

A low male voice sounded, "I do not believe that belongs to you."

A pair of green spiral onyx horns poked up through silky black hair. Gargoyle eyes widened.

A pair of glowing white eyes rested slightly above human height in the shadows.

A demon? Not a dragon. The eyes were too small. "What are you?"

"A protector of this city," came the response. The figure stepped into the moonlight.

A gargoyle! A living flesh and gargoyle. "By the dragon..." she breathed. "I was told I was the last."

"You were told falsely." A lavender claw gestured at her. "Now, put it back."

Horny-browed eyes turned to the glittering gold egg, narrowed at him. "No."

"To steal out of greed is not the gargoyle way."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please... Wake up and smell the new millennium." She kicked the stand at him, used the distraction to race up her whip and climb onto the roof.

She turned to untangle the leather.

A light purple hand clamped down on her wrist, snow-white eyes met her. "In this city we have laws. I have sworn to obey them as I would yours in your home."

Her own eyes flashed red. "I have no home!" She kicked him back into the hole.

His arms flung to either side of him, keeping him from going in.

Vipra clutched the egg to her bosom like a . "You don't know what it's like to hatch and grow up with no clan, to watch your human parents grow old and die, to be cast out onto the streets like some rabid dog, to meet each sunrise as if it might be your last."

He climbed onto the roof. "We have all suffered through the centuries, but we've managed without stooping to petty theft."

"This is the only life I know!" She lashed out at him again. A high kick for the head.

He caught it, flung her foot aside.

She spun, sweeping his legs out from under him.

"Oof!"

She was on top of him, pinning him under one knee. "Look. I don't want to hurt you..."

A tail slapped her in the face, knocking her to the roof.

She froze a moment, checked for wounds from possible tail spikes. There were none. Vipra breathed heavily. "-But I will if I have to." She spun, fists clenched.

He wasn't there.

She turned back.

He stood a few feet away, the egg in his claws. "This is insanity. You would sacrifice your heritage for this... piece of metal?"

"You would defend human laws?"

"Human or gargoyle, they are laws nevertheless, and I have taken an oath to uphold them, to protect this city from the criminals who threaten it. It is the gargoyle way, to protect..."

"Protect what? There's nothing left for me to protect. I can't even defend myself."

"You can start over. A new life. A new home. ...A new clan." Gentle dark eyes met her.

She was taken aback. "There... are others?"

A nod.

Her mouth was dry. A new family... A family of her kind!

But she couldn't betray her adopted clan leader. She had to complete this job. "I... can't... At least not yet." She raised a peaceful hand. "Please, just hand it over. I don't want to fight you anymore."

"If you're doing this against your will..."

"I'm not."

Muscular arms crossed. "I'm sorry, but the egg stays here."

"I'm sorry too."

A small mechanical device rose over the building. "This is the police. Hold it right there," a woman's voice sounded from it.

The male gargoyle turned.

Vipra rushed him, spread her wings as she grabbed the golden object, but he didn't let go.

They landed on the roof again, a wingtip knocking the probe away.

The two gargoyles found themselves in a tug-o-war. "Let go, damnit!" she screamed in an all too human voice. Red glowing eyes met white ones.

One hand did let go to grab her upper arm.

She let out a caterwaul and tore the Fabergé egg away, striking him in the arm with a four-spiked tail.

The male gargoyle cried out, his recoil threw her exit off, and the egg went flying, tumbling down the roof.

"Curses," Vipra hissed, yanked her arm free from his loosened grip. She fled down the roof. Claws scooped up the egg, closing the lid which had come ajar in the struggle. Without missing a beat, she dove off the side of the roof, howling spookily into the night.

* * *

Goliath watched her go, gripping his bleeding arm. He sighed.

The Viper's probe, under Elisa's guidance, reoriented itself. "Goliath, you all right?"

"I am not seriously injured."

The probe lowered to hover just above him. "Not seriously, huh?"

He grunted but said nothing. She'd have a med kit ready for him no matter what he said, so he ignored the remark. Carefully covering the wounds with his free hand, Goliath climbed to his feet and followed Vipra's path down the roof. Maybe if he found a particularly strong updraft, he could follow.

Something glittery caught his night-sensitive eyes and he stooped.

He picked it up, turned it in the moonlight. "It... appears to be a part of the egg..."

The golden train car sparkled.

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The Egg
Evil Overlady

~ Chapter 1 ~

"Well, I just dropped off the piece with Chavez," Elisa reported, stepping onto the balcony of the clock tower as Goliath finished bandaging his own arm, putting up with a few teasing remarks from Hudson about Goliath's luck with females.

"And the reason it looked like a train car is because it was," the detective continued, oblivious. "This particular Fabergé egg comes complete with a five-car train set and opens up to show a perfectly detailed map of Russia in the early 1900s."

"Odd." Goliath shook his head. "To decorate toys with such highly valued precious stones."

"Eh." Hudson dismissed. "Humans are odd. Haven't ye realized that by now, lad?"

"So what am I? Chopped liver?" An ebony eyebrow raised.

"Uh. Forgive me, lass. I didna mean..."

"Apology accepted." She turned to Goliath. "We also found something else - a computer chip hidden in a secret compartment. First glance says it's government. Possibly CIA or KGB."

"KGB?" Hudson wondered.

"The previous owner was a major player in the KGB. He had it donated to the museum here in New York just before his several years ago, right in the middle of the Cold War. Imagine what must be on it."

Goliath growled softly. "Very dangerous information."

"If it falls into the wrong hands. Captain's getting in contact with the right people."

"I pray she meets with success then... Uh, where are the train and chip right now?"

"In cap's office. Why?"

"Good. Leave them there. I believe someone will be returning for them soon."

Elisa nodded knowingly.

It was good that they understood each other...

* * *

"I don't want to hear it!" the Asian woman yelled into the phone. "If Mr. Cassidy doesn't like the way I handle business here have him tell it to my face!" She slammed the phone down.

Vipra approached the desk cautiously, wings cloaked, head bowed, Fabergé egg held in front of her. The gargoyle knelt to one knee.

Sachi faced her. "Ah! You've got it!" She bounced out of her chair and took it, circling the desk, disassembling it there, one train car at a time.

"You never told me there were other gargoyles..." Vipra said softly, still not daring to meet her "clan leader's" eyes.

Sachi placed the last car on the desk. "There's one missing."

"Why did you not tell me there were others?"

"Where is the missing piece?"

Vipra sighed woefully. "I must've lost it in the struggle..."

"Lost it? How can you lose a piece of multimillion dollar Fabergé egg?"

Vipra met her eyes this time. "I was distracted."

"Distract-? Never mind. Just find it." Sachi sat down.

"How?"

"Retrace your steps, check behind the couch cushions. I don't care! Just find it."

Vipra climbed to her feet, faced her squarely. "If I go back there, I'll get caught. That's very poor thievery."

"Yes, well... Since you already botched up the entire operation, that's no concern of mine. Now, is it?"

Vipra shrugged, confused. "It's just one piece. Say the museum lost it. It's still worth more than you could make in a year."

"Without it it's worth less than you can make in an hour. The value of something is only as high as the buyer's willing to pay, Vipra."

"I've been stealing since I can remember, Sachi. I'm no mere pickpocketer." Gargoyle eyes narrowed. "And I'm no fool." She let the words hand in the air, waiting for the human woman to buckle.

Sachi was a tough businesswoman and a good leader, even by gargoyle standards. She opened a desk drawer, took something out, placed it flat on the desk, removed her hand. "Take this. The piece has a tracking device. This will lead you to it."

"Might I ask how it got there and why you didn't take the opportunity to steal it then?"

"You wanted to impress Lane Cassidy and get an increase in your payroll. You wish to question my methods?"

Gargoyle eyes flashed red, but she bit her tongue. She who watches and listens and does not speak has more opportunity to plot. She would rise to Sachi's status if not higher. Then she could return the "favor."

* * *

The transmitter did not lead Vipra back to the museum, but she was hardly surprised. The gargoyle must've taken it, probably found a way to return it to the "proper authorities."

Vipra sighed. He does not understand... He at least has a home. I have nothing but empty promises...

She did so miss Auntie Min and her husband Dick. They'd met in Japan in World War II, found Vipra, a wandering hatchling, her clan shattered by culprits unknown. They took her in as their own and moved to California, where she got entangled with a diamond back rattlesnake. They found it quite humorous the way a fierce yet still young gargoyle danced around the snake so as not to get bitten and the reptile took off like its life depended on it.

Aunt Min coddled her while Dick still laughed to the brink of tears. "My little Vipra... Welcome to America."

"If this is America I want to go home... Vipra?"

"It's as good a name as any," Dick added. "You don't like it?"

"No. No, I like it." She beamed. "Vipra." She looked to where the snake disappeared and stuck out her tongue.

They laughed.

Vipra smiled. It was a happy memory. Her foster parents never had offspring. Then, a few years back she lost them to old age and found her way into the ranks of the Outfit, and she'd been working for them ever since, one partner to another, always treated less than human, always inquiring about others like her. Only Sachi answered. "You are the last," she'd said. Those words broke her. Now, she could see that was exactly what Sachi had intended to happen, to use her and toss her away like all the others.

A new life... A chance to start over with others of her own kind... But not yet, not while she still had a chance to get in good with the Lane Cassidy. Maybe then she could earn enough to retire early and live somewhere secluded till the end of her days.

This is an opportunity! I can't just ignore it!

But this gargoyle has given you another opportunity... to learn what it means to truly be gargoyle...

The gargoyle sighed. After this job. After this job, then we'll see...

She found her way to an old 17th century style clock tower and the device in her hand indicated one of the upper floors.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered, landing on a ledge.

Talons gripped brick, and Vipra descended down the outside wall past office windows, people on the other side talking and drinking coffee.

Cops, the thief realized. This was a police department....

She found the window. The lights were off inside, the office empty.

In the middle of the desk the train car glistened.

"There you are..." she whispered, tucking away the tracker. "Come to Vipra..." She coaxed the window open slowly.

"Hello again," a voice said above her.

Vipra looked up. "Oh... Not you..." Teeth clenched, Vipra looked down to the busy streets below.

"Not the best place for a fight is it?" the gargoyle remarked.

Vipra bit her lip. He planned this...

"Let's talk," he continued. "Inside."

She tried to think of some snide remark but drew a blank. She opened the window and climbed in, the other gargoyle after her.

She noted her prize but made no move to retrieve it. She crossed her arms, her back to him, her wings spread despite the cramp quarters. She wasn't calm enough to lower them. "Well, you've caught me. Now, I suppose you're gonna lock me up in some human prison and throw away the key. Is that it?"

"No."

She half-turned, ridged eyebrow raised. "What then? Banish me like in the old days? That's a bucket of laughs."

"I'm impressed you know so much of gargoyle culture."

"My parents taught me." She stopped herself. "My... human parents." She lowered her eyes. "They were very close to my clan. They told me all about them." She wiped away a tear. "Damn it all. That was so long ago." She turned on him. "Nothing can change what had happened. Nothing can bring them back."

"We all have painful pasts."

"You keep saying that. What do you want, gargoyle?"

"My name is Goliath."

"And I'm Vipra. What's your point?"

He smiled.

Vipra eyed him suspiciously.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise," she blurted out, then mentally kicked herself. "Look. If not you're going to arrest me then get out of the way so I can complete my job." She reached for the train.

He grabbed it first.

"Give it back."

"Why? What is a trinket worth to a gargoyle?"

"A couple mil."

He fiddled with it. "Your parents didn't teach you well enough."

A flash of red. "Leave them out of this."

"You can change, Vipra." He placed the object back on the desk. "You can leave this life behind you, start over. ...Heal."

"What makes you think I need healing?"

Goliath eyed her.

She changed the subject. "Look. I don't have a choice."

"We all have choices, Vipra." He gestured to the desk, stepped away from the window. "Make the right one."

She watched him, eyed the window, the train car...

She moved to the desk. Green talons grasped gold.

She saw the sadness in his eyes, the look of failure.

She remained impassive, tucked the piece way, and made her way towards him.

He didn't say a word nor make a move to stop her, but the eyes lowered.

Talons found the window and Vipra risked another look back at her fellow gargoyle.

His back was facing her now, and he was a living statue.

Her voice came out softly, barely a whisper. "Follow me," she said, and climbed out the window.

* * *

Elisa opened the office door quietly. "Goliath?"

She entered, Matt pushing against her with his crutches.

"Keep this safe." Goliath dropped the chip into Matt's hand.

"Uh. Sure."

"Let's go," he told Elisa.

Elisa nodded, touched a finger to her ear. "Joe? We're good to go. Follow us in the Viper."

She smiled. "Wasn't planning to..."

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The Egg
Evil Overlady

~ Chapter 2 ~

A pair of spiral dark-green horns punctured the darkness above glowing red eyes, and Vipra stepped up to Sachi's desk, wings cloaked, eyes fading to normal. Jet-black hair shimmered.

"You have it?" Sachi inquired.

"I do."

"Excellent." She made her way around the desk.

Vipra handed her the piece.

Sachi smiled and turned. "There's hope for you yet, Vipra. I think we'll work very well together for a very long time..."

"I don't think so, Sachi."

Sachi half-turned. "Come again?"

"This is the last job. I'm retiring. You can tell Mr. Cassidy I appreciate his offer, but I'm not interested in working for the Outfit anymore. I got a better deal from someone who... understands me."

"Oh, Vipra..." she cooed. "I really wish you hadn't said that..." She drew a small gun and held it on her.

Eyes widened. "Sachi, what're you doing?"

Sachi shook her head slowly. "I wish it had never come to this, Vipra, but you see your skills, your nonexistence is an invaluable asset, and you see I just can't let anyone else have you."

"Sachi-"

The skylight exploded above them.

Sachi fired, but her aim was off.

Vipra fell to the floor with a wounded shoulder.

A tan fist landed in Sachi's face, and she went down.

* * *

"Sleep it off!" Elisa hissed, jumping free of Goliath's arms, pulling out her gun.

"I have her," Goliath said. "Help Vipra."

Elisa nodded to him, withdrawing her weapon and going to Vipra's aid.

"Oh..." the gargoyle moaned.

"Stay still," Elisa said gently, pulling out white cloth and pushing it firmly against the wound.

Glowing white eyes faced the human woman as she regained her senses. "Your criminal schemes end tonight, Sachi." Goliath grabbed a fistful of the woman's oriental garb. "You will not harm another gargoyle."

"You think so, huh? Guards!"

Goliath turned.

Sachi grabbed her hair piece, a knife.

Elisa sensed it more than saw it. "Goliath!"

A red beam sliced through the air and through Sachi's hand.

She cried out, and Goliath dropped her to huddle in pain.

The Viper's probe floated down the hole in the skylight noiselessly.

Elisa breathed a sigh of relief. Thank you, Joe...

"Thank you," Goliath answered.

"No prob. Listen. You and your new friend better leave. NYPD's storming the building, and I don't think they'll be as discriminating with their shots."

"He's right," Elisa told him. "You take Vipra. Joe and I can handle things from here."

"I owe you one." Goliath nodded to the probe.

Goliath smiled.

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The Egg
Evil Overlady

~ Epilogue ~

The blond man in the white suit and eye patch accepted the silver suitcase with the chip gratefully and handed it to the equally white-suited dark complexioned woman at his side. "Thank you, Captain Chavez, Detective Maza." He shook hands with each of them. "Mister... Astor."

He held Joe's hand a moment longer. "Have we met before?"

"I... don't think so."

"Hm... Well, thank you. You have no idea how long we've been waiting to get this back."

"What's on it?" Elisa wondered curiously.

"Certain classified government information," the man answered. "Let's just say it would jeopardize the lives of several deep cover American spies if it fell into the hands of certain radical fundamentalist groups."

Elisa nodded. "Well... Glad we could help."

"As am I. If there's any way I or my agency could return the favor..."

"You'll be the first to know," Chavez answered.

He tipped his ivory-colored hat. "Well, then. Good day."

"Good day."

They left.

Elisa leaned towards her captain. "What agency did he say he was from?"

"The, um... I'm not sure. I don't think he said."

Elisa nibbled her lip. "Hm..."

* * *

Elisa climbed the ladder into the clock section of the building she worked in, where her gargoyle friends made a safe home. "So... How are things going up here?"

She found the Trio - Lexington, Broadway, and Brooklyn - all staring, wordless, drool leaking out of their assorted mouths.

"I see..."

Vipra took the rest of the bandage from Hudson and finished wrapping her shoulder. "Things go over well?"

"Like well-made pancakes." She smiled kindly at Vipra. "I'm glad to have you with us."

She blushed. "Well... It'll take some adjustment..."

"Just don't steal anything, and you'll be ahead of the game."

She nodded. "Agreed."

"Well, I gotta book. Shift's over and I'm wiped." Elisa descended down the ladder.

"Elisa," Goliath called, approached her.

Hudson herded the others out of earshot.

"Thank you for being lenient on her..."

"Hey! We cops aren't out to arrest everyone. Besides, she did lead us to Sachi. And I don't think my captain would be too thrilled if I arrested someone who turned to stone during the day." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Now, get some rest. The sun will be up any minute now."

"How can you tell?"

She smiled. "That's my little secret." She put a finger to her lips. "Good day, Goliath." She climbed down the ladder and folded it up behind her.

As the closet door closed behind her, she could feel the sun rise from the horizon, magically encasing living beings in stone, to rest... and dream.

Red-jacketed arms crossed as the guardian suppressed a shiver.

She still wasn't used to that feeling...

"Sweet dreams, Goliath," she whispered. "You've earned them."