__________________________________________________________________________________________

-----------------------------------------------------
Eyrie Building....
Private Office Of David Xanatos...
----------------------------------------------------

"The worst part about being one of the good guys is," David Xanatos said to the empty room as he paced around his desk, "is that you don't get to have any real fun. Especially if you've made a promise to someone that you'd behave."

He smirked, pausing, "Well. Behave, as far as they know, anyway."

He resumed his pacing, pausing only occasionly to look out the window of his office, towards the sounds and lights of a rally.

The businessman rubbed his temples, and continued speaking.

"Another thing. These Quarrymen. It's bad enough that my promise to protect Goliath's clan puts the kibosh on most of my more 'interesting' extra-curricular activities, but now we have these Ku Klux Klan rejects to worry about. They endanger not only Goliath's clan, but if they ever find out about my connection to them, my wife and son will be in danger as well."

He shook his head. "Right now they aren't a threat to anyone and have been very unsuccessful, aside from one minor incident earlier when their lunatic leader, John Castaway, whom I've confirmed is really Jon Canmore, one of the last Hunters, attacked the Clan. Goliath and Elisa survived, but I'm worried that if he finds out about their relationship, it could cause trouble for Miss Maza later on... Hmmm... Maybe..."

"Sir?" Owen Burnette's dry voice came over the intercom, startling Xanatos out of his thoughts.

"Computer, end Journal Entry for now," Xanatos said. The computer on his desk beeped, saved what it had typed while listening to Xanatos, and went back to it's main screen. Xanatos walked over to his telephone, and pressed the return button, sayinig, "What is it, Owen?"

"Phone call for you, sir."

Xanatos frowned, "I told you to hold all my calls, Owen. Who is it?"

"I'm not sure, sir. He was very insistant that he speak with you immediately. And the odd thing is, when he first said something, young Alexander started to cry."

Xanatos frowned. He sounded nervous, and usually the only things to get Owen nervous came from Avalon. "Did he and/or she leave a name, Owen?"

"It was a he, sir. He gave his name as Gillian."

Xanatos froze, his eyes steadily widening. He tried to say something, but his voice was frozen in his throat.

"Is something wrong, Mister Xanatos?"

Xanatos found his voice, and said, "N-No, Owen. Please, r-route the call directly into my office. I do not want to be disturbed FOR ANYTHING until after the call is finished."

Owen, on his end of the line, frowned, and did as he was told. Shivering, Xanatos sat at his desk, trying to steady his hands as he pressed the intercom.

"H-hello?" he said.

"David Xanatos," said a commanding voice from the other end of the line.

"Y-yes sir,"

The voice growled, annoyed-sounding at Xanatos's nervousness, and continued. "A new plan has begun. We have finallized what we wish to do in terms of the Wyvern Clan. However, your vow to protect their clan in gratitude for their defeat of Oberon disturbs us."

Xanatos licked his lips, screwing up his courage and saying, "My liege, I owe the gargoyles my heart and soul. They saved my son from being taken from me forever by Oberon."

"We are perfectly aware of that."

"Then what..."

"If you will be QUIET, we will explain."

Xanatos paled, but said nothing. The voice chuckled.

"Thank you. Now, here is EVERYTHING we wish to do," the voice said. It then began to explain, in great detail, what their intent was with the Wyvern Clan, telling what their plans were and how they were going to execute them. Xanatos grew steadily paler with each detail.

"My God..."

"Has nothing to do with it. This is how we are going to proceed, like it or not."

Xanatos shook his head. "Even I wouldn't do this. You're talking drastic changes in the clans life, and that's just to start with! As for what comes after..."

"What comes after is none of your concern."

Xanatos blinked. "What do you mean?"

"We want you do leave the city. Take your wife and son and leave the city until we tell you to come back. You can even tell Fox what's really going on, if you wish. As low-ranked as you are, you are still useful to us. Have Owen run the business while you are away. Despite his impish nature as Puck, we believe that he'll keep things under control for you until we say you can return."

Xanatos nodded, sitting back in his chair and rubbing his temples. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes. Have Puck use these spell-types," the voice said, as a small piece of paper emerged from the nearby fax machine, 'If our predictions are correct, he'll use them in exactly the way we suspect. Tell him it's practice for something to teach Alexander when you return."

Xanatos nodded, rubbing his temples. "I promised the clan that I'd protect them. I told them that I wouldn't do anything more to harm them."

The voice chuckled. "And you won't be. We'll be the ones that are 'harming' them, as you put it."

Xanatos's eyes narrowed. He had tolerated this long enough. "You're going to pay for this."

The voice suddenly began to laugh uproarously. "Do you know how many times we've heard someone say that?" The voice lost control for a moment, laughing hysterically. All this just made Xanatos angrier.

Finally, the voice got control of itself. "Heh. David, relax. Do your part and you'll be even more powerful that you are now. You may even get that immortality that you've always wanted."

Xanatos's eyebrow twitched. It was true that he had wanted for so long to be able to defy death, to not suffer the same fate as his wife's father, Halcyon Renard. But still...

"I made a promise to Goliath's clan. I intend to keep it," Xanatos said forcefully.

"Did you know that you look cute when you're determined?" said a female voice.

Xanatos blinked. Suddenly realizing something, he began to look around his office, searching franticly for something that might be used to monitor him.

The woman's voice chuckled. "Calm down, Xanatos. You'll never find us. As for your promise, do as you feel like. It doesn't matter, since you can't stop us."

The man's voice added, "And in case you try, just remember: We know where you live. We know where your wife and child sleep. And you know what we're willing to do."

Xanatos turned back to the phone, horrified. The dial-tone kicked in, signifying that the voices had hung up.

Xanatos just stared at the phone for a while, too shocked to move. Finally, he ran forward, suddenly enraged, ripping the phonecord out and throwing the phone across the room.

"GOD DAMN THEM!" he snarled. He slumped against his picture window, sliding down to a sitting position.

"God damn them..."

Owen poked his head into the office. He frowned, but other than that, remained emotionless. "Sir?"

Xanatos looked up, his normally sharp-as-nails mind dulled.

"Oh... Owen... Hello."

Owen stepped completely into the office. "Sir, is there anything wrong?"

Xanatos chuckled weakly. "Yeah, actually. I lost a big business deal that I had been working on for a while, and I got frustrated, that's all. You know," he said, getting to his feet, "I've been thinking. Maybe I should take Fox and Alex on an extended vacation. Work's been getting to all of us, and you've been training Alex awfully hard."

Owen shrugged. "I do not shirk my duties, especially when given to me by Oberon."

Xanatos nodded. "Well then, would you be willing to run things for me while we take a vacation?"

Owen allowed himself a smirk, "Well, considering my background and training, I suppose I could pull it off for a few days. When will you be back, Mister Xanatos?"

Xanatos shrugged. "I don't know. I'm planning on doing some real relaxing with my family for the first time in... well... ever. And I think it's well deserved, don't you?"

Owen nodded. "Oh yes. By the way, Goliath wished me to express his gratitude to you for saving he and his clan from the mob of humans at the battle with Demona and the Hunters, as well as restoring his clan to their ancestral home."

Xanatos suddenly couldn't look at Owen, "Yes... Well... I owed him. He saved my son."

Owen frowned when Xanatos turned away, but said nothing. Instead, he asked, "Was there anything else, sir?"

Xanatos nodded, picking up the paper from the fax machine and giving it to Owen. "Yes. Practice these spell-types while we're gone. So you can teach them to Alex when we come back."

Owen frowned. "Transformation spells? Sir, you know I can't use my powers unless in direct training or protection of young master Alex. I can't just say I'm practicing a lightning spell to teach Alex and just start throwing lightning."

As he said this, he gestured absently with his stone hand. A lightning bolt flew from it, scarring the wall. Xanatos smirked. Owen blinked, then grinned. He changed into Puck in a flash of light.

"Don't you just love loopholes in a contract?" he asked, giggling as he floated about in midair.

Xanatos chuckled.

Puck layed down in midair at head-level with Xanatos, a rare serious expression on his face. "Seriously though, what's wrong? Are you sure I can't help?"

Xanatos shook his head, smiling weakly as the full futility of his situation started to hit him. "No. Just have a plane ready for my family and I by morning. To Japan."

Puck sighed, and shook his head. "Whatever you say, boss," he said, teleporting away, most likely assuming Owen's form again.

It was only after Xanatos was sure that he was alone that he began to cry.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________