Title: "YET TO BE"
By: Batya "The Toon" Levin

Disclaimer:
This is a piece of fan fiction, not long enough to deserve the usual extended rigmarole. Peek at one of my other fanfics if you want to know what the standard one looks like.
And, yes, this is yet another take on what the future will bring. A very brief and incomplete one, but this was meant to be a vignette, not a full story. (I'd actually have just sent it to Avalon Mists, but I wasn't sure if they'd found the editor yet....)

Dedication, Acknowledgements, And Like That:
This vignette, as the first solo piece I've finished, is dedicated to Constance Cochran: Keeper of the Tapes, longtime co-writer and rookery sister. Because, as someone once observed, it is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. And Constance is both.
In addition, thanks to all the people who saw an earlier version of this story on the alt.fan.disney.gargoyles newsgroup or on the inlink listserv this past summer, and who sent me helpful comments and advice. 20 points to anyone who can correctly identify the sources for all the children's names.

Chronology:
This is set approximately 29 years after "Hunter's Moon."
Note: this piece was written before The Goliath Chronicles aired, and long before The Gargoyles Saga got started, and thus perforce ignores both of them. The one obvious TGS reference is, of course, pure coincidence. *grin* *wink* *nudge*

Elisa Maza zipped her small duffelbag closed and looked around the empty office for a moment. The desk was bare, with a darker patch of wood where the computer had been; they were installing the new computer tomorrow, along with the new captain.

The retirement party had been quite nice, all things considered. The station had presented her with a gold watch inscribed with Captain Elisa Maza and 23rd Precinct, and Elisa had found herself unexpectedly moved by the gesture; a standard one, true, but the honest respect behind it could not be denied. Chief Bluestone had sent everyone into helpless laughter by threatening to sing "For She's A Jolly Good Fellow" at her until she cheered up. Even Maria Chavez had shown up, leaning heavily on her cane but still as sharp-eyed and lively as ever. Elisa hadn't seen her since Morgan's funeral some years back, and the surprise reunion had been one of the day's highlights.

Well, no sense staying around here. She hoisted the bag to her shoulder and closed the door firmly behind her.

Matt was waiting in the hallway for her, his cap pulled forward over grey-flecked red hair, his familiar crooked grin just slightly forced. "Need a lift anywhere, Cap'n?"

Elisa smiled and shook her head. "Thanks anyway, Matt. The aircar's been fixed, I'm driving. And you can stop calling me Captain now, I'm officially retired." She held up the jewelry box in her hand. "See? I've got the watch to prove it."

"Okay," he shrugged. "So where you heading from here?"

"Uptown. Where else?" She winked at him. "Say hi to Sara and the kids for me, huh?"

"Sure. Thanks," he added as she held the door open for him. With a wave, he headed off towards the parking lot.

Elisa watched him go, then started towards her own aircar. It had been a long day, and she was tired...but the thought of returning home to her empty apartment was not to be borne. She'd never gotten another cat after Cagney died at the grand old age of twenty-two, and even a cat's company would have felt lonely now.

Besides, they would be waiting for her.

The aging guard at the Eyrie Building grinned and waved. "Hey, Maza."

"Hey there, Harvey." She tugged out her ID and swiped it through the security grid, slapped her palm down on the ident-reader, and waited.

"Okay, you're you," Harvey said, as he always did. "Good to see you again. Hey, the retirement was today, wasn't it? Congratulations."

"Yeah. Thanks." Elisa tucked her ID back into her pocket and headed for the bank of elevators.

"Aunt Elisa's here!" came a gleeful shout as Elisa emerged from the elevator on the first residential floor. A twelve-year-old girl with a brown ponytail flew across the room and into Elisa's arms, followed closely by a redheaded fourteen-year-old boy.

"Hello, Petra doll," Elisa smiled, hugging the girl, shaking the boy's hand with the dignity due his age (a concern that he had taken notice of lately). "Hey there, Hal. Where's the rest of the mob?"

"Tanya's sparring with Jeanie in the gym," Hal said. "I think Mom's coaching them. Dad's in Europe for the day, he should be home soon. Robin's with him."

"Alex and Lori are visiting for a week," Petra added. "They're upstairs. And they brought the new baby with them." She grinned. "Her name's Mira and she's sooo cute--"

"Where's Owen?" Elisa asked, looking around.

"Right here, Ms. Maza," came the familiar dry voice. Owen Burnett stood at the foot of the stairs, smiling a very small pleased smile. "And may I say what a pleasure it is to see you here again. The children have missed you...all of them."

"I've missed them all too. Things have been just insane for the last few weeks, getting everything in order before I left the job...." Elisa stopped herself before the explanation turned into a rant. "It's good to be here."

Owen gestured her toward the stairs, and they walked together, the children holding Elisa's hands. "Sunset isn't for another twenty minutes at least, Ms. Maza. Will you be having dinner with us?"

"I'd like that," Elisa said. "It's been a while."

She watched Owen covertly as they climbed the stairs. Though her first impression had been that he hadn't aged at all, subtle changes in the man were beginning to show. His pale blond hair was the same as always, but there were distinct lines under those unreadable blue eyes...and his left shoulder, the one that supported his stone hand, was sagging noticeably.

Aren't we all, she thought ruefully.

The elevator pinged opposite them just as they reached the top of the steps, and two older girls in workout gear, nineteen and seventeen, came out. "Aunt Elisa!" the younger one exclaimed with delight.

"Hi, Jeanie," Elisa said, waving with the hand that Petra had released. "Tanya. How've you been?"

Behind the two came an older woman, red-and-silver hair braided and coiled into a knot, wearing a similar workout suit. "Hello, Elisa," she said with a smile, coming forward with hands outstretched.

The two women embraced. "Hello, Fox." Elisa glanced at the other's uncharacteristic hairstyle. "What's this?"

"My daughters fight dirty," Fox said with a mock scowl at Jeanie and Tanya, who grinned back at their mother, unrepentant. "Guess I've taught them too well. They keep to the no-magic rule well enough, but it's not safe to spar with those two if you don't make certain they can't grab you by the hair."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Elisa, with a pat at her own short- cropped, silvered hair. It had been salt-and-pepper for some years now, and every month it seemed that there was a little more salt.

"So are you all going to be here for dinner? Or are you and Goliath eating out?" Fox asked as they continued down the hall.

Elisa chuckled. "You know, I still can't get used to that. Being able to just stroll into a restaurant with Goliath and sit down. And the worst that usually happens is a bunch of teenagers asking for our autographs."

"Yes, you've got quite a cult following," Fox said, sounding amused. "The adoring public. I remember when The Pack and I used to get the same reaction...." Her tone became one of incredulity. "Good lord, that's... thirty years ago."

A voice spoke from another side corridor. "I'll always be your biggest fan, Fox dear." David Xanatos stepped into the hall, smiling broadly. His hair was silvered at the temples, and his beard shot through with grey; but his eyes, and his wicked, merry smile, were as young as ever.

Fox chuckled as she moved forward into his arms and kissed him. "You say the sweetest things, David."

"It's true, too," he told her. "Hello, Elisa. Good to see you. You're just in time to meet the newest member of the Xanatos tribe. Alex?" he called, turning to speak over his shoulder. "Alex, Lorelei -- Elisa's here."

Robin, a slim young man of about twenty-one with his father's dark hair, had already joined the group, ruffling Petra's hair affectionately and giving his mother a quick hug on the way. "Hi, Aunt Elisa."

The next voice that spoke was so like that of David Xanatos that Elisa had to look twice, as always, to see who was speaking. "Come on, sibs, you've seen the baby already, give Elisa a chance." The crowd of Xanatos children moved out of the way to reveal a young man with his mother's red hair and green eyes, and his father's strong features; he wore his hair longer and his beard a little shorter, but there was still an uncanny resemblance. Alexander smiled in greeting: "Hello, Aunt Elisa. Come meet the baby."

Beside him, her shoulder touching his, an infant in her arms, stood his wife Lorelei: a lovely young woman with exquisite, pale-skinned features and long flowing hair of a delicate sky blue, brushed back behind long, gracefully pointed ears.

She turned back the corner of the blanket to reveal a very small face, silent in sleep, a downy fuzz of red hair covering the little head. The infant's ears were very nearly human-shaped, like her father's, but with just a hint of a point to them.

The mother stroked the baby's face with the back of one long, gentle finger. "Her name is Miranda," she said softly, in a voice like the wind, or the sea. "Miranda Ariel Xanatos."

Elisa looked at her, then at Alex. "Miranda Ariel? Both?"

Lorelei smiled. "I couldn't bear to give up either of the names. And my brother Ariel was most appreciative."

Owen nodded. "Yes, he would be." There was a slight catch in his voice, the faintest touch of bitterness in his tone; Elisa glanced quickly at him in surprise. No hint of it was on his face, and she wondered for a moment if she'd imagined it.

"Hello, Miranda," Elisa murmured, looking down at the baby and gently touching one of the tiny, chubby fists curled at the edge of the blanket. "She's very beautiful."

"Takes after her mother," Alex said.

A tiny commcall button on Owen's cuff pinged softly. "Drinks are being served in the lounge," Owen said smoothly. "Dinner in thirty minutes."

The lounge was a relatively new addition to the house, built shortly after Petra's ninth birthday and Alex's wedding.

Elisa couldn't tell whether the smiling young woman who brought in the drinks was a robot, a human, or some product of magic-enhanced tech -- not that it mattered terribly. The drinks were wine coolers and cocktails, with fruit juices for the younger children. Jeanie's sulks over not being allowed anything alcoholic didn't last too long with Elisa there, and fairly soon she was chattering away with the others about everything they'd done since she'd visited last, and about Robin's latest display at the art gallery and Petra's leading her class in advanced maths and Tanya's first year at college, and their last visit to Avalon to visit their grandmother and cousins and the clan there, and how had the retirement party gone, and was she going to stay at the Eyrie building now for good, and how were Talon and Maggie and the rest of the Labyrinth clan doing, and had their kits learned to walk yet, and when were they coming to visit next, and....

"It's nearly sunset, Ms. Maza," Owen said quietly.

"Yeah," Elisa said, after a startled glance at her wrist chrono. "I'll be right back, kids. Looks like we'll all be joining you for dinner." She drained her glass, set it down and stood. Owen, with his usual understated courtesy, accompanied her as far as the tower stairs.

She paused there, catching her breath. "I used to be able to take these stairs running. Getting old, I guess," she said with a little half- laugh.

"As are we all, Ms. Maza." His face, as usual, revealed nothing...but she could have sworn there was a hint of pain in his voice.

"Do you ever regret it?" she asked impulsively.

"I beg your pardon?" His eyebrows went up.

"Your decision. To stay here as Owen. Do you regret it?"

He was silent for a long moment, so long that Elisa began to fear she had offended him. "Considering both the alternative, and the life I have lived since..." he said finally, deliberately, "no."

"No," she repeated; it was not quite a question.

"You've seen the children," he said, and did not elaborate. "And yourself?"

"Me?" She looked at him, startled.

"Considering the decisions you've made...have you any regrets?"

She started to speak, then stopped.

"No need to answer that, Ms. Maza. I apologize." He gestured at the stairs. "They're waiting for you."

Elisa took the stairs slowly, pausing once to lean against the wall and concentrate on breathing. She was still in excellent shape for her age, but...

She emerged into the crisp Manhattan evening. For a miracle, the sky was clear; Venus shone bright in the west, over the sullen red glow of the dying sunset, and a crescent moon hung low just above. Stars were winking on, quietly, one by one. And far below, stretching around her, glowed the familiar honeycombs of light, the towers of Manhattan. Her city. The city she had spent almost her entire adult life protecting.

Regrets?

"Mother?" called a young voice.

Elisa turned, a broad smile spreading over her face, as two small winged figures ran towards her. "Mother!" one of them shouted jubilantly, and then they were in her arms.

She knelt to embrace them, then stood up with one arm around each. "Hello, loves," she said gently.

"You're here finally," Damon crowed, squeezing her hand.

"We've been waiting and waiting," said Kat, sounding as cross and imperious as only a small child can. Elisa hid a smile; little Katherine was a lot like her namesake in many ways, and being half gargoyle had only accentuated the similarities. Fifteen years old, the children were closer to nine or ten in every way but chronological; their gargoyle blood, as Hudson had explained, caused them to age at something like two-thirds the rate of a fully human child.

"Well, I'm here now," she said, giving Kat's shoulders a little hug. "Where's your father?"

Damon pointed a talon. "He's been waiting too," he said.

"Elisa?" came another, deeper voice, and her heart leaped in response --

A shadow detached itself from the castle wall and came toward her, wings flaring out to wrap around her and the children in a full gargoyle embrace. "Fair evening, Elisa my love."

Elisa tilted her head back to look up at her lifemate. The few threads of grey in his hair had only shown up recently; there was still far more black in his mane than grey, and the strength in him had never flagged. Nor would, for many years to come. "Fair evening, Goliath," she said back to him, and leaned forward to kiss him.

No, she thought contentedly. No, no regrets.