March 12, 2001:

    Eyes flaring white from pain, Chaos uttered a growl. “That hurts, damn it.”

    Increasing her grip on his hand, Gadget scowled. “Then stop fidgeting!” A few seconds later, she managed the to remove a piece of glass that had buried itself between the first and second knuckles on his left hand. Putting the tweezers aside, she began to clean the wound. “And just what in the hell where you thinking when you punched that bottle?”

    “Based on your attitude, I gather I wasn't thinking,” Chaos quickly shot back. “I was trying to make sure it didn't hit the back of your head!”

    After dressing the wound, she went to work on removing another piece. Angrily, she wondered why he had to be so difficult at times. “You could have just swatted it aside. Or better yet, caught the damn thing.”

    Oh, for the love of Pete! A brick wall is less stubborn than her, Chaos thought to himself with a grimace. “Fine, next time I'll let the bottle or some other object hit you in the noggin. And why are you acting so agitated over this?”

    “Because you're being an idiot, that's why!” Eyes glowing red from anger, Gadget quickly snarled at him. “When are you ever going to learn to think first and then act?”

    “Oh, come on. One doesn't always get the chance to think in the middle of an alley fight.” Shaking his head, Chaos asked, “Besides, don't you ever get tired of being angry all the time?”

    “That's none of your business.”

    Oh, what the hell, she's going to be mad at me anyways. Sighing, Chaos quickly pointed out, “Well, in case nobody else has bothered to say so, you're cute when you smile.”

    Startled, she blinked several times before his words totally sank in. Growling, Gadget's eyes flared red yet again. “What in the hell did you just call me?”

    “Cute.” Blinking several times, Chaos felt a bit startled at her reaction. “Don't tell me you're going to get mad over a compliment.”

    Getting within a few inches of his face, Gadget yelled, “You will never call me that again.”

    Letting out an frustrated sigh, Chaos wondered what sort of minefield he had just blundered into. “Uh, sorry?”

    “You better be,” she replied coldly. “Now shut up and let me finish.”

    Rolling his eyes, Chaos quietly muttered, "Yes, dear."

    Eyes glowing red, Gadget quickly let out a loud growl. "What did you say?"

    "I said, 'yes, dear,'" he answered with a bit of anger. "Let me guess, you're going to be offended by that too."

    Without warning, Gadget balled up her left hand into a fist and then promptly sent smashing into the right side of Chaos's beak. “I told you to shut up!”

    Letting out a deep, guttural growl, Chaos grabbed Gadget's shirt and gave a hard yank. Eyes glowing white, he finally decided to give her a piece of his mind. “Is that how you're going to react to every compliment? With anger and physical violence? When are you ever going to get it through your thick skull that some of us, including me, care about you?”

    Caught off guard upon seeing this side of him, Gadget suddenly felt intimidated. Without a word, she dropped everything and make a quick escape. While roaming the hallways, she tried to rein in the emotions that seemed to be running all over the place. Stopping in front of a mirror, Chaos's earlier comment about looking cute while smiling came out of nowhere. In a sudden fit of range, she punched the mirror.

    Cursing her own on stupidity, Gadget looked her now bloody hand. After a couple minutes, she wandered into the small infirmary. “I need to get this bandaged up.”

    Frowning, Ohio gestured for the younger gargoyle to take a seat. “What is it with wounded hands tonight? And what did you hit?”

    “I... don't really want to answer that,” Gadget answered quietly

    Pulling out the material he needed, the older gargoyle muttered a small curse before sitting down. “Chaos said the same and just like him, you are going to tell me.”

    “I hit a mirror.”

    “Hmph.” After several minutes, Ohio managed to clean and dress the various wounds. “Good news is these cuts weren't all that deep, so there won't be any scarring. The bad news is, I have another question. Why did you punch Chaos?”

    Squirming in her seat, Gadget suddenly realized why he was in a grumpy mood instead of his more cheerful one. “I would rather not say.”

    “Don't play that game with me,” Ohio warned rather coldly. “I do not have time for your usual antics. Considering the size of the bruise on his beak, others are going to notice and ask about it. Now, why did you hit him?

    “He... called me cute,” she answered weakly. “And then said 'yes, dear,' after I asked him to shut up. I guess I lost my temper.”

    Grimacing, he let out a vexed sigh. “The boy compliments you and in return, gets punched? That is not the smartest of ways to keep the friendship going. And it certainly doesn't help in making sure his attention stays locked on you.”

    “Wha... what do you mean?”

    “What I mean is the real reason you socked Chaos. From what I can deduce; you're afraid he's telling the truth!” Ohio pointed out with a bit of agitation. He wondered how she could be blind to the obvious. “And throw in the fact it appears you're afraid of the friendship turning into a relationship.”

    “That's preposterous!” Gadget quickly protested while her eyes widened with shock. “Besides, why would he choose me?”

    “Is it now? Funny how a number of have noticed that your scent spikes when he enters the room. Or trying to get the patrol schedule changed to spend time together. I'm sure there are quite a few other things that I haven't noticed yet.” Letting out a sigh, the older gargoyle leaned back and mentally chastised himself for interfering with a possible relationship in the making. “As to why, you'll have to ask him.”

    “But...but...” Stopping, Gadget realized she didn't know what to say or think at the moment. Suddenly getting angry, she snapped, “How dare you try to influence my mind!”

    “And how dare you ignore what your brain and biology are trying to say,” Ohio shot back with a loud growl. “Chaos cares about you. And he's trying to give you a chance to take things to the next step. Stop going back and forth between accepting or rejecting the notion; it's not healthy.”

    “Stop. Just stop,” she muttered suddenly feeling emotionally and physically drained.

    “On the physical side, you've always been pretty tough. And your emotional side has been, well, fragile at times.” Crossing his arms, Ohio carefully thought over what to say next. “In my opinion, taking the next step with Chaos is the best thing. The reasoning is simple; it's obvious the two of you have feelings for each other and this might help put some of those old fears to rest. Before you do anything, I suggest you sit down and carefully think all of this over.”

    Looking down at the ground, Gadget shuddered as she tried to get a handle on all of the emotions that were now running rampant. “Why... why is this happening?” Eyes glowing red, she angrily asked, “And why is he doing this to me?”

    No, you're doing this to yourself, Ohio silently thought, but decided not to correct her. “It's called love and it has a nasty habit of biting you in the ass when you aren't looking. Evidence suggests that it managed to blindside you more than him at the moment. Now, what do you plan on doing about this?”

    “Love? How can you say that its love?” Gadget shouted while waving her arms around. “How do you know he isn't trying to insult me or something?”

    “Because he cares about you, damn it!” Ohio roared before getting within several inches of her face. Eyes flaring white, he yelled, “Just what in the hell is your problem? All Chaos did was open the door to give you a chance to experience new things with him and return gets your bad temper shoved in his face?”

    Eyes flaring red, Gadget growled, “Now, listen here...”

    Cutting her off with a raised hand, he quickly snapped, “No, you listen! What do you hope to accomplish with all of this anger? Keep it up and not only will you drive off Chaos, but destroy your friendship with him!”

    “This is none of your business!”

    “You made it my business!” Ohio thundered as his wings snapped open. “Stop being such a hatchling about all of this! This isn't the time to be afraid, but to be a warrior. You have a decision to make about this and I pray you do not make the wrong one.”

    Watching him storm out of the room, Gadget realized for the first time her life, she didn't an idea on what to do or think.

– – – –

    After he retrieved a couple bottles of Guinness from the refrigerator, Falcon studied the rather decent sized discoloration on the side of Chaos's beak. “Hey bro, how did you get that bruise on your face?”

    “Oh, this thing? A bit of a present from when Gadget socked me earlier.” Grimacing, Chaos wished dawn would hurry up so he wouldn't have to answer that question any more. “I called her cute and you can see how well that went over.”

    Letting out a low whistle, Falcon shook his head. “You are far braver than I than I ever gave credit for.”

    “Uh, what?” Chaos asked, suddenly feeling confused. Is he yanking my chain again? Tossing the bottle cap aside and taking a quick sip, he turned. “What do you mean brave?”

    “Well, I thought it would have been obvious. She hates being called cute.” After taking a sip of his own drink, Falcon wondered how Chaos could bother drinking this particular one. “Gadget got teased a lot when she was younger by Swan and a few others. Mostly ended up getting called ugly along with some other, eh, not so kind comments.”

    “Ouch.” Wincing, Chaos could recall getting made fun after he had to start wearing glasses as a kid. “That's rough, but there is something I don't understand. With the whole clan is your family thing, how could anybody be that cruel to her?”

    “Swan and Shrike were and still are the two guiltiest parties. There were others, but they largely stopped after she or Eagle clobbered them.” Downing the rest of his own drink, Falcon turned and looked his buddy in the eye. “And I really shouldn't say this, but part of it was also because of her name at the time.”

    Startled, Chaos nearly spilled his beer all over the counter. “Wait a minute. Her name wasn't always Gadget?”

    “That's right, but you never heard it from me,” Falcon said rather forcibly. Frowning, he quickly blurted out, “Another sign you two have more in common than any of us thought.”

    “And just what is that supposed to mean?” Chaos snapped with a trace of anger. “We're nothing alike!”

    Wincing, Falcon mentally kicked himself for opening his mouth. “That's what quite a few of us thought at first, but lately, it seems we were wrong. And think about this, you called her cute earlier. That implies you see something in Gadget.”

    “That's outrageous!” Chaos protested rather loudly, despite the sudden realization that there might be some truth to the conversation.

    “Is it now? Maybe whatever is developing is romantic and maybe not.” Smiling, Falcon shook his head slightly. “Why not give it a shot and see what happens?”

    Snarling, Chaos quickly shot Falcon a warning glare. “Are you trying to say we're in love?”

    “Honestly, I don't have a clue if that is the case or not. I rather suspect everybody will find out over time.” Smirking, Falcon quickly finished off his beer. “For all I know, the two of you just might remain friends.”

    “I highly doubt that,” Chaos answered with deep regret. Despite all the heated arguments and flaring emotions, there were plenty of goods time between the two that he would miss. And it started to sink in that he did feel some sort of bond with Gadget. “After all, I did manage to royally piss her off earlier.”

    “Watch what you think bro,” Falcon warned with a light growl. “And if you really had pissed off Gadget, she would have taken your head off!”

    “And how you can be so sure of that?”

    “Take a look at what she does when Shrike or Swan makes fun of her beak.” Grabbing a different beer, Falcon let out a frustrated sigh while trying to reign in his emotions. Got to be careful about what you say, he quietly thought. “Give her a few nights to calm down. And before anybody knows, you two will be back to doing the usual things.”

    Yeah, but does maybe falling in love fit under that category? As he finished off the beer, Chaos wished his stomach would settle back down at the revelation. “Let's say you are right, and we're doing the whole falling for one another thing. Why would she choose me?”

    “Now that is a good question.” Pausing, Falcon thought it over a moment before shrugging. “All I can say is, maybe because you've the first guy whose been willing to stand up to her.” Taking a sip of his usual Samuel Adams, he turned. “This might seem odd, but it could also be that you started playing in her sandbox.”

    Confused, Chaos tried to make sense of the comment. “Come again?”

    “I should have chosen something else to say. Sorry. Think of yourself as a hatchling playing in a sandbox with your toys. And then somebody comes along and jumps in and starts messing with the toys without asking.” Putting the bottle aside, Falcon tried to gesture with his hands. “At first, one gets angry and who can blame 'em? The offending party usually gets kicked out and that would be the end of it. In this case, she tried every trick in the book and you just kept going.”

    “Now wait just a damn minute..”

    “Hey, I'm not done yet,” Falcon shot back with a raised hand. “You sat there and broke the rules. At the same time, Gadget didn't what to do. Not only did that happen, but you tried sharing your toys and that really blew her mind. And what makes it even worse is that she's starting to enjoy it.”

    Confused, Chaos blinked hard several times while trying to figure out what the statement meant, if anything. “I... I'm not sure if I'm following this correctly. So, she both likes and hates whatever is going on? No offense, but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.”

    “I never suggested that it did,” Falcon calmly pointed out. “After all, there is guy logic and girl logic. Something that might make sense to us, doesn't it mean the same is true for them. And vice-versa. Believe me on this and save yourself a headache.”

    “Too late for that,” Chaos countered sourly. Rubbing the sides of his beak, he let out a frustrated sigh and wondered if the next question would bite him in the butt. “Back to assuming that point view is correct, what should I do?”

    Sure, ask me the one question I can't answer! Thinking it over as he finished the second beer, Falcon quietly swore to himself. “Well, about all I can say is... go with your gut.”

    “That isn't very helpful.”

    “Bro, this is a journey I can't help you with,” Falcon said, feeling a bit sorry for his clan mate. “Only you can explore this path. When and if the time comes, it might merge with Gadget's. Or maybe not. I wish you the best of luck.”

    “Gee, thanks,” Chaos replied with a trace of sarcasm. As if things weren't complicated enough, now I have to deal with this!

– – – –

    “Busted a mirror with your hand?” Surprised, Eagle wondered why her rookery sister had done something as stupid as that. “Now why would you do something like that?”

    “Because of a certain moronic idiot!”

    “You'll have to be a little more specific than that sis,” Titmouse quickly pointed out while getting a bottle of water. “You do have a habit of calling quite a few folks that.”

    Growling, Gadget quietly swore under her breath. “It was Chaos.”

    Startled, Titmouse shared a look with Eagle. “Wait, him? No offense, but I find that a bit hard to believe.”

    “And she's not the only one,” Eagle quickly pointed out. “I know you two have your differences, but Chaos never struck me as the type that would go out of his way to make you that mad.”

    “Oh, he pushed all of the right buttons tonight. And I hope he learned a lesson in not ticking me off when I clocked him!” Gadget exclaimed a bit too loudly.

    “You punched him?” Titmouse asked, slightly horrified. “What did he do to deserve that?”

    “He called me cute.”

    “I know you're a bit sensitive about that, but, uh, what if he really meant it?” Eagle inquired delicately. I don't know if I like the idea of Chaos being interested in you, but at least he's willing to try, she quickly thought. “And I'm starting to think there is something else to this story. Care to say what it might be?”

    Seeing Gadget snarl, but not answer, Titmouse's eyes narrowed. “I'm guessing you've already answered this, but spit it out sis.”

    “And you don't need to tell us the full story either,” Eagle pointed out reasonably. “We're not going to judge you or him. I'm curious as to what occurred.”

    Fuming, Gadget was getting rather tired of explaining things. “We got into an alley fight and somebody tossed a bottle at my head, which Chaos punched instead of swatting it aside. Then there was the cute comment and the final straw was when he called me 'dear.' That boy was just asking for it!”

    “Asking for it? Are you fucking crazy?” Growling, Eagle ignored the surprised looks from both of her rookery sisters. Slamming a hand against the table, she leaned forward while pointing with the other hand. “Just what is your damn problem? Chaos stops a bottle from smashing against the back of your head and you're acting like a hatchling!”

    Good grief, what has gotten her all worked up? Titmouse silently wondered while chewing over Gadget's comment. Just when I thought things possibly couldn't get any more complicated. “Isn't that a bit harsh? Besides, didn't you say you weren't going to judge?”

    “Shut up, the both of you!” Gadget shouted. Eyes flaring red, she uttered a deep growl. “You two are to partially blame for this mess!”

    “For what, pointing out the obvious?” Titmouse shot back a little too quickly and just as fast, regretted opening her mouth. “Look, I'm sorry that we teased you, all right? To at least some of us, it's been pretty clear there is something going on between the two of you.”

    “She has a point sis.” Taking a few deep breathes, Eagle tried to calm down. I can't believe I'm agreeing with this, she thought crossly. “Don't forget, nobody ever told Chaos you hate being called that 'c' word. Having said that, I suspect he really did mean it, but not as an insult.”

    “Do you realize how absurd all of this sounds?” Gadget demanded as she got to her feet. “And why in the hell would he have feelings for me?”

    Frowning, Eagle wished that question hadn't reared it's ugly head. Heck if I know. Letting out a deep breath, she leaned back in the chair. “This is just a guess, but you've challenged him to better himself.”

    “And because he's noticed that you care about what happens to him,” Titmouse pointed out with a small smile. After taking a few sips of water, she added, “And somewhere deep inside is your girl side, which finally starting to break through. Why not let her out to play?”

    “Gah! This is insane!”

    “It isn't and you know it.” Getting up, Eagle started to walk out of the room. Pausing at the door, the web-winged female looked over her shoulder. “Stop acting like an idiot and give Chaos a chance.”

    Looking at the clock, Titmouse frowned; she needed to get back to the communications room. Squeezing Gadget's shoulder, she gave a sympathetic look. “I'm not going to lie; no matter what path is chosen, it will not be an easy one. As to which one to choose, well, I'm sure you can figure that out. You've got the brains and strength to deal with the challenge. Best of luck.”

    Suddenly feeling drained as her rookery sister left the room, Gadget took off her glasses and rubbed the area around her eyes. As her emotions began to run all over the place, she began to cry without knowing why.