And So I Walk into the Fire

Author's Notes:

This fanfic is the third in my series that started with When Darkness Falls and continued with The Light Must Follow. Although it is not necessary to have read the first two stories in this series to understand this one, you might find the story more enjoyable if you have. For those of you who just want a quick run down on the previous two: Nick disappeared without an explanation, leaving Nat devastated. A year later, he returns after being held captive by LaCroix. Nick and Nat start to rebuild their relationship. Nick manages to reinsert himself into his life as a homicide detective, with a little help, that is...

Anyway, this story is a NNPacker story, although Nat takes a slight backseat to Schanke this one. I think FoDs will be pleased. Oh yes, and I took a few liberties with Toronto's geography, please just ignore it if you see a landmark that doesn't exist.

Thanks so much to my beta reader, Lois Frankel! You helped me out a lot with this one. Thanks also, for all the feedback I've received on the last two stories. I was so overwhelmed with it all that I couldn't respond to all of it, so I think a large group thank you is in order.

"Nick..."

It was like a whisper of breath on his neck. He rather violently shrugged off the hand that was brushing the back of his neck. It was dark, and warm, and he wanted it to stay that way.

He heard a light laugh filter through the air as a pair of hands began to shake him roughly. "Nick, you need to get up!" The feminine voice sounded rather urgent.

Groaning in protest, Nick pulled the black satin sheets over his head as he rolled over and snuggled deeply into the warm blankets. He was content. It was not very often that he felt that way, and he felt the need to relish it while it lasted.

"Nick, you're asking for it... If you're late to the precinct, Cohen will have a fit! You've only been back for a week!"

He growled angrily. Why couldn't whoever was trying to wake him up go away and come back later? It was then that he started to process what had just been said. The precinct? Oh yeah, that's right. He worked. Worked... Work! He sat up faster than a slingshot.

"AGH! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" Throwing off the sheets from his body, Nick nearly flew out of bed. He dashed about like a madman trying to get ready. Hopping around on his feet while trying to simultaneously pull on a pair of pants and a shirt, he noticed that someone was laughing at him...

Stopping with his blue silk shirt caught around his left arm and his leather belt dangling precariously from a belt loop in his disheveled pair of black pants, he looked up and finally saw her. Natalie. His heart quickened at the sight of her beautiful smile. "Nick, you're not late yet, calm down!" she chuckled as she stood there with an amused look on her face.

"Nat!" Nick took a step towards her and went careening towards the floor, landing with a resounding thud. Well this was just great. He was sure that if he had been capable of blushing, his cheeks would be a bright shade of crimson now...

"Ow," he mumbled quietly, embarrassed to no end by his fall.

"Oh, Nick! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I thought you knew I was here..." Natalie said with a laugh as she saw him struggling to pull himself off the floor. His tangled clothing had him stuck on the floor like a bird in a net. "Here, Nick. Let me help you with that," she offered as she approached him, brushing her loose brown hair back in preparation to tackle the job of freeing him from his prison of clothing.

Nick sighed... Of all the humiliating things to do... He lay there quietly while Natalie untangled him and helped him up off the floor. Why was Natalie at the loft? For a brief moment amidst the chaos, he couldn't remember, but then it came to him in a flash. She had moved in yesterday...

His heart did a little flutter in his chest, quite a contrast from its normal stillness. It had been so long since he had had a companion, at least romantically. And Nat, well she was the one with whom he was certain he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Faintly, the back of his mind was screaming at him, /You idiot! You're a vampire... you can't live with a mortal!/ but he ignored it. /You'll end up killing her, you fool! Bail out, now! Bail! Bail!/ He ignored that too.

Luckily, over the past three weeks, Natalie had been giving him blood to drink every time he turned around. His hunger was as sated as it ever would be, and he had gained back most of the weight he had lost during his year in captivity.

He smiled at her faintly. "Sorry Nat, I forgot you were here," he said with a guilty look, not quite knowing how he had allowed himself to forget such a momentous thing.

She grinned. "Well when I woke up in your arms, I almost forgot where I was, so I'd say we're even, ok?" She patted him on the back lightly, trying to get him out of his funk before it started. There was no way she was going to let him feel guilty about that... He already had enough guilt for a lifetime.

Nick looked at her and nodded. After living a solitary life for so long, he knew this was going to take some getting used to.

"Let's go downstairs and get something to eat, all right?" Nat prodded, hoping to prevent him from getting lost in his thoughts again.

"Sure, let me just finished getting dressed first, ok?" Nick asked softly. And with that, he blurred for a second as he moved faster than Nat's eyes could perceive. There. He was dressed. "Ok, I'm ready." It was then that he realized what he had just done. He'd made casual use of his vampiric speed right in front of Nat. A pang of guilt rushed through his system. He was trying so hard to act human! And now he'd just gone against every one of his principles that the vampire should only be used when absolutely necessary.

Nat stared at him with an open mouth, but she said nothing as she watched the emotions play across his face. He was trying so hard... She grabbed his arm and led him down the stairs.

Sitting him down rather forcefully at the table, she went about making herself breakfast. Suddenly, behind her, she felt his arms snake around her waist as she worked at the stove. "Nat, I'm sorry..." His voice was filled with regret, and she knew that he meant what he said.

"It's ok, Nick. Honest. I know you're trying, you can't expect to just be human right away. You lost a lot of ground while you were... away," she said cautiously, but she grinned when she felt Nick begin to kiss her shoulder lightly through her terrycloth robe. Obviously, he didn't find that subject as painful as he had, not even three weeks before...

Nick sighed deeply, inhaling her soft scent. He could hear her heart throbbing in her chest, and his whole body ached with the thought of taking her... His fangs itched to descend, but he clenched his jaw shut and prevented them from doing so. No! Muscles trembling with the stress of his self restraint, he continued to pleasure her with eight-hundred-years of experience on his side.

She leaned back into him with a sigh as he slowly lowered her robe from her shoulders and continued to kiss her. Moving his lips over her soft skin, he relished the warm feel of her body next to his. Although he tried desperately to ignore the blood rushing quickly underneath her warm skin, the vampire finally won a round in his private battle for control. Seeing the world turn an amber hue, he squeezed his eyes shut in denial. He would not stop because of this. He would not stop. He would do this for her...

Growling softly, he kept his lips shut tightly as he moved his mouth over her neck. His fangs were battling to descend, so much that he could feel his mouth bleeding a bit with the pressure they were exerting on his clenched jaw and tightly closed lips. Not really kissing her, he glided his lips across her smooth skin and onto the other shoulder...

"Ouch!"

He stopped cold, her cry of pain freezing him in place. It was then that he noticed that his lips were practically on top of two neat little puncture marks, still raw and only recently scabbed over. The ones that he had made. Last night. When they had...

Natalie grew a little nervous when she noticed that Nick was simply standing behind her, not moving. Then it occurred to her what he was seeing... "Nick, it's all right. You just surprised me..."

"No, it's not all right! I hurt you..." Nick admitted softly, the guilt dripping from his voice as she spun around to face him. He closed his eyes in shame, silently willing the gold color away. But the vampire would not be appeased. He took several deep breaths when his fangs finally broke through his tight check on them and descended. He squeezed his eyes and mouth shut with all his might. He didn't want her to see...

"Nick, open your eyes," Nat prodded him softly.

"No," he said rather gruffly, his lips closed tightly around his razor-sharp fangs. He struggled desperately to keep himself in control. Her loud heartbeat continued to drown out all other sounds, and all he could think about were those two neat little puncture marks that marred her neck. God help him, they actually turned him on... /Why, damnit!/ He wanted to scream in frustration, but he kept his mouth shut as the guilt overran his system. A few minutes ago he had felt completely sated, and now he felt like he hadn't eaten in days... Plus, he knew that if he was to open his eyes he'd see the fang marks on her delicate neck again, taunting him.

"Nick, open your goddamn eyes! Don't you see that I don't care what color they are?" Nat said, more than slightly annoyed at his stubbornness. Didn't he see that she accepted him the way he was? She had thought they'd broken some ground they past few weeks, but they were obviously backsliding now...

"Well I do!" He opened his eyes and Nat was greeted with a glowing amber color. "Nat, I can't do this! I thought I could, but I can't..." he said softly. What on earth had he gotten himself into? He saw the two red marks on her neck and he cringed. Even though she denied it, he had hurt her.

Nat's face flushed red with anger. "Don't you think for a second that I'm going to let you back out now! Do you know how long I've waited for this?! I waited over three years for you to tell me we could be more than friends... And then I waited for a whole year, not knowing if you were alive or dead! And I am not going to let you make me wait longer. I don't care if it sounds selfish, it's how I feel and you're stuck with me!" she shouted at him.

Nick felt like he had been slapped in the face. A strangled little sob escaped his lips as he sat down heavily at the table and put his face in his hands. Finally his fangs receded and his eyes returned to their normal ice blue. "See? I can't even do this right..." he said in her general direction as he took a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, Nat."

Nat said nothing as she pulled a chair up next to him and sat down lightly. Clasping his hands in hers, she looked straight into the depths of his eyes. "Nick, I know that this is hard for you, but you can't keep doing this. We had this whole discussion before, after the last time. How many times must we go over this? Yes you hurt me last night, I admit. But let's go over the facts here. A - You need to bite in order to ... finish, B - The pleasure of whole experience far outweighed the pain, and C - you didn't kill me like you thought you would, on both occasions..." Nat took a deep breath as she watched the emotions play across his face.

He looked at his hands in hers with a longing gaze. "Yeah, well that doesn't mean I have to be proud of it," he paused and looked up at her face. He felt his chest constrict when he saw the thin little tear tracks on her cheeks, but he did not allow himself to dwell on the pain he had caused her yet again. "I need to finish getting ready for work, ok?" he said flatly as he removed her hands from his in a gesture of closure. Getting up, he went to the fridge and took a quick swig from the familiar green bottle of bovine blood.

"Nick, wait..." Nat said, but he ignored her and went over to collect his coat...

After he put his black duster on, Nick turned and gave her a resigned look. "Just give me some time, Nat. I need time..." he whispered, pleading with her to understand... He walked over to the lift and took one last, pained glance in her direction, pausing with his hand on the wall beside the lift. And then he was gone.

Nat sighed. Damn that man! Didn't he know that he had her heart on a string? Apparently not... Clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white, she let out a small sob. They would get through this. She was sure of it.

The precinct was alive. People ran this way and that, computers beeped here and there, conversation flitted about the room over the general hubbub.

"Walters! Get me that report, now!"

"Hey Sommers, did you see that new girl in traffic? Is she single?"

"Is anyone planning on a donut run anytime soon?"

Schanke leaned back in his chair and breathed in a long and cleansing breath as he listened to the many simultaneous conversations around him. He was at work, his partner was back, and he didn't owe any overtime for getting to work late. Life, was good.

"Hey, Detective Knight! Long time no see!" a cheerful voice ripped into his musings.

Schanke looked over to see his partner entering the precinct with a grim look on his face and his classic black duster over his tall frame. He laughed slightly at Nick's failed attempt to respond to the greeting in a polite and cheerful manner. Yup. Things were back to normal... Well... Mostly.

Now Schanke was in on a little secret. He knew that Nick was a vampire. He supposed it scared him a little, but so far he'd had no problems with it. In fact, he was happy about finally knowing his partner for who he was, rather than for the facade he put up for everyone else.

So, it was a little quirk in the general return to normality. Schanke shrugged. It was a good sacrifice... He'd been devastated when he'd thought Nick was dead. He'd denied it to the last second, searching frantically for clues he'd missed. It had been terrible for him, but it had been even worse for Natalie. Although Schanke didn't know the whole story behind Nick's disappearance, he did know it had something to do with that LaCroix guy... And that was enough for him. The guy was scary. It was hard to believe that Nick had managed to deal with him for eight centuries.

Nick approached him and sat down without saying hello. Schanke observed silently, that all was not right in the world of Nick Knight. His blond hair was slightly unkempt, and there were lines of stress etched into his face. It was if he had aged years since yesterday when Schanke had seen him last.

"Nick? What's the matter? Hehe, did Nat keep you up all night or something?" Schanke inquired, a teasing edge in his voice. Maybe that would lighten Nick's bad mood. But then, maybe it wouldn't. Nick had never had a great sense of humor, or at least not that he'd let show.

Nick just glared, but his eyes reflected a certain sadness that was almost tangible. It was obvious that he was struggling with something, but Schanke couldn't think for the life of him what it could be. Nick should be the happiest person alive right now! Natalie had finally moved into the loft with him. Wasn't that a happy occasion? It had taken Nick years just to get that far, despite Schanke's numerous attempts at getting them hooked before that...

"Okeeee, never mind then," Schanke said, slightly concerned. He knew this mood. It was the 'I'm guilty, I'm not worthy, just let me go crawl into a hole and die because I'll never live long enough to atone for all the wrongs I've committed' mood. Schanke had seen it in Nick a lot before he had been taken away by LaCroix, but he had only now begun to recognize it for what it was.

"Nick, seriously, what's the problem? Maybe I can help you..." he prodded. Nick had always helped him with his problems, so perhaps if he could find out what was bugging his partner, he'd be able to help him sort it out, whatever it was. Heck, that's what friends were for, right?

Nick glanced at him with a pained look and opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted when a tall black man in a navy blue suit walked up to him. It was the IA guy who had questioned Nick earlier in the week when he had first returned to duty. Schanke grasped for a name, but he couldn't come up with one that matched the man's face. It was Inspector Williams, or Whitman, or Westings, or something like that... Or maybe not...

"Detective Knight? I've gone over your account of what happened on the night of your kidnapping, and I was wondering if we could possibly go over some inconsistencies between your story and what we have on record..." the man said in a serious tone, his eyes looking down on Nick with a slight menace in them. Why was it that all IA guys seemed like they were out to get everyone who crossed their path? Were they paid extra to look mean or something?

Nick glanced to the left and right. Apparently satisfied that he had no audience except for Schanke, he stared coldly into the Inspector's eyes. "There are no inconsistencies..." Nick's voice lowered slightly as he projected his will on the Inspector.

Schanke watched curiously as the Inspector seemed to go as blank as most of his paperwork was at the moment. Jeez... All Nick was doing was staring at the guy, and poof, he was completely zombified... This was just weird.

"No... inconsistencies..." the man repeated as if possessed by some unseen force, his voice flat and monotone. Schanke let out a surprised gasp, but the Inspector just stared straight into Nick's eyes as if there were nothing else in the world.

"What I said matches your records, you will file the case as an unsolved and never question me about it again..." Nick continued to impress his hypnotic suggestion on the man.

"Never question you again..." The man's voice trailed off as if he were pondering something. He then shook his head and resumed talking as if Nick had done nothing, "Well, Detective Knight. Your story checks out with our own, I'm afraid we'll have to file it under the unsolveds..." he said with a funny look on his face, as if he didn't know why he was saying what he was saying.

Nick nodded, looking down at the floor with a glum look on his face. "I figured as much..." he said, acting quite successfully like he was disappointed at the news the Inspector had just brought him. The Inspector merely shook his head and wandered off.

Schanke looked at Nick with his mouth agape. "Did you just ...?!" He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence.

Nick simply nodded, almost imperceptibly. Schanke wasn't surprised. "I figured as much," Schanke mumbled under his breath. Only someone like Nick would mess with IA...

"I can't believe you did that to an IA guy of all people! Do you have any idea how much trouble you'd be in if they figured out what you did?" Schanke ranted in a loud, stressed whisper, disbelief seeping from his voice. His partner had just hypnotized an IA guy. An IA guy.

"They won't figure it out..." Nick said vaguely, but he said nothing more.

Schanke just looked at Nick warily. Had Nick ever done that to him? Come to think of it... Yes. He had. That one time when Nick had jumped between him and an injured perp, Schanke couldn't remember what precisely it was that Nick had made him forget, but he did remember that he forgot something... He mentally strained himself, trying to remember what exactly he had forgotten, but he couldn't. And it bugged him immensely.

If Nick had already done it once, what was to stop him from hypnotizing him again? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was rather disconcerting, but he shrugged it off. Nick would never do that now that he knew about vampires, would he? Nah... But still, it nagged at the back of his mind.

"So anyway," Schanke continued, trying to ignore the uncomfortable silence that had followed Nick's last remark. "What were you going to say before we were interrupted?" he queried.

Nick looked momentarily confused until he remembered what they had been talking about before the Inspector had come over to question him. "It's nothing, Schanke. Just something I have to work out for myself. All right?" he said, a tired tone entering his voice that Schanke hadn't noticed before.

Schanke sighed, resignedly. He knew he wouldn't get anything more out of his partner now, no matter how much he tried to bug him. Having tried it numerous times before and failed, he didn't even attempt one bit of protest. "Ok, Nick. If you decide you need to talk, I'm here ya know... Anyway, shall we finish the paperwork?"

Nick gave him a small grin accompanied by a look that simply said, "Paperwork? Who, me?" If there was one thing Nick was notorious for, it was that he didn't do paperwork... He was probably the only person on earth who took longer than Schanke to get stuff turned in.

Schanke chuckled and handed him a stack of papers as he shook his head in a amusement. What a wonderful start to another night in the saga of Nick and Schanke...

"Schanke! Knight! We've got a bad one down at the lakefront. I want you on it, pronto!" Cohen's voice shot through the door of her office into the relaxed atmosphere and ripped it to pieces. It was funny how a voice of authority could do that...

Schanke smiled at Nick and clapped him on the back in a friendly gesture. "You lucky dog, saved by the bell!" he said as he got up and grabbed his coat. Nick merely looked at him as if he was crazy. Yup. Back to normal.

"Knight! I want to see you in my office before you go," the Captain said with a serious tone, her head poking out of the doorway to her office just long enough to utter the order before it disappeared back into the mysterious depths. Schanke merely nodded at Nick and went out to the car, leaving Nick behind.

Nick quickly joined Cohen in her office after he had gathered his things and closed the door softly behind him. She was sitting at her desk with her hands clasped and lying gently on her wooden desk. She did not look happy... "What's up, Cap?" he said, attempting to sound nonchalant, but miserably failing as his anxiety seeped through his tone. What was this about? He hadn't done anything to upset her yet... Had he?

He watched Cohen take a deep breath and mentally braced himself for punishment over whatever it was that he had done wrong. "Nick, I realize you've only been back a week, but we're completely run ragged this week. I'm sorry to put you out on a serious case so fast, I had planned on easing you back into the swing of things," she said regretfully.

Nick let out the breath he had been holding in relief. Now this, he could handle. "Sure, no problem Cap, I'm ready," he said quite confidently.

Cohen raised an eyebrow at him. He sounded like he was ready to take on the world in hand-to-hand combat, but she couldn't help but wonder if he was putting on a facade. "You're sure?" she said, disbelief emanating from her voice. She'd seen people bounce back from trauma before, but nothing like this...

"Absolutely," Nick said with a firm nod of his head. He was ready. Although, he didn't want to admit it, the vampire in him was lusting for a good hunt and a good mystery. Perhaps if he had an outlet, he wouldn't be so shaky in the control department with Nat...

"All right then. But tell me if you're having trouble," Cohen demanded firmly. She didn't want her prize detective getting his feet wet too soon, only to slip and fall when he lost traction...

Nick nodded enthusiastically. Sure sure. He'd tell her... And with that, he left her office to join Schanke, who was waiting in the passenger seat of his Caddy. Surprisingly enough, he had found that his beloved green car was still quite operational even after a year of neglect.

Nick muttered softly under his breath as he pulled the Caddy into a muddy grass lot. It was quite messy out, the torrents of rain only recently yielding to a slow drizzle of fine mist. He would have to wash his car after this, especially the hubcaps and lower areas. How annoying...

Schanke stepped out of the car first, making a slightly disgusted face when his feet squished into the deep mud. "Thanks Nick, you coulda parked on the road you know..." he said, pointing to the narrow access road they had just come off of as he lifted a foot, only to have it come almost completely out of his shoe when it stayed stuck in the mud.

Nick gave Schanke a wry grin. "Sorry Schanke, I couldn't find a parking space that the Caddy would fit in..." he said as he easily stepped out of the car with the ease of a predator, his movements fluid and lithe.

Schanke merely glared. That damn boat of a car was more trouble than it was worth. But... Nick loved the thing more than his own life. He looked down at his own shoes, still stuck in the mud with some annoyance. Finally, after some careful maneuvering, he was free and they were off.

They approached the building, carefully avoiding the numerous puddles of mud and whatnot. Surrounded by a large grass lot, the dilapidated establishment looked out on the black water alone. The next closest buildings were several long blocks to the left and to the right.

Nick looked at the deserted establishment with melancholy. It was sagging on its walls, like a weeping old man. Nick wouldn't have been surprised if the roof caved in right then and there; the decaying wooden shingles were rotted through.

Nick shuddered as a forensics worker passed them with several bags of evidence. Despite its decrepit appearance, this small one story building contained a certain... evil feel to it. Odd.

He shrugged off the feeling as Schanke pulled the door open for him, which although resisting at first, opened quite easily with a plaintive wail of its hinges. Nick had his right foot over the threshold, when he suddenly stopped as if there was an invisible wall in front of him. There was someone nearby... Someone was watching him... He felt cold all over, like death's icy fingers were creeping up his back and around his neck.

Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply. He could detect no one but the chorus of heartbeats emanating from Schanke and the forensics crews. His mind must be playing tricks on him. Tricks, that was all.

"Nick, helloooooo? Are you going to go in or shall I return to the Caddy and get us some sleeping bags?" Schanke's annoyed voice penetrated the fog of his thoughts and Nick snapped back to the task at hand.

"Yeah, sure, Schanke. Sorry..." Nick shook his head and proceeded into the building. Expecting a small foyer of some sort, Nick was surprised when they were greeted with a wide open room, approximately ten meters square. The wooden floorboards groaned in protest when Nick put his weight on them.

There, in the center of the room surrounded by a whole crew of forensics people, including Natalie, was a circle of pale entangled bodies lying in a large pool of coagulating blood. A very large pool. He stared at it for a moment like a ravenous wolf closing in on its prey, and then all at once Nick felt the vampire flare up uncontrollably as the scent of freshly spilled blood wafted through his nostrils, overwhelming his acute olfactory sense. His hand automatically flew up to his mouth to conceal his fangs as he squeezed his eyes shut. He took a deep breath. And another. And another.

Nick simply couldn't get it out of his head, and his muscles quivered with the effort required to keep his feet firmly planted on the floor. Too soon... He'd forgotten how much control his rather grisly job had required. He'd come back too soon...

He nearly jumped a mile when he felt a warm, mortal hand on his shoulder. "Nick?" It was Schanke. "Nick, are you all right?" Schanke said, concernedly.

Nick nodded, desperately trying to ignore his cravings. "Just give... give me a minute..." he said weakly, knowing he wasn't being all that convincing. Thankfully, Schanke's hand withdrew, although Nick was certain his partner was still watching him curiously. God, he had to get control of himself before people started to notice. There was just so much blood!

He groaned, clenching his jaws shut even tighter. He would not lose control. He would not allow it. For some reason though, his body simply wasn't listening to his mind, and he could barely suppress a growl.

"Nick?" Through the haziness clouding his mind, he heard Nat's voice calling to him. Nat. He felt himself nearly collapse; he couldn't deal with her right now... Letting out a small muffled whimper, he shook her hand away from his shoulder where it had just come to rest.

He began to tremble as he repeated to himself in his mind, over and over, that he would not lose control. Not here. Not now... A warm hand jerked his own contrasting cold hand from his face.

Nick gasped in surprise when he felt a cold metal object placed firmly in his fingers. "Drink that, Nick," Nat's commanding voice penetrated his confusion.

He dared a quick peek through amber hazed vision before squeezing his eyes shut again. There was a small metal flask in his hand. Blood. He upended the bottle as soon as he realized its contents. The cool elixir flowed over his tongue and set fire to his throat. He sighed as the immediate effects began to relax him. And despite the slightly offensive bovine flavor, he felt the vampire recede and his muscles loosen.

Thank you, Nat. Or, at least, that's what he should have said. He opened his eyes to find that she had gone back to the circle of bodies as if she hadn't even come over in the first place. Damn. Why did he have to continuously mess things up? Damn, damn, triple damn!

"Nick? What on earth just... happened?" Schanke inquired curiously, a suspicious tone in his voice.

Nick merely grunted, not taking his eyes off Nat as he subconsciously pocketed the small flask. She was so beautiful... Even as she stood there in a rumpled brown skirt and pinkish blouse, he couldn't help but notice it... He felt a light prod in the ribs. "Nick..." Schanke's voice was a little bit more forceful this time.

He tore his eyes away from his beloved Nat. "Sorry, Schanke. Let's get started, all right?"

Schanke merely sputtered in astonishment at Nick's crafty avoidance of his question as Nick went over to Natalie. He shook his head and followed. Nick was one slippery guy...

Nick cringed as Nat began reeling off the specifics of the case. "TOD, approximately two hours ago. Deep cuts to the wrists, I don't think I need to tell you how these people died... However, I'm not quite convinced it's a group suicide like it looks like," Nat looked up at Nick and then quickly back at the body that she was pointing to. "See the symbols carved on their cheeks?"

Nick had to force himself to take his eyes away from Nat. Her eyes reflected such pain, although he'd caught only a glimpse of it before she had averted her eyes. She had tried to hide it through an air of professionalism, but he saw it. And it was his fault. It tore at his heart. He hated to think about the pain he had caused her...

Shaking his head lightly, he stared intently at the small series of squiggles on the dead man's cheeks, ignoring the hunger slowly growing in the pit of his stomach. He'd just fed! Subconsciously licking his lips, he looked at the other bodies. They all had the same gruesome marks. "Yes..." Nick said hesitantly, beginning to realize where this was headed.

"I think they were made after death, there's no blood in these wounds. That would mean the person would have had to have bled out sufficiently beforehand, because these cuts are very recent, and very deep..." Nat said authoritatively. She knew her stuff, and she didn't hesitate to show it.

Nick looked at the bodies again as Schanke inhaled quickly behind him. "That would mean there was either someone here helping them, or that someone actually murdered them..." Schanke's voice carried over Nick's shoulder, butting its way into the conversation. Nat nodded in response.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked, slightly hopeful that maybe Nat wasn't as certain as she sounded. It would've taken a monster to do this to twelve people... A monster like him...

Natalie nodded again. "I'll have to do the autopsies before I can say officially, but I'm almost positive," she said grimly.

Nick nodded mutely and turned to Schanke. He wanted so badly to talk with Nat, but now was simply not the time. "Do we know if there were any witnesses?" he asked curiously. Maybe they could get a lead that way.

"Nope, nada. As you may have noticed, this building is deserted and the phone call reporting the dead bodies was anonymous, I checked while you were in with the Captain," Schanke said with a grim look on his face. This one was going to be tricky.

"Any IDs on the bodies?" Nick said incredulously. There had to be something to go on... At this point he'd take a fingerprint and a treasure map, for heaven's sake. He hated unsolveds. They bothered him not only because the killer went free, but also because it was basically a failed hunt.

"Nothing. You'll have to wait until I can do the dental work-ups and fingerprints. Even then, it's iffy. You may have to end up waiting for a missing persons report," Nat said softly, not wanting to see Nick's reaction to that news.

Nick sighed heavily. His first big case since he'd rejoined the force was starting off wonderfully. Yeah right... "Well, I suppose we'll stop by the morgue later tonight. C'mon Schank, let's go see what we can..."

He stopped in mid-sentence. The feeling was there again. He felt someone watching him, peering at him through the darkness. His skin crawled. Evil.

Taking a dry swallow, Nick's eyes slid to the small paned window on the wall. He used his acute night vision to peer into the blackness beyond, but he saw nothing. Nothing. But something was out there.

"Nick, what is it now?" Schanke said impatiently, a slight whine in his tone. Nick was starting to go weird on him almost hourly now... What was his problem?

Nick shook his head, ignoring Schanke's annoyed stare and Nat's worried one. "Just a second," he said, as he fled out the door and into the night.

He reached out with his vampiric senses, and scanned the area. It was running. Whatever it was was running away. He had to catch it. Ah, the hunt was on. Let's see who would dare stalk him now... Feeling his eyes turn a golden hue, he snarled briefly and was about to take off into the blackness of the night when Nat interrupted him.

"Don't you dare, Nicholas B. Knight," a feminine voice called sternly from behind him.

He stopped cold, his heavy breathing the only sound emanating from him. God, he didn't want to turn around and see her staring reproachfully at him like he knew she was.

"Nick, we're never going to get anywhere if you continually do this..." her voice said disapprovingly. "What's going on?" Nat said, her tone becoming slightly more worried.

"It's nothing, Nat. I'm... I'm sorry..." he said softly, his voice weak. He couldn't turn around. Not yet... Blinking furiously trying to get his eyes to turn back, he heard her sigh behind him.

"Fine, Nick. When you want to talk, let me know..." she said, defeated and hurt. Nick wanted nothing more than to embrace her and comfort her and make it all right, but he found himself for some reason unable.

He heard her retreat, her pumps squishing in the mud as she went back to the sidewalk that led up to the door. "Nat, Nat wait..." he pleaded, turning around despite his frightening visage. Luckily there were no forensics crews outside at the moment, or he would've had a lot of explaining to do...

She didn't stop. Didn't turn around. Didn't even acknowledge that she'd heard him. Damn it all! He stomped his foot in the squishy mud, his anger at himself completely ruining all possibilities of regaining his control.

"Jeez Nick, tooth check buddy..." Schanke's voice interrupted his tantrum. How did he get there all of the sudden? Nick shook his head, attempting to clear his head. "Did Nat get you that riled up?"

Nick squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, finally managing to force down his bestial counterpart. "Let's just go, all right?"

Picking up on Nick's need to get out of there, Schanke clasped his arm around Nick's shoulders and guided him to the Caddy. Nick sighed in frustration as he took one last look at the old house, the presence he felt earlier momentarily forgotten. This case was just not going to be fun...

"So, let's review... We've got twelve dead bodies in a circle. Their death appears to be a group suicide, but there is evidence to suggest that there was another person involved who is actually still among the land of the living... We have no witnesses, no IDs on the bodies, and no clue as to what we have here. That about sum it up?" Schanke said casually, his hands clasped in front of him at his desk. He looked at Nick with a penetrating gaze.

Nick growled in frustration and nodded. With a sigh, he put his face in his hands and clawed them down his face, bringing them to a stop at his jaw. He rocked his head back and forth a bit, straining to think of some explanation. Any explanation would do at this point. None but the most inapplicable came to mind and it frustrated him to no end. "A gang?" he questioned, but he knew it was wrong even as he said it.

Schanke shook his head. "They would've advertised who'd done it. Gangs don't do stuff like that unless it's to show who's got the power in the neighborhood. Plus, if it was a gang, my contacts would've mentioned something big going down."

"Wait... Let me see a picture of those squiggles on their cheeks..." Nick said, exhaling in a huff as he leaned forward and reached across the desk to grab the manila folder sitting unopened underneath Schanke's hands. He opened it and stared at them. And stared. And stared.

He flipped through each of the twelve pictures, examining each one closely. They weren't random at all. There was a pattern. "Schank, look at these and tell me if you see a pattern..." he said, hoping he was correct.

Schanke pulled the pictures back towards him and looked. Nick was right. Why hadn't they noticed it before? /Well, gee Donny, probably cuz you didn't look at them until now,/ he thought to himself sarcastically.

"Yeah, I see it too..." Schanke said in a low voice, his eyes wide. "And the bodies were in a circle..."

Nick's eyes met his. There was a moment of silence as they both came to the same conclusion. The circle was probably the most recurring shape in religion... "A cult?" Nick questioned.

Schanke nodded in quick response. "That's what I just thought of too..." he confirmed, looking at his watch. "Natalie probably has the autopsy done on at least one of the bodies. Shall we go take a look see?"

Nick cringed at the thought. Nat. "Uh, Schanke, why don't you just go on ahead, all right? I'll stay here and see if anything else comes up..." he said, fumbling for an excuse to not go. He couldn't face her. Not now. Maybe when he got home from work, but not now...

"No way, partner. You're coming along whether you like it or not," Schanke said, determined not to let Nick and Nat's relationship fall apart before it even got out of the starting gate...

"But, Schank, one of us should really stay here and do the paperwork..."

"Nope, no way. Nah ah. Nice try. Come on, get your coat," Schanke pushed himself up with his hands and forcefully stood Nick up by yanking up hard on his shoulders. "Now give me the keys to the Caddy..." he commanded Nick like a parent reproachfully ordering a child to pick up his toys.

Nick numbly complied as he was ferried quickly out the door by Schank. He'd have to see Nat now. He'd wanted to wait until they both got home and had some time to unwind. He sighed. Home. He'd never thought he'd be sharing his dwelling with Nat. Despite his numerous misgivings, he felt a sudden surge of pleasure. Nat was living with him. /She's not gonna be with you much longer if you don't straighten things out, you fool!/

He was so lost in his thoughts that before Nick knew what was happening, he was sitting in the passenger seat of the Caddy, staring out the window as the city of Toronto passed by. Wait. When had he let Schank drive his Caddy?! He'd been tricked...

"Schanke, that was low..." Nick grumbled. Schanke merely laughed. Nick narrowed his eyes at his scheming partner and remained silent for the rest of the ride.

The sign indicating that they were at the Coroner's Building came all too quickly. Nick sighed in defeat as Schanke parked his car rather illegally. Damn his Caddy for being so reliable. He had hoped it would break down for once...

Schanke put the car in park and hopped out with a bounce in his step. He'd won one round at least... He grinned stupidly when he saw the look of disdain on Nick's face.

They walked in and went to Nat's office. As they approached the open door of the room, they could both see her intently writing up some reports on her desk. Schanke noted thankfully, that there was no body on the table nor on a nearby gurney, and he confidently entered first with a very hesitant Nick straggling behind. Nat looked up when she heard them enter, giving them a brief look of sadness before she hid it away behind a mask of professionalism.

Schanke looked between her and Nick. They were staring at each other. Nat's look was cold, while Nick's was... hurt? Nervous? Sad? Guilty? Schanke couldn't tell. Maybe it was a combo of all four, but it was obvious to him that bad vibes were flowing between the two like a flashflood. Maybe he hadn't been wise in bringing Nick along after all.

He watched as Nat took a deep breath. "I finished the first of the twelve bodies about a half-hour ago. I was right. The cuts in the cheeks were made after death. However, the angle of the gashes in the wrists was consistent with suicide..." Nat said, her voice trailing off. She looked hard at Nick before turning her head towards Schanke with a forced smile.

"Well if that's true... the cult theory would work... I think..." Schanke suggested. Nick was just standing there, a stunned look in his eyes like a fish out of water. What had happened between the two that could possibly get him so... not his usual charismatic self? It usually took a Hell of a lot to shake Nick out of his unbreakable mask of stone...

Natalie nodded. "It's a possibility," she said simply, not handing out any more information unasked for. She brushed her curly hair aside casually and Schanke did a double take when he caught a glimpse of... two neat little red marks at the base of her neck that looked suspiciously like...

"Nat, are those bite marks?" he blurted out before he could stop himself. The ball was dropped. Nat looked at him sharply, startled by his sudden outburst.

"Yes, they are, Schank..." Nat replied honestly, her voice betraying how strained her answer was. Schanke noticed out of the corner of his eye that Nick seemed to be shrinking backwards towards the door with a look of horror on his face.

Schanke gulped as his mind processed the startling information. Bite marks. Two little punctures. Fangs. Woah... Had Nick bitten Nat? Was that the problem? Wait, bitten her? He cringed in disgust. Granted, he thought he had accepted Nick's vampiric side, but this... this was just a little gross. And scary.

The sudden realization that he was basically Nick's equivalent of a super value meal at McDonald's hit him like a brick. His hands flew to his neck subconsciously. No wait. Stop. Stop. /Don't jump to conclusions, Donny.../ "From what?" Schanke asked hesitantly, dreading the answer and noticing a pained gasp from his partner.

All at once, Nick fled the room and the door slammed shut with a resounding thud. Schanke sat down heavily, watching Nat cringe as Nick disappeared with utmost speed. She took two deep breaths. "From Nick," she replied with utmost seriousness.

The words were like a cold splash of water on his face. Schanke's eyes widened in fear, but he forced himself to remain calm. Calm. Must stay calm...

"Schanke, it's not what you think... He didn't attack me or anything..." Nat said quickly, rushing through the words as they fell from her mouth.

"Well then what the heck did he do? Just come up to you and say, 'please, Nat, lemme take a chomp on your neck'?!" Schanke squeaked, not caring how incredibly tactless he was being. It didn't occur to him at the time that the situation he had just described would've been really funny if it weren't so serious a situation.

Nat gave him a look of utter disgust, as though he had just revealed that he was actually the lovechild of some alien named Mona... "No, Schanke! It wasn't like that at all..." she paused as she tried to think of a way to explain the importance of blood exchange for vampires. "To vampires, taking blood is a very sensuous, very erotic experience. When a vampire drinks from you, they know all that you are and all that you've been. I can't even begin to describe it and do it justice... But it's addictive to them like a drug, which is why it's so hard for Nick to control himself around fresh sources of blood like you, me, and that crime scene earlier tonight," Nat raced through her explanation before she lost her nerve.

Schanke tried really hard to digest all this. Really hard. But it still didn't make sense... "So, Nick lost control with you or something?" he asked. If Nick had lost control with Nat, what was to stop him from biting him? Or anyone for that matter? Calm. Remain CALM.

Nat smiled, seeing that Schanke really was making a valiant effort to have an open mind about this... "No, Schanke..." Time to drop the bomb... "Vampires need to take blood during the sexual act..."

"Oh." Oh. He still wasn't sure he was comfortable with this... He closed his eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. Nat didn't seem to have a problem with it, but still... "So... what's the problem between you two then?"

Nat laughed aloud, bitterly. "Nick is having some issues... I know he feels guilty for hurting me every time we make love, but there's something else going on and I can't figure out what it is... He won't talk to me."

Schanke was starting to understand the whole picture... But he was still uncomfortable with the concept... Biting during sex... Ergh. How icky... But jeez, if he didn't like it, it must be terrible for Nick. The mere fact that he was trying to get himself cured proved that.

He saw Nat's curious look at him making faces of disgust... "I'm sorry, Nat. This is just going to take a little bit of time for me to adjust to... I thought I was ok with it, but this is all just a bit unsettling..."

She nodded in understanding. "I really do understand, Schanke... But please, Nick is a good man. Don't judge him just by the vampire, there's much more to him than that..." she cautioned him.

That was the crux of it right there... How well did he really know his partner?

Nick flew blindly, recklessly, not caring where he ended up or who saw him as he sped through the night. Blood tears streamed down his cheeks in a downpour of pain. Damn damn damn damn DAMN. He'd hurt Nat and now he'd lost every semblance of a normal friendship with his only mortal friend in the world aside from her.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the memory of the past night without much success. He hadn't stayed to hear Nat's answer to Schanke's soul shattering question, but knowing her, she had probably told him the truth. Why did Nat have to be so damn honest? Didn't she know that would ruin everything? Although he was a little hurt by it, he supposed Schanke was better off knowing the true company he was in. Schanke would probably think he was a monster now. Well? He was, wasn't he? His mind flashed back to Alyssa, to Sylvaine, and all of the other innocents he'd killed. The answer to his question was obvious. Letting out a scream of anguish, he flew as high as he could until he felt lightheaded. The cold was numbing. Exactly what he wanted.

Reaching out with his hands, he peered at the stars above him. They seemed so much closer now... They were the only source of natural light he'd known for eight hundred years, with the exception of the moon. His only escape from the darkness. And yet, he'd never bothered to really notice them. Sure, he'd looked up at the sky millions of times, but he'd never really looked.

They were shimmering in the distance, like millions of little fireflies that had gotten lost in the black depths of space. Nick sighed and continued to gaze at them through red tears as he floated at a higher than safe altitude.

It was funny. He'd been around before the Earth had revolved around the sun, or at least before scientists had proven that it did. He'd even been around before the Earth was round. Logically speaking, he should be one of the wisest people alive, with the knowledge of centuries to guide his decisions. So why was this so damn hard? Why couldn't he just once do the right thing? Everything he did hurt someone...

He drifted for awhile among the clouds. Flying was probably the only aspect of being a vampire that he relished. It gave him a certain freedom he'd never known as a mortal, a way to escape his problems at least temporarily. But it wasn't helping at all right now. His problems... He felt like he was drowning with no way to break to the surface. What was he going to do now? How was he ever going to fix everything? He had thought he'd won when he'd made it back to Nat and overcome LaCroix once and for all. But if he had, then why was it getting harder? It was supposed to get easier, damnit!

Completely absorbed in his own thoughts, Nick landed before he even realized what he was doing. In a moment of fright, he quickly checked for nearby heartbeats, and sighed in relief when he heard none. He shook his head in disbelief over his own foolishness. If a resistor had seen him... Stupid stupid stupid!

It was then that he realized where exactly it was that he was. The abandoned old house where the group 'suicide' had taken place. What? What had brought him here? He hadn't even been paying attention and somehow he'd been drawn here. He shuddered uncontrollably. Something was attracting him here, even subconsciously, and it scared him. Reaching out with his senses, he felt nothing but the cold night breeze blowing over his skin on a gentle breath.

He took a deep breath and reached out with his senses again. Still nothing. No heartbeats, no strange presence as before. No nothing. On impulse, he entered the quiet house, which was no longer teaming with forensics crews. There on the floor was the coagulating pool of blood that had so excited him before. Now, it merely disgusted him. It was rotten with age, and unappealing to even his desperate hunger for living, throbbing blood. The appeal of the blood was in the soul it contained. So long after death, even remnant images were hard to pick out and it ruined the whole experience. Yet...

/Taste it, Nick./ He grimaced, repulsed. Taste it? Yuck! Just the smell was making him queasy. /Taste it, Nick./ He spun around on his heels, looking around frantically. Who was talking to him? He shrugged it off, but still wondered what on Earth was trying to compel him to taste the sticky, red liquid. It scared him to think that it was his own subconscious. Could he have been without human blood for so long that even the repulsive stuff on the floor was attracting him in some way?

He stared at the viscous fluid. It looked so tempting and delicious, despite the fact that his sensitive nose was telling him otherwise. Strangely, he couldn't stop himself from placing a finger into the red mess and lifting it back to his mouth. He retched when it met his tongue. The spoiled liquid was worse than cow! And yet he couldn't stop himself from tasting it again...

/We will be one with Abbadon./ A flash of pain speared through his temples and he bent over as his body failed to support himself. /Our blood is one./ He cried out as the images began to assault him. There were eleven other people around him in a circle. A gleaming, crooked knife slit his wrist and his own red vampire blood dripped slowly from the wound because he had no heartbeat to pump it out quickly.

He saw a tall, sandy haired man standing in the middle with his arms raised towards the heavens. The evil emanating from the man was strong, so strong that it nearly knocked Nick to the ground. And the knife slit his wrist. The rain was pounding on the rooftop. /Our blood is one. Our blood is one./ The voices got louder and louder until he could stand it no more. He clutched his temples with his hands, his eyes squeezed shut as they echoed through his head like rolls of thunder. /Abbadon, our savior. Abbadon!/ They cried aloud. They were praying for a God he'd never seen or heard mentioned... The walls spun around him and threatened to cave in. The world was spinning around him and he was still. Suddenly, he knew. He knew that he had to kill himself. The knife slit his wrist. Spinning. Spinning. Blurred. And then it all stopped.

He fell to the ground and screamed. Nick opened his eyes with a start, his eyes an blazing an evil scarlet from the scene that had been replayed in his mind. Lifting his head up with a look of pain, a soft cry emanated from his lips. What had just happened? He had never gotten such sensations, even from fresh blood. He instinctively let out a guttural growl before he was able to fully suppress his vampiric nature once again. Angry with himself for letting that get so out of hand, he stood up and took a couple deep breaths, hoping to calm himself.

Evil. His head snapped around like a whip as he glanced towards the window. It was here. And it had seen him. God, it had seen him. The feeling of the presence sent chills down his spine as he raced out the door, only to find it gone. Looking out into the night, he could see only blackness. Stupid stupid stupid! Whoever or whatever it was had seen him, he was sure of it.

He stomped a foot into the muck and grimaced when he could not immediately escape the suction of the mud. Glancing at his watch, he noticed that it was an hour until sunrise and he could hear the telltale melodies of the waking songbirds. Not that he needed that indicator, he could feel it, a deep need in the pit of his chest to reach cover and go to sleep. How long had he been in there?

Trying to remember just when it was that he had landed in front of the abandoned building, he realized that he had no concept of the time he'd been there. None. He could've been absorbed in the imagery for seconds or hours. He leaned towards the latter, since he hadn't felt the coming of sunrise like he did now, an urgent tug at the back of his mind to seek shelter soon or perish.

His breathing became ragged as he started to panic and his problems compounded into one big palpable mess of confusion. Now, Nat was mad at him, Schanke probably thought of him as a complete monster, and someone had seen him as a vampire, which put himself and everyone he was close to in jeopardy. Especially if whatever had seen him was as evil as he had sensed.

Sunrise. Damn! The sky was lightening a bit, bright wisps of color slowly replacing the blackness, but it was still quite dark. He took off, even as red tears started to blind his vision. He had to get out of the sun... Had to warn Nat... Had to warn the community... Sun. Get out of the sun. With weariness, hunger, and fear tugging at his burdened conscience, he could think of only one place to go.

"Nichola! My goodness! Here, drink this," Janette's soft French accent woke him from his dazed confusion. He'd somehow managed to make it to the Raven before collapsing completely from exhaustion. A glass was placed in his hand and he drank immediately as he was shoved onto a circular stool.

The human blood burned as it seeped down his throat and he threw his head back in sheer ecstasy. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his conscience was telling him to stop. Stop... It was human. Human! But it tasted so good! His fangs involuntarily descended as he chugged the rest of the glass and went for the bottle like an addict on a binge.

He growled basely as he ripped the cork from the unlabeled bottle with a jerk of his elongated canines. Getting a euphoric high just from sniffing the bottle, he licked the rim of the mouth of the bottle. He took in its coldness and rubbed it against his cheek longingly, purposefully delaying the ecstasy he had felt to before to make it all the more sweet. Taking a quick sip first, he stared at the bottle with lust burning in his chest. God, he wanted to drink the whole thing then and there. /No, it's wrong! It's human!/ He upended the bottle. /No!/ As the first hint of blood hit his lips, he threw the bottle to the floor where it shattered into a mass of bloody goo and glass shards.

"Damnit, Janette!" he cried, his eyes an unchecked ghoulish amber as he looked at the mess on the floor in disgust. What was wrong with him?! The hunger induced pain in the pit of his stomach was slowly receding, but he felt as if his control was more shaky than it had ever been. Taking a wobbly breath, he glanced around and noted, thankfully, that there was no one else there. The Raven had been closed for the night.

Janette smiled lusciously at him from her position next to him on a second circular stool, her seductive lips red and full. "I am sorry Nichola," she began insincerely. "I simply couldn't resist. You should have drunk it, you know, it was obvious that you enjoyed it," she said, her voice seductive and soft. Sitting down next to him, gently so as not to do something awful to her attractively tight, crushed velvet maroon dress, she took his hand in hers.

Nick looked down and immediately withdrew, his eyes blazing. "You know how I feel about drinking human blood..." he said, not quite meeting her eyes. He knew she would be looking at him with a mocking glare, and he couldn't take that... "Damnit, you know!" he said softer this time, almost a cry of defeat. It felt as if all the world had joined forces against him.

Her lips formed a pouty 'o' as she began to caress his shoulder with her smooth and graceful fingertips. "But Nichola, you were so hungry and so tired, I thought..."

He looked at her angrily as he forcefully removed her hand from his shoulder. "Well then don't think. I don't need you in place of LaCroix..." He snapped, his tone more caustic than he had originally intended and he regretted saying it, almost before it came off his lips. In response, her eyes grew icy and he could tell she was barely containing her raw fury.

"Janette, I'm sorry..." he said sincerely, meeting her eyes with his own in an attempt to prove his words. Her gaze grew softer, but it was obvious that his remark had affected her. "I didn't mean that, you know I didn't."

"I know that you did not," she commented, her tone slightly hurt. Nick didn't know how to respond, so they just sat as amicably as the situation permitted until Janette finally broke the silence.

"So..." she said, her voice cutting and just slightly dejected. "Why are you here? I thought things worked out with our little scam... Are you not a detective man again?" she asked with a curiosity in her tone that was rare for her.

"Yes, that all worked fine," he said, dismissing it quickly with a swipe of his hand and then continuing. "Someone saw me, Janette..." he said, fear entering his voice.

"Saw you?" Her voice rose in pitch to indicate a question was being asked, her tone dripping with insincere innocence. Janette was playing dumb, but he knew she knew perfectly well what he meant.

"As a vampire. I just wanted to warn you to keep your eyes open. If I can't handle this, I may be moving suddenly..." his voice trailed off as he began to think of the numerous consequences of being seen, one of which would be having to leave Nat and Schanke behind, something he wasn't prepared to do. This was not good.

Janette shook her head. "But what about Natalie?" she asked, genuinely curious and very unperturbed by the news. Leaving unexpectedly was all part of life as a vampire, so it was nothing new.

Nick gave her a harsh look, his eyes condemning pools of sapphire blue. "Nothing you need to be concerned about..." he snapped, cruelly. He knew that he was being unfair, but he couldn't help it. He was tired, worried out of his mind, and hungry: a bad combination.

Janette put her index finger to his lips. "Oh, Nichola, please tell me that you haven't made a mess of things again?" she asked, although not appearing genuinely interested.

At this point, he didn't care whether she wanted to hear him or not. He needed to talk to someone. His look was grim, his lips forming a flat line that breached the pasty whiteness of his alabaster skin. Boy, had he made a mess of things... "Janette..." he said, his voice cracking slightly with emotion. God, he couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't keep acting like it was all ok, because it most certainly wasn't. He wasn't some invincible stoic!

Janette took him in her arms, silencing him with a fierce embrace. She didn't need to hear the story. It was obvious that Nick needed a shoulder to lean on, although she wondered what Nick could've done that was so bad that Natalie would not be the provider of the shoulder... He shuddered in her arms and she could tell he was crying, albeit he was attempting to hide it.

She ran a hand through his flaxen ruffles of hair in a soothing gesture and she regretted her earlier cruelty. He had come to her for help and she had denied him it in favor of subtle teasing and mockery. She swallowed, and thought, pained, of how the last year had been so hard on him... "Nichola... It will be all right. Natalie is a very forgiving individual..." she said softly, trying to reassure him as she held him. Nick did not reply.

Janette wondered briefly why exactly she was defending her competitor for Nichola's attention, but quelled her thoughts when she remembered how much Nichola had grown attached to the headstrong mortal woman... In fact, in what little time she'd spent with Natalie, the woman had made a good impression on her. She supposed she would always have Nichola one way or another... and that was good enough for her. Unless of course he won his quest for mortality, but that was another matter entirely.

Janette gently stood up with Nick still trembling in her arms and slowly guided him into her private apartment. She sat down on her bed and held him, rocking him back and forth attempting to comfort him as a mother would a crying baby. He was so like a child... So vulnerable and innocent. It was strange that his eight hundred years of sin hadn't taken away that quality that had so attracted her to him originally.

When he finally fell asleep, she gently unlaced and took off his muddy shoes, leaving him to sleep in peace. She yawned, realizing that she would need sleep as well. But first there was something she needed to do. Walking back out her small living room, she put her hands on the phone. Where would she be? She tried the first number that came to mind with no luck. After looking in the phonebook for a second number and failing, she had one last idea. She dialed the number to Nick's loft and was surprised to have the phone answered on the first ring.

"Nick, is that you? Where are you, it's broad daylight out!" the frantic feminine voice of Natalie Lambert poured through the phone line and Janette had to hold the phone away from her ear until Natalie was finished.

"No, Natalie. I'm sorry, this is Janette," she said into the receiver, politely interrupting what was going to be a very long tirade.

There was silence on the other end and then a cautious, "What do you want?" Janette sighed. And she thought she had been a bit jealous.

"I just wanted to let you know that Nichola is fine, he's here at my apartment at the Raven," she said, hoping to dispel Nat's worries.

"Oh," came Nat's response. She sounded very, very jealous. So much for dispelling worries...

Janette was slightly angry that this mortal had so little trust of her, but quickly reasoned that it was only Nat's worry that was making it seem so incredibly apparent. She successfully ignored the many instances which had indeed proven herself very untrustworthy with regard to Nichola in favor of continuing the conversation. "I just wished to let you know. I'm sure that he would not object if you came and talked to him later. You could come now if you feel like trying to wake him up..." Actually, he probably would object, but Natalie did not need to know that.

Silence.

Janette yawned, wondering why Natalie was behaving this way. Perhaps she had misinterpreted the situation. "I assumed you had had a fight or something? Was I wrong in thinking this?" she questioned, desperately fighting the exhaustion growing in her. Staying awake while the sun was up was so hard...

"Well... not exactly. You said I can come now?" Nat's hopeful voice came over the phone. Janette smiled. She'd been right to call then...

"As I said, if you wish to try and wake him up, go right ahead... I, however, need to sleep. I will leave a key for you under the mat outside the door, all right?" Janette yawned again as she received an affirmative. She quickly concluded the conversation and walked rather sleepily back into the Raven with a spare key. The brief pain of stepping out into the sun to place the key under the mat was worth it though. Because now, she could sleep.

He walked slowly into the precinct. They were all staring at him. Staring hard. Cold. Movement was hard under all the criticizing eyes, but he managed to get to his desk and sit down. "Why are you here, Nick? Shouldn't you be moving on?"

Nick turned to face the speaker, Schanke, only to be met with a crucifix not two inches in front of his eyes. He involuntarily snarled as he looked away and covered his eyes. Trembling with fear he sat there with the knowledge that the religious object had not been removed from his presence. He could still feel it like an unseen force on his brow.

"You're a monster, Nick... We all know about your secret. You should just move on and get the Hell away from us." Schanke's words bit into him more than the holy cross did, but he couldn't look. He couldn't bring himself to look.

He felt the offending object push closer towards his exposed face and he fell to the floor. Grimacing in pain as the crucifix touched his skin, he rolled into a protective fetal position. Everyone in the precinct was clapping, cheering Schanke on with healthy words of encouragement.

The cross withdrew and Nick dared to uncurl himself. "Why don't you just move on? We don't want you here..."

Gasping, he looked up at Schanke with a stricken look on his face. "Schanke, why are you doing this?" he asked, praying silently that Schanke wouldn't attack him with the cross again.

"Because you're a monster! You're a killer! Just move on and get away! We don't want you here!" Schanke was yelling now, his face turning a slight shade of crimson. Everyone else in the precinct was staring at him, nodding their heads in agreement.

"No! I'm not like that anymore... I've changed..." his voice came out in a broken sob, but Schanke started to advance upon him despite his insistent claims. Nick got up off the floor and started to back up in a fierce scramble to avoid the oncoming crucifix.

"No you haven't. You're just the same. Get away. Leave," Schanke said in a low tone, the threat in his voice not lost on Nick in the slightest. Nick stumbled backwards until he slammed up against the wall.

"Yes, I agree with you, Schanke. Leave Toronto, Nick," a feminine voice suddenly sounded from somewhere behind his crazed partner.

Nick gasped. It was Nat. She was standing right behind Schanke now. How did she get there? He shook his head, but she was still there, staring at him with a piercing gaze. "Leave, Nick," she repeated, her voice firm and unsettlingly cold.

"No! I've changed!" he screamed in denial. Not Nat... He could deal with Schanke, but not Nat... Anyone but Nat!

"Nick..."

"I swear to God, I'm not a monster!" They weren't listening! They were all pointing their fingers at him and advancing upon him, repeating their entreaties for him to leave.

"Nick..."

Schanke was raising the crucifix as if he was going to use it a weapon. Nick snarled and released the vampire, but was smacked in the face by the painful holy object. He crumpled to the floor, more unwilling to fight back than unable.

"NICK!"

He shot awake, bloodsweat pouring down his face as he screamed aloud in fright. There were warm hands on him. He growled and shrugged them off in terror as he scrambled out of bed, his vision in a red, angry haze of vampire. "I'm not a monster!" he yelled, his voice marred by the deep tones of his vampiric side.

"Nick, it's all right. You were having a nightmare..." a soothing voice assured him through the haze of madness.

He blinked, finally registering his surroundings. He was in Janette's bedroom, and Nat was looking at him worriedly from her position next to the bed. "Nat..." he said in a sob as he stood there shaking. He felt like he was going to burst into a million pieces of shattered soul. He'd had some whopper nightmares... but... Taking a deep breath, he tried to still his violently trembling hands and quiet the raging vampire.

Apparently taking his acknowledgement of her presence as encouragement, Natalie walked over to him and embraced him tightly. This time, her warm hands did not frighten him, and he readily accepted her embrace. Even as she stood there though, he could feel his hunger growing at the sound of her strong heartbeat.

He unconsciously licked his lips before he was finally able to subdue the vampire. Luckily, Nat did not seem to be paying attention to his lacking control. Either that, or she was being very discrete in her acknowledgement of it.

Sighing with a heavy breath, he finally felt the terror of the horrible nightmare receding into the depths of his psyche. It bothered him. A lot. First because it revealed how insecure he was about Schanke knowing 'the secret', and second because it was very plausible. Sort of. At least the part about Schanke getting all freaked out about his partner being a vampire...

"Nick?" It was Nat who finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry about Schanke... I felt it would be better if he knew everything rather than being stuck in the dark like I was for so long. I didn't stop to think about how upset it would make you until it was too late..." she said sincerely.

Nick looked at Nat in shock, disengaging their embrace to obtain eye contact. He had blatantly screwed up earlier by leaving, he'd lost control at a crime scene to the point that Nat had had to cover for him, he hadn't come back to the loft and didn't tell Nat where he was, consequently making her very worried, probably, and he'd... he'd bitten her hence creating a very uncomfortable situation with her and Schanke... And she was apologizing? Good lord...

"Nat, stop. I'm the one who should be apologizing..." he was stopped in mid-sentence when she placed a finger on his lips to silence him.

"No, Nick. Let's just stop now and start on a clean slate, ok? When you didn't come home in the morning, I got to thinking. I realized, belatedly, that diving right in after a year of practical starvation is taxing you beyond your limits, and that you're bound to slip up in the control department. Making love is obviously not easy for you to do, and on top of that you've started work again, you've gone back to bovine blood, and you're trying to deny the vampire whenever it pops up, which is compounding the problem even further..." Nat took a deep breath, recovering from her bout of discourse.

Nick pulled her close and laid his head on top of hers. What on Earth had he done to deserve such a wonderful, understanding woman? "Well even, so," he paused with a grimace as he remembered the two, neat little puncture wounds on his beloved's neck, "I'm sorry." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.

Nat said nothing in response to that, and they merely stood there enjoying each other's company for a short while until Nat once again broke the lengthening silence. "Nick? What exactly is it that has been bothering you lately? You've been unsettled ever since yesterday morning during breakfast, and even a little bit before that..." she questioned, genuinely concerned. Her tone was not the least bit accusing, and it was obvious that she was sticking to her decision to wipe the slates, as they say.

Nick swallowed hard. What exactly, precisely, specifically, was bothering him anyway? The answer was so simple, and yet how could he put it into words without making it sound ridiculous? "I... I..." Nat was looking at him expectantly. He had to think of something that didn't sound lame...

Oh well. He finally made the decision to just dive right in and hope for the best. "At breakfast, when I was kissing you..."

"Which I very much enjoyed by the way..." Nat interrupted, attempting to encourage him and make him feel more comfortable.

He gave her a weak smile and then continued, "I... I was trying really hard not to bite you, but when I saw the bite marks I made earlier I... I... well I liked it!"

Nat looked at him with a raised eyebrow. God, she thought he was being silly... He would have blushed in embarrassment if he could have. She took a deep breath and spoke. "Nick, I don't mean to be a nitpicker, but isn't that natural for a vampire?"

"But see? That's just it. I don't want to enjoy you like a vampire... I... It's... Oh Hell..." He stomped his foot lightly on the lusciously carpeted floor when the words failed to form on his lips. There was so much that he wanted to say, and yet... he just couldn't say it.

"Nick, I know it's hard for you. I really do, but you are a vampire. Granted, we're trying to cure you, but you're not mortal yet, so why don't you just try and live with what you have? You've loved me better than any mortal man I know ever could, both emotionally and physically. That's not something you should be ashamed of..." she said, her eyes imploring him to understand what she was saying. "It's not like I'm asking you to kill again, or act all vamped like last night, just work with what you have, Nick," she added with a slight curve of her lips that hinted at a smile.

"I... I know... I just need some time. I'm trying to get used to this, I really am..." he protested softly, his voice betraying the defeat he felt. Giving in to the vampire was like saying all his past sins were okay, that the years he'd spent struggling against it were all pointless. At least, that's what it felt like to him, even if Nat didn't see it that way.

"I know, Nick. You can have all the time you want, but please, please tell me when something is bothering you rather than keeping it bottled up inside. It'll only hurt you in the long run if you don't express yourself..." she implored him.

Nick nodded slightly in response. It was all so overwhelming. He was so used to keeping all his emotions tucked away for only his viewing and sampling. He wasn't used to having someone to share stuff with. True, he had always had Janette and LaCroix, but they just weren't the same. Janette usually mocked him if it had something to do with his feelings about mortals or about not liking being a vampire in general, and LaCroix... well, LaCroix was, no, had been, he corrected himself, LaCroix.

But now, now there were other things to deal with... "So what did Schanke do after I left? He probably thinks I'm a monster..." /I am a monster, what else is there to think?/ he added in his head.

Nat shook her head. "I think he's okay with it, although I can't say for sure. He did seem a bit disturbed at first, but he looked better by the end of our discussion," she said firmly, almost as if she were trying to convince herself as well as him.

So... Things were undetermined in the Schanke department. Nick swallowed, his tongue thick in his mouth, as his mind flashed back to the terrible events of the nightmare. Hopefully he would be able to fix everything before Schanke got out of hand. It was way too late to hypnotize Schanke into forgetting what he had seen, so whatever happened, whatever course of action Nick chose, would be permanent, with permanent consequences.

And all that left was... It. Whatever had seen him. It sent shivers down his spine just thinking about it, and yet when he thought about it, the presence felt so familiar. He shuddered in Nat's arms despite his attempts to control his sudden fear.

"Nick? Nick what is it?" Nat said, her voice slightly worried. Nick wasn't affected by coldness, and it wasn't even cold in here. So why was he shivering?

Nick looked at Nat, his eyes troubled. "Nat... I... We might have a problem..." He took a deep breath and prepared to relay the events of last night.

"Well partner, I must say you look a bit better today!" Schanke's cheerful voice was very surprising to Nick, although he could detect a hint of nervousness that hadn't been there before. Nick could see that he was being very carefully watched, but there were still no open threats or anything, which he supposed was a good thing.

He eyed Schanke warily as he sat down at his desk in the bustling precinct. Nick knew he couldn't say anything here, what with such a large audience that could listen in... And he knew they were listening in and watching him. There was already a pool going on when he would make his first arrest and reassume the role of supercop extraordinaire. There was also a pool on whether he and Nat would get married and there was also one on when, but that was still going from before. Oddly enough, the pool had never been closed after his alleged death.

When Nick said nothing, Schanke took it as anger and plunged onward in conversation. "Nick, I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean to... pry," the balding detective stated cautiously. Apparently, he thought that Nick was mad at him.

"Don't worry about it. I trust you got the answers you sought?" Nick questioned cautiously, carefully avoiding direct reference to anything that had been said in the morgue the night before.

Schanke nodded, almost imperceptibly. He had gotten more than what he sought, that much was clear to Nick right away. And what was that he saw in his eyes. Fear? Maybe a little. At the back of his mind, he thanked God that Schanke wasn't raving mad like so many people would be... Or at least like the people that he had been careless enough to reveal himself to in the past...

They sat there, simply looking at each other for a brief few minutes, not saying a word. Nick grew more nervous as time went on, but was not going to break the silence if Schanke wasn't... At least not there in the precinct.

"Knight! Schanke!" The captain's voice shot through the silence like a cannon, and Nick almost cringed at the harsh invasion. Both he and Schanke looked up at Cohen's approaching form with some apprehension. Neither of them had exactly been doing work the past few minutes, perhaps she had noticed.

She hadn't. "We've got an ID on one of your bodies. One Melanie Thomas. The husband tried to file a missing person's report," Cohen said flatly as she brushed a stray lock of jet black hair to the side. She had never been one to let her emotions show, and now was no exception.

"Sure Cap, we'll get on it right away," Nick said, the first to recover from her sudden intrusion. He nodded to her when she gave him a sheet of paper with all the particulars on it. And then she was gone.

Nick looked down at the sheet somewhat sadly. Melanie Thomas. Married, age 25. So young... And she had a family. It was terrible when someone died, but for Nick, it felt even worse when he thought about the loved ones left behind. He simply knew too much about losing people close to him to ignore the tragedy of it all like many hardened cops nowadays did.

"Nick? Wakey wakey! C'mon, let's get a move on!" Schanke's voice shook Nick from his thoughts.

"Right, sure," Nick said absently. So many deaths... He dwelled on the past for a few minutes more, until he realized that he was sitting in the Caddy and about ready to drive. Driving while musing wasn't always the best course of action; he knew that from experience.

He forced his eyes onto the road and then his mind to the problem at hand. Melanie Thomas. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Schanke looking at him. What was he thinking? Nick wasn't sure he wanted to know, suspecting that it was most likely bad.

Schanke looked at Nick, attempting to make it not glaringly obvious that he was doing so. His partner looked so... so human. It was hard to imagine that he was so incredibly far from it. How many people had Nick killed? A hundred? A thousand? A million? It was very hard to tell. Nick had said he was... what, eight hundred years old? Even if he only spent 100 years killing, that was still quite a few people.

Schanke shivered at the thought. He knew Nick repented his actions, but he had seen Nick on many a murderous rampage before... He just hadn't associated it with a blood sucking creature of the night... All those times he had gotten there first, caught a perp when it was seemingly impossible, that had all been the vampire. Carefully controlled by Nick. Just what precisely would happen if Nick were to lose control? Just for an instant? He'd already seen some close calls.

He'd also seen the results of a vampire kill, although he hadn't known it at the time. Schanke could recall at least half a dozen instances in which there had been the same bite marks on murder victims that there had been on Natalie. But Nick? Could Nick ever do that? Nat had said that Nick hadn't killed anyone for food in over a hundred years. Interesting distinction. That probably meant he had killed someone.

Thoughts of Nick with his vampiric visage raced through Schanke's head a mile a minute. He managed to scare himself into a cold sweat, and he was certain that Nick could hear his panicked breathing and... and his heartbeat. He'd almost forgotten his partner's extrasensitive hearing. If it weren't for the blood sucking thing, it was almost like he had Superman for a partner.

"Schanke, are you alright? We're here..." Nick's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Here?" Schanke asked, his voice a squeak of surprise.

"Yeah, you know, Melanie Thomas?" Nick said patiently, it was pretty obvious what Schanke had been thinking about, since his hands were unconsciously clasped protectively around his neck. When Schanke saw Nick looking at him, however, he quickly lowered his hands.

"Sorry, let's go," Schanke said, distractedly.

They were in a small suburban area surrounded by quaint little houses, all neatly shuttered and painted in identical block lots. Schanke smiled as he got out of the car. It was like his neighborhood almost.

Nick pointed to a small red brick house, with flower beds lining front. It was rather pretty, from what Schanke could see in the limited light. They walked up the to the entryway and Nick knocked firmly on the door while Schanke looked around more, admiring the pretty lawn. Melanie must've been a gardener. Or maybe the husband. You never knew these days...

A tall, dark haired man with red rimmed eyes answered the door. "Yes?" he said hesitantly to Nick and Schanke.

Schanke was the first one to respond. "Mr. Thomas?" he questioned, although he was certain that this was the guy. He looked like he had been crying a lot. Poor man...

"Yes..." the man said hesitantly.

"I'm Detective Schanke, and this is Detective Knight. We're here about your wife?" Schanke said as he flashed his badge towards the man.

The man nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, right," he exclaimed hurriedly. "I wasn't expecting plainclothes officers. Would you like to come in?"

Nick nodded as both he and Schanke were led into the house. They were both seated in a small foyer before either could utter a word.

"What would you like from me?" the man asked, aware that their visit was not simply a condolence visit.

"Mr. Thomas," Schanke said as he settled in his seat, "What can you tell us about what Melanie was doing on the night she died?"

"Anthony Barre," the man uttered with a low voice, his eyes growing narrow. Nick had seen that look before. It was pure, unadulterated hate.

"Excuse me? Who is Anthony Barre?" Nick asked, perplexed at the simple utterance. What could possibly generate such animosity?

"That's the bastard killed my baby. That is what you wanted to know, right?" Mr. Thomas looked at them with a stone cold glare, his cheeks flushing red as he did so.

"What reason do you have to suspect this man of killing your wife?" Schanke asked, calmly.

"The bloody pagan seduced her. She was at a meeting the night she disappeared. Damnit, I warned her not to go!" Mr. Thomas looked down at his hands. They were shaking. "She wouldn't listen to me..." he whispered, sitting dangerously quiet as a tear slid unchecked down his cheek.

Although he wanted to console the man, Nick tried to ignore it. They had a job to do. "Bloody pagan?" he asked, "Was she in a cult?" If their hypothesis was correct, their job would be just a bit easier.

The man was able to nod before he started wildly sobbing. "I'm sorry about your loss sir, but do you know anything more specific?" Nick asked, trying to get more information from the man and hating himself at the same time for having to be so callous.

Mr. Thomas didn't answer, and merely continued to sob. Schanke attempted to quiet the man with reassurances, but it did no good. The pair of detectives got up and hastily left the house, leaving the weeping man to his privacy. It was so terrible when a family member was left behind to grieve...

Schanke wiped his brow in relief as they closed the door behind him. "Well, at least we have a name to go on now... Watch it be just our luck that there are over a dozen Anthony Barre's listed in Toronto..." Schanke said good- humoredly, trying to lighten up the atmosphere a bit after that saddening encounter with the dead woman's husband.

Nick nodded distractedly as they got into the Caddy and took off back for the precinct. They had some research to do, and luckily he could avoid Schanke's uncomfortable staring now that they had an objective...

The minute that they walked through the door, Cohen flagged them down. "I hope you've made some progress because the press just got a hold of this one and now the mayor's all over me for some results.

"I hate to say it, Cap, but we've got nothing but a name, Anthony Barre, and we haven't had a chance to check him out yet," Schanke replied with a grim look. This case was going slowly. Two days and they only had one lead, and a small one at that.

Cohen gave a slightly miffed nod. "Keep working. I want this solved," she commented tersely, her eyes betraying her annoyance. With that, she walked back into her office, barely suppressing a sigh.

Nick looked at Schanke with wide eyes. Cohen was already cracking down on them hard and it had only been two days. Hell, not even that long. "I'll check Barre in the computer, all right?" he asked. With a nod from Schanke, Nick sat down hurriedly and typed in the query. The guy had no record, he was clean. Not even an unpaid parking ticket. At least there was only one... Thank goodness for small miracles.

It was then that he noticed Cohen rushing from her office and back towards them. "Gentlemen, you might have a problem. Sommers and Westover just got called out three hours ago on this one. This file just got delivered to me," she said curtly as she handed the folder to Schanke with a grim look on her face.

Schanke read the file quickly; Nick could see his eyes darting from left to right. When Nick maneuvered himself behind Schanke to read over his shoulder, his partner let out a low whistle. "Nick, it looks like our lead... is dead," he said in amazement.

"What!?" Nick snatched the file from Schanke and read it for himself. Anthony Barre had been pronounced dead at the scene due to cuts in the wrists, similar to those of the group suicide. There was no identifying symbol on the cheek however. Nick felt his blood run cold when he saw the photos of the guy lying in a puddle of his own blood. The autopsy had not been done yet, but there was little else that would probably be revealed. Nick skimmed down to the bottom of the page, and found that the file was indeed authentic. Right there at the bottom was Nat's signature.

Nick felt his whole world crashing down on top of him. He had been confident that if they found Anthony Barre, his problems would be solved. He would arrest Barre, and he would also be able to determine how much damage control was necessary towards protecting his secret. Now they were back at square one. And he didn't know if Barre was the one who had seen him, or if Barre's unknown killer had been the one to witness his more otherworldly qualities. God, what a mess.

He placed the folder back into Cohen's hands with a look of pure anger. "Is this absolute positive identification? Where was he found?" he questioned his commanding officer. He wanted answers. And he wanted them now.

Cohen nodded an affirmative. "Yes, it's a positive identification. Mr. Barre was carrying his license with him. He was found in an alley in the warehouse district, very near your neck of the woods in fact..."

Nick shook with rage. Someone had killed Barre right near his own home? This was getting awfully close to home, pardon the pun, and he was beginning to suspect that this was all some intricate plan to trap him. Whatever had seen him that night seemed to be taking action, and it definitely wasn't Barre. "I want to see the alley where he was found," he said, his voice low with tightly controlled anger. He would solve this if it killed him.

Schanke was the first to protest. "But Nick, forensics already scoured the area... Just what do you hope to find?" he questioned, a suspicious tone entering his voice.

"Whatever the damn forensics teams missed!" Nick snapped coldly. He could feel the beast rising in his chest, waiting for the hunt to begin... Noticing that Schanke was looking at him strangely, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to stay calm, or all was lost.

"Well, I'll leave you gentlemen to decide on a course of action. Keep me posted, all right?" Cohen questioned, although it was more of a command than it was a query. With that, she disappeared back into her office.

As soon as she had left, Schanke went off on his partner. "Nick? What the Hell is the matter with you?!" Schanke exclaimed wildly. "Jeez, we'll go, you don't need to get all bent out of shape like that..." he said, shaking his head at his silently seething partner.

Nick let out a slow sigh, trying desperately to relax himself. He had a terrible urge to just ditch Schanke and go on a one man crusade to find the murderer. But he knew that would be foolish, in this instance. "I'm sorry Schank, this one is just getting to me a bit..."

Schanke snorted at the understatement. "Yeah, I'll bet," he mumbled under his breath as he grabbed his coat and his keys.

The alley was dark, it's gaping jaws of blackness straining to encompass even further out of its realm. The distant squeaking of various rodent type pests were like screeching in Nick's ears as they echoed off the sides of the decrepit warehouse buildings, but he ignored it with his usual selective hearing. "Is this the right alley, Schanke?"

Schanke, standing beside him silently, nodded slowly in affirmative as he looked around. This didn't look right at all. He checked the address and noted that it was indeed correct.

"Well then where's all the crime scene tape? You'd think there'd a least be someone here..." Nick complained, annoyed that some vandal might have already destroyed any evidence that could have been gotten from this little trip. He looked around with his enhanced night vision, and saw that there was still chalk markings where the body had been in addition to a large red stain on the pavement.

Nick pointed to the chalk with an outstretched hand, "Well there's where the body was. The chalk is still there... but I don't see anything else to indicate that this is a crime scene..." he said absently as he continued to look around.

Schanke strained to peer into the darkness. "Jeez, Nick, I can't see that at all! How can you...? Oh... yeah, right. I forgot," Schanke commented as soon as he remembered the company he was in. Ugh. Vampires. There were just too many of them...

Nick glanced around some more, looking for any clues. Any at all. Something... He looked up towards the end of the alley. Something wasn't right... The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he felt it. The same presence as before. It was approaching them slowly and again Nick was struck with its familiarity.

"Schanke..." he didn't even have a chance to finish uttering a warning before he heard a metallic twang and he rushed in front of his partner to protect him. He gasped as he felt something strike him in the chest with a painful prick. He stumbled, feeling sleepy and incredibly ill all at the same time. "Schaaank, runnn," he managed to say with a slow exhale, like a walkman running out of batteries. He could see his partner just standing there, staring at him dumbly. No... Staring past him. The thing was still approaching.

The ground was coming towards him with an alarming suddenness, and he vaguely saw what looked to be LaCroix as he hit the ground with a painful slap. Wait... LaCroix? He was standing over him, watching him with an evil grin. Nick felt his thought processes slowing down as he blinked with a terrible slowness. "LuuuuCwaaaaa?" he asked, and then he blacked out, never having received an answer.

Schanke stared in horror as his partner dashed in front of him and then proceeded to stumble to the ground. He'd been hit with something... "Nick!" he called out as he bent over his partner.

"Schaaaank, runnn" his partner cried slowly... He'd been drugged! There was a tiny red dart sticking out of Nick's chest, and Schanke wondered briefly what could've possibly brought down a vampire so quickly. He moved to pull the dart out, but stopped when he saw what was approaching him.

It was a tall, blond man with very short hair. He was right in front of them now, and Schanke was immediately struck with the thought that running would be pointless. Not to mention the fact that there was no way he would leave Nick behind helpless like this...

"LuuuuCwaaaaa?" was the last thing his partner uttered before going completely silent. Schanke looked at their strange companion, who was just staring for the moment. He could see the resemblance... But Nick was so out of it he probably would've thought Madonna was Gandhi, so the mistake was understandable.

Schanke looked at the man, daringly, his eyes darting down to Nick and back. Hopefully that drug wasn't lethal... "Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded as he raised his gun from his holster. His sort of captor grinned wickedly.

"Neither is of your concern at this point in time," the man said, his voice low and foreboding. It sent shivers down Schanke's spine. The mysterious man then pointed to a white van that had magically appeared at the mouth of the alley. "Put your friend in the back," he ordered Schanke.

Schanke stayed put, his gun still raised. He dared a look down at Nick. His partner was completely out, and a fine red sheen had developed over his alabaster skin as he shivered. Whatever drug he'd been given, it was obviously a pretty nasty one.

Suddenly, faster than he could see, the man whisked the gun right out of Schanke's hands and into his own. Schanke could only stare in amazement as his captor pointed to him with the gun. He prayed silently that the wacko wouldn't shoot... "If you do not move him, I will just kill him here..." the man said, gesturing menacingly with the raised gun.

Schanke swallowed hard. This guy was dead serious... He bent down and grabbed Nick under the shoulders. After dragging him all the way to the van, he hoisted Nick up and put him in the back. Hopping in behind his fallen partner, he prayed ferociously that he was doing the right thing...

It was cold, and he felt absolutely terrible. He woke up only soon enough to vomit up his last meal onto the cold, hard floor. His veins were burning, and he shook violently.

"Nick? Are you awake?" Schanke's hesitant voice barely cut through his nausea.

/Yes, but I wish to God I wasn't.../ Nick looked up into the darkness with crimson eyes. He shivered uncontrollably and his fangs clicked as they hit his lower incisors. Coughing, he realized his lungs were burning too, but the stench of the dart lying next to him was what gave it away. Garlic. He'd been shot up with garlic.

He vomited again, his stomach contracting wildly, and more of his most recent meal emptied onto the floor. Warm hands grabbed him from behind. "Nick, don't worry. I'll figure some way out of this..." he heard Schanke say worriedly.

"Sch... Schank..." Nick managed to sob as he continued to shake and shiver. Schanke's steadying hands were all that was keeping him from falling over. It was funny, he could hear Schanke's steadily throbbing heart against his back, but he had absolutely no desire to take any blood. The garlic shooting through his system was probably responsible for that too. God, he felt awful.

"God, Nick. I'll figure something out..."

Nick merely stared straight ahead, little driblets of blood slowly making their way down his chin from the corners of his mouth. He'd never been this sick before in his life, at least not as a vampire. But then again, he'd never had garlic poisoning.

The floor below him jerked violently, and it was then that Nick realized that they were moving... "Where... where are we?" He looked around blindly, not able to discern where it was that they were being held. Even scarier, he couldn't tell if it was his vision going, or if it was just exceedingly dark.

Schanke sighed behind him, exasperated. "I don't know! We've been riding in this stupid van for almost an hour!"

Nick felt another wave of nausea and he heaved in Schanke's grasp, but luckily nothing came up. Groaning in misery, he nearly choked on his own spittle as he leaned forward. He was so cold... "God, Nick. What's wrong with you? Tell me what to do!"

Nick snaked his own arms around Schanke's, holding onto them tightly as if his life depended on it. "Gar...lic" was all he could manage to say, but Schanke appeared to get the message. Unable to focus, Nick simply stared off into space through amber tinted vision. He was vaguely aware that Schanke was wrapping him in his coat...

Schanke stared down at his very ill partner with worry after he had made him as comfortable as possible. Although it was not lethal at the moment, Schanke had no idea what the effects of prolonged garlic poisoning would do to a full fledged vampire... or a half fledged one at that, if there was such a thing. He simply didn't know, and not knowing was making him worry more than the actual situation at hand.

Although he had already done so, he nervously fingered the latch on the door of the van. It was still locked as it had been before. Damn. What the heck was he supposed to do? He had a very sick friend who couldn't even stand up, let alone defend himself and a superhuman enigmatic captor who had yet to reveal his intentions...

Schanke's heart lurched in his chest when he felt the van finally come to a stop. Judging from the sound, they were on a gravel road, probably reasonably far from civilization. He heard the door slam.

God, think, Schanke, think! What was he going to do? Footsteps. Wait. A superhuman captor... The latch was opening and Schanke reflexively grabbed the dart that Nick had been shot with. With a mighty heave, he threw it at the door.

The timing was perfect, it hit the strange man in the chest just as he opened the door. He snarled wildly, fangs exposed. Schanke had been right, it was a vampire... "That! Was a very foolish thing to do..." the man said as he ripped the used dart from his chest. The residue on the needle hadn't been enough to incapacitate him, but rather only mildly irritate him.

"Who are you? Why do you want Nick?" Schanke demanded, putting himself protectively between Nick and the enraged vampire as Nick had done for him with the garlic dart... /What are you doing, Donny? You're going to get yourself killed!/ He ignored his conscience and held his ground as the vampire stared coldly at him.

"I am Infaustus. I want revenge for the death of my father!" the vampire said angrily. The death of his father? What was this, some kind of whacked out Hamlet?

"Um, Nick here hasn't contributed to the death of anyone recently that I know of... Could you be more specific?" Schanke asked Infaustus. /You suicidal moron... You think he's going to answer that?/

The vampire just smiled and grabbed Schanke harshly by the arm, throwing him onto the ground with unnatural force. Damn. Schanke realized he'd gotten in way over his head. He simply wasn't strong enough to fend off a wacko vampire. Shaking his head, he watched in horror as the vampire picked up a helpless Nick, who lay limp in the enemy's strong arms.

"Please, please don't hurt him! There must be some way we can work this out!" Schanke pleaded as Infaustus carried his vulnerable partner into a nearby wood cabin. It felt weird to be completely ignored... It was if Infaustus thought of him as a mere fly, annoying yet easily slapped. However, it struck Schanke that that was exactly what a mortal was to a vampire...

Schanke raced after the vampire, wondering why Infaustus was taking so long. Didn't people who wanted revenge generally wish to carry it out quickly? None of this was making sense...

Once inside the small unwindowed one room cabin, Infaustus placed Nick on a long wooden table and laid him out lengthwise. It looked oddly like a funeral pyre... Infaustus turned to face Schanke, who was painfully noticing that Nick wasn't making any move to defend himself whatsoever. He was just lying there shaking.

"There is no way to work this out, foolish mortal. I've waited for this moment for far too long to have you negotiate your way out of it. It is my right of vengeance!"

Schanke just looked at him dumbly. Right of vengeance? This was all sounding just a bit too strange, but then it occurred to him how long this vampire may have been trailing them, waiting and planning to strike... "Was this entire cult case a ruse?"

The vampire smiled, reveling in his own supposed cunning. "Yes, I knew that it would draw him out... Anthony was a pawn... His disciples were easily manipulated into thinking that they must die for their God, Abbadon..."

Schanke swallowed hard. This vampire had killed over a dozen people, just to get to Nick... It made sense though. A vampire could easily convince a person to kill himself or herself with a little hypnotic push... But... The pieces still didn't quite fit... If this were true, why was he waiting to kill him and Nick? Why bother driving fifty miles or so outside the city?

Infaustus laughed at Schanke's look of horror. "I shall enjoy hunting you..." he said as he turned back to Nick. He harshly slapped at Nick's face. "Fight back, you fool! I want a challenge!" he roared.

Nick looked up at him weakly, but was obviously unable to move much if at all. He merely turned his head to the side and vomited all over Infaustus's black pants and shirt.

Infaustus wiped at his shirt disgustedly with his hands. "You little..." he screamed, unable to complete his sentence he was so enraged.

Schanke began to realize what was going on... It was a hunt that this vampire wanted. Not just a kill! He'd put Nick on a wild goose chase with the cult just to draw him in for the kill. And now that he had him, he wanted to delay even further by getting Nick to fight... And Schanke vaguely realized that he was next, brought along as a finale in this vicious little scheme of fulfilling the vampire's urge to hunt.

He was startled out of his reverie by Infaustus's harsh attempts to rouse Nick. "Come on, you pathetic little whelp! Get up!" Infaustus yelled as he backhanded Nick with a lighting fast slap of his hand. His nails drew bloody scratches across Nick's face and Schanke could hear Nick moaning pitifully.

Schanke looked wildly around for something, anything! But there was nothing. Nothing that he could use at all. The sparsely furnished cabin contained that one table that Nick was on, as well as a chair and a few other necessities, but nothing that Schanke could possibly use as a weapon... It was hopeless. If he were to try and physically intervene as is, he would be tossed aside, just as before.

"Why... are you doing this... to me?" Nick managed to moan despite the onslaught, the words weeping off his lips as if they themselves were painful. He looked up at Infaustus with pleading eyes as he continued to tremble, his teeth still clicking as they chattered. Anything to make him stop...

Infaustus looked at Nick with rage. "You don't remember do you? He never told you!" he exclaimed, the anger and jealousy dripping from his words.

Paris 1226 A.D.

The blood trickled slowly down from his busted lip as he stared up at LaCroix from the cold stone floor. Janette was standing in the corner quietly, her brown hair a flaming halo around her head, and although her eyes filled with a quiet rage, she was not making any move to participate. Her dress was hanging in rags, torn from her previous struggle and barely covering her sinuous curves. Her left eye was slightly puffy where he had hit her as well... But that was no reason for LaCroix to get all upset!

"LaCroix! Please stop, I won't do it again..." he pleaded as he picked his broken body up off the floor. LaCroix looked at him with a cold glare, and Infaustus could feel his own heartbeat speed up to an almost detectable rate in response. "Please, Master, I was wrong. I won't do it again!"

LaCroix growled deep in his throat, his eyes red with fury as he slapped his sniveling vampire child back to the floor with a resounding crack. "What you have done is inexcusable! You will NEVER bother Janette again with your overeager sex drive!"

Infaustus shuddered involuntarily, never having seen LaCroix so angry in his four hundred years of vampiric life...

"I'm sorry! Please, please forgive me!" he said, sobbing.

LaCroix stared at him with utter amazement. "You virtually raped her," he boomed, pointing to Janette, "when the very reason why I brought her across was that so she would be able to protect herself from men like you, and you expect me to forgive you!"

Infaustus laid himself on the floor in a submissive position, trying desperately to avoid LaCroix's wrath. "I'm sorry! I swear on my life, I'm sorry! Please, don't hurt me! I won't do it again, I swear, I swear!" he pleaded as he looked down to the floor with tears in his eyes.

"You're right, you won't do it again," LaCroix threatened menacingly. "Get out of my sight, I never want to see you again!" He snarled and pointed to the heavy wooden door with his index finger.

"But, LaCroix! You can't... Please, no!" he insisted, his tone begging forgiveness, but it was obvious to him that LaCroix was not planning on yielding to his pleas.

The room grew deathly quiet for an instant, almost as if time had stopped, but when Infaustus looked up into Janette's seething eyes, he knew it was over. The hate flowing though the precarious link between them was suffocating. LaCroix would never ignore such a broadcast, and whatever Janette wanted, Janette got.

Sure enough, LaCroix stared at him with malice and threatened him again. "I let you do as you wished, I protected you, I cared for you and this is how you repay that, by taking advantage of your younger sister! I will not be so foolish as to make the same mistakes with my next child! Now get out!" He flashed his fangs with a wide grimace, his snarl rumbling deeply in his broad chest.

Infaustus looked at his vampire father with red blood tears in his eyes. "But I'm sorry..." he whispered on a breath of regret, completely ignoring the pain of his wounds. A tear slipped down his cheek unhindered. He only wanted to be accepted and loved...

"Get. Out," LaCroix said once more, his tone oozing low with quiet fury.

Infaustus could tell he wasn't going to get another warning. It was actually surprising that he was still alive now. He fled out the door, tears streaming down his face. Somehow he would gain LaCroix's acceptance... Somehow...

The Present

Infaustus came back to the present seething. For a few seconds he just stood there shaking with uncontrollable rage until he finally lost himself to his anger, erupting out of the haunting silence like a crazed animal. His eyes a disconcerting scarlet, he whipped around and smashed the chair by the table to the floor, where it broke into dozens of splintered pieces. "Do you have any idea how that made me feel?!" he screamed as he turned back to his captive.

"Rejected by my own father! I tried so hard to gain back his acceptance, but once he brought you across he wouldn't even talk to me, even when you were off on some damn idealistic quest to get away from him." Infaustus was ranting now, his hands making wild gestures as he paced back and forth haphazardly.

Schanke could see that he was dangerously close to the edge, but Infaustus continued. "And then, on top of all that, I had to watch you and Janette... consummate! Why was I punished and not you?! He always liked you when he should've liked me! Why didn't he like ME?" Infaustus's voice had reached a terribly high pitch as he finished his sentence.

Nick watched Infaustus with worried fright. LaCroix had had another vampire child, whom neither Janette nor LaCroix had told him about, who had been disowned by LaCroix for abusing Janette. He had nothing to do with any of it. Hell, this had happened before he even knew vampires existed. And now it was going to kill him, and then Schanke.

"You ruined my life and then you killed LaCroix before I could get back in his good graces. He always liked you, even when you were being a recalcitrant little brat. He let you be blatantly disobedient and he condemned me for ONE lousy broken rule. It's NOT FAIR! I want you dead slowly and painfully, you little bastard!" That was when he snapped, plunging off the fine edge he'd been walking on and into the abyss below. He spun around and prepared to make a final strike, his teeth and eyes gleaming in the darkness of the dimly lit cabin.

Nick started to sit up, able to move only because he was fueled by his will to stay alive. Infaustus, however, forcefully pushed him back down onto the table and leaned over, his fangs getting dangerously close to Nick's neck. Nick was able to squirm a little bit in his grasp, but came short of actually escaping from Infaustus's iron grip.

Schanke watched the scene in utter horror, his mind racing. He had to do something. Something... Wait! "You're wrong! I killed LaCroix!" he screamed out, praying that it would get the crazed vampire's attention.

It did. Quicker than Schanke could see, Infaustus turned, his eyes filled with surprise... "What?!" he said, his voice low and full of disbelief, lower lip quivering as if he was about to explode.

"I killed LaCroix..." Schanke repeated, this time quieter, his voice slightly regretful. He actually did kind of regret it, he wouldn't be human otherwise.

"No! That's impossib..." Infaustus was interrupted by a loud, sick sounding thud followed by a wheeze as the breath was knocked out of his lungs. Infaustus looked down at his chest in horror at the spike of wood sticking through it. He flailed and grasped at the stake, his lips forming a tiny 'o' of surprise as he let out a suppressed scream.

For several agonizing moments, Schanke thought Infaustus was going to pull the offending piece of splintered wood out, but his fears were unfounded. After taking a wobbly step forward as if he were teetering on a balance beam, the insane vampire stumbled to the ground with a resounding thud and went still.

Nick, who stood shakily behind the fallen vampire, looked at Schanke for a brief moment with pain filled eyes of crimson. In his hands were the remaining splinters of chair that had come off when he had thrust the stake home, blood dripping off his fingers and palms where they had chafed his skin. Clutching his bleeding hands towards his abdomen protectively, he gasped in pain, the garlic roller- coastering through his system wreaking havoc.

"Nick! You did it..." Schanke's excited voice trailed off as he watched his partner. After remaining on Schanke for a moment, Nick's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the floor in a heap next to Infaustus. "Nick!" Schanke screamed as he ran over to his fallen partner, pushing Infaustus's body to the side in the rush to get there.

Nick looked up at him, his fangs displayed in an inhuman grimace of pain. "Nick, come on. Don't quit on me now!" Schanke yelled as he cradled Nick in his arms, shaking his partner with ferocity. Damnit, he couldn't lose him now!

Without thinking, he thrust his wrist in front of Nick's slackened jaws. "Nick, take some of my blood, it'll help you heal!" Schanke exclaimed in a sudden flash of insight. Why hadn't he thought of this in the van on the way over? Blood, for vampires, was the ultimate panacea.

Nick shook his head weakly, despite the obvious longing in his eyes. "No... can't..." The words were quiet, barely recognizable. It tore at Schanke's heart. Damnit all, but Nick was trying to sacrifice himself for him...

Schanke kept his wrist firmly in place despite Nick's stubborn refusal. "Come on, Nick!" he cried out, frustrated. "You'll die!" It was true, he could see Nick visibly fading. All the abuse his body had taken without any relief was finally cashing in... His scarlet eyes had a glassy look about them, only further sickening the white pallor of his skin. It was obvious that Nick could barely hold his head up, but he simply wasn't making any move to feed.

It was then that Schanke did something he hadn't done in a very long time. A tiny, salty tear streamed down his cheek, unhindered. "Come on, Nick. Don't check out on me!"

A gift from the heavens, he felt Nick weakly grasp his arm and then a small prick of pain as Nick's fangs bit into his flesh. Although at first there was nothing, he began to feel a weak sucking sensation as Nick slowly started to take his blood into his mouth. Schanke looked down and grimaced at the slight pain, somewhat disturbed by the whole idea of it all, but he quickly quelled his feelings. It was worth it.

Nick ached everywhere, in places that he didn't even know were capable of hurting. Groaning slightly, he cracked an eyelid open and was immediately greeted by searing pain. With a sharp intake of breath, he closed his eye and tried once more to open it. Finally successful, all he saw was blackness. Warily, he opened the other eye, but the blackness remained. Why couldn't he see?

Sitting up groggily, he shrugged off the familiar coat that had been laid on top of him. His head was spinning faster than a merry-go-round, and he took several deep breaths to quell it. He really felt quite sick.

Clutching his temples as a wave of nausea raced through his system, he muffled a scream. When it finally passed, he began to look around more thoroughly. Where was he? It was very dark, and his eyes were for some reason refusing to adjust, he couldn't see a thing. What if he was blind? He tried not to think about that.

He started to panic a bit, especially when he finally remembered the events of last night. Schanke... Where was Schanke? Nick remembered that he had taken some of his blood, but his memories stopped at the point where he had bitten into Schanke's flesh and begun to drink.

"Schanke?" he called into the darkness as loud as he could muster. The effort only brought a cough. God, where was Schanke? Millions of horrible scenarios began flowing through his head, the most prominent one being that of him killing his best friend... He just couldn't remember what had happened!

He stood up with some effort, his hands shaking and his head screaming with a whopper of a headache. "Schanke?" he called again, groping blindly in the darkness. Placing his hand on the wall, he was greeted with immediate lancing pain that started at the tips of his fingers and shot up his arms. He cried out, unable to suppress it as he reflexively pulled his hand away from the wall. Both of his hands were still riddled with splinters, the sudden throbbing in them only now bringing that memory to the surface.

Although sick with pain, he managed to scale his way along the wall. It was small cabin, if at least that's where he still was, because he hit the corner very quickly. "Schanke!" Nick called again, his voice pitiful like the bleat of a lost lamb. He was greeted only with a cruel silence, and he couldn't help but let out a small sob of grief. If he had killed Schanke he would never be able to forgive himself. Never. Schanke had trusted him implicitly not to take too much...

A latch clicked somewhere in front of him and he stilled immediately. Something was coming. He reached out with his enhanced senses and was able to detect the hint of a human heartbeat despite the ringing in his ears. A doorknob turned. He wished he could see! "Schanke?" he called out weakly into the darkness. Please let it be Schanke...

There was a blast of agony as the room was suddenly filled with the intense, hellish light of day. Nick hissed, his eyes suddenly turning an ungodly shade of reddish amber in a combination of fright and pain. As the searing light touched his skin, he instinctively huddled himself into the smallest ball he could manage, trying to protect the vulnerable skin on his face and other exposed areas.

The door shut almost immediately, luckily before any serious damage could be done. "Nick! Ohmygod, Nick! I didn't know you were right in front of the door!" Schanke shouted as Nick began to sob and shake. Relieved and at the same time terrified, Nick found himself unable to stop himself from trembling. Letting out a strangled sob, he peered out over his arms and into the room beyond. It was dark again.

Nick remained in the corner trembling. At least now he knew why he couldn't see before... There was no light to see with. He heard movement next to him and was unable to stop himself from ducking back behind the protective shielding of his own arms, his survival instinct overriding the knowledge that he was in the company of friend and not foe. He felt Schanke's warm hand on his shoulder. "Nick, I'm really sorry! I thought you were in the corner where I left you... Are you all right?" Schanke asked guiltily.

Nick finally allowed himself to uncurl and he looked up at Schanke, or at least up at where he had heard his voice come from. "I'm..." he said feebly, "sick..." His voice sounded very distant and lost, even to his own ears. It would be a wonder if Schanke could even understand him.

Schanke's hand immediately withdrew and Nick sat there confused for a second until he figured out what Schanke was doing. Light flooded the cabin. Thankfully, it was not the painful sunlight that had so surprised him earlier, but rather that of a dim overhead lamp. "Jeez, Nick. You look terrible!"

"Thanks..." Nick said rather dryly. At least he wasn't as bad off as before, when Infaustus was still alive and kicking.

Schanke chuckled softly as he walked back over to Nick. Nick looked up at him and noticed that Schanke didn't even appear to be fazed by the fact that his eyes were an angry amber and his fangs were down. It was a good thing, since Nick wasn't sure he had the energy to suppress the vampiric visage as it was... "Nick? Do you think you can hold out until this evening? I just checked the van; it still works. We can leave as soon as the sun sets..."

Nick nodded weakly, suddenly very tired. Garlic did enough terrible things to him when he was just smelling it... When it was running rampant through his bloodstream, it was ten times worse by far. Thankfully, Schanke's blood had dissipated the poisons in his system enough to get him out of the woods.

The strange thing was that he didn't feel the least bit hungry. In fact, just the thought of eating made him feel queasy. Before he could stop himself, his stomach heaved wildly and he clenched his mouth shut, his fangs making little cuts in his lips he was exerting so much pressure.

Schanke sat down next to him and rubbed his shoulder. "Here, sit like this," he commanded. He sat with his legs bent at about a 90° angle, his head between his knees and his arms gripping the undersides of his knees to show Nick what he meant.

Nick hesitantly did as he was told. "Now take a bunch of deep breaths."

For an instant, Nick merely stared at the floor, what little he could view of it from between his legs. Why on Earth was Schanke telling him to do all this? Riddled with doubt, Nick inhaled as fully as he could muster. He felt Schanke begin to rub his back soothingly and to Nick's utter surprise, his nausea all but vanished. He still wasn't about to test it by eating anything, but it was gone...

He looked up at Schanke, his eyes asking his question for him. Schanke looked at him sheepishly, "It always works with Jenny. I thought I'd try it on you."

So. It was one of those nifty parenting things he'd never learned. Nick stared at Schanke, amazed. "Why?" he, asked simply, unable to voice his feelings.

"Why what?" Schanke asked, slightly confused by Nick's vague question.

"Why are you helping me?" Nick asked softly, his vocal chords refusing to cooperate with his urgings to work properly. "I thought you hated me..." he said, disbelief evident in his hoarse tone.

Schanke raised an eyebrow in surprise. It was true that he hadn't been acting all that wonderfully about Nick's ... dental problems lately, but even then there was no way that he could hate Nick... "Nick, I was just having a bit of trouble for awhile. I've gone through life believing that Santa Claus wasn't real, the tooth fairy was just another way to make a quarter, and that vampires were only a part of Bram Stoker's whacked imagination," he paused to look at Nick, who was listening to him intently.

"I've had my reality flipped upside down, and I thought I was ok with it, but that was before I saw you making active use of your vampiric side... I... How can I explain this?" Schanke said, frustrated that he was having trouble with this.

Nick looked down at the floor, slightly ashamed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to be so uncomfortable around me..."

Schanke lightly hit Nick in the arm, careful not to hurt him in his fragile state. "Quit feeling guilty for a second and let me finish, jeez!" Nick couldn't help but smile at that. Same old Schanke...

Schanke took a deep breath and continued. "Let's just say, that I realized that you're still the same guy. The one who never bought me dinner, and skipped out on me all the time at work..."

Nick looked down at the floor again, the ache in his body slowly being replaced by one in his heart. Schanke looked at him seriously. "The one who saved my life countless times. The one who's always been there when I've needed support, be it with Myra or some other personal matter. The one who's been my best friend for the latter part of my police career..."

Nick looked up at Schanke in amazement. He'd never even begun to think that Schanke thought of him as his best friend... Nick had never really been anyone's best friend before, with the exception of Nat, and it felt kind of nice...

"Look, Nick. I may not be exactly comfortable with this for awhile, but that has nothing to do with you as a person. Just give me some time to adjust, and I'll be all right. I mean, when I saw Infaustus, I realized that vampires are exactly like people. Some are good and some are bad. I'm just glad I've gotten stuck with one of the good ones on my side..."

Nick felt like he was going to cry. "Thanks, Schanke. I really needed to hear that..." he said, his voice choked up with emotion.

"Hey! What are partners for?" Schanke asked him with a smile so wide it was threatening to wrap all the way around his head.

Nick smiled back. They were for a lot more than he had originally assumed, that much was clear.

"Hey Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask this for a long time, but what is up with Janette!? She's your sister and you have no qualms about having a relationship with her... I mean, the other dude had no qualms either... but he was crazy anyway! You have no excuse..."

Nick sighed as Schanke's babbling voice got lost somewhere in the back of his mind. This was going to be a very long day.

Nat paced back and forth anxiously. The sun had set over an hour ago, and Nick was still not home. Her original assumption that he had gotten stuck somewhere on the job with Schanke, since he had also not returned last night, had completely evaporated. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Nick would've called. The last time he hadn't called had been a prelude to a year of pain. Well, that and when he had gone to the Raven the night before last night.

She glanced at her watch for the second time in about five minutes. He had warned her about a possible hunter... What if he was lying staked somewhere in a deserted building, unable to call for help? What if he was... what if he was dead? No... She firmly tossed that theory aside in her mind. She would not allow herself to believe he was dead.

Suddenly, she heard the lift engage, and its metallic hum echoed through the loft like quiet thunder. Nat practically leaped off her feet and flew for the door. Nick, please be Nick. Please please please...

She was greeted with a very haggard looking Nick, being guided carefully by Schanke. "Nick! Schanke! What happened?" she cried worriedly, although she couldn't help but feel relieved that Nick was still among the land of the living. Barely. Nick looked like he was about to collapse, and she could see the lines of pain etched in his normally relaxed face.

Nick looked up weakly, his eyes rimmed with exhaustion, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Schanke beat him to it. "Sorry, Nat. We had an interesting run in with some garlic, a crazed vampire, and, well, 'nuff said," Schanke said with a slightly humorous tone, as he guided Nick to a chair at the table.

Nat was slightly distressed when she saw how much Nick was using Schanke for support, and she instantly went up and grabbed her medical bag from the closet in the bedroom. She had put it there when she had moved in, knowing how often Nick came home with an extra piece of lead in him. At least now it was going to come in handy.

When she came back down the stairs, she saw Schanke giving Nick a bottle of blood out of the refrigerator without a thought of single look of disgust, and she smiled instantly. Schanke was apparently coming around.

"Thank you," Nick said very hoarsely, and then he proceeded to guzzle the whole bottle down without compunction.

"Sure thing," Schanke said as he watched Nick down the whole thing in mere seconds, slightly amazed that such a thick liquid could be drunk that fast... He offered Nick a second bottle when he saw the look of hunger on his partner's face. Apparently the nausea that had staved off his hunger before was gone. Nick drank that second bottle more slowly, his eyes closed as the exhaustion threatened to take him.

Natalie took the moment of silence that followed to break into the conversation. "Tell me specifically what happened, ok?" she asked Schanke, since Nick didn't really appear up for conversation. In fact, it looked like he was sleeping, despite the fact that he was sitting in a hard, narrow chair. Even his hands were still clasped around the second, half empty bottle.

After Schanke had told her exactly what had happened, the first thing she decided to treat were Nick's hands, which were very swollen and red. She unclasped one of Nick's hands from the bottle and turned it over, gasping when she saw the dozens of variously sized wooden splinters... Even her unshakable doctor's objectivity failed her as a tear sprung to her eye at the sight. "Hey, Nat? I'd love to stay and watch you make Nick wish he hadn't let you move in with him, but I really need to get home. Myra will be worried sick..."

Nat laughed, heartily. Trust Schanke to lighten the mood of an otherwise uncomfortable moment. "Sure, Schank. I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

Schanke nodded with a grin and left rather quickly. Grabbing a pair of tweezers, Nat turned back to the task at hand. "Nick?" he didn't respond, he was out cold. So. He had fallen asleep. She smiled briefly, but turned serious again as she pulled a splinter out with the tweezers. That promptly woke him up. "OW! Nat, jeez!" he cried hoarsely, holding his affected hand to his chest possessively.

"Sorry Nick, but the splinters have to come out or your hands will never heal!" Nat exclaimed, somewhat amused that big bad vampire Nick was acting like this over a few splinters... ok, well a lot of splinters. And a heap load of garlic... He looked at her balefully and grudgingly gave her his hand to do with as she wished. It pained her to hear his muffled groans and strangled sobs as she pulled each splinter out, but it was necessary.

Once she had finished, she approached the more hard to treat problem. "Nick, how do you feel? I can't really help you with the garlic, you'll have to ride that out..." she said worriedly. His face was pale and slick with bloodsweat, a very prominent indicator of his poor state of health.

"I'll be ok in awhile, I guess... I still ache everywhere..." he said quietly, wincing when he set his hands on the cold, black table.

It was odd to see him so ill, especially when he usually healed so quickly, and Nat nodded sympathetically. He probably would've been miserable with just a common cold, since he was such a stranger to illness. And this was far worse. "I could rustle up some curare... That'd put you out through the worst of it," she suggested, but she knew he wouldn't want to do that.

He didn't, and he shook his head rather quickly at the suggestion. Nat frowned slightly when he sighed and placed his head in his hands on the table, visibly fading. He looked absolutely awful.

After some gentle prodding, Nat helped him over to the couch, wisely not even attempting the stairs. As he allowed himself to sink into the comfortable black leather, he smiled in thanks.

She kissed him lightly on the cheek and was about to leave him to sleep the garlic off, when he spoke. "Nat?" he called, his voice weak with exhaustion. He was really fighting sleep hard and it looked like he was losing pathetically.

"Yes?" she asked, curious as to what was keeping him from his much needed slumber.

"Are we ok?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, Nick," she commented with a smile, "We're ok." He nodded his head with a grin and allowed himself to drift off. Nat smiled, suddenly feeling relaxed as a carefree feeling washed over her. Yes. They were definitely ok.

Nick cringed as he walked into the precinct. Nat had said she'd warned the Captain when he'd first come back to work that he might need to take a few days off now and then to readjust at first, but if he knew Cohen, she would not be happy about him taking two nights off after disappearing the night before. All eyes were on him. Something must be up. He looked to his and Schanke's desks. Schanke wasn't in yet. Damn.

He'd barely walked three feet in the door when the Captain nearly mowed over him, her eyes cold with accusation. "Uh... Sorry, Cap. I uh... I forgot to book off the other night," he explained before she could even open her mouth. "Old habits die hard?" he offered weakly, knowing the excuse was almost as pathetic as the ever common 'my dog ate my homework'.

To his surprise, Cohen actually smiled. He painfully noticed that the whole entire precinct was quiet. How would Cohen punish the errant detective? Nick was sure that was going to be a new pool, very soon. The grin on his Captain's face was making him exceedingly uncomfortable, and he felt like shrinking into the floor.

Finally, after what seemed like years, she spoke. "Good to have you back, Knight. Don't let it happen again," she said as she clapped him on the shoulder. What? It felt like the twilight zone...

He dumbly nodded and went to sit at his desk. "Oh, and Knight?" the Captain asked. He looked up at her, dreading that she was finally going to realize she'd let him off scot-free and figure out some way to punish him horribly for disappearing the first week on the job... "Good job on the case," she said, complimenting him.

Huh? "Huh?" he asked with confusion, not sure what she was referring to. He had never solved his case, and he would never be able to, since the murderer was a vampire that was currently ashes in a small brook somewhere outside Toronto...

Cohen looked at him, slightly surprised. "Didn't you know? The autopsy report on Barre came in. It was suicide. The uniforms searched his house last night after you disappeared and they found a busload of stuff indicating his involvement in a cult. They even found the knife that was used in the ceremony with his prints all over it. You and Schanke found your killer. Congratulations," she said, and then she was gone into her office.

Schanke must've known that the case had been solved! He'd gone to work the night before, while Nick had still been recovering. Why that evil, no good... He must've refrained from telling him that just to make him sweat a little... Oh well. He supposed he could let it slide, seeing as how Schanke had just saved his life.

"Hi, Nick!" Schanke chose that precise moment to walk through the front doors and wave. As the balding detective walked up to him, he gave Nick a once over and smiled. "Feeling better?"

Nick smiled in response. This night was starting to look very good on a scale of one to ten. Definitely at least a nine.

THE END