Another Valentine's Day

Written for the NNPack 'Slayer Challenge'
May 1999

Another small wrapped package was waiting on the desk when Natalie entered the lab. Seven nights in a row, a gift was waiting. Anonymous gifts... although she had her suspicions. And so did the rest of the morgue staff. With Valentine's Day only a few days away, her secret admirer was most likely a certain homicide detective who seemed to have difficulty expressing his feelings towards her.

"Oh, what has the Valentine fairy left tonight?" Grace's excited voice broke through Natalie's reverie as she stared at the gold wrapping.

"I don't know. Give me a minute." She replied with a good-natured shrug, pulling off the tissue paper swiftly and opening the square box to reveal a crystal angel.

"Oh, Natalie. That is so pretty." She sighed. "I didn't know you collected angels." She said pointing to the growing collection of ceramic, glass and carved angels that now lined the file cabinet by her computer.

"I didn't know I did either, but I suppose that I do now." she said with a wry tone. It was true that her secret admirer was on a theme... and she could certainly see Nick referring to her as his 'mortal angel'. Maybe it was time she talked to him about that pedestal... but he'd been avoiding her all week. He always acted strange when Valentine's Day approached. As if there was something special about that day...

****
The dream started pleasantly enough. Fragments of a tender caress, a loving word, a tentative kiss... and then terror. She could not move. Her will was not her own. She was surrounded by angry voice... cold, unfeeling voices.

Natalie awoke with a start, drenched with sweat, her pulse racing. The dream, again... every day for the last week... the same dream. It did not change, but every day there was a little more detail. It was a little clearer... she remembered a little more.

"I do not love this woman" the harsh coldness to Nick's voice hurt, even though it was a dream. Why would she dream of Nick being so cold, unfeeling?

****
"You look awful" Grace observed, watching Natalie stumble and lean on the steel autopsy table. Thankfully it had been a quiet evening. She had just started her first case of the night. A traffic accident- nothing that would bring Nick over to the morgue. At least not when she was around... another gift had been waiting- this time a carved ivory angel... he was certainly on a theme..

"Didn't sleep much today." Natalie replied with a yawn staring at the side lab bench, suddenly seeing a vase filled with white roses sitting there.... And with a blink it was gone. "Weird dreams, too."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

"I don't think so, but thanks for the offer" she replied with a sigh, leaning on the table.

"It might help." Grace pleaded. "I can tell something is bothering you."

"Nothing that you can help with." Natalie said firmly, noticing Grace's speculative glance to the angel collection. Evidently Grace had very accurately guessed who the angels came from, and had a good idea who was in her dream...

****
Finished with the autopsy, and accompanying paperwork, as well as completing reports for a couple of her pending cases, Natalie had dozed off, leaning on her elbows. Unnoticed, Nick and Tracy came into the lab. Seeing her sleeping, Nick reached over and gently touched her shoulder. "Nat?"

She jumped, her eyes wide with fright. "What? Who?" Seeing Nick's smiling face, she playfully swatted him with a file. "Don't do that...."

"Oh, but you looked so cute, sleeping at your desk." He teased. "What's up? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. No problem." she said firmly, her eyes narrowing. "And what brings you to my bed and breakfast?"

"Fine?" he questioned. "Since when do you fall asleep on duty?" Seeing her pallor, the dark circles under her eyes, he nodded toward Tracy. "We came over for the Allan report. Tracy's going to tie it up, if you're done."

Rifling through the files that had slid around her desk during her nap, she pulled one out and handed it to Nick. "Tracy is going to wrap it up?" she asked suspiciously. Somehow, she did not think that the younger detective had that in mind.

"Uh, huh.." he said, handing it to Tracy and nodding toward the door. Waiting until Tracy had closed the door behind her, he turned to Natalie. "OK, Nat. Talk to me..."

"About what?" she sighed.

"Let's see... you've been avoiding me all week. You fall asleep at work."

"Umm... I do believe that it is YOU that has been avoiding ME. Except to leave me goodies..." she nodded toward the angel choir that watched over them.

"Guilty as charged on that one." He said sheepishly, pulling her up to sit next to him on the desk. "But that still doesn't answer my question."

"I'm not sleeping. Weird dreams." She said quietly, not meeting his steady gaze. There was something in his deep blue eyes that made her insides melt.

"Dreams? Of what?" he asked with concern, capturing her hands in his. He might not be able to hypnotize her, but he could offer her some very human comfort.

"I said they were weird, Nick." she sighed and began to recite what she could recall.

It was with a growing heaviness that Nick listened to her describe their Valentine's Day two years previous in exact detail. Conversations. Sounds. So despite LaCroix's drugs and his hypnotism, she remembered. It was only a matter of time before she knew that it was not a dream. Perhaps the time had come for the truth. Wrapping his arms loosely around her waist, her back leaning against his chest, he spoke softly, kissing her hair gently. "Nat, are you sure that this is a dream?"

She whirled around to face him, still within the loose circle of his arms. "What are you saying? Have you been messing with my mind?" she asked with uncommon fury, seeing the guilty look that flashed across his face.

"Nat, what you are experiencing... what you are remembering." He said slowly, letting his eyes meet hers. "It is real. It did happen" his voice was quiet, sad. "I did not mess with your mind. LaCroix did. He is old enough to control anyone. You remember meeting him at Azure?"

She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. In a strangled voice, she said softly "Yes. He gave me champagne and we talked... about love..." she shivered with the memory. His powerful aura had pulled her into his hypnotic gaze immediately. And well, she did not drink champagne often...
'
"Yes. About love..." he repeated. "And how our love is impossible."

"Why, Nick?" she asked suddenly, "He said that you might mix minds with mortals, but anything else could be fatal... well, I am not asking you for more."

"It's not that, Nat." he said with a sigh. "No... you see, I had an agreement with LaCroix. An old one." He hesitated, holding her hands tighter and looking off in the distance. "I stopped him from bringing a woman he loved into our world, so that he could keep her forever... and he vowed that if I ever fell in love with a mortal woman, he would take her from me."

"And I am that woman?" Natalie asked hesitantly. Nick had never, to her knowledge, professed love to her. And to find out that it was because his vampire master was blackmailing him over some ancient argument.

"Yes." he nodded, holding her close, savoring her scent, her warmth.

"Don't you see, Nick? He has won. He has kept us apart..." her mind was racing. "He has done something worse than bring me across or kill me... he has made you keep me at arm's length. Close but not close enough." She pulled away slightly and looked him straight in the eye. "Well, I made no bargain with him."

"Nat. Don't. He will kill you."
"Not if I am ready for him...." She grinned. Her knowledge of vampire physiology had grown over the years, and just as she had pepper spray in her purse to ward off human attackers, she had her vampire weapon... she pulled a syringe filled with a clear liquid out of the top drawer.<BR>

"What is that?"

"Norcuron." She said triumphantly.

"Norcuron? Isn't that a muscle relaxant?" he questioned. "That won't kill him... that will make him angrier... And you do NOT want to do that."

"Well, it won't do anything permanent, but like curare, it will slow him down. If I can get it into an artery, he should lose consciousness. Not for long... but long enough for phase B." with that, she pulled out the wooden crutch that she had propped by the desk. "I pop off the top, and ta da... a stake!"

"Nat, this is not good... I doubt you are strong enough to stake him. That will make him angry. And he can be lethal when he's angry."

"You're right, Nick. I don't want to make him angry." She stood and moved across the room to lean on the steel table, seeing in her mind, the body bag as she unzipped it to see Nick for the first time. She had been attracted to him right from their first meeting. When it changed to love she could not remember. She could sense Nick approaching her. "But I am not willing to continue as we are. Hiding our feelings. Lying to our friends." She sighed, feeling his arms snake around her waist.

"So what are you saying, Natalie?" he asked quietly.

"Allow me to express my love for you. Let us be a couple. Publicly." She replied, leaning against his firm chest.

"Natalie. Loving me COULD be fatal." He hesitated before continuing. This was a topic, that in all their time together, he could never bring himself to discuss with her. "Physical relations for a vampire involve the exchange of blood... and I am not sure that I could stop if I ever tried to take yours" he admitted in an embarrassed tone.

She turned in his arms and met his gaze squarely "That is not what I am asking of you." she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I can accept that." She kissed him lightly. "But I cannot accept LaCroix keeping you from committing to me because of some 800 year old bargain. Hasn't he punished you enough? Interfered with your life enough?"

"Yes..." Nick breathed softly, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "He has... and if you are truly willing, then I am too. I guess it is time to banish the ghosts once and for all. Dinner tomorrow?"

"At Azure?" she nodded, leaning into his embrace.


****
Hiding in the shadows, a dark figure followed Natalie as she went by taxi to Azure the following evening. He was fully aware that his son had lied to him that evening two years previous. He knew the importance of the mortal woman. And knew that, with time, Nick would not be able to keep her at a distance. He had sensed that his threats were no longer effective. Perhaps a reminder was in order... Except this time there would be no compromise... he would not back down...

****
"So, spend the day with me?" Nick asked, almost shyly, grasping her hand as they left the restaurant. Between dinner and dancing, it would be dawn in just a few hours.

"Absolutely." She smiled calmly, looping her arm in his. Their dinner had gone better than she'd imagined possible. While the memories were still there, the fears were gone. In her heart, she was sure of Nick's love.

The ride to the loft was silent as each were lost in their own thoughts. Nick sensed the vibrations as soon as they entered the lift. "Nat, he's here." He whispered, hesitating for a moment before sliding open the door. Cautiously, he led Natalie inside the apartment. He could sense his master's presence, feel his anger.

"So she means nothing to you?" LaCroix's cold voice came from the upper level. Before Natalie could locate the location of his voice, he'd flown directly in front of them. Holding Nick by the neck, a foot off the ground, his eyes glowing red, he growled, "I will not tolerate such insolence from you." Tossing Nick against the brick wall, he turned to Natalie. "And perhaps you are not as weak as I first thought."

A cold chill went down Natalie's back as she watched LaCroix toss Nick like a rag doll until he lay unconscious on the floor. Before she could take a breath, he was behind her, his arms like steel bands around her waist.

"You won't win this one, LaCroix." She said in a steady voice, her external calm hiding her racing heart. "You kill me, you'll lose him."

"Ah, but you are assuming that I desire your death." He replied, holding her easily with one hand as he pushed off her jacket and smoothed her hair away from her neck.

"No. LaCroix... don't" she pleaded, trying to pull away. His hands were roaming over her in ways that she'd imagined Nick doing... but the older, firmer touch of his master did not arouse her... it frightened her...

"But I offer you the greatest of gifts..." he said smoothly, raining kisses across her neck. "Eternity with your beloved." He smiled at her struggles. Such spirit... her blood would be so sweet... "With my consent, however... because you will be mine... forever.." his fangs appeared and elongated.

Feeling the brush of his fangs on her neck, Natalie realized that his intent was not rape... was not to kill her... but was to bring her across. While she had, on occasion, wondered about becoming a vampire, she had always imagined Nick as her master... Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the syringe she'd hidden there. Feeling the sharp pain of his fangs piercing her neck, she pulled off the needle guard, and jabbed it as hard as she could into his groin and injected, hoping that she could blindly hit a blood vessel. She could feel the pressure of his mouth as he drew the blood from her, and suddenly stopped, falling to the floor, his fangs tearing slightly as they pulled out of her neck.

She let him fall to the floor and ran to the refrigerator, heedless of the blood that still ran down her neck. Grabbing a couple bottles, she went to Nick as he lay by the door. He had just begun to stir, "Nat?" he mumbled.

"Yes, I'm here. Drink" she commanded, handing him a bottle.

"Nat? this is...." he stammered as the sensations and tasted from the human blood washed over him, smelling her blood intensely close.

"Yes, I know." She said firmly. "I need you at full strength before he wakes up. Trust me, he won't be in a very forgiving mood."

He looked up and saw LaCroix slumped on the floor. "How?" he began, sitting up and turning to face her. Shock and anger built as he took in her torn dress, disheveled hair... and the trickle of blood that ran down her neck. Pushing back her hair, he saw the fang marks. "What did he do to you?" he asked coldly.

"I think he was planning to bring me across." She said, watching Nick's eyes change from their usual soft blue to the glowing amber that signaled his release of the vampire.

"I injected him with the Norcuron. It worked."

He stood and pulled her up. With a tight embrace, he whispered in her ear, "stay back here." His eyes were glowing red as he stalked over to the fireplace, grabbing the carved wooden cane that he kept next to it. Walking over to where LaCroix lay, between the couch and piano, he kicked his master's body until he lay flat, eyes open but unfocused.

"You dare too much LaCroix... you have belittled me, tormented me for 800 years. It stops- NOW!" He lifted the cane and plunged it through LaCroix's heart with great force. Through his bond, he could feel the pain but he did not relent. Picking up the remote, he stumbled over to Natalie. Holding her tightly, he guided her up the stairs. When they had reached the top, he flicked the remote toward the steel shuttered windows. With the dawn they had automatically closed. Holding Natalie around the waist, he watched as the light of the rising sun streamed into the room... and engulfed the ancient vampire in flames. Stroking Natalie's back in gentle circles, he said quietly. "I learned the last time... to merely stake him is not enough...." He could feel the snap in his mind, as his link with his master was finally severed. After 800 years, he could live in peace. "And now... we can be together...." he said softly to Natalie, guiding her into the bedroom and closing the door against the morning sun... there was plenty of time to clean up the ashes that remained.... Right now he had better things to do....

***fin****
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please be gentle- this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic..... <BR>
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