Date: Sat, 8 Jun 1996 23:09:39 -0400 From: Susan Bennett NOTES: I wrote this especially for those people who politely informed me the first story ended before the best part ;-). I backed myself into a pretty tight corner there, so please go easy on me. There is some erotic innuendo, nothing graphic. A LOT more Nick&Nat ROMANCE than the previous one BG: 1) Daniel and his partner are enforcers who originally came to TO to hunt a rogue enforcer named Tharek. 2) Daniel has already met Nick & Nat. 3) I've incorporated the last little bit from RE at the start of this one for cohesion. ---------------------- Rogue Enforcer - Sequel (1/2) by Susan B. Nick&Natpacker (very liberally) based on characters from Forever Knight, etc. --------------------- Nick & Nat at the Loft, Nat takes something from her purse... Nat grinned and yanked out a squishy fleshtone pouch. "I honestly don't know why I didn't think of this before. An ingenious device, protective but pliable metal plate on one side, soft and yielding on the other." "What *is* that?" "It's a pint of my blood, Nick. Mmmm...still fresh too," Nat teased as she dangled the pouch in the air. "Yeah...and...uh...what are we supposed to do with it?" Nat looked him in the eye. "You love me, right?" "Right" "You trust me, right?" "Right" "You wanna make me happy, right?" "Right" "Well, then," Nat grinned, "Come on upstairs and I'll show you." Nick got up off the couch and walked towards Nat, "Forget it. It's still too dangerous." "Yeah, right," said Nat, standing on the lower step still twirling the blood bag in the air, "And I suppose that's why your feet are marching you straight over here!" Nat started climbing up the stairs and Nick followed her like a puppy, "I don't know, Nat. It all seems pretty ..impulsive." They stopped just outside his room, Nat turned around and glared at him. "Impulsive, Nick? I've been waiting for four years, don't give me *impulsive*." She grabbed his arm and dragged him into the bedroom. Nick mumbled to himself all the way over to the bed. As they sat down on the edge of the bed Nat's expression softened and she kissed him reassuringly, "Don't worry". "Well, let me have a look at it," Nick said. She tapped her fingers on the metal plated side as she handed it over to him, "See. There's no way your teeth are gonna bite through that!" Nick set the pouch on the bed, still uneasy. Nat spoke gently, "Listen, Nick. I can't wait any more, I'm dying inside. I need you to hold me, touch me. I need you ...to make love to me." "You want what I can't give you. And that thing isn't going to help. You know it's a physical impossibility for me." "Oh, Nick," Nat whimpered, "Will you please stop thinking about what *doesn't* work, and start thinking about what *does* work." She took his hands, "Like these". Nick grinned. He kissed her then and they nervously fumbled with each other's clothes. Nick had barely gotten her dress off of her when Nat noticed his eyes starting to glow, "Hold on a second!" Nat stuck the blood pack onto her neck. Nick's eyes quickly changed back to blue and he broke out laughing hysterically, "I'm sorry, Nat, it looks ridiculous!" Nat cheered, "Alright, Nick! Just keep that ridiculous image in your mind and make love to me!" Nick was desperately trying to stifle his laughter, "You *can't* be serious!" "I am serious. Just keep your cackling down to a dull roar, I'll blank it out." Nick tried to regain some of his composure and concentrate on Nat. Humour was obviously an effective tool in keeping bloodlust under control - he wondered if that's what she planned all along. Nick was still giggling inside, but his kisses and caresses were obviously having a positive affect on Nat. Realizing the pleasure he was giving her, he became totally engrossed in the effort. Nick didn't even think about himself (!), until she moaned and murmured his name. He kissed her, "Nat". She slowly opened her eyes. Nick's eyes had again turned to gold and he said softly, "I can still stop, tell me now." Nat massaged the back of his neck, "Don't stop. Just close your eyes and believe it's me. It's the only way I can give my blood, my love, to you. Take it". Nick bit into the pack on her neck and drained it. Her blood was sweeter than he could have ever imagined. It was gone all too soon, but it was enough; and in it he discovered the intensity of her love for him, and realized the intensity of his own love for her. While Nick was returning back to normal, Nat was stuffing the evidence down between the headboard and mattress. Nick turned to his side, let her snuggle back up into him, and then put his arm over her. Nick smiled lightly, remembering her dangling that silly thing in the air, giggling, and teasing him with it. It seemed so absurd at the time, but she *was* right. Innovation and imagination Nat said - what she really meant was a compromise they could both live with, at least for now. She needed a physical bond with him, an intimacy he thought he could never give her, but he was wrong. * * * * * Daniel and his partner Mark sat across from each other in a seedy motel room on Lakeshore Blvd. They raised and lowered their voices as they spoke, corresponding to the clamour of traffic from the highway just across the road. Mark, the one who looked like a gunslinger from the Old West, took off his black cowboy hat and tossed in onto the bed, "I know what you're thinking, you can't do it." Daniel snapped back, "I can do whatever I choose to do." "She's not worth it. They'll send someone after you, just as they sent us after Tharek." "She is worth it. She's exactly what I've been looking for, what I need." Daniel looked directly at Mark, "She is someone worthy ...of me. I knew it last night, when I looked into her eyes and discovered what she had done, when I discovered the magnitude of her courage. Quite remarkable ...for a mortal." Mark shouted, "I won't have a hand in it. She has been protected by our superiors. Surely you will not cross them!" "Surely you will not cross me!" Daniel yelled back. * * * * * "Nick!! My God, Nick!! Wake Up!!" Nick's eyes opened, already glowing, but he couldn't move. A hand was wrapped tightly around his throat, paralysing him. He could barely breathe. It wasn't Nat's hand, but Nat was there, shaking him, holding him, screaming, crying, and clawing at him. "Don't just stand there, pull her off of him will you!" Daniel shouted to his partner. Mark leaned over Nick's bed and tried to pry Nat free. She wouldn't budge. "It will be a lot easier on you if you co-operate," Mark growled as he smacked the back of her head. Daniel, one hand clenched around Nick's throat, raised his free hand and slapped Mark's arm away from Nat, "Don't do that again. Don't hurt her. Just get her off of him." Mark snarled back at Daniel and continued trying to break Nat free. Nick felt his flesh being ripped open by her finger nails as she was pried away from him. "Don't hurt him, oh please don't hurt him!," Nat wailed, as she thrashed her arms out in front of her, desperately trying to reach Nick. Nick couldn't move. From the corner of his eye he could see Nat beside him on the bed, tears streaming down her face, struggling to cover herself with the sheets. Mark's hand was firmly gripping the back of her neck. Even through all of his vampiric rage Nick was struggling to hold back the tears. In all of his 800 years, never had he felt so utterly, totally, useless. Daniel, still restraining Nick, sat on the edge of the bed and spoke calmly to him, "Do you see what you have here, what you have wasted? Even through all of this, her concern is only for you. Such strength and courage, such beauty and passion, and to think it is all wasted ...on you." Daniel reached across Nick and stroked Nat's bare shoulder, she cringed at his icy touch. Nick tried to howl, but he didn't have enough air. All he could manage was a heart-wrenching moan. Mark scanned the room and spotted Nat's clothes in a pile on the floor near the foot of the bed. He spoke sharply to her, "If you move - he dies." Nat kept her eyes on Nick, struggling to focus on him through her tears. She didn't flinch. Mark picked up her things and tossed them at her, "Get dressed." She complied. When Nat was dressed Mark lifted her out of the bed, out of Nick's line of vision. Nick heard Mark fly out of the loft, with Nat. Daniel looked at Nick, "Worry not. Her strength and beauty will no longer be squandered. Tonight she will be mine, and think of you no more." Daniel let go of Nick. Nick, starving for air, inhaled deeply and lunged at Daniel. Daniel's arm crashed down on Nick's head, knocking him unconscious, "I think the effects should wear off in about ten minutes. That's about five minutes after sunrise." * * * * * Daniel flew back to the motel room. Mark was already there with Natalie. She was sitting on the corner of one of the beds. Tears were pouring from her eyes, but she never made a sound. Daniel went over to her and stroked her hair, "Soon you will not remember what it is to cry". She recoiled from him and he grabbed her by the chin, "Don't ever pull away from me again." When he loosened his grip Nat looked up at him defiantly and pulled back again. Daniel laughed, "You are indeed all that I expected you would be." Mark was standing by the window as the sun was beginning to rise. He drew the heavy drapes shut, blocking out the light. Daniel flicked on the lamp on the night table before turning his attention back to Nat. He sniffed at her and said, "His stench is all over you." Nat pulled her arms up around her face and inhaled deeply, longing to breathe in Nick's scent, but all she could smell was her own stale perfume. Her thoughts were all on Nick, God, was he even still alive? Nat pushed the idea that he could be dead from her mind. Daniel pulled Nat up off the bed and shoved her towards the bathroom, "You'll spend the day in there. And bathe too. I'll not have you stinking of him." He yanked a sheet off the bed and stuffed it into her arms, "Put this on when you're done, and leave what you're wearing in there. Your clothes reek of him too." Nat collapsed on the cold bathroom floor, she could hear the enforcers barricading the other side of the door. She wouldn't bathe. As long as Nick's scent was all over her, Nick was all over her, and she wouldn't wash that away. Nat curled up in a ball on the floor and thought of Nick, and of being loved by Nick. Susan Cont'd. in (2/2) Nick&Natpacker cd397@torfree.net Rogue Enforcer - Sequel (2/2) by Susan B. Nick&Natpacker (very liberally) based on characters from Forever Knight, etc. --------------------- Nick, slowly regaining consciousness, was afraid to open his eyes. In his mind he knew it had happened. In his heart he hoped it was only a dream, a nightmare. But dreams don't cry real tears, and his chest was soaking wet, a wetness that still felt warm against his cold skin. His eyes still closed, he ran his fingers over his chest and then touched them to his lips, yearning to taste his own blood sweat, but tasting only tears, salty human tears, Nat's tears. He started to cry. Nick rolled over to where Nat had been laying. Real or imagined, he could still feel her warmth on the sheets. He cried into the pillow she had slept on, it was laden with the spicy fragrance of her perfume. Nick hugged her pillow, longing for the warmth of her skin. Just hours ago he was holding her, touching her, loving her. Just minutes ago she was beside him, sleeping, content, and warm. And now she was gone, stolen from him, snatched from his own bed. Nick knew that as soon as he opened his eyes he would have to concede that she was truly gone. But he had to open his eyes, or he would never get her back. And he had to find her before sunset or she could be lost to him forever. Nick rolled over, looked up at the ceiling, and wiped the tears from his eyes. He screamed a curse at the sun, and at himself. Then he picked up the phone and started dialling. * * * * * Nick was dressed and nervously pacing by the intercom waiting. Finally it buzzed, "I'll be right down. Meet me in front of the garage". He ran down the stairs into the garage and opened the door. The sunlight came pouring in and Nick stayed back as far as he could, "Come on in, back here". A short dark haired man in grey coveralls walked into the garage with a clipboard and a pen. He handed them over to Nick, "Sign there, and there". Nick signed the papers and handed the clipboard back to the man, "Is it exactly what I asked for?" The man shrugged his shoulders, "I just deliver them buddy, I don't take the orders." "Why don't you just describe it for me?" "Why don't you just go out and have a look?" Nick glared at him and the guy backed off, "Okay, buddy, relax. 96 cargo van, tinted windows." He fished the keys out of his pocket and handed them to Nick, "Here." The both heard the sound of another vehicle pulling up to the garage. "That's my ride. Call us when you want it picked up," the man scooted away. As soon as the other vehicle had left, Nick bolted out to the van and climbed in. It wasn't so bad. The windows were heavily tinted, and there were no windows in the back. He pulled the shades on the side windows down as far as he could without blocking his vision of the mirrors. Sitting back as far as practical in the drivers seat, the light that did manage to reach him was not unbearable, certainly not as unbearable as the thought of sitting in his apartment doing nothing. * * * * * The enforcers awoke from their sleep just after sunset. Daniel immediately went over to the bathroom door and pushed the dresser away from it. He opened it to find Nat still curled up on the hard tile floor. "I told you to clean up and get rid of those clothes." Nat just looked up at him blankly. He continued, "You can do it yourself now, or I'll do it for you." Nat dragged herself up from the floor and went over to the tub. She turned on the faucets and stared back at Daniel. He shut the door and left her alone. Daniel turned to Mark, who was sitting on the far bed, "Go find her something decent to wear, something long and black. But soft, it must be soft, like silk." "You *are* going to bring her across, aren't you?" said Mark. Daniel just looked at him. "You're making a mistake. She is protected. You're not supposed to be interfering with her life. If you just take her and be done with it, you might get out of this alive by claiming ignorance of her demise. Bring her across, and you are most certainly doomed." "I *will* bring her across," growled Daniel. "And *nothing* will come of it, because you will back up my claim that I brought her across voluntarily. Any words you speak to the contrary, will be the last words you ever speak." Mark, looking thoroughly disgusted, picked up his hat and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. * * * * * Nick drove around the entire day trying to find leads. He couldn't count the number of times he had to make mad dashes from the van into sleazy bars and motels seeking out both snitches and friends. Bank machines were another frequent stop - information was rarely cheap, never free, and often useless. There was only one low-end motel area left to check out, the Lakeshore Blvd. strip. He was sure the enforcers would be staying in a run-down area. They, of all people, stood out in a crowd, definitely not the Westin Harbour Castle type. The thought crept into Nick's mind that the Westin Harbour was the hotel Tharek stayed at. But Tharek was a rogue enforcer, he would have stayed at a hotel at the opposite end of the refinement scale that typical enforcers subscribed to. * * * * * Nick started off for the Lakeshore strip just as the sun was beginning to set. There were six motels down there to check, and daylight was all but gone. Nick took off his sunglasses and plopped them onto the dashboard. His heart grew heavier with each passing minute of daylight. * * * * * Mark knew what he had to do as soon as he left the motel room. He should have went to his superiors at the first glimmer of trouble. It was too late for that now. Helping Daniel seize Natalie was his mistake. Mark had no personal interest in Natalie one way or the other, but he did have respect for the laws of his people. His only chance against Daniel would be to enlist aid, and he knew who would most want to assist him. Mark arrived at Nick's loft and walked in cautiously, but the need for caution was unfounded. No one was home. He then flew to the Raven. Usually people averted their eyes when he walked into a room, not so here. Undoubtedly this whole community had been told what they had done, and they weren't very pleased about it. LaCroix, observing from his booth, motioned Mark to join him. Mark walked over warily. His presence was clearly unwanted here, and no one ever felt as vulnerable as a lone enforcer. Mark and LaCroix stood near the radio booth. Mark was careful to ensure that his back was to the wall, "I'm looking for Knight." "I see," said LaCroix, "Having half of the distressed duo is not enough for you?" "I don't have time for chatter," snapped Mark. "She doesn't have time either. Do you know where Knight is, or not?" "I haven't a clue," LaCroix replied. "He's been out galavanting around all day in a *very* heavily tinted van looking for ...well, you and your partner as a matter of fact." Mark looked questioningly at LaCroix, "I don't suppose you would have any interest in helping to rectify the situation. Although there are rules against intentionally harming the protected, you are under no obligation to help." "I suppose it might be interesting to ...lend a hand. After all, Nicholas does have a profound attachment to the girl." "Daniel has been totally smitten by her," Mark offered. "I've never seen him like this before." LaCroix nodded knowingly, "Unfortunately, she seems to have that annoying affect on many of us." * * * * * Daniel started pacing the room impatiently, "He should have been back by now." He looked over at Nat who was sitting on the bed wrapped up in the sheet he gave her to wear. Daniel smiled wickedly at her, "I won't wait much longer." Nat shivered, but she had already stopped crying and was determined not to start again. She closed her eyes hoping and praying that Nick would find her, before it was too late. She refused to think that Nick was anything but alive and well, and desperately looking for her. Daniel walked over to the bed and sat down next to Nat. He started to fondle her hair, and ran his frigid hands across her skin. He caressed her arms and her shoulders. Nat's resolve not to cry vanished when Daniel started stroking her neck. When he started kissing her neck, Nat's tears started to fall. * * * * * Nick pulled into the lot of the first motel and hopped out of the van. He went into the office, but as usual in these places, there was no one there. A cool breeze floated in through the window and Nick tensed up. He could smell the same perfume Nat was wearing, an expensive perfume, not a perfume people staying here would normally buy. Nick raced from the office and followed the scent. * * * * * LaCroix and Mark materialized at the motel to discover that Nick was already there looking around. Mark started to move towards Nick, but LaCroix stopped him abruptly with his arm, "He must be allowed an opportunity for his own revenge." LaCroix then chuckled, "We shall be, as Nicholas would say, his back-up". * * * * * Nick peered through the window of the last motel room and saw Natalie lying inert in Daniel's arms. He flew into a vampiric rage and burst into the room. Daniel, caught offguard, dropped Nat to the floor and sprang to his feet, but he was too slow. Nick lunged at Daniel and spun him around. He dug his nails into the enforcer's neck and ripped out his throat. Blood gushed everywhere. Daniel was halfway to the ground when Nick pulled a wooden stake from his coat and thrust it straight through Daniel's heart. Nick turned to look at Natalie, motionless on the floor. He couldn't hear her heartbeat. She looked cold and pale. Nick dropped down beside her and gathered her up in his arms, fearing the worst, but afraid to look. He held her to his chest and rocked her, trying to muster the courage to look at her neck. Suddenly Nat gasped for air and started to groan. "Nat!" Nick loosened his grip and looked at her face, her colour was coming back. There were no puncture wounds on her neck, but there were bruises. A very groggy Nat opened her eyes, "Nick?" He smoothed her hair back away from her face and kissed her cheek, and her mouth. Nat flung her arms around him, tears welling up in her eyes. She held on tightly to him and sobbed, "He was going to bring me across, make me his." Nick caressed her face and spoke soothingly, "I thought he already had the job half done, Nat. You weren't breathing, I couldn't even hear your heartbeat. What happened?" "I made him angry and he started choking me." "What did you do?" "He said he was going to bring me across, but that he was going to make me forget about you first. I spat in his face, Nick." Nick lifted her gently up off the floor, "Hold on to me Nat, I'll take you home now." "Nick, I don't want to go home. Take me to your place." Nick nuzzled her ear and whispered into it, "That is home." -- The Real End -- Susan Nick&Natpacker cd397@torfree.net