Subject: The Christmas Concert 01/02 Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 14:21:29 -0500 From: Amanda Berendt To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU The Christmas Concert 01/02 by Amanda Berendt Copyright 2002 Disclaimer: The characters of Nick, Natalie, Schanke, Myra and Jenny do not belong to me. (If they did, a lot would be different) Anyhoo, I am just borrowing them for a bit of holiday cheer. This story was intended to be longer, but since it would have taken much longer, I decided to cut it a bit short so I could post it by Christmas. Enjoy. Of course, any questions, comments, holiday cheer can be sent to: debrabant_foundation@yahoo.com Permission is given to put this on fkfanfic.com, fkfanfic2, and the ftp site. Anyone else, please ask first. The story will also be posted on my website http://operacellar.tripod.com/phantomslair.html The sky was growing darker as the sun set over the city. The light snow that was falling sparkled in the waning light, competing with the blinking Christmas lights strung up throughout the city. Metro police detective Nick Knight was getting ready for work when his phone rang. Hoping it wasn’t the precinct, he answered, “Knight.” “Hey, Nick!” It was Natalie Lambert, the coroner assigned to the night shift. She was also one of Nick’s closest friends and one of the very few people who were privy to his secret. Nick Knight was an eight hundred year old vampire. He was trying to regain his lost mortality by atoning for his sins. Natalie was trying to help him. “What are you doing after your shift tonight?” “Nothing, why?” he answered, wondering if he was walking into a trap. “Ok, then,” she came back excitedly. “I’ll meet you at your place after work and we can ‘deck the halls.’” They spoke for several more minutes, working out the details. Then said their good-byes. Later that evening, Nick sat at his desk in the 96th precinct. He and his partner, Don Schanke, had just wrapped up a case and were working on their reports. Hearing papers shuffling and angry muttering coming from Schanke’s desk, Nick looked up from his computer screen. “Everything going okay with that report, Schank?” “Oh yeah,” his partner answered, still shuffling through papers looking for something. “The report’s done, but I can’t find Jenny’s letter to Santa. She did it on the computer so it looks just like every other piece of paper on my desk.” Finally he picked up a sheet of paper and sighed, “Thank god! Myra wanted me to do some shopping tomorrow morning.” “Good luck at the mall.” Nick said with a smile, turning back to his computer screen. “So what are you doing for Christmas?” Nick looked up again. “Nothing much, probably just relax.” His partner sat up, “Oh no you’re not. It’s Christmas. Jenny’s school concert is this Thursday. You’re coming.” Before Nick could protest, Schanke was digging in his wallet and pulling out two bright green pieces of paper and handed them across the desks. Nick looked at the papers. They were two tickets to a grammar school holiday concert. “Just in case you want to bring a friend.” he added with a smirk. After work, Nick drove home. Pulling into the parking area in front of the loft, he saw Natalie’s car already parked there. He parked the caddy in the garage and took the elevator up to his apartment. When he slid the door open, it was as if Santa’s workshop had exploded in his living room. A fifteen-foot tree stood naked in the corner, boxes of Christmas decorations, ornaments, garland and tinsel lay strewn all over the floor. His simple white candles had been replaced with cinnamon, gingerbread and other holiday scents. Then to top it all off, Bing Crosby was blaring from the stereo. And in the middle of all this Christmas cheer stood Natalie, wearing her Santa hat and a huge smile. “Wow,” he said as he stepped into the room. “You weren’t kidding.” She came over and put a Santa hat on Nick’s head. “We Lamberts always go all out for Christmas. Too bad you don’t have a yard, there was a sale on those plastic lawn decorations.” She added the last part with a smirk. For the next several hours the duo set out to turn Nick’s ‘Fortress of Solitude’ into a Christmas wonderland. Finally, as the stereo was playing ‘O Holy Night, they stood before the tree. It was glittering with tinsel, ornaments (some of which Natalie had brought from her own collection) and twinkling lights. Natalie handed Nick the golden angel and asked, “Would you do the honor?” Smiling, Nick took the angel and climbed the step-ladder, gingerly placing it on the top of the tree. Returning to Natalie’s side, he put his arm around her shoulder and they stood there, both still wearing their matching Santa hats, gazing at the tree. “So,” Nick said after a while. “Are you up for a Christmas concert?” Then off Natalie’s questioning gaze, he added, “Schanke gave me two tickets to Jenny’s school concert on Thursday.” Natalie grinned. “I would love to. I absolutely adore children’s school concerts. They are so cute.” To be ontinued in Part 2 _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_advancedjmf_3mf Subject: The Christmas Concert 02/02 Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2002 14:23:02 -0500 From: Amanda Berendt To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU The Christmas Concert 02/02 Disclaimers in Part 1 Thursday night arrived. Since both Nick and Natalie were off, they had decided to meet at the loft and go to the concert in one car. As Natalie rode up in the elevator, she could hear Nick playing the piano. It was Greensleaves. She was smiling and humming along as the elevator came to a stop and she slid open the door. Nick stopped playing and looked up when he heard the door open. “Hi Nat,” he greeted her as he stood up. “You ready?” She nodded and he grabbed his overcoat. “I’m not overdressed am I?” he asked, putting his coat on. She looked him up and down. He was wearing black slacks and a royal blue button down shirt. “Nope, you look perfect.” Nick took a bouquet of white roses from the dining table and smiled as he took Natalie’s hand. “This is for the young star.” he said as they stepped into the elevator. They got into the caddy and drove off toward the school. Ten minutes later, Nick pulled the caddy into a parking space in front of the school and he and Nat set off toward the entrance. They quickly found Schanke and Myra in the crowded lobby and the group then went into the auditorium and sat down. An hour later, following lovely renditions of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells and many other holiday favorites, the children took their bows. As the crowd filed back into the lobby, Nick whispered to Natalie, “It was actually very good.” They stood in the lobby of the school with Schanke and Myra looking for Jenny. When she finally emerged with several other children, they eagerly congratulated her. She flushed a bright purple when Nick handed her the roses and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The group said their good nights, Nick and Nat wished Jenny and Myra a Merry Christmas, and then walked out into the parking lot to their respective cars. When they reached the caddy, Natalie looked up as Nick unlocked her door. It was beginning to snow. She smiled and got into the car as he held the door open. “So...” Natalie asked as they drove back to the loft. “How did you like your first school concert?” “It really was wonderful.” Nick answered with his little boy grin. “I thought it was going to be chaos with all the kids, but it was so beautiful....so innocent.” Natalie gave him a kiss on the cheek as they drove through the falling snow. “Merry Christmas, Nick.” The End. _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_virusprotection_3mf