Greetings fellow fiction lovers!  Here is the third story of my three part
Nat/LC saga.  If you haven't read "Unforeseen Occurrences" and "Journey", you
can find them at the ftp site
(ftp://ftp.cac.psu.edu/pub/people/lms5/fkfiction).  This story will make a
lot more sense if you can read them first!

Thanks go to Jan Wiles, super beta reader and originator of some very
exciting ideas for things which will appear after part 1 of this story!  My
hat's off to you, Jan!  You made the whole thing *much* more interesting than
it would have been!

The usual disclaimers.  I don't own the characters (though I'd buy them if I
could!) and I promise I won't make any money off this story (drat!).

Hope you enjoy!


Before the Dawn (1/?)
Copyright 1996

     Some weeks after Lacroix had showed Natalie the truth found the pair of
them standing near Nick's home.  They hadn't made any face-to-face contact
with either him or his wife, though Lacroix had purchased several of his
paintings for more money than Nick had been asking, which, in turn, seemed to
bring a good deal of happiness both to the purchasers and the de Brabant
family.
     Tonight, however, would be different.  Tonight, Lacroix and Nat decided
to establish some kind of contact.  It was either that, they decided, or
leave Paris after all.  To live in the same city with Nick, to be so close
yet so far apart was simply not acceptable to them anymore.  They decided to
tell Nick how much they enjoyed his talent, figuring that this would be the
least suspicious method of approaching him.  Nat just hoped she could pull it
off without either breaking down again or looking foolish.  She only learned
later that Lacroix felt the same way.
     They crossed the street and came to stand before the door of the humble
home, suddenly feeling overdressed in what they considered their "casual"
clothes.  Nat looked nervously at Lacroix, then indicated to him she was
ready.  He knocked on the door.
     A very lovely woman came to the door, the woman whom she had first seen
holding the baby.  She was about Nat's height, but with green eyes and auburn
hair held back in a loose pony tail.  A few wisps of hair framed her smiling
face.  She greeted them politely, then asked if there was something she could
do for them.
     "We came to meet your husband, madame.  This is the home of Mon. de
Brabant, is it not?" Lacroix asked in his most gentlemanly tones.
     "Yes, it is," the woman replied and held out her hand in greeting.  "I
am his wife, Marie.  Did you wish to buy one of his paintings?" she asked
hopefully.
     "Uh, we've just purchased a few of them" Natalie chimed in.  "We like
them very much and wanted to meet the artist."
     "Oh, I am so sorry!  He left just an hour ago, but..."  The sound of a
baby crying cut her short.  "Oh, dear.  The baby is awake again.  Won't you
come in, please?  I'll only be a moment."
     "Well, we..." Nat began to say.
     "No, please, do come in.  Nicolas should be home soon."
     With that Marie shut the door behind them and showed them into the
sitting room before heading upstairs to fetch the baby.  It was very simply -
and very poorly - furnished.  It broke Nat's heart to see Nick living this
way, seemingly from hand to mouth.  Looking up at Lacroix, she saw her pain
mirrored by his features.  Nick had no idea he was a wealthy man, and neither
Natalie nor Lacroix knew of a good way to tell him without raising a myriad
of questions from both Nick *and* various authorities.
     Marie returned a few minutes later holding a baby with golden blonde
hair and blue eyes.  Natalie couldn't help herself.
     "What a beautiful baby," she told Marie as she rose to stand by her.
 "Would you mind, very much, if...?"
     Sensing what was running through Nat's mind, Marie handed over the baby
to her.
"Of course not," she said, still smiling as she had been when first greeting
them.
     Nat lifted the baby into her arms and tried not to look too covetous.
     "What's his name?" she asked.
     "Oh, but it is not a 'he'," Marie answered with a laugh.  "This is our
little girl, Natalie."
     "Natalie?" she asked as she looked quickly from the baby to Marie.  She
wondered if she looked as shocked as she felt.  "What a coincidence," Nat
said shifting her gaze to Lacroix.  "That's my name, too."
     "Really?" asked Marie.  "No wonder she seems to like you so much."
     Indeed, the baby did seem to be enjoying Nat's company.  It was very
difficult for her when she eventually decided it was time to return the
infant to her mother.  Lacroix couldn't help but notice, and Nat, for her
part, thought Lacroix looked as though he wanted to lay some sort of claim to
the little girl.
     "Do you have any children?" Marie asked as she sat in a chair across
from them.
     A pained look flitted across Natalie's face.  It did not go unnoticed.
     "No," she answered.  "No, we haven't had any children."
     "Well, actually," Lacroix interrupted, "I did have a son once, but that
was a long time ago."
     "I'm sorry," Marie replied, sincerely bothered by what she perceived as
her tactlessness.  "Maybe, one day..."
     "Maybe," Nat lied and looked down.  This was getting harder.  Perhaps it
was time for them to go.  Lacroix seemed to sense this, and began to make
their excuses.  They had nearly made it out the door when they saw Nick
walking up the path to meet them.

I'm only borrowing Nick & Co. for this story and promise to leave them
unharmed (well, almost).  I do not own them, but truly wish I could rectify
that situation!

The Enforcers thread appears courtesy of a very talented lady, Jan Wiles.  If
you like this bit, please don't forget to e-mail her as well
(janwiles@juno.com)!  It has added real zest, I can tell you!


Before the Dawn (2/?)
Copyright 1996

Before the Dawn
Chapter 2

    It was Nick - her Nick - who took her hand in his and bid her a good
evening.  She wasn't sure how, but she was able to keep herself from throwing
her arms about him and kissing him.  It was terribly difficult, though.  Both
Nat and Lacroix stared until Nick and Marie began to look as if they thought
their guests might be unwell.
     "Are you all right?" Nick asked after the formalities.  "You both look
*very* pale."
     "Uh, well, our schedules keep us inside at least half of the time," Nat
explained.  Well, it wasn't a *total* lie.
     "We just came to tell you how much we admire your work," Lacroix added.
 "I purchased several of your paintings a few days ago."
     Suddenly realising that the person standing before him was the one who
had helped to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table for the next
few months, Nick brightened considerably and shook Lacroix's hand with great
affection.  He then went on to tell Marie that this was the buyer of whom he
had spoken some nights before.  Both insisted that Natalie and Lacroix join
them inside for a drink.
     Having grown increasingly ill at ease in the mortal home, Nat and
Lacroix were on the verge of excusing themselves - fully intending to return
another evening - when the peace of the evening was abruptly shattered.  The
vampire pair sensed the presence of two other vampires whose very powerful
'signatures' Lacroix recognised as belonging to Enforcers.  He and Nat stared
at one another in disbelief, realising that their brief happiness at finding
Nick alive might be coming to an end.
     The Enforcers appeared behind Marie in the doorway.  One took her by the
arm and brutally hurled her to the floor, causing her to lose hold of the
baby.  Nick roared "NO!!" and tried to go to her but was easily grabbed and
cuffed into near- insensibility by the second Enforcer.  Nat instinctively
rushed for Nick, as well as Marie and the baby, only to be restrained by
Lacroix.
     "Natalie, stop!" Lacroix shouted, realising the folly of attempting to
take on any Enforcer.  He held her protectively, trying to keep her from
becoming their next target.  "What is the meaning of this?"  he demanded of
them.
     "Judgment has been rendered, Lucien Lacroix, and punishment must be
meted out," said the more repulsive of the two.
     "What *judgment*? What punishment?" he asked through clenched teeth as
they watched Nick struggle feebly to remain conscious and to free himself.
     "Marie!" Nick called out to the ominously still form on the floor.  Nat,
near tears, wondered how they would be able to tell him that she would never
answer him.
     "For his continued quest for mortality, Nicolas de Brabant shall pay.
 For your paltry attempts to keep your progeny in line, Lacroix, you also
shall pay.  And as for you," the Enforcer said, now directing his attention
to Nat, "by 'curing' de Brabant you have violated the Code."  He turned all
his attention upon Lacroix now.  "You should have stopped her, Lacroix.  We
gave you ample opportunity.  Now, we shall have to make an example of all of
you."
     Nick looked uncomprehendingly from the Enforcers to Nat and Lacroix - he
wanted answers.  Marie had still not moved, and the baby was wailing now.
     Nat turned to look at Lacroix.  She had seen him display a variety of
emotions:  love, hate, anger, contentment, even happiness.  This was the
first time, however,
that she saw fear in his eyes.  "Lucien, isn't there *something* we can do?"
Nat asked, fighting to control her terror and rage.
     "There is always 'something' one can do, my dear; however, in this
case," he said, keeping a wary eye on the other vampires, "anything we might
do would probably get us both staked where we stand."
     The Enforcer who had killed Marie nodded in agreement.  "Listen to him,
Dr. Lambert," he told her.  "He's telling you the truth."
     An icy chill went down Nat's spine.  Nick was in trouble once again,
and, again, she was powerless to help him.
     The two Enforcers turned away, holding the still struggling Nick,
apparently about to depart the scene with him.
     "I thought you said we were to be punished also," said Lacroix.  "Why
are you taking him and leaving us behind?"
     One of the pair turned slowly to face Lacroix, and a smile of sadistic
satisfaction spread across his face.
     "All in good time, Lacroix," he said in a menacing tone.  "You will see
soon that his punishment will result in your own.   It will be all you
rightly deserve.  *We* need not lay a finger upon you."
     In an instant, they had disappeared with Nick, leaving Nat and Lacroix
to deal with Marie's remains.  They were only stirred to action when baby
Natalie's cry pierced their frozen despair.

Usual disclaimers apply.

Before the Dawn (3/?)
Copyright 1996

     Nat had returned home shortly after the run-in with the Enforcers, baby
in tow, while Lacroix took appropriate measures to see that Marie's body was
dealt with in a respectful, if discreet, manner.  There was, unfortunately,
nothing in the house that would appeal to a hungry, distressed infant, so
Natalie had been sure to look for formula, milk and diapers prior to leaving
the scene, bringing the meagre resources back with her.  She sat upstairs on
her bed now, rocking the now fed and cleaned child to sleep in her arms,
wishing little Natalie could have been her own.  And Nick's.
     Where *was* Nick, she wondered, as she stood and went to stand by the
windows.  Where, for that matter, was Lacroix?  She could just discern the
beginnings of a sunrise.  He was cutting things very close.
     Continuing to hold the baby, Nat began to pace the room, the emotions of
the night now beginning to take their toll.  Nat tried to remind herself
that, as a fledgling vampire, it would be difficult to keep her emotions in
check, that what she was experiencing must be normal.  Still, that knowledge
didn't seem to help calm the feeling that was starting to grow in her as the
seconds passed.  She wanted to cry, yell or put her fist through the nearest
wall, anything to release the tension and pent up anxiety that had built up
since the night she first learned of Nick's existence here in Paris, a
tension and anxiety that had increased geometrically during and after the
events of the past several hours.  Was her life always to be like this?
 Short periods of peace and happiness interspersed with emotionally and/or
physically traumatic events?
     Noticing that the baby had finally fallen asleep, Nat took her to the
guest room in which she herself had formerly stayed, securely placing her in
the midst of four walls of pillows and blankets.  The house had not been
equipped for a baby, so she had very little choice, unless, that is, the baby
were to sleep between her and Lacroix and, somehow, she could not imagine him
agreeing to that.  Not yet anyway.
     Natalie returned downstairs to leave a brief note for the housekeeper
wherein she instructed her to purchase certain items that morning and see to
the care of the child until they awoke the following evening.  She didn't
know yet whether she should pretend that they had adopted the child or
explain away its presence in some other fashion.  She would speak to Lacroix
first.
     She returned to her bedroom and changed into her nightdress, but her
normal routine didn't help to relax her enough for sleep.  Instead, she
continued pacing from one side of the room to the other, a million thoughts
running through her head:  thoughts of Nick, the baby, Marie's cruel death,
and, perhaps, some horrible end awaiting not just Nick, but she and Lacroix
as well, at the hands of the Enforcers.
     And then there was the anger.  She couldn't pinpoint the precise reason
for it, but only knew that it was there, boiling, just under the surface,
wanting to find a means of expression.  It was at that moment that Lacroix
finally returned home, suddenly appearing before her in the room.
     Continuing to stare at her, he said nothing, only deposited his silk
suit jacket over the back of a chair and started to unbutton his cuffs and
the front of his black shirt.   Finally, he held out a hand in her direction.
     "Come to me," he commanded in a hoarse whisper.
     Nat just looked at him, a war of conflicting feelings raging inside her.
 She didn't want him to make love to her.  Not tonight.  All she wanted was
escape, pure and simple, and to feel so physically exhausted that she could
finally sleep.  <Of course> she realised.  <He knows this.>
     In another second, she was crushing her lips to his own, running her
hands up and along his chest, then pulling the shirt from around his
shoulders and entwining her arms about his neck, her mouth never leaving his.
 He returned her kiss with a force that equalled her own, and, with his
hands, easily tore the black negligee from her body, moving against her until
they found the bed.

Standard disclaimers can be found ad nauseum in part 1.

Godiva chocolates and tall, blonde vampires with broad shoulders to
KnightGal@aol.com.  Jan, what do you want??<g>

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for all the wonderful e-mail you've
sent me!!  And now, on with the show!


Before the Dawn (4/?)
Copyright 1996

     Nat and Lacroix lay beside one another, each covered in a fine blood
sweat.  The scientist in Nat watched with fascination as the bruises and bite
marks on both of them healed rapidly.  The sex had not so much been violent
as it had been almost desperate and frenzied, a temporary narcotic to dull
the pain, a way to release the tension.  Without turning to face him, she
reached over to grasp Lacroix's hand.
     "We have to find him," she said numbly.
     "I believe, rather, that he will find us," Lacroix answered.  "Either
way, the Enforcers will see to that."
     Natalie turned on her side to look at Lacroix and rested her free hand
under her cheek.
     "They won't kill him, will they?" she asked, the fear beginning to
return as the 'narcotic' wore off.
     He looked over at her, then reached out to caress her face and neck.
     "I do not know," he replied.  "Anything is possible."
     She hadn't thought he would have any words with which to comfort her,
but she had hoped she was wrong.  In the silence that followed, they drew
closer, finally falling asleep in one another's arms as the sun rose high in
the sky.

                                                    *******

     Natalie awoke well past sundown, an indication of the toll her emotions
were taking on her body.  After a quick shower, she dressed and went to check
on the new 'occupant' of the house in what she was already beginning to think
of as the 'baby's room.'  She entered quietly and crossed to the bed.  It was
empty.  Was the housekeeper still here?  Not very likely.
     Making her way downstairs, she stopped in her tracks outside the drawing
room as she saw Lacroix holding the little girl.  He looked uncomfortable,
much like an inexperienced father, but looked exceedingly so when he felt
Nat's presence and turned in her direction a split second later.
     "I was hoping you were up.  The 'help' left me with our 'charge'," he
told Nat as he passed the infant to her, trying to sound annoyed.  He didn't
fool her, or, for that matter, the baby, who seemed to have quite enjoyed his
company.
     "Has she eaten?" Natalie asked.  Lacroix gave her a pained look.
     "No," he replied as he nodded in the direction of the kitchen, "but
you'll find what you need is already prepared."
     Holding the baby in her arms, Nat passed through the dining room and
into the spacious kitchen, expecting to find a pan of boiling water, an empty
bottle, and a can of formula.  Instead, she found the latest in
bottle-warming technology and, surprise, a full bottle ready to go.  Once the
child in her arms was contentedly downing the bottle's contents, Natalie made
a cursory tour of the kitchen, finding just about everything that could be
needed in this particular 'situation', including several large bags of
disposable diapers which hadn't yet been put away and were in temporary
residence under the last shelf of the walk-in pantry.  Looking out from the
pantry, she noticed she had missed a number of expensive looking parcels
stacked on one of the kitchen chairs.  She somehow managed to hold the baby
and open one of the boxes at the same time.  It revealed the most beautiful
clothing she had ever seen for a girl of baby Natalie's age and size.
     "Yeah," Nat said looking at the small one in her arms, "he's *really*
uncomfortable, isn't he?"  She shook her head, put the now empty bottle in
the kitchen sink and returned to the drawing room to find Lacroix pouring
'breakfast.'  Nat took a seat on the sofa, a large cloth strategically placed
over her shoulder, and hefted the baby to an upright position while she
patted its back.  She stared at Lacroix.
     "Yes?" he asked as he set a glass next to her, continuing past until he
stood behind the sofa, and gazed out the large windows into the front garden.
     "*What* is all *that*?"  This time it was her turn to nod in the
direction of the kitchen.
     "I merely added a few items to the list you left for the housekeeper,"
he said innocently.
     "A *few*!" she replied.  "Well, all I can say is, if Paris doesn't have
a Baby Superstore yet, they can always come here!"
     "One must be prepared," Lacroix stated, trying to sound matter-of-fact.
 "Children of the mortal variety can be so...difficult."
     "For instance?"
    "At least you don't have to burp a baby vampire..."
     She turned to see a smiling Lacroix.  "It's a very different experience
to share a house with a baby," he said softly, stroking the infant's cheek,
"even one as charming as this one."
     "Let's hope we can share the house with her father soon," Natalie
offered, as pain darkened their eyes.

                                                     *******

     Natalie laid the baby down for her nap, then went to rejoin Lacroix
downstairs.  As she entered the room, she noted his pensive, even strained
expression, and tensed.
     "Did you find anything out last night?" she queried tentatively.
     Lacroix glanced sharply at her, and she chilled inside.  "Certain
things, yes, and all of them bad.  I heard nothing specifically concerning
Nicolas, but the Community is becoming disquieted by a very wide-ranging
trend on the part of the Enforcers.  Instead of merely attending to
situations where evidence of our existence must be wiped out, they are
attempting to exert much more control over how we live our lives.  Others
haven't had as profound a problem as we have, but it seems that the
high-handed treatment we received was far from unique."
     Natalie swallowed hard, then said, "Is that entirely bad?  I mean, it's
awful, but maybe we'll have some allies in this."
     "More allies than you realise,"  was the unexpected rejoinder.
     They spun to face the intruder, a small, slender woman with red hair.
 Natalie shot a glance at Lacroix for a clue on how to handle this, and was
surprised to see a snarl of rage.
     "Enforcer..." he hissed.
     "Former Enforcer, if you please," the woman replied wearily, as if used
to this reaction.  "I disagreed with the current powers that be and was
ejected for my pains."  She looked at Natalie with interest.  "I am
Marguerite, Dr. Lambert, and I am
completely opposed to the 'control freaks' currently in charge of things."
     Natalie all but pounced on her.  "Can you tell us why this is happening?
 Do you know where Nick is?"
     Marguerite held her hands up in mock surrender and laughed a little.
 "Patience, Doctor, and I'll tell you what I know, but as it will take a
little time, why don't we sit down and relax."

                                                     *******

     Lacroix wordlessly poured drinks for the three of them, and they each
took a seat.  He didn't know what to think of her; uppermost in his mind was
the thought that she did *not* seem at all like the two they'd met yesterday.
 He thought, perhaps, she might be telling the truth.  Still, he would
remember to be wary.
     Marguerite took an appreciative sip and began.
     "This started only a few decades ago, when the pace of mortals' progress
started to make itself felt.  For millenia, the vampire/mortal association
remained essentially the same, requiring little adjustment.  Now, though,
through technology and the scientific viewpoint, it has become harder and
harder to hide, even when we are as discreet as possible.  The day approaches
swiftly when they will easily detect us."
     "Fifty years, no more.  Perhaps as little as forty," Natalie broke in,
hearing her own private thoughts on the matter echoed.
     Marguerite and Lacroix stared at her in astonishment, then the
ex-Enforcer continued.
    "Actually, we had thought a century.  Perhaps we should have asked your
advice."
     Lacroix snapped, "This is not really germane to the discussion, ladies.
 Let's get on with it!"
     The two women exchanged a conspiratorial smile.
     "Just a moment, Lacroix," Marguerite responded.  "I'd like to see if
your fledgling  has independently paralleled my group's opinion.  It might be
useful in future plans.  Natalie, what do you see as the most viable solution
to the problem?"
     "Well," Natalie said a little nervously, "I'm no all-knowing Oracle, but
I'd think that it's become necessary for the vampire/mortal relationship to
become more of a symbiotic than parasitic one.  Sorry," she said, as both
Lacroix and Marguerite looked grim, "but I still think like a mortal, and
from that point of view, vampires seem like parasites."
     "That is my conclusion as well," said Marguerite, sounding oddly
triumphant for a moment.  "Unfortunately, my former colleagues went in the
other direction.  They are actually considering fomenting wars and plagues in
an attempt to otherwise occupy their attention and 'put them in their proper
place' as they phrase it.  Fools!  Such a thing would destroy mortal and
vampire alike.   They are consumed with the thought that if only every
vampire would just do *exactly* as they are told, then we would be in little
danger.  Idiots!  Few of us became vampires because we were the submissive
sort."
     "Indeed," Lacroix answered, in an ironic tone.  "I've never met a more
independent sort than the vampire.  We do not respond well to autocracy."
     Natalie choked back a laugh.  'So, he actually learned something from
Nick!  That's a first!'  She was careful, though, to keep this thought to
herself.
     "So," Marguerite continued, "they hope to scare the worldwide Community
into obedience with a few terrible 'object lessons'.  It's far more likely to
produce the vampiric Armageddon, however."
     Lacroix's gaze sharpened.  "And you hope to head off an anarchic,
widespread rebellion with a smaller, well-planned one, hmmm?"
     "You don't miss much, Lucien, do you?"  Marguerite looked annoyed for a
moment, then smiled ruefully.  "Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind.  The
longer we wait, though, the messier and more obvious it will be to mortals.
 Do I take it you want in on this?"
     Natalie and Lacroix exchanged a long look.
     "Of course we do," the elder vampire replied, "if only because it's our
best chance to recover Nicolas.  Speaking of which, what do you know of his
fate?"
     Marguerite grew pale, even for a vampire.  "I don't know the details,
but I've heard he will be brought across again."
     Natalie moaned wordlessly at this.
     "Also, I think his spirit will be...broken, somehow."

Standard disclaimers can be found in part 1 (or is it part 2?).  Anyway, I
typed them somewhere!

Sorry this has taken so long to get out.  Real life intrudeth, and it is a
royal pain!


Before the Dawn (5/?)
Copyright 1996

    After Marguerite had left, Lacroix continued to pace the room.  Nat
didn't move, but, like Lacroix, a hundred thoughts about what Marguerite had
just told them churned in her brain.   Among other things, she thought of
Nick, the Enforcers, and
whether she and Lacroix would be allowed to live for much longer.  She looked
up at Lacroix.
     "So," she began, "what do we do now?"
     Lacroix stopped pacing and turned to look at her.  At this moment, he
reminded Nat of the General he had been, even more so than usual:  the ramrod
straight back, the air of confidence and seeming lack of fear, the ever
present 'presence' he exuded, now magnified substantially by the power of the
ancient vampire within.
     "We have only two options," he said coolly.  "We can cower, 'take our
medicine', no matter how painful we may personally find it, and hope to
escape with our lives, or..."
     "Or?" Nat asked tentatively.
     "Or we can engage them in a battle which is sure to be unlike any the
Community has witnessed."
     "But, from everything I've ever heard, your average vampire isn't any
kind of a match for an Enforcer!"
     "True.  You must remember, however, that there are more of us than there
are of 'them.'"
     "Even so, how are you going to organise 'us' into anything resembling a
cohesive unit?  You yourself said that you've never met a *more* independent
sort than the vampire.  That doesn't exactly bode well for anyone trying to
foster esprit de corps."
     "Not in the long run, no," Lacroix acknowledged, "but I believe that
when they understand the choices facing them, they will be more inclined to
temporarily set aside that spirit of independence.  It would be *personally*
beneficial for them to do so, after all.  It will not seem to them to be so
much an altruistic move as it will a selfish one ultimately."
     "And just how do you propose we bring about this little international
effort?" Nat inquired of him.
     A wicked gleam shone in his eyes.
     "Modern technology is wonderful, don't you think?"
     Nat sat up abruptly.
     "Oh, no!  You can't tell me you're going to publicise this during your
broadcast!  The Enforcers will have your head on a platter!  Literally!"
     "I think not," Lacroix answered calmly.  "We've already been informed we
won't be attacked by them directly.  Besides, I plan to be very discreet.
 It's only an invitation I'm extending, after all."
     "An invitation to what?" Nat asked.  <Why was it that she always seemed
to be the one asking the questions?>
     "Why, just a reunion of old friends," he replied in all innocence.  "Of
course, if it *should* turn into anything else, say, a council of war,
well,..."
     "I know," Nat interrupted.  "The secretary will disavow any knowledge of
you or your mission."
     "I do so love your sense of humour, my dear."

                                                   *******

     Two nights later, older members of the Community and about a half dozen
ex-Enforcers from around the globe began to quietly file into the Lacroix
household and assemble in the drawing room.  Every seat was taken, along with
any available wall space.  The power in the room was something Nat had never
before felt, and
the mood grim, to say the least.  Lacroix stood near the marble fireplace,
glass in hand, while Nat sat close by in a corner of one of the sofas.
     "It's been a long time, Lucius," a throaty feminine voice said as its
owner approached and kissed him in a rather intimate fashion.  Lacroix didn't
look terribly uncomfortable, Nat noticed jealously.  The look was not lost on
the newcomer.
     "You should get over it, fledgling," she said in a condescending manner.
 "Your life would be *so* much happier."
     "Actually, my life would be much happier if you would take a flying..."
      Lacroix apparently decided it was time to intervene.
     "Diana," he said in his most gracious tone, "do allow me to introduce
you to Natalie."
     "Hello," Diana said, making it quite clear by her tone and inflection
that she was only doing it because Lacroix had asked her.
     "Natalie, this is Diana, a rather long time friend."
     "So I see."
     "Natalie," Lacroix began to say.  His voice carried an undercurrent of
warning, but she couldn't bring herself to looking on this 'friend' of
Lacroix's with any kindness.
     "Diana, will you excuse us for just a moment?"
     "Why, of course, mon cher.  Anything for you!"
     Lacroix took hold of Nat's upper arm and walked with her across to the
other side of the room, through the dining room, and thence to the kitchen.
     "*What* was that?" Natalie demanded to know before Lacroix was able to
get another word out.
     "That is exactly what I was going to ask you."
     "You can't mean to tell me that you haven't a clue why I might just be
the slightest bit upset!"
     "On one level, of course I can," he told her as he released his grip on
her arm.  "You must understand, however, that there is order within the
Community, no matter what a relationship may be in private.  When I tell you
to do something and you insist on 'arguing' with me publicly, it can send a
rather unfortunate message.  And, no," Lacroix continued as he read the 'you
male chauvinist pig' thoughts in her mind, "it has nothing to do with my ego.
 Well," he added with a sardonic smile on his face, "not entirely, at any
rate!"
     As much as she had detested the scene in the other room, Nat had to
admit Lacroix was right.  By challenging him publicly, it might call into
question his ability to lead in other areas, in spite of his reputation.
 After all, if he couldn't control his fledgling, how could he hope to help
his people save themselves?  It was definitely bad for morale.  Nat took a
deep breath and looked up into his eyes.
     "All right.  I'll try to keep a lid on it," she offered, still not happy
with the situation, but willing to give in this once.
     "That's better," he told her, taking a moment to lean over her shoulder
and plant a kiss on her neck.  "I promise to make it up to you later," he
said in his most seductive voice.  "Now," he continued, more composed, "shall
we?" and motioned in the direction of the room which held the waiting crowd.

                                                     *******
    The meeting finally got underway.  Lacroix spoke first.
    "I'm sure you are all wondering why I invited you here tonight," he
began.
    "Really, Lucien," piped up a very dark, handsome male vampire on the
opposite side of the room, "it's about time for one of your parties.  You've
been in Paris how long?"
     Natalie got the distinct impression from this vampire's tone of voice
and a few snickers that these 'parties' probably weren't very tame affairs.
 Lacroix smiled.
     "Much as I would *like* to tell you all to abandon yourselves in
shameless, hedonistic activities, we are here to discuss something far more
serious, I fear, namely, the stranglehold the Enforcers are currently
attempting to place on our every action.  They are inventing extensions of
the Code to justify this, and in the process rousing many to the brink of
rebellion.  I do not think a widespread uprising is in the interests of any
of us, but we cannot tolerate this chain with which the Enforcers are trying
to bind us.  Currently, they seem to be selecting so-called violators of
their new Code of which they can make rather extreme object lessons.  In my
case, as you all know, my son Nicolas wished to become mortal again.  I chose
to permit this, believing he would eventually tire of it and return to me."
 Lacroix glanced briefly at Nat.  "Instead, he achieved his goal, and, within
a short time, abruptly disappeared.  Recently, however, I discovered Nicolas
living in a poor part of Paris."  Lacroix paused briefly as murmurs of
surprise were heard.  "Two nights ago, as we were visiting Nicolas and his
new 'family,' the Enforcers chose to pay us a visit.  Both Natalie and I
learned that they had spirited him away from us in Toronto, erased his
memory, and abandoned him to rebuild his life.   They then killed his new
mortal wife and retook him, promising that he would be punished for pursuing
and achieving mortality.  They also informed Natalie and I that we would be
punished as well, Natalie for assisting him in his quest, and me for not
doing more to stop him.   They told us that his punishment would result in
our own, and it has been 'hypothesised' by Marguerite that he will return to
me hideously changed.  It seems likely that he will be brought back across,
but he will not be the Nicolas we knew."  For an instant, Lacroix's towering
fury was visible. Everyone seemed to hold their collective breath, waiting.
     Lacroix spoke with forced calm.  "From what Marguerite said, I am far
from the only one to have been made an object lesson.  I would like to know
how others have been affected."  It was said in the guise of polite speech,
but everyone knew it was an order.
     Silence reigned for a moment, then a man who had previously been
completely unobtrusive cleared his throat.  He was a dark and attractive
Frenchman who had been brought across in his early twenties, but his haunted
expression made him look impossibly old now.
     "My name is Jacquard, and I have been made to suffer for a fledgling of
mine.  Her name was Giselle, and a sweeter and kinder woman has never been.
 I wanted to be with her always, so she asked me to bring her across, but
only under the condition that she never kill or hurt anyone.  We were so
happy..."
     He trailed off as tears threatened to flow down his cheeks.  Natalie
moved to sit beside him and laid a comforting hand on his arm.  He accepted
her comfort, then
straightened and continued his story.
     "One evening, two Enforcers showed up at our house.  They said they were
displeased with the fact that Giselle had never killed.  Mortals were mere
food, they said, and should be given no more consideration than that. They
had some twisted logic about how caring for mortals in *any* way endangered
vampires.
It's something I've never quite grasped.  What are we, if not humans with
long lifespans and odd diets, anyway?"
     Jacquard broke off momentarily to collect himself.  Lacroix did not
offer any words of comfort in the intervening silence but merely leaned back
against the fireplace mantle and crossed his arms.  If he was touched by
Jacquard's narrative, he wasn't about to let anyone else know it.
     "They said they would teach us a lesson about what it really meant to be
a vampire," Jacquard continued.  "Despite my trying to stop them, they took
Giselle away with them.  I did not see her again for four nights.  When she
returned to me, her eyes...she looked as though she had gazed into the depths
of hell!  She said they had locked her in a cell with two street children and
no other sustenance.  Giselle tried her best to resist the lure of their
blood, but she was so young, she could
not hold out.  After she had killed them, the Enforcers let her go."
     Natalie interrupted Jacquard's narrative.  "It wasn't in any way her
fault!  Any vampire would have eventually succumbed under such pressure!
 Where is she?  Maybe I can help her..."  Her voice trailed off as she saw
the naked grief on his face.
     "She could not live with what she had been forced to do.  I tried to
dissuade her, but she went out to the sunrise the next morning.  I almost
went with her, but I realised I must do what I can to avenge her first, and
make sure this does not happen to  anyone else!"  Jacquard's voice was thick
with rage.   Many of the other vampires in the room were nodding in
agreement.
     Denise, a tall, elegant brunette seated to Jacquard's left spoke up
next.  "I can't say that my experience was nearly that bad," she gazed
sympathetically at him, "but it was damned inconvenient.  Just as
unnecessary, too!"  With the room's attention on her, she continued.
     "I was in partnership with two other mortals in a pharmaceutical
research company.  Because of the Toronto fever incident, I thought it might
be good to have medically based resources available in the future.  I told
them nothing of us,
naturally."
     Lacroix queried, "What then was the problem?  There does not seem to be
any opportunity for endangering the Community in that."
    "There was an explosion at the plant during an open house and party my
partners were giving one evening,"  Denise replied, wryly.  "It was very
thorough. Not only did they die, but their spouses and many others present
perished in the resulting fire.
I got a message afterwards from the Enforcers saying that I should not lower
myself to treat mortals as equals.  Use them and discard them - that is the
natural way of things.  It was a financial disaster.  The insurance company
refused to pay, and I was forced to abandon the rest of my holdings when the
authorities began to investigate me!"
     "And let me guess the reason for the explosion," Lacroix said
sarcastically.
     "I'm sure it would be no guess," Denise interrupted in a quiet voice.
 Nat could see they both knew the answer.  "When I abandoned the business, I
was contacted again."
     "It was the Enforcers who caused the explosion, wasn't it?" asked Nat.
     "Yes," answered Denise, "and I'd like someone to tell me how *that* is
supposedly protecting the Community.  Where is the logic in it?"
     "Logic has absolutely nothing to do with it, my dear," replied Lacroix
in a tone that combined irony and sympathy.  "The experiences we have related
have nothing to do with logic and everything to do with an increasing
authoritarianism within the ranks of the Enforcers.  They were meant to be a
protection to us, to act as a last resort and see that we went undiscovered.
 They were not meant to regulate and interfere in every aspect of our lives!"
     Denise snorted.  "But the Enforcers are far stronger than any of us!
  Just what can we do to stop them?"
     "That, my dear," said Lacroix, "is what we must now decide."


Virtual Jaguars and chocolates, please, to KnightGal@aol.com

Standard disclaimers apply.

Before the Dawn (6/?)
Copyright 1996

     Four hours and much arguing later, the brainstorming session ended
without a firm resolution having been reached.  Lacroix closed and bolted the
door after the last 'guest' passed through it.  Nat watched him briefly rub
his eyes as though he were exhausted but she knew it was just the frustration
one always felt when one was trying to arbitrate an agreement between a
multitude of people with conflicting viewpoints.  In other words, no one was
really open to any agreement.  A look of understanding passed between them
before she left him alone to mull over their future and went upstairs with a
warmed bottle for the baby, now awake and ready for another meal.
     When she had finished feeding the child, she held it in her arms and
remained sitting in the large chair overlooking the garden, the same chair
she had sat in the first night in this house.  The flowers were blooming, but
they had lost something of their vibrancy.  It wasn't that the colours had
changed, only her mood.  Nick was out there, somewhere, and she and Lacroix
were powerless to stop the Enforcers from whatever hideous future they had
planned for him.
     'Nick!' her mind cried out as she covered her mouth with one hand.  How
could any of this happened?  Never mind now...It *had* happened, and that was
all there was to it.  From inside, she was assaulted by her own conscience.
 Had she entered into this relationship with Lacroix too soon?  Should she
have waited longer?  Ever since that night with Janette, everything had
seemed to scream at her that Nick would not be coming back.  Selfishly,
perhaps, she had not wanted to face a future alone, and there was Lacroix,
seductive and familiar, who had obviously come to care for her.  The
combination of the magnetism he exuded and the secure feelings he gave her
were too much for her to resist.  Somehow, coming to him had seemed the right
thing to do, the natural thing, almost as though *this* were her true destiny
in life.  Even so, the guilt would not leave her in peace.
     A soft knock came on the bedroom door, and Natalie turned to see Lacroix
standing behind her.  He held out his arms to take the baby from her.
 Natalie passed the sleeping child to him and he walked it over to the crib,
laying it gently among the bedclothes.  They stood over the baby, both
wondering whether or not this was the safest place for the child, both
realising in that moment that there was no way they could spirit baby Natalie
away without the Enforcers knowing.  If they wanted to harm the child as well
as them, there would be nothing she or Lacroix could do about it.
     Natalie wrapped her arms about Lacroix and he placed an arm around her
shoulders.  Peace.  All she wanted was peace, but neither the Enforcers nor
her conscience was cooperating.
     "It seems, ma petite," Lacroix said, interrupting her thoughts, "that
all we can do now is wait for whatever they have planned for us."
     "I know," Nat sighed.  Taking him by the hand, she led him out of the
room and back downstairs.  They opted for the neatness of the library and
left the drawing room for the housekeeper to deal with.  Nat pulled a book
off the shelf and handed it to Lacroix.
     "Anything in particular?"
     "No," Nat answered as she curled up next to him on the sofa.  "Just
anything."
     Lacroix turned to a well worn page and began to read, and Natalie
momentarily found her peace.

Wilt thou go with me sweet maid
Say maiden wilt thou go with me
Through the valley depths of shade
Of night and dark obscurity
Where the path hath lost its way
Where the sun forgets the day
Where there's nor life nor light to see
Sweet maiden wilt thou go with me

Where stones will turn to flooding streams
Where plains will rise like ocean waves
Where life will fade like visioned dreams
And mountains darken into caves
Say maiden wilt thou go with me
Through this sad non-identity
Where parents live and are forgot
And sisters live and know us not

Say maiden wilt thou go with me
In this strange death of life to be
To live in death and be the same
Without this life or home or name
At once to be and not to be
That was and is not - yet to see
Things pass like shadows - and the sky
Above, below, around us lie

The land of shadows wilt thou trace
And look nor know each other's face
The present mixed with reasons gone
And past and present all as one
Say maiden can thy life be led
To join the living with the dead
Then trace thy footsteps on with me
We're wed to one eternity


****************************************************
I know, I know....Part 7 has been a while in coming, but it's a good size, so
hopefully you'll forgive the passage of some days!

My sincere thanks to Jan Wiles, a great collaborator with me on BtD!!!!!! :)

Standard disclaimers apply here.

Oh, and before we start, just wanted to encourage everyone to contribute
whatever they can to the Give a Day to the Knight campaign which will benefit
Nigel Bennett's charity of choice, Casey House, in Toronto.  Many thanks to
those of you who have already shown your support!

Before the Dawn (7/?)
Copyright 1996

     Natalie sat alone in the drawing room, beginning to think you *could* go
insane from waiting.  It had been two weeks since the big meeting, and, as
far as she could tell, there had been no results.  Lacroix had been out and
about, presumably conferring with the others, but had had little to tell her.
 She had, however, caught him giving her odd, apprehensive looks when he
thought she wasn't looking.  Natalie concluded it was about time to push a
little harder to find out what was up.
     Just as she decided to go confront him, she became aware of the strong
presence of Marguerite, who entered the drawing room with a determined
expression on her face.  Lacroix was close on her heels, strain written in
every line of his face.
     "There *must* be another way," he said angrily.  "This is too dangerous
- "
     Marguerite laughed humourlessly.  "You mean you won't have the control
over it you like.  Too bad.  If we wait much longer, the conspiracy will fall
apart and we'll all be destroyed.  Let's get on with this."  She sat, facing
Natalie, focusing all her
attention on the younger vampire.
     "Doctor Lambert, I must ask you some questions about the 'cure' you used
on de Brabant.  Do I understand correctly that it is virally-based?"
     Natalie nodded, surprised.  "More like a viral version of a
bacteriophage.  It attaches itself to the vampire virus and slowly merges
with it.  When the merge is complete, the virus is an inert material and is
treated like any other waste product.
It took several weeks to work, probably because the vampiric state is so
stubborn and resilient."
     "Very well then," said Marguerite, looking satisfied.  "What I propose
to do is turn this cure of yours over to another researcher, one of ours.
 Oddly enough, he is on the team working on the cure for the Ebola virus.  It
is not commonly known yet,
but they have succeeded in finding one.  More, they have a version that can
be administered in a gaseous form, and it works very quickly.  I believe that
his techniques can be applied to your work."
      Natalie was puzzled.  "That sounds very good, but what does that have
to do with our current situation?"
     The ex-Enforcer was grim.  "Once it's done, we bait the Enforcers -
well, those who have gotten carried away, shall we say? - into a trap, and
use the 'cure' to make them mortal.  They will be no threat to us then."
     Natalie glanced at Lacroix, who looked like he was about to explode.
 "Why don't you let me work with this researcher of yours?  With both of us
working on it, it'd be done much faster!"
     "Absolutely not!" Lacroix blurted out.  "I will not permit it.  It is
far too dangerous for you."
     Marguerite interrupted.  "It's out of the question, anyway.  There is
simply *no way* to sneak you in and out of a P-4 containment facility like
the one that's doing this work.  It's going to be difficult as it is to hide
the fact that the vampire
cure work is being done at all.  My researcher is second-in-command of the
team - he has a *chance* of making it work."
     Natalie wanted to argue, but knew that Marguerite was right.  Protocol 4
was the level of containment used for biowarfare research - hell would be
easier to break into.  "Tell him he needs to think about some sort of vaccine
for our allies, or some
chemical way to block absorption of the phage.   Otherwise, this is a
doomsday weapon that could take us all down."
     Lacroix stared at her, stunned.  Finally, he managed, "I thought...you
would jump at the chance to return to mortality, now that Nicolas has been
found."  The two women stared at him, one with a look of confusion, the other
with a look of new
understanding.
     "Well, that is between the two of you," Margurite said briskly as she
rose from her chair.  "May I hope that you retain samples of your work, and
notes as well?"
     "Yes, of course," Natalie responded, also getting to her feet.  "They're
inactive and frozen, but your man should have little trouble.  I'll be right
back."  She left the room.  Lacroix and Marguerite carefully avoided looking
at each other.
     Natalie returned with several bound notebooks and a freezerpack.  "I
haven't closely examined this in ages.  I hope it's still all right."
     Marguerite took the books and pack from her, obviously eager to leave.
 "I'm sure it will be all right.  I will let you know when we have made any
progress."  With that, she was gone.
     Natalie turned her gaze on Lacroix, emotions warring within her.   What
in the world had he been thinking?
     "We need to talk."
     "About?" Lacroix asked, eyeing her from several feet away.
     Nat placed her hand on the seat next to her but said nothing.  Lacroix
accepted her invitation and sat down beside her.  She took both hands and
enclosed one of his own with them, and looked directly into his eyes.  "You
think I'm going to leave,
don't you?"
     She received no answer from Lacroix who looked away sharply.  Nat bowed
her head momentarily, trying to find the best words she could to explain how
she felt and what she wanted.
     "I can't deny that I still care for Nick," she said.  "There isn't any
way I could stop caring for him.  In my own way, I still love him."
     Lacroix continued to stare straight ahead, a movement of his jaw the
only indication that some intense emotion was coursing through his veins
right now.
     "There is...one thing I've learned, though, since I've been with you,"
she began quietly.
     "And that is?" Lacroix asked, trying to sound as though he could wait
forever for the answer.
     "I don't *want* to be mortal."
     "Excuse me?" he asked her in astonishment.  It was apparent that he had
not expected anything approaching such a statement.
     Nat smiled and squeezed his hand.  "As much as I love Nick, I don't ever
want to be mortal again.  Why should I?  I've spent half my life seeing death
in all its forms, whether it was 'on the job' or within my close circle of
friends and family.  How
could I *ever* go back to a condition that would lead to my own suffering and
death or the suffering and death of those I care about?"  Nat stopped
momentarily to collect more thoughts.  "I suppose that, deep down, one reason
I was always drawn to Nick and one reason I couldn't resist your attentions
is that I always wanted to be a part of this world, though it was only in the
most desperate of moments that I admitted it to myself.  I realised though,
after Nick disappeared, that there was no way I could go back to the mortal
world full time.  I've *seen* too much.  I *know* too much.  And, I want to
*do* too much, more than one lifetime will allow me."
     Lacroix looked at her in disbelief.  "And what of us?" he asked.
     Nat could see that he was half-dreading her answer.
     "We'll go on, together," she said earnestly.  "When Nick woke up on my
autopsy table all those years ago, I fell, as they say, 'hook, line and
sinker.'  He was my...knight in shining armour," she said, smiling at the
memory, "that one grand passion that most women only ever dream about but
never get.  There is no way I could ever *not* love him.  But...our
relationship is different...I love you, but it isn't a love that was born in
a split second of time.  I don't think anyone gets that chance
twice.  This is something that grew over time, and...it's very different.
 It's also very nice.  You may not realise this, but after I made the
decision to leave Toronto, it was as though I had stopped riding a
rollercoaster.  It sounds passe, I know, but
I wanted to feel secure, protected, not just put on a pedestal, and I came to
see that I'd never had that with Nick.  When he was a vampire, I couldn't
always trust him to keep control.  When he became mortal again, I couldn't
protect him from his job, and he couldn't protect me from anything I might
face.  You don't know how often I expected a couple of officers to appear at
my door with bad news."
     The two sat in silence for a minute before Natalie continued.  "You
know, I used to hate your guts," she said with an amused look.
     "The feeling was, I assure you, mutual," Lacroix said, deadpan.
     "I don't know what happened to you, but, whatever it was, I'm glad,"
Natalie twinkled at him.
     "Call it being brought face to face with a kind of providence," he said,
glancing momentarily up at an imaginary heaven, then back at Nat.  "I had
fooled myself into believing that I could kill whatever softer emotions I'd
been born with.  Mind you, I thought I had succeeded at that some time ago,
as well, until, that is, I met Fleur."
   "Nick's sister," Nat said matter-of-factly.  Nick had finally told her the
story.
     "Yes," he said sadly.  "His sister.  And, when I lost her, the pain was
unbearable, and I told myself I could never again allow myself that kind of
luxury.  Better to be the cold, calculating aggressor than to fall prey to
one's own heart."
     "I know," she said, softly laying her head on his shoulder and moving an
arm about his waist.
     "When Divia returned, however, I was made to realise that I could never
truly be such a person.  The thought of my Nicolas being destroyed by her
was...beyond description.  I had to acknowledge that I did care; that, like
it or not, I was 'stuck' with the emotions I had considered a liability, and
that I actually preferred it that way.  Divia knew this somehow, and she used
the best strategy possible to destroy
me - kill off anyone who meant anything to me and leave me utterly and
entirely alone."
     <So that was it> Nat thought.  <He thinks I'm going to leave him, as
well.>
     "I made a promise..." she began.
     "You also made a promise to Nicolas," he interrupted.
     "I know," Nat acquiesced, "and if there's an easy way to resolve this, I
would love to know what it is."
     "Unfortunately, cherie," he said as he gently kissed the top of her
head, "there is no easy way."
     She nodded, then curled up more closely beside him.
     "Perhaps, then, we should make best use of this calm before the storm,"
she suggested as she ran a hand lightly over one ear and down his neck, where
she began to gently knead the stiff muscles.  He lowered his lips to her own
and poured all of his gratitude into one kiss.  Whatever he wanted from her
this night, she would give it to him, willingly - whatever it took to
convince him she would not leave.

Usual disclaimers.  No infringement of copyright is intended by publication
of this work.

Thanks again to my co-author, Jan Wiles, for her talent and some pretty hefty
contributions to BtD!

Before the Dawn (8/?)
Copyright 1996

     A short time later, the waiting was over.  When Natalie awoke one
evening, she discovered Lacroix already dressing in decidedly unelegant dark
clothing, a look of fierce anticipation on his face.  He glanced up at her
and said, "I am glad you are awake.  The trap is at last ready, and
everything is to happen tonight."
     Natalie sat up sharply, and responded coldly, "I gather there is no
question of *my* going?"
     He stopped fussing with his shirt, and came over to take her hands.
     "Cherie, there are a number of reasons you should not go.   First, a
fledgling of your 'age' would not stand a chance against the Enforcers in
hand-to-hand combat.  More importantly, there will be a great deal of killing
tonight.  For all that you
are one of us, I cannot imagine you would want to either witness or
participate in so much death."
     Natalie sighed, and slumped a little.
     "I suppose you're right - I didn't become a doctor because I wanted to
kill people, and that certainly hasn't changed.  I'm just upset I wasn't told
beforehand."
     Lacroix could not help but smile.  "The timing was uncertain until
yesterday evening, and I knew if I had told you then, you would have spent
this day pacing the floor and worrying uselessly.  I know it takes a long
time to learn to set matters
aside until the proper time comes..."
     Natalie rose to her knees on the bed and put her arms around him.
     "It's not that so much - but if I'd known. I could have given you a
better sendoff!"  She nuzzled his neck and kissed it softly.
     A soft growl came from Lacroix's throat.
     "I think I would prefer a warmer welcome home."  He pulled away and
kissed her thoroughly.  "Wish us luck, my love.  I have the feeling we'll
need it."
     "The best of luck, then.  And I'll pray for you, too..." her throat
closed up tight, and she could say no more.  A final embrace, and he was
gone.

                                                     ****

     The hours slowly ticked by.  Natalie busied herself with caring for her
namesake, who seemed attuned to the tension in the house and fussed far more
than usual.   Little Natalie finally allowed herself to be sung to and rocked
back to sleep.  Elder
Natalie decided that was no bad idea, and thought she might try to sleep some
herself.
     As Nat entered the bedroom, she sensed some wisp of a vampiric presence.
 Hopefully, she concentrated on it, trying to identify who it was.  She was
abruptly overwhelmed by the massive power - and sheer evil - of an Enforcer.
     <Oh no oh no oh no...it didn't work, and now I'm next!>
     She spun towards the window just as the 'Enforcer' crashed through it.
     It was Nick.  But it was Nick as she'd never seen him.  His eyes were
vividly
red, and his expression was twisted into a sneer, as though everything he saw
disgusted him.  She barely had time to realise that this was the punishment
the Enforcers had promised before he viciously backhanded her to the floor.
     "You traitorous bitch!" Nick snarled.  "How could you have gone crawling
to *him*, when you know damn well you belong to me?!  I'll teach you not to
disobey me in any way!"  Each few words were punctuated by another blow or
kick, until Nat   could hardly think for the pain.
     Nick grabbed her by the throat and dragged her to her feet.
     "You will learn that *you are mine*, and that mortal child in there is
mine - my dinner, anyway," he grinned nastily at her horrified expression.
     Natalie tried to speak.  "Nick, please, don't do this-" she tried to say
before she  was interrupted by another blow.
     "Silence, you whore!" he spat at her as she tried to move away from him.
  "And while we're on the subject, you might as well do your job..."  So
saying, he ripped off her dress and slapped her down onto the bed.
     Though stunned, Natalie tried to get away, but was knocked nearly
unconscious by his Enforcer's strength.
     <Oh, God, please help me!  This is no way for this to end...>
     She was dimly aware that he was poised to enter her, and mentally
screamed at the violation.  Fortunately, Nick was interrupted by a roar of
fury.
     Shouts and snarls of rage invaded her fog of semiconsciousness.  Nat
finally managed to focus on her surroundings, and discovered Lacroix and Nick
battling savagely amidst the wreck of the beautiful furniture the room had
once contained.  The fight was far more violent than she had thought it would
be, Nick's Enforcer-given strength being a match for that power which Lacroix
had acquired with age.  In fact, it looked like Lacroix might lose...
     Desperate, she looked for some way to stop the fight, and saw amongst
the wrecked furniture a piece of wood that would make a good stake.
     <I can't believe I'm doing this!> she thought despairingly, as she moved
along the perimeter of the fight, looking for the right time to strike the
blow that would, hopefully, end it all.
     Now.
     Nick shrieked in agony as the wood was driven cleanly through the back
of his chest.  He collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.  Natalie
staggered to Lacroix and threw her arms around him, weeping in mixed anguish
and relief.  The two stood thus for a long moment, hardly daring to believe
it was over, before they were shocked by a wisp of a voice from the floor.
     "Thank you...both of you...for freeing me..." Nick could barely speak,
but Nat and Lacroix could see that his eyes had returned to normal.  Before
them was the Nick they had known.
     "They crushed my...mind...made me their perfect slave...but...in the
back of my
mind, I knew the horrible things they made me do..."  His words trailed off
into painful, moist coughs.
     Lacroix let go of Natalie and moved to pull out the stake.
     "No!" gasped Nick with the strength he had remaining.  "Once I heal,
I'll revert to...their damned programming!  Please, let me die..."
     The elder vampire pursed his lips, thinking, then looked up at Nat.
     "Natalie, in the right-hand pocket of my coat is a syringe filled with
the fast-acting form of the cure.  Get it, and once I've pulled the stake
free and he's healed, be ready to inject it."
     Natalie retrieved the syringe and was back at flight speed, waiting.
 Lacroix turned Nick on his side, braced his foot against his back, and
yanked the stake free.  Nick managed a strangled cry, then fell silent.
 Natalie noticed that he seemed to be
healing even faster than he used to as a vampire.
     "Better restrain him," she said, but Lacroix was already moving.
     The hellish red color was already creeping back into his eyes when Nat
thought Nick was healed enough, and bent to inject the solution into his arm.
 He thrashed about wildly as Natalie leapt back out of range of his flailing
legs, then subsided after a minute or so.  She and Lacroix exchanged worried
looks, that relaxed into true relief as they heard a welcome sound.
     A mortal heartbeat.

Usual disclaimers apply.  No infringement of copyright is intended through my
use of the FK characters.

Before the Dawn (9/?)
Copyright 1996

     "Did everything go all right on your end?" Natalie asked Lacroix, as
they regarded the now mortal Nick.
     Lacroix answered, absently, "Oh, yes, quite well.  There were a few
minor glitches, but we had allowed for them.  The situation *is* settled."
     "That's good," Natalie murmured.  She was just beginning to allow
herself to relax from the weeks-long fear and uncertainty.  She let herself
slump a little, closing her eyes.  It was blissfully quiet, and even the
floor felt comfortable.  Floor?  She opened her eyes to discover that she had
fallen to her knees.  She drew breath to speak, only to let it out in a sob.
     Lacroix was beside her in an instant, holding her closely as she wept
out her horror and terrible confusion.  Natalie wanted to tell him she was
sorry for breaking down like this (it seemed to have become a habit lately),
but somehow could not seem to stop.
     Just then, Marguerite and Jacquard entered through the broken window.
 They raked the room with a sharp glance, then simultaneously relaxed as they
perceived that all was well.  Nick chose that moment to stir, groggily.  He
opened his eyes and shook his head a little, then saw Natalie crying and made
as if to go to her.   Jacquard moved to his side and gently restrained him.
     "His daughter's room is just down the hall," Lacroix told Jacquard
softly.  Take him there so that he may rest and recover."  Jacquard nodded
wordlessly, lifted Nick in his arms and then was gone.
     Marguerite regarded Natalie with a certain sympathy.
     "There are certain arrangements to be made, as you know," she told
Lacroix, "but I think they can be handled later.  I think you may take the
time to collect yourselves.  I'll see you tomorrow evening, all right?"
     Lacroix nodded, then rose with Natalie in his arms and headed for the
door to the hallway.  He needed to take her to one of the other bedrooms, as
this one was obviously in dire need of repair.  As he left the room,
Marguerite simultaneously departed through the broken window.
     Meanwhile, Jacquard had taken the semiconscious Nick and placed him on
the bed in the baby's room.  Nick muttered and thrashed his head around a
bit, then opened his eyes and stared at the other man.
     "Who are you?" Nick asked in an exhausted voice.
     "Another victim of the Enforcers, like yourself," Jacquard responded,
sympathy and sorrow mingled in his expression.  "I saw in that demon's blood
what they did to you.  You will be glad to know they are nearly all dead.
 They will not torment any of us further."
     Nick lay still for a moment, trying to comprehend, then whispered, "I
don't understand how you managed to defeat them, but I'm glad you did..."  He
trailed off, then drew a breath and continued.  "Thank you, from the bottom
of my heart.  What is your name?"
     The vampire's faint smile was not echoed in his eyes.  "My name is
Jacquard Montaigne.  I know of you already, Nicolas."
     "What do you mean, you were another victim?"  Nick asked, curiously.
     Jacquard heaved a sigh, then composed himself.  "My wife died as as
result of their particular 'attentions', also.  I swore I would not follow
her in death until I had avenged her.  *That* has been done most thoroughly
this night!"
     Nick found himself liking this grieving young man.  He himself might be
mortal now, but he was feeling every second of his 800-odd years.
  "Jacquard...I'm sorry for your loss.  I - I hope you can find the strength
to go on.  I know it is very hard."  He swallowed hard, fighting tears.
     Jacquard hesitated, then reached out and gripped Nick's shoulder firmly.
     "I do not know *what* I will do or where I will go.  I do not want to
stay in this place, where I will only be reminded that she is gone."  Blood
tears glimmered in the corners of his eyes.
     "I've got to agree with you there," Nick said resolutely.  "I've decided
to head back to Toronto.  I need something familiar around me.  If you'd
like, you're welcome to come with me.  There is a Community of considerable
size there, and it will at least be something new for you."
     "Why not?" mused Jacquard.  "It certainly will do no harm."  He gave
Nick a tentative smile.
     Nick returned the smile,  then his eyes fluttered closed.  "Sorry to be
rude, but I don't think I can stay awake any longer..."  The last thing Nick
heard before sleep claimed him was Jacquard's quiet laugh.

                                                       *******

     The following evening, Lacroix met Nat outside the room where they had
taken Nick.  Lacroix had spent the first few hours of the night with him.
 When she saw Lacroix, he had a relieved look about him but also seemed
suddenly to show all of his 2000 years.
     "I have certain matters to attend to with Marguerite and those who will
take the places of the Enforcers we have eliminated.  Stay here with
Nicolas," he told her and then kissed her good-bye.
     Natalie knocked softly and entered.  Nick was still very weak, but much
improved from the previous night.  She sat on the edge of the bed and took
hold of his hand.
     "Hi," he said weakly, his eyes half open.
     "Hi, yourself," she replied, smiling.
     A pained look flashed across his face.
     "Nat, I..." he began to say.
     "I know," she interrupted.
     "Can you forgive me?"
     "Forgive you?  For what?"
     "For leaving you behind like I did, for nearly killing you last night,
for nearly..." Nick's voice threatened to break and he looked away.  It was
clear he couldn't bring himself to say the words.  Nat reached over and
forced him to look at her.
     "It wasn't *your* fault, Nick.  Do you hear me?  It was *not* your
fault!  You were a pawn in the hands of a small group of out-of-control
Enforcers.  What happened to you could have happened to anyone in the
Community.  They were out to make examples, anything to assert their
dominance," Nat tried to explain to him.
    "But, Nat..."
     "Shush, Nick!" she said playfully.  "There's someone else you need to
get reacquainted with here."  She moved over to the crib and quickly returned
with baby Natalie who was obviously delighted to see her father.  The
feeling, of course, was mutual on Nick's part.  He managed to prop himself up
on the pillows and reached out to take her from Nat.  Watching them made Nat
want to cry tears of joy and sorrow - joy that Nick finally had something he
had so badly wanted:  a child of his own; and sorrow that she had not been
able to be the one to give her to him.  And she would never be able to share
that experience with Lacroix, either.  She saw him look up at her.  He seemed
to read her thoughts and motioned for her to sit next to him once again.
     "Nat?" he asked.
     She smiled at him in reply.
     "I was thinking that this little person here is going to need someone to
help take care of her after we get back to Toronto."
     "Toronto?" Natalie inquired nervously.
     "Yeah," Nick replied.  He looked surprised by her response.  "I didn't
know if we should hire a nanny or if you'd prefer to stay home."
     "Um, Nick," she began.  Surely he knew, didn't he?  "I'm not going back
to Toronto."
     "What do you mean, Nat?" he asked her, clearly upset.
     "Nick, you *must* realise some things have changed."
     "If you mean, you're a vampire," he nearly said through clenched teeth,
"then, yes, I understand that.  I also understand from Lacroix that you two
have become...close."  This last word would have been barely audible to a
mortal.  To Nat, it was loud and clear.  "Why, Nat?  Why did you do it?"
     "I'm sorry, Nick," she earnestly tried to say.
     "*Why*, Nat?" he asked, his voice filled with emotion.  "How could
you...??"
     "How *could* I?" Nat asked in turn.  "I'll tell you how," she said as
she rose and walked to the foot of the bed where she leaned against one of
the posts, her back to him now.  "For starters, Nick, I thought you were
*dead*!"
     "You could have waited, Nat," he pled.
     She turned on him.
     "Didn't you hear me, Nick?  I believed you were dead.  I waited over a
year, and I might have gone on waiting forever, if I hadn't found out what
lengths Lacroix had gone to in order to try and find you."
     "I know," Nick told her.  He laid baby Natalie, now asleep, aside, sat
up on the edge of the bed, and ever so slightly hung his head.  Although
Lacroix had tried to downplay his efforts, Nick knew him well enough to
understand he would have left no stone unturned.  If Lacroix hadn't been able
to find him, then, likely, no one ever would.
     "Well, imagine how I felt, Nick.  Whatever shred of hope I'd nursed for
more than a year went down in flames."
     "But it seems as though it all happened so fast," he said as he rose to
face her.  "Too fast."  He was looking at her now with nothing but love.
     Tears welled up in her eyes.   <God, this is awful.>
     "Maybe it did," she answered calmly.  "Maybe it did.  I suppose that,
for once in my life, I was being totally selfish, but you see, Nick...I was
lonely.  Terribly lonely.  It wasn't the first time in my life I'd felt that
way, but, after losing you..." her voice trailed off as she turned and
allowed her tears to fall.  Nick placed his hands on her shoulders to comfort
her and said nothing, allowing her to compose herself.  "After losing you,
Nick, the loneliness was unbearable.  I almost succeeded in killing myself,
and I would have, if Lacroix hadn't been in the right place at the right
time."
     Nick turned her around so that she faced him once again.  She could see
tears starting to build in his eyes, as well.
     "Nat?" he asked her with a shaky voice.  "Nat.   I'm so sorry - so very
sorry.  He drew her to him and held her close.  "I didn't know."
     Natalie returned his embrace.  It felt wonderful.
     "But, Nat, you found the cure, so we can be together again," he said
with hope in his voice.
     She pulled back.  This was going to be the hardest part.
     "It's true - I found the cure - but, Nick...I don't *want* to be mortal
again."
     You could have heard a pin drop in that room.  Nick clearly didn't know
what to say.  Well, she couldn't blame him.  Not at all.
     "You don't?" he asked, incredulous and disappointed.
     "No, Nick.  I don't.  Do you want to be a vampire again?" she asked
honestly.
     "You know the answer to that," he answered as the full impact of what
she was telling him was finally hitting him.  "Why can't you come back to me,
Nat?"
     She gently took his face in her hands - his warm face in her cold hands.
 How odd it all seemed.
     "Because," she started to say, "I can't have you die on me again, and I
don't want to watch you age, watch your body and mind break down, maybe watch
you die some horrible and painful death.  I couldn't live through that, Nick.
 I know that now.  I want to always think of you as you were - as you are.
 That's the image I always want to hold in my mind and my heart.  I can't
imagine my Nick Knight any other way.  Can you understand that?"
     There was a brief silence before Nick bent to kiss her.  The kiss grew
more impassioned, and Nat was shocked at how quickly the Hunger began to burn
in her, both for Nick's body and his blood.  Somehow, she was reminded of the
incident between Lacroix and Diana.  It made her remember how she had been
made to feel by
that little scene, and she quickly broke the embrace.
     "My turn to push you away, Nick," she told him, "unless, that is, you
want this to lead to its natural conclusion.  And, in my case, I might kill
you."
     "It sounds strange to be the one hearing that instead of saying it," he
said, sighing.  "You're right, of course.  I should know better than
anybody."  He stepped back from Natalie so that she could calm the vampire.
    "Nick, I..."
     He held a finger to her lips and tried to smile.
     "It's OK, Nat," he said.  He was trying very hard to put on a brave
face.  "I'd find it difficult to stand in your shoes right now."
     "Please, Nick," she told him as she gently pulled his hand away.
 "Please understand that I'm *very* torn right now.  No matter which way I
go, I'm going to hurt someone very deeply, including myself.  I do still love
you - very much."
     "I know," he said to her, this time giving her a quick, gentle kiss.
 "And I want you to know that if you change your mind, well...You know where
I'll be.  Uh, that is, if the loft hasn't been sold."
     "No.  Everything's just as you left it - as *we* left it.  Lacroix saw
to it that it was maintained.  Even after he had stopped hoping, the loft was
the one thing he couldn't stand to see anyone else have.  It would have been
too painful for him, in spite of the fact that he's used to leaving
everything behind when he moves on.  Heck, even the Caddy's there," she added
at the end, trying to sound more cheerful.  She went over to the bed and
picked up baby Natalie and savoured the experience of holding this small
miracle.  "I'm going to miss this little lady, even if I'm not quite a
natural at motherhood.  Take good care of her, Nick."
     "I will," he told her as he took the child from her arms.
     "I'm sorry...about Marie, that is."
     Nick nodded his head slowly.  He missed her dreadfully.  "I'll always
wonder what our lives would have been like, whether I would have actually
made it as an artist, what kind of family I would have had."  He drew close
to her once more.  "I'll always wonder what would have happened to *us*, Nat.
 Always."
     She didn't let him say anything else, holding him close him and closing
her eyes as the tears threatened to fall once more.
     "I will, too, Nick.  I will, too."

                                                    *******

     When Nick and Jacquard had departed, it was nearly dawn.  She was so
tired, and lonely without Lacroix.  Where was he? she wondered.  She thought
he would have returned by now.  Perhaps there had just been too many loose
ends to tie up.  Oh, well...
     Natalie went upstairs to their temporary bedroom and disrobed.  It was
time for sleep.  She passed on her usual nightgown and instead chose one of
Lacroix's dark silk shirts.  It still carried the scent of him, so it
provided a modicum of comfort to her senses.  Her soul ached for his soothing
voice, and her body ached to be one with him tonight.  Soon, she drifted into
a dreamless slumber.

Standard disclaimers apply.  (I have been duly upbraided for not warning of
sniffly, mushy bits in advance<g>.  So, please note:  contact lenses may
float away again in this bit!)

Before the Dawn (10/?)
Copyright 1996

     When Nat awoke, she found Lacroix lounging against the frame of the
bedroom door, apparently studying her.
     "Lucien," she said as a sense of relief at his return flooded through
her.  "You're home."
     "But for how long?" he asked sadly.
     "Well what is *that* supposed to mean?" Nat asked in return.
     "I mean that if you want to return to Nicolas, I will not stop you."
     <And I thought Nick was bad> she thought to herself.
     Natalie rose from the bed and crossed to where he stood.
     "I'm not going back to Toronto," She explained quietly.  "I'm staying
here, just as I said I would.  How many times do I have to tell you that?"
     "I thought, perhaps, after you saw...and spoke with Nicolas, you might
regret..."
     "The only thing to regret is the intrusion of the Enforcers into all our
lives.  Any suffering can be credited back to their account," Natalie stated
resolutely.
     "You're sure, then?  Even after being given the chance to be, how shall
I put it, a mother?"
     A sad look appeared in her eyes briefly, and she looked away.  It had
been hard to turn her back on Nick's little girl.  Her inability to have a
child was, she realised, the only thing she found difficult to accept when it
came to being a vampire.  Lacroix reached out and ran a finger along her jaw
until he reached her chin and gently tilted her head up to look at him.
     "Ah.  I was right.  This *does* disturb you," he told her tenderly.
     "And I don't understand why," Nat replied in a frustrated tone.  "I've
been able to put so much else behind me, as far as the things that would
concern any other mortal in my shoes.  No matter how hard I try, though, I
can't seem to kill the desire.  And it seems to be getting worse with time."
 She stopped talking then, knowing that if she didn't, she'd end up crying
again, and she had grown tired of that.  It made her feel like such a
weakling.  She'd been so strong in the past.  Perhaps this was one of the
side effects of being a vampire, she thought, just as Lacroix told her that
first time he had taken her to dinner:  the emotions a vampire felt far
exceeded anything one experienced as a mortal.  Lacroix took both her hands,
raised them to his lips and kissed them.
     "There are times when even a vampire cannot rid himself - or herself -
of certain feelings, they run so deeply within us.  What you feel, ma petite,
is not uncommon.  It is most often the reason why we bring a mortal across,
outside of being asked directly by the individual."
     "But...I don't *want* to bring anyone across," she stressed as she
placed her hands on his chest.  "The only thing I want now..."
     "Yes?"
     "The only thing I can seem to think of any more is how much I want to
have a child...our child."  She looked at him.  "And I don't want to keep
feeling this way.  It's torture.  Why must we have desires for things we can
never have?"
     "That," he said as he wrapped his arms about her, "is a question best
left to the philosophers."
     Nat looked hard at him and made an attempt at humour.
     "Well, you *are* the Nightcrawler."
     "Yes, but, there are some questions which even the Nightcrawler cannot
answer.  Besides," he explained as he gently began to unbutton the shirt she
was wearing, exposing the feminine form it hid, "I think there are better
ways for me to entertain you."
     Natalie couldn't argue with him about *that.*

Usual disclaimers.

Before the Dawn (11/?)
Copyright 1996

     Natalie lay on her side, with Lacroix spooned up to her, his arm around
her waist.  She let out a contented sigh.  Now that the hellish predicament
they had been in was over, both could finally relax.
     "Aren't you going to tell me a story?" she purred to Lacroix.
     Lacroix laughed.  "Aren't *you* a little old for bedtime stories, my
dear?"
     Natalie took a tighter grip of the hand at her waist.  "Not this one.  I
want to know what happened with the Enforcers."
     "It is not a pretty story, you know."  He was not reluctant to tell her,
only unwilling to spoil the mood.
     "Look, the truth is better than wild speculation, OK?" she said firmly.
     Lacroix released his hand from her grip and began idly stroking her arm.
 "Very well, then.  As you know, our plan at the last was to develop and use
a fast-acting gaseous form of your cure."
     "I gather that you succeeded?" She had been insatiably curious about
this since Marguerite had told her about it.
     "Yes, but that is far from all that was required.  We also had to have a
place for the trap.  A warehouse complex was purchased, and we renovated it -
supposedly into a 'headquarters' for our organisation.  Everything was built
according to specifications in our plans, with one exception:  an immense
central conference room where.  I do believe that it looked something akin to
the enemy headquarters out of a James Bond movie..."  He could not help but
laugh again at the image.
     "I gather that's where the trap was?" Nat asked.
     "Precisely.  It was made airtight and *extremely* strong, and had all
the controls and ventilation systems necessary for using and filtering the
gas.  Also, we had to put gun ports in the walls."
     "*Gun* ports???" Natalie queried, surprised.
     "Certainly.  The Enforcers might have been power-mad, but they weren't
idiots - they certainly would not simply stand there while the gas flooded
in.  Our shooters wielded anesthetic dart guns containing cartridges filled
with concentrated curare."  That had been Lacroix's idea.  He still felt a
little smug about it.
     Natalie remembered the effect curare had on the vampiric system.  "That
would disorient them and *really* slow them down."
     Lacroix was pleased that his listener was both highly intelligent *and*
well informed.  "Indeed.  We were also carefully leaking information about
the preparation of our 'headquarters' to the other side, along with the
projected completion date.  We also made certain they knew that, upon
completion, there was to be a meeting of many of the oldest and most powerful
of our Community, at least, those who had found their way onto the Enforcers'
list of targets, past and future."
     "So they had a reason to hold off on attacking you.  They thought they'd
be able to get you all in one fell swoop," Nat surmised.
     "That was the idea.  Although it was almost derailed at the last moment
by that damned fool Zachariah..."  Lacroix seemed lost in thought.
     She elbowed him lightly.  "Hey, don't stop there!  I *hate*
cliffhangers!"
     He kissed the side of her throat, lingering there.  "I apologise," he
said, sounding not at all regretful.  "You probably remember him from the
house meeting.  He was the one standing to the left of the mantelpiece."
     "Oh, yeah.  He was the one who looked like the sneer was permanently
pasted to his face.  Gotcha."  Natalie hadn't liked him at all.
     Lacroix tensed just thinking about him.  "He tried to argue that only
the younger vampires should actually be the bait in the trap, on the grounds
that they had less to lose.  *He* is about 1100 years old, naturally.  I
threw him off guard by being the first volunteer."
     "You *what*?" Natalie said as she jerked in surprise.
     "I had to, ma petite.  It was the only way to keep things from falling
apart.  If we failed, we were all dead, anyway," Lacroix stated
matter-of-factly.
     Natalie thought about it.  "I suppose you're right, but I'm glad I
wasn't there after all!"  Her fangs were extended now, and her hands curled
into claws, looking for a target.
     Lacroix stroked and soothed her back into relaxation.  "At any rate, to
make a long story a bit shorter, it worked.  We all gathered in the
conference room, and I opened the so-called 'meeting.'  As you *might* have
noticed, I can speak about nothing for quite a time!"
     Natalie burst out laughing.
     "When the Enforcers finally burst in," he contined, "we reacted
according to plan, moving swiftly to stand together in the centre of the room
and out of the way of the guns.  The Enforcers were confused just long enough
for the dart guns to start shooting.  Once they'd been hit, we grabbed those
of our people who'd been darted accidentally, and, as you might say, 'got the
hell out of there'.  We then flooded the room with the 'cure' and waited."
     "How did you know it worked?" Nat asked.  "And how were you sure it was
safe to go back in?"
     "To answer your first question, it was easy - we waited until we heard
all those mortal heartbeats.  As for the second, we didn't just have
ventilators and filters to clear the air.  We also had equipment designed to
test the air and tell us if the cure was gone.  One of the things our
researcher did with the airborne version of the cure was to make it *very*
short-lived.  Its effectiveness only lasted a few minutes at most."  Lacroix
was extremely grateful for this unknown genius.
     Natalie echoed his thoughts.  "I'd love to be able to meet this guy
sometime, if Marguerite would ever let me.  He must be one of the greatest
virological geniuses who ever existed!"
     Lacroix wished her away from that thought.  "Once it was safe, the room
was opened, and we all entered it.  Naturally, Jacquard made sure he was one
of the first in..."  His voice faded, as he remembered what happened next.
     "And then you all had dinner?" Natalie queried, wryly.
     "Actually, I didn't.  Other than Jacquard, the first ones to 'dine' were
our former Enforcers, the ones who intended to take over once the others were
dead.  I expect they were acquiring the information necessary to run the
organization smoothly, as well as having their revenge.  It was then that
Jacquard dropped his Enforcer and told me of Nicolas andnd his attack upon
you."
     "Ah."  Natalie thought about this.  "Why *didn't* you join in?"  She
turned over to face him.
     "I wanted to," he began, his hatred for the rogue Enforcers flashing
momentarily in his eyes, "mostly to repay them for what they had done to
Nicolas.  Somehow, it was enough to know there was a possibility I might have
him back, that I might have my 'family' back again.  Besides," Lacroix said
as he smiled seductively and drew Nat close, "I remembered what we discussed
about a 'welcome home' celebration."  His hands caressed her back, then
dropped lower.  "I didn't want to spoil the mood by having a bad taste in my
blood."  He trailed moist kisses down her throat to her breast.  "Don't you
agree?"
     Nat found she couldn't reply, having been rendered quite speechless by
the touch of his lips.

Standard disclaimers apply.

Well, friends, it's been fun.  I've enjoyed writing these stories, but even
more, I've enjoyed reading your thoughts and comments.  I have half a mind to
continue this little saga of Nat and LC in the future, so who knows?  Perhaps
there will be a 'sequel' of sorts.  In the meantime, there are far too many
talented people out there not writing!<g>  Please don't sell yourselves
short!  And, please...Will *someone* take up the torch while I'm away and
write some Valentine fiction???!!!  Please?? :)

Take care.

(WARNING:  Contact lens alert!  And, of course, more NUNKIES!!!)


Before the Dawn (12/12)
Copyright 1996

     During the week following Nick's departure, Nat tried to busy herself
about her new (well, fairly new to her at any rate) home.  The first thing on
her agenda had been the packing and shipping of all the baby clothes and
supplies which Lacroix had laid in.  Nick would need them now.  She could
just imagine him as a mother.  It was amusing and sad at the same time, and
she felt more than a twinge of guilt that she wasn't there to help him.
 <What would he do?> she wondered.  <How will he cope?>  There he was, in
Toronto alone, a single father who had just lost two wives - one to death,
and one to something he considered worse than death.  <His heart must be
breaking more than mine> Nat thought to herself as she began the descent once
more into indecision.
     The really low point came about two weeks later, however, when Nick's
letter arrived in the afternoon post.  Nat found the mail waiting for her
where the housekeeper always left it - on a silver salver which sat upon a
foyer table.  She eagerly opened the envelope.  It contained a few pictures
of Nick and baby Natalie, evidently taken on a sunny afternoon at the Toronto
harbourfront.  The sunlight bounced off the blue waves of the lake and made
Nick's hair shine with a brilliance she had forgotten.  They both looked
happy, but Natalie knew Nick was only smiling for her benefit.  She read the
letter.

Dear Nat:
     I'm writing this letter just to let you know that we're doing okay.  I
thought you might like some pictures of us for the record books, so I've
enclosed some of the better ones.  If you're wondering who took them,
well,...Grace very kindly offered to come with me on condition that she be
allowed to babysit every now and then.  I let her twist my arm!
     Naturally, everyone wanted to know what had happened to me...and to you.
 For obvious reasons, I didn't tell them everything, and I hope I sounded
plausible.  They all miss you and are sorry things didn't work out for us in
the end.  Captain Reese and Grace both especially asked that I give their
love and best wishes to you, and they're hoping you'll be able to visit soon.
 Of course, you'll already know how I feel about that.
     Jacquard is staying at the loft for the time being.  He seems to be
adjusting well to Toronto.  Janette took to him - fellow Parisian that he is
- immediately, and they seem to be getting along *very* well, if you know
what I mean.  It's been good for Jacquard, too, having someone like her in an
unfamiliar place.  I have to say, selfishly, that it's been good for me, as
well, as they both seem to be more fond of children than they ever realised,
and it sometimes frees me up when the Cap calls unexpectedly.  I'll let you
know how things progress.
     Nat...Please forgive me for being so superficial in this letter.  The
truth is, I know that if I were to give rein to what I'm feeling inside of me
right now, I'd never get anything down on paper.  I know it must hurt you
when I say this, but you'd know I'd be lying if I said I can let go of you so
easily.  I wish to God I knew a way for all of us - you, me, Lacroix - to
find a happiness where none would be hurt.  I pray to God that he will help
me to find the answer.

                                           All my love, forever,
                                                        Nick

     Natalie put down the letter where she had found it and walked into the
library to look out the windows.  The sunset was nearly gone now, a few rays
of a deep apricot colour still hanging over the horizon.  In the street, she
watched as two little boys climbed on their bicycles and headed for their
home at the end of the block.  Over the last two weeks she had worked hard to
not look back, but it appeared that everything would keep coming back to her,
again and again, regardless of what she did.
     Lacroix entered the room with 'breakfast' and the evening edition of Le
Monde and sat down in one of the large, leather wing chairs to familiarize
himself with current events before this night's broadcast.  He did not speak
until Natalie sat down across from him and idly wondered what to do with the
rest of her life.
    "So," Lacroix began from behind his paper, "have you thought about what
you might like to do for the next few years?"
     "Not really," she replied, disinterested.  "I don't think I can do too
much until my French improves.  I mean, my skills are much improved from when
I first arrived, but not enough, I think, to where I could hold down a job."
     "It won't improve much more if you don't start to view Paris as your
home," he said, having read her thoughts.
     "You read the letter Nick sent to me?" she asked, accusingly.
     "I didn't have to, my dear," Lacroix told her as he lowered the
newspaper and looked at her.  "In any case, is there something in the letter
you don't want me to see?"
     Nat looked down as she clasped and unclasped her hands.  "No," she
answered quietly.  Truth be told, she hoped there would never be a situation
where she couldn't share *everything* with Lacroix.  "Sorry.  It's just that
I wonder if I'm ever going to stop having 'relapses'."
     "There is *something* you can do about that," Lacroix said as he went
back to scanning the headlines.
     "What would you do?" she asked.
     "Everything I have to say has already crossed your mind," he replied.
     "I didn't know you read Conan Doyle," she said, grinning.
     "Don't change the subject."
     "OK, let me guess.  You'd say, 'Let go your mortal bonds'."  She spoke
the phrase with a melodramatic tone of voice as she rose to begin pacing
about the room.  "That's nice, but, how does one do that, especially when
mortality is there everytime you turn around."
     "It's very simple," Lacroix told her as he put down the paper and came
to stand near her.  "Stop.  Looking.  Back.  As long as you do, you will
never be happy, not with me, not with Nicolas."
     "But I don't want to forget," she said, starting to feel choked up.
     "You won't be able to forget," he said plainly, "so don't worry about
that.  Just stop *dwelling* on what was.  Look ahead to what can be."
     Natalie bit her lower lip and stared at him.  "All right," she said.
 "I'll try.  Again."
     "Good," Lacroix replied as he crossed over to stand before the
fireplace.  He picked up a small white envelope that he had placed there the
morning before.  "On a more pleasant note, I've arranged for some
'diversion', so to speak."  He walked over to where Nat stood and handed the
envelope to her.  She opened it and stared in surprise.
     "I don't believe it," she said in disbelief.  "This is great!  I
*always* wanted to see this, I just never got around to it.  Whoa,
whoa...Wait a minute.  Am I going to be able to understand this?"
     "Certainly," he answered.  "The company is on tour from London, and it
will be sung in English."
     Nat looked at him with affection.  "Thank you, Lucien," she said as she
gave him a brief kiss on the lips.  "I think it will do me some good to get
out."
     "It will do *both* of us some good," he corrected her but made no move
to return the same show of affection.  "Now...I must away, I fear, or my
public will get worried, and we *can't* have that."  In seconds, he was gone.
 It never ceased to amaze Nat that Lacroix could be, on the one hand, one of
the most intimidating individuals she had ever met, and, on the other, so
frequently taken aback and left speechless when someone showed him even a
small measure of real gratitude.
     "You old softy," she said to the empty room.

                                                *******

     The next night found Natalie seated next to Lacroix in a box at the
Paris Opera House.  Being the opening night of the production, the audience
glittered nearly as much as the company on stage.  She had nearly panicked
when, after Lacroix's departure the previous night, she realised her wardrobe
was not exactly 'opening night' quality.  Her fears were allayed, however,
when, only hours before they were due to leave for the theatre, more than a
few boxes arrived from Chanel(tm) and Graff(tm); shortly thereafter, what
came out of those boxes had transformed Natalie into a princess.  More than a
few heads turned in their direction when they alighted at the opera house,
Lacroix, for a change, doing nothing to discourage them.
     The music was glorious.  She had only heard bits and pieces of it before
tonight, but now it surrounded and caressed her senses.  It was the most
well-known of all the compositions, though, which spoke to her heart, and,
for the first time, she wanted to fly for the sheer joy of it.

Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation
Darkness wakes and stirs imagination
Silently the senses abandon their defenses
Helpless to resist the notes I write
For I compose the Music of the Night

Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender
Hearing is believing,  music is deceiving
Hard as lightning, soft as candlelight
Dare you trust the Music of the Night?

Close your eyes for your eyes will only tell the truth
And the truth isn't what you want to see
In the dark, it is easy to pretend
That the truth is what it ought to be

Softly, deftly, music shall caress you
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the Music of the Night

     <How true it is> Nat thought.  She had fought against the darkness - or
the perceived darkness - of Nick's world for so many years, while not
realising - or at least, admitting - that it was the very thing which had
drawn her to him and, in the end, Lacroix.

Close your eyes, start a journey to a strange new world
Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before
Close your eyes and let music set you free
Only then can you belong to me

     Lacroix was right.  She had to look ahead, not behind; look to what
could be, rather than what could have been.  As long as there was life, there
was hope.  Not just for them, but for Nick, as well.  Lacroix reached over
and took Natalie's hand.  She looked over at him, but his gaze remained fixed
upon the stage.

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication
Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in
To the power of the music that I write
The power of the Music of the Night

You alone can make my song take flight
Help me make the Music of the Night

     Nat turned her attention back to the performance, though the words and
the melody of that song refused to leave her heart.

                                                    *******

     Some days later found Natalie and Lacroix sitting in the library,
reading:  Lacroix, as usual, with the newspaper, and Nat with a backlog of
forensic journals she had brought with her from Toronto.  In the background,
the radio played softly.  Nat had gotten her way this evening and had it
tuned to a classic rock station.  Without warning, "One Year of Love" began
to play.  Lacroix looked up sharply, carefully reading her features for the
telltale signs of melancholy.  Nat stood and walked with a certain confidence
to the stereo unit, switched off the radio and slipped in a CD, then pressed
the proper button until she found the track she wanted.  The look on
Lacroix's face was one for the record books, she thought, as "The Music of
the Night" began to play.  She strolled over to where he sat and stood in
front of him.
     "May I have this dance?" she asked with mock seriousness.
     He regarded her suspiciously.  "You mean, you don't want to hear *your*
song?" he asked as he stood up and showed he accepted her offer.
     "*This* is my song, now.  *Our* song," she whispered in his ear as she
held him in her arms.  "Forever."

The End

Reprinting of the lyrics of "The Music of the Night" from Andrew Lloyd
Weber's "Phantom of the Opera" is for fictional purposes only and not
intended as infringement of any copyright.

Uncle and holidays in Paris, please, to KnightGal@aol.com