Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1997 21:49:27 +0000 Reply-To: isbe@ix16.ix.netcom.com Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories Comments: Authenticated sender is From: Blusette deNuit Subject: Birthday Boy's Lament To: Multiple recipients of list FKFIC-L Today is January the first. According to Police records, today is Nick Knight's birthday. This mildly twisted little story is about Nick's birthday LAST year. Before the last two" episodes that never happened" happened. Sometimes all the best intentions and resolutions we make this time of year fall apart and turn to dust...ask Nick about it. And sometimes we just "get" these feelings don't we? The people in this story don't belong to me. They are protected by the Forever Knight copyrights. Thanks are in order here to Nancy Taylor for giving this a read and explaining to me about bricks and stakes (not steaks) Phrases inside < > brackets are thoughts of the characters, not spoken out loud. Everyone was real kind when I posted my first story, so I tried again. Comments of all kinds are welcome. Flames are ok too, I'm as old as dirt and dirt dosen't burn easily. Email me at: isbe@ix.netcom.com Blu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Birthday Boy's Lament by Blusette de Nuit It had just turned 1996 a few short hours ago, "And here I am again."Nick said under his breath, " Working another holiday shift so others with a family, can be home with the ones who love them." < I wish it was me> He hung his beautiful black leather coat across the back of his desk chair, flopped down into that same chair and immediately rolled over one of the sleeves that had fallen loose from the folded packet he sat on. "Now why didn't I take this to my locker?" he mumbled, as he spit at the leather and tried to wipe it with his shirt sleeve. "Gross Nick!" Tracy squealed at him as she was bouncing toward their desks from Capt. Reese's office. "Ya know, Nick, I've wondered a lot of things about you before, but I never thought to question your hygiene habits. What was that little display about?", she asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust. He gazed up at Tracy when she sauntered to a stop at their shared work station, "Oh I don't know, Trace, just not with it tonight, I guess." He absentmindedly ran his hand through his shaggy blond hair, and stared out the squad room window into the cold January night. "Tonight my foot! Mister, you've been out of it for quite a while now. Look at your desk, it's piled to the max. Forget your desk, look at you...You need a haircut, you obviously didn't shave tonight. And since when did you start using that 500 dollar leather coat as a seat cushion? When was the last time you had a decent meal? " Tracy took the last few steps that separated her from Nick's desk, leaned against it and tried to make eye contact with him. "Nick, Nick, look at me, *please*." She placed her hand on his forehead, "No, you don't have a fever, in fact you're cold, come to think of it you're always cold.....Hey! Earth to Nick! " She slid her hand from his forehead into his hair, gingerly grabbed a handful and gave his head a mock shaking." Come on guy, Im your partner, an' I thought I was your friend. What's wrong?" At this last assault, Nick revived a bit, and pushed her hand away, as he scowled. Looking around to make sure no one had noticed the little scene that had just played out, he whispered harshly at her, " For Heaven's sake, Tracy, don't do that . You're not my mother, and if I want to neglect myself, it's my business!" She straightened abruptly, looked down at him accusingly and said," Oh, and far be it for me to interrupt your little pity party, but when it starts to affect your concentration and your reaction time at work, then its *my* business, cause its *my* butt you just might leave hanging out there in the breezes, PARTNER! " She jammed her arms into her coat, grabbed her purse and stomped off in the direction of the door. "Well, are you coming?", she flung back toward him. "There's been a bad one at some fancy restaurant downtown, Cap was just filling me in on it when we saw you come in." Nick stood, spun around for his coat and started fumbling in his pocket, " Yeah, sure, just let me get my keys . . . "Tracy shook her head so hard a strand of blond hair caught in her eyelashes, " Oh no! Not this time you don't, *I'm* driving. You can ride for a change. And don't even *think* about messing up my radio by tuning in that creepy Nightcrawler guy you listen to all the time . . . No wonder you're so depressed, that guy is the worst! They had been driving for several minutes in total silence. Nick punched his fists further down into his coat pockets, looked out the window and cleared his throat nervously, " Um, Tracy, sorry about that back at the office. I know I've been off my game lately, but I promise you, you'll never have to worry about me not being on top of things when it comes to your safety. You' re my partner, and you *are* my friend. I'll always be there, guarding your back, with my life. I promise you! He placed his hand on her shoulder and stared intently at her, leaning a little toward her, even, trying to convince her of how sincere he was, and how strongly committed to her as his partner he felt. He was beginning to rely on the comfortable friendship they were developing, and promised himself to tell her the truth about what he was as soon as he could get the mood swings he was experiencing under control. He hoped it was only a case of holiday blues. Trying not to take her eyes from the road, Tracy reached out to pat Nick on the cheek. As she connected with his chest instead, she almost giggled. Turning it into a cough, she said. "It's ok Nick, really, just chill a little . . . Hey, I'm sorry about back at the office too. I was just punching your buttons, you know, trying ta get you out of this funk you've been in lately. I *know* I can trust you in a pinch, I know you'll always guard my back. The only person on the force I'm safer with is my Dad, right? Isn't that why Cap assigned me with you in the first place? Nick leaned back into his seat and started to unwind a little. Thinking back to the scene he had tried to cause when Captain Reese informed him about his new "partner" made him chuckle. " What?"Tracy asked, flashing a quick glance towards the passenger side, " What's so funny, Nick?" " Oh, I was just thinking about that first shift with you. That little prepared speech of yours about being your own person, getting where you were on your own merits . . . You were so uptight, you almost squeaked!" "Oh yah, I remember that night.", She commented, smiling softly to herself. "I was so nervous, and I really wanted to succeed at the job, and on my own too." At the next red light, she turned to Nick, and asked, "Sooo... what do you think?" " What do I think about what?" he asked her, donning his best "clueless" expression. She punched him in the arm and then punched the accelerator. "Nick!" "Oh the job.", He replied. "Trace, you're doing great and you know it. Heck, what are you third or fourth generation cop? It's in your blood!" Tracy clamped down hard on her lips as Vachon's vampire face flashed in her mind and she thought When they got to the address that was written down in Tracy's notepad, Nick realized why the neighborhood had suddenly seemed so familiar to him. This was Azure, the restaurant he, Nat and LaCroix had that awful confrontation in on Valentine's day a couple of year's ago. He started thinking about Nat . . . what if she was the M.E. called to the scene . . . what if it jarred her memory . . . what if she already remembered, he thought that was true already, sometimes . . . He felt another jab in the arm. "Nick! You were doing so good, stay with me now guy. Lets go inside, ok?"Tracy acted mildly concerned. Nick mentally shook himself and headed for the restaurant door. " There aren't any other police cars here yet, Trace, be careful. Let me go first, in case there's trouble." Tracy flashed a big smile, "Sure Nick you *had* better go first." She turned him toward the door, placed both hands in the middle of his back and gave him a big push through the front doors. {{{{SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!}}}} Lights flashed on, and people emerged from every conceivable hiding place in the restaurant that Tracy's father had "borrowed" from one of his many political connections as police commissioner. Saved confetti from the night before was thrown. There were streamers and balloons everywhere. As friends and well-wishers began to converge on Nick, Natalie noticed the cornered beast expression on his face and the slight golden tinge to his blue eyes. Acting on sheer impulse, she rushed ahead of the throng and planted a great big kiss right on Nick's lips, wrapped her arms around his neck in a very familiar hug and whispered in his ear, " Its all right Nick, it's just a surprise birthday party for you. Put your arms around me and hug me. Hide your face in my hair. Hold on to me till you get control. " She kept murmuring soothing words to him, and apologizing at the same time. He kept holding her, nuzzling her neck and breathing in her scent. Calming himself by concentrating on the familiar beat of her heart. It didn't take long for the "Oooo's and Ahhh's" and cat whistles to start. Nat whispered again in Nick's ear, " You ok, now? Ignore them, if you aren't ok. Just stay put. God, Nick, Im *sorry* I tried to get Tracy not to do this. I tried to tell her you didn't like surprises, but she had already told her father and of course he turned it into a "whatever my little girl wants " thing, and drug practically the whole force in on it too. No body would listen to me.", She pleaded. Quietly, calmly, he whispered back to her, even as he continued to hold her close, " Its all right, Nat, I'm fine now, I was just overwhelmed by it all there for a moment. I understand now. Thank you, Nat. She put her palms flat on his chest, leaned backward enough to get a good look at his eyes and then started pushing away from him when she was sure all was safe. Speaking out of the side of her mouth and trying to retain a smile she growled at Nick, " You're fine now, so would you *please* let go of me before this mob and "Daddy" turn your birthday party into a shotgun wedding." He smiled, but didn't let go, touched his forehead to hers and said with mock sincerity, " That wouldn't be a* bad* thing would it?" She smiled back and said sweetly as she ground her right heel into the toe of his left foot, "Maybe we had better think about it a while longer." He let go. As the two turned in unison to face the still reacting crowd of their friends and co-workers, it was noted by an impeccably dressed, particularly pale guest that nobody seemed to be acquainted with, that vampires could blush after all. He also wondered to himself, "Now just what unspeakable things has the good doctor been pouring down our boy's throat to cause that phenomena to occur. Ah no matter, this promises to be a dull and "tasteless" affair at best anyway, I believe I'll just convey my best wishes, hand over my salutary offering and be off." With hardly any trouble, Lacroix made his way to the center of the happy humans and ceremoniously placed a large dark green, corked bottle with a gorgeous red bow attached to its neck into Nick's hands. "Nicholas," LaCroix said, formally bowing his head slightly. " LaCroix!", Nick stammered as he held onto the bottle for dear unlife. "Many happy returns of the day to you." His master bestowed upon him, all the while courting a mischievous smirk. "What are you doing here?" Nick quietly asked him in a panicked voice. "Why, simply bringing you a `birthday' present my boy. It *is* your `birthday' isn't it Nicholas?" he virtually purred at him. "Of course it is LaCroix, that is what we are celebrating here" Natalie stepped between the two protagonists and collected the bottle from Nick's hands, hoping LaCroix didn't see how hers shook as she reached for it. Turning her back to the older vampire, she smiled warmly at *her* Nick and said," Shouldn't you be seeing to your other guests, you have so many here that want to wish you a happy birthday. I'm sure LaCroix, being your oldest `friend' understands . . . " "Certainly, my dear." LaCroix cooed much too warmly at Natalie. "By all means Nicholas, please attend to your other guests, I do need to be flying along. No doubt I'll speak with you later anyway." On this last, he spun around, scooped up Nat's hand, planted a chaste kiss on the top of it, said only, "Doctor," and was gone. Natalie turned back to Nick fanning herself with her free hand. "Whew!", she expelled mightily. "Two potential disasters diverted. Hope there won't be too many more! Oh, speaking of more disasters, I suppose I had better take this someplace safe till later.", She held up the bottle from LaCroix and whispered " I'm pretty sure it isn't spring water, and I'd hate any of the guests to get a big chug of what I'll just about bet is human blood down their throats." She headed for the back door through the kitchen where her car was parked to stash the thing in the locked trunk. Nick was quickly drawn into a discussion with a group of old co-workers from the 12th. Division. As Natalie was making her way to her car she was accosted by several well-meaning friends and a few crass remarks about her and Nick. What were they gonna do with that special bottle of wine, . Just when were she and Nick gonna "tie the knot" . Did he "slip her the tongue" when she gave him that birthday kiss . And her least favorite of all, what was *she* giving him for a present (nudge, nudge) Much later as Nick and Natalie sat on Nick's sofa in the loft, both with shoes off and feet propped on the coffee table, Nick turned to Natalie with a sudden look of sheer horror in his eyes. " Oh my Gosh Nat, I just realized what a dangerous thing you did tonight!" " What," she said drowsily, "standing up to LaCroix?" She sat bolt-upright. " Oh brother, I stood up to LaCroix, I could be real dead right now!" She put her hands on her face in astonishment. " No, not that," he took her hands in his and looked deeply into her eyes as if truly seeing her for the first time. "Holding me, kissing me when you knew I was out of control. Even allowing me to hide my face the way you did, right there at your neck. Oh, Nat, what if I'd lost complete control! What If I'd *hurt* you!" He clutched her hands to his heart and bowed his head over them. She thought she felt tears falling from his cheeks onto her fingertips. She pulled one hand free and placed it on the side of Nick's face and lifted it so that he would look at her. "Listen to me Nick, I was *never* in any danger from you tonight. You will *never* hurt me, I know this. I trust you with my life. You're my best friend and someday . . . well we can talk about that later. Hey come on! Snap out of it Nick, I thought you had finally gotten over that depression you'd been in. You realize that's what this was all about tonight, Tracy's idea to lift your spirits. And here I thought we had succeeded. You looked like you were having such a good time. I bet you danced every dance. Didn't I even see you doing the Macareena with Jenny?" He let go of her other hand and quickly brushed at a stray tear. In a combination sob / laugh he said." Yeah, that was us, all right, I can't believe how much she has grown. Skanke would be so proud of her, don't you think?" Natalie smiled up at him, "Of course he would be. He'd also be proud about how pretty she's becoming, and relieved she took after Myra instead of him in that area! They both chuckled and had their own private thoughts of Don. The time had come. She had to ask it, " Nick do you have any clue what has been making you so down lately. Why you seem so distracted and blue one minute and frantic and defeated the next? What's bothering you?" He sat perfectly sill for a moment, than started to speak, as if he were some place else, far away. " This is hard.", He whispered. "It's such a feeling of foreboding, it's so tangible Im surprised I can't reach out and hold it right in my hand like a piece of paper, like a script to my life . . . And yet, I can't seem to actually put it into words either. It frightens and angers me at the same time. Things are happening that are out of my control. I feel as though I have no choices in what's going to occur. I don't know what I'm going through, but I know its not my usual angst or self doubt. Maybe it's a vitamin deficiency. Maybe I'm developing `the sight'." Nick shook his head and smiled at his sweet, sweet Natalie. He cupped her face in his hands and looked into her trusting eyes. "Nat, in case I don't say it enough, I want to take a moment to tell you how lucky I am to have you in my life. Thank you for standing by me and caring about me. You're *my* best friend, too. Natalie launched herself at Nick, planted a smacky kiss on his cheek and hugged his neck until he yelled, "Ouch! Ok, you win, I give up! Uncle, already." She unwound her arms from his neck and allowed Nick to cradle her on his lap. The expression on his face changed from silly to serious to something else in a flash. Nat knew they weren't ready for this. She reached up, grabbed his nose and yelled, "Beep! Time out. Illegal use of hands!" She then launched herself *off* his lap and scooped up her shoes for good measure. Hopping on one foot, putting a shoe on the other she exclaimed, "Geez Nick, look what time it is. Put your shoes on and come help me get your presents out of my car so I can go home and get some rest As they were approaching Natalie's car parked in the Cadillac's usual spot, Nat assured Nick," Nah, it's ok, we don't have to go get your car at the station tonight. I'll pick you up for work tomorrow . . . No problem . . . " She started handing him packages from the trunk as he reminded her, "Nat, did you forget how easily and quickly I can get around when I want to?" She whapped herself in the head with a gift wrapped cheese log, "DUH, Nick. No, I didn't forget, I just thought it would be one less time you might have to make up a lie to someone, like Tracy, if she asked you how you got to work when your car was in the parking garage." <800 years' old and I still don't have a klew> Nat announced that she had all she could carry, but would be right back for another load. As she was headed for the door she called back to Nick, "Just look at all these great presents you got! See, lots of people care about you." He called back, " More like they want my partner's father, the commissioner to *think* they care." "Ha, good one Nick.",leaked from under the elevator door. There was the sound of two soft thuds heard on the street right outside the open garage door. Nick looked up to see Vachon and Urs. " Vachon, what are you doing here . . . is Tracy Ok?" Nick took a few steps toward the couple. Vachon waved his hand to negate the growing fear on Nick's face. "Now don't get your badge in a twist, she's fine, I just left her at her apartment. I came by because she told me all these stories about your birthday party. So Urs and I thought we'd fly by and wish you `Happy Birthday', that's all." As he thought about how ludicrous vampires wishing other vampires happy birthday was, Nick's facial expression went through yet another one of its lightning-fast transformation cycles. From relief that Tracy was safe, to incredulity at this little social call to downright suspicion. As the last look affixed itself to his features, Nick asked the couple, "Yeah, sure. Now what are you really here for?" " No, really Nicky, that's why we came. Screed even wanted to send you a rat-present, but we talked him out of it . . . ," quelled by the firm look on Nick's face, Urs's courage and voice flagged at the same time. She stepped behind Vashon, hid her face in the back of his leather coat and mumbled from beneath his long hair," Javier . . . ask him . . . " " Ask me what.", Nick growled "Ok, man, I'm busted. You got me." Vachon began to talk rapidly and back up at the same time. "Well, here's the thing, see. Trace just happened to mention that she didn't realize that you knew LaCroix well enough for him to have come to your party. She said she thought it was *sweet* of him to bring you that big bottle of wine. Even though it probably wasn't any trouble for a bar owner to give away his stock. So that got me to thinking . . . I know what his `stock' is like and that you would probably pour it out cause you're into cow these days, and it sure seems like a waste, especially, more than likely, coming from LC's *private* stock And so . . . " His words trailed off and he just stood there blinking at Nick with a sheepish grin on his face. < the way he bats those lashes, if I didn't know better, I'd think he was flirting> Nick took LaCroix's gift from the trunk of Nat's car and handed it to Urs with a smile. "You make an interesting addition to the community. With my compliments sweet Lady" He turned to Vachon and said," Oh by the way, I'm going to be telling Tracy about myself pretty soon. She's been really trustworthy about keeping your secret. I think it would be good for our partnership for her to know about me as well. So anyway, you probably need to be prepared for her reactions." Vachon blinked, "Wow, ok, thanks for the warning. Hey, maybe sometime we could double date." Nick laughed out loud, "That's very funny, Vachon. Seriously though, I think it's great how you've stayed around, looked out for Tracy and started shouldering some responsibility." He looked toward the elevator door, brought Urs's hand to his lips and planted a tiny kiss on it. Smiling at her again he said, "Enjoy the bottle, Im sure it's some of LaCroix' best. I hear Natalie coming back down, no need to rock the boat . . . " Vachon retrieved Urs's hand from Nick and said, "Understood, thanks Nick." From somewhere overhead Nick heard a female voice calling, " Happy Birthday, Nicky." When Natalie opened the elevator, she saw Nick leaning against the side of the open garage door, smiling and looking up at the sky. "Nick? Is everything all right out here? Whacha lookin' at? Brrr, Its *cold*, lets shut the door and get back up stairs." Smiling tranquilly, Nick motioned Natalie to join him at the opening. As she arrived next to him, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. She slid her arms around his waist in turn and said, "It's better now isn't it?" He kissed her hair again and said, "Yes I believe it is. I'm figuring out that there isn't always a choice in what fate deals to us, and all we can do is make the best choices we know how and if those aren't right than try to make better ones for the future. I've made some really bad decisions in 800 years. When I met you six years ago, I started making better ones. Now as this new year begins, I'm gonna start making really good choices . . . for both of us. No matter what Fate or The Powers That Be, throw my way, I'm gonna survive, and with your help Nat, Im gonna become mortal again. I want to spend my life with you and grow old and die with you some day." Natalie looked up into those wonderful blue eyes. With all the felling she had she said to the man that held her in his arms, "Nice speech, Nick, but could we go in now, or I'm gonna catch pneumonia and die a whole lot sooner than `someday'." They turned and headed for the security of the warm loft. Nat sneezed. Nick said, "Bless you." Nat said," Thanks, got a Kleenex?" Finis