Tedious Research By StormyNite Written in May of 1999 Natalie was enjoying the spring evening when she pulled up to the stoplight and rolled down her window. It was so refreshing to smell the sweet fragrance of the early spring flowers that floated on the air. This time of the night you didn't get the traffic or the exhaust fumes, so she decided to drive through the park on her way home. A scream pierced the night like a wounded animal and Natalie recognized the terror in the young child's voice instantly. She pulled up to the curb and bolted from her car. She followed the screams deeper into the park without fear or hesitation. No one would hurt a child if she had anything to say about it. Quickly, Nat rounded the park bench to see the man raise his arm to strike the child once more. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the mace, then screamed at the top of her lungs. The man turned to the noise, removing his attention from the child. Natalie sprayed as soon as she was within range, and he batted her away like a bothersome insect. Nat's body hit the ground hard and rolled into the nearest tree. "You bastard!" She screamed and prepared to lunge at him again. Only seconds before she realized her mistake, the stake appeared in his hand. He smashed it into the side of her face and Nat tumbled once again to the ground, groggy from the blow. He turned his attention back to the child, when out of the darkness a tall black figure flew through the air at him. Natalie recognized the grunt of pain as the man was thrown into the dirt and rolled quickly to his feet. He steadied himself, only to be greeted with the feral, red eyes of a young female vampire. The young vampiress placed herself between the child and the brutal man before her. "Be gone, animal, before I change my mind and destroy you in front of the child." She hissed between extended fangs. "This isn't over, Ariel!" He screamed as he wiped the blood from his face, then turned and fled on foot. Ariel picked up the frightened child and soothed her with a hypnotic trance. When the child was calm, she turned her attention to Natalie. She helped Nat to her feet and steadied her for a few minutes until Natalie's eyesight began to clear. "Are you alright, Doctor?" The young vampiress asked softly. Nat jerked her head in attention, causing it to spin once more, when the young woman called her doctor. "How did you know I'm a doctor?" Nat grabbed the young woman's arm to steady herself. "Everyone knows who you are, Doctor, since the fever outbreak. You are Nicholas' mortal friend to whom we owe a great debt...and it would appear I'm even further in your debt now." She turned motherly eyes back to the young child now sleeping calmly on the grass beside them. "You saved my child from that animal who was once her father. I owe you more than I can ever repay." Ariel knelt before Natalie and bowed her head in respect. "Don't do that." Nat grabbed her hand and brought her to her feet until their eyes met. "I would never let anyone harm a child. I'm only thankful she is alright." Ariel smiled. "I see the others are correct in their description of you, instead of LaCroix's. You are not only beautiful, but also gracious and concerned for all life. May I help you home?" She waited patiently for Nat's response. "I'm fine, but thank you. Take care of her. Children are a gift from God that can never be replaced." Nat smiled sadly and remembered her goddaughter, then brushed the image aside. It was in the past. "I'll be on my way. Whom shall I tell Nick that I saw this evening?" The young vampiress smiled. "Ariel...my name is Ariel and my child is Summer. Ask him to explain and I'm sure he will." Ariel turned, picked up the child and disappeared into the night. -------------- The next night. Nat smiled when she recalled the story of Ariel and her child as Nick explained the unusual circumstances of Ariel's creation. She was glad Summer still had her mother in spite of all the problems. Nat unwrapped the Reese's Peanutbutter cup and placed it beside the microscope. She'd only begun to munch on it as she peered under the lens and watched the all too familiar cells swirl in the medium of chemicals above the light. A slight gust of wind startled her and Nat jumped in surprise. "Nick!" She turned to glare at him for making her drop the chocolate on her desk and waste it. Natalie brushed the crumbs onto the floor and grumbled under her breath, then turned to face him. Only Nick wasn't there. "I'm sorry, Doctor." Ariel said calmly. "I didn't mean to startle you. I only wished to bring you a gift." She sat the small green bottle on the desk. Nat smiled and picked it up. "It's okay, Ariel. I just thought you were Nick playing tricks on me again. " She lifted the small vial to the light with a questioning eye. "What is it?" "A special gift that you might need sometime in the future. It is my attempt to repay my debt. It is very old and said to be capable of incapacitating any creature alive or dead for over an hour." Ariel waited for Natalie to see the significance, but saw only more questions on Natalie's beautiful face. "Just keep it for a rainy day, Doctor Lambert. I'm sure you will find some use for it." Her words echoed in the air as she disappeared. Nat stared at the bottle and smiled, then she peered back into the microscope once more. She focused, then refocused as she watched the miracle that occurred before her eyes. What had she found? She went feverishly to work. --------------- At the Raven: "What is it this time, LaCroix?" Nick did nothing to hide his impatience. LaCroix raised a questioning eye at his insolent son. "I expect your support in a new endeavor." He turned, picked up the tall bottle before him on the bar and poured a glass. "Cut to the chase, LaCroix. What is it you want and what is it going to cost me?" Nick sat down on the chair beside his father and waited. LaCroix would tell him in his own time. "There are a few of us who are tired of the Enforcers' constant harassment. We are banning together to make a forceful front. We are going to force them back to Europe, away from the community." LaCroix waited for Nick's reaction. "You're insane!" Nick rose to leave, only to be caught by the sleeve and tossed across the room. The force with which he was slammed against the wall drew blood on the back of his head. LaCroix was on him in seconds. "You will be at my side as a dutiful son...or pay the price." He tossed Nick, harder this time, back across the room and followed by smashing his shoulder into his son's abdomen. Having gotten Nick's attention, he body slammed Nick against the chair rail separating the band area from the dance floor. A wooden shard protruded through Nick's side. LaCroix jerked it free, eliciting a scream from his wayward son's lips, then the ancient vampire smiled in satisfaction. "You will be at my side, Nicholas, or I will claim my debt and kill the good doctor." LaCroix waited for Nick's response and tightened his grip. "Yes! I know exactly what she means to you and I always collect my debts. Be here two nights from now or I will eliminate the doctor permanently from your life." He released Nick and watched him struggle to his feet filled with hatred. "The choice is yours, Nicholas. Your support or the loss of your lady love." Anger poured through Nick, but he reigned it in. This was not the time, nor the place. He had to get Natalie out of here before everything came to a boil and the community was in chaos. Slowly, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as he glared at his father. "This is not over, LaCroix!" Nick disappeared right before him. LaCroix smiled in smug satisfaction. "It would appear you haven't forgotten everything I taught you." --------------- Nat paced the floor anxiously as she waited for Nick's return. It was almost dawn. He had to be here soon. There was so much to tell him. She heard the lift's motor kick on and she waited impatiently for the lift door to swing open. Seconds later, it stopped and the door remained closed. Quickly she jerked it open to find Nick collapsed in the corner, covered in his own blood. "Nick!" Nat ran to his side and checked the wounds. Tired blue eyes met hers filled with something beyond the physical pain. "What is it, Nick? Who did this to you?" She checked him closer and noticed the wounds healing before her eyes. Slowly his hand came to her face and caressed her soft skin. She placed her hand over his with a thousand questions. "I could never let him touch you. Why is it that everything I ever cared for is destroyed by my love?" He locked onto her heartbeat and tried to drag her into his eyes. "No!" She jerked back. "I will not let you erase my memory. It didn't work last time and it won't work this time. I love you, Nick Knight, and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. If you love me, then prove it. Fight for us, Nick." Determined eyes met his and she waited. "He will kill you because I love you, Nat. If you remember that night at the Azure, then you know how far he will go. I can't let that..." She silenced him with a kiss. Her soft lips played havoc with his senses as he gave into the warmth she created. How could anything that feels this good be wrong? How could he walk away? Could he make her forget? Did he want her to forget? He already knew the answer. "If you think I've waited all these years to hear you tell me you love me...then walk away...guess again, Nicholas Knight! You said it...and I won't let you take it back. Now let's get some blood into you because I have a plan. ------------------ Nick pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips softly as they sat in the car in front of the Raven. "We can still turn back and I'll find another way to appease him. It's me he wants, my pain, my soul. You don't have to risk this. I will..." Her finger touched his lips to silence them. "Say it again, Nick." She waited silently and prayed for him not to have changed his mind and risk it alone. He kissed the finger on his lips, then caressed her soft skin as he stared into her beautiful blue eyes. "If I live to be 2000, I will never understand why you love me...but know that I have loved you since the day you refused to walk away from the monster. You accepted my beast before you ever did the man and I love you for that." He kissed her forehead, then her nose and finally her lips, so gently she ached with a need only he could fulfill. "I will love you forever, Natalie Lambert. In this life and the next and nothing will ever change that." She smiled. "Then let's take care of OUR little problem...Only this time it's together." Nick pulled open the door, stepped out, then offered her his hand, which she gladly accepted. ----------- "How nice of you to bring your own food, Nicholas." LaCroix appeared behind them as they stepped through the door. He tossed Nick across the room and wrapped his arms around Natalie's waist. A small gasp escaped her lips when he pulled her neck to one side and hissed in satisfaction. "Enjoy the view from there my son and I might let you lick the plate." He started for her neck and sensed Nicholas behind him. "Move any closer and I will snap her neck. Either way she is dead." He turned to glare at his son and let his fear wash over him. He loved the feel of it. A sharp pain radiated in his thigh and he turned to see the good doctor push the plunger. He started to laugh, but realized his mistake as the drug took affect. Nick let him fall to the floor unattended and reached for Nat. They both went quickly to work. ----------- LaCroix awoke to find himself exactly where he'd fallen. Anger washed over him, along with confusion. This was not like Nicholas. He could smell the good doctor's handiwork. It would end tonight. He would eliminate that meddlesome creature once and for all. He took to the air without a second thought. ----------- Nat sat curled in Nick's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel the stress within him as well as her own. If this didn't work, she was dead. She knew Nick had his doubts, but the fact that he was willing to try meant more than any words he could possibly say. She ran her hands through his hair and held him close in an effort to make him one with her. "No matter what happens, Nick, know that I have no regrets." She stared into worried blue eyes. "I believe in us. In what we have together." A loud crash, followed by a shower of glass fragments, surrounded them and Nick covered her body with his. LaCroix was on them in seconds. Nick pressed Natalie behind him. "It's over, LaCroix. We could have killed you, but we didn't. You are now in my debt." LaCroix hissed in anger. "Not good enough, Nicholas." He reappeared behind them and jerked Nat into his arms. "She is mine, just as promised. A life for a life. It will give me great pleasure to rid our kind of this tedious creature." Nick screamed as LaCroix sank his fangs into her soft neck. With the first taste of her blood he tossed her away from him. "What have you done?" He tried to stand but collapsed to his knees as the poison pumped through his veins. Nick caught Natalie before she hit the floor. Together they stood to face the true evil within the room. LaCroix screamed in anger as he wiped some of the dark syrupy mixture from his lips. He struggled to breathe and rise from the floor, only to collapse again when the burning fire inside him built into a raging inferno. Natalie stepped away from Nick and watched in fascination. She watched the horror in his face when he finally understood what was happening within him and the price for his sins. She then knelt on the floor in front of him. "Did I mention that all that tedious, meddlesome research found something else the vampire gene couldn't tolerate beside sunlight and stakes?" She leaned forward and wiped the thick dark brown liquid from his mouth. She stared at it momentarily, then smiled and licked it off her fingers with a wicked satisfied grin. "I think I'll list your demise as 'Death by Chocolate from an Unknown Assassin'...Oops...I'm sorry. Change that to meddlesome researcher and son finally find justice and happiness without bondage." She stood and walked to Nick's side. Nick stared at LaCroix as the flames began to erupt around the ancient vampire. He felt only a slight tinge of regret. "All you had to do was not attack Natalie. Only the chemical in Nat's blood would have ruptured the chocolate capsules we placed in your fangs. It's over, LaCroix. Enjoy the trip wherever it takes you. You will find your reward for 2000 years of evil and I will finally be at peace. It would appear patience is a virtue after all!" LaCroix's clothes flamed brightly, then disappeared as his screams were sucked into the darkness that surrounded him and faded into nothingness. They both stared as the darkness lifted and the moon's bright light flooded the room. The weight of 800 years seemed to disappear and Nat sensed it immediately. She wrapped her arms around Nick and hugged him tightly. Finally she stared into his bright blue eyes and smiled. "Did I mention Hershey's Big Block Chocolate Bars have a bigger side affect than Reese's Peanutbutter Cups?" Nick laughed and hugged her tightly. "I learned a long time ago...NEVER, I repeat NEVER...get in the way of a woman and her chocolate! It could be fatal." His lips found hers and she sighed in satisfaction at the feeling of warmth and love he created. "Keep that up and I might never need chocolate again!" The End StormyNite**nitewind@www.plantnet.com** **NN Packer to the End ** Hopelessly Hopeful Romantic** **Light Cousin***MadNatter*** X-File DieHard***Xenite**GWDFC** ******Only Love is Forever and Death Shall Have No Dominion******* >http://www.plantnet.com/~nitewind/Main.html FK SciFi Window >http://www.plantnet.com/~nitewind/Fiction2.html StormyNite Fiction