Why ME?! I don’t own any of them. At all! Why NOT?! Thank you to my beta readers, and to my school for giving me so little sleep that I come UP with these things! Natalie, as the main love interest, is the SECOND most abused character in the fandom. If someone gets kidnapped, it’s her. If someone gets in an accident, it’s her. She has had more deathbed confessions of love for Nick than I want to think about. So I decided to skip the whole love thing, and get her where it REALLY hurts. Third season. It was quiet in the city of Toronto. Too quiet. A paper rustled softly with the impatient sound of one trying to get the page they are reading to stand up straight. A gust of wind blew. The paper rustled again, but with more impatience, and some added cursing. It was a lovely night and LaCroix didn’t want to stay inside for once. General appreciation for the night, and the offhand hope that dinner might wander by, had lead him to the park. To employ his mind during his wait, he had brought his newspaper with him. Had anyone bothered to notice, they would have pointed out that it was far to dark to read the paper, especially as he was nowhere near a lamppost. It is fortunate that no one did, as LaCroix would have promptly eaten them. LaCroix sighed in slight frustration. He would never had admitted it, but he wished that the good doctor Lambert would return from her business trip soon. His son had become mechanical in his routine, ever worrying about her, though she was only to be gone a week. He was no fun when he was in this mood, listless, and hard to argue with. LaCroix wished for something to entertain himself. He stared up at the stars. Even they were no help. These fool mortals! They kept the lights on so bright that one was hard pressed to see even the strongest of stars. Not even vampire vision could compete with the ambient light. It was a beautiful evening besides, with few people out to destroy his peace. Suddenly, a car pulled up to the side of the park. Loud music was issuing forth, the bass almost enough to break windows they happened too close to. Three scruffy looking teens emerged, leaving the doors open to yell loudly at each other, increasing the noise. LaCroix endeavored to ignore them. The paper shuffled again as he turned the page. Glancing over the news, his eye caught nothing and was about to turn the page again when he stopped. Looking closer to the story of interest, he read it again. Then slower. A thought appeared in his head that grew to gradual brightness, so that a mortal could almost have read the article in the brilliance. A low chuckle rose in his throat, enough to make a stray dog hurry away. Folding his paper quickly, he opened his telephone and called a familiar number. “Is Steven there?” LaCroix didn’t bother identifying himself. “I need a flight to Seattle. Tonight.” He paused as he waited for a response. “Yes, that will be fine. I’ll be at the airport to pick up the ticket in twenty minutes.” His eyes flitted to the side to see the car where the horrid noise was emanating from. The bass made his teeth grind. “Make that thirty.” He hung up his phone, and quicker than the eye could see, was gone. “Mrgh! Frasnlty! Clughn!” Natalie juggled her things at the door, trying to achieve the impossible task of fitting the key to the lock, and keeping all her luggage in her arms at the same time. Her words were muffled by the mess of things in her arms. Finally giving up the fight against gravity, her arms unloaded themselves all over the hall floor. Staring at the mess in defeat, Natalie shook her head and unlocked the door, an easy task now. Shuffling her stuff into the apartment with her feet, she left it all blocking the inside of her door and went into the kitchen. She half expected Sydney to be there, mewing at her feet, and demanding to know what had kept her from feeding him. She got herself a glass of water and opened her fridge. Finally staggering over to the couch with her glass, she collapsed on the cushions. It had been a nice conference. She had learned a lot, but really, she was just as happy to be home again. While a vacation was nice, earning money at your job to pay the rent was nice too. Kicking off her shoes, she saw that the answering machine light was blinking. She stretched herself and barely hit the button without needing to get up. Message 1- 1:00 pm “Hi! You’ve just won a chance at a…BEEP! Message 2- 5:00 pm “Hi Natalie, it’s Nick, I’m just calling to see if you’re in yet. Hope the trip was fun.” Message 3-5:30pm “Hi Natalie, it’s Nick, call me when you get back please.” Message 4-6:00pm “Hi Nat, it’s Nick, are you back yet?” Message 5-6:30pm “Hi Natalie, it’s Nick, how was the trip? Didn’t you say you were coming back tonight?” Message 6- 6:47pm “Hi, Natalie, just making sure that you remember that you’re on for tomorrow night!” Message 7-7:00 “Hi Natalie, it’s Nick, Was you plane delayed? Can you call me?” Natalie was trying not to laugh. Did that man set his alarm?! She looked at her watch. 7:28. She waited for the inevitable. In exactly two minutes, the phone rang. Snatching it up, She said, “Yes! I’m in!” The voice on the other end sounded somewhat relieved “Hi Natalie, this is Nick. Did you get my message?” Laughing, Natalie chided him. “Nick! I said I’d be back this evening! I’m sure you have more to do than to leave my machine full of messages.” There was a sigh on the other end. “Not really. It’s been slow lately.” Natalie rolled her eyes. “Of course it has. It’s only slow when I’m out of town. Now that I’m back, it will speed right back up again.” The irony of it all pained her. Nick’s voice brightened. “Hey, do you want to come over and watch a movie?” As Natalie looked at her watch, her stomach rumbled. “I’d better not. I’m starved. I think I’ll go down to the deli and pick up some soup and a sandwich. Airplane food just can’t be defined as food, let me tell you.” “I’ll take your word for it.” His slightly depressed tone pained her, but she really needed some food at the moment. “I’ll see you later, ok?” Natalie said cheerfully, then hung up. Kicking her luggage to one side, she fished out her purse, and locking the door behind her, ventured out to the deli and hopefully some food. LaCroix hovered at the window. It had been a short but eventful trip. It hadn’t taken him long to find the research facility, or to wend his way in. The Scientist had been appallingly easy to bribe and, oddly enough, had exactly what he had needed. He recovered all the information he needed, and left the scientist with a clean memory of a good night of research. Now to set things in motion. Again pulling out his cell phone (such handy devices) LaCroix put it to his ear. “Andrew? She’s headed towards the deli. It’s time.” He hung up the phone and waited for the fun to begin. Nick stared at the phone. It had really been boring lately. All that had really happened in the last few days was the bodies of some gang members that had been found by a park. Two had their necks broken, and one had his head bashed in with the radio from the car. It had been called in when someone had noticed the loud music had stopped, and they looked out their window. No one was really sure how it had happened, and the investigation hadn’t gotten far, but it wasn’t Nick’s case, so he didn’t bother worrying about it. He was seriously considering calling Natalie. She had come in last night, and they hadn’t gotten any time to talk at all. Maybe she would like to see the movie now. As he was sitting there musing, he finally decided to paint for a little before calling her. A half hour later, he was deep into his painting. The elevator distracted him as it engaged. Nick could hear the frantic beating of a heart as Natalie rode the elevator up. Worried, he hurried over to the door and threw it open the moment the elevator arrived. Natalie rushed into his arms the moment she saw him and buried her head in his chest. Nick froze, wondering what was wrong. He couldn’t smell anything besides fear from Natalie, so she wasn’t hurt. “Natalie, what’s wrong?! Is someone chasing you?” Natalie shook her head in a quick negative. Nick tried to think of what might be wrong. The community hadn’t been a problem. LaCroix had been quiet lately, always a reason to worry, but he had just come back from a trip himself. Natalie hadn’t moved, except to breath hard and sniffle a little. “Natalie?” His said softly, his voice tinged with worry. Natalie looked up at him, her hair mussed, and her eyes red. A spot of paint from his shirt colored her cheek. “What’s wrong Natalie?” Natalie’s tears renewed slightly. “Nick…I think I’m…” Nick noticed some red splotches on her face and neck. “What’s with the red spots?” The tears came with more force. “Nick…I…think…I’m…I’m… allergic to chocolate!” A low wail poured out of her, and the tears poured out with renewed force as she buried her head in his chest again. Nick tenderly patted her back in a way he hoped was reassuring. Inwardly he cringed. He had seen what Nat was like on Chocolate withdrawal, and was not looking forward to the near future, when she would likely go through it in force. Nearby, LaCroix watched the scene through the skylight. Apparently his little trick had worked. He was content for the moment, at least it was entertaining for a while. A low chuckle started in his chest and worked it’s way out of his throat. This was probably an entertainment that would last a while, as he had supplies to keep the good doctor allergic to chocolate for a LONG time to come. His laugh rang out over the rooftops of Toronto. The Cravings will never end! Please contact dreamerextrodanar@hotmail.com with comments. I really appreciate them!