Coming out of the Dark Perks closet...

Yes, it's true I have DP leanings, not to mention CerkPerk leanings...so in
answer to the challenge of Tracy requesting a song to be played on the
Nightcrawler's radio show, here is my little ditty.  I hope the DP's will not
mind my participation in their challenge.

This is post AtA, but only the first part of "Last Knight" happened.  And
yes, of course, N&N are in here somewhere...

I don't own them, and I don't mean to infringe on any copyrights.  I'm not
making anything off this, either.

The song "Aces and Eights" is also not mine.  It was written by Lita Ford,
Myron Grombacher, and Kevin Saviger.  It is on the 1990 Lita Ford album
"Stiletto."


Permission to archive at fkfanfic.com and the ftp-thingeybobby and of course
to the DP's as it is their challenage!

New Dawn (1/1)
Tyra 
1999

     It felt good to have the night wind blowing through her hair again.  She
had borrowed her 'father's' car to drive back to the city, her city, her
birth place.  She didn't really have a clear idea of what her next move was.
Her life here was not over, yet a new one loomed in front of her.
     The events of the last few weeks flew through her mind.  The shooting,
Nick's true nature revealed, him offering her his blood.  The fact that she
had willingly walked away from the light still made her shiver, but in her
heart, she had wanted this.  She had just always assumed it would be Vachon
that gave her this gift.
     Vachon.
     How she missed him and his tender, fleeting kisses.  She had acted like
she was in a trance when LaCroix had come to make her forget about his death.
 But in truth, she never forgot.  She helped to kill him.  She knew now it
was the right thing to do.
     A smile drifted across her face as she thought about LaCroix.  He had
gently caressed her hair and face, stroking her as if she were a delicate
flower.  There was pain in his voice as he told her to forget.  And then
there was that damn fleeting kiss before he left her to her supposedly
forgotten sorrow.
    Tracy heard her phone ring, and pulled the car to the side of the road.
She knew who it was, but she answered anyway.  "Vetter."
     "Trace, it's too soon for you to be out on your own.  Why don't you come
back here and the three of us can talk about things, about what we should do
next."
     "Nick, that's the problem--the three of us.  I know you don't mean to,
and I certainly know Nat doesn't--but I feel like a third wheel, because I
AM, Nick."
     "We want you back here with us.  You're a part of our family."
     "I almost killed Natalie, Nick.  The first hunger took control of me,
and I would've drained her had you not been there.  I was so afraid that she
wouldn't take your blood, Nick.  I lost Vachon.  I didn't want you to lose
Natalie, too."
     "Everything's perfect now, Trace.  Natalie and I can be together AND she
needs you around.  We need you around."
     "Nick, you don't need me around.  I can see it in your eyes--all you
want to do is love each other, and I can understand that.  If I had been
waiting as long as the two of you have to make love, I would be horizontal
all the time as well."
     "Trace, you still need to train..."
     "I know, Nick.  I'm headed to the Raven to talk to someone about just
that subject right now."
     Nick paused on the other line.  "You're going to ask LaCroix, aren't
you?"
     "He is my 'grandfather,' Nick.  He seems like a logical choice.
Besides, I like him."
     "You like him?  You told me he gave you the creeps."
     "Yeah, well, good creeps.  Especially after Vachon died.  Look, Nick, if
things don't work out, I'll come back and train with you and Natalie.  It's
just that, well, it hurts to be around you both.  I miss that..."
     "Trace, I...."
      "Give Nat my love, Nick.  I'll call soon, promise."  Tracy hung up the
phone before Nick could make any more excuses.  She turned on the radio.
CERK blared over the speakers.
     "I'm the Nightcrawler, and it is dedication night.  My dear listeners,
call me with your request, and I will do your bidding."
     As the show went to commercial, Tracy again picked up her cell phone.
She dialed the private number to LaCroix's CERK booth at the Raven.  She had
copied it from Nick's address book, thinking it might come in handy.
     "Nightcrawler."
     Tracy closed her eyes and took a deep, unneeded breath.  "Yes, I know,"
she whispered softly into the phone.
     LaCroix's eyes flew open; he knew the voice.  It was Nicholas' partner,
Tracy.  "How can I be of service to you, Miss Vetter?"
     Tracy searched her mind for the perfect song, but didn't find one.  She
looked over at her CD cases and finally she had an idea.  "Would you play
"Aces and Eights" by Lita Ford?  I'm looking for someone who's holding all
the cards.  Someone who can teach me how to play."  Tracy hung up the phone
before LaCroix could reply.  She quickly entered back into traffic on her way
to the Raven.


     LaCroix searched the bins behind him for the song she requested.  As the
commercials ended, he slipped the disc into the player.
     "My dear listeners, a certain blonde nightshifter has requested "Aces
and Eights" for the man holding all the cards.  I hope she finds whatever it
is she is searching for."
     The words to the song rang from the speakers in the booth.  LaCroix's
eyes grew wider, as the realization that he held the cards hit him.

***
We only take what we need
in black and white
The city bleeds

Love cuts you down to the bone
And walks these streets
With the eyes of a hunter
****

     Tracy smiled to herself as the song continued to play.  Her
impulsiveness had served her well this time.  The song would let him know
what he had yet to discover: her new nature.

     LaCroix sipped from his wine glass, now putting the pieces of the puzzle
together.  The disappearance of Nicholas, Natalie and Tracy had surprised
him, but he assumed there was a reasonable explanation.  This wasn't the one
he expected...

***
Bad blood flows from
The father to the son
How red the river runs

Love was the law
For sinners and saints
The dead man's hand holds
Aces and Eights
***

     Tracy parked the Caddie in front of the Raven and quickly went inside.
The stares of many of 'her kind' greeted her.  Some of them knew her from her
friendship with Vachon, others knew her through Nick.  As she walked to the
booth, many nodded to her, tilting their glasses in her direction, in
celebration of her re-birth.  Miklos greeted her before she entered the booth
and handed her a glass of bloodwine.
     The people dancing the Raven were becoming harder to resist, so she
quickly entered the booth LaCroix occupied without knocking.  As the door
shut behind her, the song she requested filled the room.  Thankfully, she
couldn't hear the heartbeats that were behind her.

     LaCroix gazed at Tracy, her eyes golden, her fangs descended.  He stood
and walked toward her.

***
We're bound by wire, blood and fate
Hanging on to nothing
Aces and Eights

We let each other bleed
And watch our bones
Fall in the dust
You can hear the children howl
It's all they see
In the hour of the wolf

Bad blood flows from
The father to the son...
***

     "I need a teacher, a master,"  Tracy simply said as she sliced her wrist
with her descended fang and offered her blood to LaCroix.
     LaCroix licked the blood from her arm, then kissed his way up to her
lips.  As their lips met, he whispered, "Then you have found one.  And I will
forever be your slave."
     Her mouth easily yielded to his tongue's invasion, as her hands wrapped
into his hair, pulling him closer.

THE END

DarkNNer list-mom, NNpacker, NatPacker, Light Cousin, FKPagan,
& Sister Voyeura of the Convent of the DSS.
My web page is in the process of being moved!
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