Through a glass, darkly 1/4 Usual disclaimers apply. Forever Knight and the characters and ideas associated therewith are the property of Mr Parriot and Sony/Tristar and no infringement of his copyright and performing rights is intended. This piece belongs to me Spike Shovelton and I assert copyright hereto. I grant archive permission to Mel for the fkfanfic site and to Cousin Mary if she wants it. Anyone else who wants it is welcome to archive it provided that you ask first. The inspiration for this story is a very silly Disney film called "Freaky Friday" that I saw last month and I couldn't get the idea out of my mind. This is my take on it. I'd rank this one PG-13. There is no explicit sex or violence but I really wouldn't suggest this for children as some of the themes are complicated. There are no major spoilers. This is set early in season three. The title comes from the Bible, Corinthians Book One. It just seemed to fit. Thanks as always to Cousin Mary for beta reading this. Through a glass, darkly 1/4 By Spike Shovelton "Cheer up will ya." Screed studied his old friend. "Christ ya got more birds than most of us and ya still depressed." "The birds are the problem." Vachon sighed heavily. "What's that?" He pointed to the object in Screed's hands. "I found it in the sewers, 'oped yer could read the writing, it be foreign words." He handed the tarnished silver cube to the Spanish vampire. "Which one be it making trouble, Ursie or Tracy?" Vachon contemplated the sky. It was dusk and the sun was just setting. He looked down at the cube and studied the symbols, not a language he knew. "Both of them. Tracy keeps asking me for help and information. Did I know so and so? How did I learn to fly? I don't know, she doesn't stop asking and when she isn't asking for that she wants me to help with her cases." Vachon sighed as he cleaned the tarnish away. "At least she's happy. Urs is so sad all the time, looks at me with those mournful eyes. I don't know what she wants from me." Vachon sighed. "I don't know what either of them want, but sometimes I wish Urs were like Tracy and Tracy were like Urs." "Love a duck." Screed said and Vachon looked at him. "That box flashed colours, bible oath it did." "You must have eaten a bad rat." Vachon sighed. "It's a cube it doesn't change colour." "Could you hand me the Parker SOCO file please." Nick said and Tracy nodded. "Sure partner. You are crabby today. Wouldn't have anything to do with your being called in early to get to work on the paperwork would it?" Nick shook his head, he had to get Nat to drive him and hide in the boot of the car, and so he was not best pleased. He had to get up and in before sunset. It was only just setting now. Tracy smiled and then winced and moved forwards. Nick looked at her in concern. "Tracy are you okay?" Her answer was to fall forwards and pass out on her desk. "Tracy?" He touched her hand for a moment. Her pulse was steady she was just unconscious. He looked at this with interest. As he touched her pulse again her eyes opened. "Are you okay?" "Quoi?" The voice was softer and slightly husky. The blonde woman blinked in bewilderment. "Je suis ou?" She asked. "A la gendarmerie." Nick responded in French. "Pourquoi?" "Nicolas?" Her voice was puzzled. "Que-est ce que je fais ici?" Nick looked at her. Something was seriously wrong. He saw Joe Reese coming out and looked at his partner. "Restez-vous." He ordered and went and talked to his captain before receiving permission to take the woman home. Once outside he looked at her. She did not seem to know where they were. "Nicolas." She said his name in the French manner. "Tracy, why are you speaking French?" He asked. More to the point why was she speaking that kind of French? Tracy had learned from a Quebecois and her French was accented accordingly. This was quite different, veering towards the Creole. He amended that thought, no more New Orleans French. "Tracy?" The other was confused. "My name is Urs." She looked at him. "Ursula Fontaine." Lucien Lacroix studied his sleeping companion and smiled as she began to stir. Urs was a lovely woman if a little unimaginative. He was fond of her, she was an amusing diversion but little more. He sighed, he enjoyed her body but that was not sufficient. He wished he could find someone on a suitable intellectual level. He smiled, that said she was a pretty thing, although he did prefer more curves. He reached to stroke the tousled fair hair from her eyes and ran his other hand down her body, lingering over her stomach before moving back up to settle over one perfectly formed breast. His bedmate opened her eyes and screamed. "Aaargh." Her scream was piercing and he gave thanks for the soundproofing. Then she belted him in the mouth and his jaw dropped. Urs had a mean right hook. "What the hell are you doing in my room?" She reached under the pillow, looking for something. "Who are you and what are you doing here? You are under arrest." "Do you always wake up violent?" He asked. This was odd. She did not sound like Urs, her accent had changed. "Something about being pawed by complete strangers." She spat back. "Ruins my good mood." "Complete strangers?" He looked at her. "Cherie, that was not your thought last night." "Last night? I don't even know you." The blonde spat back. Then she looked around and the defensive anger and well concealed fear vanished. "Where the hell am I?" "My rooms of course. We adjourned here last night after your set." He studied her. "You are hungry of course, Ursula." "It's Tracy." Came the response. "Ursula." He looked at her. "Is this some strange mood?" "I am Detective Tracy Vetter, Toronto Homicide. I don't know who you think you are but you will let me out of here or I will have you arrested." She glared at him and looked down at her hands. "I didn't paint my nails." Tracy studied the pale pink nails and the delicate pale hands. Lacroix studied her. Her eyes were very open now and almost afraid. Fascinating, she seemed genuinely convinced that she was Tracy Vetter. "Look cherie." He said and picked up a large mirror and held it out to her. She screamed again. "Hush now." He soothed her. "Hush now." Tracy looked at the face in the mirror and a slender, angular blonde with a gamine face stared back. The face was vaguely familiar to her but she could not place it. A hand gripped hers hard. Her companion, whoever he was, spoke softly, soothingly and calmed the growing hysteria. "I was at work, Nick asked me for a file and then I don't remember anything else." "Curious." Lacroix looked at her as she regained her self control. "You say you are Tracy Vetter, a detective." His son's partner too. This could be quite interesting. "Either that or I am a mental case." She responded. "I'm going to call Nick. It's probably all his fault." Tracy winced as she felt a pain in her stomach then looked at herself, realising that she was stark naked. "Where are my clothes?" She looked for something to cover herself with but could see nothing immediately. "On the floor." He said and she looked at him. "You might at least look away." At this Lacroix burst into laughter. If anything convinced him it was not Urs then it was this modesty. An exotic dancer complaining about his watching her. He complied and she studied the clothes. "Isn't there anything less slutty?" "One moment." He went to the wardrobe and pulled out a long dark green dress that Janette did not much like. "Here." He handed it to her. "It won't fit very well." "Underwear? You can't expect me not to wear underwear?" Tracy picked up some black lace from the floor and looked at it. "This is practically a piece of string. Doesn't she have anything with fabric in it?" Lacroix chuckled again. This could be quite amusing. He walked to the dresser and looked through Janette's things. He found some underclothes and put them on the bed, still looking away. "Ursula insists on avoiding something called VPL." "Yes but those thongs are so uncomfortable, like a constant itch." Tracy coloured. "I can't believe I'm naked in a strange room discussing underwear fashions with a total stranger." She looked at him. "Can you not stand there?" "Of course." He said and moved to the other side of the bedroom, standing with his back to her. Once dressed Tracy studied him and he turned to face her. Then she let her hand fall to her stomach. "I'd better call Nick." She looked at him. "Do you have a phone?" He handed her the extension and she dialled through. No sign of him at work. She hung up and sighed. "Apparently I passed out at work and Nick is taking me home." She dialled the loft. Lacroix watched her in amusement then frowned as she winced. "Are you hungry?" "I guess." Tracy said and sighed. "I'll buy us take out." "No thank you." Lacroix looked at her in amusement. He had decided that this was certainly not Urs. The dancer was not a good enough actress to manage to pretend to be Tracy. "Nick." She said as he answered. "Thank goodness I caught you." Nick looked from the woman sitting on his sofa to the telephone. "Tracy?" "I think so." She responded. "This may sound weird, but I just woke up naked in some strange guy's bed and I'm trapped in someone else's body. Is she in mine?" Nick looked at Natalie who had finished examining Urs. "Yes. You'd better come over here." "Right. I bet this is all your fault." Tracy said. "Put her on please." "Hello." The voice was gentle. It was weird hearing her own voice and she guessed that the other woman thought the same. "Hi, I'll be over soon." Tracy sighed. "I feel so dumb, talking to me." "I understand." Urs responded. "I don't know what happened. I did nothing, I was asleep." "I didn't do anything either." Tracy looked at the phone. "I'll be over as soon as possible. Look after my body until I get there." Once the conversation was over, she turned to the man. "I'm really sorry about this. I hope I didn't frighten you too much. Let me try to explain." "No need to explain. Nicholas is a friend of mine and I know that you are his partner." Lacroix responded. "I ought to introduce myself though. I am Lucien Lacroix." "I know that name." Tracy frowned as she considered the matter, trying to place it. Most of her mind was still occupied with working out where she was and how she wound up there. "You think we can eat now? Arguing with Nick is best not done on an empty stomach. I'll explain who I am and what is going on while we eat." Lacroix poured her a glass of his best stock, and one for himself. "No thanks, not at this hour. If you've nothing in I'll get take out." Tracy looked down at the glass, then at him. For the first time she noticed how pale her companion was. Then she reached her hand to her throat, feeling her way to the pulse point. She felt nothing for a moment, then a beat then nothing. She tried to find a pulse in her wrist and failed. All the pieces fitted together now and she opened her mouth to scream and closed it again. "Ursula is a vampire." She gasped out and Lacroix nodded. "Oh shit." She said and sank down to the bed. She looked at him sadly. "You are one too?" The facts fitted together. This was the woman she had seen with Vachon a couple of times, including during the case with that Jacqueline woman. Vachon had said once that Ursula was the biggest regret he had. Lacroix wondered why he was feeling so sorry for this woman. Then again to wake up in another body, in a strange room, and as a vampire was difficult. At least she knew what vampires were so they were spared that part. "Be easy now." He soothed her. "We will sort matters." "Of course." Tracy looked at him. She shouldn't have wondered what it was like to be a vampire. Now she was going to find out firsthand. She had seen Urs in the Raven, but had not realised the full implications of this. "I suppose I can manage. I don't have another choice." "It is easier than you might think." Lacroix assured her. "I will look after you." Gallantry was not his way but he did feel for her. "Now you must eat." He said and handed her the glass. "Your body needs it, even if you do not wish it." "I can't." Tracy said and looked at him. Urs studied the foil dishes. "Is this really mushroom?" She contemplated the Chinese. "May I try some of this?" "Go ahead." Natalie said and smiled at her. "If you're still Tracy tomorrow I'll cook a proper dinner for you." She was amused. "With ice cream. Haagen Daas chocolate flavour with marshmallow pieces and butterscotch sauce." Urs insisted. "We never had that when I was mortal, never had enough to eat. All these flavours are wonderful." She piled some more onto her plate. "I am so hungry." "Eat then." Natalie said and smiled. Nick laughed at her in amusement. This was surreal. Lacroix looked at Tracy as she studied the glass. "You do need to eat. I know it isn't your food of choice but you are a vampire and must feed accordingly. No one was hurt for this, freely donated and preserved." Tracy nodded and brought the glass to her lips. As she drained it she saw sensations, colours and pictures of life. She could see who the donor was, understand his life, his pride in his children, his enjoyment and pleasure in his work. He was an affluent, comfortable businessman who donated blood from a sense of civic duty. Tracy looked up from the empty glass in astonishment. "I didn't know." She said and looked at him. "I didn't know that when Vachon said he could read memories from blood that it was so vivid. I was almost there." There was a new understanding in her gaze. "Is it always so real?" "Yes." He responded. "It is our way, there is no manner of explaining what it means to drink blood." He refilled her glass and she drank again, this time more slowly. "Do you like it?" "It tastes like apples as well." Tracy commented and savoured the taste. "How is that possible?" "Your mind associates what you taste with flavours from your mortal life." He explained and looked at her. "It is perhaps best to accept what your body wants." "Do I have fangs?" Tracy asked and her hand went to her mouth. She ran her tongue along her gums and found the different sensation. As she ran her tongue over it she felt a gold haze covering her vision and the fangs slid into place, not exactly hurting but not quite comfortable either. She walked to the mirror and touched the white teeth. "I still don't think it's me." She admitted as she studied the golden eyed, white fanged reflection. "Of course not." Lacroix assured her. "I think your partner will be waiting." "Of course." Tracy looked at him. "Can you call me a taxi?" "Borrow my car." He suggested and handed her the keys. "The black lotus elite with the black leather upholstery." He walked her down to the garage. "I will come over once I have sorted my business for the night." He needed to ensure that there was a recording of the Nightcrawler. He had no intention of missing the chance to torment Nicholas a little, and to learn more about his son's partner. Tracy drove through the town carefully until she came to Nick's loft. Then she let herself up. As she did so she frowned. She could smell so much more now. She was starting to recognise the stimuli and sensations that her body was feeding her. Some of them were weird but she could smell Natalie Lambert and she could feel Nick. She knew it was Nick but did not know how she knew it was Nick. As the door to the loft opened she looked at herself, eating Chinese and sitting on the couch. By all appearances Urs was as stunned as she was. "Tracy?" Urs said and Tracy nodded. "It is so strange to be mortal again." "You think it's strange?" Tracy said dryly. "Any clues about this, Natalie?" Tracy frowned then turned to Nick. Nick was a vampire too? She had suspected as much but this confirmed it. This was getting stranger and stranger. She sniffed again. Vachon was right, she did smell of apricots. She could smell herself as a vampire smells a mortal and it was so bizarre. Vachon sighed as he knocked on the office door. This was probably not a good idea, but refusing such a summons was a worse one. "Yes?" Lacroix looked at him. He smiled finally. "Ah Vachon. I have just had an interesting experience with Ursula." Vachon wondered what had happened. Had his daughter done something wrong? Lacroix was known for being a deadly opponent and not an approachable one either. "Is something wrong?" "Yes. I awoke this evening with Ursula in bed. She opened her eyes and informed me that her name was Tracy Vetter and that she wished to arrest me." "Urs said that?" Vachon looked at the old vampire in amazement. "Yes." Lacroix responded. "Nicholas informs me that Tracy passed out and woke up claiming to be Ursula. They appear to have changed bodies. Unless this is all a joke on your part." His tone implied that it had better not be. Vachon had a bad feeling about this one. He shook his head. End Part one Explanation of the French Quoi - What Je suis ou? - Where am I? A la gendarmerie - At the police station Qu'est ce que je fais ici? - What am I doing here? Restez-vous - Stay! Through a glass, darkly 2/4 By Spike Shovelton See Part One for disclaimer "No I don't know." Natalie said as she looked at the two women. "I have no idea what would have caused this. You can't just swap bodies. It's scientifically impossible. Something has to cause it." "Something did." Lacroix said, descending through the skylight, a sheepish Vachon in tow. "This one made a wish." Four pairs of eyes studied the Spanish vampire. "I wished that Urs were more like Tracy and vice versa." Vachon murmured and Tracy shook her head in disbelief. "I was holding a box that Screed had brought." "I examined the item. There was an inscription in Sumerian. Apparently it would grant foolish and ill thought wishes to punish people for failing to think." Lacroix said dryly. "Great." Tracy sighed and put her hands on her hips, surprised as they went in further than she expected. Obviously Urs had narrower hips. "So how long are we stuck like this?" "Until the next full moon." Vachon said quickly. "That would be?" Urs asked. "Two weeks." Lacroix supplied and both women groaned. "I checked and there is no way to remove the spell, any attempt to do so will render it permanent." "Wonderful, I am stuck as a vampire. There's no way you can pass as a cop for two weeks and I'm certainly not dancing at the Raven." Lacroix smirked at the mental image. Tracy thought for a moment. "Urs, you need to take my leave. I have two and a half weeks accrued leave. Say you feel overtired and want time off. Joe Reese won't have a problem." "I'll see to it that he gives you leave." Nick murmured. "That also means you have to do all the paperwork." Tracy smiled evilly at the thought. Lacroix was amused at the slightly malicious grin on the sweet face. "An excellent suggestion." "We both should leave town, to avoid bumping into people we are supposed to know." Tracy said quickly. "It could get difficult otherwise." "But my work." Urs said and looked at the old vampire. "I am due at work." "I will make arrangements. Your salary will continue to be paid." Lacroix assured her. "Vachon, take your child away and look after her." "Wait a minute." Natalie interjected and the others turned to her. "Urs is mortal now, she needs someone to help her deal with the situation, ensure she eats and help her process the situations she experiences." "Why don't we all go." Nick suggested. "Vachon and you and I can go with her to my cabin and keep out of sight. I have leave due, we can all go over there." "Nick we haven't done anything wrong. Why go skulking around?" Natalie commented. "I think we should go somewhere more fun, Montreal maybe." "I have a house in Montreal." Lacroix said and Natalie smiled. "That's settled then." She smiled at Urs. "We can have some fun, go shopping if you'd like." Natalie was also going to enjoy having a female vampire to talk to. It could be informative, even if the vampire was masquerading as Tracy. Plus she could spend some more time with Nick and that could be entertaining. He had been so down since Schanke died. This would let her cheer him up. Tracy looked at the others. A part of her was quite amused that Nick and Nat were organising looking after Urs. The other part was more than a little irritated that they were more concerned about looking after Urs than they were about looking after her. Then again why should they be so concerned? She could cope by herself. She would take herself out of town for two weeks too. "You do that." She said absently. "You're coming with us of course." Nick objected. "This could be difficult for you and you need someone to talk to." "Nick you've never talked to me before why start now?" Tracy asked, trying to conceal the bitterness and irritation that he had not told her the truth before. She had suspected but dismissed the suspicion and now she was unsure what to think. She ran a hand through her hair. It didn't go through her hair properly, probably because it wasn't really her hair. "Tracy should come." Urs said and Tracy shook her head. She did not want to go away with Vachon and Urs and Nick and Nat. Either she and Urs would wind up fighting over Vachon or it would be fifth wheel syndrome. Given that she had Urs's body it could get rather confusing having both of them in the same place. "Of course." Vachon said. "You need someone to look after you." "It creeps me out enough seeing you wearing my body. I don't think it would be wise having us both there." Tracy shook her head. "You just look after it, don't eat too much or get into fights." She turned to Lacroix. "Lucien my stomach hurts again, may I have some more wine?" Lacroix caught the irritation in her stance. "Of course. I am sure Nicholas has some decent stock." He was amused by her use of his first name, wondering whether that was to annoy Nicholas. Whatever the reason it was most effective as Nick looked furious. He went to the fridge and looked through until he found something non-bovine and poured some into a glass. "Nicholas, do you care for some?" He handed the glass to Tracy and watched as she sipped it. "No thanks." Nick looked at Tracy. "Tracy will be fine." "Of course I will." Tracy sighed, even in a little pretty body she still was not the sort that men felt protective towards. She never had been, not that she wanted to be looked after, she could manage for herself. Yet sometimes it would be pleasant to have people looking after her. "Just get out of town before my father comes over. It could get difficult." "We will." Natalie said and smiled. This was going to be quite amusing. Plus it would give her a chance to spend time with Nick. "Now give me my keys." Tracy said and looked at Urs. "Well I need to go home and get some things. I can't stay there, people will notice that I don't look right." Urs threw her the keys. "You'd better keep the ID, can I borrow yours?" "Certainly." Urs said and looked at her. "In my room at the Raven." "I'll get it." Vachon left before the others could respond. He just wanted to get out of there. It was always his fault. How was he supposed to know that the cube was magic? He smiled. At least he would see Urs, on holiday. They hadn't been on holiday together since the Armistice. Tracy sighed. "Could I have a word with Urs?" The others nodded and left. Nick and Nat went by the door and Lacroix by the window. "You will look after yourself?" "Yes." Urs whispered. "It's funny, I envied you a little. You had everything, parents, a job, respect." "Hardly." Tracy looked at her. "My father tries to control everything I do, my mother is a lush, and I have to fight for respect, every inch, every day I have to prove that I can cut it, that I deserve my badge." She smiled sadly. "I wondered about you, Vachon and things." "I know." Urs looked at her but did not explain further. "Anything else I should know?" "Don't forget to take my pill." Tracy said and Urs nodded. "It says on the foil which one to take each day. Take it when you get up of an evening. Don't eat currants they bring me out in hives, and look both ways before crossing the street." Urs nodded again. "Be careful, don't take too many risks. I want that body back in one piece." "Of course." Urs looked at her and thought for a moment. "If you need help, Miklos the bartender is reliable and I would trust the general with my life. Don't trust anyone else, most of the community aren't that honourable." "General?" Tracy asked and Urs smiled. "Lacroix." She explained. "I am glad you aren't coming. I find it odd seeing you in me." "Likewise." Tracy said. Vachon came in and she put out a hand for the ID card. "Have fun." She said and left the building. Tracy drove home, enjoying the purring of the engine beneath her. Then she let herself in and began packing some things. It was weird that most of her things wouldn't suit her and probably wouldn't fit her either. Urs was at least a size smaller. Once she had packed she called Nick and checked that he had arranged her leave and they were all heading off. "I might as well go." Tracy murmured and a thought came to her. She turned onto the road out of Toronto and into the countryside. The car was wonderful, moving like a dream and handling like a lady. She sank back into the leather upholstery and smiled in amusement. Once she came to a hill Tracy parked the car and walked up it. There was nobody else here, she was alone. She listened and could hear the cries of the birds. It was incredible how acute her senses were now. She had wondered about this for a long time. As she reached the top of the hill Tracy sighed as she looked at the night sky. She had waited and hoped that Vachon would do this for her, but had never had courage to ask. Given the way her body had responded to the blood then her instincts should see her through. Tracy frowned. Why was Urs adjusting to mortality a bigger deal than her adjustment to being a vampire? Tracy sighed as she began to run. For a moment she felt a sense of panic as the ground vanished. She felt herself beginning to sink before instinct kicked in and she went upwards. She was flying! Tracy Vetter was flying, alone and in someone else's body. The stars shone like gems on a velvet background and the wind rustled by. Tracy laughed as she began to turn somersaults and flips, enjoying the freedom and the buoyancy the air provided. This was flight, better than a plane, or even a hang glider. She spun around again and dived down to the ground, skimming just over it before rising to the skies again. As she flew along she began singing to herself, feeling the desire to make a noise to show how delighted she was. This was brilliant. She smiled and sang one of her Uncle Sonny's favourites. "Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you're only waiting for this moment to arrive Lucien Lacroix paused as he came over, watching as she sang and spun, enjoying the sight of someone taking such pleasure in their form. He grinned as he caught her words, very appropriate really. Then again John Lennon seemed to be like that, words for every occasion. Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these sunken eyes and learn to see All your life, you're only waiting for this moment to be free Blackbird fly, blackbird fly Into the light of the dark black night Blackbird fly, blackbird fly Into the light of a dark black night Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly All your life, you're only waiting for this moment to arrive You're only waiting for this moment to arrive You're only waiting for this moment to arrive." Lacroix flew over to her in amusement. "You are enjoying yourself?" "Very much so." Tracy spun again. "It's so beautiful. Has it always looked so lovely?" "Yes, not the same but beautiful." Lacroix smiled. "I have never grown weary of the skies or the pleasure of flight." He looked at her. "You are still here?" "I couldn't go with them." Tracy looked down at the delicate body she was occupying. "It didn't feel right and I was upset." "That they were more concerned about the impact of mortality on Urs than about the impact of community life on you?" Tracy looked at him and nodded. "Nicholas finds it hard to distinguish between form and substance. It is the way he was raised, a more fundamentalist era." Lacroix looked at her. "Still you ought to have a holiday. Paris perhaps, or Italy, or England but it is cold there." "I can't." Tracy said and he looked at her. "Suppose something happened at work." "You would do what? Go in and attempt to convince Captain Reese that you are really Tracy Vetter." He looked at her. "Do you think he would believe you?" "I guess not." Tracy smiled sadly. "I was planning on keeping a low profile, sticking around on the edge of town." "Nicholas should not have all the fun." Lacroix commented and the blonde nodded. "So where shall we go?" "What's this we business?" Tracy looked at him and he smiled. He shouldn't do that, it did unexpected things to her stomach. Still it was rather nice that he was still concerned, had not been too put off by her screaming at him this evening, yesterday evening, whenever it was. He had simply smiled and acted as though he always had his lover wake up and punch him. "You do need someone to remind you to feed." He looked at her and smiled. She was so challenging, refusing to take anything she did not understand, refusing to ask Nicholas for help. "Look on it as a trial run for when you do join us." He studied her. "I had expected that Vachon would have brought you across sooner." "No." Tracy responded and the old vampire looked at her. "Vachon isn't my lover, I don't even know if he's a friend." She sighed heavily. "I don't know anything." "That I doubt." Lacroix studied her. "So where would you like to go?" Tracy looked at him and thought, wondering where she would like to go. "I know where I'd like to go." She said and he waited. "Italy, I think. One of my friends brought back incredible pictures of Florence." "I have a palazzo there." He said and smiled. "I will book the tickets." "It's odd." Urs said as she and Natalie had tea and cake in a small patisserie in Montreal. "Having so much variety, so many things to eat." "Not much choice back then?" Natalie asked and Urs smiled. "No money back then." Urs corrected her. "My Father left when I was a child, trying to look after four other children. One of his friends decided to look after us." She shivered at the memory. "When I refused him he all but sold me to a friend of his, Lemieux, who decided that my voice could earn more than my body. None of them gave me anything but I didn't expect them to. Low self esteem you see." Her voice held no self-pity and her lips curved into a twisted smile. "It was the way it worked. I was nothing." "You were a prostitute?" Natalie said and Tracy's face was momentarily furious. Had Urs been a vampire then, her eyes would have changed colour. "I was a singer." Urs hissed and Natalie looked at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Natalie realised she had hurt the other woman's pride. "It's a sore point, my body wasn't my own but nor was it for sale." Urs sighed. "In some ways I was glad when we stopped running as a group. It was the first time I remember belonging to me. Vachon had freed me from outright slavery but I still belonged to him." "What did you do?" Natalie asked. "It was 1912." Urs saw Natalie frown as the cororner tried to do the maths. "I wasn't with the crew for very long, it just felt like an eternity. I joined the suffragettes, putting up posters and fighting for the vote. I thought I would help. Emmeline rather doubted it." Urs smiled. "I liked her, she would come out of the prison, looking like a corpse, three teeth missing and barely able to stand yet she'd still manage to smile." Her voice was amused. "I wanted to do something that mattered. I offered to bring her across after they let her out one time, so weak she could barely move. She said no, she would rather be mortal." "What did you do after that?" Natalie watched as the other ate the cake. Odd to see Tracy's face and hear another voice. "War was declared and I lay low. In 1915 I went to France. None of the hospitals at the front had enough staff. I offered to nurse, claimed to be a Frenchwoman. They were too in need to ask questions." Urs finished the cake. "This is very good cake." She added as she sipped the tea. "It's just a shame about having to go to the toilet all the time. Mind it's wonderful that they flush and they're all indoors and best of all you can lock yourself in and nobody sees you." "That's good?" Natalie asked in amusement. There was something endearingly childlike about the other woman, despite her age. "Better than an outdoor hole in the floor privy with three drunks trying to watch you." Urs sipped the tea. "Are you going to finish that cake?" She asked hopefully. Nat smiled and handed the plate over. Tracy looked at Lacroix as he parked the car. She had insisted on paying her way on the plane tickets. He had insisted on upgrading them to first, refusing point blank to travel economy. "You live here?" She looked at the old palazzo. "It's beautiful." The shutters were closed and as she climbed out of the car she could smell the flowers. "Thank you." His tone was amused. "I have not lived here for many years, but I have owned this land for centuries." He walked over and opened the door. "Come in." She did, enjoying the coolness of the house after the warmth outside. Vampires, she had learnt, did not feel temperature the same way. She noticed that it was cold, but objectively, rather than shivering. The place was tastefully decorated, with whitewashed walls and pictures. As she wandered around she looked into a book-lined study, and a spotless kitchen. "Which is my room?" She asked him. "This one." He said and went for the suitcases. He had learnt that she liked to carry one of them herself and he allowed for this. "I put you in the Chinese room." Tracy gasped in pleasure as he opened the door. The room was papered in a green and gold paper decorated with birds. The bed was a four poster, and decorated with an embroidered canopy. "It's lovely." She looked at the room, the dressing table and the wooden wardrobe. She looked at the jug and bowl set on one table and her face fell. "Very well decorated." Lacroix smiled, catching her glance. "The bathroom is ensuite." He responded, amused by her surprise. "I would not have a house without washing facilities. I am a Roman not some filthy barbarian." He pointed to a side door. Tracy opened the door and looked in at the large bath, walk in shower and facilities. One of the weirdest things about being a vampire was not needing the toilet. She wondered what that must be like. It was just so odd. She kept going and nothing came out. She had to find out where the blood went to if she didn't excrete it normally. She added it to her list of things to ask Lacroix. "It's lovely." She meant every word. "I have Roman style baths in the basement, on a small scale, three small heat rooms, a hot tub, and a cold plunge pool." He smiled at her. "It suffices well enough." "Thanks for bringing me here. I do appreciate it." Tracy smiled. "I needed a break from everything." "My pleasure. In Italy, there is always time to think." He said in his nightcrawler voice. "You should rest and this evening I will show you Firenze." "Best offer I've had all evening." Tracy sighed as she went to bed. It was good that he was so kind, always helping her. She had expected Vachon to be there, to take advantage of her changed state but he had gone to Urs, perhaps he always would. Even in her body, Urs was still his child and he owed the first duty to her. End Part Two Through a glass, darkly 3/4 By Spike Shovelton See Part One for disclaimer. Tracy fell in love with Florence at once. The town was such a wonderful mixture of everything. The architecture was incredible, the churches and the duomo were so beautiful, and the Uffizi was in a different league. He managed to have a special late opening for her. Sometimes they flew out into the countryside and walked through Tuscany, enjoying the scenery and the pure tranquillity of Italian evenings. "I'm sorry." Vachon said as he and his daughter walked through the streets of Montreal. "I'm sorry I hurt you so much. I ought to have listened to you and let you die." "No." Urs said quickly. "I decided not to go into the light. I came back. Oh I was unhappy with it, but I am glad now, glad to be alive." She smiled sadly. "It really isn't so bad now I don't need to kill. I live from bottled blood now." "Good." Vachon frowned. "You don't miss the hunt?" "No." Urs said and looked at him. "I liked the taste of course, but I hated it, hated the fear and dread and the feelings." She shook her head. "I hated stalking him and knowing that he would probably die." She shook her head. "I have learnt to cope with being what I am, Javier. That doesn't mean I like it all." Four nights into their stay Tracy awoke and dressed but something was different. There was no wine put out for her and the bottles were gone. She could feel the ache in her stomach. She had learnt to identify that the ache signified that she needed to drink some more. As she was looking through the cupboards for a bottle she saw Lacroix come up from the cellar. He had obviously been doing something with the sauna. His normally alabaster skin glowed faintly pink, the colour of the skin of the renaissance pictures, white tipped with pink and almost translucent. Men really shouldn't look so attractive. He was not classically beautiful but he had so much presence and confidence that it was unimportant. "I will be with you soon." He said as a greeting and then left. When he returned he was dressed in his usual black. "Fly with me." He said. Tracy looked at him. He was obviously not talkative tonight. She followed him. "I haven't eaten tonight." She told him and he nodded. "Are we out of wine?" "No." He said and looked at her. "We are going to the Cascine." "The which?" Tracy asked him. "The park." He smiled. "It has rather an unsavoury reputation." He made them fly faster and she could feel her stomach grumbling even louder. They set down in a darkened corner and she looked at the scene before her, the cop in her feeling a strong desire to return with a black maria and a squad and arrest everyone. She looked at the dealers selling crack and heroin and stimulants openly, the addicts shooting up without shame, and the women in short skirts walking up and down, clearly for sale to the passers by. They stood under the darkness of the trees and she looked at him, wondering what the purpose of this outing was to be. Then she heard a scream. Everyone in the park ignored it. "Someone is in trouble." She said and Lacroix nodded. "It is a dangerous place. The man in the leather jacket is one of the leading makers of porn films, those two with him deliver cocaine to the dealers." He pointed to two men talking to the dealers. "Now this is interesting." Tracy followed his pointing finger. There was a balding man in his forties, arguing and gesticulating at a well dressed man in a suit. Finally they seemed to come to some deal and separated. "You know them?" "The one in the suit is merely buying. The other runs one of the stables." Lacroix said without emotion. "Stables? You don't mean horses?" Tracy said with certainty. She had been there ten minutes but this place already made her feel soiled. It was so full of vice and crime that she wanted to go. "Boys." He said and looked at her. "There is quite a market for them, mostly aged between nine and thirteen, but sometimes younger. That man answers to Georgio Martedi. They have been arranging a deal." He smiled. "I will ask him about it." He vanished and returned with Martedi in tow. They were talking in rapid Italian and Tracy looked at the pimp, feeling her eyes flecking with gold. "The customer had ordered a child and the wrong one was delivered." "Why does he do it?" Tracy asked Lacroix and there was some more conversation in Italian. "He says he enjoys the business and he gets to test the boys." Lacroix let one hand settle like a vice on the shoulder of the paedophile. "Georgio is a revolting bastard. They call him George Tuesday because he was handed in to the orphanage on a Tuesday." The pimp was beginning to panic. "Still this is as well." He reached a finger up and gashed the man's throat a little, opening up the skin so the blood could flow. "Dinner." Tracy shook her head. She could feel her fangs dropping at the scent of the fresh, warm blood. She wanted to sink them into the cut and drink the blood, make him pay for what he did to the children. Lacroix let the man go and he began to move forwards. Tracy did not know what she did, but suddenly she was moving and dragging the prize back into the shadows, her teeth sinking into the soft flesh and opening the vein, drinking the rich red life. It was so much fresher, tasting even more vivid than the memories in bottled wine. The ecstasy of taking his life, of making him pay for what he did to those children, and the sensations it was causing, made waves of pleasure run through her. She became aware of a hand on her shoulder, firmly pulling her back. She struggled, not wanting to give up her kill. "You do not want to kill him." The tone was firm. "Now is the time to stop, you can feel his pulse slowing, any more will be fatal rather than debilitating." She could and so she pulled back, removing her fangs from the throat as he pulled her backwards. Then Lacroix left her and took to the air with her victim. Tracy shook her head, unable to believe what she had done. Why had he done that to her? He had made her so hungry that she had been unable to resist the physical urge to feed. She had wondered why Vachon had done it, why vampires hunted and killed when bottled supplies were available. Now she understood, chillingly they killed because it was difficult to stop, because nothing could compare to the horribly exquisite taste of fresh human blood. She had nearly killed him and she had wanted to, had enjoyed that most vampiric of activities, the hunt. She realised that Lacroix was standing beside her and she took to the air. He followed her until they were on a rooftop. "Why?" She asked him, her voice choked. "Why did you make me do that?" Now she was beginning to realise what she had nearly done. She could have killed him so easily. "So that you would understand." Lacroix said, still softly and without passion. "I did not want you to think that this life is all flying and living forever and not ageing. We are not just people with fangs. There is a price attached and an obligation. We do not kill for the pleasure as much as for need, for the hunger we feel." He pulled out a tissue and gently wiped the blood from her lips. "Now do you understand what we are?" "I think so." Tracy said. "It felt so good, almost better than, well, you know." She looked away. "I just didn't believe I could do that, kill people so easily." "Of course you could, anyone could do so. Killing is incredibly easy for us, not killing is the difficult one." Lacroix murmured as Tracy wiped her face and felt her fangs retracting. "I could have let you carry on, assuming that everything in the garden is lovely but it would be a lie. This life is difficult, incredibly difficult." "I can see that." Tracy said and looked at him. "I realised that before now. This was different. Did you kill him?" "Of course." He responded. "I thought you might prefer not to do so." He studied her. "It is what we are." She had managed to regain her composure and her eyes were wide with understanding. "You need not do that again." "Good, I don't want to." Tracy said firmly, and quickly changed the subject. "Now what shall we do tonight?" "I thought perhaps that we might go late night shopping." He said, allowing the matter to drop for the moment. "Or should I say that you might like to do so. I have a meeting to attend so I will not be able to come along." "I can hear you're devastated at that, Lucien." Tracy said lightly. Lacroix smiled, he had asked her why she called him Lucien and she had said that she did so because it was his name. Her tone indicated that she was surprised he had even asked. Her culture preferred first names so she had used his automatically. He actually found it endearing in her, although he would never have allowed it from anyone else. Despite the fact that she wore Urs's body there was very little of the dancer in this vibrantly outgoing and forthright woman. "I'll be good." "I doubt it." He said and took to the air. He would not leave a fledgling alone in this way, but Urs's body was accustomed to their ways and Tracy had soon learnt to heed what it was telling her. Tracy sighed as she meandered through the streets of Florence, looking at the shops and enjoying the displays. Most of the stuff she liked was out of her price bracket. Lacroix had given her his credit card but she wouldn't use it. It was bad enough that he insisted on paying for everything else. He was fascinating, in fact. She had become more and more intrigued by him. She stiffened as she moved around. Someone was following her. Tracy turned a corner and went on as normal, her shadow did the same. Tracy disliked using the other senses she had but sometimes it was necessary. She sent out a feeler and received the sensation of a vampire. Tracy smirked. They shouldn't shadow a cop, she could spot it at fifty paces. Her father had tried the same with private detectives and she had spotted all of them. She had told him as much. Then he had bugged her flat, so she had arranged for him to be questioned on wiretapping charges and told him in no uncertain terms to butt out of her life. Tracy left the leather shop and went up the road and around a corner and then around another corner into an alley. By the time her shadow did the same Tracy had gathered up a stake in one delicate hand. These hands were dreadful, too pretty and delicate for comfort. The young vampire turned the corner and Tracy jumped on him, effortlessly immobilising him and sliding the stake against his chest. "Move and it goes in." She said coldly and her prisoner gave up struggling. "Now talk. Why are you following me?" "I can't." The prisoner said quickly. Tracy looked at him. Quite young and rather innocuous, looking like the vamp clones at the Raven, all white make up and dark clothes. "You will." Tracy assured him. "What is your name?" He did not respond and she repeated the question in what passed for Italian. Lacroix had said her accent was dreadful but she just laughed and used the words in the phrasebook. "Rafael." He said finally and Tracy looked at him as he spoke in English. "I was just asked to follow you, I don't know why." Tracy ran the stake down his chest, the point pressing into the skin and drawing a line of blood. "Who sent you then?" Tracy asked, again in a soft voice, pressing harder with the stake. He shook his head as she moved the stake in. She had been unable to drop the habit of carrying something to defend against enforcers. "Lord Justice in the club, he told me." "Which club?" Tracy asked and he told her and gave the address. "You mustn't tell him, he will kill me." Tracy looked at him. "You should have thought of that before." She let him go and took to the skies and headed for the club. She did enjoy flying. She had thought that it was wonderful being a vampire until Lacroix had shown her how easy it was to kill, how the blood that came in bottles could as easily come from a human source. She landed in the alley behind the club and went around and smiled at the bouncer as she listened to the music. It was a little like the Raven, all loud music and people in black. She went over to the bar and smiled at the bartender. He put a glass in front of her. "Do you speak English?" She asked the bartender and he nodded. "Of course, Signorina." His voice was soft. "How may I help you?" "I am looking for Lord Justice." Tracy said and he looked surprised. "Please take me to him." "Back booth, the man in the red silk shirt." The bartender indicated and Tracy walked over to him. It was hard to be menacing when she looked like a pretty girl. The man in the back booth was odd, dark haired with a chiselled handsome face and large, incredibly lucent, green eyes. Yet there was something amiss with him, something that was not right. Tracy could not decide what this was, but he did not seem to be looking at her. "May I help you?" His English was excellent with a soft flowing accent. "I am Antonio Giudice. Please sit." He motioned to her, still not quite focusing on her. "Tracy." She responded. "Why did you put a tail on me?" "Tracy." He repeated her name and smiled. "Ah yes, you are Luciano Della Croce's latest enthusiasm. I am not following you. Luciano asked me to keep an eye on you. I asked one of the youngsters to watch over you. Obviously he did not do it well." Tracy caught his undertone. "I am a cop. I can tell when someone is following me." "I know what you mean." He steepled his hands and Tracy looked at him with interest. "Tell me something. You are one of us but it does not feel right." "It isn't, someone wished that I would be more like his girlfriend and we swapped bodies. She's busy eating chocolate in Canada. Lucien offered to help me and we came here." Tracy glared. "He thinks I can't look after myself? I didn't come down in the last shower of rain." "Luciano tends to overprotect." The other vampire smiled softly. "Especially one as lovely as I think you must be." His eyes did not move, still fixed slightly to the right of her. Tracy frowned at this. "Besides this is quite a different ballgame." He studied her. "Are you his lover?" Tracy shook her head and he waited. "Are you?" "No." She responded. "Why do they call you Lord Justice?" "Two reasons. Do you know the Old Bailey?" Tracy shook her head. "It is the central criminal court in London. On the roof of it is a statue of a woman carrying scales. Her eyes are covered with a blindfold. She is blind justice." He smiled at her. "I am blind and I am a judge in the court of the Enforcers. The irony amuses me and so I am Antonio Giudice, Anthony the judge, you would say." He caught her breath of surprise at the revelation of his blindness. "Do not pity me, I am well accustomed to my lack of sight. I have been blind since I was a child and it no longer disturbs me." "I see." Tracy looked at him. "That must be a very interesting job." He smiled, blind eyes very expressive for all their lack of vision. "Oh yes. Now I have a very important meeting to attend. I am sorry if my surveillance annoyed you." The dismissal was unmistakable. "Not your fault. I just wanted to know who and why." Tracy smiled and then left. Lacroix was not so amused. "She did what?" "Well it was a reasonable request, Luciano." The blind vampire commented. "I don't see why you wanted her followed." "In case something went wrong." Lacroix insisted. "She is not used to this." "Next time tell me that she's a cop and I'll send someone who can shadow better." Antonio sighed. He had known Luciano since 850AD and they still annoyed each other. "I like her though. She has spirit and she does not appear to take your crap." "Thank you for your sympathy Tonio." Lacroix said and Antonio smiled, his sightless green eyes catching the light. "My pleasure Luciano." Antonio was going to enjoy watching this one, no pun intended. Tracy looked up as the vampire came into the room. She put down her book and smiled at him. "Hi Lucien, I had a wonderful time shopping." "So I understand." Lacroix had a strange feeling he ought to apologise. No, he protected her, and he did not see a need to apologise for that. "Antonio is sweet." Tracy had a feeling he would know about that by now. "He needs to hire better staff, but he is lovely. Is he as old as you are?" "No, he is much younger, not much over a millennium." Lacroix studied her with interest. He had expected her to challenge him, lose her temper or ask about it. "Right. Let me show you what souvenirs I bought for Nick." Tracy smiled at the surprise in his eyes. She did like keeping him alert and surprised. It appealed to her. Then again so did he, and she had hardly thought of Vachon since their arrival here. "I hope he likes them." She opened the bag and Lacroix looked at the contents. There was a box of Italian chocolates and a large tin of paneforte biscuits for the precinct, a pair of leather gloves for her mother, a bottle of grappa for her father. Then she had found a jar of extra virgin olive oil for Natalie, a watercolour of the sun rising over the Tuscan hills for Nick, a leather belt for Vachon and a scarf for Urs. "Do you love Urs?" Tracy asked as she opened the packages to show him. "No." He wondered if that was relief in her eyes. "I was bored and she was available and quite pretty." He studied her. "Is there a problem with that?" "No problem, just wondering." She replied. "I still don't know why you helped me, I thought perhaps you love her and thought this was best." "If I had then I would have gone with her." Lacroix responded. "I help you because I wish to, it is that simple. You are not Urs, you are nothing like her." He said and Tracy sighed. "Besides, you intrigue me." His eyes were, for a moment, unguarded and very blue. "That is rare. Vachon is a fool not to have taken you sooner." "Thank you for that vote of confidence in my seductive abilities." Tracy said very dryly and he smiled at her. "Good." He looked at her and touched her hair. "You are a remarkable woman Tracy Vetter. I will not forget that, even if others do." He leaned over and kissed her forehead gently before leaving the room. End Part Three Through a glass darkly 4/4 By Spike Shovelton See Part One for disclaimer Tracy sank back down on her chair and sighed. That had been an interesting day. She was still trying to accept that she had nearly killed someone. Oh she had killed on duty but never so lightly, never without a reason. Lacroix had been right. She had started to think that this was an easy life, forgetting why they lived forever. Now she knew that the hunger was as real as she had suspected. It was worrying and she did not know if she could cope with it regularly. She sighed as she went up to bed. She would be glad to be back in her own body. She was certainly no closer to deciding whether she could ever survive this life and come across, whether she would even want to. "Easy now." Natalie said as they climbed out of the boat. "How does it feel?" "Weird." Urs looked up at the sun in pleasure. "I still don't see why people go bungee jumping. You can't fly and you just fall." "Adrenaline buzz." Natalie smiled and stretched out on the bench. "Running a risk like that is fun, because you wonder if the elastic will hold, if you will survive. Mortal life is very safe so we make our own danger. Now we're going shopping, and then for some beauty treatment." They bumped into Nick as they came back from the health spa. Vachon was with him, looking incredibly well groomed. "Ladies." He said and smiled, offering Urs his arm. As they walked through the streets he looked at her. The sun had made her nose slightly pink and she looked adorable and a lot more relaxed and comfortable than he had ever seen her. "How are you?" He asked her, touching her arm gently. "Fine." Urs looked at Vachon and smiled at him. "I have enjoyed it very much." She said. "It's fun being mortal and dancing in the sun. It's odd though. I like it but I wouldn't want to stay mortal. I am used to what I am." She smiled at him, feeling a surge of fondness as he settled his hand on her shoulder. "It's been a wonderful holiday." Tracy confided to Lacroix as they enjoyed their last night in Italy. "I wish I'd been in my own body, but other than that it's been incredible." "Excellent." Lacroix said and smiled. "You will soon recover your own body." "Good." Tracy smiled back at him. "Mind you it's been very interesting. Now I understand what it is like. I see why Vachon couldn't explain things but now I have done everything I can see the advantages and disadvantages." "Not quite everything." Lacroix said as they looked out over the moonlit city of Siena. "So what do you think of this condition? When it comes to it, will you join us?" "When?" Tracy looked at him. "You mean if surely?" Lacroix sighed, not intending to raise this issue. "You are safe from an enforcer intervention while the community in Toronto is there to protect you. Once the community moves on, as it soon must, then it is probable that you will be strongly advised to join us." Tracy whistled softly. "Does Natalie know?" "No. Nicholas has a habit of burying his head in the sand when something is unpleasant for him." Lacroix sighed. "In the end he will have to face that." "I see." Tracy looked at him. "That doesn't surprise me actually. I sometimes wondered why the enforcers were leaving us alone." "Because it was so arranged." Lacroix responded. "If you need anything, you have only to ask me. I have come to respect your abilities and so I give you my word that I will help you, unless it would harm Nicholas." "Thank you." Tracy said quickly and studied him. "You said I hadn't done everything. What am I missing?" "You have not killed." Lacroix said and she nodded. "That I had planned to omit. You have not shared blood with another vampire." She looked at him in surprise. "That I had planned to offer you this evening." "Is it nice?" Tracy asked him and Lacroix shrugged. "That depends, but you will not understand us until you do." His voice was soft. "It is so much a part of who we are." "Fine." Tracy looked at him. "So tell me something. Do you regret coming across?" "No." He responded and looked at her, wondering what it was about those eyes that compelled him to be more honest than he would like. "At the time it was the only option other than dying. Had circumstances been different then I might have decided otherwise. I was a soldier, trained to find the optimum solution and this presented itself." "So you don't miss anything about mortality?" Tracy asked him. "That is a different matter. I miss strawberries and honey cake and the sun beating down. I miss being able to eat and not having to hide so much." He looked at her. "Purely ephemeral matters. I find the benefits more than compensate for the disadvantages." "I see." Tracy looked at him and the conversation changed. As they came back to the house afterwards Lacroix looked at her and smiled. This was going to be interesting. She did not quite smell like Urs any more. Her blood was a mixture of the lightly floral scent of Urs's blood and the richer fruitier scent Tracy exuded as a mortal. He watched her as they went into the living room, moving closer to stand beside her. "Let me share with you." Tracy turned as he purred this into her ear. "Now you can understand who we are." Tracy felt his mouth running down her throat and lingering over the jugular. She arched her back in pleasure and then gasped. "Yes?" He whispered against her skin. "Yes." She whispered back and felt his arms come around her as his teeth sank into her skin. Suddenly they were one, and his bite sent waves of sensation through her, making her slide her arms around him at the sensation of sharing herself with him. She rubbed closer to him, letting him see her. Lacroix smiled inwardly. She was so honest it was touching. He pulled away slightly, removing his fangs from her throat and moving her so she could bite him. Tracy felt herself responding. She could smell him now, honey and spearmint and sandalwood, an intoxicating mixture. She felt herself biting him and the pleasure of tasting his life was overwhelming. She could see Italy as it had been, things she had never before understood. Now they were clearer to her and she could finally understand. It was wonderful to know him so well, like a window into another world. She sighed as he bit into her wrist, completing the circle so they could drink and feed from one another. When he broke the circle and released her, Tracy sank to an armchair. She looked at him and Lacroix smiled. There was something about that smile bothered her. She wondered what she was meant to say. He was waiting for a reaction and so she decided to deny him that. "Well thank you for a wonderful evening, Lucien. Now I am rather tired so I will see you tomorrow." She said and left. Lacroix glared at her departing form. That was it? He had shared blood with her and she didn't even comment on it? She had some nerve the little chit. What was the problem, did he taste bad? He frowned and walked to the bookcase. She was supposed to be intrigued. He knew that sharing was very addictive. It would thrill and draw mortals and most vampires loved the experience, especially in lovemaking. No, she seemed to delight in frustrating him by defying his expectations. He wondered how she would taste in her right body, how wonderful it would be when he brought her across. He felt his own body responding to the imagining. This one he would bring over himself and keep for himself. She was too intriguing and fascinating to let out of his sight. His musings were broken by the sound of a scream and he rushed to the bedroom. Natalie looked at her companions as the blood covered the sapphire dress Urs had selected. They had gone out for the evening for a final night together and Urs and Vachon were getting on incredibly well. Vachon seemed to be listening to his companion for once. They went on to the karaoke competition at a local bar. Vachon and Nick had gone for the car while the women got their coats and left. They had come out and a man had attacked Urs, stabbing her a dozen times in the stomach and chest for no obvious reason, before laughing. Looking at him Natalie could tell that he was high on something. She paused, wondering whether to challenge him before he turned and ran away, still laughing. The physician in her took over and she placed her hands over Urs's chest, trying to stem the flow of blood. Nick and Vachon came running over, moving faster than mortals but not caring who saw that. "What happened?" Nick asked quickly, studying the scene. Fortunately they were in a sidestreet and it was almost three in the morning. "He stabbed her." Nat said, indicating behind her in the direction the man had gone. "He ran away after that." Her attention returned to her patient. "I'm losing her. He hit several major organs and I can't stop the blood loss. She'll be dead in a few minutes." She looked at the men. "Then what will happen to Tracy and Urs?" "We can't let her die." Vachon said and looked at Nick. "We have to bring Tracy across, it's the only way both women will survive." Two weeks ago he might have let Urs go but now they had really talked he knew she would want to live, and want Tracy to live. "Do you think they would want that, either of them?" Nick asked and looked at Vachon. For a moment the two men stood their, eyes locked. Natalie had never felt so helpless. There was nothing she could do. If they'd been at a hospital then Tracy's body might have had a chance but the attacker had stabbed her so hard that she was only alive through willpower. "Okay but I can't do it." Vachon shook his head. "Urs would hate me. You have to do it." "I won't be able to stop." Nick said, images of Richard Lambert coming into his mind. He looked at Tracy, no she deserved better. This one would survive. This was all his fault and Vachon's for making this wish. "If I look like taking too much, you have to pull me away." "Nick, now or never." Natalie said quickly and Nick came and knelt down beside the dying woman. Lacroix watched as the blonde tossed and moaned on his bed. Then she went still and for an eerie moment she seemed dead, unmoving, her body not even twitching. Then her eyes opened and looked around, before rising to his face. "General?" She asked and he felt a sudden disappointment. "What happened?" "I do not know." Lacroix said and looked at her. "What is the last thing you remember?" "We had been to a karaoke competition. Natalie sung "Wild Thing" to Nick and made him squirm." Urs said and smiled. "Then Vachon sang to me. Oh that was nice." "Then what?" Lacroix looked out of the window. The moon was not yet full, would not be for three more nights. "We came out to go back for a last drink and someone stabbed me." Urs shrugged. "It hurt a lot but I don't remember anything else. I think someone brought me across, or Tracy across, depending." "So she is in Montreal." Lacroix said and Urs nodded. Tracy sighed as she sat in her room. At least she was back in her own body now which was some relief. Her being brought across seemed to break the spell and return her mind to her changed body. It was almost 24 hours since her coming over. They had driven back as soon as it became dark that evening. She had come back home, unable to talk to Nick. Hell he had been almost unable to look her in the face. He wasn't comfortable with this, that much was clear. He hadn't wanted to bring her across and she sighed heavily. This was not a good situation. Nick and Vachon felt guilty, responsible for what had happened. A part of her was glad of that. She had entrusted them with the most precious thing she had, her body, and had lost it. Another part just wanted everything to be normal again. She looked back at her room. A mortal waiter from the Raven had brought her cases over. Obviously Urs and Lacroix had returned from Italy. Tracy had not unpacked, had simply removed the souvenirs she had obtained, to put the edibles in the fridge. Tracy sighed, she couldn't stand this being alone any more. It had been three hours since she had persuaded Nick to go and leave her alone. Now Tracy found the silence almost as oppressive as the faltering conversation with Nick. She walked out onto her balcony and looked at the skies, remembering flying and the pleasures of being a vampire. She had almost decided to come across. She licked her lips. Nick had given her blood but none of it compared to sharing with Lacroix, drinking his life, it was sweet but not cloying and the sensation of his fangs at her throat as she drank him had been incredible. She had known then that she could not be mortal again, that now she would have to come over. So why was she so sad? This was what she wanted? She had a good idea it was because she hadn't chosen the time and situation. Hell, she hadn't even been there. That would be the first time someone had been brought across without being there. Tracy looked up at the stars and wondered when she could go out flying. "Tracy." She turned and realised that someone was standing behind her. "Lucien, I wasn't expecting you." She said, beaming at the other vampire. "You feel different now." "As do you, perhaps because you are in your own body." Lacroix looked her over thoroughly. "You will make an excellent vampire." "I had this list, all the things I was planning to do before I came across." Tracy murmured. "Now I'm not getting one of those done." She looked at him. "I just feel powerless." "You will never be that." He responded. "This is not ideal but you will turn this to your advantage." He looked at her. "Would you like to go flying?" "Nick told me to stay here." Tracy sighed. "Hence the boredom." "Tell him I didn't give you a choice." Lacroix looked at her. "Or do you intend to mope all of your life?" Tracy took his extended hand and they took to the skies. They flew in silence back to the hills where Tracy had first gone flying. After a little flight they say down. "Thanks for a wonderful holiday. I can't remember having enjoyed one more." Tracy said and smiled at him. "I know from Vachon that elders don't spend much time with fledglings and mortals but I wanted to thank you for taking so long with me." "You are far from the normal run of things." Lacroix studied her. "You are in fact an unusual woman. I would like to spend more time with you. I was hoping that Nicholas might agree to my assisting him in teaching you our ways." "Yes please." Tracy said and smiled at him. "I do owe you." She remembered something. She had put it in her pocket while unpacking the souvenirs, without thinking. "I got you a present. I meant to give it to you before we left Italy. It's to thank you for being such a good host." Tracy said and held out a package to him. "I hope you like it. I saw it in the jewellers and it made me think of you." She watched as he pulled the gift wrapping away. The jeweller had packaged it beautifully, and Urs had obviously not unwrapped it when packing up. Lacroix opened the box and looked at the contents. The smile that crossed his face was shockingly youthful, and it transformed his face, smoothing away the lines. "My dear that is exquisite." He looked at the heavy metal cufflinks. They were shaped like small coins decorated with a face. "Some of the others were prettier but he looked nice." Tracy answered and was rewarded with a warm chuckle. He looked back at the square chinned face with the unflattering nose and eyes that seemed to see out of the coin. The man was not handsome but you felt that he was trustworthy. There was strength of character for all the plainness of feature. "He was." Lacroix responded and saw the surprise on her face. "He was my commanding officer. This coin was issued in 71 AD after he had become emperor. I think you would have liked Titus Vespasianus very much." "What was he like?" Tracy asked, finding it hard to believe that her companion had actually known the man on the cufflinks. "Sane, which was rare for an emperor. He was the best commander I ever served, intelligent, forceful, devoted to his family. He was impossibly mean, refused to tip anyone, trying to restore the solvency of Rome." He removed the expensive gold links from his sleeves and replaced them with the silver plated ones. "He would certainly have liked your company. He preferred intelligent women to stupid ones." Lacroix smiled at her. "It is a beautiful present." Tracy looked at the links he had removed, fine rose coloured gold shaped into lightening bolts. His were worth about ten times the price of the cheap silver plated ones she had bought. "I should have gone for them in gold." She said quietly. "No. These are perfect, I could ask nothing more." He looked at her. "I also have a gift for you, two gifts in fact." He held something out and Tracy pulled the paper away, looking at the silver and lapis lazuli earrings. "Lapis was prized among my people." He explained and smiled at the amazement in her eyes. "This is not old, late nineteenth century in fact, but it reminded me of you." Tracy touched the carved deep blue stones on the filigreed silver backing. The stone drops were not large but the quality was excellent. "Thankyou, it's lovely." Lacroix held out his hand and Tracy took it, feeling him drop something into the palm of hers. She opened it to see a key. "Nobody else has this key. It is the back door to the palazzo in Florence, so that you may use the house as you please." Lacroix smiled. "You should have a place to run to. I would appreciate your not sharing this." "I won't tell anyone of my own free will." Tracy said and he smiled. A lesser woman would have made a promise never to tell, but this one was wiser than that. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, her gaze flicking between the earrings on her lap and the lapis lazuli eyes looking down at her. "Good." Lacroix looked at her. "Tell me something, are you and your Spaniard happy together?" "No." Tracy murmured. "We aren't together. He feels that this is all his fault." She looked at the old vampire. "He can't even look at me. I think that was why he refused to bring me across. I can't help but blame him. If he hadn't been dissatisfied with his relationships then I wouldn't be in this mess. I know it's not a rational response but I can't be rational right now. Maybe later we can talk sensibly but it's all too much." She looked at him. "I wonder sometimes why it is all so screwed up, life I mean." "I do not know." Lacroix looked at her. "You cannot change the past, but I should like to watch you shape the future." "I think I'd like that." Tracy smiled. "When I've had time to sort out what is going on and where I am going." She looked up at the moon. "I've got eternity to sort out where that is so I'd better enjoy the ride." She stood and extended her hand. "I've had enough thinking so lets fly." She took to the air and Lacroix watched her fly towards the hills before taking off and following her. The questions would wait. This was not going to be easy but it would at least be interesting. The End 1) The song "Blackbird" was sung by the Beatles and they hold the copyright to it. No infringement of their rights is intended. It seemed to fit the occasion. 2) The Emmeline referred to by Urs was Emmeline Pankhurst the leader of the suffragette movement in England, fighting for female suffrage. The authorities frequently arrested her for public order offences to which she responded by going on hunger strike, and suffered being force fed. 3) Florence has been described to the best of my abilities. The Cascine is a large park. During the daytime there are regular markets there but after dark it becomes seedy. Allegedly one can obtain most vices there. Grappa is a local firewater. Paneforte are another local speciality as are leather goods. 4) Titus Vespasian was emperor of Rome from AD69-79. The description comes from Suetonius's works. Vespasian was a successful army commander and it is possible that Lacroix could have served under him before he became emperor. In the ten years of his reign Rome became solvent and regained stability. He was sane and just by Roman standards and a very effective ruler.