Disclaimers:  I own not Forever Knight or those characters portrayed
therein.  I also own not "Wicked Games," that is by Chris Isaak.


"Wicked Games" (01/01)

by Caroline LaRoche


"May I make a request?"  That voice...so hesitant, and there was a hint
of something else.....  Lacroix sat back behind the radio console.

"A request?  Dear listener, it would be my pleasure.  And what is the
song you desire to hear?"

"'Wicked Game.'"

"Wonderful.  Who, may I ask, is calling?"

A pause.  "...Lily."

"Lily, does this song have a dedication?"

Another long pause.  "Yes."

"Whom is the recipient?"

Silence, and a click as the caller hung up the phone.  Lacroix was
certain he heard a whispered, "you," before the disconnection, one his
caller was likely unaware he would have heard.  A small smile graced his
lips as he got up to find the Chris Isaak disk.  He had never heard the
song.  This would certainly prove enlightening.

                The world was on fire and no one could save me but you
                It's strange what desire will make foolish people do
                I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you

Lacroix started in pleasant surprise.  A fan, a listener with whom he
was acquainted?  He wracked his brain, but couldn't decide just who
would make such a gesture toward him.  Mortal, immortal, he couldn't
tell and knew so many.  But that voice was familiar...he'd heard it
before....  Its owner's identity hovered maddeningly just at the edge of
his consciousness.

                I never dreamed I'd love somebody like you
                I don't want to fall in love
                No I don't want to fall in love with you

Maddening, just maddening.  Who could this woman be, this woman
who...was...enamored of him.  Who could she be??

                What a wicked game to play
                To make me feel this way
                What a wicked thing to do
                To let me dream of you

A listener.  He looked out over the club.  Could she be out there,
somewhere lost in the crowd, watching for him?  Did she know that he was
trying to find her?

                What a wicked thing to say
                You never felt this way
                What a wicked thing to do
                To make me dream of you

In front of the bar, Janette was chatting with Nicholas; apparently he
had dropped in to check on a lead.  He was glad to see his daughter
frequenting the establishment again, his son as well, after
that...unpleasantness some weeks ago.  Lacroix wondered briefly of
Nicholas' partner, Detective Tracy Vetter.  He was sorry that they
hadn't met under better circumstances; she was charming,
attractive...strangely so.  Lacroix couldn't remember the last time he
had felt so...about a mortal woman.

                And I don't want to fall in love
                No I don't want to fall in love with you

Weeks later, he mused, she had been shot.  Such a waste, such a precious
flower....  He was glad that he had pulled Nick out of that whole mess
more or less unscathed, if only the same could have been said about
Tracy....

                I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you
                I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

An unexpected tear rolled down his cheek as he thought of her.  He
wished the past months' unpleasantness was only a dream, just a dream,
not real...too bad that couldn't be true.

                No I don't want to fall in love
                No I don't want to fall in love with you

                This world is only gonna break your heart

The song switched over to the next track, the last of his show.  He
would let his listeners simply segwey to the next program, he wasn't in
the mood to offer a comment tonight.  As the song faded, he switched off
the various buttons and lights which declared Nightwatch officially
over, and headed out to the bar.  Miklos handed him a glass of the house
special without comment; the mood was sensed and dealt with as only the
loyal bartender could know how.  Lacroix settled himself on a stool and
gazed out over the crowd of revelers.  Not a one with whom he was
intimately acquainted...he still expected Tracy to show up somehow, on
Nicholas' heels perhaps, and he could get to know her and she him....
Impossible.

The door to the club opened, admitting two pale blondes: one with curls,
the other a classic if rather ignored-looking pageboy...Urs and...it
couldn't be.  The visage of Tracy Vetter followed the young vampire up
to the far end of the bar, where a very surprised Miklos ('considering
she's supposed to be dead, even I'd thought so') poured Urs and her
tow-headed companion twin glasses of bloodwine.  Lacroix composed
himself and walked up to them.  'To greet Urs,' he told himself.  'Tell
myself that this is *not* Nicholas' partner.'

"Lacroix."  Urs put down her glass and extended a hand, which he kissed
in the customary manner.

"Urs.  I'm glad to see you well.  I think perhaps that surprised might
be a better word, though."

She shrugged and didn't answer.  Lacroix turned his attention to the
other.  There was no doubt.  It was her.

"Allow me to introduce my child.  Tracy, this is Lacroix.  He owns the
Raven and does a radio program out of the back."

"I know.  We've met."  Tracy looked Lacroix straight in the eye, and he
saw mirrored there all that he felt and more....  "I told you, though,
not Tracy anymore."

"Oh, yeah.  Sorry, Lily."

*******************************

Finita.

All comments and European bartenders to Caroline cslar@ibm.net.