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Family
A Forever Knight story
by Cagey
Autumn 1996

Legalese:  The Forever Knight characters do not belong to me, but
no infringement is intended.  The story does belong to me,
however, so please do not repost or reprint without permission.


Family

LaCroix watched the mortal silently, unobserved as always.  
The young man moved quietly through the house, 
absentmindendly performing the daily rituals which marked 
him as one who had lived so long alone--putting out the frozen 
dinner to thaw, moving to wind the grandfather clock which 
had been in his family for barely sixty years, turning on the 
evening news with the volume down to dampen the stories of 
death and destruction.  Ah yes, LaCroix knew how much 
those stories troubled the young man.  LaCroix saw how he lay 
at night on his bed, his blue eyes unable to close as he played 
over in his mind the fears and temptations of the day.

Temptations were something that LaCroix knew a lot about.

"Really LaCroix, don't you have better things to do than spy on 
mortals?"  He had sensed her approach, but just barely.  Despite 
the number of years which they had spent together, they were 
growing apart.  Or perhaps it was because of the number of 
years they had spent together.  In the first handful of decades 
she had been entrancing, captivating, exciting.  They had 
reveled in one another, exploring, challenging, enticing.  

Now her eyes glared at him balefully, with just the slightest 
touch of longing.  

He drew her to him for a moment, grazing his teeth across her 
neck.  As he had hoped, she arched forward, capturing his lips 
with hers.  He did want her cooperation, after all.

"Ah, LaCroix," she breathed.  "Why do you waste your time 
here?  Come home with me."

He pushed her back, her entreaties inflaming anger rather than 
passion.  "I have a task for you," he said quietly.

Her eyes flashed.  She jerked her head angrily towards the 
house.  "What do you want with that one?  Leave him be, 
LaCroix."

He cupped her chin in his hand, turned her to face the 
window, to see the man sitting morosely in the barren living 
room.  "But my dear, see how troubled he is.  He is unhappy.  
He has doubts."

"He's a priest," she snapped.  "He has his faith.  Leave him be."  
She pulled on his arm ineffectually, but he brushed her off with 
a snarl.  

He had been watching the young priest for some time.  The 
young priest who was so troubled by the injustice in the world, 
who spent so much time on his knees praying, plagued with 
doubts.  LaCroix had heard his prayers--give me faith, give me 
certainty, give me answers.

"I have a task for you," he repeated.  "Together we can bring 
him across.  We'll be a family, together."

"You don't want a family.  You want another Nicholas," she 
snarled, and then took flight.  He caught up with her easily, 
and they tumbled through the air, fighting, eyes flashing, 
struggling.  He pulled her back to earth, his embrace holding 
her captive, pressing her to him.  He bit into her with a 
savagery which he had not felt for some time; she growled 
deep in her throat, but stopped trying to wrest away from him.

"Help me," he whispered into her ear.  "We'll be a family 
again."

"Yes," she said dully, but her eyes were tinged with desire and a 
small spark of hope.  "We'll be together again."

*******

He awoke in the darkness, dragged from restless sleep by some 
movement.  There had been a touch, almost like a caress 
against his cheek.  

He blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness of his 
bedroom.  Perhaps it had been a dream.  A very vivid dream.

"Yes, a dream," a soothing voice whispered at his side.  "You're 
still dreaming."

He started, moved back across the bed, gathering the blankets 
as a shield.  "Who's there?" he demanded.

Cold flesh pressed against his, a hand smoothed sweat-
drenched hair from his brow.  "You're dreaming," the woman's 
voice crooned.  "I'm part of your dream."

"I'm not dreaming," he said, but his tone was uncertain.

Her face swam into view.  Piles of dark curls framed her pale 
features, highlighting the soft eyes filled with anticipation.  She 
kissed him softly, leaving a slight chill where her lips touched 
his.

"You're dreaming," she insisted quietly.  "I'm part of your 
dream."

"Who are you?" he demanded weakly.

"I'm Natalie," she whispered, her voice like a caress.  "I can take 
away your worries, your fears."

LaCroix watched placidly from the shadows.  He would have a 
family once again.


*end*