This is my first fanfic so bear with me.

All Forever Knight characters belong to someone else.

I give permission to archive this.

There is a question mark beside the name Richard because I forgot the
name of the mortal Janette fell in love with.  If  you know, please
correct it and let me know.  Thank you.

An End To It All
	
	The sky darkened to a colourless black as the sun set and took colour
with it.  No matter how many times he watched this, it always saddened
him.  Now was the time for the criminals to emerge and him to go to
work.  At least, that's how it used to be.  Just a few short years ago
he would have.
	"Are you ready?" asked the all too familiar voice of his maker and
master.
	"Yes," he replied with a hint of guilt in his voice that made it
through his defences.  That quick flash of guilt was caused by the
fact that he had let Natalie die and had not followed.  He had let
LaCroix talk him out of it.  He had given up on mortality and he no
longer cared.
	The moment passed and he let the eagerness of the hunt engulf him. 
His walls were strong again.  Now, Nick Knight lived for the hunt, it
drowned out everything else.
	LaCroix watched his son's 'triumph' and smiled.  It was good that
Nick no longer moped about his inhumanity.  Of course, LaCroix wasn't
about to admit to himself that he was beginning to miss the Nicholas
of old.  The one that had some life in him.  No, he had won the final
battle and the victory was his.  After all, father knows best.
	They now resided in Africa where the hunt was still allowed because
of the population size and body disposal was not a problem.  It was
the perfect place to sharpen his son's lacking abilities and forget
the past in its dense jungles.
	Neither one had the slightest suspicion that thei welcome had just
expired.  Not just in Africa either, but in the Community.  The
Ancients and the Enforcers had decided that LaCroix's little games
were toomuch of a hazard to their lifestyle.  As for Nick, his
unpredictability and his past love for mortality were his crimes.
	The jungle surrounding LaCroix's and Nick's hunting grounds was
unusually quiet as they entered.  This reflected Nick's mood this
night so did not catch his attention.  LaCroix, on the other hand, was
on alert.
	Seven Enforcers suddenly appeared encircling the pair.  A look of
shock spread over LaCroix's face but quickly faded to his natural look
of cool confidence.  Nick looked detached and distant still.
	"Why are you here?" queried LaCroix to the Enforcer closest to him.
	"We are here to sentence both you and your son to death.  Your crime:
endangering the Community by dealing with mortals and harbouring
personal vendettas.  The Code was broken and you must pay the price. 
The Ancients have declared it," said the same Enforcer with a voice
that meant there was no alternative.
	LaCroix's cool confidence then changed to defience and anger.  If it
was from the Ancients, it could not be argued.  His eyes glowed red
and his fangs were bared as he declared, "You can't kill me!  The gods
tried once before and failed!"
	Those were his last words as six of the seven jumped on him at the
same time.  Lucien LaCroix never stood a chance against these odds. 
His death was on honourable one, he died fighting.
	The seventh approached the stunned Nick.  Nick recognized that walk
and said in a bewildered voice, "Janette?  Why?"
	"The other have already explained it, mon cher," she answered, "But I
have come specifically for you.  Not to kill you but to save you.  If
you swear that you will have no future dealings with mortals and come
under my care, they will let you live."
	"Live Janette?  I haven't lived for the past three years!  My sous,
myself, died that night," he said as his walls fell and crumbled to
dust, "My guilt won't let me enjoy life; immortality and LaCroix won't
let me leave it.  Now I can."
	"Please, Nichola, I could give you back your life.  Remember what we
had?
	He took her hands in his and kissed them.  Janetter looked deep into
his blue eyes and saw the sadness that he was letting in again.  She
also saw a light there, what some might call hope, and realised that
her Nichola was no longer hers.
	"Fah," she said and threw off his hands, "Did all our years together
mean nothing then?"
	"Janette, they meant a lot.  You were my life then, my only love."
	"Were?  What about now?  Will you give up me?  Everything you have? 
Just because you think there might be a chance you can be with her? 
They  were right, LaCroix should never had made you.  I rue the day I
ever saw you if this is how it ends!" and she turned her back on him.
	Both stood silently, remembering what they had shared together, good
and bad.  Their love had been stronger than their blood bond.  They
both wondered what had happened to that love.
	As Nick watched Janette's back he realised that the love hadn't
disappeared, just changed, for him at least.
	"Janette, you were my lover, but my love for you has changed.  It is
just as strong but more like the love felt for a sister or mother. 
You may have been able to go on after Richard? but you always were the
stronger one.  Your love of life was what kept you going.  I've lost
that.  I just want an end to it all.  I'm tired Janette, let it end."
	Janette turned back to Nick and he saw the paths of her bloody tears
on her pale face.  He kissed those paths, then he kissed her.  A tiny
flame of what they had was in that kiss but she knew that it would
never be enough.  Her beloved Nicholas was lost to her for good.
	After one final hug, Nicholas de Brabant, last of the Brabants,
vampire, cop, lover, teacher, friend, and much more that could never
be described in words, walked towards his hope of being with his love,
Natalie.
	Janette flew off before it was done, she couldn't watch it happen. 
If she had stayed, she would have seen the joy on Nick's face.  For,
although his soul was mightily tarnished, his love for Natalie and his
honest will to do good saved him.  Natalie was waiting for him with
arms wide.  They would be together for eternity in the light.  Nick
Knight finally emerged from his endless Forever Knight.





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Lone Wolf

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