To: Subject: SUBMISSION OF FAN FICTION "A NEW KNIGHT" BY CESAR PEREZ Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 15:36:11 -0000 Date January 26 1999 From Cesar Perez Well I am going to post this before I lose my courage. This is my first attempt at fan fiction so please be kind. This story developed from my own imagination and was originally only going to be about twenty pages. However the words and images kept coming to me so I kept writing them down till they stopped. This is a story about darkness in two men's souls, as both men struggle to go into the light and the fear that comes with changing who and what you are. In this, of what I hope to be only the first in a series of stories mainly involves the character of Tracy Vetter and my own character of Matthew Travers although all the other characters do participate and have major roles as well. I always thought that with the exception of a few episodes the character of Tracy was pretty one dimensional, with this I hope to change that so that people can see that she is just like every one else. Someone who is searching for love, honor and respect for who she is and not because of who her parents are. WARNING: There are two very explicit love scenes in this story both of which I believe are important to the story. Two very courageous women showing two creatures of the night one vampire, and one spy that they are not alone, that there are those who do love them. There is also coarse language in this story as well. WARNING: In the story there are several medical conditions described, I do not know if they are possible, or even real. I just made them up, so doctor's don't jump on me for it, it is all in fun. WARNING: The beginning of this story is a bit sappy, but I had to figure out a way to bring Tracy back from the dead. Hey it worked on Dallas! MAJOR WARNING: Although I usually spell very well, my punctuation and grammar usually really stink. Be forewarned! Comments can be made to nlclark@idt.net, any criticisms and comments will be welcomed and accepted with gratitude. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Disclaimer: All characters of Forever Knight belong to James Parriot. Although only mentioned in the story the character of Michael and that of Section one belong to the USA network. All Touched by Angel characters belong I guess to CBS network. The title song lyrics from the movie "First Blood" is also the property of someone else as is the lyrics of the song "All By Myself" I am sorry that I do not know the names of either songwriter. No copyright infringement is intended in any way as this is done all in fun for fan fiction. "A NEW KNIGHT" BY CESAR PEREZ The man in black carefully looked around the corner to see if he had lost any of his pursuers, his heart still hammering in his chest as he tried to regain his wind. Wiping the sweat from his eyes he stared down the alley and saw the silhouettes of several men, at least three. No he hadn't lost them. "Damn-it" he muttered to himself cursing the situation that he now found himself in and especially cursing the man who put him in this position. He remembered his superiors exact words. Control sat at his desk calm and collected as per usual, his desk as always neat and orderly. He stared out the window as he began "Special Agent Craven, for a man of your expertise this is going to be a breeze." He had said then turned to face him "All you have to do is go into Toronto, Canada and turn this computer CD ROM diskette over to your contact." Matthew Craven sat back studying the computer disk he now held in his hand. "And that's it" he questioned "if this is so easy Control why send me. Especially since I now only have fourteen days left of active duty left before I retire." he had asked "retire" a word that he could still barely say he was still young only thirty years old, But that was the contract and he for one couldn't truly say that he would be sorry to say good bye to the Central Intelligence Agency. Control a middle-aged man, mild in appearance with soft brown eyes and a small paunch that was newly acquired since retiring from the field and taking the job as control. "That's precisely why I'm sending you Matt, we have to justify your existence for twelve more days. This job should just be a weekender, but you take four. I know how much you love desk work, but it won't kill you for your last week. Pocketing the diskette he stood to leave "Let's hope no eco-terrorists find out how much paper I waste making paper airplanes then" Craven joked. What Craven didn't know was that after the door was closed, Control picked up the phone and dialed a four digit number, indicating that it was someone in the building. Control waited impatiently tapping a mean tattoo on top of his desk. Finally someone on the other end picked up, Control wasted no time. "The Horseman is in the starting gate." He said and immediately hung up then stared at the door where his agent had just walked out of "I'm sorry Black Knight." Turning his mind back to the present Matt Craven studied his situation. Everything had gone as planned, he had arrived bright and early this morning and had one directly to his hotel and checked in. Making the first in a series of innocuous phone calls to a dummy number to ensure that both he and the merchandise were still intact he waited for the cover of night. To pass the time he had gone through his equipment ensuring that he had everything and was prepared for everything short of nuclear war. Turning to look in the mirror he studied his face, his chin was stubbly from the lack of shaving, his hair long and black. Craven was still toying with the idea of growing a beard after he was out of the service. Rubbing his face and feeling the whiskers he continued to study his own features. He was average he thought to himself, never realizing how sexy women really found him. He was tall at six feet and one half inch with eyes of dark brown almost black although you couldn't really tell since he wore dark designer sunglasses that hid his eyes. He was never without them morning, noon or night. In fact some speculated if in fact he even slept with them on, many often wondered why he always wore them, the consensus was that he was trying to look tough, macho like a man to be reckoned with. Matt let them believe what they wanted to believe, he didn't much care. Truth be told Matthew Craven cared for very little these days, he was aloof often not even paying attention to those around him. He wasn't close to anyone at the agency since they broke him out of prison, the experience behind those walls had changed him forever. An attractive, cold-blooded man the women thought and some found that even sexier even though Craven took no notice of them, others questioned his sexuality, perhaps he was gay. It wasn't that, in fact he had bedded more women than he could remember, but not one of them could ever touch his heart enough to make him care. He stared into the night when it had finally fallen and for the first time in his life he drew no comfort from it, he armed himself with what he thought would be necessary for tonight and left the hotel and got his rental car and drove down to the warehouse district. At this time of night it was completely deserted, arriving at the proper address he shut off the engine and adjusted his dark sunglasses and retrieved the picture of his contact. "Entien Navar" he read the name of his contact, a scruffy looking little man with rat eyes small dark and beady. Replacing the picture he got out of the car and activated the small bomb he had attached to the gas tank to destroy any evidence should the need arise. Then pulling out a medium sized automatic pistol from behind his back he checked one more time that it was loaded, then pulled the slide back to load a round into the chamber and returned the gun back to it's holster and checked the rest of his weapons to ensure that everything was out of sight. Turning he walked with an easy measured step opening his senses as far as they could reach in every direction, this action had saved his life more than once in prison. Remembering how the utter darkness had sharpened his senses to a razor's edge able to hear the guards a hundred yards away in the night. Walking up to an abandoned warehouse he went to the door and tried the handle, just like his superiors had told him the door was unlocked. Entering the long dark corridor Craven once again adjusted his sunglasses so that they sat snugly on his face even in this utter darkness, he walked silently down the hall stopping before several open doors and looking inside to ensure that they were empty. At the end of the hall he paused before another door this time he reached into his pocket and retrieved a key grabbing hold of the handle he found to his surprise that the lock turned easily in his hand. Immediately he let go of the handle and replaced the key into his pocket. "This door is supposed to be locked" he thought to himself his mind beginning to race "Could be that Navar had forgotten to lock the door behind him when he came in" reaching behind his back to his holster "Could be a thousand reasons why this door is unlocked" Pulling out his gun he took a small comfort in it's familiar feel "Yeah and maybe little gremlins felt sorry for me for having such a hard day and decided to save me the trouble and unlocked it for me" he thought grimly. Laying down on his back in front of the door, Craven reached up and turned the handle all the way and pushed the door opened then twisted over so that his shoulder was against the wall and he was afforded with partial cover. The door flew open and gunfire erupted spraying the hallway had Craven been standing he would immediately have been cut down, as it was he began to choke from the cloud of plaster that was now raining down upon him. From his prone position, Craven studied what he was up against. His mind ignoring the flying bullets he counted positions of fire. There were at least ten men in there maybe more, then Craven saw Navar he was at the far end of the warehouse strung up by his feet with his throat cut. Taking careful aim Craven opened fire with one hand while he reached for a stun grenade with the other. Craven heard one man cry out and the expulsion of breath from another indicating a chest wound. Pulling the pin from the grenade he tossed it into the room and turned and ran for his life. He had just reached the end of the corridor when the deafening explosion went off sending light and sound into the room effectively blinding and deafening anyone in the room. Hitting the door at a full run, Craven felt asphalt hitting his shins and heard automatic gunfire kicking all around him, dodging and weaving Craven kept moving never stopping till finally he turned the corner. Up ahead he saw several men standing by his rental car opening the car door. Hitting the deck and covering his head Craven waited and wasn't disappointed when he heard the explosion and the rush of flames that consumed his rental car. Craven couldn't help laughing "Guess I should have gotten the insurance" rising back to his feet he ran down another street and kept going for at least several blocks before turning into the alley he was now in. Looking around him he saw that there was no way out of the alley, he silently cursed himself for being so lax about studying the area properly before going in. He clung to the shadows and moved silently to where he saw a derelict car sitting. Getting behind it he paused to pull the empty clip out of his gun and put a fresh one in, when he heard it. WATER, running water looking around for what he hoped to find he wasn't disappointed when he finally saw a grilled man hole cover. Moving over to the grill he studied it carefully and noted to his displeasure that it was completely rusted, there was no way he was going to open this without a lot of noise. Looking up he saw that the three men were coming down the alley weapons ready scanning the darkness for him. Ducking and going back to the car Craven immediately went underneath it and tapped the gas tank and was relieved that it was not empty. Not much in it but enough for his purpose, reaching into another pocket he pulled out another of his small bombs and set it for thirty seconds he placed it over the gas tank and quickly he moved back to the grill and pulled with all of his strength not caring who heard. The screech of metal was horrendous as Craven with muscles straining pulled the grille up enough for him to squeeze through, he heard the heavy running foot steps coming from behind him and with one more pull the grille came up. Jumping in he painfully scraped skin as the grille quickly shut behind him Craven ignored the pain as he hit the floor running then he heard the muffled explosion from the car and the agonized screams of his pursuers. Adjusting his dark glasses again he slowed down and made his way through the maze of tunnels not caring where they led him as long as it was away from this. Nicholas Knight bent over the still form of his love Natalie. "I trust you" she had said "take only a little at a time" How could she know how strong the vampire actually was. How easy it is to lose control and surrender to the blood lust. Laquoix stood over his son with a spear in his hands "Damn you Nicholas" Nick heard as Laquoix bought the spear down on his exposed back Nick jumped as he heard the alarm clock on his bed stand go off. Reaching out he smashed the annoying alarm and stared about himself in confusion. Touching his forehead he felt himself sweating and looking down at the sheets he saw that they were covered in the blood that he had sweated. He was wracked with confusion and panic as they coursed through the ancient vampire while he struggled to find an explanation for what was happening to him, when he heard the door to his loft being opened. "Nick are you home" Dr. Natalie Lambert called from below Natalie alive! How could she be, reaching for his robe Nick quickly donned it and flew down the stairs and took Natalie into his arms. "Thank god it was all a dream, I didn't hurt you, I didn't hurt you" Nick repeated it over and over. If asked later he would swear that he had felt his cold still heart pounding in his chest. Natalie struggled in the vampires strong grip something was wrong, she could feel the sticky feeling of blood that vampires sweat instead of water "Nick are you all right your covered in blood, Nick your scaring me please tell me what is going on!" It took Nick about twenty minutes to calm down long enough for Natalie to get a glass of blood down and for his breathing to come back to normal. Nick finally calmed down long enough to tell Natalie of the daymare he had just had. As he spoke Natalie sat back and cursed herself for not realizing the position that she was putting the man she loved in when she made her ultimatum. The very real pain of what would happen if Nick couldn't control himself. Natalie hugged him for all she was worth. Tears fell unchecked from Natalie's cheeks, how could she cause him such pain "I'm sorry Nick I didn't stop to think what it would mean to you. I was selfish, can you ever forgive me" Relishing in her embrace Nick nodded "Oh Natalie, I could forgive you anything, and I swear to you I will do anything, try anything so that we can be together" They held each other silently a while longer, finally separating Natalie lifted Nick's face and tenderly kissed his lips. They sat in silence for a moment each consumed with their own thoughts, when it struck Natalie that Nick had said something about Tracy. Taking his hand again Natalie felt the cool skin "Nick, about the rest of your dream, Tracy didn't die, she's alive" Natalie told him "Alive, but?" Nick clearly remembered the crazed escapee from the previous night. Nick also remembered riding with Tracy to the hospital, didn't he? Or was he finally losing his mind? Natalie patted his hand trying to calm him down "It must have been a part of your nightmare, yes Tracy was shot but the bullet just grazed her skull. That is what I came to tell you, she was released this morning and she should be at her desk tonight. She was very lucky another eighth of an inch and she might not have survived" Nick sighed in relief "Thank god, I thought that she was dead" The phone on the table rang seeing that Nick was still in rough shape Natalie picked it up "Hello" listening for a moment she nodded "Yes captain he's right here" handing the phone to Nick "Captain Reese" she told him. Taking the phone "Yes captain?" listening Nick nodded several times and told Reese "I'll be there as soon as I can, I just have to grab a shower and get dressed. Give me the address again." as Nick motioned to Natalie to hand him pen and paper, scribbling down the address "Okay captain, I'll bring Natalie with me." and hung up the phone. Natalie smiled wickedly "You do realize the impression we just gave Joe Reese" Nick put down the pad "What do you mean Nat?" he asked innocently Brushing her long hair out of her eyes her smile widens, sometimes Nick could be so dense she thought "Reese calls your place and I answer the phone, you get on the phone and tell him that you'll be there as soon as you shower and dress" she told him lifting one eye brow meaningfully With a growing realization of the impression that he just gave his captain, Nick stammers "Nat, I'm sorry, I didn't realize, I mean" Natalie waved his concern away "Don't worry about it, I just wish it were true. Just watch your back at the office" she warned "What does that mean" he asked as he stood up preparing to go upstairs to get cleaned up. Natalie picked up Nick's glass and went to the kitchen to rinse it out "If I know the rest of my gender they are now going to be trying to pick you up like it was going out of style." Nick stopped halfway up the stairs "That's ridiculous Nat, most of the women at the office don't know I exist" "They will as soon as Reese tells someone about this and then that person tells someone and so no and so on." She told him knowingly "By the way where are you taking me?" she asked changing the subject. Going up the stairs to get a quick shower and clothes Nick called over his shoulder "Warehouse district, dead bodies all over the place, Reese said it was like a war zone over there." Pulling up to the crime scene both Nick and Natalie were taken aback. Lights blared in every direction, dozens of officers moved quickly and efficiently. Ambulances and coroners trucks stood at the ready to take the bodies away, as several photographers took pictures of the dead. "Reese wasn't kidding" Natalie said as she looked around at the carnage that surrounded her "We better hurry" Natalie grabbed her bag and hurried over to the first body and started on her mystical rites as Nick went into the fray looking for the Captain. He wasn't to hard to find, Reese a large black man in his forties was pointing in several directions barking orders to his officers to start searching the area. There by his side was Tracy Vetter alive and well a large bandage covering a portion of her blonde hair, turning she saw Nick and waved a bright smile on her face. Nick walked up to her and hugged her. "Tracy I can't tell you how glad I am that your here. Last night when I left, I" Nick couldn't find the words to express his feelings. Tracy nodded and smiled at her partner "It's okay Nick, I'm all right the doctor says in a few months I won't even have a scar, the bandage comes off tomorrow if the doctor likes what he sees" "All right reunion is over, in case you two haven't noticed we have a lot of bodies lying around. You two are detectives so go out and detect" Reese told them gruffly, but truth be told he was as happy as Knight is now when he saw Vetter walk into the office tonight. However he was not about to let it go noticed "Vetter, you take it easy, and if you get shot again I am going to personally kick the crap outta you" Tracy smiled again she knew what the Captain was trying to say "Thanks cap" and kissed him on the cheek and walked off with Knight, leaving a smiling Reese. "I think you just made his night" Nick told her as they walked towards the warehouse "It's good to know that he cares" feeling better knowing what good friends she really had Throwing his arm around the young woman's shoulder "He's not the only one Tracy, because the part that he doesn't kick I'm going to." Suddenly remembering his dream Nick also remembers the pain of a dying Tracy asking why he hadn't trusted her with his secret, Nick mulled it over for a minute. Tracy already knew about the existence of vampires, hadn't Vachon trusted her with it? Throwing caution to the wind, Nick leads her down to where the lights were the dimmest and the cops the fewest. "Nick the crime scene is that way" Tracy pointed trying to get back on course "I think we should start with the guys in the warehouse. There is one guy in there that was definitely tortured, Nick where are we going" She asked confused as Nick continued to lead her away from the crowds. "Just over here" Nick paused to ensure that the others were out of ear shot and to collect his thoughts, this part was never easy "Tracy there is something that I want to tell you, only one other person knows about this." Tracy shook her head, did Nick think that everyone in the station was completely blind to the way that Nick acted around Natalie "You mean about you and Natalie, I know all about it the captain told me." Nick sighed "It's not about that, I wish it were something that trivial. Its about Vachon and the others like him" he began Tracy felt the grip on her heart, Vachon was only dead a six months but the memory still bought her pain. Even though she could not fully remember that night she did remember burying him with her own hands. Now Nick knew something of the existence of vampires, she knew that she must protect that secret, it was the least that she could do for Vachon. Tracy turned to walk back towards the crime scene before Nick asked the wrong question that might bring the enforcers down around him and her "I don't know what your talking about Nick, come on lets get to work" Stopping her Nick took her hand into his "I let Schanke die without ever knowing the truth, even though I trusted him with my life. Last night you could have died and you did not know even though you do know about the existence of vampires" Tracy turned and faced Nick confusion on her face "Nick what are you saying?" Taking a deep breath he let it out "I was born Sir Nicholas deBarabant, and I was bought across in 1228" Nick's eyes turned a luminescent green Tracy sucked in her breath, she stumbled backwards "You're a vampire, like Vachon and he never told me." hurt and angry that neither Vachon or Nick had ever told her. "I wouldn't let him" Nick told her his eyes returning to normal and noting the expression that was on the young woman's face "I wasn't sure that I could trust you, last night I realized that I should have trusted you" A tear dropped from her eye, how hard this must have been for Nick to tell anyone. But it explained so much "Thank you Nick, thank you for trusting me and I won't betray that trust. The other person that knows is Natalie" Nick nodded "You love her don't you" it wasn't a question "Yes" Just like her and Vachon a love that never came to fruition. Hopefully with Nick and Nat it would be different. Deciding to play it like she had known all along and to show him that it did not change the way that she felt for him "Come on partner lets get to work" Tracy smiled and the two made there way back to the crime scene. As they made there way into the warehouse and looked around they could see scores of forensics teams moving around the area pulling bullets from the walls, taking pictures and dusting for prints. Making their way over to Natalie who was examining the body of a man hanging upside down with his throat cut a lake of blood laid below already congealed, at a glance Nick could tell he'd been dead for awhile and from the bruises on his face he knew that it wasn't an easy death. "Okay Mark you can go ahead and cut him down" Natalie called out to the officer "Just be sure to save the rope for forensics" she warned "You got it doc" the young rookie tried to smile turning to his grim task his pallor had a decided green color to it. Turning Nat made her way over to Nick and Tracy "This is a bad one Nick, we have three dead in here, another four outside by a blown up car and another three a few blocks from here by another blown up car." Smiling at Tracy Natalie gives the young woman hug "Oh and Tracy I glad to see you up and about" "What can you tell us Nat?" Nick asked getting them back on the track "Not much I'm afraid, about the bodies, but I do have some other ideas." turning to point at the body being cut down "He's been dead, I'd say about seven to ten hours. There's no I.D. on him or on any of the others, these others on the other hand have been dead less than two hours. The forensics people tell me that they have shell casings from at least ten guns in this room alone, but the weird thing is that they all face that side of the room where the door is. Another weird thing, you see that burned patch of concrete." Nick looked at the indicated spot walking over to it his vampire senses were hit with what smelled like phosphorus "Stun grenade?" Nick asked the forensics specialist who was getting samples the man nodded "That's not an everyday item especially around here." Nick finished Natalie motioned them to the open door "This is the way I see it Nick, someone walked into a trap." "What do you mean a trap?" Tracy asked stepping around the burned patched of concrete Natalie nodded as she reached the door "So far all of the evidence says that someone walked into this room, one person because all of twelve rounds found on that side of the warehouse are of the same kind of gun. You'll have to wait for ballistics to confirm it but I think I'm right. Now this person let's call him X gets to this door, for some reason he gets nervous about the door. Now we found hair samples on the ground here that suggest that someone was laying down here" Natalie pointed "now close the door" closing the door Natalie continues "Lets pretend I'm X, I walk to this door but something is not right but I don't know what so to play it safe I pull my gun" holding out her pen pretending it to be a gun Natalie lays on the ground "Now since I don't know what I'm facing, I lay down like this. I reach up" Natalie reaches up and grabs the door knob and turns it and then throws it open "I open the door, since it's dark you can't see me but you won't expect me down here from this position I roll over onto my stomach, bullets are flying everywhere but since I'm down here and partially protected by the wall I reach in and return fire. I know that I can't stay down here forever so I pull the stun grenade and toss it into the room and run like hell" Tracy shook her head "How can you be so sure that there was only one man here." Natalie got up brushing the dust from her pants "We found so far over a hundred rounds but nobody on this side of the room was hit there is no blood anywhere around here. If there was more than one especially in this narrow hallway someone would have gotten hit. Except for those couple of hairs we found there is nothing here except that you can see that there is plaster all around here except for this one patch right by the door." Natalie pointed to the one clean spot which was right where she had been laying. Nick looked skeptical "I don't know Nat the idea that one man did all this by himself is a little hard to swallow" Nick paused studying the scene and was unable to come up with another explanation "I'm not saying your wrong but why, I mean why so much fire power to kill one man, what was this a botched drug deal, a hit what?" Natalie shook her head "I don't know Nick but remember this. If I'm right and all of these people were sent to kill one man" Natalie motioned around her "He did all of this and they still didn't get him" Tracy shivered realizing that this time they were up against a professional "You said that they found some more bodies" "Yes about a dozen blocks over, I'm heading over there now. I'm not sure but somehow I don't think we are going to find your man among those victims either." "What makes you so sure, Nat?" A shiver passed through her "Because X is just too good at this" Matt Craven looked back over his shoulder for the millionth time. He was back up on the streets he'd spent an hour wandering through the sewers and was pretty sure that he wasn't followed but to be sure he backtracked, took taxis and buses to be sure. Four hours later he found a phone booth and entered. Dropping a quarter into the slot he dialed a fifteen digit number that he knew by heart and waited. "Olson's antiques" a female voice answered "The word is Katana" he said breathlessly "Wait one checking" the pause lasted a second "codename" "Black Knight" "Confirmed" the voice called back "I need to speak to control" Matt told the woman while scanning the deserted area again The pause lasted almost a minute while a voice analyzer made sure that the caller was who he said he was then a new voice broke in "Control what is it?" he asked impatiently Craven immediately got down to business "The mission is off the wire, I'm on an unsecured phone listen. Unfriendly's were waiting at the drop, the recipient was broken" Control sat up behind his desk "How bad was the breakage" Remembering the slit throat of Navar, Matt spoke "Unrepairable" "Are you sure?" "Positive, I still have the package" he felt the diskette in his pocket Matt heard a sigh of relief on the other end "Find a place, then tomorrow night at midnight go to the Toronto Train station main terminal on the south side entrance buy a newspaper pay with the package" "Understood" "Are you hot black knight?" the voice asked nervously Craven stared into the night "Cool as a cucumber" he said hanging up the phone and disappeared into the night. Nick Knight walked into the morgue and found Natalie leaning over a corpse talking into a tape recorder. Nick stared at her for a moment certain feelings were being awakened in him, all of them pleasant, but all dangerous to this woman. With a smile playing on his face he walked up behind her and pinched her butt. Natalie jumped as if scalded by hot water turning she saw who it was "Nick you scared the shit outta me" placing a hand over her chest she could feel her heart jumping "One of these days your going to give me a heart attack." "Sorry Nat, you just looked so pinchable" Nick said with an innocent smile Regaining her composure, she smiled seductively "I'll take that as a compliment, Where's Tracy?" "She's checking with narcotics to see if maybe they know anything about the Hunter's moon massacre at the warehouse." "Hunter's moon Massacre?" with a smile playing on her lips Nick nodded ruefully "That's what the press is calling it" Natalie laughed "I'm sure Reese is loving that" With a lopsided smile on his lips Nick took off his rain coat laying on the table "Oh he was just singing and dancing when I left" tapping his chin for a moment "I think the verse goes something like 'find the whacko or I'll brain you' something like that" "So he is cheerful" Nick looked down at the body "Find out anything" Natalie nodded "Like I thought the bullets that killed this man and the other John Doe were both fired from the same Sig Sauer P-229 .40 caliber pistol. This one died instantly with the shot to the head and the other with two rounds in the chest. His left lung was hit and it filled with blood so in essence he choked on his own blood" Nodding Nick moved around the table studying the body "I checked with ballistics and they confirm your one man theory." Nick stared at the body pensively trying to figure out what kind of man could do this "Does this remind you of something?" Nat asked Nick shook his head "Nothing, I've met all kind of killers. Some did it for sport, some for pleasure, others for survival like I think this man did. But none of them other than a vampire were ever as good as this. I mean not only did he shoot both of these men but he did it in the dark from fifty feet while they pumped hundreds of rounds around him. No this is a specialist, a professional" Nat shivered again "What about the bombs?" Nick snorted in disgust "That is another thing, apparently there is nothing left of them. X just made them big enough to blow a small hole in the gas tank and send a small ball of fire into the tank, he let the gas explosion do the work for him. The bomb techs want us to find him so that he can teach them how to make them that small so that they can blow locks without damaging the door. He's so good that they can't even tell what the bombs were made of." Natalie recognized the signs Nick was giving "What's wrong Nick?" Leaning back on the table Nick tried to find words for the feelings that this case were arousing "If this guy is in such trouble, why not come to us. Someone out there wants this guy dead in the worst way to send at least nine and probably a lot more after him. They have bullets from at least seventeen weapons. If this guy is still out there it's only a matter of time before some innocent bystander becomes the next victim" "You'll catch him Nick" Natalie tried to reassure him Disgustedly Nick slammed a fist into his hand "And what arrest him for self defense? No jury in the world is going to convict a guy for protecting himself against seventeen people trying to kill him, even if he did come out on top." Natalie took off her green scrubs and picked up her purse "Come on Nick take me to get something to eat. Let's get our minds off of this just for an hour okay?" It took some coaxing but Natalie got her wish "By the way how is Tracy feeling?" Nick held the coat for Natalie as she put it on "Great, no headaches nothing, the doctor removed the bandage this morning." Pausing for a moment Nick took a breath and continued "By the way I told her" he said nonchalantly "Told her what Nick?" Natalie put the bag on her shoulder and stopped "You mean you told her about yourself. Why Nick?" "The dream Natalie, when I saw her shot and dying she was more hurt by my not telling her than from the wounds" Natalie nodded remembering how she felt when Nick described how he held his partner while she lay dying "How did she take it?" Nick smiled "She is very happy about the trust that I have given her and has promised that she will never betray it." As they left Nick took one more look at the body on the slab. Shaking his head at Natalie he said "Hunter's Moon Massacre." He snorted "What?" Natalie asked staring at Nick's expression "I'm just wondering who is the hunter and who is the prey." Matt Craven entered the terminal building, even at this hour of the night there were a lot of people still around waiting for trains. Craven watched dispassionately as a young woman cried on the shoulder of a young marine not wanting him to go. Passing by them Craven headed towards the south side entrance his eyes roving from side to side judging and measuring all those around him, just in case they became a threat. Before finding a place for the night, he had come here the night before and memorized the lay out of the building then spent the rest of the night memorizing the streets and alleyways around the area. There would not be a repeat of last nights fiasco. Craven dressed in a long black coat and wearing a fedora adjusted his dark glasses as he slowly walked towards his destination scanning faces as he moved, weapons at the ready if needed. His only wish was that the place had been empty so that he would not have to worry about civilian casualties if something went wrong, and he hoped for their sakes that nothing would go wrong. As he approached the newsstand he saw the night man selling his magazines to people waiting for their trains and stopped immediately watching the young man that was selling his wares. This was a different man. Last night he struck up a conversation with the lonely vendor, a nice old duffer who was ex-C.I.A.. "So I guess you saw a lot of action being a spy and all" Matt had said in awe The old timer had laughed "Nah I worked in research not much action there. Mind you sometimes I was asked to pick up a package here and there, but that was a long time ago. Now I'm here five nights a week from eleven to seven, never been sick a day in my life" the old timer had knocked on wood. "I hope your all right old timer" Craven said to himself as he turned to walk away thinking "Why would they change the recipient, who better than an old man who was ex-agency and would be thrilled by the prospect of doing one last job for the agency." Looking over his shoulder Craven noted that a dozen large men and at least three women were now following him and picking up speed. Turning he started to walk faster when suddenly the first shot rang out. Dropping to one knee Craven rolled along the floor to a pillar standing up he pulled out his gun and chanced a look around his shield suddenly the entire pillar erupted with flying marble chips as the assassins unloaded their weapons into it. Everywhere people were down on the ground shielding their loved ones and trying desperately to make themselves unnoticed. One woman, the one who had been with the marine started to get up into the line of fire when Craven grabbed her and pulled her behind the safety of the pillar. "Stay down before you get yourself killed" he told the sobbing woman There were five women he noted now all brandishing automatic weapons. Reaching into his coat he pulled out his "hockey puck" a small black disk that was the same size and shape as a hockey puck. Looking at the young woman "Cover your ears and when I run away you stay down I'll lead them away do you understand." "Yes" the frightened woman told him putting her hands over her ears Pressing the button on the device he rolled it towards the assembled killers who saw what was coming their way and tried to get out of its way. The sonic boom was deafening to everyone except for Craven who had put on ear plugs. Turning from the pillar he saw that the "sonic boom" as he liked to call his little invention had done its work again. Those of the assassins that were closest to the explosion had blood coming from their ears from ruptured ear drums while the others were disoriented, these are the ones that Craven picked. Firing his gun precisely ten times he watched as he put two rounds in each of the five assassins he thought were the most dangerous and he watched as they went down. Rising to his feet he took off running down the terminal as the other assassins struggled to their feet to give chase. Craven dived out the doors of the terminal and out onto the street as more automatic fire came after him. He hit the street hard and rolled to avoid the shots, he saw a young black boy of eighteen who should have been home in bed, was instead standing in shock behind him another woman held the young boy around the throat and pulled a gun. Craven didn't even hesitate raising his gun he shot the woman leaving the boy standing slack jawed. Craven grabbed the boy and jumped over a parked car landing painfully on the other side rising up he reloaded his gun so he could have a full clip waiting for them. The doors burst open and five more would be killers came out. They never had a chance. After it was done Craven yelled at the boy "Get outta here" and pushed the boy away and ran in the opposite direction. Captain Reese slammed the phone down and rushed out of his office "Knight, Vetter our boy struck again" he yelled as he put his coat on. Nick and Tracy grabbed their coats "Where" Nick yelled "The metro train main station" Reese told them and then realized with a shock "My son is there seeing for my wife to go to her sister's. Come on lets move" he told them with renewed vigor, worried about his family The train station was in pandemonium as police and medical personnel tried to calm hysterical commuters. A beautiful dark haired young woman was being placed on a stretcher, Nick would have felt sorry for her if not for the fact that she was wearing an empty shoulder holster. Whatever had happened here this young woman was definitely a part of it. Crossing over to the paramedics Nick asked about her condition. The paramedic rubbed his jaw "Well she took a round in the shoulder but when she was thrown back by the impact she smashed her head into the hydrant over there" the man pointed As Nick looked at the hydrant he could see the blood and hairs still sticking on it, boy she had hit that thing really hard. "Is she going to make it?" he asked The paramedic shrugged "The shoulder wound doesn't look to bad, but with that head wound. I think her skull is cracked or damn near it. The doctor can tell you better than us, sorry detective but we gotta get her out of here." the paramedic told him anxious to be off. Nick nodded as he helped push the gurney into the ambulance "Tell security to post a guard on her, until I can get some men down there." "Will do" the paramedic called over his shoulder as he waved good bye." Turning Nick went inside where he found Reese and Tracy with a hysterical young woman trying to get some coherent answers from her. "They just pulled out machine guns and started shooting" the young woman named Phylis Carney cried wishing that her marine boyfriend was there with her. "Then this guy in black told me to stay put that he would lead them away and he did then there was this loud explosion Tracy tried to comfort the young woman "Did you get a look at him, I mean the man who shot these people" Phylis looked up and said nothing for a couple of heart beats "No" the woman lied to protect her savior "I had my head down with my hands over my ears and it happened so fast" Nick listened to the woman and heard her heartbeat soar way up "She's lying for the guy" he thought "She's protecting him" Reese stood by and listened to the woman with one ear while he searched the rest of the station for his son. "DAD!" a young voice called out "Danny!" Reese called back and ran to meet his son "Are you all right son" "Yeah dad, I'm okay. Thanks to the dark man." The tall youth told him still breathing hard "The darkman?" Reese asked in confusion "What do you mean son" The young man sat down on the bench with his father adrenaline still pumping hard in the youth it was hard to get him to sit still, Tracy and Nick came over to listen. "I had just seen mom off on her train and I was just outside the door when this woman grabbed me and put a gun to my head. She said if I moved she would kill me. I told her my money was in my wallet but she just laughed and said that she didn't want money she wanted a shield." "Dear god" Reese gasped hugging his son harder around the shoulder. Almost as if in awe Danny Reese continued "Then the doors burst open and the darkman came out. I could see that there were a bunch of guys chasing him all shooting not caring who they shot at. That's how I could tell that they weren't cops, cops wouldn't shoot indiscriminately like that. So anyway the darkman hits the concrete and rolls up on one knee and takes one look at me and the woman and shoots her down, BLAM, no hesitation. Then he grabs me and jumps over the hood of a car drops his clip and reloads and waits, telling me to stay down. Then a second later I hear machine gun fire and I can feel the car taking hits and the darkman drops them one shot a piece. I never saw anything like that then he grabs me and tells me to run before more of them show up so I did. Then I waited till the darkman was gone and so were the guys that were chasing him and came back to wait for you." Pausing the boy scratches his head "Dad there is one thing that is weird" "What's that son" Reese asked horrified at what his son had just told them "Well" Standing up Danny Reese pointed down the street "The easiest and fastest way for a get away is to run up main street just get lost in the crowd, but the darkman ran down Fulton street which is blocked up by construction why?" Nick answered the question for him, as he started to get a feel for the type of man that they were after. "There are no people on Fulton at this hour, while on main things are still going on with lots of people. He led them away from that" wondering why the man would do that. Tracy looked up from her notes "Danny why do you call him the darkman?" "That's how he was dressed" the boy shrugged "all in black, black hat, black jacket pants shirt he even had sunglasses on" "Could you see his face son?" Reese asked "No, it happened to fast, but I do have his finger prints" the boy said proudly "What!?" asked Knight amazed that the young man had kept his wits about him while everything was going on Reaching into his pocket Danny pulled out a wadded piece of tissue "I was real careful when I picked it up, the darkman didn't notice." unwrapping the tissue Danny held up a clip still loaded with rounds of ammunition. Taking it carefully Nick turned it over in his hands "Yup this is a clip from a Sig Sauer P- 229" "Get that to forensics and let's catch this creep" Reese announced Danny jumped up "Dad he saved my life!" "Son we can't have this guy shooting people down I'm sure that some of those dead inside were killed by him." Danny shook his head "Wanna bet dad, the darkman is too good" "Olson's antiques" the cheerful woman's voice announced "The word is Katana" "I'm sorry sir we don't carry Japanese weapons" the voice announced and hung up Slack jawed Matt Craven hung up the phone "I've been disowned" he whispered "Sir, Black Knight just tried to call in" "Did you do as instructed" Control asked into the phone "Yes sir" "That will be all Miss Reynolds" Control replaced the phone and turned to his guest "Our people missed again sir" Justin Wainright sat up pulling the giant cigar from his mouth "Damn-it, can't your people do anything right. He is just one man after all" Control sat up straight "He is one of the best sir, that is why we always gave him the suicide jobs and he always came back." Wainright stood to his full height of six foot five three hundred and fifty pounds "Black Knight can't be allowed to retire" Control shook his head in confusion staring at the man in front of him "Why not sir? He has done his duty, why not just let him fade out of sight?" he as confused "Yours is not to reason why, Control" Wainright wheezed "Yours is to eliminate Black Knight with extreme prejudice. Did you plant the phony bio for the Canadian police?" Control nodded and hoped to god that the cops could read beyond the printed word "Yes sir they just need to get his fingerprints or a photograph and they will set off all sorts of bells and whistles. They will shoot on sight and ask questions later." Wainright smiled "By that time it will be too late" Control had to ask again "But why sir, Black Knight is one of the most loyal agents we've ever had." Wainright pretended not to even hear and walked out of the room Control sat back at his desk and loosened his tie, fixing himself a quick drink he paused then held up his glass "Good luck Matt" he said then drank. "We got him" Tracy announced to Knight and the Captain as she walked into the captain's office. Putting a file in front of each man Tracy opened her own and read. "The prints we found on the clip belong to one, Matthew Sullivan Craven, age thirty years old. We even have a picture." Nick read over his copy of the file "Armed robbery, arson, blackmail, fraud, assault, assault with intent, five counts of aggravated rape, twelve counts of murder and suspected in another twenty. Broke out of Darkmoor Asylum for the criminally insane." Reese continued "Former CIA, former Army ranger, no wonder he is so good. This guy is a trained psycho" Tracy nodded "I just got off the phone with the central intelligence agency. Those men he killed at the warehouse and at the train station were their agents trying to take him back to prison. The woman that was injured is alive but in intensive care and in a coma. She won't be telling us anything until she comes out of it." Tracy shrugged apologetically Throwing the file down on his desk "Of course the agency didn't bother to tell us that one of their loonies was running around our neck of the woods." Reese yelled "Well the agency is asking for our cooperation now, they are sending two of their agents here to coordinate with us to stop this guy" Tracy finished Nick grunted throwing down his own file "I don't like this cap" "Don' t like what Nick?" Reese had come to respect the insights of his detective Nick struggled to try to get the right words to express his idea "It doesn't fit, it's too much. This guy does four years as an army ranger gets an honorable discharge, then gets a job with the agency and has an exemplary record, then suddenly in the last three years he loses it and has a record like this what did he do, commit a crime a day?" Nick slammed a hand on the file "The evidence from the warehouse all points to the fact that this guy Craven walked into a trap. Not to take him back to the asylum, instead they fire a total of 117 rounds of ammunition at him, what were those just warning shots?" Nick asked incredulously "Every witness at the train station all say that the first sign of trouble came from shots being fired by a large force toting machine guns now they turn out to be C.I.A agents. He pulls one woman out of the line of fire and tells her to keep down that he would lead them away from her also she's lying, that woman knew exactly what this guy Craven looked like and decided not to tell us. You heard Danny this guy saved his life, also, he even avoided crowded streets so no innocent bystanders get hurt, does that sound like some kind of lunatic to you." "No it doesn't" A voice called from behind them they all turned around and saw him "The dark man" Tracy said softly staring at the figure in black at the door The black knight smiled "Matthew Craven actually, and I am here to turn myself in" walking into Reese's office Craven pulled his gun and placed it on the desk. "It's not loaded" he said as he placed several clips on the table as well. Reaching into various pockets Craven unloaded his personal armory on to the desk. Then pulling out his I.D. he handed it to Reese. "If you will please note that this says that I am an active agent for the CIA." Crossing to a seat by Tracy he fell into it gratefully "Do you mind if I sit, I've had a hell of a night." Painfully Craven adjusted himself until he sat comfortably and smiled at Tracy. Reese stood up picking up the gun that the man had laid on the desk and made sure that it was indeed unloaded "Knight read him his rights and then let's find out what the hell is going on here" An hour later Natalie walked into the precinct with the autopsy reports. Finding that neither Nick or Tracy were around she went to see Reese who also wasn't in. "Where is everyone?" she called out looking from face to face One officer looked up "If your looking for detective Knight he's in interrogation room three" Nodding Natalie made her way over to the interrogation rooms and saw Reese standing by the one way glass. "Captain I have the autopsy reports, all the bad guys were killed by Sig Sauer rounds" she began then stopped. Reese held a finger to his lips. Natalie looked into the room and saw Nick and Tracy sitting with a man completely dressed in black. "Is that him?" Natalie asked her curiosity peaked, "so this is the man that is so dangerous" she thought to herself. "Yeah, he turned himself in about an hour ago" Reese explained as he continued to listen Natalie listened as Nick spoke "Your name is Matthew Craven" "Yes" "You were born on May the 27th 1969" "Yes" "You served in the U.S. army as a ranger" "No" "But you do work for the central intelligence agency" "Yes" "What are you doing in Canada" Tracy asked "I am on a mission" "What is that mission" Nick asked "I'm sorry but I cannot divulge that information" "Can you tell us what happened at the warehouse and at the train terminal" "I was supposed to meet a contact at both locations. However when I arrived at each location I was met by people carrying automatic weapons and they opened fire on me. I returned fire and then ran away, something is going on here that I don't understand." "What do you mean by that" Tracy asked Craven sighed in exasperation "Listen peaches in the last two days I've had to kill a lot of people and I have not one idea as to why. Something has gone wrong, I have been disowned by the agency, they put out a bogus report on me." Craven stopped short then slammed his hand on the table "Mother fucker, it's a round robin, they want me dead" "Who wants you dead, Mr. Craven" Tracy asked "Haven't you been listening peaches" Matt told her angrily Tracy winced "My name is detective Vetter not peaches" Craven stood up painfully "Whatever peaches, look I'll explain it slowly so that even you can understand it. You want an agent dead, so you send him out to do a bogus mission. They purposely tell you what a breeze the job is going to be so that you relax your guard. Then you walk into a room and bang they blow you full of holes fill your pockets with drugs and there you have it a drug deal gone bad." "Obviously you didn't lower your guard" Nick noted as he studied the young man who paced the room nervous and angry. Craven laughed and stopped pacing "With less than two weeks left on the job, would you take it easy detective or would you be extra careful. Anyway I always figure if they send you out to hunt rabbits be loaded up to fight tigers." "Why?" asked Tracy "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it peaches" "Stop calling me peaches" Tracy snarled "Whatever, can I use a phone" Craven asked tiredly wanting only to lie down for awhile, his head beginning to throb. "Who are you going to call" Tracy asked staring at the man with an intense loathing. "The agency" Standing up Nick walked over to the door "I'll check with the Captain, can I get you anything?" "Yeah, a doctor" Matt shifted uncomfortably "Are you hurt?" Tracy asked not really caring "Yeah peaches" opening his jacket Tracy sees the blood "I caught a bullet at the train station" Nick nodded and hurried out to where Reese and Natalie were waiting. "Nat great your here could you take a look at his wound" Natalie nodded "Could you get someone to get my bag from my car?" "Sure I'll grab it and be right in" When Natalie went in Reese turned to Knight "What do you think" "I think he's scared, and doesn't like the feeling." Nick turned to look as Natalie introduced herself to Craven "I believe him Cap, like I said before I didn't like that bio the agency sent us." Reese nodded in agreement "Once you mentioned it, it did sound a bit much. So what do we do with Craven." he asked Nick had thought about it during interrogation "We handle it like we would any other material witness. Put him into protective custody till we find out what the hell is going on." "We'll learn more once those two agency people show up" Reese pointed out as they headed out towards the bull pen Nick nodded in agreement "what about the phone call" Nick asked Reese thought about it for a moment "Let him use it as long as we listen in on the conversation." Nick nodded and left to get Natalie's bag "Mr. Craven, I'm doctor Natalie Lambert" Natalie stared into the dark glasses and found herself completely intimidated. "Doctor" Matt nodded his expression never changing, it seemed to Natalie as if she was staring at one of her usual customers totally cold and lifeless, which made her even more nervous. Trying to regain control of the situation she decided to ignore everything else but the wound itself "I understand you've been injured, just so you know I am not a regular doctor. I'm the medical examiner but I will do what I can. Can you take off your coat and shirt. Matt nodded and stood painfully "I hope you are a medical examiner by choice and not because you couldn't keep your grades up." he told trying to hide his pain through jokes Removing his coat Natalie and Tracy watched as he painfully tried to get the shirt off they both gasped at the sight of his bruised and battered body. Large purple welts covered his arms and back and shoulders. Noting their reactions Matt shrugged "I've had a rough couple of days" he told them as Natalie began to inspect them also seeing the remains of several scars, this man had been through a lot. Nick reentered the room with the bag and also saw the bruises and the remains of several old scars that covered Craven's upper torso. Cleaning the wound and inspecting it "It's a through and through" Natalie commented "The bleeding has stopped which means there is no major damage to any vital organs. I'll just finish cleaning it out and give you something for the pain and stitch you up. You should be as good as new in a couple of days." Matt nodded having guessed as much "Good, no pain killers though" Tracy couldn't resist prodding the man a little to Nick's obvious displeasure "You a pain freak, Craven" Staring at Tracy dead panned he told her "Pain is a valuable lesson peaches, it teaches you to never make the same mistake again" Later Matt sat at Nicks desk and picked up the phone as did Tracy and Nick. Dialing the phone number Craven waited. "Olson's antiques" the voice announced confusing both detectives "The word is saber" he said suddenly gripping the receiver tighter "Wait one" the pause lasted a second "Code name" "Black Knight" Craven's voice dropped several degrees, Natalie shivered as she listened "Confirmed, Message" the voice asked "To Control, I told you two years ago what I would do to you if you ever betrayed me again. Obviously you thought I was kidding, you made a big mistake sending ME on a round robin. Because the hunted now becomes the hunter and when I get back to Washington you had better be on the other side of the world and dead. Then maybe just maybe you'll be safe from me." Craven finished hanging up the phone and turned to Nick "What now detective" he asked. Nick hung up the phone "Did you have to threaten this control" "Yes" Matt told him simply Tracy shook her head in disgust "What do we do with him?" "We put him into protective custody till we find out what is going on. We'll need a safe house" Craven nodded at the soundness of the plan "I know just the place, I've used it before and the agency doesn't know a thing about it. We have to make one stop first." "What for" asked Nick donning his jacket "I have to pick up a package" he said standing, nodding to Natalie "Thanks for the patch job doc. Let's go Peaches" "Stop calling me that" Tracy yelled at Craven's back "Whatever" he said completely ignoring her anger Getting into the car and getting directions from Craven the trio were off. Tracy looked back at Craven in the back seat. The man seemed to be asleep, his face was completely immobile and facing straight ahead. However the dark glasses prevented her from seeing his eyes to know if they were actually closed or not. "What kind of man are you?" Tracy thought to herself, seeing that he is an attractive man. In other circumstances, well who knows. "I'm the kind of man who does whatever it takes to get the job done, peaches" he told her still never moving from his position "What" Tracy asked completely surprised that her unasked question was answered Craven sat up straighter "That is what you were thinking isn't. I could tell by the way you were staring at me." Nick looked over his shoulder "Craven, back at the station when you were on the phone you said, 'I told you what would happen if you betrayed me again'. What did you mean, have they tried to kill you before." "No" sighing Craven lifts his sunglasses to rub the bridge of his nose "five years ago I was on a mission in Bulgaria. I was to find a terrorist and terminate him, before I could accomplish my mission I was found out. I spent the next three years in a Bulgarian prison, in solitary, later when the agency got me out I found out that not only was the job a bogus one, but that they knew for three years exactly where I was and did nothing." Tracy turned "Three years in solitary? How could you work for them again?" "Because I trusted Control." he said bitterly "Now I trust no one." Changing the subject "That black kid at the train station is he all right?" Nick nodded "Danny you mean, yeah he's fine. He's Reese's son, I think that's why your going to a safe house and not a cell." Craven nodded leaning back in his seat "Good, the kid has guts, he stood his ground while all the shooting was going on. I'm glad he made it." Stopping at the hooker district Craven starts looking around. "I hope your package is not one of them." Tracy looked uncomfortable watching as the ladies strutted their stuff, some of them barely dressed at all. Stepping out of the car Craven approached one of the girls, a young blonde beauty wearing tight spandex pants and a zebra jacket. The girl turned and spotted Craven and made her way over to him and started to whisper in his ear rubbing her body against his. Tracy watched disgusted till she noticed that the girl slipped something into his pocket. "Yo bitch" a man called out, making the girl jump as the man grabbed her arm and wrenched her away from Craven's side. "Where the hell is my money" the pimp yelled in her face Placidly Craven tapped the man on the shoulder "I was talking to the young lady, if you will please excuse us." The large black man turned to look at Craven "What you want some pussy, then pay me motherfucker" "Let the young lady go" Craven spoke softly. By this time all of the hookers were looking at the strangely dressed man who was actually defending a whore. Nick and Tracy began to get out of the car. "I really don't need this now" Nick murmured "Listen motherfucker this bitch is my hoe" the man snarled pulling a switchblade knife. Craven struck. Slamming his hand in the pimps throat, as the man fell to his knees and gasped for air Craven knelt by him. Grabbing the man by the hair he picked up the fallen switchblade knife and placed it to the pimps throat hard enough to draw blood "That was just a warning, this young lady has my card and so do all of the girls in this district. If you hurt anyone of them, they will call and I will come back and kill you do you understand." The man on the ground wheezed as all of the women in the area applauded. "Say it" "I understand" the man gasped painfully through his mangled throat, it would take three days for the soreness to go away. "Good" Standing back up he turned to face the girl "Do you want to get out of this life" Craven asked the frightened girl. The girl nodded not exactly sure of whom she should be more frighten of. Reaching into his pocket Craven pulled out a card "Call this number tell them the man who wears sunglasses at night sent you. They will take care of you." Getting out a stack of cards he passed it to some of the other girls "If he hurts any of you call this number and leave a message, sooner or later I'll get it and him." then bowing to them "Good evening ladies." The frighten girl kissed Craven on the cheek "Thank you" "You did me a service, the least I could do is repay you for it" Craven told her handing her a wad of hundred dollar bills. Turning Craven walked back to the Cadillac and got back in as if nothing had happened. One of the older women came to the side of the car shaking her head. "Why?" she asked in confusion "Why would you risk your life for a whore?" Craven turned his head to look at her his face still immobile "We creatures of the night have to stick together. Good evening." Craven turned back and completely ignored his surroundings. As they drove off Tracy turned to him in wonder "Would you really come back and kill that guy." Craven said nothing continuing to stare into space and Tracy shivered because she knew the answer was yes. Reaching into his pocket Matt retrieved the diskette that he left with the girl and inspected it, and found that it had not been tampered with in any way. Smiling he put it back into his pocket. Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the second address that Craven had given them. "This is my building" Tracy told Craven surprised Craven actually looked surprised as well "Really, then I have a growing respect for you peaches. This building is perfect for a safehouse. There are nine separate exits and five more if you know where to look, it's centrally located in town. It also has surveillance cameras that I have tapped into and can monitor anyone coming or going from all nine exits. All of the doors are made of reinforced steel which makes them hard to open in a hurry without a key. And best of all I own it." "You own my building" Tracy asked staring at the man shocked "You mean I pay my rent to you?" "Well I own thirty-three and a third percent of it, not under my name of course." Craven explained "Technically speaking it belongs to the renaissance corporation, but a couple of friends and I are the corporation." Going inside the three make their way over to the elevators getting on Craven suddenly tenses up. With his vampire hearing Nick hears Craven's heart begin to beat faster and breathe a fraction quicker. "What's the matter Craven?" he asked worriedly Looking around the small elevator that barely held the three of them abreast "I spent three years in a box just like this. Let's just say that elevators bring back some bad memories for me." he said with a shiver, the first real emotion that they had ever seen from this enigmatic man. Tracy stared at the man and saw someone completely different from the man who came into the precinct just a couple of hours earlier. Unsure of what to say to the man Tracy decided on the obvious. "Do you always wear sunglasses" "Yes" Craven told her closing the subject The elevator stopped at the top floor and they stepped out. The top floor unlike the rest was split into three apartments that took up the entire floor. Cut pile carpeting stretched out before them. Tracy looked around obviously the three partners had spared no expense on their own apartments she decided. Moving to his right Craven pulled a key from his pocket as he approached the last door and unlocked it. "I don't get out here often" he admitted "Although I was thinking of moving out here permanently after I retired from the agency." Going inside Craven switched on the lights as he went. Nick nodded with approval at the furnishings, while not a whole lot of it, it was of very good quality and very expensive, the agency must pay well Nick thought. Craven went into open spaces which made the large apartment look cavernous leading them through the apartment and into another room which was done completely in white with white matting on the ground. Oriental weapons of all sorts were neatly arranged along the walls, some immediately recognizable to Nick others just nasty looking Craven motioned "My gym" pausing he took off his shoes. "Please remove your shoes before entering my dojo." As they went in Craven paused before a picture that hung on the wall depicting an old man with stern features. Craven bowed reverently before the picture and continued on to the back wall. "Where are we going Craven" Tracy asked tired of the games "To my safe house" Craven told her as he turned a pair of nunchucks that were bolted into the wall. Suddenly a door appeared where there was once only a wall. "Please step inside." he told the two surprised detectives This elevator was smaller than the other one but obviously it was meant only for Craven's personal use. Matt noted with amusement the reactions of the two detectives. "When we originally drew up the designs for this building the service elevators were going to be on this side." he explained "Then the architect pointed out that the cellar would have to be opened another fifty feet to allow for access which meant knocking down two walls that were already put up. Instead we decided to move the elevator bank to its present location, but the contractor had already built this elevator bank, he was quite put out. I wasn't, it was what I had purposely planned. After the building was finished I hired another set of contractors to build this elevator there are only two stops, the entrance from my apartment and into the sub basement it is separated from the rest of the basement by two walls of solid concrete blocks and it is completely sound proof." as the doors opened Craven finished "This is my fortress of solitude." Tracy giggled "What are you superman now" Craven chuckled "No, but like superman, I needed a place where no one could find me. Where I was free to be myself and not the man everyone expects me to be, cold and unfeeling. This is my true nature, and I hope that the two of you will respect that and not betray this confidence. You detective Knight and you peaches are the only two people other than myself that has ever been down here. Not even my partners who are closer to me than family have ever been here. "Why not" Tracy asked looking around the room that was bright and beautifully furnished in period pieces, paintings hung at different intervals in no particular order of style. He paused to think about it "Fear that they might not understand, fear of ridicule." Craven shook his head "God I must be losing it, I've never explained myself to anyone." Moving to a closed door Craven turns to them once again. "Feel free to go anywhere, there are more bedrooms down the hall and to the left. I'm going to try and get some sleep, so I can think straight. Oh there is no food down here, I wasn't expecting to come here but if you go upstairs I think there is some stuff in the fridge up there. Good night." Craven told them as he closed the door behind him. Tracy started towards the door "Craven there are a lot of questions that you still need to answer." Nick pulled his partner back "Let him get some rest Tracy, by the look of him he hasn't slept in a couple of days. Besides he was shot a few hours ago, there will be plenty of time, Peaches." Nick couldn't resist prodding his partner Tracy turned venomously on him and saw he was trying not to laugh out loud "If you call me that again I swear I'll steak you myself." then smiling herself "okay partner let's look around and get the lay out of this place." Moving around they noted many antiques, vases paintings and the like, Tracy picked up a vase and turned it in her hands. "This is beautiful." she said and replaced it back onto the pedestal Looking at it Nick nodded "Ming dynasty, if I am not mistaken." Continuing to look around Nick had to nod his approval "I like it, at least I won't have to worry about sunlight down here." Opening another door Tracy went in "What about food Nick." "I have some of Natalie's protein packets they'll do for awhile" Tracy shook her head "I meant for me I'm starving." She told him as she wandered into another room. Nick was looking at a painting on the wall and trying to decide if it was a real Klee or not when he heard Tracy calling him. Going into the room Nick saw that it was a library. Literally thousands of books were everywhere, on shelves, tables, chairs. Indeed anywhere there was a place to put a stack of books there were books. "Likes to read obviously" Picking up a book Nick glanced at the title "How to make a cabinet" Picking up another "How to sculpt wood, How to repair VCR's" Tracy was frowning as she went through book after book "Most of these are 'how to' books, what do you make of it Nick." Nick shook his head "I don't know, maybe he likes fixing things" Nick finished with a shrug Tracy put the books down "Nick, do you realize that we haven't seen one picture, not one of anybody. No mother or father, girlfriend nothing." Lifting a cover off of an easel that stood alone in the corner "That's not quite true, look at this Tracy, what do you make of this" Circling around Tracy looked at the picture. Painting actually, of a naked man cringing in the corner, his body marked and scarred by many battles, a circle of light surrounded him a broken sword laid at his feet, but it almost seemed that the shadows were moving in on him. Tracy was moved by it. "Loneliness, a man trying desperately to stay in the light of day while the shadows move in on him. It's beautiful, what is it called." "I don't know Tracy, it looks to me like Craven painted this one himself." Touching the paint "feels like its only a couple of months old. Tracy look at the mans back, the scars, they are in the same places that Craven has his. I think that this is a self portrait, this is how he sees himself." Nick shook his head "I wish Natalie was here so that she could look at this. She is very good at finding meaning in paintings. Actually it's quite frightening" he said as he replaced the tarp Tracy shrugged "So call her and tell her to come over, bring you some clothes and some food I'm starving." Tracy held out a hand when she saw Nick start to protest "Natalie has to look at his wounds anyway, she said so tonight" Nick looked around "We'll wait until Craven wakes up and put it up to him. "Seeing the exasperation on the young woman's face "He asked us to keep this place secret for him, we'll wait and ask him. You had better go upstairs if your hungry, then I suggest you get some rest, it's going to be a long day tomorrow." Pulling out his cell phone "I'll call the captain and let him know were all right" Nick opened the elevator door for Natalie into Craven's private sanctum. Getting Craven to allow the doctor to see him again was like pulling teeth but finally agreed. Nick held the packages as Natalie looked around. "Whew this guy has money and sure knows how to spend it" Natalie commented as she saw the obviously expensive antiques. Hearing the new voice Tracy came out of the library and rushed over to grab the rest of the supplies. "Thank god you bought some food. I'm starving" Tracy moaned looking through the bag, finding an apple she quickly munches on it. "Kitchen is this way" Tracy mouthed around the apple. As they stowed the groceries away Natalie bought out a dark green bottle and handed it to Nick "Not to much this is the only one I bought, and I bought you some more protein packets." Nick forced a smile on his face as he accepted the packets "Oh good, I was afraid you might have forgotten" opening the bottle Nick took a long swig then recorked the bottle feeling better. "Where's Craven" Natalie asked gathering her medical bag "In the shower" Tracy told her "Nick did you tell her about the painting?" "What painting?" Natalie asked as she put away the last of the groceries Moving over to the library again Nick lifts the tarp and lets Natalie take a look. Placing a hand over her heart "Oh, it's magnificent" Nick looked on as Natalie peered intently at the painting "What do you think Nat?" Natalie studied the painting intently, being sure that she didn't miss a brush stroke "A man who has fallen from grace, a strong man who has lost his way. This is a portrait of a man's soul, The man here represents a person's conscious the dark is the evil that is in us all. The man has spent his life fighting back the darkness and now he has fallen and it is consuming him. Rage, hatred, shame and alone. Who painted this?" "I did" they heard making them all jump. Turning they saw Craven standing there in pants and a loose fitting robe, and of course sunglasses. Moving by their side Craven studied the picture and spoke gently. "One day I looked into the mirror and this is what I saw. Do you like it?" he asked, to Nick it sounded almost like a plea for understanding. Natalie nodded vigorously "Oh yes it is beautiful, well that's not the right word. Powerful, yes that is a better word." Lifting it off the easel Craven made his way to the paints that sat in the corner. Lifting up a thin brush he quickly signed the painting. "It's yours" he said simply handing it to Natalie Natalie was shocked by the man's generosity "I couldn't accept it, I mean why would you give it away. You could sell this for quite a lot of money." Craven shrugged "You like it, and I owe you for taking care of my wounds." Looking at her new gift and wondering where to hang it in her apartment she asked "What do you call it." "The fall of the Black Knight" Natalie stared at him curiously "What is the story behind the picture then, you are the Black Knight. How did you fall." Craven shook his head "It's a long and tedious story, you wouldn't be interested in hearing it nor would I be to tell it." Moving over to a stool Craven sat and removed the robe "Could we get on with the examination." Tracy winced again seeing the purple welts that covered Craven's torso. Natalie noted the reaction. "Could you guys wait outside while I do this" Tracy and Nick nodded and turned and left the room Turning back to her patient Natalie touched the bruised portions of his body and Craven jumped slightly biting his lip. "This might hurt a little" Natalie told him as she pulled away the bloodied bandage to clean the wound and redress it Craven twitched "It did" Shaking her head "How do you stand the pain?" Natalie finally had to ask The dark lenses came up to her "I've felt worse, besides when you feel pain you know you're alive." Natalie suddenly felt sorry for a man who needed to feel pain just to know that he was alive. Shaking her head she got back to the matter at hand, the rest could wait "Just one more thing I have to check" Natalie told him reaching into the bag "Open your mouth, I want to see if your coming down with an infection" she told him as she peered down his throat and felt his glands. Without warning Natalie reached up and removed the sunglasses. Craven went berserk, swinging out violently he struck Natalie across the face. Hearing the commotion Nick flew into the room in the blink of an eye seeing Natalie on the floor bleeding and Craven swinging wildly he was on Craven in an instant and held him against the wall. Tracy knelt by Natalie who was trying to get up wiping the blood from her cut lip. Craven struggled in Nick's grasp with his eyes tightly shut. "My glasses, my glasses" Craven yelled over and over again "Nick let him go." Natalie told him rising and picking up the dark glasses "Now Nick can't you see, the light is hurting him." she said rushing back to Craven's side. Nick dropped Craven who immediately turned to face the wall covering his eyes with both hands slamming his head against the wall over and over again. Nick could hear the rapid almost frantic beating of Craven's heart. Natalie went over to Craven and put the glasses in his hands. Tracy was appalled how could the man hurt himself that way. Moving over to Nicks side who stood helpless. "What the hell was that all about?" Nick who stood in shock "I don't know Tracy" "Pills" Craven whispered as blood trickled from a cut his forehead "Cabinet in the bathroom." "I'll get them" Nick told Natalie and was gone in a flash and back just as quickly "I'm never going to get used to that" Tracy muttered Taking the bottle Natalie read the label "Thorozine, Matthew Craven take five when migraine is in effect." opening the bottle Natalie put the pills in Craven's hand. Quickly Craven swallowed the pills and sat back waiting for the pills to take affect. They all watched as Craven finally relaxed then succumbed to sleep. "Help me with him Nick" Natalie told him "Let's put him back into his bedroom, he's going to be out for a while with this much Thorozine in him." Tracy moaned "How long Natalie" she asked as Nick carried him back and put him in bed. "I don't know, but he just took enough Thorozine to drop an elephant. God the pain must be terrible" She whispered as she cleaned the small cut on Craven's forehead Nick couldn't stand it any longer "What the hell happened Natalie" Natalie shook her head "While I was giving him the physical I decided to take a look at his eyes just to be thorough. I didn't ask him if I could take them off I just reached up while he was distracted and pulled them off." Natalie shook her head at her own stupidity "I should have realized last night. Who wears sunglasses at night except a blind man or a man who can't look into the light." Bending down over Craven, Natalie examines the area around the eyes. "Here look at this" Moving by her side they both peer down at the area Natalie showed them "Surgical scars, very faint. Who ever did the surgery was very good. My guess is that some time ago Craven was in an accident which left him blind, not permanently. He needed surgery to regain his vision, now in some cases you have a one hundred percent recovery if you get immediate medical attention and surgery soon after. In this case I don't think he got medical attention and it was some time before he got surgery. "You mean he's blind or something" Tracy asked confused "No he probably has twenty-twenty vision, but the refractive part of his eye was damaged and so now light any kind of light will slam through and cause him excruciating pain, it's like what happens to you Nick when you come in contact with the sun. He probably didn't even mean to hit me, when I removed the sunglasses without warning it was like he was hit in the face by a million watt light bulb he swung out blindly. That's why he always wears the sunglasses. That's probably why the agency is retiring him what good is an agent who is day blind." Pulling out his cell phone Nick dials a number "Well were going to find out all we can about Mr. Craven. Hello Aristotle, Nick Knight" Pausing to listen Nick shakes his head "No I'm not ready to move on just yet, I need a favor. I need information that probably only you can get. It's from the CIA. Pausing he turns to the others "I think I made his day." Turning back to the phone "I need all the information that you can get on a man named Matthew Sullivan Craven code named Black Knight, Yes it is a coincidence. As soon as you possibly can. Thanks Aristotle I'll call you back tonight" Natalie picked up Craven's sunglasses and put them on and gasped. Taking them off she handed them to Nick "Try them on, it's incredible" Putting on the glasses Nick turns looking around "Turn off the lights" once they were off Nick continued to look around. "I can still see, night vision sunglasses. The light is very subdued though." "Craven probably sees fine in them, just enough light not to hurt him." Natalie told him "Let me see" Tracy said "Wow, now I can see how he survived the warehouse. He could see in the dark." "He probably already has incredible night vision since that is the only way he can see, I'll bet with an overcast night he can see perfectly well" looking down at Craven, Tracy brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes and replaced the sunglasses on his face. Going back into the library, Natalie idly picked through the books. A frown crossed her face as she saw all of the repair books, cook books and "How to" books. Tracy noticed the frown "Nick and I were wondering why he would have so many of these kinds of books. Not even a mystery among them so I could kill some time." Natalie shook her head "He's not reading these for pleasure." "What do you mean Nat?" Nick asked drawing on her sharp instincts into human nature Natalie was surprised that neither of the two detectives had seen it yet "Nick your dealing with a man that is only good at one thing, like you said he's a specialist. Now he's gong to be retired soon." Picking up the books at random "He's searching for something else to do, he'll try anything to get away from what he is now." "What a killer." Tracy asked only half joking, a man with Craven's skills could make a lot of money illegally. And already she knew that she didn't want to be the one that had to go out and catch him. Natalie shook her head "Lonely, nearly everyone of these careers deals with customer service in some form or another. I think he's been alone for a very long time and he is tired of it." Natalie moved over to the piano that sat in the opposite corner books stacked on top of it as well. Everything that she had seen so far pointed to one conclusion, Matthew Craven because of the nature of his work was a terribly lonely young man, driven in fact to build himself a sanctuary where he could hide from the people he worked for. Reaching out she pulled the sheet music and tried to make sense of it knowing that the music that a man plays is often a sign of how they are feeling at that particular moment. She had seen many times Nick play, when he was happy he played something upbeat to suit his mood. When he was depressed he would play sad music also to suit that particular mood, Natalie was pretty sure that Craven was the same. "Nick you play the piano, can you play this." she asked handing him the music "Sure why?" Nick asked sitting in front of the keys "Just testing a theory" Natalie told him Nick studied the music and began to play a haunting melody soft and sweet "That sounds very familiar" Tracy said aloud trying to remember the name of it "what's the name of it Nick" she finally asked him "There is none" Nick told her as he continued to play "But you are right it is familiar" Natalie knew that she was right "I know it, play it from the top Nick" As Nick started to play Natalie softly sang with it "When I was young I never needed anyone And making love was just for fun Those days are gone All by myself Don't want to be All by myself anymore" Aristotle sat in front of his computer typing away at the keys with a happy smile on his face. Breaking into the CIA computers, now that was a challenge worthy of his skills. The ancient vampire sat in his chair waiting for his modem to click on line. He had to admit that at times his job did tend to get boring, finding new homes for all the local vampires, coming up with backgrounds for them. It was rewarding work and also dangerous work if any mortal ever found out what he did down here, well he thought that's what the enforcers are for. Reaching out he retrieved his wine glass and drank and grimaced, I better go out tonight and get some human blood, this cow stuff is disgusting. Turning back to his computer he saw that everything was in readiness all of his computer viruses and phony trace signals were ready and in place for any watchdogs that were around in cyberspace. After thirty minutes of searching he finally tapped into the mainframe of the agency's computer he saw in delight all of the safe guards and complicated encryption codes that were in place. The ancient vampire grinned a toothy smile fangs extended. "Show me your jugular little lady" he said and began to type. Five hours later, with a smile still on his face, Aristotle finished erasing any signs of tampering in the agency mainframe when he noticed a video file that he'd almost passed over, slipping a blank CD ROM diskette he downloaded the video as well. As it downloaded he collected the pages that he had printed, Aristotle noted that there were well over a hundred pages of information. Picking up the first page he saw a picture of a woman holding a baby in her arms, confused he read the caption on the bottom. "Joyceln Travers and Matthew Travers a.k.a. Matthew Craven at six months" Mother and child Aristotle smiled, he had a soft spot for children. Their innocence their trusting natures brought him back to the time before he was bought across and the memory of his own children. The joy they had bought into his life, and the pain when they died. Shaking his head, no best not dwell. Picking up the second sheet Aristotle read. "Matthew Travers, born May 27th 1969 in Ontario General Hospital. Parents Joyceln and Matthew senior powerful political figures during the Vietnam war fought to allow draft dodgers from America to be allowed into Canada. Matthew Jr. kidnapped on June third 1971 just after his second birthday, massive search nationwide child never recovered. Matthew Craven appeared in New York City September 17th, 1973 aged four years old in front of St. Michael's church in Flushing, Queens. Turned over to Children's services same day, placed in several foster homes, with no memory of who he was only that his name was Matthew, was named after priest who found the young boy going through the trash looking for food." Aristotle shook his head, 'Poor boy' he thought and continued "Father Craven asked for permission to be foster parent to the orphaned boy and was denied. Placed in several homes over the next two years, Matthew Craven ran away from each. Bruises found on his body indicate child abuse, never proven. At age seven Matthew Craven placed with the Jone's family, cover name for project 'dream child'" Aristotle sat up reading the rest of the file. Skimming page after page he continued to read, anger mounting. "How could you do this to a child" he fumed slamming his fist through his computer screen. Regaining his composure, he picked up the phone and dialed Knight's number. "I have the information you requested" "I'll be there as soon as I can." Aristotle shook his head "Meet me at the Raven, I need a drink" As he hung up Aristotle hooked up another monitor to his computer and finished erasing his presence from the terminal. Gathering the papers he grabbed the video diskette and pocketed it as well. Tracy looked in on Craven once again, and came back into the library. "He seems fine to me, just sleeping it off." Natalie glanced at her watch "Where is Nick, he should have been back hours ago" "He'll be here" Tracy told her picking up a book 'How to remodel your kitchen' and finding her place Soon both women heard the tell tale sounds of the elevator descending. Tracy pulled her gun just in case it wasn't Knight. The doors opened and Nick entered the room, Tracy let out her breath and put her gun away. "Nick what took you so long" Natalie asked worriedly "Aristotle insisted on telling me how he broke into the agency computer" Nick sighed then opening a brief case he pulled out a thick sheaf of papers. "Bingo, Aristotle got every detail of Craven's life" Nick smiled and sat opening the file looking at the first picture Nick passed it over to Tracy who passed it over to Natalie. "Matthew Travers" Tracy frowned "I know that name he's a friend of my fathers, he is a judge now, and his wife is in congress, their daughter Nancy and I went to school together, she works for the crown prosecutors office." Reading the file Nick frowned as he read, passing the second page over to Tracy he continued to read the life story of a man. Tracy placed a hand over her mouth as she read page after page, soon getting up she left the room unable to take anymore. Nick looked after her with a worried expression on his face. "She'll be fine Nick, she just needs some time alone" Turning to the next page Natalie asked "Can this all be true?" Nick shook his head amazed at what Craven had actually done in his life "No wonder they want him dead, could you imagine what would happen if he were ever to tell this story. How many careers would be ruined, how many indictments would be handed down." Nick muttered then sat up as Tracy reentered the room eyes dry and emotions under control she sat back down and picked up from where she had left off. "Here it is" Nick slapped the page sitting up "What" Natalie asked leaning forward to look on "Bulgaria 1992, captured by Bulgarian secret police. After initial interview was taken to a doctor Stepovich and was tortured for seven weeks the results of which were negative, Black Knight never broke like we intended him to. Next according to sources placed in the prison Dr. Stepovich intentionally blinded him as revenge for not breaking and was placed in solitary confinement. For the next three years Agent Craven was exposed to daily torture and humiliation to break his will, survived intact for two years eight months until he finally broke and gave out the information that we sent him out to give them. Personal note, I warned Puppetmaster to tell Agent Craven the real purpose of the mission, that Craven would not give out national secrets. Puppet master's orders were to keep him there until he broke then go gain his release. Section one anti terrorist organization was given green light to go after him, Section one sent Black Knight's former pupil "Michael" with a recovery team with orders to obtain his release if unable to do so "Sanction" him, after obtaining his release agent Craven was taken to Balboa naval hospital where with surgery his eyesight was restored, and with rehabilitation was taught how to walk again. Personal note, Matthew has changed, he was never really a social person but was at least polite to those around him. Now Matthew strikes out at anyone who comes near him, his daily regime of exercise is unbelievable, no matter how much it hurts him he continues to push himself, I now know that he will never give up. He is determined to regain the honor that we forced him to give up. Was devastated to learn that Janine Reynolds had married during his absence and had taken his child to be raised by another man. Mrs.Desoto as she is now known visited Matthew in the hospital and informed him in no uncertain terms that he was to have no contact with either her or her child ever. Matthew has now fallen into a deep depression, and has been put on suicide watch. Puppet master wants to know when he will be ready for his next assignment." Nick finished and put down the last page "Bastards" was the only word Nick could come up with. Reaching into his pocket Nick pulled out the video CD "What's that?" Natalie asked Nick shrugged as he went over to the entertainment unit and turned on the DVD unit and slipped the disk inside. "Aristotle also found a video file, so he downloaded it as well." Pressing play they watched as the screen came to life. A man stood rigidly at one end of a large room as if waiting. Suddenly a door opened and a little boy entered the room, his hair was a dark black and his eyes brown and completely innocent. The boy went and stood in front of the man. The man reached for a bag and held it front of the boy. "Reach in and choose one. Only one." The boy did as he was told and reached into the bag, pulling out his hand he held something in it. "Show me." the man demanded The boy opened his hand and handed over the object which turned out to be a chess piece The man nodded "You are now the Black Knight, that is the only name that you will answer to." Confused the boy looked up "But my name is Matt." he said The man lashed out slapping the young boy hard across the face sending him halfway across the room "You are now the Black Knight, that is all you will answer to." he yelled Tracy covered her mouth tears streaming down her face as she watched a seven year old boy stand up "My name is Matt." he said defiantly They all watched as the man closed in on him and beat him unmercifully. Finally the man stopped before he killed the boy. Reaching down he grabbed him by the hair lifting his head up. "You are the Black Knight, that is the only name that you will answer to." turning the man left leaving the boy bloodied on the floor. The boy stirred lifting his own head, one eye swollen shut and his lip cut and bleeding "My name is Matt." he said and collapsed "Oh God" Tracy muttered Suddenly a voice overlay came on "Subject, Craven, Matthew Sullivan aged 7 first day of training. Subject codenamed Black Knight and all further entries will be made under that code name. Subject is proving to be stubborn and unyielding which is uncommon for one so young, normally I'd recommend to cancel him at once. However there is something about this boy that I like, so I will hold off on canceling him. The picture changed and they saw the same room, this time an old oriental man sitting on the floor." Tracy recognized him immediately "That's the man in the picture on the wall upstairs." she told them Nick stared at the old man "You're right." They watched as a boy of about eight or perhaps nine walked in and went directly to the old man and bowed and sat facing him. Matt was slightly older and a little bigger and they saw to their sadness that his eyes no longer held the innocence they once did. "Why do you come to me?" the old man asked The boy shrugged and said half heartedly "They told me to come so here I am." The old man cocked his head to one side "Do you know what it is that I am to teach you?" "No" the boy answered truthfully "I am to teach you to fight." he said A gleam entered the boys eyes "You'll teach me to fight?" "Yes" "Good" "Why are you so anxious to learn?" the old man asked The boy looked down at the ground "I'm tired of being beat up, if I learn to fight I can fight back." "That is a good reason." the old man agreed "Defending yourself is important" reaching over he lifted the boy's chin "I can teach you to defend yourself, but do you want to be great." he asked The Black Knight's eyes shined bright "Yes" he answered "I want to be great" The old man nodded smiling "And you will be, you have the light in your eyes and courage of heart, I can teach you everything but I cannot teach you or give you those two things. Come we begin." The old man stood and began to teach the boy martial arts Suddenly the voice overlay came on again "Subject Black Knight day 389 of training, has mastered seven languages already and even more dialects, has also proven himself to be a terrific marksman and can already spot a tail. Has now started on martial arts training with master Wu. I have purposely given Black Knight the best instructor we have because I can already tell that he is the one that will eventually lead the chessmen. I'm glad I held off canceling him. The video continued to show Matt at different phases of his life and showed how he grew and just how good he got in his training. They watched Matt as he fought to survive in an unmerciful situation, how he learned and grew strong. They watched as he found a friend as well as a teacher in the old man named master Wu. Finally they watched as he left from where ever he was trained and went to work. The picture changed one last time. The room was white and a cardiac monitor came into view. The camera panned down and they watched in horror the huddled figure of Matt Travers suffering terrible pain. Thin as a stick he appeared to be less than half the man than he was now weighing perhaps a 130 pounds, his eyes taped closed he was huddled into a small ball small sounds of whimpering could be heard as a nurse came in and gave him an injection to stop the pain. A different voice came on "Special agent Black Knight has been recovered from Bulgaria, his condition critical. The doctors give him less than twenty percent chance that he will ever be half the man he once was." abruptly the video stopped. They sat silently for awhile each digesting everything that they had just seen, until they heard movement from the other room. Nick scooped up the papers and replaced them into his briefcase and grabbed the video diskette. "We say nothing about this" he warned the two women Entering the room Craven held his head and looked around at the three solemn faces "Who died" he asked. Seeing Natalie's face Craven walked over to her, lifting her chin Craven stared at the cut lip. "Did I do that Dr. Lambert" he asked but in his heart he already knew the answer and cursed himself for hurting someone who had helped him. Grabbing his hand she held it gently in her own "It was my fault, I shouldn't have removed your glasses without asking" she tried to reassure him Turning away with a hurt expression on his face "I'm sorry doctor" "Like I said it was my fault, may I call you Matt" "Why" Craven looked confused "That's your name isn't" Natalie asked lightly in a tone of voice that reminded her of a time when she tried to coax her cat out from under her bed. "Yeah, sure call me Matt" turning to Knight "I was thinking, the package." "What about it." "Well what's on it, what am I carrying around" Pulling out the C.D. ROM diskette he twirled it in his hand. Nick stood up "Well there is only one way to find out. Do you have a computer?" As they sat around the computer Matt pulled up the files, and was suddenly slammed shut. "Password please" the computer intoned then showed a series of blank lines "Great" Matt muttered staring at the screen "Twelve digit access code" "Do you have any ideas what it could be?" Tracy asked staring over his shoulder Matt shrugged "Could be anything Peaches, numbers, a word, a group of words. This is going to take some time." Punching up another file Matt activated it and stood up. "This may take a while, this program will run through every possible number and word." "No other way to access the information, no back door" Nick asked frustrated "No, this disk is designed to self destruct the information if it is tampered with in any way. This is an agency program that's why it won't destroy the information." The group turned to leave when suddenly Matt paused "Wait a second" returning to the computer he disabled the encryption program and reactivated the files. Once again the files were slammed shut and a computer voice came on. "Password please" Matt typed out two words B L A C K _ K N I G H T "Password accepted, access granted" and the program engaged Suddenly two faces appeared on the screen "Control and the Brain, I should have known" Matt shook his head disgusted realizing that he'd just been suckered again. "Who" asked Tracy Pointing to one man and then the other "Control agent in charge of operations, and Brain agent in charge of intelligence. They wanted me to access this all the time." typing out a command the program started and Control came to life. "Good morning Black Knight, if you are watching this then you have realized that the mission you were sent on is a round robin, but it is much more than that." Brain continued "We have set up a discretionary account in the Toronto national bank for you, it contains five million dollars. Weather you decide to accept this assignment or not the money is yours so that you can disappear. This program will automatically shut down in thirty seconds you know the code access to reenter the program, do so only if you intend to accept the assignment otherwise destroy this diskette immediately." Control came back on line "All I can tell you now is that if you do not accept this assignment a lot of innocent people will die, perhaps hundreds of thousands" The computer shut down. "Access code Please" the computer intoned "You fucking bastards did it to me again." Matt whispered putting his head into his hands Nick put his hand on Matt's shoulder "What are you going to do" He asked afraid of the cryptic information given. Hundreds of thousands dead, Nick shivered at what that could possibly mean. Taking comfort in the hand on his shoulder Craven looked up "They knew the answer before they sent me here." Matthew typed O P E R A T I O N _ C H E S S M AN , _ F I N A L _S O L U T I O N suddenly control reappeared on the screen. "I knew you would do it, Brain will tell you the particulars" Control disappeared replaced by Brain. "Two months ago sixteen ounces of weapons grade plutonium was stolen from a research facility in Nevada." Everyone gasped "The six men and women who stole it were professional, but more to the point they were your men Black Knight. Identified at the scene were, the Black King, Black Queen, the Black Bishops and the Black Rooks. They used the plans you initiated in 'operation break in' you remember the details of that operation. I'm sorry to say that they took none of your recommendations seriously, the Chessmen broke in and stole the plutonium. They have gone renegade, under the command of the Puppet master, what role he plays in this is unknown. Control and I will deal with him. Last week in Los Alamos California, a nuclear trigger was stolen from the air force base there again by the chessmen. We have tracked their movements to Toronto, Canada. At first we suspected that they were going to sell the plutonium but now we believe that they have assembled a nuclear device and have now placed it somewhere in Toronto the purpose is for the upcoming peace summit. Second on the authority of the Puppet master, hit teams have been called in from all over the world and are now converging on Toronto their orders are to kill you on sight. We believe that the chessmen are in town to disrupt the peace conference by assassinating all of the primary chairmembers, slated to attend is the President of the United States, the prime minister of England, the premier of China, the president of France, and several delegates from the middle east. Also the Pope is to attend the opening ceremony to bless all of the participants of the conference. We believe that the chessmen will try to kill one or all of the above mentioned, failing that they will set off the nuclear device to ensure that all of them are dead. If this happens, I don't have to tell you what kind of chaos will follow or how many people will die. Your mission is to find the chessmen and sanction them also to find and deactivate the nuclear weapon. If you are as smart as I think you are, you have already gone to the authorities of Toronto, if not do so. You will need their help, give them whatever information you deem necessary but stop them. The conference is slated to begin the fifth of July" Brain disappeared replaced by control "Matt, I think we both know why the Puppet master chose you. The doctors say that you are psychopathic with suicidal tendencies, but I know better. I know you were hurt in Bulgaria, I know that we ripped away your honor and dignity. This is your chance to get even, show that fucking bastard who you really are. You are the best I've ever seen Black Knight, you've got more honor and guts than all the rest of the chessmen put together, stop them your our last hope." The screen went blank, removing the diskette from the drive Matt placed it into an ashtray, suddenly the disc began to smoke and melt away. "July fifth" Matt muttered "That's five days from now" "What do we do now?" Tracy asked Typing another command into his computer a series of file names appeared the printer began to whirl and pages began to spill out of the powerful laser jet printer. "We find them and kill them" Matthew said simply "I'm printing all of the essential information on all of the chessmen, call your captain and tell him we're on our way. I'll brief your men as to who you are dealing with and what courses of action we can take." Reese sat in shock as Nick and Tracy gave him a detailed report of what they had discovered. "This is unbelievable" Reaching for the phone "I have to call the commissioner, who will call out the national guard." "No" Matt told him "The only chance of getting the chessmen is to let them think that we are still in the dark. If you call attention to that peace conference and more security is assigned. They will blow up that bomb, and let me tell you sixteen ounces of weapons grade plutonium will cause a lot of death." "What kind of fall out can we expect, worse case" the captain asked "Two hundred fifty thousand dead on impact, another one hundred and fifty thousand within a year from radiation poisoning." Reese looked like someone had just jumped on his chest "Dear god, I've got call the commissioner in on this" "That's a good idea but we have to be careful, there is no telling who is involved in this." "Tracy" Tracy Vetter turned from her desk and stood up "Hi, daddy" Theodore Vetter a large bear of a man crossed over to his daughter and gave her a hug. Separating he put a hand through his thinning gray hair, he looked over his daughter. "As beautiful as ever, but your too skinny. When are you getting married and when am I going to be a grandfather." At his daughter's grimace, the elder Vetter grinned "Now that I have gotten all of my parental obligations out of the way, how are you doing" Tracy smiled "I'm doing okay daddy really, why are you here" she asked "Well, Reese called me and said it was a case of national importance. I'm dying to find out what it's all about." "Commissioner Vetter" Reese called as he extended a hand to his boss "Joe" shaking the offered hand "What's so important to get me out of bed" "Please come into my office" Reese led the way Tracy watched as her father sat down and Reese began to explain the situation. Nick came up from behind putting a hand on Tracy's shoulder making her jump. "God, Nick now I know why Natalie hates it when you do that" she said putting a hand over her heart Nick smiled "Sorry, What's up?" Pointing to the captains office "My father's in there with Reese. Where's Matt?" "He's in the conference room getting his material ready for the briefing. How do you think the commissioner is going to take it" "Knowing my father, not well" As if on cue the office door flew open slamming against the wall. Theodore Vetter no longer looked like a large teddy bear, now he resembled a hungry grizzly. Reese hot on his tail pointed to Knight and Vetter to accompany him. Vetter slammed through the conference room door yelling at the top of his lungs. "Who the hell do you think you are bringing this kind of trouble here" he demanded Craven looked non-pulsed, staring at the man for a moment he then turned away and continued taping photographs up on the wall and ignored him. "Daddy, Matt's here to help us" Tracy tried to reason with the man Crossing the room Vetter grabbed Craven and turned him to face the enraged police commissioner. "I asked you a question" In a cold voice that reminded Nick of Laquiox on a bad day Craven faced the commissioner "Touch me again old man and I'll cripple you" he warned icily Nick decided to stop this before it got going stepping between them Nick put some distance between them "Commissioner, this is going to get us nowhere. We need Agent Craven's help if we are going to defuse this situation before we have a lot of dead people around here." Motioning to a chair "Please commissioner, sit down and let's get the men in here so we can start." Breathing hard Vetter sat still glaring at Craven's back as he turned to finish what he was doing. Matt calmed his breathing, no sense in getting angry yet, he had to save it nurture it and release it at the proper moment. Staring at the pictures and the faces they represented saddened Matt more than he thought possible. True he never liked most of them, but they were family. They had shared laughter, tears, pain and blood, now they had turned and it was up to him to find them and stop them. The moment he had heard Brain laying out the mission he knew that this was just the thing the rest of the chessmen would get involved in. They were blind, and stupid, they would do as ordered no matter what. They would never question orders, after all orders from the puppetmaster was like Mose's coming down the mountain. Besides he had a pretty good idea what the Puppet master was after." Turning he saw that a group of detectives and uniform police officers were coming into the room. Clearing his throat he began. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats. In front of you, you will find a set of file folders. Do not, I repeat do not open them until I tell you." Waiting until they were all seated he noted that they were whispering among themselves and pointing at him. Craven waited till they were all seated and quiet and began again. "This is a dangerous assignment, I don't expect all of you to survive it. Any person not wishing to participate in this assignment is to leave right now, there will be no repercussions. Also any one who is a parent or is about to become a parent is also free to leave, You" Craven pointed to one woman who was obviously pregnant "Please leave now" The woman got up indignantly "I know my duty, I'm not afraid" Raising his voice above hers "And I will not be responsible for a dead pregnant woman, Get out now!" Craven yelled at the woman "I am not playing games here people, I don't expect to be alive in four days, and I am a professional. I do not have the time or patience to hand hold each of you. Decide now." The pregnant woman shocked by the anger of his words Slowly left the room. Two others stood up and left, one woman and one man. Leaving a total of twenty one people. Craven was about to begin again when Natalie Lambert walked in. "Sorry I'm late" she said and took a seat "Doctor, you are not a police officer. Please leave now." Nick looking at Natalie silently pleaded with her to leave. Natalie saw the look in his eye's, but she also knew in her heart that she had to be here." "I'm staying, Matt. There is nothing you can do or say that will make me leave." Matthew saw the determination in her eyes and nodded. "Very well" Turning to the others "My name is Matthew Craven I am an ex-employee of the Central intelligence agency. I say ex because as of six p.m. this evening I contacted them and resigned my post. Please open the top file in front of you, the information that I am about to give you is classified top secret. The top sheet that you are all looking at is a waiver form, basically it says that you will in no way shape or form discuss or disclose the information that I am about to impart ever. To do so will cause immediate dismissal and you will be arrested and tried for treason. If you understand sign the form and pass it forward now." Waiting for a moment Matt went around the room and collected all of the signed forms and placed them into his briefcase. "Now with your files open you should be looking at a picture of a building. This is the Norton Nuclear research facilities in Crystal Lake Nevada. In 1989 I was involved in a covert operation called "operation break in". The basics of the operation was to find out how good the security of this facility was, after two months of planning. Myself and my team hit the facility and made off with a dummy canister of plutonium. In my report that I turned over to the CIA I clearly dictated how I gained entrance into the facility and how I got the plutonium, I also told them what safeguards they should put in place so that it could never happen again. Unfortunately they didn't listen, two months ago using a plan I devised eight years ago my team without my knowledge broke into the facility. This time however they actually stole a canister of weapons grade plutonium." Pausing he noted their frighten reactions "The next picture is of another building, this building is a munitions depot in Los Alamos California air force base. Last week the same team broke into this facility and stole a nuclear trigger. This means that they have two of the major prerequisite parts to construct a nuclear bomb. Intelligence believes that they have taken it to the location on the next page of your file." Matt heard the intake of breath as the police looked at a detailed map of their own city. "This is only part of the problem, a major part but still only part. The reason for the theft of nuclear materials is for use as a back up." "Back up what does that mean?" One young rookie asked "The primary reason for this bomb is in the next file please open it." Opening his own file he saw another building "This is the Toronto convention center. Next week there will be a peace summit to discuss nuclear disarmament for the next millennium. Photographs of the people slated to attend are on the next several pages." Gasps and "oh my god" followed "Next, in the next six files you will find detailed information on the people behind me. They are Travis Kincade "the Black King", Elizabeth Shumacher "the Black Queen", Gerald Freeley "Black Deacon", Terrence Michaels, "Black Bishop", George Costanza "Black Castle" and Peter Munoz "Black Rook". Read the files carefully, I have listed their preferred weapons and where they hide them. If you locate them do not try to apprehend them by yourselves, contact me and I will be their to back you up. Do not take any chances and whatever you do don't try to arrest them. You are to shoot to kill." One of the older officers stood up "Hey were cops, not killers" Matt shrugged "I'll tell that to your wife at your funeral. These people would rather die than be arrested, and they will take as many of you as possible with them." he warned them Nick sat up "Does the agency have any idea why they want to do this?" "No, but I have a personal idea. Nick what happens when you kill a political leader." "Chaos, disorder, people panic" Nick told him from experience Matt nodded "Right, with this many leaders killed. People all over the world will panic, and we are going to have riots, business will close down, there will be looting on the streets. But most important of all is that the stock market will collapse. Imagine the Dow Jones going down a thousand points in one day. Stock prices will collapse as people will desperately try to get out. I believe that while those people will be selling, another group will be buying. No one will notice who because it's all happening to fast. Soon order will be restored, new leaders elected, and the market will start to rise again and those stocks that were bought at rock bottom prices will once again rise to their previous levels. Someone stands to make a lot of money by investing wisely." Nick shook his head "Do you really believe that there is someone out their willing to take so many lives just for money" "Nick you have to remember we are talking billions of dollars here not just a couple of hundred. The chessmen are involved for another reason. Like myself they are being forced to retire, they did not take the information as well as I did. I believe the only reason that they are involved in this is to prove to the agency that they are still needed." Tracy stared directly at Matt the entire time "Why didn't they ask you to join them, since you drew up the plans on how to steal the plutonium. You would be the obvious choice to have on the team." Matt nodded, liking Tracy more and more. She has brains and a cute butt "The last time I saw the entire team was six months ago. We were all called in to Langley and we were all informed that we were being retired. I was the only one that was truly happy by this announcement, besides they all have known me for a very long time. We have felt each others pain, and each others joys, basically we are family and being family they know that I would never agree to do this." "You admit that these people are like family to you, would you really kill them" Asked commissioner Vetter Sitting against the desk Matt rubs his eyes "They have broken my cardinal rule, they have to be stopped. I will do whatever is necessary to stop them, by whatever means. If it means I have to kill them then I will do so without hesitation." Natalie looked up from her file "What is your cardinal rule Matt" Looking over the entire group, Tracy could swear there was ice radiating from Matthew Craven "If you fuck with the innocent then you fuck with me and if you fuck with me I will seal your fate." As the officers and detectives left the conference room, Matt held Nick back a moment. "Nick, I made arrangements for the people who are storing my transportation to deliver it here. I told them to deliver it to you and that you would sign for it, do you mind." Nick smiled "Not at all, when are they delivering it?" "Should be anytime now, They said it would be here by nine and its five to now." Looking around to make sure that they were not over heard Matt lowered his voice. "I saw your face when the doc came in, I saw that you were not overly enthusiastic about it." Looking grim Nick turned and saw Natalie still going over the files that Matt had supplied. "No, I'm not. But it looks like I have very little to say about it." "Leave it to me." Matt nodded and went back to Natalie. "Hey doc" Looking up Natalie smiled "Please just call me Natalie" Matt smiled as he sat on top of the desk "Okay Natalie, your probably wondering why I let you stay. Believe me there is a reason, being that you are the medical examiner you get all of the bodies around here right, I mean you personally." With growing suspicion Natalie nodded "Good, the reason I need you is that I have the feeling that you are going to be very busy. Those bodies that I supplied you with." "What about them" "I need you to go over them again." he told her Natalie started to get up "If this is something that the two of you concocted to keep me out of this." Matt held up a hand "Natalie it isn't that, I need you to look for something. Sometimes agents put the names of their contacts on microfilm. This is in case something gets out of hand and they need help other than agency. Now sometimes they put it in a pill canister and swallow it, others have it surgically implanted underneath the skin, some even put it in a false tooth. I need to know if any of these guys had anything like this on them. We need every edge we can get." Reaching down his leg Matt pulls a small automatic from an ankle holster. "This is a walther PPK semi automatic pistol it holds eight shots, do you know how to use it?" he asked Natalie stared at the shiny automatic, and suddenly felt her throat closing up. What had she gotten herself into. "No, I don't" "It's very simple, this is the safety" Matt continued to explain the workings of the gun then passed it over to her with an extra clip. "Just in case someone else remembers to check the bodies. If anybody comes to you and says that I sent them or that Nick sent them. Shoot to kill then run like hell and come straight here. Got it?" Taking the gun and clip "Got it, shoot then run" Matt smiled as Natalie wondered where to put the pistol "Here, make sure the safety is on, then slip it into your waist band. Now go over the bodies with a fine tooth comb and let me know if you find anything." Natalie nodded and left the room. Nick let out a breath of relief. "Thanks for getting her out of the line of fire, but do you think it's smart to give her a gun" Matt shrugged "It lends an air of authenticity to the whole thing." "Micro film in the skin?" Nick asked as they left the room "Well it's not unheard of, I've done it myself once or twice. I wouldn't be surprised if she actually finds some. Now weather it will do us any good is another story. By the way what about those two men the agency is sending." Taking his seat at his desk Nick motions to the captain's office "Reese is sending them to the RCMP, who are going to take them and show them the sights. If they get suspicious then they have orders to place them under protective custody." Nick smiled at the thought of those two men sitting behind bars. Matt nodded and took a seat at the empty desk next to Tracy's and Nick's. Staring at the ceiling he tried to decide his next move. Picking up a pencil and a piece of paper he began to draw aimlessly. What would the chessmen be up to right now. Planning. While still drawing Matt turned to Nick "Is it possible to get the floor plans for the convention center now. I have this feeling that the chessmen are at this very moment sitting around setting up their plans. Also we'll need a seating arrangement and see what kinds of lines of fire are possible." Suddenly looking around Matt remarks "Where's Peaches? We have work to do." "Probably with her father saying good-bye. Can I ask you something?" Nick asked Matt looked up from his drawing "Shoot" Looking around to make