From: Nightstalker To: "'FK FanFic Archiver'" Subject: RE: She's Like the Wind Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 23:10:21 -0500 Christina socrates@ncn.net From: Nightstalker To: 'FKFIC-L' Subject: She's Like the Wind Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 16:41:00 -0500 Okay, this has nothing to do with my Laby Xover, and nothing to do with Tasha or LaCroix at all. This is strictly N+N Packer, of which I admit to being a closet member of. But, I like my closet, and will only come out in times of desperate need. Now is one. Permission to archive at NNPacker page and the fanfic page. These guys aren't mine, I'm just taking them dancing. I'll put them back in fairly good condition. Anyway, they'll heal. This is also kind of a song challenge response. The song She's Like the Wind isn't mine, either. Warning!! Mushiness ahead! She's Like the Wind Nat eyed the inside of the lift suspiciously. Nick was up to something. She could smell something cooking. That, plus he'd asked her to get dressed up. She could hear music filtering down from the loft, and realised she was listening to the flip side of his Dirty Dancing soundtrack cassette. <> she thought flatly. <> The lift doors opened, and she stepped out onto the loft floor. She saw Nick bending over the stove, poking something. "Hi, Nat." he called without taking his attention off whatever it was. "Take off your coat and sit down. Supper will be ready in about five minutes." Nat doffed her coat and hung it on the wrought-iron stand. "Hey, Nat?" "What?" "Did you wear flats or heels tonight?" That question caught her off-guard. "What?" She started to walk out to the kitchen, but Nick slammed the lid on whatever he was messing with and cut her off. "Uh-uh. Supper is a surprise." He looked down at her feet to see her green heeled sandals. "Good. You wore heels." He looked up at her to take in the rest of her outfit. She wore a shimmery silk shift, covered with a blazer and a simple skirt that came to about mid-calf. It had a slit in the right side up to her knee, for ease of movement. Like her sandals, the ensemble was a flattering hunter green, one that brought out her eyes. She wore her hair in a banana clip, which caused it to cascade over one of her shoulders in a chestnut waterfall. Nat blushed under Nick's scrutiny. He took this in as well and smiled at her. "Sorry, Nat." He held out his arm chivalrously and led her to the table. He pulled out her chair for her, and pushed it in when she sat down. "So, what did I do to deserve the Queen Elizabeth treatment?" Nick began to fumble with plates and utensils in the kitchen. "Well, you know how Captain Reese and his wife are celebrating their twentieth anniversary, right?" "Yeah?" "And how you were saying . . ." Nick paused to scoop something from a pot onto the plate. "How you were saying you couldn't dance at their party.' "What about it?" "Well--" Nick turned about, walked to the table, and set the plate down in front of Natalie, "--I thought I'd teach you." Nat looked down at her plate, not seeing what was on it. She looked back up at Nick. "Teach me?" "Yes." he replied. "How to dance." "Yes." "Ms. 'I-Have-Two-Left-Feet' Lambert." "Yes. Aren't you going to even look at your food?" Nat obediently looked down at her plate, and was taken aback at what she saw. A thick sirloin tip steak sat on the plate, oozing deliciousness. Glazed baby carrots and the mushy insides of a sweet dumpling squash hovered on the edge of the plate opposite the juicy meat, begging to be eaten. "Nick, is that squash?" she asked, pointing to the orange pulp on the plate. "Yep." "Where did you find squash this time of year?" "I have my sources." "You mean LaCroix's sources." "Shush! If he hears his name being mentioned, he'll drop through my skylight again and ruin the whole thing." Nick smirked as he said this, causing Nat to believe he was just teasing her once more. "Aren't you going to join me?" "Yeah, just gimme a minute--" he rooted around in the fridge for a minute. Ah- ha!" He pulled out two bottles, one green glass, one green plastic. "Some seven-up, Nat?" A wicked thought entered Nat's mind. "I'll have what you're having." she replied sweetly. "Well, you'll have half of what I'm having, then." He pulled out two pint mugs and filled one with the rich, red liquid, and one with the clear. He handed the clear one to Nat. "Pinters, Nick?" "Well, my regular ones broke when a certain someone lost control and crashed through my skylight on Monday." "Ah." her noise of understanding soon became one of culinary delight. "Nick, this is delicious!" she said around a mouthful of squash. She took a bite of the carrots and then the steak. "When did you learn how to cook?" Nick looked down at his glass sheepishly. "I didn't. I had help." Nat's eyes narrowed. "Who?" "Trace." "Perfect. Now, tomorrow the whole precinct will think you were trying to put the moves on one Dr. Natalie Lambert, Coroner." "Naw. I told her the truth. You needed to learn to dance, and I needed a lure" "A lure?" "Well, sure . . . I think, um--" Nat's facade of sternness dropped. "It's okay, Nick, I understand." She proceeded to finish the meal, still not believing anyone short of a master chef could cook like this. Finally, when she couldn't eat another bite, she sat back in her chair. "Full?" "Nick, This is the biggest meal I've had in months. I think I might pop." She smiled at him. "Ready?" "Huh?!" "To learn to dance." he replied, straight-faced. A wave of relief washed over her. "Oh, yeah, sure." Nick hit a button on one of his billion or so remotes, and the lights dimmed. "Wrong remote. I always get those two confused." Nat was not convinced. "Right remote." Nick pushed a button on that one, and soft music began to filter through the loft. He led her to the middle of the living room floor, and stood to face her. "Okay, the most important thing is to relax. I'll lead first, and we'll go slow until you get the hang of it." He guided her hand to his shoulder, took hold of her other, and wrapped his other hand about the small of her back. Nat closed her eyes and listened to the music, not really concentrating on the movement. *She's like the wind through my tree *She rides the night next to me. *She leads me through moonlight *Only to burn me with the sun *She's taken my heart, but she doesn't know what she's done. Nick looked down at Nat. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be a million miles away. She was moving in time with him, however. He wondered if she hadn't pretended not to be able to dance just to get him to do something like this. He led her through a few more intricate steps, and she responded beautifully, but he still had the nagging feeling she wasn't quite there. Nat, for her part, was so absorbed in the music, she didn't take much notice of anything else. *Feel her breath in my face *Her body close to me *Can't look in her eyes *She's out of my league *Just a fool to believe I have anything she needs. *She's like the wind. Nat looked up at Nick, her blue eyes shining in the low light. A single tear slipped from her eye and trailed down her cheek. "Is that what you think, Nick? Just a fool to believe you have anything I need?" Nick nodded, not trusting his voice, not even trusting himself to look into her eyes for fear of the vampire showing itself. Nat leaned into him, letting him lead her around the floor. *I look in the mirror, and all I see *Is a young old man with only a dream. *Am I just fooling myself *That she'll stop the pain. *Living without her *I'd go insane. Nat pulled away from Nick, unsteadily walking back over toward the couch where her purse lay. "Nat, please don't go." His eyes had gone all puppy-dog, and she could see he was afraid of losing her. Nat took a steadying breath as she sat down upon the couch. "I'm not going. I--I have something for you Nick. I was debating whether or not to give it to you." He walked over to her, curious. "Why? You know I'd love anything you gave me." From her purse, Nat pulled out a sealed plastic bag full of a thick, red fluid. "I didn't want to make a fool of myself. I mean, you can learn everything about a person when you . . ." her voice trailed off. "I mean, Nick, I didn't know how you felt, and if it was different than me, I didn't want you to--" Nick stared at the small plastic pouch. "You mean that's you? You want me to . . ." "I knew if you did it yourself, we might get into some major trouble, and, well . . ." Nick gently plucked it from her hand. "It's still warm." he said, astonished. "I just had it done before I came over," she admitted quietly. Nick lifted Nat's chin with the side of his index finger. "Nat, this is the most considerate thing anyone has ever done for me." Nat watched as Nick closed his eyes. When he opened them, they glowed golden, and she watched as he sunk his extended canines into the plastic. From the first taste, Nick was in heaven. He saw how Nat had been debating whether or not to do this for weeks. He saw her hopes, her fears, and most of all, her all-consuming love. Nat drank in the look on Nick's face just as he drank in her blood. She could see that all her worries had been for nothing. *Feel your breath on my face *Your body close to me *Can't look in your eyes, *You're out of my league. *Just a fool to believe *I have anything you need. *She's like the wind Nick drained the plastic pouch to the last drop. He looked lovingly at Nat as she reached up a finger to wipe a bit of her blood off the corner of his mouth. She had no fear of the vampire, just as she had been that first night he had sat up on her lab table. "I do love you, Nat." His voice as low, as he was still vamped out. Nat looked into the golden eyes of Nicholas de Brabant, and saw the man behind the beast. "I love you too, Nick" Like it, hate it, torch it, let me know. I shall now go back into hiding in my closet. Christina socrates@ncn.net It's only forever, If you love something Not long at all. Let it go. We're lost and lonely, If it doesn't come back,We're underground. Hunt it down and kill it.