Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 12:11:45 -0400 From: "Sarah A. Houghton" ******************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************* WARNING: I did not know how this fic should be labeled, so.... This is not a WAR story, as the War is over and this should not be intended as part of the timeline. It is not really an xover, as the single character from another show is more of a prop than anything else. Nor is this deserving of an adult heading, although there is some sexual innuendo (but no more than what we are already used to :) ). Consider yourself warned, and read at your own risk. ******************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************* Thanks and chocolate to Jamie, the ListMommy Extraordinaire, for her comments. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: _Forever Knight_ is the property of USA Network, the Sci-Fi Channel, and maybe J. Parriott. The character of Lucas Wolenczak is owned by Amblin Entertainment, Universal Entertainment, and maybe Lee Goldberg. The representation of the author and the character of Andree Toscani are owned by Sarah A. Houghton, and may not be used without permission. Copyright in this fiction is owned by Sarah A. Houghton, August 1996. _The Awakening (or, How I Recovered from War VII)_ "No, LaCroix, I won't let you touch her!" screamed Nick. "Natalie and I belong together!" "And so you shall be," snarled LaCroix, as he advanced on the couple. "Together in the night, for eternity!" Natalie shrank behind, allowing Nick to protect her. LaCroix snarled, fangs extended. Nick snarled back, his eyes red with fury. *Whooosh* "Knight!" Frustrated, Nick turned, saying "Vachon, what could be so..." And stared. "This is." Vachon stood there in the loft, a brunette dangling from his right arm. A *mortal* brunette. "Vachon, what did you do," shouted both Nick and Natalie together. They charged, determined to wrest the girl away from him. "Bravo, Javier," said LaCroix, clapping lightly. "I see you're planning to add another child to your precocious little clique." He smirked. "But a brunette--quite unusual for your tastes." "But it's not like that at all," Vachon protested. "She's sleeping. Sarah's a Vaquera. She was here for the latest War." Nick groaned, remembering the two weeks of insanity that had so recently occurred. "The problem," Vachon continued, "is that I can't wake her up." The others stared at him. "What do you mean, you can't wake her up? Just shake her out of it, give her a jug of extra-caffienated coffee, and put her on a bus home." "Doc, it's more complicated than that." The group wrestled Sarah's fingers out of the cuff of Vachon's leather jacket, and Nick carried her over to the black couch. He brushed her bangs out of her eyes, and watched the dark mane promptly obscure her face again. //Why fight it?// Nick sighed. "Well, did you try everything to wake her up?" Vachon threw himself into an easy chair. "Knight, you name it, I tried it. Cold water. Coffee. Fresh air. *Nothing* worked." Natalie raised an eyebrow at him. "Everything?" Vachon blushed faintly. "Well, I didn't try *that*." He sighed, and looked over at the soundly sleeping girl. "I was sort of saving that for a last resort." "I don't like this. Something could be wrong with her." LaCroix sneered, and said "Nicholas, do stop worrying. The child will be fine." Nick reached for his cell phone. Ignoring LaCroix, he continued "We should call someone who...." "That won't be necessary," proclaimed a voice behind them. The small group whirled as NatBorg, only to see a young woman.... No. A young female vampire with long black hair, who peered back at them with calm brown eyes. LaCroix immediately took the offensive. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?" He glanced upwards toward the skylight, checking that, yes, it was indeed closed. The petite vampire laughed musically. "My name is Andree. I didn't need to get in because I was already here." She waved off-handedly toward the sleeping girl. "You see, I'm her alter ego." Natalie couldn't believe it. "She's not like Jacquelyn, but..." "No, no, not like that at all," Andree insisted. "We're just a helping mechanism. You know, who would you be if you couldn't be you?" "We???" said the NatBorg-like chorus. Andree just looked at them, the schoolmarm trying to decide who should stay after school and write on the chalkboard. "Got a solution," questioned Vachon. //Why do I get the strange ones? Is it me?// "Of course," chuckled Andree. "All of you know her only faintly because she's very shy." Her voice lilted of New Orleans blues touched up by the jazz. "But on another list, Sarah has a rather *evil* reputation." LaCroix sat up in his chair. //This is becoming interesting.// "How so?" "Sarah enjoys placing her beloveds into vicious positions, and watching their reactions." Catching Vachon's startled look, Andree added "This is not always the case--it seems to depend heavily on the beloved himself. Certain behaviors encourage her." "So, how is this going to help?" Nick looked rattled. //And she looks like such a sweet girl too.// "So," Andree retorted. "I have a plan. But first, the store." end part one Still with me? Part two coming up.... _The Awakening (or, How I Recovered from War VII_ 2/2 (about thirty minutes later) WhamWhamWham!!! Andree strode into the loft, carrying a large paper bag. She set it on the floor, and turned to the group. "Considering her recent activities, the best way to wake her up is to appeal to her desire to inflict pain--and the best way to do that is to have the right bait." *Whooosh* Vachon peeked out from behind Nick. Andree laughed those silver bells again, waved her arms in the fashion of a stage magician. Suddenly, a teenage boy appeared at her feet--his wrists and ankles bound with duct tape. "Hi," he said weakly, and looked around. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaagggghhhh!! No!! Not again!! I haven't recovered from last time yet!!" "Sorry, Lucas, but it's got to be this way." Andree tore a piece of cloth from the boy's shirt, and rushed over to wave it under Sarah's nose. "Come on, honey, I got someone for you." Blink. "Mmmmmphhh." Blink. Sarah's eyes flashed open, and took in the scene. The group was clustered nearby, some staring at her. Vachon looked relieved--more so than what seemed appropriate. Then her blue gaze fell on Lucas and the brown shopping bag. "Oh goody," she squealed gleefully, and rushed to examine the bag's contents. Now giggling madly, she began taking items out. "Strawberry jam, chocolate sauce, a three-pound bag of M&Ms (tm)...." Lucas, now frightened, began squirming in an attempt to wriggle away like a snake. Sarah caught the movement, and shifted position, planting her left foot in the center of his back, effectively pinning him to the floor. Her eyes glittered unnaturally, for the loony fairy had painted silver shinies on them. "...A can of manderin oranges, a bag of chocolate apricots, a pint of vanilla ice cream..." Outraged howls played a counterpoint. "Please, no, not again!! No, no again!! You can't let her do this to me!! It's humiliating!! It's embarrassing!! Do you know what she did to me last time?? She made me a vampire last time!! There's gotta be a law against this?? Why won't any of you help me??" "Because, my unfortunate friend, we would rather it was you than one of us," pointed out LaCroix, a barely perceptible look of gleeful content on his face. "...A bottle of Ribena, three spray-cans of whipped cream...." Laughing merrily, the brunette waved a can in Lucas' face and sprayed a mask of whipped cream over his eyes. Ignoring Lucas' sobs, she shook the now-empty bag and turned to face Andree sorrowfully. "No goldfish?" "No goldfish," confirmed Andree. Lucas began to whine pathetically. Sarah tossed everything back into the paper bag, picked it up, and grabbed Lucas by the hair. Dragging him over towards Natalie, she made puppy dog eyes at her. "Sidney?" "No," cried out Nat. "Not Sidney!" LaCroix looked amused. Sighing, Sarah dragged Lucas into a Convenient Back Room (tm) and shut the door. Then a hand popped out and hung a do-not-disturb sign on the doorknob. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaagggggghhh!!!!" (three days later) The screams continued nonstop, sounding like Charlie Brown on acid. "AaaaaaaaaaggggghhAaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhAaaaaaaaaaaaggggghhh!!!!" Finally, Sarah stalked out, dragging Lucas by the hair, looking normally abnormal. She dropped the wreck of the S.S. Wolenczak on the floor, and shook aloft the Blessed-Aluminum-Bat-of-Extreme-Pain-and- Suffering (tm). "D-d-damn, that was an excellent p-p-party." Moans came from the mess on the floor. "Is there anything else you need," asked Nick, with what he hoped was a sincere, helpful, and concerned look on his face. Raising an eyebrow, Sarah shot a hopeful look at him. "Shower?" end Notes: Be kind, all. This fic is my first ever non-War fic post, and my first story ever posted to *any* fic list. I'm very nervous about how this will be recieved by the list. Somehow, I just *know* I'm gonna get in trouble for this. This may be archived in a fic site if deemed worthy of permanence. Praise and constructive criticism will be gleefully recieved, but probably met with stunned silence (until I figure out how to respond to people who send me praise). Flames will be ignored. You may send chocolate, cafe latte, extra-caffienated coffee with mocha, Ribena, goldfish, or offers of free psychiatric help. Please lemme know. Thanks for reading!! --Sarah, the Vaquera Keeper of the Blessed-Aluminum-Bat-of-Extreme-Pain-and-Suffering