From v4s@FKFANFIC.COMMon May 26 14:41:50 1997 Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 01:02:59 -0400 From: Virtual Fourth Season To: FKFIC-L@psuvm.psu.edu Subject: V4S: Adam's Apple (21/22) Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #12 Episode Title: "Adam's Apple" "Air" Date: May 18, 1997 Author: Beth A. Washington Part 21 of 22 This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1997 Beth Washington -------------------------- ADAM'S APPLE It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon, and the library was packed with students checking out books and researching some paper that needed to get written. Adam was biding his time with a textbook open in front of him, unread. Remi's last class was at two o'clock, and Adam knew his roommate would be heading back to their room for a little studying before dinner time. He looked out the window and saw the sun disappearing behind a tall building across the grassy area. The sky was crystal blue without a cloud in sight. It had warmed up a little more than the previous days, and it was reflected by the fact that some of the students were wearing shorts with their sweatshirt-covered T-shirts. Walking alone, past the detective in the window, was Remi, in his blue jeans and jean jacket. Adam jumped up from his seat, jammed his book into his knapsack, and bolted for the exit. Adam followed his roommate for a while, waiting until they were closer to the residence hall buildings, and for a place where there was less foot traffic. Remi rounded the corner of a building, as did Adam a few seconds later, and Adam spotted his chance. They were alone between buildings. The detective ran to catch up. "Remi!" he yelled as his feet carefully covered the ground between them. Remi turned to see who was calling him and smiled when he recognized his roommate. "Hey!" he yelled back. As Adam came to a stop in front of him, he added, "What's up?" Adam took a moment to catch his breath, then jumped into his role with both feet. "Need more!" he demanded. "Finish last one in morning. All out. Need more. Need more now!" The smile ran away from Remi's face as he shrugged. "I don't have any more." Without warning, Adam grabbed Remi by the collar of his jean jacket and roughly shook him, anger seething from every fiber in his body. There was even sweat on his forehead, not from anger, but from a nervous fear that Remi would see right through his little play acting. "Need more! Get more! Don't care how! Get more!" Adam shouted at Remi, not caring if anyone heard him, hoping that if he started to attract an audience, Remi might give him what he wanted just to shut him up. "Hey, hey, hey...," Remi bellowed. "Calm down. I'll try to find my supplier." Adam persisted, and without letting go of his grip on Remi's jacket, he further demanded, "Who supplier? Tell me supplier name!" Fear entered into Remi's expression. "I can't...tell...," he stuttered, trying to break free. Adam tightened his grip and growled loudly, "Don't care. Tell me now! Who supplier? Who?" He shook Remi violently, surprising himself with his own strength. "Tell me!" he repeated. "All right!" Remi bleated. "It's Montgomery. Tudor Montgomery." **** The living room was filled with the remaining bright rays of the afternoon sun. Nick could tell without the help of a clock that in less than fifteen minutes the darkness would free him from the wooden prison that the cabin had become. He sat in the bathroom wondering what kind of frenzy Tudor had worked himself into this time, since Nick had been in there for the better part of an hour. He decided it was time to return to the living room, since he had read the magazine he had brought with him cover to cover, twice. The detective walked through the living room and stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. He watched Tudor as he paced the floor in front of the windows. The student had been doing that most of the day, and both his and Nick's nerves were a bit frayed. "Its about time you came out of there," grumbled Tudor. "I'm sorry," said Nick. "Did you need to go?" The student only glared at the detective in response. Officer Sheridan entered from one of the bedrooms, glanced at Tudor, and looked to Nick. "I'm off to get some dinner and supplies. Do you need me to pick up anything while I'm out?" Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to the Caddy. He did a little flip of the keys in his hand, then tossed them to the officer. Sheridan caught them soundly and quickly found the right key on the ring. "No," answered Nick. "What about me?" broke in Tudor. "Aren't you going to ask me if I want anything?" Nick raised an eyebrow, and Sheridan shifted his gaze, both looking a touch annoyed. Neither said a word, but instead seemed to be waiting for Tudor to speak. The student's eyes shifted from the detective to the officer a few times. "Well?" asked Nick. "He hasn't got all day to wait for you." "Ah, right," Tudor stuttered. "I uh...could you pick up a...a Rolling Stone magazine for me?" "Yeah, sure," came Sheridan's answer as he turned and headed for the door. "I'll be back in a few." He opened the door and went outside. Nick could hear Sheridan asking Meredith if she wanted anything before he heard the engine of the Caddy come smoothly to life, then fade away as Sheridan drove down the road. Tudor resumed his pacing, only to stop again at the sound of Nick's cellular phone ringing. He watched with total interest as the detective pulled out the phone and answered it. "Knight," said Nick, noticing he had an audience. "Hi, it's me," came Adam's voice. "Take Tudor into custody. He's our man." Adam sounded winded as his breath was heavy in Nick's ear. "He's the other drug dealer that I was telling you about. I got a search warrant and a forensics team. We searched his room and found the gun hidden among his things. Forensics checked it out, and the bullet that killed Corso came from that gun." Nick tried to keep his emotions in check so as not to alarm the listening student. He looked at Tudor, then quickly turned away. "Sheridan just left to get some dinner and supplies. He won't be back for a while," Nick explained, hoping his partner would realize that he couldn't take Tudor in until the officer came back with the car. "Not a problem," Adam assured Nick. "I'm only a few minutes away. I can drive us all back into the city and lock up Mr. Montgomery." Nick glanced at Tudor and was surprised to find that Tudor had moved right next to him. "We'll be here," he replied. The detective turned his back to the student for a moment, and he heard Tudor move behind him. Before he realized what was happening, Tudor was out the front door. "Hold on a sec," Nick blurted into the phone as he tried to go to the front door, but the sun was streaking across the floor, blocking the way. He heard Meredith shriek, then a thud as something fell on the porch. Nick hoped Meredith had been able to stop Tudor, and that it was the student who had fallen on the porch. His hopes were dashed when Meredith's voice squeaked out, "Detective Knight! He took my gun!" Nick dashed through the sunlight across the floor, only to get blasted by it as he tried to exit the cabin. The sunshine flooded the front porch. He pulled back inside, but not before seeing Officer Meredith dragging herself up, rubbing her head with her hand. "He got away," Nick yelled into the phone, "And he managed to get Meredith's gun." "I'm on it," announced his partner over the phone. "There are only so many places he can go up here." The phone clicked in Nick's ear as Adam hung up. Nick dashed to the back of the cabin and went out the back door, only to be forced to stay in the shadow of the cabin. Blasted sun! If only it was five minutes into the future, it wouldn't have been a problem. The vampire went back into the cabin, cursing his weakness as light wisps of smoke escaped from beneath his clothing. It was the longest five minutes Nick had ever experienced. He paced the small cabin from door to door like a tiger at the circus that couldn't wait for the cage door to open. The sunlight started to dissipate ever so slowly. When it disappeared from the windows, he bolted outside and noticed that it still touched the top of the trees. No flying, at least for a few more minutes. Before he ran after Tudor, he stopped to check on Officer Meredith. "You OK?" he asked, his eyes darting back and forth between the officer and the tops of the trees. "Yeah," she answered still rubbing her head. "He surprised me and knocked me pretty good. Why'd he run off like that?" "Detective Sakai found evidence that he murdered Sid Corso," answered Nick. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out his cellular phone. "You stay here and keep this." He handed her the phone and dashed into the woods. It seemed as if an eternity had passed, but the sun was down, and Nick was in the sky. Since it wasn't completely dark out, Nick knew that anyone in the area would readily pick him out in the sunset sky, so he kept close to the treetops as he hunted for the runaway. The vampire senses were on strong, and he could hear heavy breathing and the crashing of branches and crunching of snow as someone recklessly pushed through the trees. His vision searched in red, picking out every rodent and bird along the way, but no Tudor. A shot rang out, echoing across the darkening sky. The vampire's cold heart leapt into his throat as the sound penetrated his ears with excruciating volume. It knocked his senses for a loop, and he hesitated a moment to regain his bearings. With an extra boost of determination, Nick tore through the tops of the trees as if he were a lightening bolt. His destination was the origin of the gunshot. Within seconds, he was on the scene, but he held back, hovering out of sight behind a tree. There below him, walking in the direction of the cabin, was Tudor, his wrists handcuffed behind him. Adam followed with a gun in his hand. Nick watched with new admiration for his partner. Adam had almost single-handedly solved the crime, and then had made it back to the cabin in time to stop the criminal from running away, disarming him and cuffing him with what appeared to be a practiced expertise. He could have left it all to Adam. He didn't have to worry. He hadn't needed to rush to Adam's rescue because he didn't need rescuing. Not like Marcus, and just like Marcus. The vampire smiled, then quickly made his way back to the cabin. (to be continued ...) -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com. From v4s@FKFANFIC.COMMon May 26 14:41:53 1997 Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 01:03:13 -0400 From: Virtual Fourth Season To: FKFIC-L@psuvm.psu.edu Subject: V4S: Adam's Apple (22/22) Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #12 Episode Title: "Adam's Apple" "Air" Date: May 18, 1997 Author: Beth A. Washington Part 22 of 22 This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1997 Beth Washington -------------------------- ADAM'S APPLE The precinct was buzzing with the normal activity of the night shift, and Nick sat in his desk chair soaking it all in. It was such a pleasure to be back to normal duty that Nick wouldn't care if the captain gave him a case that involved finding some little girl's lost kitten. At the thought of the captain, Nick turned his attention to Reese's office, where he could still hear the captain's voice chewing out his partner. If he concentrated a little, he could tell that Adam had disobeyed orders a second time, and had not been wearing a wire, and Reese was a little more than pissed. Adam defended his decision, saying that he was afraid of a drug dealer catching him with the wire. When Reese stated that no one could have come in to help him if things had gone wrong, Adam stated that it wouldn't have mattered, because there would have been no one to be saved. He would have been dead. Reese fell silent and Nick stopped listening in. Natalie entered the bullpen, saw Nick sitting at his desk, and walked over to him. "Hi," she greeted. "I stopped by to congratulate you and Adam on the case." She glanced around at Adam's empty chair and asked, "Where's..." Nick glanced at the captain's office and Natalie followed his eyes. "What happened?" Natalie asked in a low voice. "It seems he didn't follow the captain's orders, twice," replied the detective. Natalie winced. "But he solved the crime, found the real killer. Maybe the captain will cut him some slack," she theorized. Nick only shrugged, then turned to look as the captain's office door opened as Adam exited. Nick's partner slowly walked over to his desk and practically threw himself into his chair, letting out a big sigh. Both Nick and Natalie looked at him questioningly. "I don't want to talk about it," he stated with a resigned tone in his voice. "That bad?" inquired Nick. Adam smirked sarcastically. "Let's just say I'm skating on ice so thin that cockroaches would have to worry about falling through and drowning in the freezing depths below." Nick rolled his eyes as Natalie whistled. There were a few moments of uneasy silence. Natalie spoke up first, changing the subject. "So, what really happened? How did you know Tudor Montgomery was the killer?" Adam's expression brightened a little at Natalie's question. "It seems that Tudor had become a drug dealer and had decided that the only way he was going to make it big was to get rid of Dimitri Aragopoulos and take over his territory," Adam explained. "He knew that Sid Corso had had some dealings with Aragopoulos, and knew they were meeting. He set up his video camera to film the meeting, planning to shoot Aragopoulos himself and frame Corso for the murder. But when he fired the gun, he missed his target and killed Corso instead. He then decided to try and frame Aragopoulos for Corso's murder, thus landing Aragopoulos in jail, and out of the drug business." "What made you suspect Tudor?" asked Natalie. "His records at the Fees Department," answered Adam. "He was all paid up for two semesters, and had done so in one payment of cash. When the captain looked into his family finances, we found out that he is from a broken home. His mother works as a nurse at a local rest home, and his father took off and has never paid a cent of child support. Not to mention, Tudor has never held a job for more than two weeks at a time. The money had to be coming from somewhere, and it wasn't coming from anyplace legitimate." "What about Becca and the guy that Corso was playing gopher for? Did you ever find out who he is?" asked Nick. "Yeah, Principal Whittier. Becca opened up and told the guys on day shift everything she knew. She had been afraid to tell me, because Principal Whittier had threatened to revoke her scholarship. He had been following her around campus and knew where she lived. Anyway, he was buying drugs from Aragopoulos, through Corso, and was shipping the stuff to the States, making big bucks. The captain just issued an APB for his arrest. We'll see him later tonight." Adam looked pleased. Natalie seemed impressed, and Nick was definitely impressed with his partner. Nick even admired a little Adam's temerity in disobeying orders and managing not to lose his job over it. Adam reminded him a little of himself. Rebecca Dixon entered the bullpen from the back hallway that led to the holding cells, and she smiled as she recognized Adam. Adam caught sight of her, then sank down into his chair. "Did she see me?" he asked. Nick nodded, smiling mischievously, and Natalie corroborated Nick's response. "Hi, Detective Knight," greeted Becca. Then as she made her way around Adam's desk so he could see her, she added. "Hi, Adam. I didn't know you were a detective." "Homicide detective," Nick corrected with a proud smile. "And my partner!" Adam snarled at him. Becca looked impressed. "It's a job," Adam responded. Becca smiled. "You just look so young. I never would have guessed you were old enough." Nick caught a chuckle with his hand over his mouth and turned away, and Natalie was obviously trying to keep a straight face. Adam, noticing their responses, curbed his own retort. "Can I offer you a ride back to campus? This has all been hard on you, and I really appreciate your help. I'd like to help you out if I can," offered Adam. Becca's expression was one of surprise as she commented, "Your accent...it's gone." Adam grinned sheepishly. "Oh, I suppose it was part of the undercover act," she guessed. "You mad?" Adam tentatively asked, "I mean, I did use you to get information." Becca looked thoughtful. "No. You may have used me, but I could tell that you really did care what happened to me. It's too bad you really aren't a student at U of T." Adam blushed, and his partner ribbed him, "What would Kelly think, especially with all those wedding invitations that need addressing?" Adam shot Nick a sharp look, then turned back to Becca. "About that ride...." "I'd love one," she quickly answered. "It's too bad you're not available. I would have liked going to a movie with you or something." "Or something..." Nick repeated quietly to Natalie. They both smiled as they watched Adam escort Becca out the front door of the precinct. Adam either didn't hear his partner's remark, or he was doing a damned good job of ignoring it. The End -------------------------------------------- A note from Beth: I would like to take a moment to thank all of the many, many people who helped me out on this project. I would like to thank the alpha readers for making some very useful comments and pointing out those things that make you go "duh!" after you go back and read what was originally written. I also want to single out John Folden and Mel Moser for finding the time to help me out and for offering support when I was ready to quit! I would like to thank Sara Orel, and her friends, the doctor and Spifff, for all of the help with the flashbacks, making sure the medical scenes were accurate, and for helping make the scenes at the University of Toronto closer to reality. Many, many thanks to the beta readers who did a thorough job finding all of my many punctuation and grammar problems. Again, a special thanks to TJ, for his words of support and encouragement, especially when I needed it most near the end. And last but not least, to my husband, who once again allowed me to hog the computer for hours, helped me find a Powerbook so I could write on the road, watched the kids so I could work, for not grumbling when I crawled into bed at 1:30am repeatedly (with cold feet), and for understanding and supporting me in this effort! Without all of these people, this story never, ever would have been finished. --Thanks! -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com.