Natalie Vs. Mana
by Tammy Morrison


Nick wandered into his apartment lathargically. Dawn was nearly on
them and he felt the call of his bed rather strongly. As he entered
his living room he noticed Natalie sitting in his overstuffed armchair
with a green bottle sitting beside her and one of his wineglasses in
hand about to sip some familiar looking red liquid. Needless to say
this brought some life back into him. "Nat, unless LaCroix has done
something I'll kill him for, your not equipped to drink that stuff."

Nick raced to her side as she took a long pull from the glass and began
to sputter. Grabbing the glass from Natalie's hand, he looked down
disapprovingly.

"Not what you think", Natalie gasped out between sputters, "one of the
girls from work gave me a bottle of Ribena for a late birthday present."

"I'd check out if that girl has her eye on your job, Nat. If you keep
drinking that stuff you will be "late" and I'll have to bring you over.
That stuff will kill you!" Nick took the bottle and glass and dumped
them into his sink.

Natalie recovered from her coughing fit and shivered, "Nick, will you
turn on the fireplace. It's freezing in here. What's the matter with
your air conditioning?"

"The unit is busted, Nat and I've been so busy at work I haven't had a
chance to run it in", Nick walked over to an old box fan and kicked it,
"so I'm stuck with this psycho fan until I can get something else. It
just never knows when to quit."

"They never do", Natalie agreed sagely with some experience as Nick
picked up the remote control, lowering the blinds and igniting the
fireplace, "So why do you look so beat, Nick? You look like something
left over from Woodstock."

"Rash of disappearances, all over the city, like something out of the
X-files or that ol' TV show... On in the late 80's.." Nick smiled
knowing Nat's next response.

"Don't even say the W words, Nick! You know what I'll do to you if
you do?" Natalie snarled at Nick looking decidely too preditory.

Nick nodded non-committally as he plunked down on his sofa. "So are
you staying the day or heading for home?"

"Which would you prefer, Nick?" Natalie waggled her eyebrows at Nick
suggestively.

"Haha, funny, Nat. Don't push your luck, I might just take you up on
that someday." Nick shook his head and began to climb the stairs to
his bedroom. "Stay, I won't have to worry about you getting grabbed
by some strange bogeyman this way."

"No, all I have to worry about is getting grabbed by the bogeyman
I know... Or worrying I won't." Natalie smiled to herself as pillows
and a blanket were tossed down to the couch by an unseen figure in
the loft. "Ah, well. To life immortal."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

LaCroix was concerned by the rash of disappearances as well. Mainly
it was infringing on his people's prey and that was something he could
not allow. But also it was bad for the Raven's business and he didn't
like to lose money. So, Lacroix found himself entering the Toronto
Coroner's building in search of either his prodigal son or his son's
favorite "dish". As he wandered into the morgue, he noted that neither
Nicholas nor Natalie were around, so decided to kill some time until
they got back and conducted a "pantry" raid. In his investigation of
the cooler, he found a half eaten twinkie, with some candles in it, of
dubious edibility when fresh and now at least two years old, a box with
a black silk and lace "teddy" wrapped in pink tissue that he decided
would make the doctor look edible, a couple of "empties" that Nicholas
had obviously left behind and his quarry, several full bags of O type
blood. Still his favorite after all this time. He then moved to a
comfortable stretcher at the back of the morgue and started to feast.
An hour or so passed and LaCroix had gorged himself to the point of
being near comatose, so he decided to lay back and have a little "cat"
nap.

About a half hour later, Natalie entered the morgue a little nauseous
at what she was going to have to dissect when the techs brought it in.
She had been called to a crime scene, typically one of Nick's, to
collect a body which from the looks of it had had acid dripped over it
while being set on fire. She had never encountered that kind of damage
before, and neither had Nick. It was, to say the least, disgusting.
This was going to be one of nights.

LaCroix awoke to movement in the lab and noted Natalie sitting at her
desk with her back to him, and more importantly her back to some brown,
awful monster which was sneaking up behind her. Shrugging resignedly and
then swinging into action with a swiftness only vampirism could bring,
he sprang behind the creature wielding a random piece of medical
equipment and proceded to run the creature through. After all, it was a
matter of principal, Natalie was either his or his son's rightful prey
not a victim for some reject from a 50's B-movie. As the creature took
the fatal blow it began to melt into a puddle of green protoplasmic ichor,
LaCroix knelt to take a better look and that was the moment Natalie chose
to come out of her state of obliviousness to notice her guests.

"LaCroix, I should have known I'd get a visit from you tonight. What's
that green gunk all over my nice clean floor?" Natalie crossed her arms
in front of herself and stamped her foot angrily.

LaCroix looked up at Natalie with a vaguely amused look on his face.
"Well, it's not oatmeal!" He stood slowly to face his son's girlfriend,
"It's nice to see you too, Dr. Lambert. I don't suppose you know why
there was a one eyed, Bug Eyed Monster sneaking up on you. Do you?"
LaCroix copied Natalie's pose with a sneer on his face.

"Alright, LaCroix. I appologize, okay. Thank you for saving my short,
mortal existance..." Natalie nearly gagged on her own words.

"Such sincerity, mon chere", LaCroix smiled indulgently and handed the
now slime smeared medical penlight he had used to stake the creature back
to Natalie.

"Maybe, I'd be more grateful if you hadn't wrecked maglite doing it!"
She waved the penlight away and had LaCroix dump it in the sink. "So,
should I get involved in yet another situation that should only happen on
Friday the 13th or should I just wash that gunk down the drain with a
bucket of water?"

LaCroix looked at Natalie critically and shrugged, "You should have known
your life would be turned into a Twilight Zone episode if you took up
with a vampire."

"For once, I agree, LaCroix", Natalie shrugged and sighed, donning medical
gloves and retrieving several empty slides from beside her microscope,
"Besides, I know how these things go. This seemingly random event will
have major consequences in relation to Nick's current case."

LaCroix nodded wisely, "It seems I am to be a 'good guy' this time around.
How very disappointing. I hate playing the hero, it makes me nervous."

Natalie shrugged as she carefully scraped gunk onto her slide, "Well it's
best to roll with the punches, LaCroix."

Nick entered to find his nemesis and his lady in the same room and jumped
to his usual conclusion. Growling menacingly, and pushing Natalie behind
him, he confronted LaCroix, "Stay away from her, LaCroix. She's not for
you."

LaCroix looked amused as Natalie stood and tapped Nick on the shoulder,
"Nick, he saved my life."

"I don't care what promise I made to you lifetimes ago. Natalie isn't a
pawn in your game with me. She can't just be brought over to torment me.
She's not an object, she has her own mind, she makes decisions for
herself." Nick continued his tirade and LaCroix continued to look amused.

"NICK, LaCroix saved me from the monster that was going to get me",
Natalie again tried vainly to capture Nick's attention.

"Natalie isn't cursed with our immortality. She should be allowed to
have a normal human life. To have kids, a family..." Nick continued on
as Natalie once again mentioned.

"NICHOLAS DE BRABANT, Lucien LaCroix SAVED me from the ugly, bug eyed
monster that was trying to pull a "Mars Needs Women" on me. Oh, I give
up.. ARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Nicholas's monologue continued unheard as Natalie
held her head as if she felt a migraine coming on.

"Perhaps he'd listen to you more closely, Dr., if you wore that little
black number so carefully hidden in your blood storage unit." LaCroix
suggested helpfully.

"What... I... Ohhh...", Natalie blushed several very appetizing shades
of red and then looked around as she realized what LaCroix had gotten
into and spotted the other mess he had left at the back of the morgue,
"You pig! You make a bigger mess than Nick does at his worst times!"

"Well, table manners were quite different in my time", LaCroix shrugged
indifferently.

Natalie rolled her eyes and looked at Nick, who was still tirading at
LaCroix. "Has he always been this... vocal?" Natalie was seriously
reconsidering her feelings toward her vampire "lover".

"Well, you know he goes through centuries where he practically says
nothing.. So I suppose he has to let it out or he'd explode." LaCroix
replied philosophically. Natalie nodded, she'd noticed Nick would shut
up where he wouldn't talk to her either and then all of a sudden 'boom'
and his mouth seemed to runneth over. "So have you ever actually made
the decision to not become a vampire, Doctor?"

"Actually, I have made the decision at least once before to BECOME a
vampire. But Nick wouldn't comply. Seems he's only going to bring me
across if I can't make a decision, like if I'm dying or dead and can't
talk." Natalie shrugged, "I can think of more pleasant ways of having it
done."

"So only if he takes the decision out of your hands. Perhaps there's
hope for him yet." LaCroix smiled and then nodded as Nick said something
that seemed to require a response from him.

"Like father, like son, I suppose", Natalie responded.

Suddenly Nick stopped as his brain realized that Natalie and LaCroix were
having a conversation behind his back (literally) and without him.
Besides the fact that they weren't listening to him either. "Wait a
second, Nat, did I hear you right?"

"About what Nick? The mess LaCroix left, the fact you'll only bring me
across in dire circumstances or that LaCroix saved my life from some bug
eyed monster..." Natalie asked sarcastically.

"Ummm..", Nick flushed slightly red, "Actually about LaCroix saving your
life.. We'll have to talk about the other stuff later."

"Sure, Knight.. That's what you always say!" Natalie looked vaguely
disgusted. "Apparently some monster was sneaking up on me.. In fact that
puddle of green glop that you're standing in is it's remains.. By the way,
I'd get out of it.. Might eat a hole through your expensive leather
shoes."
Nick hopped out of the gunk and sat on the autopsy table to pull his shoes
off so he could inspect them for holes. "I was just about to put this
slide on the microscope to try to figure out what it was, or what it's
made
of, when you burst in here to me from LaCroix."

"Alright, Nat, you're mad at me. And in this case, I'd say you have a
right to be." Nick made an attempt at looking cowed and pathetic,
"I'm sorry, I jumped to conclusions about you and LaCroix."

Natalie looked at Nick, then looked at LaCroix as she tried to contain her
laughter. As she noted LaCroix was doing the same LaCroix looked at her
and they both lost all control, "Me and LaCroix... Oh that's rich!" She
said out loud as she doubled over laughing.

Nick looked confused, then startled, and then started to get angry, "If
you two would care to break up your mutual admiration society here, we
might get on with figuring out why Natalie was almost grabbed by your
so-called BEM, LaCroix."

"Well, Nicholas, I don't know really. I just came here to see if you
could use some help with finding out what's happening to the humans in the
city. I mean not that I care for them or anything but it's rather like
cattle rustling to us, vampires. I guess we can assume that the puddle of
green glop on the floor is our main suspect." LaCroix looked
apologetically at Natalie who shrugged and went back to inspecting the
sample in her microscope.

"Actually, LaCroix, yes I could use some help. Oh and thank you for
saving Nat for me." Nick held out his hand as a peace offering and
LaCroix looked at Nick like he was crazy.

"Let's get on with this, Nicholas, this 'good guy' schtick is really
rather boring for me and I'm afraid it might be contagious after what
happened to Janette."

"Okay, LaCroix, whatever you say. Come on Nat, pack up whatever you want
to take with you, but you're coming down with something and I'm taking you
back to my place so I can take care of you." Natalie sighed resignedly
and packed a microscope, slides, and her samples into her medical bag and
walked out in front of Nick leaving LaCroix alone in the morgue.

"Of course I saved her... LaCroix always saves, in case he's hungry
later."


Malzor sighed. Finally, Mana had gone back to her laboratory. She was
enough to give anyone migraines. If only those, whatever they were, had
not interfered with his attempt to 'possess' the human coroner, Dr.
Natalie Lambert. She was the perfect solution to eternity with Mana.
Just possess her, kill Mana, and have the Morthran who took the human's
body take Mana's identity, position and power. Of course, this Mana
would be firmly under his control. Now if only he could deduce where the
mutated human hemovores had hidden the woman and as long as they didn't
infect her with their particular contagion, he could still inact his plan
to get rid of his painfully annoying counterpart.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Natalie was sitting on Nick's couch under several layers of blankets,
with the fireplace on high, a mug of hot Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup
in hand, and sniffling and shivering with every breath she took. Two
days of enforced 'captivity' in Nick's home had made her bored, stir
crazy, and worst of all had, thanks to Nick's fan, given her a cold that
made her wish she would die and made her afraid she wouldn't. Ah well,
she thought to herself, it'll all be over soon. Tonite, LaCroix and
Nick had decided to call a war council against the alien menace they had
discovered was threatening their 'peaceful' Toronto home. Suddenly,
there was a flurry of movement and Janette was standing in front of
Natalie looking concerned.

"Doctor, whatever is the matter? You are not dying are you? I came
because I felt my distress." Janette sat down beside Nat on
the couch.

"Don't call Nick you're father, Janette! And no, I'm not dying. For
someone who so recently was human you think you'd recognize someone with
a little cold." Natalie started coughing because of all the talking she
was having to do. "Besides, why didn't you use the door like 'normal'
people do? Why do you and LaCroix have this obsession with skylights."

"When you can fly, why not use the skylight? And as to recognizing your
cold, perhaps it's your coloring that made me think you were dying,
Natalie. When you're sick you look all red and blotchy and your eyes
puff up and..."

"Enough with the description already.. I'm not an immortal vampire who
looks perfect all the time, OKAY." Natalie was acutely aware of how
elegant, beautiful and perfect Janette looked, how much like a wrung
out dish rag she currently resembled and really wished she had a sharp
stick right now. Of course, she wasn't sure whether she'd use it on
herself or Janette with the way she was feeling.

"No matter, I can help. I have just the thing in my bag here, just need
a spoon." Janette wandered off to the kitchen and came back with a
bottle of cough syrop in one hand and a spoon in the other.

"Hold it right there, Janette! You're not a doctor and you're not my
mother. I can dose myself." Natalie took the spoon and gave herself
some medicine as Janette looked on with a decidedly maternal expression.
Natalie was about to say something scathing as Nick's buzzer went off.

As Natalie went to get up, Janette shook her head. "I can get it,
Natalie. You just stay there and rest." Janette went to the door and
looked at the monitor. "It's some perky, blonde girl who says she's
Nick's partner. I think I prefered Schanke."

"Yeah, that'd be Trace. I guess Nick must have decided to let her in
on the war party. Let her up." Natalie settled down under the blankets
and tried to look as healthy as possible.

Tracy bounced in and smiled exuberantly at Natalie, "Ooh, bad cold, huh,
Nat? Must not have been taking your multi-vitamins, right!"

Natalie rolled her eyes, reminding herself not to act like anyone's
mother ever again, because she was paying for every time she had done it
before, right now. "Yeah, thanks for your concern, Trace."

"You know, Nat, your cold could be from riding with the top down in
Nick's boat of a car. I still don't see why they let him drive that thing.
It shouldn't even be street legal anymore with all the toxic emissions
cars that old give off." Tracy commented with a look of disapproval at
Natalie, typical of a young person who feels she's inheriting a mess from
a previous generation.

"Tracy, I don't need a lecture from you right now. If you have a
complaint, take it up with your partner, !" Natalie grumbled at the
younger woman.

"Hey, no problem." Tracy looked at Janette closely for a second, "Don't
I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't think so my dear", Janette said and then the accompanying
heartbeat picked up, "And it wouldn't do for you to remember either."

Natalie started to shake her head at Janette, trying desperately to catch
her attention. However while neither Janette nor Tracy noticed Natalie,
Tracy did catch on to what Janette was trying to do to her. "So that's
why Nick protected you... That jerk! He knows about vampires too!"
Janette raised an enquiring eyebrow at Natalie, who mouthed at Janette to
just go along with it. Janette gave in to the wisdom of Natalie's
knowledge of the girl and let it go.

"Precisely, Dr. Lambert is also keenly aware of the situation." Tracy
turned on Natalie, who shrugged.

"Well, Trace, you know.. She's Nick's sister and all... We're practically
family." Natalie forced a smile and patted the couch to invite Janette
to sit beside her.

Janette walked over and sat down companionably beside Natalie putting her
arm over Natalie's shoulders, "Yes, I am sure we'll be sisters soon
enough."

"You mean Nick's popped the question?" Tracy looked at Natalie excitedly.
Natalie groaned inside, to cops weddings were occasions and if even
a rumor broke out, Nick would be forced to marry her or move on.

"Not yet, Trace. You know Nick... Better keep it under your hat. If it
gets out he's thinking about it, he'll get cold feet and all." Natalie
breathed a sigh of relief as Tracy nodded and winked conspiritorially.

Just as the conversation was probably about to take another even more
uncomfortable path a commotion in the elevator announced the arrival of
Nick, LaCroix, Vachon and three human guests. "I see all of the ladies
have arrived", LaCroix noted appreciatively.

"Janette, I wasn't expecting you", Nick walked over to his 'daughter'
and offered her his hands.

Janette looked at Nick with anger still in her eyes and her heart and
then sighed, "I couldn't let you have all the fun now could I?"

"I don't know if this can be classified as fun, young lady." One of the
human guests spoke up. He was fairly tall with reddish brown curly hair,
a beard and mustache. He held out his hand to Janette, "Dr. Blackwood,
and I am very pleased to make your acquaintance even if it is under most
unpleasant circumstances."

"I am Janette DuCharme, this is Natalie Lambert and she is..."

"Tracy Vetter, Detective Tracy Vetter... I'm Detective Knight's partner."
Tracy said offering her hand to Dr. Blackwood who shook it quickly and
headed to the couch where Natalie was resting.

"So, you're the one the aliens were after.. Means they must need you for
something and that means we have to keep you out of their hands. Oh,
excuse my manners or lack thereof. These are my associates, Dr. Suzanne
McCullough, and Mr. John Kincaid."

Janette raised an eyebrow, glancing towards Nick and LaCroix, "Really
gentlemen, aliens trying to take over Toronto. Even I find this a bit
beyond reality, even our sort of reality."

"Believe it, Miss DuCharme", Kincaid said abruptly as he leaned against
the brown brick wall of Nick's apartment. Janette gestured to the guests
to come and sit down in the living "room".

Natalie looked as though she was totally bewildered by the events
unfolding around her. At the best of times, it was hard to keep up with
Nick and the problems with his lifestyle but when your head felt like it
was full of fluffy lead, oh boy! Suddenly Natalie was surrounded by
warm and not so warm bodies, all chattering about the aliens, why they
would choose Toronto as their next target city and why they'd choose
Natalie as their first human target in this city. At this point she felt
eight pairs of eyes focused on her as she tried to shake her head clear.
"What? Why are you all staring at me? If I knew why they were after me,
I'd tell you... I can't read their minds. It's not like I'm some psychic
superheroine out of a Marvel Comic or something!"

"So what's the plan?" Vachon asked taking his arm off of Tracy's
shoulders. "All this talking is beginning to get to me. I mean I'm kind
of used to action so let's get on with it."

"For once, I agree with the young spaniard. Let's stop all this talking
and get on with getting rid of the alien pests once and for all."
LaCroix looked annoyed and bored. Besides the fact that he had eyed Dr.
McCullough's neck one time too many for Nick and Natalie's comfort.

"I'd suggest a three pronged attack", John Kincaid spoke up quickly,
"Preferably I'd like one from the air but I doubt you people have access
to any kind of air support."

"If I can have Nick and Janette on my team, I can get you air support",
Vachon smiled slyly, "I just love to fly helicopters!"

"That would be great, even if it is only a civilian aircraft", Kincaid
nodded approvingly at Vachon. Janette and Nick both looked at each
other worriedly.

"Who said anything about civilian", Vachon whispered at a level that
only vampires would hear and both Nick and Janette's heads were
suddenly cradled in their hands.

"Excuse me people, but did I miss something here", Natalie grumbled,
"Why are we making attack plans when we don't even know where the alien
base is?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Nat", Nick placed a gentle hand on Natalie's shoulder,
"We forgot to tell you ladies in all the confusion and planning. We
found the alien base down by the docks, that's where we met up with our
friends here."

"Great of you to share this with your..." Tracy, Janette and Natalie all
said at once but each had their own ending.
"Partner"
"Sister"
"umm.. Girlfriend?"

"So, Vachon, Nick and Janette are the team responsible for air support",
Kincaid nodded approvingly, "Now how to split the rest of us up."

LaCroix spoke up then, "For reasons my friends", he indicated Vachon
and Nick, "and I discussed earlier Detective Vetter and Dr. Lambert will
be on my team. There may be special 'problems' that you would encounter
if you tried to integrate them into your group, so soon after tonite."

"What's so special about tonite? Besides I don't think we should risk
taking Dr. Lambert near the aliens if she's their target, not to mention
that cold of her's could easily become pneumonia." Dr. McCullough spoke
up loudly.

"Do not concern yourself with Dr. Lambert's health, we have a way to cure
both her unfortunate illness caused by the carelessness of Detective
Knight and to protect her from the alien menace." LaCroix smiled
disarmingly at Suzanne.

Natalie, however was not so easily placated. By LaCroix's words she had
gathered that tonite either she'd be lunch, unlikely as Nick was here, or
she'd be... She gulped reflexively and looked at Nick with nervous eyes,
he smiled apologetically and held his hand out to her which she grabbed
ahold of like a lifeline. Just as she had thought Nick would only bring
her across in dire circumstances but at least, she'd be alive when he
did it, which meant they might actually have some fun before she became a
vampire. That was better than being dead by circumstances other than
Nick's fangs and having Nick bleed into her mouth to save her. Natalie
looked over at Tracy, whom she assumed would also have a stake in this
particular decision the men seemed to have made for them, but as normal
Tracy was oblivious.

"Well, I'm not thrilled about all of us who are experienced with non-human
menaces being stacked into one team, but I suppose I can assign you three
to an area of low risk." Kincaid stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Alright
you three are on the docks to the west of the warehouse, mainly you'll be
look out and keeping the local heat away from us. I take it Detective
Vetter, daughter of this fair city's police commissioner can handle that."

Tracy smiled, "I'm not sure I believe in all this X-files type stuff but
hey, after meeting Vachon... If he says there's aliens, there's aliens!
Yeah, I can handle it."

"Alright, if we're all ready, I'd suggest we all meet back here an hour
after dusk tommorrow." Nick stood and began to usher the three humans to
the door, "After all it's almost midnight and I think we all need our
rest."

As LaCroix and Nick were saying goodbye to the humans at the elevator,
Janette came over to try to help calm Natalie for what would be the
biggest change in her lifestyle she had ever faced. "So, whatever happened
to Detective Schanke? Nick never told me last time I was around."

"If you're trying to take my mind off of what's going to happen, Janette,
that was not your best choice. Schank' died in a plane crash earlier
this year. He was delivering a prisoner to Edmonton." Natalie sniffed
back a tear and wiped her face. Schanke had always wanted to see Nick
and Natalie married, although she knew this wasn't quite what he had in
mind.

"Well, I suppose that's a reason to go to Edmonton. But to die on the
way there, how depressing." Janette winced in distaste.

Tracy overhearing the discussion about Edmonton, broke away from Vachon
and came over to where Janette and Natalie were talking. "Hey, don't
knock the city that much, I hear they have a really good ballet school."

Natalie nodded, "Yeah, there are some things to be said for the place.
Richard and I went to the Citidel Theatre there and saw a really good
production of 'Pride and Prejudice'."

"Janette, it is time", LaCroix called to her from the elevator where he
stood.

Janette nodded, gave Natalie an impetuous hug and whispered in her ear,
"Don't let Nick feed you cow's blood in the morning! For one thing if
you drink it that's what you'll crave.. FOREVER. For another, I've
never met a vampire who's had animal blood first, that has an IQ higher
than that of an badly abused lab rat. And finally and most importantly,
it's like drinking american beer when you've had canadian... Watered
down horse..."

"Alright, Janette, I get the picture! Human blood it is!" Natalie waved
Janette away, impatient to get on with the festivities.

"Oh and Doctor, wait til you've seen Nichola in tights... Purrr!"
Janette smiled deviously and strolled over to where LaCroix was waiting.

"Hey Trace, you want to come with me back to my place?" Vachon called
out.

"Sure", Tracy scampered towards her vampire friend, "See ya later, Nat.
Good luck with Nick!"

"Yeah, sure Trace", Natalie shook her head bewildered, "Thanks!"

Tracy waved as she followed Vachon out. "Does she know, Nat?" Nick asked
confused by Tracy's remark.

"Nope, she think's you're asking me to marry you tonite. So are you?"
Natalie looked at Nick with a bemused look in her eyes.

"Think you can put up with me for eternity? I know you're patient, but
come on Nat, even you have your limits." Nick smiled.

"I haven't found them, yet; besides you have it reversed, you're the
patient. Come on, Nick, I better drag you upstairs before you have a
chance to over analyze this. Or before you get a chance to figure out
how much more stable and less wild your vampiric life will be with me
around as your mate." Natalie started to drag Nick upstairs until he
swept her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way up.

"I don't know, your brand of stability might be nice for a change."

"I sure hope Vachon let's Tracy in on us or I'm in for a long night
tommorrow", Natalie groaned.

"Worry about that later, woman. We've been waiting five years for this!"

"You're right", Natalie growled as she threw herself and Nick to the bed.


Mana, of course, knew about Malzor's pathetic little plot to do away with
her and replace her with that human woman and another Morthran.
Simplistic, what else could she expect of one of the limited intellegence
of Malzor. Ah well, his plot merely made her own plans that much easier
to implement. Of course, the human woman would have to be liquidated,
but her hemovore mate would make an interesting test subject. She was
anxious to dissect him and find out what it is about the mutagenic virus
that his kind carry that make them impervious to take over by Morthrans
and to find out if she could utilize it in anyway.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dusk came all to quickly for Natalie. Nick hadn't disappointed her and
even when he drove his fangs into her neck, it had been enjoyable in a
wierd sort of way. She had been inundated by Nick's memories then had
felt herself fading and falling and then suddenly she was drawn back into
her body to a salty-sweet taste in her mouth. Then she fell into a
fitfull sleep only to awaken now, hungrier than she could have ever
imagined. "Gah", was the most intellegable thing that came out of her
mouth as she rolled from Nick's bed wrapped in one of his silk sheets
and looked at herself in the mirror. The fangs she could handle, the
eye's made her look like one of Sidney's 'dates'. She spotted Nick's
sunglasses on his dresser and threw them on, descending the stairs to
find some 'breakfast'. Natalie didn't see Nick anywhere but she did see
a bottle of what she knew was LaCroix's 'finest' sitting on the kitchen
counter. Without thinking about it she grabbed it, yanked the cork out
and began her first feeding. The rational part of her mind was disgusted,
but that wasn't the part in control of her body right now, and the blood
tasted so good. It was better than any of the birthday cakes Nick had
ever bought her.

"Hey, Nat. Sorry, I wasn't here when you got up. But I hate to tell you
you're a late riser and I didn't have the heart to try to wake you early,
but they'll be here in about ten minutes." Nick smiled, "What's with
the sunglasses? I can understand the sheet but..."

"Some concerned mate you turn out to be", Natalie grumbled at Nick, "Not
even here when I wake up, no breakfast in bed, and then he picks at my
dressing habits." Nick looked slightly abashed and then Natalie smiled
winningly, displaying her now more prominent canines. "Don't worry, just
playing with you... I can handle the fangs but the eyes have got to go!
I guess I just never pictured myself as a night person. Besides, you
probably would have brought me cow's blood for breakfast and Janette
warned me about that. Some use I'd be to you with the IQ of Sidney's
lunch. Yeesh, luckily LaCroix thought to leave breakfast where I
could find it. I've got to shower."

Natalie wandered up the stairs, unconcernedly dropping the sheet about
half way up. Nick seriously wondered if there was anyway he could get
away with joining her and locking everyone else out of his apartment.
I mean haven't I put off being with Nat to save the world long enough,
he thought to himself. Nope, come on Knight, one more night and then
you've got eternity or until she comes up with a cure in which case you
have a lifetime. Looking at this logically, and considering how well
controlled Natalie seemed to be, he began to wonder why he had put it
off for so long. Nick shook his head just as LaCroix and Janette
arrived through the skylight.

"Hello Father", Janette sniped at Nick, "So how's my little sister?"
There was a thousand questions packed into that one, but Nick decided
to ignore all but the obvious one.

"Don't call me , Janette", Nick scowled, "And as you know she's
fine."

LaCroix smiled, "Ah, sibling rivalry.. How sweet."

Just then Tracy and Vachon arrived, through the skylight. "Don't know
why I bothered to have a security camera at the door put in.. Should have
put an electronic lock, buzzer and camera on the bloody skylight." Nick
grumbled and pulled a bottle of cow's blood from the refrigerator,
Natalie hadn't left him any of the good stuff.

Tracy stormed up to Nick and kicked him in the shins.. hard, "You jerk!
You could'a told me."

Nick blinked at her and sighed, "Typical rebellious youth of today!"

"What, feeling all of your almost eight hundred years today, love?"
Natalie said as she came down the stairs still mostly wet in a man's
black tank top and a pair of combat pants obviously raided from Nick's
closet.

Nick looked up at Natalie and raised his eyebrows questioningly, "Not
quite the "Dana Scully" look, Nat. I was expecting something a little
less "Rambo" and a little more secret agent-ish."

Natalie looked over at Janette, "Did you ever try cutting him off for a
century or two to discipline him?" Janette smiled as if to say be
careful what you wish for and just shook her head.

"Enough fighting, children", LaCroix spoke up finally, "While this is
all terribly amusing, our human 'friends' will be here very soon and I
think we should try to keep the 'code' intact."

"Ah, kind of a conspiracy of silence, hmm, LaCroix", Natalie interjected
and LaCroix nodded approvingly.

Nick finally pulled out a large duffle bag that banged and clanked
ominously. "Why I wasn't here when you woke, Nat." Nick responded to
the unasked question which was evident in Natalie's face. "My arsenal.
It isn't much, but then I didn't expect to have to put down an alien
invasion in the near future." Nick opened the bag and started to
distribute several different handguns; all of which he had carried at
some point while working as a police officer. As well he pulled out a
large double barreled sawed off shotgun, which suprizingly Natalie
claimed with no hesitation.

Janette reached into the duffle and pulled out a well maintained tommy
gun. "Now this I remember", Janette smiled and Natalie raised a
questioning eyebrow, "You mean he didn't tell you about our time as
gin runners."

Natalie gave Nick a dark look, at which point he merely smiled and
replied, "Later".

Nick reached into the duffle one last time after holstering his
automatic, and gave a nostalgic sigh. "Nice to be able to use you again
ol' girl", he whispered as he pulled out a crusader's broadsword,
remarkably well preserved and sharp.

"Enough with the blatant sentimentality, Nicholas", LaCroix grumbled,
"You are worse than most of the humans I have to put up with! Let us
get on with the task at hand."

"Geez, what a pain that guy is.." Tracy commented quietly as LaCroix
paced over to the elevator, "Why do you put up with him, Nick?"

"We all have our crosses to bear, Tracy", Nick replied solumnly as he
reverantly sheathed his sword.

Natalie leaned towards Janette and whispered, "Yeah, now I know why
Nick's allergic to 'em ."

Janette giggled at Natalie's potentially dangerous comment as the buzzer
for Nick's door went off. "Alright everyone, remember what you are now!
We don't need them deciding we're the next plague of monsters to be
wiped out." Janette looked at the two youngest vampires disapprovingly as
both Tracy and Natalie 'vamped' out and stuck their tongues out at her.

LaCroix rolled his eyes and cradled his head in his hands and Nick gave
both of them a stern look as he went to activate the elevator. "Come on
Nat. Don't make me regret this. We don't need our allies turning into
the children of Van Helsing." Natalie pouted prettily, then went back to
her normal calm, relaxed self and proceded to pack her pockets with ammo
for her shotgun.

"Well, everyone are we ready to go?" Blackwood asked as he entered Nick's
apartment.

"As ready as we'll ever be I suppose", supplied Natalie.

"Your cold cleared up rather quickly, Doctor", Dr. McCullough said
brightly as she entered behind Blackwood.

"Old family remedy. But you have to become part of the family to find
out about it." LaCroix smiled ominously.

"Yeah, and I finally popped the question to Nat last night", Nick
broke in quickly and scowled at LaCroix, "So she was able to take the
medicine."

"Pretty weird way to act about a cold remedy", Suzanne looked a little
disturbed.

"Yeah, well we're a pretty weird extended family", Vachon responded
quickly with a smirk on his face.

"Come on Vachon", Tracy said grabbing his arm and pulling him to her,
"Stop trying to bother the nice lady." Tracy smiled at Suzanne as if to
say you know how men are.

"All right, people, let's get serious here", Kincaid spoke up, "The
first order of the night is to help Mr. Vachon here liberate the
helicopter he told us about. Care to fill us in.."

"It's being stored in one of the warehouses by the docks until the film
company that owns the thing and who loaned it to the local air show can
pick it up. I checked to see if it was still there before we came tonite
and we're in luck. Now if Detective Knight and the lovely Janette can
help me acquire it for the evening and you people can cover our backs,
we'll have our air support for tonite's little party." Vachon smiled in
anticipation of getting to fly a helicopter he had fallen in love with
when he watched the TV series it was in. What was it called again.. Air
Fox or was it Blue Wolf? Oh well, tonite it was his for the taking.

"Okay, troops", Kincaid nodded as the group finished their final
preparations, "Let's get going."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Malzor entered the command area of their base to find a most interesting
sight. "Advocate Mana, what is the meaning of this display?"

"They are opposing us too heavily, Malzor. It is time we became
personally involved. It is the only solution I can deduce to capture
their leader and to cripple their fighting force." Mana stared coldly at
her counterpart.

"As usual, scientist, your logic is impecable. The sacrifice on your part
is highly commendable. This plan will succeed. To life immortal." Malzor
gloated inwardly, this would fit perfectly with his strategy.

"To life immortal", Mana responded.


All three of the 'commando' teams were positioned outside the warehouse
where the helicopter was being kept. "Hate to point this out gang but our
alien friends have guards all over this place", Vachon shook his head,
"I was hoping we could steal this thing nice and quiet like."

"Do this often do you?" Nick raised a questioning eyebrow at Vachon.

"Not in this current.." Vachon looked around at the humans, "Well you
know."

"Let's try and sneak our air support team in there past the sentries.
We'll all cover your backs." Kincaid whispered and smiled at Janette.

"I'd rather have you cover something else", Janette replied with a
seductive smile on her face.

"Maybe we can talk about that after we've wiped the aliens out",
Kincaid winked at Janette and took an appreciative glance before turning
to confer with Blackwood, Knight, Vachon and LaCroix.

Natalie crept up to Janette, "Is that ALL you ever think about?"

"What do you mean, little sister?" Janette smiled looking for a reaction
from Natalie.

Natalie ignored the sister comment and went right to the heart of her
concern, "I mean good looking men, sex, and blood. AT A TIME LIKE THIS!
Really Janette.."

"After a time, little one, you will realize that that is perfectly
normal for a vampiress." Janette smiled and moved towards LaCroix.

"I certainly hope not", Natalie shivered and shook her head.

"What were you and Janette chatting about Nat?" Nick crept over and
whispered to Natalie.

"Oh nothing, important, just that she says eventually I'll turn into a
sex crazed vampire like herself", Natalie scowled.

"Nope, no worry of that", Nick replied.

"What, you don't think I have it in me?" Natalie was getting more than
a little irate and her eyes began to turn golden.

"Didn't say that.. I just don't see that there's any changing to be done.
After last night I'd say you were already a sex crazed .." Nick was
swatted before he could finish his sentence. "Oh and I'd change my eyes
back if I were you.. They're glowing. Temper, temper." He bent down and
kissed her gently, "By the way you and Tracy are covering my back on the
way in." Natalie and Nick stood quietly and moved over to Tracy who
nodded and pulled her gun. "So any ideas of what we're going to do after
we're done saving Toronto?" Nick looked at Natalie.

"Go to Disneyland", Tracy offered helpfully.

Both Nick and Natalie glared at the girl who mouthed sorry and moved
slightly ahead of them taking point. "If I had changed instead of
changing you, I guess we'd be talking about family right now." Nick began
to take on one of his morose looks.

"Stop that, Nick. It's not like I am giving up on the cure and neither
should you. Besides with all of your money, heck, we can still adopt..
I mean there's always other women's children", Natalie smiled, "I mean
we should get in some practice." Nick's morose look faded into one of
thoughtfulness and as he looked up he saw a guard sneaking up on Tracy
with a blaster in hand. With no time to think Nick's instincts took
over and he threw himself on the would be assailant biting into it's
jugular. As he did Nick began to sputter and pulled away spitting green
stuff from his mouth as the guard melted into a familiar puddle.

"Thank's Knight", Tracy called out quietly, "but why didn't you shoot
the thing?" She then went back to scanning the area as Natalie
approached Nick's side.

"What's a matter? Is your little mouth sore now?" Natalie could barely
contain the amusement evident in her face.

Nick turned on Natalie more than a little angry, but when he saw the
glowing smile on her face he just sighed and shook his head, "Rule One.
These guys are not good to eat! We'd better catch up with Trace before
she gets herself into more trouble." They moved up and crouched behind
some crates where they could get a full view of the helicopter as well
as the alien possessed guards who were standing around the vehicle.
LaCroix and Kincaid were backing Vachon, and Blackwood and McCullough
were backing Janette as they took up their positions to either side of
the copter. Subtle hand signals were exchanged and Nick turned to
Natalie and Tracy, "Are you ladies ready to give me some covering fire?"

"Just keep that fool head of yours down and you'll get to your target",
Natalie supplied. Nick nodded and all at once Janette, Vachon and him
leaped over the crates as the others began to fire at the alien guards.
Gunfire and blaster shots echoed through the building as the air support
team tried to fight their way to the helicopter but reinforcements for the
alien side arrived and drove the valiant defenders back towards cover.

"Damn, why is it the bad guys always have extras and the good guys never
do?", Tracy yelled as she helped pull Nick to safety.

"If this were TV, some big, scary black guy with a heart of gold would
show up to help us", Natalie grumbled, "but we couldn't be so lucky."
There was a lull in gunfire as the aliens and defenders alike regrouped.

"And in this warehouse, one of the TV production companies are storing
an old helicopter", a familiar voice was saying as they entered the area.

"Captain Reese", Nick, Natalie and Tracy called out as they spotted him.

"Not exactly the big, black guy I was hoping for", Natalie sighed and
shook her head.

Reese looked over, "What was that Dr. Lambert? Hey, what are you three
doing here anyway? You guys are supposed to be taking a sick day." He
scowled at them.

"Uhhh.. Well..", the three looked at each other bewilderedly. Suddenly
the aliens again decided to fire on the intrepid group and Nick was
forced to pull the captain down with them.

"What the hell is going on, and why is Dr. Lambert dressed like an extra
for 'Alien'?" The captain asked above the blasting as Nick and Natalie
popped up and returned fire.

"Would you believe it's just another stakeout, Captain?", Nick asked
with a grin on his face.

"Well, Captain, these guys are aliens who are going to take over the
earth if we don't stop them", supplied Tracy helpfully as Nick and
Natalie groaned and consigned themselves to an eternity in a mental
institution.

"Oh, is that all. Good thing, I brought my old pal along", the Captain
smiled and called out, "Hey, Murphy. Got some target practice in here
for you.."

There was a mechanical whir and buzz as a overly tall man shaped cyborg
entered the warehouse, "You are under arrest. Please put your weapons
down peacefully." Blaster fire suddenly concentrated on the newest threat.
"Resisting arrest, very well."

The robot cop pulled a large caliber automatic from his leg and began
spraying the aliens with gunfire causing their numbers to decrease
rapidly. The puddle count rising dramatically, the aliens fell back
giving the defenders a chance to move their line forward. As the last
alien was struck by gunfire, a stray blaster bolt hit Officer Murphy
blowing a fist sized hole into his torso.

"Aw no", Captain Reese called out, "Not you too, Murph." Reese went to
the body of his fallen friend and crouched beside it. Nick, Natalie and
Tracy surrounded their captain in his time of grief as the others went to
arm the helicopter and check out it's readiness.

"I'm sorry, Captain", Nick said laying a hand on Reese's shoulder, "Where
did you know him from?"

"Another precinct I was in, back when I was just a desk sargent", Reese
sighed, "He was part of an experimental program that got cancelled."

"Yeah, well. It's always the programs that work that the bureaucrats
cancel." Nick sympathized.

"Captain", Natalie spoke in a soothing, gentle tone backed by a
rythmically beating heart, "I think you should go back to the precinct
now and forget what happened tonite. So you know though Captain, about
the black guy comment, you were vindicated, no one else could have done
any better."

Reese nodded, "I better get back to the precinct, and no more of your
smart comments, Dr. Lambert." Natalie smiled apologetically and the
captain headed out the way he came in.

"Hey, Knight", Vachon called out from the cockpit of the copter, "You
coming or what?"

"Not bad at the mind control, Natalie", Nick said approvingly, "Better
give me a kiss for luck though, I don't know if this guy knows how to
fly." Natalie kissed Nick and then he ran towards the copter, ducking low
as Vachon started the engines, and hopped into the back. As Kincaid and
LaCroix opened the large loading doors in front of the helicopter, Vachon
moved it forward slowly and then flew it quickly away into the night sky.
As the rest of the commandos were sure of their air support's escape they
again split into their originally planned teams and moved towards their
assigned stations.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Tracy and Natalie crouched in an alleyway as LaCroix moved further ahead
to investigate the alien situation in their area. "Why did he tell us
to stay behind, Nat, I mean I am a fully trained police officer", Tracy
pouted and peeked over the trash bin they were using as cover.

"Sure, Trace, but we aren't even half trained vampires and I'd bet those
blasters the aliens are using would do as good a number on us as the sun
would." Natalie shivered, missing the warmth of sunlight on her skin,
and then shrugged, she'd gone practically five years without sunlight or
sex and she figured she could give up one for a few centuries in order
to get the other. "Besides, he's been a thorn in my side for so long
now.. Let him take the risks, I am staying safe and sound right here!"

Tracy nodded a little surprised at Natalie's mercenary attitude. She
couldn't decide whether it was Nat's vampire nature rearing it's ugly
head whether she had alway's been that way. Thinking about it
for a few minutes, Tracy decided she'd better keep her mouth shut either
way, considering Nat's profession and the lack of a need for bedside
manner in it, it was quite possible that she had always been that way.

Suddenly there was a commotion in the street in front of them, and a
human figure walked into the mouth of the alley. Just as Tracy and
Natalie were standing up to warn the person off, he pulled one of the
alien's blasters and began to warble an unintelligable language into a
device. "Damn it", Tracy grumbled as the alien motioned for them to put
down their weapons and come out of the alley.

As Natalie and Tracy were exiting the alley at gunpoint there was a blur
of movement as an older gentleman with longish grey hair dressed in
oriental clothing jumped the blaster-toting baddie and smashed it into a
wall where it promptly began to melt into protoplasm. "I am Caine, I
will hel...", was all the gentleman could get out as he bowed and took a
blaster shot in the back for his trouble.

"Come on Nat", Tracy yelled dragging Natalie behind her as Natalie tried
to go to the body, "Better him than us. Let's not waste the chance he
gave us. Grab your gun."

As they were running, a young brown haired man ran down the street
brandishing a gun and a badge, yelling out, "Dad!"

"Trace, we can't leave that cute.. er, I mean poor guy alone with the
aliens", Natalie tried to pull away from Tracy but Tracy having been a
more 'physical' person before the change was still stronger than the
coroner.

"Blast it, Nat. Is all you ever think about cute cops", Tracy snarled as
they ran.

"Nope, can't say I ever thought about you, but Vachon thinks your cute."
Natalie snapped back.

They ran until they came to some crates piled about two blocks from the
alien base when some suspicious movement caught their eye. "Nat, is your
shotgun ready?" Tracy asked as she checked her automatic for damage.

"Sure, think there might be some slime monsters for us to have target
practice with?" Natalie was back to looking bloodthirsty.

"Yeah", Tracy whispered, "but let's take it slow okay." They began
weaving their way through the crates covering each other's backs until
they saw someone creeping in front of them. "Must be one of the aliens",
Tracy breathed, "I'll get 'em."

"Hang on, Trace", Natalie spoke quietly but firmly as she peered over top
of the crates in front of her, "Thought so."

"What?" Tracy asked annoyed that Natalie had once again taken control.

"It's a slime monster, alright, but it's not an alien. It's just
LaCroix." Natalie shrugged.

"How can you be sure?" Tracy asked suspiciously, "I mean you can sense
your sire, or your sister, but LaCroix isn't either to you."

"Yeah, but I'd recognize that bald spot anywhere. Trust me", Natalie
crept up along side LaCroix. "Boo!"

"Not bad, Dr. Lambert but I heard you about three blocks back and you
have caused my alien quarry to take refuge amoungst those large crates
just ahead of us." LaCroix looked crossly at Natalie.

"So why don't we just start blasting at it?" Tracy asked as she moved
forward to join LaCroix and Natalie.

"I don't know about you, Detective Vetter, but I wish to participate in
the finale of this series of events, and thusly, I feel the need to
conserve my ammunition." LaCroix looked at Tracy disapprovingly.

"Okay, okay", Tracy backed off, slightly cowed, "and I thought becoming
a vampire would get me out from under people's thumbs."

"So, 'grandfather', how do we get the nasty out from behind the boxes",
Natalie looked up at LaCroix with a saccarine expression on her face.

"Enough, Natalie", LaCroix said dangerously, "and I have an idea."
LaCroix looked around the crates until he found a length of lead pipe
and an egg sized rock. Natalie eyed LaCroix sceptically and shook her
head. He smiled and placed the rock carefully down after cleaning the
pavement. Positioning himself carefully, he took a couple of practice
swings with the pipe and then yelled, "Fore", as he swung and smacked
the stone over the crates causing the alien to pop up. Natalie swung her
gun into position and blasted the creature full in the chest. "What do
you think?" LaCroix asked swinging the pipe over his shoulder lazily.

"Bit of a slice, but I suppose, effective", Natalie quipped.

"Ah well, you must play the alien where it lies" LaCroix deadpanned.

Suddenly a battle broke out before them at the alien base; the smell of
gunsmoke filled the air, flashes of brightness lit up the night sky and
they began to run toward the final showdown.


"I don't know, Knight", Vachon called back to where Nick was belted in
and firing out the window, "We're running out of ammo fast and I think
we have a puncture in our fuel tank or line. We can't stay up much
longer."

"Yeah, well, if you were a better pilot.. When we asked you if you knew
how to fly, we meant this contraption, not on your own you know", Nick
sniped at the younger vampire.

"Boys, boys", Janette said soothingly, "We can work this out when we
are safely on the ground again. What can we do with this... thing that
will make a difference to our side?"

"I could set it on a suicide course for the alien base", Vachon hazarded.

Nick and Janette looked at each other and then looked back at Vachon
calling out, "Last one out drinks blood mixed with Ribena for a month",
and they jumped out the open combat hatch.

Vachon swore, then rigged the stick in position to aim the helicopter
at the alien base and jumped out his door, as the helicopter plummeted
down and caused a firey explosion.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Nick landed gently slightly further east than he had intended, but the
fireball from the helicopter had blinded his nightvision momentarily.
He shook his head to clear the sparkles from his eyes but found the
sparkles replaced by annoyingly familiar polka music ringing in his ears.

"Nice landing, buddie. Now I know how you made all those impossible
arrests." A familiar and unexpected voice came from behind him.

"Schank'?" Nick turned quickly and was greeted by a slightly glowing
apparation of his fallen partner.

"Yeah, it's me. I've just been hanging around making sure you and Natalie
got together. You could'a told me you were a vampire, but I guess it
stood to reason. You not liking souvlaki and all. And I had it all
figured out, too. Of course your master vampire buddie, LaCroix,
convinced me otherwise. Makes me look real smart, don't it partner",
Schanke responded with a slightly frustrated tone of voice.

"Sorry, Schanke", Nick reached out a hand as a peace offering then
realized his folly and just settled for smiling in apology.

"No problem, Nicky boy", Schanke replied jovially and Nick winced,
"but hey, some great job you're doing takin' care of Nat. I mean her
first time out as a creature of the night and you leave her to the
tender mercies of the guy that screwed you up so badly. Takes brains,
Knight."

"Come on, Schanke", Nick replied angrily, "How much harm could he do her
in one night?"

"The mind boggles", Schanke looked at Nick seriously, "I mean, I take
all this time out of my well earned rest to try and help you two out and
you are determined to screw it up by letting LaCroix at her. I am
beginning to think you are majorly self defeating, partner!"

"Alright, Schanke", Nick replied.

"I mean right now, she probably thinks you died in that helicopter and
is planning some kind of suicide run on those pug uglies", Schanke
looked thoughtful, "If you intend on having her with you for eternity,
I'd get my caboose in gear."

"Okay, Schanke, I'm going already." Nick shook his head and began to
run towards the now burning alien base, "I can't believe it. The ghost
of my year dead partner acting like my mother now. Nat's right, I do need
a change of lifestyle."

As Schanke faded from existance, Nick heard a quiet, "Austa la Bye Bye,
Partner."

Nick ran quickly back toward the rendevous point, dodging through back
alleys and taking quick but effective pot shots at the aliens as he went.
Suddenly to the rear of him he heard a distinct, attention grabbing bark
and as he turned he saw a large shepherd walking out from amoungst the
garbage cans. "What's the matter, boy?" Nick called out anxiously, "I
don't have time to play around right now, as much as I like dogs." The
dog sniffed derisively and spit a piece of black cloth onto the ground.
"What's that.. Oh hell, Schank' was right. It's a piece of Nat's outfit.
Do you know where she is, boy?" The dog paced agitatedly and then began
to run towards a warehouse just to the rear of the alien base. "Okay,
you lead, I'll follow."

Nick followed the dog right past the battle between the aliens and the
"humans only" strike force, dodging past the blazing inferno of the first
warehouse, and quickly arriving at the front door of the second. "Is she
in here, boy", Nick asked the dog, who pranced, paced and whined at the
entrance. "Thank's boy", Nick patted the dog and then snarled allowing
his vampire self to come out which caused the dog to run howling into the
night.

Nick readied himself and then kicked the warehouse door off it's hinges.
As he burst through, he noted Natalie being held by a malevolent, if
geeky, fellow wearing a grey military uniform and holding one of the
alien blasters against her head. Nick roared in outrage and flew at the
miscreant, ripping him violently from his feet and smashing him several
times against the nearest concrete wall. As the fellow began to melt like
an ice cream at high noon in Nick's hand, Nick turned to Natalie, "Are
you all right, Nat.. Love?"

"Quite alright, Detective Knight. And thank you for taking care of
Malzor. He was getting to be quite annoying." The female who looked like
Natalie pulled out a device, smaller than one of the blasters, and fired
it at Nick.

With Nick's final conscious breath, he whispered, "Not Nat, stupid dog.
But there can be only one..."

Mana looked down at Nick with a slightly uncharacteristic but appreciative
smile on her face, "Not so bad, not so bad at all. Good thing, Malzor
didn't get a body like this." Mana signalled a couple of guards from spots
hidden in the walls. "Take this to my laboratory", indicating Nick, "This
behavior is very uncharacteristic of me. Must be the lack of order in
these human clothes. I must put my hair back up and get back into my more
restrictive uniform."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Natalie came running up to Kincaid ahead of LaCroix and Tracy, "Oh my god,
NICK!" She screamed and tried to fight her way away from Kincaid who was
trying to hold her back.

A gentle female hand was laid on her shoulder from behind, "It's alright,
Natalie", Janette's voice echoed in the destruction around them, "We all
got out. We set the helicopter on a suicide course and jumped." Natalie
breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Janette.

"You guys could have told me", Natalie said aggressively, "I mean I was
worried sick when I saw the copter explode."

"You can keep worrying, Dr." Kincaid said with concern in his voice, "I
saw Nick go storming past us about five minutes ago and he kicked his way
into that other warehouse. We were so busy trying to supress the aliens
around here we couldn't go support him. He hasn't come out yet, so I can
only assume they got him." Natalie's face took on a grim yet determined
cast and she began to check her gun over carefully, making sure two good
shells were loaded. "Wait a second, Dr., if they got him he's as good as
dead. It's a lost cause."

"I live for lost causes. They're my speciality. Knight and I seem to have
been dealing with one ." Natalie smiled spiritedly, "What's the
matter, Kincaid? You want to live forever!" And with that final comment,
she flicked her wrist and snapped the shotgun shut with one motion.

They watched her marching towards the second warehouse, her body
silhoetted against the flames and smoke, "LaCroix are you going to let a
youngling show you up? And Vachon, you spanish peacock, letting little
Natalie go in there all alone", Janette huffed and shook her head at
them disgustedly, "Come Tracy, if we, women must do all the dirty work,
it is only typical." Tracy nodded, hefted her gun and she and Janette
marched resolutely after Natalie.

"Well, LaCroix", Vachon looked at the elder vampire questioningly.

"Would serve them all right if I let them go. I could start over fresh",
LaCroix grumbled as he checked his gun over, replaced the clip and
signalled for Vachon to follow him. The humans looked at each other
puzzled by the strange conversation and then followed the vampires.

Natalie entered the second warehouse carefully and silently. What she
and the other vampires knew and the humans did not was that Nick was
already dead and that vampires were immune to possession by the aliens.
She thought about it for a moment, freezing behind some crates. She didn't
know it for sure, none of the others had told her how knew. Could
it be just one of LaCroix's assumptions of vampire superiority or did
Nick, Vachon and LaCroix have some experience here before that had proved
it to them. She hoped it was the later but decided to assume it was as
yet unproven and as such to take proper safety measures. "Nick, the
trouble you have caused me... Oh boy, are you going to be making up for
it."

She heard footsteps behind her in the warehouse and whirled to see if it
was friend or foe approaching. She sighed in relief as Janette and Tracy
entered followed moments later by LaCroix, Vachon, Blackwood, Kincaid,
and McCullough. "Alright, Doctor. You're leading this kamikaze run, where
do you think your beloved Nick is?" Kincaid asked scowling at both her
and Janette.

"I'm not sure exactly", Natalie said slightly befuddled, "I can't seem to
focus."

"Could be your cold coming back, Dr." McCullough reached a concerned hand
out and touched Nat's forehead, "You're freezing, you shouldn't have come
with us."

"Not that kind of focus", Natalie snapped, suddenly very annoyed.

"Easy, little sister", Janette said calmingly, "Keep control. I will
help." Janette closed her eyes as she took Natalie's hand and the humans
looked at each other uneasily.

"You don't think I have control after five years of enforced abstinance",
Natalie snorted derisively and closed her eyes to concentrate. "Got
'im!", Natalie squealed triumphantly, "He's just beyond that metal fire
door at the back there."

"Let's not ask and just take her word for it", Kincaid supplied to his
friends' quizical looks, "I was going to suggest back there anyway,
since that's where all the guards are accumulating." All of the
principal players nodded in agreement, "On the count of three then?" As
everyone nodded, Kincaid started the count, "One... Two... Three!" The
combined force of the vampire and human defenders hit the aliens hard
as the vampires began to chainsaw their way through using more physical
force than firepower and the humans supplied supression fire. Janette
and LaCroix fought their way through the crowd of aliens occasionally
taking hard blows and blaster shots to protect Natalie and get her to
the door.

"We'll cover your back, cherie", LaCroix said as he pushed Natalie towards
the firedoor, "Protect my son!"

Natalie swung the firedoor open to a sight that would have made her ill
if she had been human still. Nick was suspended in the nude by fiberous,
semi-organic tenticles, a female, with her back to Nat, seemed to be
programming something into a large, brainlike computer and as she did so
Nick's body would vibrate and lurch in unnatural ways. "Hey, you!
Give back my husband! I just got him and I'm not done with him yet",
Natalie snarled outraged.

The female turned to reveal an eerily familiar face and body, "Is that
so?" The alien female quipped and began to reach for a blaster on the
console of her 'computer'.

"Of all the nerve. I mean REALLY!" Natalie growled and let the alien
have both barrels directly in the chest. The alien female developed a
rather large hole in her torso and then began to melt into what Natalie
hoped would be the last green puddle she ever saw. She turned noting
that Janette was already standing behind her and Natalie had to wonder
just how much of the exchange between her and the alien woman that her
nemesis, now sister, had seen.

Janette just smiled at Natalie, gazed appreciatively at Nick and then
asked, "Shall we get our father down, little one?" Natalie nodded
thankfully and they settled down to the business of untangling Nick
from the alien computer.

A few days had passed since the invasion had been quelled and Natalie
and Nick had settled into the difficult, if mundane, task of moving in
together and combining their households. Nick had also thrown a monkey
wrench into the works, demanding she plan as elaborate of a
wedding ceremony as his money could buy. This just confirmed to Nat,
that Nick was indeed after all a cop. He had also insisted on her
planning a little get together for the victorious band of freedom
fighters for tonite. Natalie moved around the apartment at vampire speeds,
still certain everything would not be ready before the first guests
arrived and cursed at Nick for him having forgotten some important
paperwork at the office that just to be done. Natalie had just
finished cleaning herself up; she had still not mastered the ability to
look perfect all the time despite that she was now a vampire; and was
pulling the last tray of finger food from the oven as the door buzzer
went off. "Coming", she yelled at no one in particular. As she looked
at the door monitor, she noted Janette and LaCroix standing at the door
like normal people and she wondered if the end of the world was coming.
Shrugging tiredly, she buzzed them up.

"Here you are my dear", LaCroix said handing Natalie a bottle of his best
as he entered, "I like what you and Nick have done with the place. It's so
homey.. So nice to have a woman's touch." LaCroix's voice dripped with
sarcasm which Natalie fought to ignore, swearing she wouldn't let the
Roman wreak Nick's party.

Janette smiled at Natalie as she entered behind LaCroix. "So how is
domestic life treating you, Natalie?" She asked with a touch of amusement
in her voice.

"Not as bad as if we were human", Natalie said, "but even without dishes
to wash and things like that, Nick is still a horrible housekeeper."
Janette nodded, she too had experienced Nick's idea of housekeeping.
It was equivalent to that of a five year old's, consisting mainly of
'hide the mess'.

The elevator door opened and Nick and all the other party guests spilled
in talking, hugging and gesturing animatedly. "Hey Nat. Great job you
did on the apartment. Sorry, I couldn't be here to help." Nick said and
kissed Natalie on the top of her head as he hugged her. Natalie nodded
and looked closely at Nick, he had something up his sleeve.

"What are you up to, Knight?" Natalie asked Nick.

"Me, up to something?" Nick feigned an innocent look.

"Yes, you... NOW TELL ME!" Natalie said with authority.

"Alright, I was going to save it for later but if you're going to make
me", Nick pouted.

"NICHOLAS!", Natalie growled loudly.

Nick smiled and pulled Natalie close to him and walked in front of the
fireplace. "Ladies and Gentleman, as you know my lovely Natalie risked
life and limb to save me from the aliens."

"Just repaying all the times you've saved me, Nick", Natalie grumbled
uncomfortably.

Nick just pulled Natalie closer and continued, "I am very grateful and
astounded at what she did, and very proud of her for having the faith
and courage to brave what we all did that night." Natalie looked more
uncomfortable with every word Nick uttered, but he continued obliviously.
"There have been times when I thought I would loose you, when I
considered what my life would be like without you, Nat but then I wasn't
sure if you could take life as it would have to be me. And so I
held off doing what I wanted to do, but now I know that everything will
go alright, no matter what happens in the future as long as my hope, my
angel of the li.. night is with me. So here it goes officially", Nick
went down on bended knee, "Natalie Lambert will you marry me?"

Natalie nodded, a little dumbfounded, she and Nick had already decided
on getting married. She hadn't been expecting a public and so romantic
proposal. Nick smiled exuberantly and lifted Natalie into the air as he
kissed her long and deep. Setting her down as gently as if she were a
china doll, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out the most
impossibly beautiful engagement ring she had ever seen and slipped it
onto her finger. A cheer went up from everyone, except of course LaCroix
and a crowd pressed around her and Nick.

A little later after everyone had calmed down, Natalie stepped off to
the side to relax and get her bearings for a moment but of course
LaCroix felt the need to bother her. "And so you get what you want,
Dr. Lambert, all because of a single act of loyalty. How appropriately
saccarine", he sneered in disgust. LaCroix noticed how upset Natalie
looked at his comment and had an insight. "Could there be some reason
other than that you killed that alien woman for, cherie?" LaCroix
asked pointedly.

Natalie looked away embarrassed and ashamed of the truth, "Not that you
need to know LaCroix."

"Yes, LaCroix", Janette stepped out of the darkness, "Leave Natalie
alone."

"Why are you defending her, Janette? Could it be you know her secret?
Oh, do tell?" LaCroix circled around Janette like a vulture after
something almost dead.

"That is between her and me, LaCroix", Janette said firmly.

"Oh go ahead, Janette. If we don't tell him, we'll never hear the end of
it", Natalie said resigned to her fate.

"Natalie, did not kill the alien woman just because of Nick. Her motive
was less pure but perhaps even more classically female", Janette smiled
feeling a closer kinship than ever with Nat.

"Stop dancing around with words and just tell me, Janette", LaCroix
demanded.

"He doesn't take his own games very well does he? Alright, LaCroix, I'll
tell you.. Basically, I killed her partly to save Nick but mostly because
I couldn't stand the fact she looked like me! I have to spend eternity
like this and I'll be damned if I'm going to be mistaken for some other
little snip!" Natalie snarled.

LaCroix looked absolutely shocked and dumbfounded for a moment and then
slowly a very disturbing smile spread across his face. He looked at
Natalie with something close to affection and handed her his glass of
blood, "There is hope for , Natalie". He turned and left the
apartment a self satisfied grin on his face.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Nick and Natalie were busy cleaning up the mess left behind by their
guests, racing the dawn which seemed to have a more profound effect on
Natalie than on Nick.

"So Natalie, are you going to follow proper tradition and take my name?"
Nick asked looking expectantly at Natalie.

"What? It's not like Knight is your 'real' last name is it? I'd consider
it if you went back to De Brabant." Natalie replied mischieviously. Nick
glared at Natalie and exerted a little vampiric will against her at which
point she turned and glared at him with a raised eyebrow, "Watch it,
Mister! Or I'll make you take Lambert as a last name!"

Nick and Natalie locked eyes with one another and advanced on each other
slowly, step by step. "Watch it or I'll take your profession, Dr.
Lambert." A smile then took over his mouth and crept into his eyes as was
so wont to happen with Nick. "Let's leave the mess for tonite. How's your
nightvision, Nat?"

"As good as any young vampire, I suppose", Natalie responded querilously.

Nick picked up the remote and turned off all the lights in the apartment,
"Care for some dancing in the dark?"

"Certainly", Natalie responded and glided into his arms.



Key to Career References

"gave me a bottle of Ribena"...."That stuff will kill you!"

Ribena (of course) was used on the set of Forever Knight as blood.
It's reputed to have a rather vile taste. (Author's Note: I have
actually developed a taste for the stuff without watering it down.
It's not bad if you don't mind a sugar high. And Catherine Disher
wondered why Geraint was a cut up on set. On this stuff you're not in
your right mind. Just a sip can set you off.)

"I'm stuck with this psycho fan"

Psycho-fan is the term used by Catherine Disher to describe (in
her Starlog interview) a person she had problems with after War of the
Worlds.

"Ah, well. To life immortal."

"To Life Immortal" was a morthran salute used in War of the Worlds.
(Author's Note: And it's the first half of the Natalie and Mana "line
swapping" contest.)

"Well, it's not oatmeal!"

"It's not oatmeal" is (of course) the line from Nigel Bennett's
unnaturally popular cereal commercial. (Author's Note: Not a bad
Scottish accent, Nigel.)

"yet another situation that should only happen on Friday the 13th"...

Catherine Disher has guest starred twice in this particular series.

"your life would be turned into a Twilight Zone episode"...

Nigel Bennett has had a guest appearance in an episode of this
series. (Author's Note: Don't know the title but have seen the episode.
It's about a world where everyone can remember their past lives.)

"It seems I am to be a 'good guy' this time around. How very
disappointing."...

Nigel Bennett reputedly prefers to play "bad guys". The more evil,
the better.

"his mouth seemed to runneth over"...

A rather oblique reference to the fact that Geraint Wyn Davies
(and I am sure most of the others) have at some time in their careers
done Shakespeare.

"a mug of hot Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup in hand"...

Catherine Disher has had a recurrent guest appearance on the
Campbells. Geraint Wyn Davies & Nigel Bennett have also apparently had
guest roles on this series.

"I'm not an immortal vampire who looks perfect all the time, OKAY."

Catherine Disher made a comment in a Starlog interview that more
women related to Nick through Natalie than through Janette. The reason
being that Natalie didn't look perfect all the time.

"Hold it right there, Janette! You're not a doctor and you're not my
mother."...

Deborah Duchene has done (believe it or not) a Dr. Mom commercial
for cough syrop.

"Must not have been taking your multi-vitamins, right!"

Lisa Ryder has done a Centrum commercial.

"It shouldn't even be street legal anymore..."

Geraint Wyn Davies, Ben Bass, John Kapelos & Catherine Disher have
all had guest appearances on Street Legal.

"Even I find this a bit beyond reality, even our sort of reality."...

Deborah Duchene and Nigel Bennett both had guest role in the TV
series "Beyond Reality".

"It's not like I'm some psychic superheroine out of a Marvel Comic or
something!"...

Catherine Disher has done (and I believe is still doing?) the voice
for Jean Grey on the X-Men animated TV show. (Author's Note: Good job,
Catherine. As good as I am at recognizing voices, I didn't even recognize
yours until I read the Starlog article. (Hey so we watch, Saturday
morning cartoons when we get out of bed... Doesn't everyone?))

"I just love to fly helicopters!" (the entire "Helicopter" scenario)

Both Geraint Wyn Davies and Ben Bass were in "Airwolf"

"I hear they have a really good ballet school."...

Lisa Ryder attended the Edmonton School of Ballet.

"Richard and I went to the Citidel Theatre there and saw a really
good production of 'Pride and Prejudice'."

Catherine Disher was in a production of "Pride & Prejudice" at the
Citidel Theatre (here in Edmonton!).

"Oh and Doctor, wait til you've seen Nichola in tights... Purrr!"

Geraint Wyn Davies was in an episode of "Diamonds" titled
"Leap of Faith" in which he played a Russian Ballet Dancer. (Author's
Note: I may not have seen many of the TV shows that these guys have
guested on but I HAVE seen this one. Wow! All I can say is, "Nice buns,
Geraint!!!!! You do look nice in tights!")

"a little less "Rambo" and a little more secret agent-ish."...

Catherine Disher appeared in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
where she played Cindi Bertrolli, a secret agent. (Author's Note: I've
seen this one, too. You know some of us are thinking of writing Showcase
and asking them to pick up Forever Knight reruns. Besides we already call
it the "Forever Knight" Network. If you watch it dedicatedly enough you'll
see at least one of the stars of Forever Knight on there sometime during
the day!) Others of the cast who have appeared on this particular series
(but not the same episodes) are Geraint Wyn Davies and Nigel Bennett.

"Ah, kind of a conspiracy of silence, hmm, LaCroix"

Catherine Disher appeared in the made for TV movie, "Conspiracy Of
Silence".

"We all have our crosses to bear, Tracy"...

LaCroix means "the cross", and he's definitely Nick's to bear.

"We don't need our allies turning into the children of Van Helsing."...

Geraint Wyn Davies played "Klaus Van Helsing" (nephew to the
current vampire hunter, Van Helsing, and turned into a vampire by none
other than A. Lucard himself) in Dracula the Series. (Author's Note:
Geordie Johnson who played A. Lucard in this series was seen in "Forever
Knight" as Jerry Tate in the episode "My Boyfriend is a Vampire", which
is one of my favorite episodes. I watched Dracula the Series just to see
Geraint "camp" it up... It was hilarious when compared to poor ol' morose
Nick.)

"Yeah, well we're a pretty weird extended family"...

According to various sources (mainly the actors talking in interviews)
the "Forever Knight" set was supposed to be "the happiest set on Earth"
and they really got along well together.

"After a time, little one, you will realize that that is perfectly normal
for a vampiress."...

Deborah Duchene appeared in a movie entitled "Perfectly Normal".
According to what we read, the character she played was the girlfriend of
the main character who's main goal in life is to get him in bed with her.
Unfortunately all attempts to find this on video, so we can actually see
the movie, have failed (so far). (Author's Note: I wonder if the scenario
proposed in this movie sounds at all familiar to the character of
Natalie?)

"Go to Disneyland"...

This was originally meant to be a smart assed comment, NOT a
reference.
But I was watching TV and a Disney World commercial came on entitled
"Roughing It" and I could have sworn the woman in the commercial was Lisa
Ryder (she had no speaking parts). We have no way to confirm or deny it,
unless she'd like to.

"I mean there's always other women's children"...

Geraint Wyn Davies appeared in a made for TV movie "Other Women's
Children".

"What's a matter? Is your little mouth sore now?"...

Catherine Disher was so annoyed by the fact that Denis Forrest
would insist on being called "Malzor" all the time on the set of "War of
the Worlds" that she used to call him "Mouthsore" instead. She herself
stated this was her favorite thing about "War of the Worlds" in a recent
Starlog interview. (Author's Note: A lady after my own heart. Sounds like
something I would do. (Actually have done!))

"If this were TV, some big, scary black guy with a heart of gold would
show up to help us"...

Catherine Disher appeared as "Sophie" in the TV show "TNT" with Mr. T.

"Would you believe it's just another stakeout, Captain?"

Blu Mankuma appeared in the movie "Another Stakeout".

The Robocop Scenario

Blu Mankuma appeared in "Robocop the Series". Geraint Wyn Davies &
Nigel Bennett had guest roles as well.

"Yeah, well. It's always the programs that work that the bureaucrats
cancel."...

This, I believe, is self explanitory. But I just had to let Nick get
his digs in!

"...about the black guy comment, you were vindicated"...

Catherine Disher appeared in a movie titled "The Vindicator" which
happened to be about a big, scary cyborg. (Author's Note: Sort of like an
evil Robocop, kinda. Not too sure as we're still trying to find the movie
on video.)

"I am Caine, I will hel..."

Catherine Disher, Geraint Wyn Davies, Lisa Ryder, Blu Mankuma and
Nigel Bennett have all had guest appearances on "Kung Fu: The Legend
Continues".

"Yeah, but I'd recognize that bald spot anywhere. Trust me"...

This is going to take some explaining.. We heard that Nigel
Bennett appeared in "Legends of the Fall", so we went looking for him in
it. The movie was actually rented by "my editor" so she could watch Brad
Pitt's buns. The only way I could find Nigel in it was by recognition of
his bald spot. His part was the ship's captain. (Author's Note: No
offense intended, Nigel.)

LaCroix's Golf Strategy

According to some sources, the cast of Forever Knight liked to play
golf together.

"The ghost of my year dead partner acting like my mother now."...

Geraint Wyn Davies appeared in a made for TV movie titled "Ghost Mom".
(Author's Note: It also seemed like a good way to include Schanke as well
as the 3rd season cast.)

"What's the matter, boy?"..."I don't have time to play around right now,
as much as I like dogs."...

Geraint Wyn Davies & Nigel Bennett both had guest appearances in
"Littlest Hobo". As well Catherine Disher & Nigel Bennett had guest
appearances in "Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop". This scene stands as reference
to both.

"Not Nat, stupid dog. But there can be only one..."...

Geraint Wyn Davies had a guest appearance in "Highlander the Series".

"Not so bad, not so bad at all."...

All of you should remember where line comes from... (Author's
Note: It's also the last half of the Mana & Natalie "Line Swapping"
contest.)

"I live for lost causes. They're my speciality. Knight and I seem to
have been dealing with one ."...

Just like Nick and Natalie, we fans of Forever Knight refuse to give
up and will keep on fighting to save the show. (Whether you guys like it
or not!) (Author's Note: "This has been an unpaid political rant.." Just
had to be said!)

"Watch it, Mister! Or I'll make you take Lambert as a last name!"...
"Watch it or I'll take your profession, Dr. Lambert."

Geraint Wyn Davies appeared in the 1995 made for TV movie, "Dancing
in the Dark", in which he played a character by the name of Dr. Lambert.

The entire premise of the story

Is a tribute to the fact that Catherine Disher played "Mana" in "War
of the Worlds" and as she didn't like the series much (by her own
admisssion) I thought it would be appropriate to have Nick (Natalie's
champion) smash Malzor and for Natalie to get to "smoke" Mana.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Author's Final Word

This was FUN.. Time consuming, brain consuming, but fun. It is a
late gift to the cast of "Forever Knight" (as it took a little longer
to write than I had thought).

A note about the Career Key. This was placed at the end of the story
more for the fans than anyone else. Although I am certain many of you got
all the references without the key, I have noted there are quite a few
new fans who have no idea what these actors have done before, hopefully
this is a little more fun to read than a boring ol' bio. Also if you are
wanting to play a game with the story, give a friend a copy of it without
the key and see how many of the references they can pick out. There should
be forty-three that count. (And one has two answers).

Of course this can't possibly cover their entire careers. I just hope
I hit enough of the highlights to let them know just how much we have a
ppreciated the last three seasons in four years and how much we are going
to miss seeing a new season next year. But we aren't going to give up..
Anymore than Natalie could!

The End