It took Gabriel Emerson years to get past the pain of losing Shea.

You never forget your first love. It may be a cliche, but then again, Gabe doubted anyone had experiences as unforgettable as his.

He'd done well at college. Gabe didn't have any interest in partying or girls while he was there, which freed up plenty of time to focus on his studies. His parents were proud to have a doctor in the family, even if he wasn't a practicing one, per se. His first years in school he'd spent much of his free time researching blood disorders and treatments. He knew Shea was dead, but it didn't stop his obsession. That obsession had led to a career in research. The preoccupation had lessened with time, but Gabe had continued with the field of study. It just made sense, seeing as he'd already spent so much time studying it.

The only thing that had finally drawn his mind away from the idea of a cure was the fact that he had nothing to research. Gabe knew that anything he tried to do would be fruitless when he didn't know exactly what he was fighting. The knowledge had angered him at first, but finally given way to acceptance. He knew the only reason he did this was to convince himself he could have helped her. Maybe it would bring him some closure. Either that, or he was a closet masochist who wanted to continue to punish himself. Neither option boded well for his sanity.

So by giving up his quest, he held onto some semblance of it. He now held a medical degree and was working on his residency. He went out, he dated, he had a life again. It just never failed that something would remind him of her. Which is why he didn't believe his own eyes.

Gabriel's memory was firmly implanted with thoughts of those days. Nights spent with Shea, and then finally, the night they took out the vampires. The last night he ever had with her. He had thought a thousand times of the things he should have said when she revealed she was a full vampire. He'd lost his chance. So now, as the girl with the ice blond hair danced in the middle of the nightclub, he thought he was seeing things. Katja.

The small blond writhed to the loud techno music. A man of about 20 was pressed to her, although his moves were considerably stiffer. Gabe watched the pair intensely when the girl took the man by the hand, and led him toward the back.

Gabe shot up out of his chair without a word to his friends as to what he was doing. He followed the pair as quickly as he dared, watching them slip out of a back entrance. Quietly, he slid the door open just wide enough for him to see out of it. The door led to a dark alleyway, littered with trash. When Gabe's eyes adjusted, he spotted the pair kissing intensely against the side of the building. The girl turned the man so that he was pressed against the wall, and brought his head down to hers. They continued kissing, and then she moved her mouth to his ear and lower.

The man stiffened. Gabriel watched in fascinated horror as he struggled, then went limp. The tiny blond held the man up as if he weighed nothing, her mouth still at his neck. Gabe didn't want to believe it, but he knew what he was seeing. It really was Katja, the vampire who should be dead.

Before Katja let the man fall to the ground, Gabe closed the door softly and returned to his table. He abruptly told his friends he needed to go, without explaining why. It was to their credit that they could see not to ask any questions. Gabe's mind quickly formulated a plan. A plan that quite possibly would get him killed.

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The next night, Gabe felt like he'd gone to every nightclub, bar and dive in that town. As the night drew on, he was terrified she'd left town. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally found her, in much the same position as last night. This time, when she led her companion outside, Gabe followed much more quickly. The two had barely begun kissing when Gabe yanked the young man away from her. Katja's lips drew back in anger as her meal was pulled away. Gabriel looked the young man up and down. "Get out of here," he said menacingly. The man was frightened. He didn't know if this was a husband or a pimp, and the girl just looked angry, not afraid. "Hey man, I don't want any problems," he told Gabe. "Then you might want to move faster," Gabe replied. Without another word, the man ran off. Gabriel turned to face Katja, who obviously didn't quite recognize him yet. "Wonder if he has any idea what kind of a favor I just did him?" he asked her. "Should've done yourself one," Katja replied, moving toward him. Wrapping a hand around her throat, Gabe pressed her back up against the wall, yanking a toy water pistol from his pocket. "Remember these, Katja?" Gabriel asked mockingly. Katja's eyes widened. She finally recognized him. She struggled to move away from him, but Gabe kept the pistol aimed squarely at her face.

There was a little bit of irony in the fact that he was holding a woman hostage with a dime-store water gun, even more so that she was terrified of it.

But Katja remembered what those guns had held before. She knew better than to mess with one. "What do you want?" Katja asked fearfully. Gabe's eyes narrowed. "I think you know exactly what I want," Gabe replied. "How the hell did you survive? I saw you get staked. Did you do it? Did you kill her?" Gabe's voice grew louder as he grew more upset. Katja didn't reply. In warning, Gabriel shot a stream of water onto the brick wall beside her head. Katja hissed. He could see her debating her options. He tried another tactic. "Just because I'm talking to you alone, doesn't mean I am alone," he bluffed.

Katja's eyes widened. She didn't have any desire to take her chances with the whole crew again. Finally, she spoke. "Your idiot friends don't have the best aim. They took a lot out of me, though. I couldn't have done anything to Shea if I'd wanted to," she told him. Gabriel's heart sank. He'd wanted to believe she had, wanted to have a chance to avenge her, anything. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Too weak, I guess. Not too weak to get yourself out of a burning building, nor to survive without any place to sleep out of the sun. You're lying," Gabe accused. He lifted the gun slightly and aimed it directly into her right eye. He was going to kill her, regardless of whether she'd killed Shea or not.

Katja could tell he was serious. She could take him down, even if she took a few strikes of holy water as well. But she'd definitely get hit at least once, and it would weaken her. Even if it wasn't enough to allow Gabe to kill her, the others wouldn't have a problem. Katja began to panic. "No! I swear! I couldn't do anything but sleep for weeks!" she cried. Gabe's anger was starting to overpower him. "Then HOW did you survive?" he demanded. Katja's mouth opened, and slammed back shut just as quickly. Gabe squeezed her throat tighter, fully prepared to kill her. But she was going to tell him which one of them survived. He was now convinced that one of them killed Shea, instead of Shea killing herself, as she'd once believed. Then suddenly, Katja's refusal to tell him made sense. Somebody had taken care of her, and they'd burned the cave and the mansion. But they hadn't killed Shea.

Shea was still alive.