Disclaimers: Don't own anything but my orange hoodie.
Summary: Henry, Vicki, and Mike are pulled into a battle against an unexpected advisary.
Chapter 1
Vicki paced her office for the tenth time that hour and looked back at the closed case on her desk. She walked towards it and reached for it, but then her wrists began to burn. She pulled back. "Coreen." she called. The assistant walked in. "Can you move that case? Don't put it away, just move it. Inside the desk drawer or something?"
"Uh-sure." Coreen frowned. She slid the file into the top drawer and looked at Vicki. "You couldn't do that?"
"No...my...the brands...they reacted to the file, so I'm just going to call Henry and ask him to look at it."
"You don't think it's Norman again, do you? I mean, we just got rid of him last week."
"No. I don't think it's Norman. I don't know what to think about it. I...I just don't want to deal with it now. You can go home if you want." Vicki sat down and Coreen nodded and left. Vicki waited until she was gone to grab her head. "Stupid marks." she let out a stream of colorful language before she sighed and rubbed her forehead. The marks on her arms burning wasn't a good sign and now they were making the room spin. She reached out and stumbled onto her feet before running into the bathroom and examining that days special from the chinese restaurant backwards. She felt a hand on her back and someone pulling back her hair, then coughed, flushing the toilet, and standing with their help. She turned and saw Henry watching her, shock written across his face. She went to the sink and started brushing her teeth.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Ibudookinatafi..." she spit out the mouthful of toothpaste. "I was looking at a file and my marks reacted to it. It just...made me really sick." she shrugged. He looked at her arms and saw the marks were no longer glowing, but were not black anymore, just the color of cooled metal.
"Let me see the file and you can stay on the other side of the room. If you start feeling sick..."
"Henry, don't coddle me. I know how to run into the next room and yack."
"I was just trying to be helpful." he smiled. She led him back into the office and pointed at the top drawer, sitting on the couch. He pulled the file out and stood on the opposite side of the room, keeping an eye on her. "Missing person. Little girl."
"Lorelai, yeah. That stuff was in the meeting. She went missing around noon, cops don't work until after 24 hours."
"Yes. Pretty basic stuff."
"Then why can't I be near the file?" to prove her point, she approached him and the marks lit up. She sat back down.
"I don't know. Happy suburb family. Child was supposed to be at ballet class. Never been missing before. I don't know, but this sounds regular."
"The mother left a bag of the girls stuff. It was her ballet stuff, found on the girls bed." Vicki pointed to the bag on the ground under the desk.
"Does this make your arms burn, too?"
"No. Listen, I know you hate when I use you as a bloodhound, but..." she gave him a look. "Please?"
"No problem." he nodded. He looked through the stuff, memorizing the scent from it, and then nodded. "Okay."
"Thanks. Let's go." she got up and he put the file on the desk, going to the door with her. They went outside and he drove them to the girls house.
"Okay. This way." Henry nodded to the left. They headed down the road on foot and Vicki nearly stumbled on the cracked sidewalk. Henry caught her and offered his arm. She took it, frowning.
"I hate not having good night vision."
"Don't worry so much about it."
"Easy for you to say. You have perfect night vision."
"Easy for me to say because I get to walk with you on my arm." he smiled. She tossed him a look, but smiled.
"What a charmer you are."
"Thank you, I try."
"Only because I make you."
"Not my fault you're too stubborn to fall under my spell."
"Henry, your eyes don't hold the only spell you weave on women." she shook her head.
"What do you mean?" he gave her a careful and inquisitive look.
"I...nevermind. Y'know, you were a lot more vain when we met."
"I know I was."
"I've made you a normal person, how's that for a tinman's heart?"
"I think we might need to take you to Oz for that one."
"Henry!" she laughed.
"Just saying, Vic."
"Fine, Scarecrow."
"Me? The Scarecrow? Never. I'm more like..."
"Toto." she smiled.
"I was going to say Oz, but okay."
"Nevermind. You're just as vain as always." she snorted, rolling her eyes.
"Ouch, that stung." he put a hand to his chest in mock-pain.
"Yeah, well, the truth hurts."
"Stop." he said. She looked at him and noticed he was staring down a dark alleyway.
"Always the dark alleyways." she pulled out her baton and extended it. He led them down the dark passage and opened a door at the end. She pulled her flashlight out and he looked at her.
"How do you fit all of this into your purse?"
"Better prepared than not."
"You're a regular girlscout."
"Minus the cookies." she shrugged. They went in and Henry turned the light on, looking around. There was nothing in the room, but there was a small doorway leading down. They went to it and Henry growled. "What?"
"Vampire." he said.
"Are you serious?" her eyes went wide. He nodded and looked around.
"Did you see anything heavy we can put over this?"
"Are you serious? What if she's down there?"
"If she's down there, there's a mortal working for it. You need to go."
"Go? But, Henry..." she began. He looked at her, black eyed.
"You need to go, Vicki. I'm not kidding, this is a vampire. Probably not inclined to be nice to you. Hunting in my territory."
"I'm not leaving you. What if you get hurt?"
"He'll be hurt." a voice said. They turned and saw Mike in the doorway.
"Mike?" Vicki frowned. She saw the faroff look in his eyes. "Mike, what..."
"He's under the other vampire's persuasion, Vicki. You need to go."
"No one's going anywhere." the doorway opened and a tall, slinky woman came out of the hole.