Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from the Blood Ties series or books, only my ideas!

This takes place about a year after the end of the show. Hope it's not OOC as I last watched the series some time ago and it's the first fan fiction I write about it.

The title is one of Henry's quotes in "Blood Price", the first episode of the series, if I'm not mistaken.

My apologies to Mike and Coreen's big fans: they are nothing more here than stock characters. The story is all about Henry and Vicki.

Passion - there's nothing else worth living for

Mike Celluci was on sick leave because of a couple of broken ribs. They'd arrested a suspect for a double homicide down town but the operation had not gone smoothly. So here he was, brooding at home, not being able to do a single movement without hurting like hell. No basketball games with his buddies, no DIY around the house, not even gardening in the backyard. He was bored stiff and to top it all, he had had difficulties sleeping at night because of the pain killers he had to take.

That afternoon, he'd taken a stroll outside and then sat on the couch for what he thought would be a quick nap but had just awoken to see the sun setting on the horizon.

He got up, his mind still fuzzy, got himself a cup of lukewarm coffee from the machine and idly headed for the door, realizing he had not even gotten his newspaper that morning. God, he was getting lazy! He really needed to get back to work, do something, for God's sake!

He opened the door, squinting at the sunset then bent to retrieve his paper from the doormat. A dark shadow suddenly loomed over him. He briskly stood up to see, to his utter amazement, no less than the predatory eyes of Henry Fitzroy staring at him, a winning smile on his handsome, aristocratic features.

"What the hell...?" was all he could utter.

"'Evening, .Constable.. I take it you're a little surprised to see me?" Henry said, obviously enjoying himself.

"Fitzroy, what the hell are you doing here?!"

"Now, Mike, where are your manners? Is it a way to welcome an old friend?" Henry grinned at him, then pushed him aside and got into the house. "Why don't you offer me a drink...", laughing at Mike's worried face, he added, "no, no, not that type of drink, of course! I'm satiated right now", he winked at him and Mike muttered. "Good for you!"

"I might ask for some later, though, that is... if you make me mad and don't answer my questions properly...", Henry added, his head cocked to one side, looking at Mike intently.

"What do you want, Fitzroy?" Mike demanded, looking at him askance while pouring some bourbon in two crystal glasses he then set on the coffee table.

Fitzroy came to sit in front of him and cupped the glass with his hands, swirling the amber liquid absent-mindedly. "Where is Vicki, Mike? She's nowhere to be found..."

"Your guess is as good as mine, Fitzroy."

"I went to her office, there's nothing there. I've been told Coreen had left too. What the hell is going on?"

"Why did you come back, Fitzroy?", Mike asked coldly.

"Answer- my - question, Mike", Fitzroy snarled as he spelled out the words, his already dark eyes turning a darker shade every second.

"You don't scare me, your Lordship!" Mike mocked him, "you answer my question first and then I might comply."

"Fine!", Fitzroy growled, trying to calm down, anger still flaring in his voice, "I had someone checking on her. He reported to me every so often, saying there was nothing to report really, she was her usual self, still working as a P.I., still having trouble with her eyesight, still meeting you from time to time... Then suddenly he texts me she's disappeared, vanished into thin air, her office is empty, her landlord not knowing where she's gone... I asked him to investigate but he's got nothing! So, this is why I'm here!"

"I got it You're pissed off because she's no longer in your power!" Mike said viciously, knowing it would hit too close to home.

Fitzroy glared at him as if he was going to rip his head off, his fists tightening, then he took a deep breath. "No, Mike, I'm just worried sick, goddamn it! Now, answer me. Where is she? If there's one person who knows, that would be you!"

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, I don't have the slightest idea", Mike replied, worry showing on his face as well. "When I saw you on my doorstep, I thought you knew... I thought the same of you, that you'd be the one to know!"

"Yeah, sure! As if she cared about me!"

"Stop your antics, Fitzroy, for crying out loud! She adores you, she's been obsessed with you ever since she met you... Don't tell me you don't know!" Mike cut him short. "That really is the last straw! Have you got any idea how hurt she was when you decided to leave? What she's been through? I was the one to see her wither with pain a little more every day and I couldn't even talk her out of it because she wouldn't listen! She wouldn't even talk about you, damn it!" he hissed.

Henry looked into Mike's eyes. "I don't get it, Mike... She told me you deserved to be offered another chance, that she'd give it a try because you were a good man and I let her be, even if it broke my heart, because I knew she was right. I thought if you could get together, you would take good care of her and she'd have a good life. She'd made it clear she had come to terms with her blindness, that she accepted it, that she'd find a way to make it work with you... And now you're telling me she didn't even try?" Henry was yelling. "I had offered to turn her and leave with me, you know, to cure her blindness, to be her mentor, to be her lover... I thought she knew she was my everything, she was my world... that I would give anything to protect her. I thought she'd made her choice!" Henry said, a sad look on his face, his jaw tensing.

"She did try, I have to give her that. She tried to make it work with me, make me happy, even be happy herself. She never talked about you. It was too painful for her and she also knew it was too painful for me too. But the old Vicki was gone, her heart had left when you had left. She never smiled unless she felt she had to, she didn't even bother to have her eyes checked regularly, she always made excuses not to go out, enjoy herself, it was work, only work and even that was hard on her because her partner had left her. Coreen called me one day to say she was worried, that Vicki had refused several easy cases, good money she badly needed. I said she needed time to accept you were gone, but things got from bad to worse. I came one evening with Chinese takeaway to ask for her help on a case, as I used to do before you came into her life." Henry winced at that, knowing how close Mike and Vicki had been, how important these work sessions had been to them before he'd barged into her life and gotten hold of her time and attention but Mike went on, his eyes lost on the coffee table, his fingers tracing circles on the edge of the glass. "Anyway, I thought it might cheer her up so I did as I did before, I let myself in without knocking. She was huddled on her chair, cradling a glass of whiskey full to the brim and she was crying. I didn't want her to see me watch her so I backed into the corridor and coughed, then I got inside. She barely looked up at me. I told her why I'd come, so she tried to be cheerful about it but she hardly ate or talked during the evening and I finally left early, knowing she just wanted me gone. I called Coreen the next day. She said it was not unusual for her to drink at work, in fact, she said she thought Vicki drank more than she ate... Did your man tell you how thin she'd become?! Nothing to report, uh?!"

"No, he never did, or maybe I wasn't listening... All I needed to know was she was with you, that she was seeing you, that you came to see her. He even said she stayed at your place from time to time... I was expecting him to tell me soon she'd moved in with you..." Henry whispered, brushing his hands through his hair and pressing them on his temples.

"She did stay with me, always in the guest room, except for one time she came into my bedroom..." He said hesitantly, seeing the killer's look on Fitzroy's face. "She had been in a cheery mood for a couple of weeks, she obviously was trying to make amends for that time at the office. I told her it was not reasonable, that she should be damn sure before going to third base but she did not relent. Damn! Fitzroy! I'm just a man, not a saint! And she was very persuasive...",he added, eyeing the vampire.

"Don't apologize, Mike. I left her so she could do exactly that with you, so she could find what she needed, well, what I thought she needed...", Henry replied, brushing off Mike's comment. "So, what's your point?"

"We made love, she was tender and passionate too. She'd never been like that before with me. It was awesome sex, believe me..."

"Don't push it too far, Mike..." Henry warned him. "I might not be able to hold back my wrath if you tease me too much..."

"My point is, I realized it wasn't me she was making love to. When she came, it was your name she screamed..." Mike hissed, averting his eyes so Henry would not see the hurt and shame in his gaze.

Henry opened his mouth then closed it, at a loss for words.

"She didn't realized it first. She went to the bathroom to have a shower and then I heard her gasp. Later I heard her crying. I was appalled at the situation. If another woman had done that to me, I would have shouted at her but Vicki, she was bruised and battered, I didn't want to add embarrassment to her suffering. When she opened the door, I simulated sleep and I heard her sigh with relief, get her clothes on and leave quietly. After that night, it wasn't the same any more. We were clumsy around each other, we barely talked on the phone when I checked on her... Then about a month after that, she disappeared. No note to say where she was going, no phone call, her cell is disconnected, she doesn't even answer her emails. Believe me, Fitzroy, I tried everything I could think of to find her but it's like she's never existed. She hasn't even used her credit card. I can't track her down if she doesn't!"

Fitzroy had remained silent, his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the coffee table.

"Say something, damn it!", Mike blurted out.

"I'm sorry is the first thing that comes to mind, right now..." Mike looked at him in dismay. He'd never thought conceited Henry Fitzroy could one day utter those words. "You're sorry?"

"Yes, I am, my friend. Truly sorry. I'm sorry for you because you deserved better treatment, not that it is her fault, but still... I'm sorry for her. I cannot imagine how pained she must have felt when she realized what she had done... And I must say I'm sorry for myself, for not acting as I had planned and turn her into my mate. It would have been for the better, as I reckon. I was a complete ass. I should have trusted my intuition and she'd be with me now, safe and sound, not into the unknown," he added, looking at Mike wistfully.

Mike was speechless. He could finally see he'd been wrong to lash at Henry. They both loved her and wanted the best for her. He'd finally understood that, accepted it. And he'd also accepted that if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, Vicki desperately needed Fitzroy, and not only because he could cure her handicap. Vicki belonged with Fitzroy. They'd had their time but it was over. Mike and Vicki were ancient history, had probably been ever since her gaze had met Henry's.

The vampire looked at him intently. "You do understand that she is in great danger, out there, wherever that is, right?"

"She knows how to fend for herself, Fitzroy," Mike tentatively replied.

"No, she can't any more, or at least that won't last. From what I know, her sight is deteriorating rapidly and she is no ordinary girl. She attracts evil, for God's sake! Don't you see? As long as she was being watched by my man, as long as she was with you and Coreen, she was relatively safe. I could get here in a couple of hours and help her. Now we don't even have a clue about where she went."

"I don't get it, Fitzroy... A couple of hours? I thought you'd told her you intended to move to Vancouver... Where were you all that time?" Mike demanded.

"The Falls..." Henry answered.

"Like in Niagara Falls?You're kidding, right? I looked for you everywhere! She looked for you everywhere! But not there! She sent requests to all the cities on the west coast, asking for the help of her fellow colleagues there and when I realized that she was spending all her time on it, I took pity on her and sent requests myself, through the police department. We got nothing! I know for sure she didn't, because if she had found something she would surely have lost that forlorn look on her face", he added, wincing at the memory of Vicki's sad gaze.

"I know how to disappear when I need to", Henry stated, as if that was not obvious. He hadn't survived for 470 years by being an easy prey for whoever was after him.

"Well, now what?" Mike asked.

"Now, we work hand in hand to find her. If something ever happens to her, I won't outlive her."

TBC

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