TITLE: There Can Be So Much More!
DISCLAIMER: You all would know if any part of BT was mine. Why? Because then so many of you would not be tied up in knots from frustration!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This little piece has been in me for some time now; since I saw the Russian sneak peek of Wrapped, but after watching the eppie last night, I find myself unable to keep what I feel should have happened buried inside me any longer! For those of you who have been patiently waiting for me to continue When All Hell Threatens and Blind Love, I thank you. I will continue, never fear. It is just that this scene which should have been there will not let me be until I set it free.
BTBTBTBTBT
Curling her toes within the confines of her leather boots, she turned and leaned her back heavily against his door. Frustration, anger, and guilt boiled inside her, churning her gut and putting a fire in her heart that made her gasp with the emotional pain of it all. Closing her eyes against the glare of the lights in Henry's outer hallway, she prayed to any benevolent God or spirit who might care to listen; please, oh please help me do what is right!
A soft ding alerted her to the approach of the elevator. Her heart slammed into her throat, and against every instinct that told her to run and hide, she kept herself still, using the cold wood of Henry's door to anchor her.
The doors slid softly open. She heard no sound of approaching steps, but she knew, without opening her eyes, that he had returned.
"Coreen."
His voice, as always sent a deep thrumming straight through her, touching her in places she only dreamed he would in real life. That little girly sigh in her heart pulsed, but she never spoke it out loud. Deep down, she knew he was not for her and though she has toyed with the idea of trying to capture his attention, she knew, now more so than ever, it was something she was never destined to have.
Taking a deep breath, Coreen opened her eyes. The utter coldness in his eyes, the emotionless frame of his face chilled her like nothing else could. "Henry, what have you done?" She asked. Despair filled her voice and flooded her heart.
"Go home, Coreen."
Coreen refused to budge. "You went and saw her, didn't you?"
She watched him flinch and a wave of rage flooded through her. Her body began to shake with her efforts to contain it. She was one moment away from an explosion the likes of which would even have God cowering, she thought.
Not wishing to have anything more to do with the woman in front of him, but not wanting to hurt her, Henry reached up, grasped her by the shoulders and removed her fully from his access to his home. "Your job is done, Coreen. I forgive you. Go home."
She knew what she was doing, but the shock of it had her watching as if she stood outside her own body. Right palm flattening, arm rising, she struck. The sound of her hand impacting against Henry's face was deafening in the quiet of the hall.
In the blink of an eye, Henry lost the veneer of urbane control. Blue eyes swiftly bled to black. Predator instincts took over. Before he realized his own intent, his beast had Coreen pinned against the wall across the hall, its hand at her throat.
Too angry to even care about her predicament, Coreen faced him, faced the darker side of Henry and refused to back down. She has spent too much time turning away from the truth, burying it inside her because of her own fears, but no more. Tonight, Coreen's own inner beast was being let loose as well. "You bastard!" She cried. Her voice was harsh from the pressure of Henry's hand on her throat, but no less effective. "Who in all the hells do you think you are to even dare offer me forgiveness? You think I'm just some stupid girl who knows only to follow orders? That I blindly followed like a lamb to the slaughter just on Vicki's say so? I knew what I was doing, Henry, just like Vicki did."
Struggling to reign in his instincts, Henry shuddered. He had fed, enough to heal, but not enough to sooth the rage burning inside him. It would be so easy to take her, he thought. So easy to sink his teeth into her young tender flesh and draw her life force within himself. She owed him that much…. "You don't know what you're saying, Coreen. Go home." He spun back to his door, mundanely reached for the key in his pocket, but was held frozen by Coreen's next words.
"You told her you couldn't forgive her, didn't you?"
His head, suddenly feeling too heavy for his neck to support, bowed. "I can't forgive her." He whispered.
The pain in Henry's words, pierced Coreen's rage, but it was not enough to vanquish it. "You know, I once believed you to be the coolest guy in the world, but you are nothing but a fool and a coward."
"Guard your tongue, Coreen."
"Or what, you'll rip it out through my throat like you ripped out Vicki's heart?"
"She betrayed me."
"She saved you!"
Henry's gaze, once more blue, swung round to collide with her own dark eyes. "Against my wishes."
Coreen shook her head with dismay. "I once believed the old saying 'with age comes wisdom', but you, Henry, are an exception to the rule. You are so blinded by your own ego that you can't see the truth."
"The truth is, Coreen, that Vicki chose to immerse herself in black magic! She fouled herself with my blood, betrayed my trust, and sold her soul to the devil—"
"To save your sorry ass because you are the only thing standing between her and an eternity in servitude to Asteroth!" Coreen shouted. With three quick strides, she stood before Henry, her thin body vibrating with the fierceness of her feelings. "You and I both know you had no chance at defeating the sorcerer. He was the right hand of the Incan God of Death for crying out loud! You would have died, Henry. She knew it. You knew it and I knew it. I couldn't let that happen. Not because of what I might feel for you, but because of her. Vicki is--" Coreen's voice faltered as anger turned swiftly and unexpectedly into sorrow. She felt the sting of tears in the corner of her eyes, felt the squeeze against her heart as she fought to keep them at bay. "You do know, it's all my fault, don't you?" She asked quietly.
Finding it difficult to keep up with Coreen's emotions, Henry frowned. "What are you talking about?"
He watched Coreen's face and gaze soften as if for a moment she were someplace else other than standing in front of him, goading him.
"I knew," she whispered. "The minute I saw her creeping into Norman's back room the very first time, I knew I had made a terrible mistake. Do you think my knowledge is just that, unused information stolen from various dusty sources? Well, it isn't. Not too long ago, I dabbled in the dark arts."
"Coreen…."
She held up a hand, cutting off Henry's words. "It was stupid, I know that now, but then….I thought it was all very exciting, very mysterious, magical and cool."
"What did you do?"
Coreen felt her face flush with the red of embarrassed shame. "I was so lonely. Always on the outside. Never accepted by anyone. I just wanted to be noticed as a girl worth a guys' attention, not because I dressed differently or walked a different path, but because I was attractive and smart."
"Coreen, what did you do?"
She took a breath and met his gaze head on. "I went to a witch and bought something."
"This something….what did it cost?"
"More than I understood at the time. It cost me the man I loved."
"And how does this relate to Vicki?"
"I was so hurt, so angry. I wanted revenge and Vicki was the perfect tool. She had seen the truth. She had the skills to find the answers I needed. I never thought she'd end up a victim as well."
"A victim."
Coreen nodded. "It's what she is, Henry; a victim of my own selfishness. Because of me, her chance of a good and peaceful future was stripped from her. Against her will she was bound to a demon lord, to serve it in any horrible way it deems fit. God knows I would give anything to take it all back. I would trade myself, if it would help."
Feeling her pain like an echo of his own, Henry let go his anger and took her hands in his. "Coreen, don't say that!"
"Why not? When I first met Vicki, I knew she was smart, and tough, and capable. She was a former homicide detective with the ability to feel compassion. I liked her, but not enough to stop myself from using her. When Norman was taken by Asteroth, I wanted to believe that the marks he left behind on her body would amount to nothing, but I knew deep down, that wasn't the case. I owed it to her to help keep her safe."
"So you got her to hire you."
"And from that day forward I watched her change. Because of the way I look, most people dismiss me, ignore me, and this was pretty much true at Vicki's office as well. She has gone from being a woman in control of her own destiny to a woman who struggles every hour of every day to keep that destiny from claiming her. Asteroth will have what he is owed and we all know this, but Vicki refuses to accept it. She may have lost her choice, but she has not given in…because of you."
Henry blinked. "Me."
"She loves you."
"No. She doesn't."
"Come on, Henry! She gave up her soul for you!"
"I didn't ask her to!" Henry roared.
"You didn't have to. Don't you understand? It was the only thing left she had to offer that was still hers and hers alone. Do you think you're the only one who has ever had the right to sacrifice something for love?"
Hands fisting at his sides, Henry searched the hall, searched every shadow in every corner for some relief from the ache that was building inside him. The tears on Coreen's face, the truth of her words beat at him.
Unaware that she was winning her battle, Coreen continued, breaking a promise she had made to Vicki three weeks earlier. "Asteroth has set a bounty on her life, Henry. The evil that is in this world and in Asteroth's are not just drawn to her, but being sent for her. He will not stop until he has her and if Vicki had lost you tonight to that very evil she would have followed right after you."
"No."
"Yes."
The softly spoken word floating to them from six feet down the hall had Coreen and Henry spinning in surprise. How had he not heard her, felt her? The truth came crashing against him. His blood. It ran through her veins now, binding her to him as surely as if he had turned her. His senses had not recognized her as a threat even while his sanity told him she was a threat to the very heart of him.
"Vicki." Softer than a whisper her name on Henry's lips fluttered against Vicki's eardrums as if he had spoken aloud.
A sob escaped Coreen's throat. Tentatively she took a step forward.
Vicki met her and in a move that surprised them all, she folded Coreen's boney frame into a tight embrace. "I never blamed you, Coreen. Never." She said in low tones.
Pushing herself out of the hug, Coreen stared in bewilderment at the older woman. "How could you not?"
A slight smile fluttered across Vicki's full lips as she raised her gaze to the man behind Coreen. It was now or never, she thought. Though she had come to Henry's to offer up a few of her own choice words in defense of her actions tonight, hearing Coreen bravely face Henry's wrath brought home to Vicki just how much damage her own lack of honesty has caused. "Because if it weren't for you, Coreen, for your passion and heartbreak, I would never have met him and I would not trade that for anything." Brushing stray hairs from Coreen's tear streaked face, she pulled her close again. "You are not invisible to me."
Another sob shook Coreen's frame and Vicki sighed. Lifting her gaze once more to Henry, she said, "If I had half of Henry's powers, I would take away your pain."
In spite of the spinning chaos of his emotions, Henry got the hint and took up the call. Eyes shifting to black as he drew upon his gifts, he threaded his thoughts through Coreen's and whispered a command for her ease. "Dry your tears, Coreen, and go home. You have done well by Vicki. Everything will be fine."
Coreen sniffed, pulling away from Vicki's embrace. "I'm….I'm going home now. I just needed to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine, Coreen. Thank you," said Henry with a slight bow.
Nodding, Coreen moved past Vicki to the elevator.
When Vicki heard the doors close behind her, she let loose the anger that had consumed her once the pain of Henry's visit had passed. With carefully slow steps, she approached him.
Henry watched her, unable to shake the uneasy feeling that he was being stalked. The animal instincts he harbored within him quivered with awakening interest, but he held them back. She was nearly upon his feet when she stopped. He could smell her, smell his own essence flowing from her, mingling with her own heady fragrance and the combination set flame to the desire he always held in check around her. The hairs on his body rose to attention and every muscle in his hard frame stiffened. Within the confines of his zipper he felt his cock lengthen with anticipation. He knew she was aware of his passion, the flush rising across her cheeks was a dead give away, but still she did not speak and her lack of words sent a skittering of nervousness through him. "Vicki…"
The sudden explosion of pain in his right cheek and the back of his head as he was slammed back against his own door by the force of her fist silenced him.
Silence settled between them. Recovering quickly from the blow, it took only a look at Vicki for him to realize she was just as stunned as he was that she actually succeeded in striking him. The shock wore off quickly, replaced by that one smile that he couldn't resist; the one that spoke volumes about just how pleased she was at having bested him. "Hmph. Vampire blood. Who knew!"
The glint in her eye eased the ache in his heart.
"Feel better now?" He asked, rubbing at his jaw.
"Got a headache?"
Henry smiled. "Among other places." That blush was back, turning Henry's smile to a full fledged toothy grin. Taking a deep breath, knowing she would know exactly what he was doing, he drank in the scent of her passion.
"You're an ass, Henry." She said with annoyance.
"Yes, but you love me anyway." Though he spoke with flippancy, the moment the words were in the open between them, a heavy quiet settled around them. In it, he heard the pounding of her heart just as he was certain she could hear his own. With his blood running through her, neither one of them could hide from the truth any longer. The bond it created was too strong for that.
"I feel you," whispered Vicki. "Inside me. Everything you are, everything you have been."
Henry winced. "I'm sorry."
Vicki shook her head. "I'm not. I'm not sorry at all."
"Vicki…."
"I know you played a cat and mouse game, teasing me with offers of your passion. I know how much you held back even from yourself as I did, trying to protect your heart from being hurt again. You don't think you're worth what I paid to keep you in my world, but I have to tell you, Henry, that to me, you are." With trembling fingers, she reached up and laid her palm against the right side of his face, cradling the spot that still bore the mark of her strike.
Without thought, he took that hand in his own and turned her palm against his lips, pressing the sweetest of kisses right in the center.
"I don't know what to say," murmured Henry.
"I have no need for your forgiveness, unless we're talking about the pain I caused when I used your own sword against you." Leaving her hand clasped in his, she brought her right hand up over the place from which his blood had flowed. "I ask only that you understand and accept that I could do nothing less to keep you with me as I know you would have done for me had our places been reversed."
Gently, reverently, Henry, his blue eyes never leaving her face, he took her hand and laid it against his heart. "For all that I am worth, Vicki, I am yours." He pledged as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close against his body. "I don't know where this will take us, but wherever we wind up, know that I will be there by your side."
Laying her head against the comfort of his chest, Vicki sighed. "That's all I ask."
A/N: I can only hope that Insight Films will get the backing they need/want to continue with this show and when they do, I also hope that they will take the leap out of the stereotypical episodic television box and work to bring to life the full potential that Blood Ties has. If anyone is offended by this, I offer only that my frustration and anger stems from a deep love and admiration for the show.