Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the characters of 'The Nanny.'

A/N Ok peeps, this one is yet another in a long line of Niles and CC fictions. It's also a little out there… I just don't want anyone to get bored. LOL Let me know what you think. - FoG

Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 1

Niles shuddered as he heard Fran call from upstairs. "Maaaggiiee!" Fran finally made her way down stairs. "Niles?" Fran's voice was quieter, but Niles still found himself having to turn his head away from the sound.

"Yes, Miss Fine…what is it?" Niles asked keeping his own voice quiet.

Fran looked around curiously. "Oh, I'm sorry, Niles. Is the baby sleeping?" Then catching herself. "Wait…we don't have a baby?" Fran turned to look at Niles. "Why are we trying to be quiet? Do you have a hangover? You don't usually go out drinking on Monday nights."

Niles sighed. "No, Miss Fine. My ears seem overly sensitive today that's all."

"Well, you know it's almost a full moon. Maybe that's got something to do with it. Everyone gets a little weird around the full moon." Fran left the kitchen to find Maggie.

Niles thought to himself. "I hope you're wrong my friend. The alternative is too insane to even consider." "Oh alright already, I'm coming." Niles headed into the office. "Yes, Sir?"

Max looked up. "What is it Niles?"

"You called me, Sir." Niles offered.

Max wrinkled his nose. "No, I didn't. I did ask CC if she knew what you were planning for lunch, but that's it."

"Fine, Sir. I'm sorry. The children asked for barbecued chicken pizza, if that's alright." Max nodded his approval and Niles turned and left. "Crap, this can't be happening."

Niles was never one to buy into his father's flights of fancy, but he'd heard this story ever since he was old enough to sit still through it. "Dad…" Niles knew he had to ask his father for help now, there was no denying it.

"Niles, my boy, its happening isn't?" Niles father wasn't clairvoyant, but he was the man's father...and he was more than aware of the phases of the moon. "I tried to tell you, Lad, but you didn't listen."

"Hello to you, too. What am I supposed to do, Dad?" Niles sat on the edge of his bed remembering the story well enough too know what would happen eventually as the sun fell lower in the sky. "I've only just had my first…symptoms. It's just my hearing."

"Well, Lad, I could take the Concord and be there tomorrow, but that's not going to help you for tonight." Joseph Brightmore was a spry and amiable man who adored his oldest son and would do anything for him.

Niles sighed. "Just tell me how to handle it."

"Niles, you know this story as well as I. I tried to warn you the last time you were home that you were approaching…the age." Niles's father was never one to discuss his son's age knowing how sensitive a subject it had become for him.

Niles stood and paced his room a little. "Dad, I've still got a good year before I reach the…age as you put it. Why has it started now?"

"Seems you need a refresher in the story…" Joseph sighed into the phone. Niles head dropped and he planted himself firmly in the chair in his room ready to hear the story again.

Joseph began to weave his tale…

"It was in the late sixteen hundreds, just before our ancestors emigrated from Ireland to the Cornwall area of England. It was Jeremiah Brightmore that drove them to leave Ireland. He'd resigned himself to the bachelor life. Playboy life more accurately, he had at least a handful of women he visited regularly. It was just after his 44th birthday when he was returning from one of his little trysts. He'd made the mistake of bedding the daughter of Warren Wolfe. He was a large and hateful man originally from Australia or somewhere, who was prone to violence and disappeared at least once a month.

November 29, 1685 County Cork, Ireland somewhere in the woods.

"So...Brightmore, ya think ye can just take me daughter and walk away, is that it?" The hulk of a man stepped out from behind a tree.

Jeremiah Brightmore was a well built and muscular man. He had reddish blonde hair and deep, crystal clear blue eyes. "'Eh now, Warren, yer girl asked me in and was perfectly willin'" Jeremiah Brightmore wasn't the sharpest tool in his father's shed. "Ya can't fault a man for taken what he's offered."

As the sun dropped further in the sky over the trees Jeremiah heard the most horrible sounds coming from the man before him. "I'll show you how to take what yer offered, Brightmore. May you live a long and tormented life." Wolfe was growling more like a bear than any man Jeremiah had ever crossed paths with and that was a very long list.

Before Jeremiah knew what was happening the hulk of a man was on him. Jeremiah couldn't believe what he'd seen in the brief moment before darkness had overtaken him. He was being attacked not by a man, not by an animal, he had no idea what it was, but when bit into his neck, he prayed that his maker in Heaven would take him.

That prayer went unanswered. Jeremiah woke on the sofa in his parent's living room bandaged and ranting about the man beast that had attacked him in the woods. Everyone thought he was drunk or delirious from the fever, but that only lasted until the following month as the moon grew more and more full in the night sky.

The closer the night of the full moon became the worse the nights were for Jeremiah. On the night of the full moon the transformation was complete. Jeremiah's parents had locked him in his room for what they knew would be his own safety as well as that of theirs and those people in their small Irish village. The Brightmore's were shunned, the family of the monster. No one would associate with them and all of Jeremiah's 'lady friends' suddenly forgot they ever knew him. There had long been rumors of creatures that lived in the woods of County Cork, Ireland. But no one ever actually saw one. Animals and livestock would turn up dead, practically torn apart, around the time of the full moon, but the farmers in the village just chalked it up to wild bears or wolves in the woods. The Brightmore's…they now knew better.

November 30, 1996 New York, just a few days after Niles' 44th birthday.

"That's when the Brightmore's left Ireland forever. The curse followed, but luckily, it was Jeremiah's behavior that eased the following generations of Brightmore men. While all the Brightmore men had his, prowess and cravings for the fairer sex…they didn't have his desire for bachelorhood. All the following generations of Brightmore men who were married before they were your age year never so much as suffered from too much facial hair, let alone the full on curse. You, my boy, will be among the rare few." Joseph finished his story leaving Niles with a terrible headache and a terrible ringing in his ears.

Niles lay back on his bed. "What am I to do, Dad? I can't go back in time. I'm 44 years old…can I still stop the…" Niles couldn't believe he was even going to say the word. Sighing he finished his question. "Can I still stop the curse?"

"Well, Lad, it's going to be a little different now. Up until now all you had to do was marry before your 44th birthday and all you'd have had to deal with was the little bits. But now…" Joseph's voice faded.

Niles frowned at the phone. It wasn't like his father to go so…quiet. "Dad…what do I have to do?"

"You'll have to find a woman…and she will have to love you in spite of your…problem. You'll have to allow her to see you beneath a full moon and she must stand her ground and declare her love." Joseph sounded terribly sad.

Niles sat up in his bed. "Why do I just know that there's more you're not telling me?"

"That's why I told you the age was 45, Niles. Well, that and the fact I didn't think it would ever happen to you. You were always a favorite with the girls. All of your brother's were jealous." Niles was the eldest of six children; he had only one sister, Ophelia, born just after him. Patrick, Quentin, Robert and Stephen are his brothers. Joseph was most proud of his boys' way with the ladies, and his daughter's way of handling men.

Niles rolled his eyes. "Dad…get to the point. What happens when I turn 45?"

"If you haven't found a woman to love you beneath the full of the moon, and marry you before you're 45. The curse is…irreversible. You will transform every full moon for the remainder of your life, married or not." Joseph answered his son. "There is good news. You can end the curse. Thus far in history the few Brightmore men who remained unmarried by their 44th year, never married so the curse continued. If you marry before your 45th birthday, the curse will be broken for your children and those of your brothers."

Niles nearly wept at his plight. "Thanks…Dad, no pressure there." Niles stood, looked at his reflection in the mirror and wondered what he'd look like 'transformed.' "Dad, how do I make sure I don't…hurt anyone?" That's when it occurred to Niles that he'd have to transform fully for this woman whose heart he was supposed to win. "And what about the woman…if we're beneath the full moon, how can I control myself not to…?" Niles just couldn't bring himself to say it. His thoughts swam in his head. "I couldn't ever really hurt anyone could I? I couldn't actually…kill another living being…"

Joseph reassured his son. "Lad, you've the kindest and purest of hearts…I don't imagine you could ever hurt anyone. But, it's not going to be easy. Especially at first, it'll be damn hard for you to control. If there's somewhere you can go, I would do it. Doesn't Max have that cabin up in the mountains if Pennsylvania?"

"Yes, the Poconos, it's a fairly crowded tourist area, but the cabin is pretty isolated. Thanks, Dad. I'll tell Max that I need some time off." Niles is about to end the call with his father. "Oh, Dad…" He continues. "It stops after the full moon, right at least for a short time…?"

Joseph smiled into the phone. "Yes, Lad, the symptoms start usually about a week or so before and end with the sunrise after the full moon. But take care, Niles. There will be certain abilities, traits and carry over you'll just have to get used to, like the heightened hearing."

"Alright, Dad. I'd better go; the family will be expecting lunch soon. I'll have the Sheffield cell phone with me. I know Max won't send me down there without it." Niles hung up the phone and felt a little better about his situation having spoken to his father.