In Daylight We're Oblivion

Vicki was getting sick of paperwork. Even with most of her cases ending without payment or live clients, her paperwork was multiplying, and there was only so much Coreen would do for her. When her cell rang she only glanced at the screen. "Henry. I thought you were busy tonight."

"Hello?"

Vicki sat up fast. Female, teenage, and scared, the voice didn't sound like anyone she knew. "Who is this?" She tossed a ball of paper at the window to get Coreen's attention.

"Is this Victoria?"

She hesitated. "Who is this?" she repeated. Only one person called her Victoria.

"I'm the girl holding in the blood of the guy who owns this phone," the girl said. "He freaked out when I tried to call an ambulance, though. He just wants you. Can you come?"

"Where are you?"

She scribbled down the address, holding it up for Coreen's attention. "I'm on my way. I'm giving this phone to my friend, she's going to keep talking to you. If you need me before I get there, hang up and look for Coreen on that phone, ok?"

Coreen was already holding out her cell; Vicki smiled thankfully. "Henry's hurt, this girl's with him, I'm going to them."

"Want me to come?"

"No, find out what you can, get on the research. I'll let you know when I get there." She hurried out, waving Coreen's phone absently.

Left alone, Coreen lifted Vicki's phone to her ear. "Um. Hello?"

"Victoria knows this guy isn't a guy, right?" the girl asked.

"Um. Yes?"

"Oh good. I hope she's hurrying, because if he goes for my wrist once more..."

It took Vicki twenty three minutes to get to the address she'd been given; a deserted car park, surrounded by empty buildings. It was surprisingly well lit, enough for her to see the figures huddled along one wall.

She dropped to her knees, reaching automatically for Henry's throat. He snarled lightly but didn't react otherwise, staring up past her. Blood stained his shirt and seeped from more cuts than she could readily discern.

"What happened?" she demanded, turning on the girl. It was too dark to take in anything other than blonde and nineteen-ish.

"Attack, fight, blood blood blood. Can you help him?"

"What?"

"Can you feed him. It's not a good idea for me to."

Vicki sat back on her heels, tugging at the arm of her coat and eventually slipping out of it. "Who are you?"

"Passing by. Do I need to stop him?"

Vicki shook her head, twisting her hair back out of the way. "He knows me. He'll stop. Henry?"

The girl pulled away a little, crouching watchfully beside them. Vicky leaned over Henry, coaxing him until he bit into her wrist. He didn't take much, he never did, but enough to bring some awareness back to his eyes.

"Can you move?" Vicki asked, already supporting him. Henry heaved himself to his feet, groaning. "How long until dawn?"

"Not long enough," Henry gritted.

The girl glanced around. "Basement, over there."

"Are you sure?" Vicki demanded. "We don't have time for you to be wrong."

"I stayed in it last night. Pitch black all day. Not comfortable, but no sun."

"Good enough. Show us."

The girl bounced to her feet, ducking under Henry's other arm. He snarled softly again, but he didn't try and pull away, and Vicki counted that as a win. She followed as the girl led them to one of the buildings, muscled Henry in through a window and brought them to a door in one wall.

"Can you hang on a minute? I left a torch, but it's down at the bottom, I'll go grab it."

"Yeah. Hey!" Vicki called, and the girl turned back curiously. "What's your name?"

"Lauren." She sketched a surprisingly formal bow, turning to hurry down the steps.

Vicki looked back at Henry, slumped against the wall. "You need more?"

"No." He tried to straighten, couldn't quite manage. "Vicki, be careful, she is not fully human."

"She saved you." Vicki frowned. "Didn't she?"

"Yes," he admitted. "But I don't know why. Be careful."

Lauren clattered loudly back up the steps, torch in hand. "Vicki, do you want to carry it? I know what's down there."

"Thanks." Vicki took the torch, wrapping her other arm around Henry. "Come on."

They spent most of the day in the basement. Lauren cheerfully went for take out when Vicki asked her to; apart from that, she kept to herself in a corner of the basement, buried in books. Vicki's quick search while she was gone turned up only books written in an Asian language; she took a few pictures and sent them to Coreen, but she wasn't holding out much hope. Lauren had turned aside pretty much all her questions so far.

Henry was healing, at least; Vicki checked on him every so often, just to be sure, and every time she did his wounds were closer to being healed.

Lauren came back in, carrying the second lot of take away. "I went for Chinese this time, hope that's ok. It's about twenty minutes to sunset."

"Chinese is fine." Vicki caught the bag, poking through it absently. "Can you tell me what attacked you?"

"I don't know the name." Lauren dug in with a pair of chopsticks. "Big, ugly, trying to kill me. Henry got in the way, and we scared it off, but we didn't kill it."

"Anything more descriptive than that?"

Lauren provided a description, which Vicki sent to Coreen, but she didn't think it would help much; it had been dark, the attack happened in a hurry, and the description was vague at best. "Do you know why it's after you?" she asked.

Lauren didn't answer, and she looked up to find the girl staring at her food. "Lauren," she prompted gently.

"I think so," Lauren said without looking up. "I'm working on it. I'd rather not say until I'm sure."

Henry gasped into life and Vicki turned to him, distracted. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. How are you feeling?"

He stared at the ceiling for a moment before sitting up. "Where are we?"

"Basement, just near where you were attacked last night. You remember that?"

Henry touched one of the fading scars ruefully. "Hard to forget." He looked past her, eyes narrowing. "Company, I see."

"Henry," Lauren said without looking up. "Thank you for your help."

"I'd like to know why my help is necessary," he said mildly.

"Because you have a Messiah complex?" she suggested.

Vicki smirked, grinning at Henry's accusatory look. "What?" she said innocently, reaching for the prawn crackers.

Henry returned her smirk, getting up to prowl around the room. "Nice hideaway."

"Thanks," Lauren said absently.

"Been here long?"

"Couple days."

"Only that?"

She glanced up, mildly irritated. "I'm on the run, I don't stay anywhere too long."

"Running from the creature?"

"Running." She rose to her feet, retrieved one of her books and offered it to him.

"I don't read Japanese."

"Really." She let her hand drop, holding the book lightly against her side.

"What are you?" Henry demanded.

"How old are you?"

"Four fifty and change. What are you?"

Lauren glanced at Vicki, who was deliberately staying out of it. "Do you know the term Nighlok?"

"Japanese demon," Henry supplied. "You're no demon."

"Not a demon, no," she agreed. "Have you heard of the Shiba Clan?"

"They're supposed to fight off the Nighlok," Henry said for Vicki's benefit. "Supernaturally empowered for it. There was a minor Nighlok uprising in 1998."

"A minor demon uprising?" Vicki murmured.

"It only killed three people, and one house was burned to the ground," Lauren said tightly. "Minor by almost anyone's standards."

"The current Shiba is a boy in his teens in California," Henry said carefully. He'd obviously caught her reaction, probably more clearly than Vicki herself had. "An only child."

"Jayden," Lauren agreed, gaze softening for just a moment. "But - what's the phrase? Heir and a spare? Shiba power dissipates quickly once you get more than two generations out, but perversion of any Shiba is a prize for any Nighlok."

"Is that what's after you?" Vicki asked. "You left that part out of your description."

"Nighlok is a species, not an individual. It wouldn't have helped." She glanced at the book she was stil holding, turning away to put it back with the others.

"Are they rising?" Henry asked, pausing by the stairs to stare at the door at the top. "My understanding was that the uprising fifteen years ago was quite thoroughly put down."

"We have some time," Lauren agreed. "The Nighlok were - locked away. The lock's failing, bit by bit, so the weaker ones can slide through. It'll be a long time before the more powerful ones get through, but it'll happen."

"Here in Toronto?" Vicki demanded.

"No. They'll go to California, to Jayden. The lock's keyed to him, to Shiba House. This one's chasing me because it thinks I'm him; they're not very smart, the minions."

"Clearly," Vicki agreed. "This thing is going to keep coming after you?"

"It'll either sense me, or it'll start random mayhem to draw me out."

"Will that work?" Henry asked mildly, coming back to stand by Vicki.

"I'm still a Shiba. Nighlok start attacking, I'm going to be there."

"Because you were doing so well before," he agreed.

"I wasn't expecting a vampire to jump in the way."

"Forgive me for attempting to help."

"Forgiven," she said briefly.

"What difference does that make?" Vicki protested. "Help is help."

Lauren glanced up at them. Fire burst into light above her hand, hovering there. "Because I couldn't attack the Nighlok for fear of harming Henry. Unless I should have just gone ahead? Would that have been a good idea, Henry?"

"No," he forced out. "That would not have been a good idea."

"Henry," Vicki murmured.

He tilted his head towards her, though his eyes were locked on the ball of fire in Lauren's palm. "If I am burned, it - does not heal well. Burns are complicated. I've known vampires who died in fire. It's not a good way to go." Vicki nodded slowly, remembering Delphine.

"All my attacks - anything that would hurt the Nighlok - are based in fire. I was kind of stuck once you were in the way."

"Next time I'll make sure to stay away."

"Can you get rid of that?" Vicki demanded, gesturing to the fire still sitting in Lauren's hand. Lauren glanced at it, dismissing it with a wave. "Henry was trying to help you."

"And I'm grateful. I am. But the Nighlok are Shiba responsibility. No one else will die fighting them."

"No one else?" Vicki repeated.

Lauren shook her head, glancing away to pick up her jacket. "I have things to do. Feel free to stay as long as you want. Thank you for your help."

"Wait," Vicki protested, but Lauren was past them and on the stairs already. Vicki glared at Henry, who shrugged but made no effort to go after her, and then Lauren was gone, door clicking quietly closed behind her. "Henry!"

"Did you miss the part where she summons fire from thin air, Vicki?"

"Did you miss the bit where it nearly tore you apart? She's a child grieving, we can't just leave her out there."

"She doesn't want our help."

"No, but she needs it. She lost someone, Henry."

"Yes," he agreed easily.

"Can you track her?"

"Yes."

"Can you track the Nighlok?"

"I can try."

He didn't move, though, and Vicki sighed. "Henry..."

"Forgive me, I'm not very eager to be burnt to death, Vicki."

"We cannot leave a girl out there facing that thing down. Please, Henry."

He snarled silently. "She doesn't want help."

"Doesn't mean we can walk away."

"You are bad for my health, Victoria."

"But I'm great for your immortal soul. Come on."

The Nighlok's trail died in a brick wall on the edge of the car park. Henry cast around, couldn't find it, and switched to following Lauren instead.

They found her in a plaza, empty and badly lit. Henry stayed at Vicki's shoulder as she picked her way across to join Lauren.

"Is that a sword?"

Lauren glanced at the sword in her hand. "Yes."

"Can I see?"

"No."

"Spoilsport. What's the plan?"

Lauren grimaced. "There's no plan. You two need to leave."

"Uh, no. Is it coming?"

"Eventually."

"You're calling to it," Henry noted.

"Something like that, yes." She glanced back at him. "It cannot be allowed to carry news of me back to its' masters. This time it dies."

"No matter who's in the way?" he filled in.

"Does it matter that much if they know about you?" Vicki asked. "You're not the head of the family, right?"

"No. But Jayden - if he falls, I'm next. The Nighlok don't know about me right now. I can't let that change." Fire wreathed her sword as she lifted it, and Henry reared back. "Don't get in the way."

"Lauren, we can find another way to end this," Vicki said warily. "It doesn't have to be you."

"The Nighlok took my parents," Lauren said, eerily calm. "They burnt my home to the ground. They killed my mentor. I've lost my brother. I'm not giving them anything else."

Henry spun, suddenly, pushing Vicki behind him. The Nighlok was on the other side of the plaza, glowering at them. "You," it snarled, staring at Henry.

A burst of fire hit it, knocking it back several paces, and it refocused on Lauren. "Shiba!"

"Shiba," Lauren agreed, sword held at the ready. "My father trapped your Master, Nighlok. You're not strong enough for a second life. You die here."

It laughed. "My Master destroyed your father, Shiba. Laid him low, razed his home. Were you there? Did you see him burn? Did you hear him beg?"

"Easy," Henry murmured. "Don't let him do that to you."

Lauren smiled faintly, lifting her sword again. "He'd have to work a lot harder than that. My father did not beg." Tossing off a quick salute, she charged across the plaza.

Vicki couldn't make out much of the fight; Lauren and the Nighlok were moving fast, in and out of the shadows around the plaza. The flaming sword was the only thing she could consistently see, and she couldn't track the moves Lauren was making with it. Henry abandoned her to join the fight after a minute, moving easily in and out of Lauren's range.

The Nighlok exploded violently. Henry had whirled Lauren out of the way, pulling Vicki with them and shielding her, forcing her down behind him. Vicki blinked against the aftermath of the explosion, trying to force away afterimages, leaning against Henry's rock steady arm.

"Well, that looks destroyed to me. Is it destroyed? It looks destroyed." She took a step away from Henry, eyeing the tiny fires dotting the plaza. "Is it destroyed?"

"It's destroyed," Henry said from behind her. She turned, still a little unsteady, surprised when he didn't catch her arm, and then she realised why.

Lauren was crying. With no fuss, no noise, she was weeping, kept on her feet only because Henry was holding her there. Vicki watched Henry for a moment; he didn't seem discomforted, though he wasn't trying to comfort the girl, just holding her and letting her cry.

With a sigh, Vicki turned away, watching the fires burn themselves out.

Coreen glanced up as Henry came in, pressing a finger against her lips. Henry nodded, easing the door closed and gliding across to the desk. "Still sleeping?" he murmured, voice low.

"Twenty eight hours," Coreen said, just as quietly. "She must have been really exhausted."

"Grief is exhausting."

The inner door opened; both looked up, but only Vicki came out, glancing back over her shoulder. "I get sleeping it off, but shouldn't we wake her to eat something at least?"

Henry shook his head. "Is she moving? Dreaming?"

"No."

"Then let her sleep. She'll wake when she needs it."

"I'm awake." Lauren opened the door, scrubbing at one eye. Vicki's clothes, too big on her, made her look very young and frail.

"Sorry," Vicki said, perching on the corner of Coreen's desk. "Didn't mean to wake you."

"The door," she said vaguely, leaning against the frame. Coreen dug a bottle of water out of her bag, offering it to her. Lauren took it, staring at it bemusedly.

"Drink it," Henry told her. He didn't bother threading any Power through the command; she didn't need it, obeying on instinct.

"Lauren, who can we call for you?" Vicki asked.

Lauren looked at her, frowning. "What?"

"Your family, other Shibas? There has to be someone, right?"

"I can call him. Thank you." She took another sip from the bottle, gaze wandering around the room.

"Don't let us stop you." Vicki waved her towards the phone.

Lauren eyed it without moving. "It's late," she said uncertainly.

"You faced down a Nighlok, are you afraid to call home?" Henry asked mildly.

"Henry," Vicki protested, but Lauren was shaking her head.

"Not afraid. Hiding. Kept safe, or supposed to be..." She picked up the phone, dialling quickly. Adding, "And not my home," she turned her back on them and spoke to whoever picked up in Japanese.

Movement caught Henry's eye and he glanced down to see Coreen surreptitiously recording the conversation on her phone. Closing his fingers over hers, he shook his head when she looked up at him, ignoring her pout.

"No, I'm fine," Lauren said, abruptly switching to English. "The Nighlok is gone. But I ran so far, Mentor, I don't know if - yes, I can return to the States, but I need resources." Glancing at the others, she added, "I was helped, and I wish to repay them."

"You don't have to do that," Vicki protested, but Lauren shook her head, going back to Japanese. Coreen glanced at Henry, but she didn't try to copy the conversation again.

Lauren hung up after a couple of minutes, looking tired. "Someone will be here tomorrow."

"Good," Henry said briskly, taking the bottle of water from her. "Then you can lie down again."

"Henry," she protested.

"It's done," he said, surprisingly gentle. "The Nighlok's gone. You can rest now."

"Vicki's office," she protested. "I can't just - I'll go. I need to pack up my things, anyway, I can't risk anyone getting their hands on them."

"You're not going back to that basement," Vicki told her. "I'll go pack it up for you. Anything I need to be careful of? Books that won't like me touching them?"

"I - no, but..."

"Good," Coreen said quickly. "Then you can come home with me. One of my housemates is away, you can stay in her room, she won't mind. Actual bed has to beat the comfy chair, right?" She shuddered deliberately.

"I..." Lauren blinked, bewildered and unable to keep up.

"I'll put you into a cab," Henry said, steering Lauren towards the door. "Vicki, don't go anywhere, I'll go with you." Vicki saluted, turning to her file cabinet as Henry ushered the girls out.

He came back a few minutes later, amused. "Coreen will have to wake her to get her out again. She almost fell asleep standing on the road."

"Poor kid," Vicki murmured. "She must have been running for a while."

Hnery tapped the phone. "She called California."

"And said it wasn't her home."

"Jayden's father was the Shiba. He fought the Nighlok last time they rose."

Vicki considered him. "Lauren said her father did it. And the Nighlok seemed to believe her." Henry watched her patiently and she shrugged. "If she wants to pretend she's a cousin, let her. If I had those things after me, I might be inclined to hide too."

"And leave your brother to fight instead? Jayden's sixteen."

"She called him. They have to know where she is, Henry."

Henry shrugged faintly, turning away. "We should go. It will take some time to pack up those books, and I don't want to spend another day in that basement."

Vicki dropped off the bag of Lauren's clothes at Coreen's, bringing the books and papers back to the office. Coreen and Lauren reappeared there around noon, Lauren looking much better for the rest and in her own clothes.

"You didn't need to come in," Vicki told Coreen, taking the coffee she offered.

"I gave my people this address," Lauren explained. "I don't know anywhere else in town, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Are you expecting them already? It's a long way from California."

"They're not coming from California. Mentor will send someone closer. They'll be here today." She glanced at the pile of books on the table, looking back questioningly at Vicki.

"Didn't want to risk Coreen's flatmates getting their hands on them," she explained. "I thought they'd be safer here."

"Thank you." Lauren took a book from the pile, settling to read it.

It was late, late enough that Henry had arrived, when a knock came at the door. Lauren looked up, closing her book and rising to her feet.

Coreen ushered in a tall, dark haired man, who bowed to Lauren before looking around the room. "Thank you, for your help."

"We didn't do much," Vicki said mildly.

Lauren accepted an envelope from the man, leaning on the desk to print a cell number on the front. "I can't tell you where I'm going," she said without looking up. "But if anything happens, if you need us -" She offered the envelope to Vicki, completely unsurprised when Henry intercepted it. "Shiba House pays its' debts. Mentor Ji, on that number, he'll get you what you need, if you need us."

"Stay safe." Henry bowed and she echoed the movement.

"Let's go, Tanba."

"Good luck," Coreen called after her. Lauren smiled at her, following Tanba out.

Henry tested the envelope briefly before passing it to Vicki. "Shiba House pays its' debts."

"What is it?" Coreen asked eagerly, leaning over to look.

Vicki opened the envelope, smiling as she looked at the contents. "It's our fee. Three day's pay."