Disclaimer: Writing fanfiction stories generally includes inherent admission as to lack of the ownership of the intellectual property said stories are based on. This case is no exception of the rule.

Summary: Sometimes a split-second decision can alter one's fate completely. And have consequences beyond one's wildest expectations. Alternative story beginning with the events of Heart of Fire.

Many thanks to Sherron and Marlana for the beta reading.

Darkest Moments

Chapter III

Vicki was just finishing a phone conversation with Rajani Mohadevan, from which she learned that there were still no answers for her, when the door to the room opened. She put away her cell, looking at the creature that just entered the room.

Delphine's hair was damp, falling in waves to her shoulders, providing a startling contrast to the almost alabaster skin of her face. She was wearing a dress – a fact that confused Vicki briefly, given her limited possession of such garments, until she recalled the failed gift her mother landed her with a couple of years back. From what she remembered from the one and only time she wore it not to hurt her mother's feelings, the damned thing was not only ridiculously girlish but also way too tight. She would have never thought that now, seeing it hanging loosely from the vampiress' frail figure.

She couldn't recall if she ever learned how old Delphine was when she was turned, but looking at her now, more porcelain doll than dangerous predator, she would have to guess she was barely in her twenties.

The PI's gaze travelled downwards, giving her guest the once-over. The vampiress was barefoot.

"Much better, Delphy. As long as you were consciously trying for the 'picture of innocence' look," the former cop summarised quickly.

"My name is Delphine." The faint French accent seemed somehow more profound in the way she pronounced her name.

"I know."

"How? I don't believe we know each other. In any case, I cannot recall learning your name."

"Well, I guess you were pretty out of it last night. Otherwise you'd know. I'm Vicki Nelson." She extended her hand and shook the cool, hesitant hand of her guest. "As for how, Henry mentioned you."

"Henry?" Suddenly the vampiress's voice dropped to a whisper and a hint of tears shone in her eyes. "You know Henry?"

"We're..." Vicki hesitated for a moment, "friends." Judging by the look she received, her short pause let the female vampire read into that statement exactly what she didn't want to voice. She contemplated if a correction would improve or worsen situation. "I asked you yesterday but you weren't really in any condition to answer. You don't know where Mendoza might have taken him, do you?"

The vampiress shook her head, her hair sending a few lone droplets flying.

"I'm afraid not." She blinked a few times. "It's all my fault."

"What is?"

"I led that man to him."

"Yeah, because being starved, chained and left for sunrise makes you a textbook willing participant." Vicki sighed, her resolve solidifying. "Now is not the time to play the blame game or wallow in self-pity. If we want to really help Henry, we should probably start working on finding him."

"Do you think we can?"

"We've found you, haven't we?" Vicki reached for an envelope lying on the table. "By the way, here are duplicates of your documents."

The brunette opened the envelope and studied its content for a moment. "How did you get those?"

"What do you mean, how? Those are standard issue duplicates, courtesy of Toronto's finest."

"Toronto's...?"

"The police."

The vampiress froze. "You told the police about..."

Vicki snorted. "It would be a bit too late for that. You remember that blond guy with me yesterday? Mike? He's a cop. Even if he didn't have a clue about vampires your reaction to sunlight would have been a dead giveaway."

"And he was the one to make those?" she questioned cautiously.

"Well, he was the one who had access to any significant documentation that might otherwise seem suspicious. But nice as this chat is, it's not getting us any further with finding Henry."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"That depends. You can drive, right?" The vampiress nodded. "Good. Then as soon as we hire you a car you'll be a great help. And we need to buy you some shoes. You can borrow mine for the time being but your feet seem at least two sizes smaller. C'mon, let's get going."

"What will we do once we do have a car?"

"Hopefully by then I'll hear back from my friend in the lab and get some clue where we should search. So far our best guess is that the guy likes unused churches but that's just a theory and one that still needs narrowing if we want it to be useful." Vicki opened the closet in the corridor and reached into the back. "Try these boots. At least those shouldn't fall off you."

"Are there so many unused churches in Toronto?"

"There are enough to last for more than a couple of days if we were to search each of them carefully. Evidently these days faith isn't what it used to be."

"And if we didn't need to search them?"

"What do you mean? You want to sniff them out to save time?"

"Not exactly."

Vicki met Delphine's eyes and suddenly realisation dawned.

"Do you think that with that territorial thing you would be able to tell?"

"It lets me feel when I'm close to another vampire. It's not very accurate but it should be enough to tell if it's the right building or not."

"Not accurate as in you may not sense him if he is there?"

"No. As in with five buildings in a row I would have trouble pointing out the right one."

"There wasn't a trend of building rows of churches, last time I checked. Come on; let's get you a car. We have a busy night ahead of us."

III

Delphine started the engine after pulling to stop for what seemed to be only a second.

"Wrong again?" Vicki voiced, despite not really needing vocal confirmation.

"I'm afraid so."

"We still have options. We'll find him." The PI desperately tried to believe she was saying that to keep the vampiress, and not herself, calm. "Turn left at the next light. We'll take a shortcut."

Silence rang in the car, finally growing to the point of being unbearable.

"So tell me, Delphy, how did you meet Henry?"

"My name is Delphine."

"Never said it wasn't. So how did you?"

The brunette's eyes glazed a bit and it took a moment before she spoke.

"I came to Toronto out of my ambition, leaving my family in Montreal. I enrolled at the university and started studying literature. I dreamed of becoming published."

"You wrote?"

"Poetry. Many did, back then. I was away from my family and every Friday I went to a poetry evening organised by a club. We would be reading our works there and discussing art and literature."

"Sounds fun," Vicki managed neutrally.

"I noticed there was one man who always came late. He rarely read anything of his own but he always listened carefully and could always offer most interesting comments during discussions."

"Henry." There wasn't even need to ask.

"Henry. One evening he approached me and said he liked the poem I wrote. We started talking, first about that, later about other things, and before we noticed everybody else was gone from the club. It was very late and he said I shouldn't go back alone. Offered to walk me home."

"And you accepted."

"I know it wasn't very proper, a man I hardly knew walking me home like that. And when there was nobody waiting for me either. I should have let him hail me a cab. But somehow I trusted him and it was such a good excuse to talk to him a while longer…"

Vicki couldn't help but smile for a second, imagining the innocent romantic girl looking at the vampire with starry eyes.

"So you went with the excuse."

"And I kept using it for the following weeks as well. Until one time he asked if I would like to meet him for dinner the next evening." That was a new one.

"And you didn't notice that he, you know, didn't eat?"

"To be honest I wasn't paying much attention. And I'm not sure if I ate much that evening either."

Vicki snorted. "Sounds like a major crush to me."

"It was more of a first love."

"How long was it until you've learned about him?"

"Oh, it was quite a while. I was busy with my studies and university work and assumed that he had some kind of work during the day, so I never thought much of how we never met aside from the evenings."

"I gather you didn't spend the night too often in that case?"

In the light from street lamp Vicki thought she saw the vampiress becoming a touch less pale, which was probably the equivalent of a furious blush. But then again, maybe it was just her imagination, as it would have suited so well the expression on the brunette's face.

"C'mon, Delphine, when was your last chance at a bit of girl talk?" Vicki vaguely realised that it might have actually been shorter for the female vampire than it was for her.

"That would cause a scandal. I already moved in the artistic circles a lot. If people started suspecting I was that kind of a girl, my university career..." At least the girl had her priorities straight. "Not to mention, if my family learned about it…"

"You know, I might be basing this just on my own experience but parents are usually the last ones to believe their children grew up, not the other way round."

The brunette smiled faintly.

"Coming back to your question though, I didn't learn the truth almost until the end."

"Interesting. How so?"

"We had known each other for a while but it still hadn't been very long. I caught the cough. It was bad. Every evening Henry sat with me but there was no improvement. During one of those nights he finally admitted to everything. I think he didn't want to take the risk that he might not have the chance to come clean."

"You got worse then, did you?"

"Not much. But I wasn't getting better either. And I felt I didn't have any more strength. On the other hand there were the stories he was telling me. About all those things he had seen, all those experiences…"

"I think I can guess the rest." Vicki nodded slowly. "Do you still love him?"

She could see the question caught the vampiress by surprise. She seemed to consider the answer for a second.

"Yes," she said finally. "It's not like it was at first though. At first it was a youthful love. Then, quite abruptly it turned into something like the love between a parent and child. Even if the attraction was still there…"

"Do me a favour and don't use that comparison in this context again. It's wrong on so many levels…"

"It would be hard to describe it in another way to someone who never experienced it though. In any case, then it became the love between friends when it was getting impossible to be too close. And later I called him at least once a week just to have someone to talk to. When we parted was the loneliest time in my life. I can't even imagine how they were able to take it before the telephone was invented."

'Score one to Delphine for introducing the idea of a vamp unable to live without technology.'

"And now?"

"Now, even if we aren't in constant contact anymore, I guess he is just the closest friend I ever had." A single tear rolled down the pale cheek. "I can't imagine what I'd do if…"

"Nothing is going to happen," Vicki quickly interjected. "We'll find him. Take that turn on the right. We're almost there."

TBC

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