Chapter Four
(A/N: Christmas Day!!! I got a cotton candy maker! Of course, I didn't get what I really wanted - the flute music book for the Manheim Steamrollers. Oh well, I also got lotsa clothes…a $100 gift certificate to B&N…a CD player…candy…$100 cash…movies…I love Christmas!!! Merry Christmas, everybody! Hey, I watched the 'Farscape' marathon yesterday. I'm the only person I know who's ever heard of that show. I'm probably also the only person who really likes Scorpius, and thinks he's not that bad for a bad guy. He kind of reminds me of Lacroix, in some ways. One of them being that he never dies, not matter how many times they kill him. *grin*)
Disclaimer: Same as last time. Obviously, whammied nurses…random doctors… receptionists…those people are all mine.
Natalie curled in a fetal position on the floor of the room. The manacles on her wrist were connected by long, heavy chains to the wall. She knew that she was somewhere in the warehouse district, probably relatively near the loft. But it could have been a million miles away for all the help it could do her.
She heard the door open and tried to make herself smaller. Less than 24 hours in his clutches and her clothes were already in tatters and cuts, welts, and bruises covered her body. She knew that he would be jerking off to her screams, again. As she felt the first burning pain on her legs, she whimpered, trying to hold in the screams. But soon, she could not help herself and began to shriek at the top of her lungs.
~~~{@
Nick impatiently paced the loft. The sun was almost gone, almost set. Abel was asleep on the couch. Nick wasn't sure if Tracy would be up yet, but he called her cell phone anyway.
"Hello?"
"Vachon?" Why was Vachon answering Tracy's phone? Nick knew she was over there, with him in the abandoned church, but usually it just rang if she was asleep, even when Vachon was with her.
"Hi Knight. Tracy told me to answer of it rang, in case it was you."
"She's not awake yet?"
"No. She's still a fledgling. The sun still has power over her. Did you find Dr. Lambert, yet?"
"No," Nick growled. "Tell Tracy to get over here as soon as she wakes up."
"Knight! Don't hang up yet! Don't you have a link with the Doc?"
"What do you mean? She's not one of us."
Lacroix's inadequate teaching was showing through again. "Haven't you taken her blood? You form a link, regardless of whether she's a vampire or mortal. And, Knight. Can I come with Tracy?"
"Yes. And, thank you, Vachon. If I find her, I'm in your debt."
Nick hung up the phone, and immediately began focusing on his memories of Natalie. If he had known that he had a link earlier, when she was still with him, it would be easier to feel her. But since this was the first time…
He concentrated on the way she felt, sounded, and smelled. He remembered so hard that he could almost feel her touching him, caressing his face. Suddenly, he could sense her. Weakly, but she was there. He had to fight down a shriek of rage when he felt her pain, and that she was unconscious. But now, he could find her.
~~~~{@
Nick drove unerringly down the street, taking turns when he felt he should turn. Tracy was next to him, and Vachon sat in the back. He had decided to drive the Caddy, instead of flying direct, so he could bring Natalie straight to the hospital.
He suddenly swung into an alley and stopped. "We fly from here, so he doesn't see the Caddy's headlights, or hear it."
Tracy grinned. As far as she was concerned, the absolutely best part of begin a vampire was flying. Nick shot off into the night, the two younger vampires close behind. He landed on a roof just as suddenly as he had taken off. Tracy stumbled slightly as she landed.
"You two look for Kane and any other people," Nick said. "I'll find Nat."
They entered carefully from a skylight, immediately splitting up and listening for heartbeats. Nick followed his sense of where Natalie was. He went down two floors and walked along a long hallway. He could hear her heartbeat getting louder. He finally located the exact source, behind the last door on the left.
The cloying scent of blood hit him as he opened the door. She was curled up on the floor in a fetal position, whimpering softly. He immediately raced to the huddled lump on the floor that was Natalie. "No more," she pleaded with her eyes tightly shut. "Please, no more." Her voice was raspy from all the screaming she must have done.
Nick knelt down beside her. "It's me, Nat. It's Nick. You're safe, I've got you."
She opened her eyes and uncurled slightly so she could see him. Then she burst out sobbing, throwing her arms around him.
Nick heard the rattle of chains and felt the cold metal slap against him. "Let me get those off you, okay, Nat?" She whimpered as he gently forced her arms off his neck. "It's okay. I'm not going anywhere. I'm just going to get these off." He took one wrist and literally forced the manacle open, letting it drop off her wrist. Then he did that same for the other one.
Natalie locked her arms around his neck again, sobbing uncontrollably. He pressed her head to his shoulder, murmuring into her ear. His hands ran over her body, searching for broken bones. He was glad he had fed well before leaving the loft. The scent of her blood was strong in the air.
"Is there anyone else here, Nat?"
"Don't leave me," she whimpered. "Don't leave me don't leave me don't leave me."
"Sh. Sh. I won't. I'm not going to. Tracy and Vachon are here. I need to know if there's anywhere specific I should send them.
"I don't know," she sobbed. "I don't know. Don't leave me." Her arms tightened around him.
"I'm not going to, Nat. I promise you. Can you walk?"
"I…I don't know. I don't think so." She was shaking in his arms.
Nick scooped her up in his arms, cradling her against his body. She kept her arms locked around his neck and her face buried in his shoulder.
"Let's get out of here," he said as he walked out the door. He raised his voice so Tracy and Vachon could hopefully hear him, wherever they were in the warehouse. "Trace! Vachon! What are you guys doing?"
He heard Tracy reply faintly. "Señor Dickwad has been apprehended. No one else is in here. You got Natalie?"
"Yep. Can you two knock him out and fly him back to the precinct?"
"Sure Nick! Call me later."
Nick carried Natalie up the stairs to the top floor. "We're going up through the skylight now. Okay?"
When he felt her nod against his shoulder, he rose up slowly and out through the window. Then he continued on by air to the Caddy, gently landing on the passenger side.
"Do you want to lie down in the back?"
"No." She tensed in his arms.
"Okay. But I'm going to have to put you down to open the door." After she nodded, he waited a few seconds. "That means you have to let me go."
"I don't want to," she whimpered in a tiny voice.
"You're safe now, Nat. I promise you that. Knowing Tracy's zest for flying, Kane's probably already at the precinct, in a cell. If he, or anyone else, ever ties to hurt you again, I'll kill them before they get a chance to lay a finger on you." He felt her hands slowly loosening from around his neck, and he gently set her on her feet, making sure she could keep her balance. Then he opened the door and eased her into the seat.
As he walked around the Caddy to the driver's side, her frightened eyes tracked him. He quickly slid behind the wheel, shutting the door and turning to face her. He gently cupped her face in his hands, brushing away the steady stream of tears with his thumbs, mindful of the livid bruise on one cheek.
"I was so afraid…" he started, but wasn't able to continue. His all too vivid imagination was feeding him pictures of what could have happened to her. Instead, he began kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her eyelids, the tip of her nose, everywhere on her face. He moved away every so often to study her face and caress it with his hands.
"I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner," he said at long last.
Natalie finally spoke. "You found me soon enough."
Nick eventually sat back in his seat and began to drive away. Natalie kept a tight hold on one of his hands, though, needing the physical contact. As he drove past the loft, her hand tightened on his.
"Where are we going, Nick?" she asked fearfully.
He glanced over at her. "The hospital."
Her hand tightened to the point where it hurt him. "Why?" she whimpered. "I don't want to. Why can't we go back to the loft?"
Nick glanced over to see tears flowing down her face again. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "It will be okay, Nat. I'll be with you the entire time, okay?"
She made a small, inarticulate noise, like a frightened animal. Nick knew that the reasons behind her fear were many-fold. First of all, after such a harrowing ordeal - only a little more than a full day, yes, but seeing the damage inflicted in the short time…- she probably just wanted to stay close to someone she knew and felt safe with. Then, of course, there was her deep fear of hospitals. He knew she would almost rather die than go to a medical facility.
"If I didn't make you go, Tracy would have my head. So would Reese…and Grace…and many other people. I'll be right there for you, Nat."
He continued to talk to her until he parked in the hospital parking lot, near the entry to the Emergency Room. It did nothing to lessen her fear or make her stop silently crying. Once parked, he turned off the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt, turning so he could talk to her face to face.
"Nat, please listen to me." He caressed her face with the hand she wasn't holding on to, running it through her hair. "I'm going to be right there beside you. I promise, they won't do anything they're not supposed to do. No matter where I am, I'll be able to hear them and you."
"I'm scared," she said quietly.
"I know you are, love. And, for whatever comfort it's worth, I'll be in there with you, right beside you. No matter what they're doing, or how much they try to get me to leave."
"Promise you won't leave me?"
"I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die."
Natalie smiled tremulously at the childish gestures he made to go along with the statement. She had convinced everyone she had gotten over the whole heart thing. Key word being convinced. She now avoided doctors, hospitals, and medical places in general. She could count on one hand the number of times she had been in a hospital since that incident, and the number of times she had seen a doctor. When she had to stay after Nick almost drained her… If he hadn't been there when she woke up, she would have flipped out.
"Okay. Quick. Before I start freaking out again."
Nick smiled and quickly got out, going over to her side. She had opened her door and swung her feet out. He watched her try to stand up, but she sat back down and looked up at him with her lower lip trembling.
"I can't. My knees…"
"It's okay, Nat. Does it hurt when I pick you up?" She shook her head, so he scooped her up in his arms again. He could feel her trying to control her breathing, to calm herself down.
Inside, the receptionist gave them forms to fill out and told them to sit and wait. Nick knew emergency rooms - it might be a while because Natalie's injuries didn't look life threatening. He set her down in a chair, and sat down next to her, moving his chair right up against hers. He circled her shoulders with his arm, gently hugging her as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"Do you want me to whammy them into taking you now?" he asked quietly.
"No. Other people need more help than me. I'll be fine until they're ready."
Nick chuckled softly. "I love you, Nat."
"Love you, too." She found his other hand, and held it in one of hers. He quickly turned it so he was the one holding, and squeezed it gently.
They sat for a while. Nick would hear her fear begin to rise every so often, and he would begin to quietly talk to her, or stroke her hair. She had dropped her professional mask in place, which Nick had come to recognize as her protection from the world. Finally, after what Nick thought to be an incredibly long time, there was a doctor free to see Natalie. When the nurses saw she couldn't walk, they got her a wheelchair.
"You'll have to stay here, sir," one of them said as he started to follow.
"No!" Natalie cried, reaching back and grabbing Nick's hand. He could see the raw panic in her eyes.
He focused on the mesmerizing sound of their heartbeats. He wasn't going to argue with them on this, he just hoped Natalie understood. "You will let me go with her."
"…you go with…"
Nick gave them a minute to snap out of it, meeting Natalie's eyes to see the clear relief in them. "Can I go with her?"
"You can come with her," one replied in a monotone voice.
Natalie still kept a hold on his hand as they walked away.
~~~~{@
Nick's cell phone rang as he was driving Natalie back to the loft. The doctor had wanted her to stay overnight, but she had quickly vetoed that with back up from Nick. So, Nick got many instructions on what she could and couldn't do. They had sent them home with a wheelchair, too. She wasn't supposed to put weight on her knees for at least a week, until the bruising had a chance to clear up. Nothing was broken, just extremely bruised.
He looked at her apologetically. "I have to take this. It's either Reese or Tracy. If I don't…"
She nodded as he took it off his belt.
"Hello?"
"Knight!" Nick forced down a groan. It was Reese, and the captain sounded completely ripshit. "What the hell did you think you were doing?"
"You'll have to clarify that a bit, Cap. I've done many things in the past 24 hours that might require that question to be asked."
"Let's start at the beginning with booking off. Ever hear of it?"
"I've had more important things to worry about than that."
"No excuse! And not answering any phones or beepers?"
"See previous answer."
"Once more, no excuse! And then you decide to take down that bastard single-handedly?"
"Tracy helped."
"You know what I mean! Did you ever consider backup? Waiting for a warrant? Anything like that?"
"What did you want me to do? Wait for all the paperwork it would have taken to get a warrant? Bring the brother in for questioning? Wait for backup once I found the place? Jesus Christ, Captain. By the time all that crap got done, Nat could have been dead. She's in bad enough shape as it is. What would you have done, where you in my place?"
There was dead silence on the other end for a long while. Natalie rubbed her thumb across the top of Nick's hand, wishing they were already back in the loft so she could lie down with Nick beside her. She could hear both sides of the conversation, up until that point, Reese was so loud.
"You're right Nick. I can't blame you. But, for the next week, you're on leave. With pay."
Nick smiled. "Okay, Captain. Anything else?" He was almost to the loft.
"How is Dr. Lambert? I'm assuming you're at the hospital?"
"Driving back from there."
"Tell her everyone was real worried about her, okay?"
"Will do," Nick said as he pulled into the garage. "Can I call you back later?"
"You don't have to. Take care of her, Knight."
"Okay. Bye Captain."
Nick turned to Natalie as he got out of the Caddy. "Reese says everyone wishes you well." He got out the wheelchair and set it up outside her open door. Then he gently transferred her into it. "Um… One thing I forgot to mention earlier. Kane's brother, Abel, is staying with us. At least for the night."
"What?" Natalie asked, shocked.
"The deal was he'd tell us everything he knew, as long as we provided protection for him. He's as much a victim as you. I didn't want to take the time to drive him back to the precinct, explain the whole thing, and then take backup when I went for you."
"But he'll be gone as soon as you can get him out, right?"
"Of course." Nick pushed her to the lift and they rode up.
The door opened to reveal Abel watching TV. He jumped when the door ground open, and Nick could hear his heart racing in fear. He cowered on the couch as Nick pushed Natalie in.
Riding up in the lift, Natalie had been kind of scared and relatively angry with Nick. But as soon as she saw the cowering boy - for a boy he was, looking only a little over twenty - her heart went out to him. He was definitely more of a victim than her.
"Are you hungry, Nat?" Nick asked her as she studied Abel. In her mind, he looked just similar enough to his brother to leave her feeling uneasy, but an overall sweetness to his features pretty much eased her fears.
"Starved," she replied truthfully. "And thirsty."
"What do you want?" Nick asked, solicitously transferring her to 'her' chair at the table.
"A giant glass of water for starters. Then just surprise me. Nothing big." She twisted around in her chair so she could make eye contact with Abel. He stared back with fearful eyes. Natalie decided to wait and see if he would speak.
Nick kept an eye on both of them as he set a glass of water on the table in front of Natalie and put a TV dinner in the microwave. He wasn't sure how she would react to having the brother of the man who had been viciously torturing her just hours before, in the loft. It probably wasn't the wisest idea. He had been so relieved to find her alive, he had completely forgotten about his 'house guest'. He had meant to have Tracy pick Abel up too, and deliver him to the precinct along with his brother. He supposed he could call her and have her pick him up, but something was telling him to let the skittish man stay the night.
Natalie was done staring, done sizing Abel up, done playing the game she had initiated. She felt only pity for the man, even though she knew she should be feeling anger or something. She smiled suddenly.
"Hi. I'm Natalie."
He jumped and flinched. "A-Abel," he stuttered.
"You hungry?"
He shook his head quickly and nervously.
"Okay." Natalie turned back around in her chair and picked up the water, taking a long drink. She met Nick's worried eyes and smiled to reassure him.
When the microwave beeped, Nick took out the steaming meal and place it in front of her, with a fork on the side. After thanking Nick, she attacked the food ravenously. She had gotten water, yes, but no food in the last twenty-odd hours. Nick watched with sad, worried eyes.
"I'm really tired, Nick," she said when she was done.
"I'll take you up to bed, then," he sad, scooping her up and carrying her up the stairs.
"You better bring that wheelchair up," she said as he set her on the bed. "I'm not waking you up every time I have to go to the bathroom."
Nick smiled and kissed her cheek. "Okay. I'll be right back."
Natalie tried not to be concerned as he left the room. He was just downstairs, and she could hear him coming back up already. Nothing could happen to her at the loft. That was one of the cardinal rules of life - nothing bad ever happens to you at home.
Nick smiled as he came back in, and opened the wheelchair while Natalie got into her pajamas. She climbed under the covers, a bit stiffly.
"Nick? I know you're probably not tired, but…"
Using vampiric speed, Nick was in his pajamas and under the covers with her in moments. "Don't think for an instant I would let you go to sleep alone." He curled protectively around her and nuzzled her neck. "I love you, Nat. The thought of losing you…"
She rolled over in his arms so she was facing him and smiled, putting up a brave front. But inside, she was suddenly afraid to sleep. "I love you too, Nick. Always have, always will."
Nick could see the fear in the backs of her eyes, which she so valiantly tried to hide. He kissed the tip of her nose. "Go to sleep, Nat. I've got you, you're safe with me."
He kissed her eyelids, but they opened up almost immediately once his lips left. "Nick, let Abel stay if he needs to, okay? He can't be more than twenty-five, and he's still just a scared little boy inside. You can see it in his eyes. He's terrified of his brother."
"If you're okay with that," Nick said, as concerned for her as ever.
Now that she was under the warm blankets, and in Nick's arms, it was getting hard to stay awake. He began to sing a soft song in French, and she was lost.
