Author:  The Wanlorn

Title:  A World in a Grain of Sand 20/?

Summary:  This is a sequel to "Every New Beginning…"

Rating:  PG13 for language

Spoilers:  I honestly don't know, so beware.

Distribution:  Ask, and ye shall receive.  Take without permission, then screw the Law of Three, I will cures you with the nefarious curse of…da da dum…WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!  BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Disclaimer:  Same as all of the last times, so far.  Death belongs to LKH, of course, and 'the last gunslinger of Gilead' belongs to Stephen King.  I'm just having fun with them.

Thank Yous:  Thanks to Carla, my beta.  Thanks to all my reviewers who feed my addiction.  And thanks to April 'n' Kai for entertaining me enough so that I didn't kill myself after I watched the series finale of 'Farscape'. ;-P  ::runs off to kill whoever decided to end the show::

Chapter Twenty

            LaCroix heard the heartbeat long before its owner entered the Raven.  It was the one he had been listening for, in the back of his mind, for weeks.  The brazen girl-child was back.  This would be interesting.  Perhaps more entertaining and informative than before.  He dearly needed something to cheer him up.  Since Janette's return, she had taken over the Raven (even though she had *sold* it to him) from his control.  But who was he to begrudge his favorite daughter?  The club was closing tomorrow for renovations.  In other words, Janette was returning it to the way she liked it, from the architecture of the inside to the performers.  Honestly, as much as he liked what he had done, he was glad.  Vampires and gothic lowlifes were the only ones who frequented the place since she left.  The previous clientele was much preferred by him.

            Staying in the corner where he could easily view the entire room, he watched as the child plopped down on a barstool, oblivious of the hungry stares she immediately attracted from the fledglings.  The glare she shot at Miklos was impressive, even to him.

            "Can I get a shot of Wild Turkey this time?" she growled.

            "No," Miklos said placidly, glancing at LaCroix.

            "What the *fuck*," she growled.  Her voice was low and dangerous as she asked, "And why not?"

            Miklos raised an eyebrow.  He could take this mere mortal, easy.  "The same reason as last time."

            LaCroix's eyes widened slightly in amazement as she girl began to curse eloquently in ancient Latin - the language of his childhood, the language now spoken by an amount of people he could count on one hand.  And she, not even 'legal' yet, spoke it perfectly.

            "//Watch your mouth, \\" he snapped, without thinking, in the tongue of his birth.

            Her mouth snapped shut, and her head whipped towards him, her ponytail smacking the side of her face.  "//My most humble apologies, \\" she said respectfully, nodding slightly to him.  He liked her attitude.  "//I did not realize anyone here would be able to understand me. \\"

            "//I am the only one. \\" LaCroix sat down on the stool next to her, motioning Miklos back over.  "Give her what she wants," he ordered.

            When the bartended poured her the shot, she tossed it back like a pro.  "Thank you," she said pleasantly.  The small amount of alcohol had already put her in better humor.

            In his smooth radio voice, LaCroix initiated the conversation he wanted - needed - to have.  "That was an interesting theory you had, last time you were in here."  

            She cocked her head for an instant, trying to remember.  "The Many-Worlds Theory?  That's not theory, that's fact."

            "Would you be able to explain it to me?" He wasn't sure what he hoped to achieve by that.  He had heard of the theory before - he knew of it and didn't believe an ounce of it.  But the way the child had talked was as though she could actually do it.  And then, when he followed her out on a whim, she disappeared in front of his eyes.  Perhaps, by listening to her, he would be able to tell if she was serious about what she had said before.

            "Basically, there's a parallel world for every choice made.  In that the world, one of the other choices was taken."  She was obviously not fooled by his question.  "It's best to use an example."  A deck of cards appeared in her hands, and she laid out the King, Jack, and Queen of Hearts, saying respectively, "Let's say there's a man, a guy, and the guy's sister.  The man falls in love with the guy's sister, but the guy feels that's a sucky idea, and tells the man to leave her alone."

            She seemed to pause a moment, to let her words sink in.  LaCroix's visage did not change, but inside, he was shocked.  This couldn't be a coincidence, not the ways he was looking at him.  But how had she found out about that?  How did she know?

            "So, in one world," she continued, "the man says 'Fine, but you owe me.'  In another, he leaves her alone, but never sees the guy again.  In a third, he ends up killing the guy in a fight over the sister.  In another, he ignores the guy; the guy is pissed off for a while, but eventually forgives the man.  And in the last that I can think of, the man says 'Fine, you owe me' and walks away, but a year or so later, the sister disappears - even from him."  As she talked, she moved the cards around to demonstrate what she was saying.  They disappeared back into the deck now that she was finished.

            "And where did she go?" LaCroix asked, his voice soft and dangerous.

            The girl's eyes had gone cold and calculating.  "//The only question needed is *can you meet my price*? \\"

            She stood, dropping some bills on the table, and walked away before LaCroix could say anything.  Seeing a white paper amongst the colorful money, he picked it out and went to his apartments in the back.

            He knew that the girl would be back, or that the paper would have instructions for contacting her.  The question was, why?  And did he believe her?  He had seen with his very own eyes her and the other vampire disappear.  It was quite possible that meant that she could do it, or the vampire could.

            This, this was his pet project.  This was his deepest desire.  No one, not even Janette, knew of it.  His one weakness.

            Before he allowed his thoughts to continue further, he unfolded the white slip of paper.  One simple sentence marred the pristine sheet - *What are you willing to lose? *

            With a frustrated growl, his fist clenched, crushing the paper.  For the first time in a long while, he was guilty of becoming caught up in the moment.  This child was trying to play him for a fool.  A malicious smile spread across the old Roman's face.  Conveniently forgetting that she already appeared to belong to another vampire, he began to contemplate the desirability of her as a meal.

~~~~{@

            Nick tapped his fingers irritably on the table, a glass of bloodwine in front of him.  Before she had gone to bed, Natalie had given him strict instructions to stay up until Nire came back.  That he could do - that was the easy part.  However, Jander's refusal to talk about why Nire had reacted so harshly was putting him on edge.  They had the look of people who knew danger - Nire walked with the self-confidence of one who knows they can take down everyone in the room.  And, right now, the golden-toned vampire had the look of someone mentally preparing for an incipient fight.

            Jander lay on the couch on his back, staring at the ceiling, but not seeing it.  Abel snuck glances back and forth between the two vampires.  He needed to stay awake until Nire came back, regardless of how frightened he was.  If he weren't awake, that would give her anger time to fester, if she didn't wake him up.  It would be better just to get it over with.  Too, he *needed* to know how she was going to deal with this - if she really would protect him.

            At five past nine, Nire appeared in the middle of the room, a McDonald's bag in her hand.

            "Good, you're still awake," she said, looking at Nick.

            "I'm sorry," Abel whimpered, once he was sure she wasn't going to continue.

            "For what?" Nire's brow crinkled a little in confusion.

            He stared into her eyes for a brief second, stuttering, "For- for not telling you…"

            "Oh."  Nire waved it off with her free hand.  "No matter.  I've just been having the suckiest month in the world.  You in on the strategy meeting?"

            Nick was itching to interrupt her, and find out what was going on, and begin making plans for moving Natalie if needed.  But even after this short time, he knew that she would come to the point quicker by letting her talk.  When Abel nodded, she motioned him over, holding up the bag.

            "C'mon, then.  I figured you would, so I brought us food, since this might go on for a while."  She plopped the bag on the table, still talking.  "Yeah, so, I got you pancakes and sausages, 'cause I didn't know what you would want.  But you can have my bacon, if you'd prefer that."

            Abel only half listened, walking over cautiously, filled with wonderment.  She had brought him food?  From McDonald's?  He allowed himself, for once, to smell the delicious scents wafting from the bag.  The mere smell of the fluffy golden pancakes made his mouth water.  But as he neared the table, his amazement began to fade.  How many times had he been teased with food from somewhere, then not been allowed to eat it?  Whenever someone brought back anything to eat from a restaurant, or a fast-food joint, he wasn't even allowed the scraps.

            Following the trend people had as of late, Nire surprised him by taking out two Styrofoam boxes.  She handed one of them to him.  Hardly believing his luck, he took it, and sat down, glancing at her multiple times to make sure it really was okay.  A carton of orange juice and maple syrup was slid down to him, too.

            "Like I said, if you don't like the sausages, you can have my bacon, if you want."

            Abel looked up at her and nodded.  He was torn between gobbling down everything so no one could take it from him, or eating slow and savoring every bite.

            If it hadn't been so sad, Nick would be smiling at the look of utter amazement on Abel's face.  The thought crossed his mind, as it had before, that he could probably just make the young man forget everything.  He wasn't sure if the other vampires had even *tried* to whammy him.  But he just couldn't do that.  There was the possibility that the memories could come back, and if they did…

            But, even though he barely knew Abel, to see him in so much pain…

            Nick was done waiting, done cogitating.  He wanted to know what was going on, what everybody was not telling him.  Natalie's safety was concerned, and that was something he did not mess with.

            "Now that you're settled," he said, surprised by the coldness in his own voice, "does anyone care to tell me what's going on?"

            "Hold your horses," Nire said mildly, calling over to the couch in a singsong voice, "Jander.  I need you over here too."

            "Yes your royal majesty," was the dry response.

            Nick impatiently tapped his fingers as Jander walked over to the table and sat down.  As soon as he was seated, Nire began to talk, apologizing to Abel.

            "I'm sorry, kitty kat, but I gotta tell him.  At this point, my hands are tied - odds are, he's gonna come here to seek revenge."  She spread her hands helplessly.

            Suddenly not hungry anymore, Abel put down the plastic fork and nodded, his eyes dark with fear.  Nick watched, extremely curious as to what could be bad enough to arrant such a look.

            "Okay, so, yeah," Nire continued.  "Look, Nick, you gotta just believe everything I'm going to say in the next couple minutes."

            "Why?" he asked skeptically.

            "Because I don't want to have to answer six thousand questions and get thrown totally off track.  It's no worse than believing in vampires."

            "What?" Nick asked sarcastically.  "Are you going to tell me that werewolves exist?"

            Nire nodded, considering.  "Well, among other wereanimals, yeah.  Right now, we're more concerned with wereleopards."

            Nick snorted.  "Right."

            Abel flinched as Nire growled.  "Yeah.  I told you - the right hand doesn't know that the *body* exist, much less the left hand.  Can we just assume for now that I'm telling the truth?"  At Nick's skeptic nod, she continued.  "All-righty then.  How powerful is your brother, kitty kat?"

            He stammered out, "I don't know.'  There was nothing for him to compare it against, so he had no idea.

            "Could he make you change?" she asked gently.

            Abel nodded.  At times, that was the only thing that would heal him completely.

            "And why is any of this relevant to the point you have yet to make?" Nick asked.

            "Because," Nire said patiently, "if he could make Abel shift to a leopard whenever he wants to, then he can make himself shift.  Which means he can break out of that puny jail cell whenever he wants.  Regardless, he could break out on the full moon."

            Still a skeptic, Nick asked, "Why would that matter?  Wouldn't he just leave the country?"  What would the point in staying be?  The whole country would be looking for him.

            "Well, tell me a bit about what he did.  How many victims?"

            "The end count was eight bodies."

            "Brutally tortured and raped?  A single surviving victim, who happens to be upstairs?" Nick nodded to both questions.  "And when you guys finally brought him into the station.  Did he show any remorse?  Any reaction?"  To those, Nick shook his head no.

            Nire sighed.  "I rest my case.  By being the only one to survive, Natalie made a fool of him.  And you made him out to be an even bigger fool by capturing him."

            "So?" Nick asked.  "He would still try to leave the country."

            Nire sighed.  If Abel had not been so scared, he would have echoed that sigh.  Why couldn't Nick understand it?  It was so obvious.  Kane would bring his lackeys and try to 'punish' all of them for daring to make him look stupid.

            "Can you just trust me on this?" Nire asked.  "It takes a sociopath to know a sociopath."

            Nick scoffed openly at that.  Or, at least, he tried to.  "You?  A-"

            Nire's eyes stopped him.  From intelligent gray storm clouds, they went to empty nothingness.  There was no one home in her head - at least, no one human.  She did not care what he did, what she did.  It was his choice as to what happened next.  He stared into those eyes, a chill going through his body.

            When she spoke, her voice was toneless, unemotional.  That was what made it so frightening - a quality that said everything she had been was just a big charade.  "Yes, I am only sixteen.  But let's put that aside for a moment."  She laid a well-oiled revolver, an older make that Nick didn't recognize, on the table.  "I was taught to wield my guns by the last gunslinger from Gilead."  The life was slowly leeching back into her eyes.  "I learned to clean, to hunt vampires, from Death himself."  She paused to makes sure this was all sinking in.  "I walk through the Valley of Death," she said harshly, "but I have no fear, for I am the deadliest in the Valley.  You're pissed, probably because of something I've done due to my status as Meddling Bitch Queen of the World, but can you knock it off for half an hour?  Please?"

            Nick took a deep breath.  She was right, actually.  He didn't need to be angry right now.  *Especially* if she was telling the truth.  He was so frustrated over the fact that no one would tell him anything, that when she finally did clue him in, he wasn't listening.  But Kane would come to the loft and probably find Tracy and Vachon, too.  All of the classic signs were there.  Staring into the teenager's eyes, which were now human again, he realized that he was actually afraid of her.

            "Are you done scaring people, Little One?" Jander asked mildly.  She glanced at him and nodded, a slight smirk on her face.  "Then put away your gun."

            It disappeared under the table, and Nick heard it sliding into a holster smoothly.  He didn't remember seeing any sort of holster, or anything like that on her person.  At the tone of her voice when she was talking, Abel whimpered.  He couldn't see her eyes from where she was sitting, but the voice was enough.  She was nice to him so far, but if she was willing to use that *voice* on Nick…

            Realizing that this was a teenager, a teenager who was more dangerous than she appeared, who was also carrying a concealed weapon, Nick asked, "Do you have a permit to carry that gun?"

            She flashed it at him, a Canadian permit.  "And one to carry a concealed weapon.  So ha."

            "Okay, okay."  Nick spread his hands.  Apparently, she had an answer for everything.  He wanted to get back tot the task at hand.  "So, he's going to come here first, you're right.  But with the security in this place, that won't matter.  I and some other vampires can just lay in wait for him."

            "For them," Nire corrected.  "Twenty bucks he rounds up the Toronto pard and any vampires he knows.  And that won't work.  If he did all that without getting caught, then he won't be that stupid.  He'll send his people first to check out the scene.  If they don't get in, then he's not gonna come."

            What she said made sense, actually.  Deciding to listen to her more, or at least humor her, Nick asked, "So what do you propose?"

            "Well, plans are useless, 'cause they'll just go wrong - Rule Number Two of Life.  I'm guessing that any vamps are going to try the skylight.  If the weres don't get the vamps to let them in, then…" She paused, and glanced at Abel.  He paled, knowing what she was going to say.  "Well, odds are, he's going to wait for a day when Abel's working, follow him back here, and make him let them all in."

            "Then I should send both him and Natalie away," Nick said like it was obvious.

            Nire sighed.  "No, my friend, you shouldn't.  Trust me, you want these people dead, not loose or back in jail.  From what you've said and how Abel acts, Kane has complete control over his people.  And you don't want a sadistic person like him pulling the strings of such powerful people."

            "So why can't we-" Nick interrupted.

            But Nire interrupted him in return.  "Before you start arguing, listen to me?  Please?  I've had to deal with people like him before.  First of all, assuming they got in, his cronies will immediately be able to tell if Natalie's here or not.  If she's not, then the bait to lure Kane here."

            "But-"

            "Shhht.  Quiet.  I'm almost done, I promise.  I figure she can just stay upstairs in one of the rooms.  Jander can be up there with her, 'cause I don't think he'll be able to fight as well as usual."  Jander nodded in agreement.  Nire continued to talk over Nick's protests.  "Right, seriously.  Think about this, Nick.  You'll be able to get up there in a moment's notice, anyway.  And I'm assuming that they'll send most people down here, to deal with the most of us.  Which means all the healthy peeps should be down here.  No?"

            Unfortunately, Nick had to agree with her.  He did not like it, but she was right.  Nor did he like the fact that *all* of her reasoning was right, and it would be best for the invalid vampire to be upstairs.  Jander met his eyes mellowly, a sweet half-smile on his face.  Nick just couldn't picture him as being all that good of a fighter.  But, like Nire had said, he could be upstairs in an instant.

            "But wait!" he said suddenly.  "What about you?  You can barely walk or move your arm."

            "Oh, I healed myself," she said dismissively.  At his raised eyebrow, she turned and lifted the back of her shirt.  Nick's eyes widened.  There was nothing left of the gash on her back but a rigid scar.  And with the amount of blood he had been able to smell when Natalie was checking it out, it should still be an open wound.

            "How did you…" He trailed off.  Up until a week ago, he had thought that the existence of vampires would be the hardest thing he had to swallow.  And now, he was learning something new every day.

            "I just did.  Magic, my jaded friend."  Nire glanced at Abel and began to chew her bottom lip, turning to look at Jander.

            Nick refocused his attention to the task at hand - coming up with a plan.  "How are the bastards going to get in?  Am I just supposed to leave the alarm and locks off?"

            Nire uttered a short bark of laughter.  "Oh, sure, and we'll put up a sign that says 'Welcome to the Trap', too.  Okay, we're assuming that the vamps are coming in through the skylight, and they could force the lock on the back door-"

            "But odds are," Jander picked up, "they're going to look for a way in that causes the least suspicion.  Up the back stairs, through the door, half to search up there, half come down here to dispatch you.  Which means-"

            "-that we need a second person for bait."  Nire easily picked up the sentence, as though the two had done it before.  Abel paled even more.  "And, obviously, the most logical and believable person to do this is you, kitty kat."  Her eyes were sorrowful, almost an apology for what would happen to him.

            Nick could already hear Natalie's protests when she found out about this plan.  He turned a deaf ear to the imagined words, his face hardening slightly.  He would do anything to insure her safety, even inflict further psychological damage on a poor abused man.  Even killing the perpetrates if they tried to hurt her again.

            "Do you think you can do that, kitty kat?" Nire asked gently.

            Abel nodded shakily.  He was already terrified, but could not answer in any other way.  If he didn't say yes, one of the three would make him do it anyway.  The food in his stomach was seriously considering coming back up.  He didn't know why, but he just assumed that Kane would stay in jail.  The realization that he could show up somewhere at any time and reclaim him, sent a chill of fear down his spine.  His hands began to tremble, so he hid them in his lap.

            "This sounds an awful lot like a plan, little one," Jander commented mildly.

            Nick nodded in agreement.  This was a plan.  He could feel the anger of his Beast just below the surface.  It was a fierce, protective rage, because someone was trying to hurt its family.  *Its* family.  A slight smile formed on Nick's lips - here was the reassurance that he would not kill Natalie.  This was more solid than the mere fact that he had always been able to stop so far.  His Beast wasn't going to hurt Natalie - it considered her Family.

            "Yeah, I guess it is."  Nire rolled here eyes.  "Which means it'll all go wrong.  //But 's not like when our family battles someone - he can't just read my thoughts to get what I think is going to happen. \\"

            Nick raised an eyebrow slightly.  The girl had brains, but manners she lacked.  He wished that he could get people - some of the members of the Community - to be backup.  But from what she said - and he wasn't sure when, but he had started believing her - they wouldn't know when the attack was coming.  So he would be on his own.

            "Kitty kat."  Nire's soft voice brought Nick out of his daze.  "I need numbers now.  Just a rough guess."

            Abel rolled his eyes up at her, his head still bowed.  He didn't know - they all blended together in his mind to one life of pain.  His mind flashed through the memories, inwardly flinching at each one.

            "Seven shifters, five vampires and…" He vainly struggled to come up with the last number.

            "The rest are mere humans?" Nire asked gently.

            He nodded, his eyes begging for approval.  An easy smile spread across Nire's face as she reassured him.  "Then they don't matter."  She placed her revolver in the middle of the table again.  "Can you shoot a gun?"  Abel shook his head nervously, praying that wasn't going to be a problem.  Nire nodded and turned to Nick.  "Can you h-" She stopped and smacked her forehead.  "I did *not* just ask that."

            Nick laughed slightly.  "Well, I would *hope* I can handle a gun.  Why?"

            Three boxes of bullets were quickly laid out on the table.  " 'Cause we want to dispatch these bastards straight to Hell as quickly as possible.  Now, these are silver hollow points filled with garlic - good for vampires and shifters.  Aim for the head or the heart.  These are just plain old hollow points filled with garlic.  And these are good old wooden bullets.  Were I you, I'd carry your gun, loaded with these, at all times."  That said, she picked up her own revolver and began loading it with the sliver bullets.

            Deciding that she actually had the right idea, Nick went and got his gun, too.  As he loaded it with the silver - just in case - he asked, "I can see why I would want a loaded gun on me at all times now, but why you?"

            Nire looked up at him, her fingers still deftly sliding the last two bullets home.  "Last time I checked, vampires couldn't be in two places at once."  She winced.  "Sorry, I didn't mean that to come out so sarcastically.  But someone has to keep an eye on Abel.  Right, kitty kat?"

            The young man nodded, a look of complete gratitude suffusing his face.  Nick felt like a complete ass for not thinking of that.  The oddest thing was that he felt absolutely no doubt about the question of whether or not she could protect Abel.

            Nire checked the bullets, making sure they were all in, and snapped the cylinder closed.  "There a firing range around here?"

            "You can't get in without someone over twenty-one with you.  Not at the closest one."

            Nire shrugged.  " 'S no problem.  Where is it?"

            Against his better judgment, Nick gave her the address.  With a slight nod she thanked him, making her gun disappear again.  "Unless you all have something to add, I'm done."

            "I'm impressed," Jander said softly.  "You actually made a plan this time."

            Nire snorted.  "I made a skeleton of a plan.  It's all going to go wrong anyway, so don't count on anything.  You got anything to add, Nick?"

            He thought hard, attempting to find something she missed.  It was embarrassing to have a teenager plan everything out, refuting his ideas with logical arguments.  But there was nothing.  She was good - experienced.

            "Not that I can think of at the moment."  Everyone focused their attention on Abel.  He just shook his head slightly, looking a bit like a deer in the headlights.  Nire nodded once to herself.

            "In that case, I motion to end the meeting."  She smiled slightly.  "That took way less time than I thought it would."

            Nick nodded and stood.  "Are you guys staying up any later?"

            "I am.  I still got pancakes left."  As if to demonstrate her point, Nire forked a piece into her mouth.

            "Turn off the lights before you go to bed, then."  As he went up the stairs, Nick realized with a shock that he viewed Nire as more of an adult than Abel.  Oh the cruel ironies.