Author's notes: I'm hoping to post a chapter every weekend or so as time allows. LaCroix may or may not end up 'collared' and if he does, I'm not sure who will get the honors of doing so just yet. eg
Disclaimers are as usual.
Chapter two: The more the Merrier
The next night found Vachon sitting at the bar in the Raven, brooding and lost deep in thought about the current situation that he was now stuck in. Having this bloody collar stuck on him was not in the least bit fun. Neither was having Tracy 'sit' him for each time he'd pissed her off since they'd first met. And there were many of those such instances, such as all the times he hadn't listened to her or the times when he'd appeared out of nowhere just for the sole purpose of scaring the crap out of her. Which, of course, he'd found pretty funny at the time. What wasn't funny was kissing floor now for however many times he'd committed the 'offense' in the past. Especially brutal had been the 'sit' he'd received for the times that he'd been caught rummaging around in and then subsequently messing around with Tracy's refrigerator one time and then hiding a bar of chocolate on her another time after that. Who knew she'd get that upset about one little prank? Never hide chocolate on a PMSing woman, he mused, tugging at the offending collar somewhat and groaning inwardly at the thought. Vachon wondered if he'd ever get Tracy to take this accursed thing off of him any time soon, seeing how she seemed quite happy to use it to control his every action. Well, at any rate, he had to start thinking of at least some ways to convince Tracy to take the dammed thing off him! Sighing deeply, the collared vampire wondered just what his dear Tracy was up to right then.
Speaking of Tracy, she had just started work for the night and couldn't wait to give Natalie the other necklace, which was securely stashed in her coat pocket. Hiding her good mood from Nick was, however, rather difficult – and curbing her desire to collar him herself was even harder, but somehow, Tracy managed to survive both until they got their first call of the night. There was nothing special about the scene – it was just another, and all too common, incidence of a robbery gone awry. Natalie was already there and gave them both a quick greeting before going back to work. Nick touched Tracy's shoulder. "I think I see something over there," he pointed, "I'm gonna go bag it," he said, moving off. Tracy smiled. This afforded her the perfect opportunity to show Natalie the 'collar' she had. "Nat, come over here," Tracy said, motioning for the other woman to come stand beside her. "Yeah, Trace, what is it?" Natalie inquired, walking over. "I know that Nick can be difficult to deal with at times, and well, I think I found something that'll help you deal with him," Tracy said, taking the second collar from her coat pocket. "What's that?" Natalie asked, taking a closer look at the thing. "I don't know how to explain it, really, but I tested the other one out on Vachon. Oh, here, just read the note," Tracy said handing Nat the note that had come with the necklaces. After scanning the note, a smile appeared on Natalie's face. "You say you used the other one on Vachon, right?" Tracy nodded. "And?" Natalie prompted. "It works. Whenever I command 'down' he falls flat on his face!" Tracy told her. "You don't say? Well, this I've got to see," Natalie said.
They waited until the crime scene was completely empty of all other personnel other than themselves and Nick, who was still looking around a bit near where the bodies had lain, to make their move. It really wouldn't do to have others watching. Especially if Nick's reaction was anything like Vachon's had been – it would just be too much of a headache for them to deal with. "Hey, Nick? Could you come here for a minute, please?" Natalie asked him. "Sure, Nat," the vampire replied, quickly walking over to the two women. Without so much as another word, Natalie raised the unhooked collar and snapped it onto Nick's neck before the vampire could even make a surprised inquiry at her actions, let alone protest. "Nat… what... what is all this?" he asked, looking half-surprised and half-fearful at the new accessory. Natalie patted his cheek. "What? Don't like your new necklace, Nick?" she asked. Nick looked at her nervously, unsure how to respond. "What's it for? I can't see it to tell you if I like it or not," he replied. "Here," Tracy said, going back to Nick's Caddy go get her purse and fishing out the compact mirror that was at the bottom. Nick took the mirror with a nod and looked. It was a black bead necklace, with what looked like a fang or a claw every fourth bead. "Um… it's nice?" Nick looked back at Natalie and Tracy. Natalie let out a frustrated 'argh' and glared at Nick, wanting badly to smack him. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" he asked. Natalie grinned at Tracy. "Yes, Nick, you are…"
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More to come soon, folks!