7/23/09: Edited for original upload errors caused by text editor.

Touched By An Angel was about angels helping people.

Forever Knight was about a vampire family--one of whom sought redemption.

I wrote the crossover, but don't own either property.

Chapter 2: A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing

Andrew tried to make sense of her cryptic reply, but couldn't. He was finding it increasingly hard to think. Ever since they had arrived at the club, he had been feeling slightly odd, and now it was getting worse. It had started as a slight headache from the terribly loud music. Now it had gotten so bad that he even imagined he could hear the rythmatic thump-athump sounds even though the band had taken a break five minutes earlier. But what was really bothering him was the incessant aching in his stomach, like strong hunger pains. Yet, just looking at their nearest neighbors eating some snuck-in food made him feel a little nauseous. There was also this annoying tingle along the gums of his top canine teeth. Surely he wasn't getting sick? He felt none of the usual physical weakness (as compared to his angelic form) that wearing a human body always brought on.

"Andrew?" Monica questioned him, a worried look on her face. "You look kind of pale. Are you feeling all right?" She laid a solicitous hand over his and was surprised at how cold his skin felt. And Andrew wasn't answering her, his eyes closed and mouth set in a tight grimace as if he was in pain. She turned to their superior and gave her a look of distress. "Tess? Something's wrong with Andrew!"

"He'll be fine, Miss Wings. What he's feeling right now is necessary for his assignment in this case." But the look on Tess's face belied her words. She was just as concerned about their mutual friend as Monica was, though Monica sensed that she wasn't saying all she knew. She would just have to wait till Tess decided to tell her. But, oh, Father, it was hard seeing her friend hurting so and not knowing how to help.

"My assignment... what..assignment?"---Andrew coughed to clear his throat of the unnaturally deep timber it had suddenly taken on---"What are you talking about? I'm just here for Monica...aren't I?" Andrew tried again to think. He hadn't known he had an active part to play other than in keeping an eye on his friend. Was this body ill--- maybe fatally so? Could he be playing the part of one of the humans with AIDS? Maybe his assignment was infected and having trouble dealing with his coming mortality, so Andrew was to help him this way--by knowing just how he/she was hurting? He wished the odd drumbeat would quiet down so he could pray.

"Here you go," the returned waitress smiled at him as she set his drink down: a dark crystal wine glass filled with a deep red liquid. "And if you find that isn't enough to satisfy you, Mr. Big & Handsome, my offer still stands." She set down the two ladies plain water glasses as if in afterthought before gliding away to attend the other customers. Tess noticed a dark haired woman in fashionable dress gesture for their waitress. It was obvious that she was asking about their little group.

"Andrew? Baby, I know you're not feeling yourself just--" Tess paused, seeing that her 'Angel Boy' was not listening to her.

Andrew found himself suddenly fixated on the drink before him. It smelled absolutely delicious. And yet he couldn't bring himself to touch it as that same aroma was setting off alarm bells in his mind. Why? It was only red wine. He did not partake often, but red wine could not hurt him. Could it? Or was this really wine? There was something familiar about the odor...

"Tess...Tess, this wine is mixed with--" He couldn't seem to quite work his mouth around the word. That was probably because there was something in his mouth that hadn't been there a moment ago. He delicately felt around his upper palate with his tongue.

Oh, God!

"Drink up, Andrew," Tess told him with a compassionate look. "The Father says it's all right to do so."

"But its... it's.."

"Yes."

"But, Tess! I can't possibly drink this! God said that man shouldn't--"

"That's right, honey, but..."---Tess squirmed a little in her seat, suddenly unable to look him in the eye---"this is a special case. And anyway, the Father promises that he will take care of it."

The transformed Angel of Death looked away from the drink in his hand by sheer force of will. He speared the supervisor with a demanding look, determined to get answers. God, Himself, knew that he would willingly go and do whatever his Father directed him to do---so why all this hemming and hawing from his dear friend and silence from his Maker? Tess looked nearly as uncomfortable as he. Andrew decided to ask Jehovah directly---and discovered to his horror that he was unable to pray. No... he could still pray, but it was as if someone had cut his connection line. There was silence at the other end. Not even a comforting presence.

Nothing.

Zilch.

He found that far more unnerving than even the substance Tess was saying he should drink.

Andrew wasn't even aware that he had zoned out on his surroundings until he felt the edge of the crystal glass nudging his lip. The metallic odor was transformed even as it connected with his tongue---much to his intense relief as he was sure he would have vomited it straight back up again. Of course the Father would not force such a substance on him! He knew how much partaking of such a thing would have distressed his angel. Berating himself for his lack of trust, Andrew took another swallow. Before he knew it, he had drained the glass dry.

It had been the most exquisite liquid he had ever tasted, satisfying him as nothing else had before. Even the aches in his stomach and head had dulled. It tasted of Love and Comfort: The Grace of the Lamb. However, his color perception was now skewed: everything was amber yellow in tone. And his mouth... his upper mouth still held...

Fangs.

Next to Tess, Monica gave a little gasp, her eyes wide. Andrew could well imagine what he must look like.

"I'm not..."---he swallowed hard---"human, am I?" The black woman gave a small shake of her head. He nodded slowly, trying to shake off the growing anxiety he was feeling. The sense that others were watching him. "What am I, Tess?" he asked, still trying to deny of what he knew to be the truth. Wishing he could beg off this assignment and knowing he could not let God down like that.

"Oh, Andrew... Honey," The older angel's voice nearly cracked. "You're a vampire."

A/N: Yeah, this is where the traditional TBAA crowd ran for the hills. Guess I can't blame them too much. I mean, a vampire Andrew would be...unorthodox. lol Eh...onwards if you're inclined.