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.

A/N:

This post dedicated to Feliz, who took the time to answer this newbie's questions and give gracious comments despite admitting that she likes bloodsuckers as much as Dr. Van Helsing did.

For all you did/do, this post's for you!

(er...sorry about the vamped-out scene a'comming, Feliz! What can I say? I think he looks kind'a cute that way---and I have the Adobe-Photo Shop pics to prove it!! Bwahahaha.! ..ahem.)

Again, I had help with the French via a French speaker, so am trusting it's correct.

(Thanks to all readers for bearing with me while I backtracked to Choir Angel Andrew & mortal Nicholas' first meeting. The story now reverts to present day at a Toronto lakeside park.)

Before the1228 flashback:

(Sam had said)"You're an Ancient vampire---for Jehovah's sake, Andrew---just act like one!" Then De Brabant twisted his head away from Kurkan's bared teeth---and desperate but aware eyes locked upon his own.

And Andrew remembered.

Chapter 11: Rejections

[Modern day Toronto, Canada: a lakeside park]

As the removed guilt-ridden memories suddenly became part of him again, Andrew wanted to just fall under their weight, but he knew he couldn't afford to waste time in remorse---simply because there was no more time.

"Stop!"

Kurkan froze, the fingers of one hand having managed to pry de Brabant's mouth open. Glowing red eyes---still drunk with his victory over the Toronto Elder---contemplated the 'older vampire' as he contemptuously sneered, "Why?"

Andrew felt his vampiric 'beast' within brindle at the implied challenge. His first desire as a peaceable angel was to quell it before it could do harm. However...

(...for Jehovah's sake---act like one!)

Father, I hope I know what I'm doing this time, he earnestly prayed... then let the Vampire nature to the surface.

Kurkan felt a wash of power start to push against him as the formerly 'observe only' Ancient displayed his potential and Kurkan realized how badly he had miscalculated. Before confronting Lucius, he had watched the others from afar. It had not seemed then that this one was any friend to the Roman. Nor had any of his master's spies reported the Belgian knight as having encountered anyone older than the General and Divia---save him and Joran. Most disturbing of all now that he thought of it was the fact that he did not recognize this vampire from any of the Council's meetings---and his master kept tabs on everyone of any power.

Who, then, was this stranger?

"I have never seen you before..." he stated, fishing for information to relay back to his sire. (Joran disliked incomplete reports and was quite physical when expressing his displeasure.)

The heady rush of 'letting the Vampire out' was more than Andrew had expected: the possession of sheer power, the sensuality of extending his daggered teeth, the change from regular to heat-seeking vision. In the Raven, he had been too overwhelmed by the newness of his situation to truly be aware of it... to utilize it. To embrace it!

Unseen by all, Sam was joined by Tess, who smacked her hand against her forehead when she saw what was going on, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like the beginnings of: "That Angel Boy doesn't know--!" She would have rushed to her friend, but Sam stopped her with a shake of his head and a firm grip on the supervisor's arm. She looked affronted. Silently he pointed upwards and she gave in. As much as she wanted to charge in there, her Angel Boy was in better hands than hers right now. Sam smiled as she relaxed and nodded her understanding. Then they both winked out.

Andrew gave a feral smile at the Interviewer as he stalked the lesser vampire, secure in the knowledge that he was the dominant one here, the 'alpha male' to these...cubs. The lazy growl rolled in his throat as he hyper sped to stand right behind this overconfident beta who had neglected to show him proper respect!

He leaned forward a bit to brush Kurkan's ear with his breath.

"Why?" he purred in a husky voice, relishing his quarry's unease. "Because I'm Andrew: ancient, powerful and rather hungry... and I don't want you dropping the whelp as I feed." He scrapped his fangs along the Interviewer's neck, relishing the taste of subservient fear.

Predictable--the insolent one was readying to flee his pleasure. But as fun as a game of chase might be, dawn was near and this one's blood was calling to him. No, he was feeling too impatient to wait. Seizing the hairless neck, he brought it to a better biting angle...

Nicholas's scared cobalt eyes staring at him. Like a pleading puppy dog's afraid of his owner's rolled up newspaper.

Oh, oh...Lord! What was he doing?

Using the dark blueness of those eyes as a focal point, Andrew the Angel forced back the untamed animal instincts. He felt Kurkan take advantage of his sudden distraction to escape into the air; felt the Vampire rage within at his efforts to control it; it was furious at the loss of its prey. Andrew barely had the presence of mind to grab de Brabant as the Interviewer let go in order to keep the former from sliding to the ground. Sighing, felt the bloodsweat trickling down his scalp as the violent emotions within were finally subdued. With a sigh of relief, the angel thanked God that this body was only temporary.

No wonder the Night People had such nightmarishly strict rules to govern their own! How carefully they must choose their offspring, for only those strong-willed enough to curb such strong, primal urges could hope to master them. Otherwise, it would be like letting a pack of prehistoric raptors loose on a world of deer: within a couple of generations, the deer would be extinct.

"Lucius!" A harried-looking Kurkan railed at the weakened, impaled vampire from his safer position high above the trio. "I don't know how you found some rogue to help you--but know this! Lord Joran will be told! Forfeit de Brabant to him, or face the High Council's displeasure and their Enforcers! You have been warned!" The last word had barely left his mouth before he shot away in the pre-dawn sky.

"Chiron...dump...your...miserable...carcass...mid....river," the impaled Lacroix weakly spat at the receding figure.

Andrew felt hands lightly pummeling his chest and realized he was still holding up de Brabant. He eased the wild-eyed vampire to the ground. Nicholas tore free to stumble to the Elder's side.

"Lacroix...?" he whimpered, trying in vain to pull out the branch from his father's body. However, with the wood splinters still inside his own ravaged chest preventing him from healing properly, he could not gather enough strength for the job. "Get it out. I'm so sorry... get it out..."

Lacroix patted the tear-streaked face, "Let it... be, mon fils, you...only...hurt yourself...more."

However, Nicholas seemed not to hear, intent on the piece of wood in his hands as he mumbled over and over: "Get it out..." The Elder gave up, turning red-filled irises on Andrew.

"Well?" he asked with false calm. "Janette...is coming...and....will be...here...before...the...sun. You--whoever...you are--still...just...have...time...to...take him." He coughed up a mouthful of dark blood, wincing in pain. "I...obviously....cannot...stop...you....right....now."

Andrew knelt down beside them. Gently removing Nicholas scrapped hands from the stake; he wrapped his own around the blood-slicked bark---roughly slamming down the Vampire that was being aroused again by the smell.

Starry heavens, how did they cope with this annoyingly insistent hunger? And de Brabant had for several years chosen to work as a homicide detective? He shook his head. The constant strain of having to control himself around bloody crimes scenes must have been tremendous. No wonder the knight had apparently lost it.

"Do you trust me?" Andrew asked the Elder.

Lacroix gave a sardonic chuckle. "As...with...fictitional...Agent Mulder...I...learned...long...ago...trust...no one." He let his body relax against the grass and closed his eyes in weariness. "But...if...you...would?"

Nervously swallowing back the queasiness that rose in his throat at what he was about to do, Andrew heaved on the branch, making the Elder roar with pain as it came free. He watched avidly as Nicholas slashed a wrist and tried to feed his sire only to have the elder lick the ripped vein closed, rebuking his son when he tried to repeat the maneuver. Nicholas' familial intentions not withstanding, the younger also could not afford any more lossed blood.

"Children," Lacroix sighed (already sounding a tiny bit better now that the branch was gone--even with a dirt and splinter infected wound) "for centuries...you chase after the ungrateful imps, then suddenly... you can't get them to give you some air space.." He stared hard into his child's eyes.

"Obey... your sister.., Nicholas, while... we recover. No more taking off. Understand?"

The face under the mop of blond locks frowned, gazing out over the lake. "Le eau..." He attempted to rise.

Andrew followed his eyes, scanning the lake for more threats like Kurkan. There was something ominous about the dark water, but nothing he could put his finger on.

"Nicola, ou vas-tu?! Obe'ir, Janette--comprendre?!" his father growled, making the knight snap his attention back to him.

"Mais, mon pere..."

The fatigued elder fought for patience. This delusion of his son was getting old---fast, but yelling at the boy would only cause him to withdraw again.

"No, Nicholas. There...is no one in...the water calling you."

De Brabant nodded, though not looking terribly convinced; however, he sat back down to wait for Janette as instructed.

Minutes later, Janette dropped from the air along with four other vampires. Sizing up the situation she immediately began barking out orders to the younger ones.

"Bridgette, check and make sure no passing mortal witnessed this; Alma---clean up the blood and any other traces of a battle. Move--the sun is soon to rise!"

Going to the waiting trio, she gave her sire a silver flask to drink from, opening the top first. The metallic aroma of warm blood rose from the container. He downed it greedily. She produced another for Nicholas which he tried to give to Lacroix as well, shaking his head. Wordlessly, she grabbed it back, unscrewed the top and handed it back to him. Andrew caught a whiff of something that smelled like blood, but not terribly pleasant: like the aroma of plain oatmeal after savoring the fragrance of a gourmet dish.

"Nicola, it's cow," she reassured her brother. "Now, drink."

He drank.

Andrew couldn't help but grimace just watching him swallow the stuff. His personal feelings aside, the Vampire knew that animal blood was not its natural food. The stuff was a pale comparison to what it wanted. There was a class of lesser vampires called 'carouche' that fed almost exclusively from animals---those having been their first taste of blood when they were brought across, but Andrew knew that de Brabant was not one of those: Lacroix had fed him with his own blood to ensure a closer bond with his son. And knowing Lacroix, he would have made sure any subsequent meals for his fledgling were 'grade AAA' so to speak.

So why would Nicholas refuse the figurative lobster dinner for the vampire version of 'puffed rice cakes?

Guilt... It had to be guilt---like the Father had said. Why else would he be hiding his mind and denying his body? Andrew couldn't help but remember his own terrible feelings of guilt---still so close to the surface---of wanting to hide inside of his own little world and not come out ever again.

Conscience could be as cruel as any demon.

Janette gestured for Miklos, a dark Irish male, to assist her in getting her sire up. "Lacroix, who did this?"

"Kurkan."

The Parisian gasped, "Kurkan? It is too soon."

Lacroix grimaced, growing paler as he stood up. "Apparently Joran's... sense of timing... is off, and his... lackey took... exception... to my suggestion... that... he check his Rolex's warranty." He slumped in her and the bartender's arms. "Splinters... in both, Janette..?"

"Miklos and Feliks---help Lacroix home and make him comfortable until I get there. Be careful!" The two males nodded. Few substances caused them physical pain, but wood cellulose was one of the major ones.

Turning to Andrew, she looked him over.

"Neither Lacroix nor Nicola could have removed the stake. Was it you?"

"Yes," Andrew admitted, wondering if she would send him away. Frankly, it had him a bit worried as he had no idea where to spend the day otherwise. The Father had not given him much in the way of Canadian money, though it would probably appear in his pocket if he did need to seek shelter in a human motel. Yet, he had the strong impression that he needed to be with de Brabant as much as possible, so...

"Lacroix does not trust you."

"No."

"Should I?"

Andrew gave a self-deprecatory smile. "You would trust my word over his?"

Janette pursed her lips and relaxed her stance. "Non. But unlike Lacroix, I have learned to trust my own instincts when it comes to men...I..." downcast look "I have had a lot of experience at that." Brightening up, she smiled at him. "At any rate, my instincts are telling me that you are like my Nicola...le juste chevalier...always galloping in to help the cause of those he sees in distress, is that not so?"

Chuckling ruefully, the angel scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I've never been a knight, but I have been accused of charging ahead without making sure my armor is completely affixed first. Does that count?"

She laughed at the puppyish twinkle in his eye. A twin to her impulsive sibling, indeed!

"The sun rises and I must get Nicola to the safety of The Raven. If you would, monsieur?"

"For you, my wise lady, anything," Andrew gallantly bowed." He bent to scoop up de Brabant, trying not to jostle him over much; yet Nicholas flinched at his touch a little even so.

"Ale and the...and... " the troubled vampire looked confused. "Do...do I know you?" he frowned, staring intently at Andrew, as if trying to figure out a complex puzzle with a central piece missing.

Janette brushed the hair out of his face, mistaking his question for uncertainty on account of Andrew's being a relative stranger.. "It is all right, Nicola---I will be by you as well."

They lifted off into the fading night.

Back at the upstairs living quarters of The Raven, Janette was patiently removing tiny splinters and other debris from Lacroix abdomen, while in an adjacent bedroom Feliks was doing the same for Nicholas. The Roman was none too pleased to see Andrew had come as well, but Janette diplomatically pointed out that it was better to know where he was than not to. Whether Lacroix agreed with his daughter's logic or no, he conceded to let Andrew stay---in his room---while their wounds were being cleansed.

"What is wrong with him?" Andrew asked, having a hard time reconciling the nearly broken-spirited version of the proud man he now remembered from nearly 800-years before. The Father had said it was intense grief, and Andrew knew that guilt was also a major factor, but He had not elaborated further.

Lacroix's expression---which had softened towards him a little after he volunteered to help Janette clean up the resulting mess, once more hardened with suspicion.

"He is not a danger to the Community!" the Elder hotly contested. "I have taken responsibility for him until he recovers."

"Whoa!" Andrew said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm not from the Council or the Enforcers. Isn't that clear to you by now?"

Lacroix studied him with a sarcastic air, somehow seeming superior to all even while recuperating on a bed.

"Nothing, Andrew, is clear. You come from seemingly nowhere. You have all the power of someone with four or more millennium, yet neither I nor that dental-hygiene lacking obscenity you faced down has ever heard of nor seen you before. More, you act like a newborn fledgling unused to having that power. You, sir, are an enigma, and I do not like enigmas. Who are you really?"

"Look...I came to help, and you know my name already."

"Help?" the Roman sneered. "Did I request your help?" He snorted in disgust. "I will not trust my favorite to a mere two syllables!"

"What, then?" Andrew asked, getting frustrated. He'd never liked this assignment to begin with---and now to know that he was part of the catalyst was getting to him. He felt the Vampire stir restlessly within, and forced himself to calm down.

"I don't know how to convince you I mean no ill will."

Lacroix closed his eyes, thinking.

"You have heard the phrase: 'A picture speaks a thousand words'?"

"Sure..." Andrew's eyes went wide as understanding hit. "Oh, no!"

"It is the only way I will trust you alone with him. You say you mean him no harm. Prove it to me in a way that leaves no doubt. Otherwise, sir, I would appreciate your leaving Toronto come dusk."

Review Answers:

Elendil: um... okay. 0.o

Mary Rose: Unless doing a story is completely Alternate Universe 'out there', I like to add a sprinkling of canon whenever possible. It's fun to try to mesh it or flesh it out to fit in original material.

Hmmm... looks like the TBAA crowd had enough of this story Oh well, I did/am writing it for my own fun anyway. Not like I'm being paid to do this drivel. –lol-