Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Forever Knight (though if I did, things would have turned out differently!), they are property of Sony/Tri-Star and I am merely borrowing them and promise to put them back relatively unscathed when finished with them. No copyright infringement is meant and I incur no financial gain by the posting of this story. It is merely for entertainment purposes only.

Some locales used are real places within SFO I make no claim to them nor the implied authenticity thereof.

Detective Kayla MacInnis (amid other characters introduced herein), and The Wyvern, however ARE mine and I will personally tear the throat out of anyone who dares steal them.

This takes place several years after 'Last Knight'

That said, and with upfront apologies to all Nick-and-Nat-packers (just wait till the end of the story till you flame me, please), enjoy the story.

Das Vampyre

Under the Wyvern's Wing

Chapter Three

Encounter at Fort Point

It had been simple for Nick to fall back into the routine of police work. And San Francisco wasn't wholly different from Toronto in many ways. And it hadn't been so long since he had been there that the area was entirely unfamiliar to him. Progress did little to change a city like this one – at least not in the long run.

It was early October, clearly from her behavior, Kayla's favorite time of year. Halloween decorations went up around the office and surrounding buildings and plans for a large 'office party' were being made.

Kayla bounced into the office she and Nick now shared. Another desk and more chairs had found their way into the room – for which there was ample space.

An elated grin lit her face as she tossed her black leather jacket over the back of her chair and flounced down, regarding her partner with what could only be a purely wicked expression.

"What's put you in such a good mood?" Nick queried with a lightly raised eyebrow. He actually surprised how swiftly he'd managed to get in sync with Kayla. He had been so fully focused on working that he found, even in this short time, that the pain of his most recent losses seemed dim and far more distant than they were. There was little about Kayla, or in fact his work here, reminded him of the life he forfeit in Toronto. Since coming to work here he had spent precious little time brooding. That, in and of it self, surprised him.

Kayla flounced again, folding her fingers under her chin she rested her head thereon and smiled enigmatically. "Can't a gal just be in a good mood once in a while?"

Nick chuckled. "Not you. Or at least so I've learned."

Kayla smirked and tossed a yellow notepad playfully across the desk at him. "Only seven months and you know me too well, DeBrabant!" She teased lightly.

He ducked the canary-hued missile. "So what's the reason for this personality abduction of my partner?"

She still grinned and casually responded. "No reason, really, just love this time of year is all."

"Uh-huh. Sure. That and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee."

"Not in this city." She quipped back, leaning back casually in her chair and staring up to the ceiling.

Their load of cases had been surprisingly light, and the light caseload gave them a chance to get acquainted. She had been fairly open with regards to talking about herself but was clearly guarded on certain issues. The meaning behind the pictures of the two fallen officers on her office wall was the primary one that Nick took note of. The other was her family, though there were times when he came into the office when she was on the phone speaking in soft, guarded Gaelic. Family could be a funny thing, he mused not without some irony. Some things, he reasoned, just took time - time and trust.

He was not blind to the envious looks of other female officers that were now directed Kayla's way. Those which, at first, had been indulgent and patient for the seemingly inevitable break between the two detectives, turned to at first mild, moderate then outright clear annoyance that at least one of the office pools wasn't going to pan out.

He had no clue of the other whisperings or pools that were taking place, and very likely would not have appreciated them if he had.

Lanna ducked her head in the open door and quickly dispelled a smirk from her lips. "Got a live one for you two." She muttered, tossing a folder with a yellow sticky note attached on the desk. "Down by Fort Point. Call just came in about a stabbing. M.E.'s already en route. Now hop-it you two! Mac's costing me a small fortune in coffee alone." Then she ducked back out and down to the hall.

"Killjoy!" Kayla muttered with a good-natured snort toward the doorway. "Well, you heard da boss." She shrugged the leather jacket onto her shoulders and bounced on her heels waiting for Nick to don his duster, then, strode with a springy gait down to the garage and the infamous 'Ticket Attracter', and the first real case of the night. Once inside the car, however, she lost her seemingly carefree air and turned all business. "What say we get this over with ASAP and enjoy the night." He couldn't help but chuckle.

There was a full Harvest moon hanging over the city and bathed it in the warm, soft orangey glow. And, even though they were far from the beach at the moment, the tang of brine could just barely be detected in the air.

Fort Point Historical Monument and Lighthouse

The old Army fort stood a silent testament to old Civil War days. Now a popular tourist spot under the imposing grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge it stood its stoic and silent sentinel under the massive steel bridge. A light mist of ground fog dispersed like the mist of dry ice at a concert under the wheels of the Saturn as they pulled up to the parking area of the old fort. Kayla swore under her breath softly seeing the coroners' vehicle and muttered the name Callahan, with clear and obvious disgust. The M.E. was there along with three other members of the SF P.D., most of whom just gave them a dismissive glance, talking to two pairs of teen couples.

It seemed that the teenagers had thought to make an excursion to the old fort to drink and tell ghost stories, in preparation for Halloween, as they put it. The excuse was met with indulgent, if somewhat condescending smiles on behalf of the P.D. Obviously they weren't just going to tell ghost stories. The drinking had got out of hand, terse words and threats were exchanged and violence ensued. Once one of the young men had sobered up enough to get his story straight the truth had, inevitably, come out. One was jealous of what the other had and stabbed him. Fairly cut and dried.

Kayla rolled her eyes softly to the excuse and muttered something to the extent of "if you're going to go somewhere for mood to tell ghost stories and get lucky – at least you could have gone to Colma!" Shaking her head she approached the M.E. and his assistant with the wariness of someone expecting to get their head bitten off.

Nick found out quickly that assessment wasn't too far off the mark.

Callahan, a young man of perhaps 35, looked up from his crouch and paperwork when Kayla approached and regarded her with the dark predatory gaze of a wolf just having come upon a wounded rabbit. Instantly he made Nick uneasy. This was not the coroner that they usually dealt with in these cases. He shoved back a lock of dishwater brown hair from equally unimpressive eyes to regard the two detectives. "Well!" He exclaimed with a smirk. "Lookie what the fog dragged in! If it isn't Detective MacInnis and her new partner!" There was a little too much emphasis on the word 'new' for even Nick's taste and he could keenly sense trouble brewing. Callahan's assistant just chuckled, zippered up the body bag and, with an exaggerated 'huff' pushed the gurneyed body toward the waiting ambulance and well out of earshot.

"Why don't you just crawl back under the rock you came from, Callahan? " Kayla queried in a tone dripping with icy, ill-concealed venom and regarded the young man with an expression clearly akin to disgust. "I hear Alcatraz is particularly nice this time of year."

Callahan was unruffled and lifted his head slightly to Nick, muddy eyes still on Kayla and a superior smirk on his lips. "You're DeBrabant, right?" He postured and received a nearly imperceptible nod of confirmation. "I'd be careful around Mac here if I were you." He sneered nastily. "I hear her partners have a bad habit of kicking off in a bad way." This statement garnered not only surprised looks but a few softly muttered 'oooohh's' from the regular officers.

That did it. Kayla's spine went ram-rod rigid and she fixed the M.E. with an icy emerald gaze. "Tell me something, Callahan...what does it feel like to get a really cold one?"

Callahan's smirk faltered and he redirected his gaze to the object of his harassment. "A really cold what?" He queried.

There was a tangible sense of trouble in the air even before Kayla's action had been perceived. Even the reflexes of an eight centuries old vampire could have been taken for slow and would not have altered the red-head's course of action.

Wheeling back the seemingly petite detective launched a vicious right hook to the side of the smirking M.E.'s face. A sound that could best be described as 'a fist sinking into one-hundred and forty pounds of ground chuck' would have applied and preceded the swift decent of the young man into the dusty ground. Effectively knocked out cold by the vicious, well aimed strike. "A cold shot to the side of the head, you self-righteous prick." Kayla snarled softly and stalked away past the snickering, wide-eyed officers, who had turned a blind eye to the blow itself.

One of whom remarked quietly "I've wanted to do that foryears!" Others called out: "Don't worry, Mac! We'll take care of all the paperwork!" And "We've got your back!"

Kayla had stalked to the moonlit outer walls of the old fort and was pacing like a caged tiger, muttering to herself incoherently. She didn't even notice Nick until he cleared his throat and ventured cautiously. "Are you alright, Kayla?"

With a muted curse she turned and hurled her fist into the brick siding of the old fort. It didn't take the memory of being mortal for Nick to know that that hurt like Hell. And the wince Kayla offered in response to the impact only confirmed it. "Peachy." She muttered followed by a low hiss of pain. "I think I sprained my wrist when I hit that bastard." It was clear that she did not mean the old fort by her comment, but it didn't take a genius to realize she could have easily incurred the injury by deciding to take on a brick building. Clearly she was not aiming for that option though. There was more personal satisfaction in the first strike laid.

"Bricks don't hit back." He muttered, trying desperately not to smile at the inherent humor of the situation. Twisted, perverse - yes, but humor none the less.

He was offered a wry smile in return. "Thanks for that pearl of wisdom, Confucius." She shook her hand out and winced again. "Sorry. I didn't plan to loose my temper like that." She muttered miserably. "You know how someone can just..." she faltered for a moment, "a person can only take so much before they snap. Guess that was my breaking point."

A feeling he knew all too well. The pungent, metallic tang of fresh blood rose up like a miasma from the shredded skin of his partner's hand. It assailed Nick's senses with its intoxicating bouquet. He felt his fangs itch at the roof of his mouth and it took more than a little self-control on his part to turn and keep her from seeing the gold tint that had arose in his eyes. Unbidden his stomach gave a low rumble.

Kayla offered a soft chuckle. "Skip breakfast, partner?" She asked as she came up on his side, curious and surprisingly concerned for someone who had just gone a round with a brick wall.

It was all he could do to keep his eyes down cast and averted. "Something like that, yea." He muttered dismissively. He changed the subject quickly, gaining a slight edge on his desire for blood. "It may not be sprained, but you've managed to slice up those knuckles pretty bad." He hazarded a glance at her hand and took it in his, examining the lacerations thereon.

She shook her head dismissively. "I'll be fine." Was offered, as, with some reluctance she drew her hand away from his. A moment in time froze when two eyes met and soft emerald was held fast by pale sky blue. It wasn't until the bark of one of the black-and-white's sirens barked to life that normalcy and reality seemed to return. "I'll be fine." She repeated in a somewhat less confident tone.

"I still think you should have it looked at." His own tone softened, surprising even him, and he offered her a smile. "Humor me."

With a deeply dramatic sigh, she relented. "Alright. You win...this time." She offered with a lopsided grin. "I think we've had enough excitement for one night, don't you?" She queried with an odd expression dancing just behind her eyes. She let herself be guided back to the car and begrudgingly into the passenger seat, cradling her hand gingerly against her.

Nick's attention was drawn away from assuming the drivers seat by one of the uniformed officers. "Don't worry about Mac, Detective." The petite brunette said with a smile. "Callahan's been booking for that for a long time." She played a playful chuck to his upper arm. "This will all blow over faster than a toothpick in a hurricane." She winked. "You'll see. It'll never even make it to Captain Kenyan's desk. We'll make sure of that." She waved them off. "Have a good night, Detectives."

Nick shook his head and issued a softly wistful sigh. In another time that young officer could have very well been Jenette. He shrugged the thought off and just chuckled. Sliding into the coveted drivers' seat of Kayla's Saturn, to which she offered a mock grumble of malcontent as he turned the engine over and aimed the nose of the car back into the city and medical aid for his partner.

While Kayla was being seen to by an impassive staff at the hospital, Nick waited. Now back in the passenger seat of the car he regarded his shaking hands with a degree of unease that he hadn't felt in a long while. His fingertips were stained with just a trace of Kayla's blood. It took that degree of self-control again for him not to bring his fingers to his lips and lick away that precious red. Frustrated, he wiped his hands on the folds of his duster and plunged a hand into one of the jackets pockets, withdrawing a slim, silver flask. Unscrewing the ivory crowned top he took a deep pull of the liquid contained therein, and with a deep sigh, swallowed the belt of bovine blood and closed his eyes as the thick liquid made his way down his throat.

A softly reproving 'tisk' brought him back to reality with a start. Kayla was leaning against the roof of the car and watching him intently. Her right hand now cleaned and lightly wrapped in snowy white gauze rested on her hip casually. "If I had known you had a problem with the bottle I never would have let you drive my car." She teased. "I do have a reputation to think of, you know."

Nick was suitably abashed and swiftly tucked the flask back in his pocket. "It's not what you think, Kayla." He began somewhat lamely. How to explain this if she asked? Hardly something one could easily explain. A flask of blood – of course – everyone carried one of those. He mentally berated himself as she resumed her place in the drivers' seat.

She smiled dismissively and turned the engine over. "It never is, Nicola." She offered kindly. "I make no judgments what-so-ever, I assure you." She eased the car back into traffic. For the first time since their initial meeting, a heavy, uncomfortable silence passed between them. "We, uh, we've been booked off for the night. Damned hospital staff had to go blab to the Captain that I'd been hurt." More than mild annoyance clouded her tone. "I can take you back to the precinct, if you like."

God this was uncomfortable. Nick fidgeted slightly in his seat before responding. "What were you planning to do with the rest of the evening?" It sounded juvenile and lame even to his ears, and once said wished he could take it back and rephrase it.

She offered a shrug by way of initial answer. "Don't know really. Hadn't thought about it." She glanced at the illuminated clock in the dashboard. "If I go home too early my dog starts getting all suspicious. I may go to a club a friend owns. Just to kill some time."

Another edgy fidget. "Where is this club at?"

"Off the Embarcadero, on a little side street."

"If it's alright, I think I'd like to go with you. It seems the least I can do for getting us both suspended tonight."

An unnervingly knowing smile ticked at the corners of her lip. "You sure? It's not an environment for everyone."

"Yea, I'm sure."

Kayla gave no outward indication of pleasure or indifference to his acceptance of her offer, or vice-versa as it were.

Nick didn't miss the slight, subtle caress she offered a heretofore concealed silver pendent around her neck. An ornate Celtic cross. Suddenly, he felt very uneasy with his decision.