On his knees, Nick clenched his eyes shut and steeled himself in anticipation of the sharp pain that would come after impalement with the wooden staff. Memories of his time with Nat flowed by, and he savored each precious one. He also experienced those moments from Nat's perspective since he was filled with her blood and had experienced her memories. Nick listened to her slowing heartbeat and heard his maker twist the wooden staff.
LaCroix looked down at the back of his son, hunched over, bowing to death. Glancing slightly beyond Nicholas, he scowled at the mortal woman who had brought them all down to this critical moment – this mortal his son thought he cared for more than anyone and anything else. "Damn you, Nicholas," he growled while raising the staff above his head. With his full strength, LaCroix brought the stake sharply down.
A final tear slipped out when he heard his maker and Nick prepared to die, sure that Nat would naturally follow soon. A loud scream ripped past his erupted fangs while his back arched in pain, feeling the stake slam through his body and his mind sear and splinter. Nick fell on his side, bringing his palms up to press against his head to try and force the chaos within to not break out. When the pounding subsided, he let go of his head and weakly brought his arms down to cross tightly over his aching chest. Nick opened his eyes in confusion while his hands hastily searched along his shirt. He looked down - there was nothing protruding out.
LaCroix attempted to focus on the movement that had caught his attention. Weakened, he tried to turn his head but gave up. His body rocked slightly and he felt hands touching and moving him. As his heavy eyelids closed, LaCroix watched Nicholas finally reach for the wooden stake.
( - )
Slowly, LaCroix opened his eyes and extended his senses. He felt a smooth sheet on the skin of his back and over his legs. One hand he lifted up and felt along his bare chest, finding a tender wound and an arm. Turning his head along something soft and yielding, he found the person attached to the arm. Nicholas was lying beside him on the bed, sleeping deeply and looking pale. LaCroix rested his hand on the arm.
Movement beside him caused Nick to wake up from his fitful rest. Worried, he looked over at LaCroix and found his maker awake. Nick brought his bruised wrist up to his razor-sharp fang to slice the tissue open and offered the blood.
Without hesitation, LaCroix accepted the wrist, sucking the blood until the flow stopped, then gently sinking his extended fangs to find Nicholas' blood vessel. With the fluid flowing into him once again, LaCroix closed his eyes, focusing on the impressions he was receiving from his son while the blood finished healing him.
When the elder was done, Nick took his wrist back. "Are you feeling better?"
LaCroix touched the spot on his chest where he had driven the stake into. It was now completely healed. "Yes."
"What were you thinking!" Nick snapped. "You could have …."
"Died?" LaCroix finished. He leaned back into the pillow. "It was what you were attempting to do."
With an irritated huff, Nick rolled out of bed. "If you wanted to simply show me how you would feel if I died, you made your point."
LaCroix's gaze followed his pacing son. With the blood sharing and the mental bond with Nicholas strengthened, he knew how much his action had affected his child. "That was not the reason."
"You scared me," Nick admitted. "You almost didn't make it."
"I am touched you care."
"Of course I care! I had planned on leaving with you." Nick paused, then resumed his pacing, his maker's eyes silently tracking him. After a few minutes, he sat down on his side of the bed. "It's just," Nick quietly began, "Nat showed up, and with everything that had happened, and we wanted …."
"Resolution. Finality. Change."
Nick nodded. "And then I started, and couldn't stop, and it was ending. Everything was ending. And I saw only one way to go. I should have listened to you, left her. But I couldn't."
"You care for her."
Nick stood up again. "And when you staked yourself, I found I was reminded of how much I care for you, too. I didn't want to hurt you, but you were anyway." Nick's lips began to tremble. "I thought you were going to die, and all I wanted was to save you."
"And now that you have, what will you do next?"
Nick walked around the bed and sat on the edge next to LaCroix. "I will leave with you. But don't ever do that again."
LaCroix lips turned up slightly. "Found your love for life again?"
Nick playfully nudged his sire. "I've got a few people I need to care for and protect."
LaCroix enjoyed the feelings he was picking up from Nicholas; the downward spiral his son had been on was over. Then he became solemn; the elder heard no mortal heartbeat in the loft. "Natalie …."
Nick glanced down and nodded. "I had rushed over to help you and was focused so much on that I didn't register anyone else." He recalled the panic, the desperation he felt when he saw how much damage that stake had caused. He didn't notice anything else until a hand gently gripped his shoulder. Nick looked back up at LaCroix. "Why didn't you tell me Janette was in town?"
"I had planned on telling you after we left. We would join with her and together my family would leave. Paris; Janette wanted Paris again."
"Well," Nick started, "she was on the roof and came to help. Nat … she's strong. She was still holding on. Janette brought her across. They're at the Raven."
"And Natalie?" LaCroix inquired. He knew how much Nicholas cared for her and, this ending was not in any plan of theirs. "How does she feel about this?"
"She's fine right now. Nat understands what happened, that this isn't a way to cure me, and she feels this was better than what I was going to do."
LaCroix agreed. Nicholas was in a much better frame of mind than before. And with Natalie still around, his son would not carry and potentially break with the guilt of having killed her. To have achieved all this was worth the annoyance of being staked.
