Title: Legacy (part VII)
Author: BELOVEDbyWAR
Rating: PG
TV verse: Blood Ties
Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money.
Summary: Other supernatural encounters lead the friends finally to Mike. How will he react?
AN: Thanks to luvinmike for beta-reading!
WK: 2066
Part VII:
A strange feeling enveloped the vampire and made him hurry all the more to find Vicki's irritating ex. The foreboding made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He instinctively knew it must be the presence of the evil spirit the little creature had spoken of.
After parking the car, he quickly collected the presents (feeling their importance and not wanting them out of his sight) and entered the little wood Vicki had sent him to.
The moment he entered, he knew Mike had to be here. There was a peace and calm here he had not felt in ages and animals from all around seemed drawn to this place.
He spotted a beautiful deer and carefully followed it, hoping not to alarm it. The doe led him to a secluded clearing. Amazed, he contemplated the variety of animals gathered there. Birds, rodents, reptiles, insects, game animals, even a few wolves, cougars and bears attended and in their midst in a beam of moonlight sat none other than Michael Celluci. However, this creature was so much more than the stoic cop Henry had learned to tolerate.
There was an aura around the blond Henry had not noticed before and, just like the animals, it drew Henry close to its source.
The vampire felt like the sun was touching him, only here he did not burn. He felt enveloped by its warmth, a feeling he had almost completely forgotten and it brought tears to his eyes.
When Henry drew closer, the predators among the animals suddenly blocked his way, baring their impressive sets of teeth. Henry stopped and stayed calm, not giving them further cause to see him as a threat.
A soft "Fitzroy" was all it took. Suddenly the way was clear again and when he next looked up his gaze was captured by the searching, unearthly blue one of the tall blond now standing in front of him.
Henry could not believe that this was the same man he had known for a while now. His skin was now as white as Henry's was, only it glittered in the light, and Mike's body had grown even more impressive than it already had been. Where earlier the man had been well-trained and fit, he now practically only consisted of muscles seemingly carved out of stone and under it all his blood illuminated him from within. To his shame, Henry could not suppress the sudden appetite he felt for this man. Only a sip of his blood… Henry shook himself, refusing to give into his base nature.
"Detective! I come bearing gifts!"
Mike looked at him with both irritation and surprise, but waved him to come closer anyway. They sat back down and both started to open the wrappings from their individual gifts Wurzel had given Henry.
The cloth Mike's present had been wrapped in proved to be more than it seemed to be. It was a coat and the cloth glittered silvery in the moonlight. When Mike laid it over his legs, they suddenly vanished from sight, but only when the cloth touched the earth. Otherwise, it seemed to be just a piece of clothing.
Inside he found a beautiful elegant sword, carved with letters he could not read and ornamented with a filigree golden leaf design. With it in the same design was a beautiful set of throwing knives and an impressive long bow complete with blue- plumed arrows. The last thing left was a little pouch, which Mike hesitated to open. Instead he looked at what the vampire had unwrapped and was given a proud smile as Henry showed him a beautiful holstered knife with a similar script along its blade.
Having no reason to delay anymore, the blond opened the little bag and found the most beautiful gem he had ever beheld. It was a sapphire as blue as an evening sky set in a golden ring, with a curvy line carved in the middle that resembled an air stream. But the strangest thing about it was that it felt like it was a part of him.
Hesitantly, he put it on his finger and immediately fell on his back in a seizure.
Henry did not know what had happened. One moment he had proudly shown the other man his new knife and the next Mike was twitching like a fish on land.
He quickly gathered the taller man against his chest and tried to calm him down.
"Shhhh, Michael, shhhh…." He tried to hold the panicked gaze.
"Try to calm down. Breathe slowly."
"God! It hurts! AWW!" the detective groaned in pain and arched his back.
"Hush, now. It will all be over soon. Hold on to me if you need to."
Henry did not know how but he knew it to be the truth. Together elf and vampire rode out the waves of pain. With each seizure, Mike drew Henry closer to him until eventually both lay entwined on the grass with Mike's head buried in the prince's shoulder and Henry's arms encasing the shaking blond protectively. When the tremors finally stopped, the vampire rolled the detective onto his back and realized that the poor man had lost consciousness.
Perhaps it's for the better. At least now Mike looked pain-free and relaxed. Apart from its color, the face had not changed at all. It was still the handsome, slightly boyish sight with, as Henry could see now, long beautifully hung lashes and a strong trademark jaw.
Henry let a hand wander along mentioned jaw and was surprised when his wrist was grasped with bone-crushing strength and now slightly darker blue glowing eyes looked at him as if they were looking to the bottom of his soul.
Moments later the spell was broken and Mike let go of him as if he had been burned. A cougar sat at his side and nuzzled him like a house cat, licking Mike's neck in a calming almost motherly way that actually seemed to help. A wolf passed the vampire and gave him a look Henry could have sworn was chiding, but he quickly explained it away as a figment of his overactive mind.
That was how Vicki and Coreen found the two of them.
-
On their hunt through town, both Vicki and Coreen had supernatural encounters with spirits of nature.
Coreen had been sitting on the edge of a fountain when soft giggling had chased her depressing thoughts away. When she turned around, nobody was there, but when she looked into the water, a little creature consisting of the water itself stood in the form of a little girl in front of her. She only smiled at Coreen and gave her a flask with a glowing fluid saying she would know when to use it and, as an afterthought, to follow the chieftain's spirit.
Coreen had not known what to make of that remark but a cry had soon caught her attention. There, flying over the great lake, was a mighty bald eagle and she immediately knew it was him she had to follow. When she turned to thank the little water nymph, it was already gone. Coreen swiftly took off in the direction the eagle had flown.
-
Vicki's encounter was not quite as peaceful.
She was just passing a bar entrance when one of the torches posed on each side of it seemed to come to life and a small gnome-like creature spit sparks at her. But instead of burning her, those sparks solidified and turned into a pair of beautiful earrings and an admittedly burning lick along her wrists left her with a unique bracelet. A howling voice finally also sent her on her way to the park where Henry had gone.
-
At the entrance both women met and followed Coreen's feathered guide to the clearing where they were greeted by the unlikeliest scene.
There, surrounded by representatives of all kinds of animals, lay their two male friends entwined in a hard embrace. Carefully the smaller one turned the blond on his back and his wrist was caught as he stroked the taller man's strong jaw. Then something passed between them and Mike swiftly pulled away.
As if that sight in itself was not enough, they then had to witness Mike being surrounded and soothed by those animals. This day could not get any stranger!
Gathering all their courage, both women braved their way to their friends. And the moment Vicki came close the scene Henry already knew all too well repeated itself.
Wolves and bears blocked the last few feet, threatening the humans to come closer.
"Keep still!" Henry advised as both Coreen and Vicki were sniffed and only reluctantly let pass. But they could not come any closer than a foot because the female cougar would not let Mike out of her sight and her canines allowed no argument.
"Mike, how are you? Please come back with us!" Vicki pleaded.
Just like before with the vampire, Mike was suddenly right before her eyes and she felt naked in his soul-searching gaze. He repeated the same procedure with Coreen, which made the gothette shiver.
"I cannot come with you."
He stated emotionlessly. All three friends were surprised and terrified by this side of the blond. It felt like being hit by a cold breeze and Vicki could not believe her ears. This was not her Mike! Not her loving, hardheaded best friend. This creature wearing his face was cold and harsh!
"Mike, whatever you are going through, we are here for you! You know we care. You don't have to put up a brave front to spare us!"
"Maybe I just want to be left alone. Did you ever think about that?"
This hit Vicki so hard she felt tears in her eyes. Never before had Mike sent her away, no matter how angry, sad, or upset he had been. It felt like a physical blow.
"Just go!" This time he got louder and grabbed his head as if in pain.
The two women swiftly backed away, but the vampire remained, watching the scene with a clinical interest.
After a few minutes, the blond seemed to be back under control.
"What are you still doing here, vampire? Didn't I make it clear that I wanted to be left alone!" Mike hissed.
"Ah! There you are! For a moment I thought we lost you and were stuck with the Celluci ice-cube version!"
"Har, har, very funny, Fitzroy!" the detective muttered, defeated. He looked drained and ready to keel over.
"I believe I understand, detective. But motivations aside, you cannot stay here. Soon the sun will rise and with it all those humans and their emotions you obviously can't handle yet. Let me get you out of town and we will find a way to handle everything else. What do you say?"
"Why are you suddenly so nice to me?"
The younger-looking man shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe I simply can sympathize with what you are going through. Ever thought about that?"
The Elf looked at him skeptically, but seemed content with the answer and stood up, petting the cougar affectionately.
"All right your lordship, I give myself to your hopefully capable hands, but I do so only as a last resort!"
The vampire shook his head, almost smiling and relieved to have the old character back.
"Why, constable, you really know how to make a guy feel special!"
Mike only rolled his eyes but swiftly followed the vampire to his car, the whole animal entourage following faithfully until he was finally seated. Only then did they scatter in all directions, that is, all but one. The lone raccoon sat looking up at him until Mike opened the door and let the animal in, which swiftly made itself comfortable in the detective's lap. Seeing this, Mike smiled and was soon lulled to sleep by the car's steady motion.
Having confirmed the other male's sleeping status, Henry quickly called the upset PI and updated her on his plans and tried to convince her that it was only the strain that had caused Mike to behave the way he did.
When that, too, was achieved, Henry finally allowed himself to relax and muse about the eventful night.
What did fate have in store for them? Even more importantly, what did she have in store for the man sleeping next to him?
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