Title: And A Child Shall Lead Them

Author: longlostnite

Rating: T

Pairing: Vicki/Henry

Summary: Boyfriends, Magic and the whole darn thing

Time: After Changes

Part 15

When Vicki woke in the almost dark room, she was on her side, head propped up on Henry's shoulder, hand on his chest. Apparently the sun hadn't risen yet because Henry's hand lay on top of hers, his thumb moving slowly back and forth. His touch made the hair on her arms stand up, so she started to pull it away.

"Don't go just yet, love." He whispered, "It's almost sunrise. I like going to sleep when you're here."

"Ok." She settled back down and spoke into his ear. "I'm going back to the office in a little bit and get ready for tonight. I'm sure he has an alarm system, so I'm going to try to find out what kind. Come there when you wake up and we'll head to Grimm's."

"I'll be there." "Should I wear" he grinned, "my burglar clothes?"

"If by that you mean black, yes, wear your burglar clothes."

"Vicki?" He could feel himself surrendering to the day, so he had to hurry to get the words out.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"For what?" After last night, she almost felt like she should be thanking him.

"Letting me love you. And not running screaming in the opposite direction when you realized you loved me too."

"You're welcome. Thank you for not giving up and making me."

He smiled a little. "No one can make Vicki Nelson do anything. I'm just glad you realized what a great catch I am." The smile widened to a smirk.

"What!? You undead arrogant ass. What makes y-"

She stopped when she felt him silently laughing.

"Bastard."

"Yes."

"See you tonight."

"Every night. Kiss me goodbye." She leaned in and kissed him lightly.

"Vicki?" His eyes shut.

"What?"

"Try not to be too hard on Celluci, my love. This won't be easy for him."

His breathing became so shallow that in the dim light she could not see his chest move. She smiled as she slid out of out bed, literally. These silk sheets are going to have to go. And padded to the closet looking for her clothes. When she opened the door she saw them, neatly folded and hung up, waiting for her. Yesterday's clothes were in the laundry basket. If we ever have to live together, this is going to be a problem. The man was a serious neat freak. The closet was immaculate, shoes lined up, clothes neatly categorized-jacket/shirt/pants.

Maybe I can get him to organize my closet.

She got dressed quickly and headed out the door, listening as the lock fell into place. The sun was making its way into the eastern sky as Vicki walked back to the office. The first thing she did when she got there was put on some coffee.

It's going to be a long 24 hours.

Part 16

When Coreen showed up around 10, she found Vicki sitting at her desk, head on her arms. She knew better than to startle her, so she just put the huge plastic cup of coffee close to her nose. Coreen also knew doing that would insure her living to see 20. A couple of minutes later, Vicki reared up off the desk, straightened her glasses and reached for the coffee.

"Thank you, I need this."

"I know. Not get much sleep last night?" She waggled her eyebrows at Vicki.

"Not your business, Coreen."

"Right. Sorry." She started laying things on the desk, "So. I did some checking, dug up who built Grimm's house and went by there. I got a basic floor plan from them and then got into the city architect's website. Here's the floor plan. And, with a little sweet talk, I got the builder to tell me the kind of alarm system Grimm has. It's pretty standard actually. An FA1000 Arm/Keyless remote 900 mHz. It operates on subsonic sound, so Henry should be able to hear and figure out how to disarm it without tripping the alarm."

Vicki nodded her head, "Impressive. Don't suppose you got the disarm code just in case, while you were there."

"No, sorry. But I did get a date out it."

"Of course you did."

They pored over the blueprints, looking for something that would give them a starting point. Vicki felt like she had the beginnings of a plan when she looked up and saw what time it was. Almost 4 pm, and this was the first time she'd thought about Mike, and what had happened last night. She wavered between calling him, just pretending nothing was wrong or just ignoring the whole situation. Ignoring won.

Yes, I am Queen of Denial. It's the only way to go.

The only problem with denial is, the stuff you're denying will always be there waiting for you. And Mike was waiting for Vicki when she went downstairs to check the mail. When he stepped out from the shadows and spoke, she almost jumped out of her shoes.

"Jeez, Mike! Was that necessary? You scared the hell out of me!"

"Sorry." He said it, but he knew he didn't mean it. "I've been standing down here for a while, trying to decide whether to come up or not."

She heard Henry's voice in her head, 'Try not to be too hard on Celluci, my love.' "Come up." She held out her hand. "I just made coffee and there's Chinese left over from lunch." And I've put away all the stuff I'll need later tonight.

"I don't think I could eat anything right now." The pain in his face was almost too much for her. "Vicki, do you love Fitzroy?"

"Mike, this is just not the best time for a talk, okay?"

"Why?" Suspicion fought for dominance with the pain. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing." I have really got to learn how to be a better liar.

"Nothing my ass." He pointed a finger at her, "You've never been a very good liar Vicki, and your talent, or lack of, hasn't improved much, even though you're hanging out with the bastard prince."

"Please, don't start."

"I'm not. This is ongoing. I don't get it, Vicki. You chose him. Why?"

While this wasn't the distraction she was hoping for, she'd take what she could get if it kept Mike was finding out about their plans for tonight. "That's just it. I didn't choose. It was just …..there. I didn't even realize it myself."

"How do you know he hasn't just put you in his thrall?"

"His thrall? She snorted, "What the hell is that?"

"I've been reading up. His kind can make you do things you wouldn't do."

Oh Lord "His Kind? His powers of persuasion don't work on me. He thinks it's probably because of the rp, but regardless, there's no thralling going on." The conversation was beginning to deteriorate.

Vicki didn't want to talk about Henry or the thrall or whatever, but she didn't want Mike to know what she and Henry were about to be up to either. She had chosen Henry, but she would always try to protect Mike, no matter what. She had loved him, still loved him, and it hurt her to feel the pain he was in.

"Fine." He sighed and the sound broke Vicki's heart. "You and Fitzroy do whatever the hell it is you do. Just keep away from me and especially keep away from the Grimm case. If I find out you're up to something, I will haul you both in, and you can cool your heels in adjoining cells."

"That's the second time in less than 24 hours you've threatened me with jail, Celluci. I don't like it." Vicki could feel her temper rise.

"Tough. You and Fitzroy want to be together? Be together. Just don't expect me to give you my blessing."

"I do expect it , Mike. Maybe not today, but some day." Her voice was barely above a whisper, "You're my best friend."

"Shut up! You have no right to say that to me." His breath came out in shudders, "You have no right to expect that of me. I can't see you like this Vicki. I won't watch you throw away your life to be with Fitzroy."

That did it. Her temper flared and broke free in spite of the fact that she knew Mike was hurting. "Throw my life away!? I'm not. And even if I were, it would so not be your problem, or your business!"

"OH? I thought I was your best friend! How can I be that and not say anything when I see you doing something so incredibly stupid? That's what a best friend is supposed to do, Vic! Stop you from jumping off a cliff because you think you can fly!"

"You know what? Fine. You're relieved of best friend duty. I can handle myself and I've got Henry for backup, so you can go back to Kate or whoever and not lose any sleep over me."

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Vicki responded.

She stood there and watched him stomp off down the stairs to his car and peel out.

Way to handle that with delicacy Nelson.

You idiot.

When Vicki got back upstairs, Coreen made it a point not to say anything, just kept working

tbc