Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 00:06:43 -0400 Reply-To: Virtual Fourth Season Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Virtual Fourth Season Subject: V4S: Adam's Apple (01/22) To: FKFIC-L@psuvm.psu.edu Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #12 Episode Title: "Adam's Apple" "Air" Date: May 18, 1997 Author: Beth A. Washington Alpha Readers: Mel Moser, John T. Folden, blitherer2@aol.com, Pat McLaughlin Beta Readers: Sandra Gray, Stephanie Babbitt, Jean Simon , Sara Orel Canadian/Toronto Content: Spifff Historical Verification Group: Sara Orel, Pat McLaughlin Continuity: Sarah Baker Part 1 of 22 The Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season is a project whereby a group of Forever Knight fans are putting together a series of stories continuing from where Last Knight left off. Participation is open to all. For more information, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com. Comments should be sent to the author or to the FKV4S-L mailing list. This story will be available in its entirety as of 5/23/97 from . This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1997 Beth Washington -------------------------- ADAM'S APPLE ---------------- I would like take this opportunity to dedicate this story to my great aunt, Isabel Ashukian, who passed away during the week in which I finished writing this story. She was my father's, mother's sister, the oldest of five children, and lived to be 88 years old. She was the last of the five to die, and her warm smile and gentle love will be missed. God be with you! ---------------- The haziness in the air seemed to have a heart beat of its own as the flashing lights of the police cars and ambulance revolved, filling the night with a throbbing red glow. The water droplets in the grass glistened with red and blue pinpricks of light, pulsing in unison with the air. The normally quiet downtown campus of the University of Toronto was teeming with policemen, EMTs, forensics and curious onlookers. Pushing away the throng of what looked to be all students, officers tried to keep the crime scene clear for the officials handling the murder. All attention was centered around a young man lying dead on the damp ground, a wound gaping in his chest. Blood was everywhere. Natalie stood over him, one gloved hand holding a clipboard and the other over her mouth. She had to turn away, the fresh scent both sweet and revolting. She had thought enough time had passed that she had learned to deal with the sight and smell of blood again, but a number of messy murders in the not too distant past, one after the other, had broken down her resistance. She scanned the crowd, seeing Reese giving directions, and then Nick, talking to a young woman, probably a student at the college. Natalie's heart leapt into her throat as she thought of their recent fight, and she choked it down as she tried to concentrate on the good that had come from it. The thought calmed her, and she returned to her examination. One look at the body, another note scribbled down, and she decided it was time to go tell Nick what she had found. It was a good enough excuse. As she approached Nick and the young student, the detective glanced at Natalie, a silent greeting, then turned his attention back to the crying woman. Natalie could tell that Nick hadn't yet gotten a word out of the woman and was simply offering his sympathy. Natalie stood silently next to Nick. She knew it was better to wait than to talk about what she had found in front of the woman, who was obviously distraught over the death of the young man. Nick patiently waited for the crying to slow, watching as the student's tears were lost in the folds of his black jacket. His hand pushed a few strands of blond hair back from her face as she looked up to see who had approached. Natalie smiled a little, her eyes full of concern and sympathy. The young woman sniffed, then accepted a handkerchief from Nick and dried her eyes and nose. "Can you tell me your name?" Nick gently asked. The young woman looked back at Nick, her eyes glistening with the tears still waiting to be shed. "Rebecca Dixon," she answered, her voice rough and tired. "Sid was my boyfriend," she added. Natalie quietly confirmed to Nick, "Sidney Corso, age 21, a student here." Her eyes met Rebecca's, and Natalie realized from what she saw there that her words made the death of Corso, seem like just another statistic; she wished she hadn't said anything. Nick looked at Natalie, his expression understanding, with a hint of frustration. Natalie smiled back apologetically. The detective turned his attention back to Rebecca. "Do you know why anyone would want to kill Sid?" Rebecca hesitated, sniffling, then shook her head. She started to cry again. "It's not fair," she exclaimed between sobs. Nick held her again, and she buried her face in his jacket. He turned to Natalie, silently asking what he should do next. She shrugged in response. "Where's your partner?" Nat asked, scanning the crowd again quickly, looking for Adam's familiar features. "He has the night off. Something about wedding invitations," Nick answered, smiling ruefully. Rebecca was oblivious to his conversation with the coroner. Natalie watched as Nick gently pushed Rebecca from him, his hands gripping her shoulders. Looking into her eyes, he tried to quiet her misery. "I understand your pain, and it is good to cry, but we need you to be strong right now. We need you to help us find Sid's killer. Can you help us? Can we contact you if we have any more questions?" Rebecca looked deeply into Nick's blue eyes, her own slowly drying as she stopped crying. She sniffled a little, then nodded. "Good. Now you should go home and get some rest," suggested Nick. Pulling out a business card, he handed it to her. "If you remember anything that might help us out, please call." "OK," she said, nodding. Nick grabbed a passing officer. "This is Rebecca Dixon. Could you see her safely home?" Nick requested. "Sure, Detective," replied the officer as he gently took Rebecca from Nick, offering her the support of his arm. Nick and Natalie watched silently as the two walked off between the buildings. "Poor girl," sympathized Natalie. Nick only nodded in agreement. Then she turned to Nick. "Did you just do what I thought you just did?" "Do wha...?" he asked, stopping himself. "Oh that, no. I didn't hypnotize her," he answered. "Why not?" asked Nat, truly curious as to the reason Nick didn't use his inherent abilities when it clearly would benefit a good cause. Was he trying to avoid the vampire, or was it something else? "If she really knew something, you could have gotten it from her right now and saved yourself some work." Nick shrugged and simply answered, "It wasn't necessary." "Is it ever necessary?" inquired the pathologist. Without looking at Natalie, the vampire answered, "Sometimes." (to be continued ...) -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com. Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 00:06:50 -0400 Reply-To: Virtual Fourth Season Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Virtual Fourth Season Subject: V4S: Adam's Apple (02/22) To: FKFIC-L@psuvm.psu.edu Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #12 Episode Title: "Adam's Apple" "Air" Date: May 18, 1997 Author: Beth A. Washington Part 2 of 22 This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1997 Beth Washington -------------------------- ADAM'S APPLE Adam sat at his desk shuffling papers around, not really focused on what he was doing, or even really sure of what he should be doing. His timecard appeared from beneath a stack of papers, and he decided that filling it out was something that he could do. He pulled out a pen and started writing in the small boxes on the manila-colored card. As he was trying to remember what hours he had worked the past week, he noticed his partner, entering the precinct, accompanied by Captain Reese. "Was Dr. Lambert able to tell you anything from her initial examination?" the captain asked as he maneuvered around the front counter. Only a step behind Reese, Nick responded, "Only that he was killed with a cop killer. Whoever killed him was probably expecting him to be wearing Kevlar." Reese shook his head in disbelief. "He was just a kid. Who would be expecting a kid to be wearing a bulletproof vest?" The captain sighed. "There're too many kids getting hurt these days." He moved off to his office and closed the door behind him. Nick watched the captain disappear behind his office door, then turned toward his desk and saw Adam sitting at his. Nick's eyebrows shot up in surprise and question. "Before you say anything," Adam interrupted the question he saw forming on his partner's lips, "I just want to say that I do not understand women, especially one in particular." Nick smiled knowingly, pulled out the chair from his desk, and unceremoniously plopped down into it. He lifted his feet up onto his desk and looked to Adam without saying a word. He just smiled. Adam frowned at his partner's expression, a little angry that the ever-so-perfect Nicholas Knight, detective extraordinaire, was finding his troubles with Kelly so amusing. "Oh, and I suppose you've never had any trouble with women," Adam scoffed. "Did I say anything?" Nick's smile widened, his eyes laughing. Adam's scowling face changed to a slight grin, then to a full smile as he realized that it was all very amusing. "OK, so I'm a little grumpy," he admitted. "A lot grumpy," Nick corrected. "Don't push it," Adam warned, then laughed, "OK, a lot. But you don't have to deal with a picky female who isn't happy unless her wedding invitations have megatons of frills and flowers and hearts all over them." "But aren't all of those things symbols of love and marriage?" Nick asked, taunting his young partner. The smile left Adam's face. "No. They're signs for some sappy Valentine card, full of mushy poetry and reeking of some expensive perfume that no one likes." Nick laughed out loud. "Go ahead, yuk it up. Get a good laugh at my expense," Adam growled, turning back to his timecard and finding he couldn't even remember what week he was filling in. He slammed the pen down on the desk, and rested his chin in his hand, elbow on the desk. Nick stifled a laugh, his hand wiping the smile from his mouth. Adam decided to turn the attention from himself to Nick as he said, "So, did you get the pimp mobile back yet?" "Yes!" Nick announced, grinning ear to ear. "The minute I got back I made an appointment with the body shop to restore it to its previous green color. Well, maybe not the minute I got back. I had to wait for Nat to stop laughing about having to rescue me from a flat tire." "Ah, too bad. I liked your new evil pink Cadillac. What about the seats?" Adam inquired further. Nick cringed. "They are back to normal too. No more flea-attracting fake leopard fur everywhere." Adam smiled. "You mean you didn't like it?" "It made me itch," Nick answered, rolling his eyes. His mood sobered when Adam changed the subject. "So what happened out there? I heard Reese say something about a kid as you guys were coming in." With the mischievous sparkle completely gone from his eyes, Nick brought his thoughts back to the evening's happenings. "A 21-year-old student at the University of Toronto was shot and killed tonight." Nick flipped on the computer on his desk and began a search on the murder victim's name. "U of T?" Adam repeated, half a question, half a confirmation. "Have things changed that much in the last eight years?" Nick looked questioningly at Adam. "Did you go there?" Adam nodded. "I graduated from there eight years ago with a degree in Criminology." He paused, remembering the day he graduated, dressed in that black gown, the square hat, and that stupid tassel that kept flying into his face. His parents had been so proud of him. "My parents had a hard time with me going into law enforcement, and they swore that if I was going to spend the rest of my life chasing around dangerous criminals, they were going to make sure I went to a school with an excellent safety record." Nick cracked a small grin. "The university hasn't always been the model of perfection. It's had its problems in the past," he commented. "Nothing," he whispered to himself when the computer failed to bring up anything on Corso. He did another search on Rebecca Dixon. "Yeah, but not nearly as many problems as some of the American schools I wanted to go to," Adam admitted, watching his partner intently. Nick rarely used the computer, and for him to sit down and actually take the time to turn it on and use it meant Nick was desperate for information. Adam continued, "Besides, my parents wanted me to stay close to home. They were ecstatic when I got a job right here in Toronto." Nick took a few minutes and filled in his partner on what little they knew about the murder of Sid Corso. Adam listened closely as Nick continued to move through the various screens on the computer, looking without success for relevant information. "Still nothing," Nick muttered, sitting back in his chair and sighing heavily. The two had been sitting in silence for a minute when Adam's face lit up. Noticing his partner's expression, Nick inquired, "What?" Adam shook his head and was about to answer when the captain's office door burst open. Reese exited the office, heading straight for the detectives' desks. Stopping just short of actually running into the desks, Reese addressed the homicide team in front of him. "Knight, have you informed Sakai on what happened tonight?" Adam noticed the sweat beading on the captain's brow, and he answered for his partner. "Yeah, Cap, he did, and I have an idea." Both Nick and Reese turned to look at him. Now the sweat was forming on Adam's brow. "Um, first, did you guys find anyone at the scene of the crime who was willing to answer any of your questions?" Adam asked. Nick shook his head, and Reese replied, "No. It was the usual. A million people gawking, and not one person saw anything." "I talked to Corso's girlfriend, Rebecca Dixon," Nick added, "But I have to admit, she didn't tell me anything useful either. And there is nothing to be found here." Nick gently whacked the computer screen with the back of his pale hand. "Who called it in?" Adam inquired further. Nick shrugged and looked to the captain. Reese shook his head sadly and answered, "Anonymous." "Just as I thought," Adam said, stroking his chin. "Before you came out here, I was just telling Nick that the U of T was my old stomping grounds," Adam explained to the captain. He reached for a pencil and started fiddling with it, avoiding eye contact with his audience. "I know the grounds, I know how the school works, and I know the principal." Adam hesitated a moment, tapping the pencil rapidly on the desk. He remembered his college graduation again. A stranger sat in the chair next to him instead of his roommate. He thought of the terrible reason why and of the experience that uniquely qualified him for this investigation. "And?" Nick prodded. "Your point?" Reese encouraged in a tone that suggested he knew exactly where it was all leading. Adam furtively glanced at both Nick, then Reese, then stopped tapping the pencil and took in a deep breath. He just blurted out his idea. "I don't think we're going to get any answers from those who were close to Corso because we're cops. We are on the outside. We need to get someone on the inside, someone in with his crowd. I could go undercover as a student there and figure out what's going on and who killed Corso." Silence. Even the regular noise generated by precinct activity seemed to quiet. Adam thought he could hear the sweat forming on his brow. He knew Reese wouldn't like the idea, considering Adam was on a probation of sorts, and they really hadn't done much investigating yet to warrant it. He also knew Nick thought he was just a kid without much experience, and the captain thought he was just another hotshot. Confirming his thoughts, his partner started to disagree. "It's too dangerous. It would never work." "Why?" Adam asked, ready to defend his idea. "I think..." "No," Reese said, interrupting Adam's defense, "I agree with Nick." "But Captain --" Adam tried to explain. "No!" Reese repeated. "We don't know what we are dealing with here. We need to do more investigative work here and put together a laundry list of possible suspects." Just as Adam was about to demand that both his captain and his partner listen to his reasoning, a young man entered the precinct, slamming open the glass doors and yelling over the front counter to anyone who would listen. "I saw everything! I have it all here on tape! I saw it all! What happened at the university!" the man said, waving a camcorder around so everyone could see. An officer moved in to control the youth's outburst. The last word caught Nick's, Adam's and Reese's attention. Reese strode up to the front counter, followed by the two detectives. The young man struggled against the officer's attempts to hold him, and Reese put his hand on the officer's shoulder. "It's OK. Let him go," Reese said to the officer, then turned to the young man, "Come over here and talk to me and my detectives." The man's hazel eyes were wide with terror, his sandy hair flying into his eyes. He glanced nervously at the captain, then at the officer who had tried to hold him, and finally at the glass front door. Cautiously he turned to follow the captain. Adam grabbed a chair from a neighboring desk and pulled it over for the man to sit in, then sat in his own chair. He wondered if this student really had solid evidence. Of course, if the evidence was irrefutable, there would go Adam's chance to go undercover and prove to Nick, once and for all, that he was worth his paycheck. The youth sat in the offered chair and nervously watched as Nick also sat down and Reese hovered near the desks. "For starters, son, what's your name?" Reese asked. The young man's eyes darted from Adam, to Nick, then to Reese. "Theodore Montgomery, but I usually go by Tudor." "I'm Detective Knight, and this is my partner, Detective Sakai," Nick introduced, as Adam nodded. Again, Tudor's eyes darted from one to the other, then to the things surrounding him and back to the front door. A hand came up and uselessly swept a strand of hair from his eye. He looked down to the video camera in his lap, then brought it up and handed it to Reese. "I was filming a project for my video class, and I saw what was happening and filmed it. It's all on there," Tudor explained, his voice shaking with uneven breaths. Adam studied the student before him. He was scared, terrified, but of what, or whom? He kept looking at the front door as if he expected someone to come through it. Nick was staring at the young man, and Adam wondered what his partner was thinking. "I assume you are talking about the murder of Sid Corso near the University College residences at the University of Toronto," Adam stated, looking for a confirmation. Tudor nodded. "Why you didn't come forward at the scene?" Nick asked, his eyes looking as if they were going to penetrate the man's nervous soul. Terrified eyes looked at Nick. Tiny sweat droplets glistened on the student's upper lip. "I...um...was afraid. Afraid he would see me," he stuttered. "Who?" Nick asked with a slightly urgent tone. Tudor licked his upper lip. "The guy who shot Sid." "Do you know who it was?" Adam asked, his voice a little more soothing than Nick's. Turning to Adam, Tudor replied, "Yes...I mean no...I mean I don't know his name, but I saw his face. It's all on the tape." He indicated the camera in Reese's hand. "Well let's go look at it, and maybe we can get this low-life off the streets and go home early," Reese suggested as he started to move towards the hallway that opened up in the back of the bullpen. Adam got up, as did Nick, both indicating to Tudor that he was to follow the captain. They shuffled down the hall, finally entering a small, dark room loaded with video equipment. In the center of the room was a work center with eight monitors of varying size and resolution, all attached to a work table with different tape decks, and controls with green and red lights. "Holly, can you give us a hand here?" Reese asked into the darkness. A figure detached itself from a dark corner and moved into the blue illumination of the video screens. A woman, her dark hair pulled into a ponytail, smiled and greeted the captain. "What can I do for you, Joe?" she asked. "We have an eyewitness to a murder who says he caught the whole thing on tape," Reese explained. "And you would like to see it!" Holly added. "No problem. Where's the tape?" Reese handed her the whole camera. She smiled, probably amused that the captain had no clue how those things worked, never mind how to get the tape out of one. Adam smiled also and was glad that it was dark so the captain couldn't see. Holly's deft fingers quickly opened the camera, removed the tape, and placed it into the appropriate deck on the work table. "You'll need to rewind it a little," Tudor explained. Holly glanced at the stranger, nodded, and hit rewind. The figures on the screen moved quickly backwards, the silvery lines cutting horizontally through the picture and obscuring the action. "There! Stop!" Tudor barked, pointing to the screen. "That's where it starts." Holly stopped the rewind and hit play. (to be continued ...) -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com. Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 00:07:00 -0400 Reply-To: Virtual Fourth Season Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Virtual Fourth Season Subject: V4S: Adam's Apple (03/22) To: FKFIC-L@psuvm.psu.edu Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #12 Episode Title: "Adam's Apple" "Air" Date: May 18, 1997 Author: Beth A. Washington Part 3 of 22 This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1997 Beth Washington -------------------------- ADAM'S APPLE All faces turned to the active video screen. Everyone's features were highlighted with a cold blue light, making them look as if they were living corpses, zombies staring at the action on the screen. It was the campus at the university, a section of grass near the residences. The hazy fog took the sharpness from the edges of objects, all illuminated artificially by a bluish light mounted on the corner of the roof on one of the buildings. A young man stood in the middle of the grassy area, stamping his feet and rubbing his hands together to keep warm. Occasionally he looked around him as if he expected someone. He turned his face toward the light. "That's Sid Corso," Nick stated. "Uh-huh," Tudor responded. Another figure walked in from the side of the screen, a big man, finely dressed in a tailored suit and overcoat. The two started to talk, though the camera did not pick up the sound. "It couldn't be...no," Reese mumbled, half to himself. He tried to concentrate even harder on what they were watching. The two started to argue, and the large man's left hand, the one closest to the camera, waved in agitation. Sid stepped back and shook his head. The larger man looked up as if asking for God's guidance, his face caught in the light. "It is! It's him!" Reese blurted. The four in the room watching with him turned their collective attention to the captain. "That's Dimitri Aragopoulos." Blank faces stared back at Reese. He explained, "Aragopoulos is a notorious drug lord who doesn't care who he sells his merchandise to. And every time we bring him in, the creep finds a way out, legally. We haven't been able to make anything stick to this guy." A shot rang out on the speakers next to the video screens. That sound the camera had caught. Everyone's head jerked back to the screen as Sid's body dropped to the ground. The big man looked around nervously, then ran off screen. "Rewind that," Nick demanded. Holly hit the rewind button and stopped just as the two on the tape were starting to argue. They all saw the big man use his left hand to grab Sid by the shirt and draw him in close, shaking him angrily. As he let go, they heard the shot, and Sid again dropped to the ground. "Stop!" Nick ordered as the larger man started to look around. The man's face was full in the light, frozen on the screen. "Can you print that out?" Nick asked. "Sure thing, Detective," answered Holly as she framed through the video for the best picture. She pressed a button, and a printer in another part of the room started to whir. Back in the bullpen, Nick and Adam were back at their desks, Tudor sat in the extra chair, and Reese stood next to him. Adam pulled out some paperwork for Tudor's statement as Reese spoke. "I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to be able to finally nail that scumbag to the wall and make it stick. The only problem now is while he's on the loose, you aren't safe. You should stay here in protective custody." Tudor spun around in the chair. "Stay here?" he blurted. "I won't be safe here." He glanced at the front door again. "Sure you will," assured Adam with a smile. "Safest place in town." Inwardly, Adam grumbled about the evidence. It made for an open and shut case, with no opportunity for him to shine in a great undercover investigation. "But you said this guy was a drug lord. Don't they have hired guns that can get in anywhere? There could be one in here right now," Tudor stated, looking all around, nervously inspecting every face he saw. "Calm down," Reese soothed. "We're not going to let anything happen to you." He tried to place a hand on Tudor's shoulder, and Tudor jumped. "Maybe we should take him to one of the safe houses instead," Nick suggested. Reese looked thoughtful. "Not a bad idea. I don't think for a minute that a drug lord like him can get his goons in here, but if it will make our witness here more comfortable, maybe we should use a safe house." Tudor's eyes darted between the captain, the two detectives, and the front door as he blurted, "He probably knows all of your stupid little safe houses. No place is safe." "I know a place where he won't be found. It's out of the way, and usually deserted this time of year," Adam supplied. Before Adam could say any more, Reese interrupted him, "No, don't tell me. I don't want to know. In fact, don't tell anyone. Just take him there, you and Nick, and watch him. Make sure he stays alive long enough to testify when we put Aragopoulos' butt on the stand," Reese ordered. A look of angry surprise crossed Nick's face. Before he said anything in front of Tudor, Reese pulled an officer aside and had him take Tudor to a cell until the two detectives were ready to take him out. "Captain! How can we investigate this murder if we're playing security guard?" Nick complained. "Isn't there someone else better suited to this kind of duty?" "No," came Reese's simple answer. "I've thought it over, and I still don't like Adam's idea, but I think right now we need someone who can get in, blend with Corso's friends, discover what his movements were, and find out why Aragopoulos was making a personal call. I'll get a warrant for Aragopoulos' arrest." Adam's heart jumped. It took all of his control to keep from smiling as if he were the Cheshire cat. The captain wanted to use his idea. He was going to get a chance do some real detective work without Supercop Nick outdoing him at every turn. Then addressing Adam directly, Reese added, "And I want you to wear a wire at all times!" The detective started to protest, but Reese stopped him. "I don't want to hear it. If you're going undercover to find out why Sid Corso was killed, you're going to be up against some pretty heavy hitters, and I want you in contact one hundred percent of the time." Adam grumbled to himself. Here it goes again. Well he wasn't going to let it happen this time. He was going to do this investigation his way. Not Reese's way. Not Nick's way. He figured it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. "Captain, he shouldn't go in alone. I should go with him," Nick complained, obviously miffed at pulling baby-sitter duty. "Besides, I can't watch Tudor twenty-four hours a day." "That's why I'm giving you Sheridan and Meredith to help with watch duty. And Adam can help out when he's not undercover and when he joins you to fill you in on what he's found. You know...talk to each other." Reese eyed the blond detective, just waiting for a response. "Also, Nick, you've already been on the campus as part of the police department investigating the scene," Adam explained. "People have already seen your face, people you may not want to have seen it. Besides, Nick, you don't look much like a student." "What...I don't look like a...," Nick responded as if his feelings were hurt. "You don't think students wear clothes like these?" he indicated his neatly pressed and fitted black tab-collar shirt, the perfectly tailored black dockers, and the long black leather coat. Adam rolled his eyes, and Reese chuckled. "Well, at least you look young enough to be a student there, fresh out of high school," Nick jested. Adam shot his partner a stern look, then smiled. "True. It's probably the only benefit this face has. I'll be sixty before they stop asking me if I'm old enough to drink!" "By then the five gray hairs on your chin will give it away," Nick further joked, a mischievous smile on his face. Reese only breathed in a little whistle. Adam wadded up a sheet of paper and threw it at his partner. Nick ducked and it flew past him. "You missed!" he laughed. Adam only growled and started filling out the statement form. **** The road was deserted and lacked the familiar buildings, signage and street lights of the city. The Caddy seemed to float in a sea of darkness, with the rolling, tree-filled landscape barely visible on either side. There was only the white lines in the center of the road, illuminated by the Caddy's headlights, flashing past at a hypnotizing rate. The sunrise was still a couple of hours away, but Nick could feel its coming nonetheless, his internal clock telling him to wrap things up for the night and return to the safety of his home. He did not listen to the tiny signals from his body as he continued to drive. His two passengers, the rookie Dana Meredith and Tudor, rode in silence, the green light from the dashboard outlining their features slightly. All eyes followed the set of red taillights in front of them, which belonged to Adam's car. "How much farther are we going to go?" Tudor asked from the back seat. "It seems like we've been on the road forever." The officer glanced at her watch, pressing a little button to illuminate the face. "We've only been driving for forty-five minutes," she stated. "It just seems like forever," Tudor repeated. "What's your hurry?" asked Nick. "It's not like you're going anywhere for a while." Tudor sighed and sat back in his seat, checking out the ashtrays and upholstery. The right-turn signal on the car in front of them began to blink, and vehicle angled onto a smaller road which led off into the trees. Nick flipped on his blinker and prepared to turn. **** "We're almost there," Adam explained to his passenger, Officer Luis Sheridan. "How much farther?" asked Sheridan, his eyes scanning the woods around them. "Isn't the main part of the lake community on the other side of the lake?" "It's been a while since I've been up here, but I believe we're about ten minutes away," Adam answered, also scanning the woods for a familiar landmark. "And yes, the community is on the other side of the lake. It was my parents' idea to get a cabin on this side." Sheridan looked at him questioningly. Adam shrugged. "They like their privacy. They never felt like they really fit into the Canadian social community." "Are your parents from around here?" inquired Sheridan. Adam shook his head. "No. They are from Japan. They came to Canada as teen-agers during the war and were held in an internment camp here. That's where they met. They stayed here after they were released, got married, and I was born several years later." Sheridan looked interested. "Do you speak any Japanese?" "Oh sure, but I've forgotten quite a bit, and when my parents don't want me to know something, they talk really fast in Japanese." Sheridan laughed. "Say something." Adam shook his head. "Come on," urged the officer. "Ee-yeh," said Adam. "What does that mean?" "No," answered the detective. Sheridan appeared disappointed, and Adam kept driving. The detective found it hard to admit that he had forgotten most of the Japanese he had known as a small child. He remembered his parents, and how after he had started school, they had forced him to speak English to them. Slowly, as he learned more and more English, he forgot more and more of his native Japanese. Roused from his memories by a familiar sight, Adam said "There!" He turned left, and about five hundred meters later, he turned right. The headlights followed the now dirt road, barely visible under the snow, the remains of a late Spring blizzard. They had driven for about another kilometer when the headlights crept up on a dark mass that seemed to grow from the middle of the road up ahead. As they drew closer, the dark outline was filled in with the detail of a small cabin. "We're here!" Adam announced with a smile. (to be continued ...) -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com. Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 00:07:10 -0400 Reply-To: Virtual Fourth Season Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Virtual Fourth Season Subject: V4S: Adam's Apple (04/22) To: FKFIC-L@psuvm.psu.edu Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #12 Episode Title: "Adam's Apple" "Air" Date: May 18, 1997 Author: Beth A. Washington Part 4 of 22 This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1997 Beth Washington -------------------------- ADAM'S APPLE The darkness inside the cabin dashed away to various hiding places as Adam switched on the main power from within the kitchen. He opened a small utility closet, turned a knob and flipped a switch, then closed the door. He moved into the main living area, joining the others. "Welcome to the Sakai summer home! We hope you will enjoy your stay, and if you don't, well too bad!" Adam said as he surveyed the unhappy faces around the room. "Well OK, it's not the Hilton, but it was home for my family during the warm summer months." "It's cold in here," Tudor complained, as he inspected the stone fireplace that looked as if it had never been used. Nick ran his finger over the surface of an end table next to the wood frame couch, checking his finger and the obvious line left in the dust. "And it looks like you could use a maid." After unloading the bags from the car, Meredith and Sheridan began checking out the small cabin for possible security risks. "I just started up the furnace," said Adam, "It may take it a while to warm up. You could always light a fire in the fireplace, though you'll have to go hunting in the woods for something to burn. We never had a reason to use it, since we only used this place during the warm summer months. Besides, my parents didn't like the smell of smoke." Adam then turned to Nick and smirked, glancing at his partner's dusty finger. "You know, Nick, sometimes I wonder if you know what dirt is." Nick smiled. Tudor wandered off to the kitchen and could be heard opening and closing cabinets, the refrigerator, and the pantry door. "There's no food here," he yelled from the kitchen. Adam rolled his eyes. Was this all the guy was going to do, find fault in everything and complain? "Was he this bad during the ride up?" he asked his partner. Nick nodded. "Unbelievable," Adam sighed. "So what is this place? You said something about a summer home," Nick asked, walking around, looking at the simple furnishings: a couch with two end tables and lamps, a chair next to the fireplace and another next to the windows, a floor lamp; nothing to really indicate that a Japanese family owned it. The cabin was small, with a stone fireplace in it's very center. There was a south-facing living room on one side, the kitchen was in the back, and there was a bedroom to either side. Nick wandered over to the windows and casually checked out the coverings, or to be more exact, the lack of. All that hung from the curtain rods were sheer white curtains. "My parents used to bring me here as a child with my brothers and sisters for vacation and most weekends. They liked getting away from it all," Adam told Nick. "They thought it would cheer me up." "Cheer you up?" Nick inquired as he moved over to the chair near the fireplace. "With seven people crammed into this small space?" "Yeah." Adam looked out the window at the brightening sky. "Remember when I told you that I was sick a lot as a kid? Well I spent most of the time in bed. I never really did much more than schoolwork and watch cop shows on television. They thought the fresh air and bright sunshine would do me some good. Who knows if it did?" "Where did you all sleep. I only counted two bedrooms?" Nick walked to each bedroom doorway and peeked inside. "The room you just looked into used to be the kids' room. My parents put two sets of bunk beds in there. They called it roughing it." Adam rolled his eyes. "I called it torture. Since all the kids are grown now, and we never have everyone here at the same time anymore, they sold the bunk beds and replaced them with a double bed." Meredith and Sheridan finished bringing in the bags and waited for instructions from either detective. "Meredith, take up a station outside the front door, and Sheridan, get some sleep. You'll relieve Meredith in a few hours," Nick instructed. "You know, Nick, you may be on some sort of weird diet, but there is no food in this house, even for you. I guess I forgot to mention that when I suggested we come here. Anyway, it might be a good idea to send Sheridan out for supplies." "Did you get that, Sheridan?" Nick asked. The officer nodded as Nick tossed him the keys to the Caddy. "Watch the paint! I just had it redone." "Will do, detective," responded Officer Sheridan. "Not a scratch." "Hey, the water tastes like crap!" Tudor's voice bellowed from the kitchen. "Well water," explained Adam. "It does taste a little funny if you're not used to it." "You'd better get some jugs of water too while you're out," Nick suggested to the officer, who nodded in agreement and left the cabin. The sun started to stream through the trees outside, just skimming the frames of the windows. Nick took a seat in the chair next to the fireplace and watched the light intently. "Are you all set here? Do you need anything else?" Adam asked. "Do you have your cell phone? This place doesn't have a phone." "We'll be fine, and yes, I have my phone," Nick assured his partner, his eyes never leaving the sunlight. Adam studied Nick for a moment, wondering just what was going through his head. He wondered if Nick was angry at him for being the one going undercover, leaving him, the senior member of this partnership, guarding a nervous, complaining eyewitness. Well, it didn't matter. They had their jobs to do, the captain had approved their plan -- his plan -- and it was going to get done. "OK, well, I'd better get going then. I have an appointment with the principal this morning, early, to get things all set up." Adam moved slowly toward the door. He hesitated. "I'll come back here as often as I can to help out and fill you in," Adam said, feeling a little nervous about leaving Nick and going on alone. "Go," Nick ordered. "We'll be fine. I'll see you whenever. Go!" Adam took in a deep breath, let out a heavy sigh, and walked out the door. **** Adam stood in the bright mid-morning sunshine in front of a large brick building. He blinked his sleepy eyes, trying to focus on the brick structure in front of him. It had been a long time since he had seen that familiar building where the Principal of University College kept his office. He took a moment to look around, watching the teachers and students walking here and there, on their way to a late breakfast, to class, or to some meager-paying job. His tired and blurry vision softened the edges between reality and his own memories of his school days. A young woman walked past him, looked him up and down, and smiled. Adam quickly checked his attire, wondering if the woman smiled because he looked stupid, or because, maybe, she thought he was cute. On his feet, he wore a pair of carefully untied high-tops, his legs displayed a comfortable-looking set of blue jeans, and to top it off, he wore a white rugby shirt with an orange stripe lined in deep blue. The zipper front of his blue winter jacket was open, and over his shoulder was a black knapsack. He had on a pair of wire-rimmed glasses which contained nothing more than glass, since he did not need a prescription. He thought they would make him look more studious. He had purchased them many years previous, hoping that one day he would be able to use them as part of a disguise. At his feet was a large, army-green duffel bag Being fairly certain he didn't look silly, he smiled when he realized what the only other reason was that the woman might have smiled at him. "A convincing disguise, and I'm cute too!" he mumbled to himself. "Awesome!" With that thought lingering in his mind, he adjusted his knapsack, picked up the duffel bag, and climbed the stairs of the brick building, making his way to the principal's office. The secretary was away from her desk, and the principal's office door was open; the principal inside. Adam knocked gently on the doorframe to catch his attention. The man, extremely well groomed and wearing a tailored double-breasted gray suit, turned and saw Adam waiting in the doorway. "Come in," he invited with a smile. Adam walked in. "Take a seat," the principal indicated with a gesture to a chair in front of his desk. "How can I help you?" "Principal Whittier, I called you yesterday. My name is Adam Sakai," the detective introduced himself. "The detective?" Whittier said with surprise in his expression. "Begging your pardon, but..." "I know," Adam interrupted him. "I don't look old enough to be a detective." He rolled his eyes in disgust. Not another critic, he thought. "Hmmm," Whittier mumbled. He looked as if he were reconsidering what he was going to say. "Well, you will certainly be convincing as a student here. You said something about being a graduate of the University." "Yes. Eight years ago. I majored in Criminology," Adam replied. "My captain agreed that my knowledge of the campus and my, um, relatively young-looking face would work well in this situation." He added to himself, *Not to mention what I went through with my old roommate.* Principal Whittier nodded. "Coffee?" he offered. "My secretary makes the most delicious gourmet hazelnut..." "No thanks," interrupted Adam. "I'd really like to get to work on this." "Right." Principal Whittier opened the right-hand drawer in the great mahogany desk and pulled out a folder. He opened it to verify the contents, then handed it to Adam. "Inside you will find a class schedule, a student card, your residence assignment, a meal card. And over there on the bottom shelf," he pointed to a bookshelf near the door, "are some books and notebooks relating to the classes on your schedule." Thumbing through the sheets of paper in the folder, Adam pulled out the residence assignment, and read the name of his roommate out loud. "Remington Alexander. Was he Sid Corso's roommate?" "Yes, just like you requested," affirmed the principal. "He knows he's getting a new roommate, just not who or when." "Well he won't have to wait any longer." Adam smiled as he grabbed the books and stuffed them into his knapsack along with the manila folder. "Thank you for your help." Whittier stood up and offered his hand, and they shook hands. "Not a problem, detective. Always willing to help out one of Toronto's finest, especially when he's a graduate of the U of T." "And to get a brutal killer off of the campus," Adam added with a touch of sarcasm. "Uh, right, of course, that too!" Principal Whittier quickly added, coughing a little as he withdrew his hand. "Sure," Adam mumbled to himself as he exited the principal's office. "Pompous idiot." (to be continued ...) -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com. Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 00:07:19 -0400 Reply-To: Virtual Fourth Season Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories From: Virtual Fourth Season Subject: V4S: Adam's Apple (05/22) To: FKFIC-L@psuvm.psu.edu Episode Number: Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season - Episode #12 Episode Title: "Adam's Apple" "Air" Date: May 18, 1997 Author: Beth A. Washington Part 5 of 22 This story is based on characters and situations created by James Parriott and Barney Cohen and owned by Sony/TriStar. No infringement is intended. Copyright 1997 Beth Washington -------------------------- ADAM'S APPLE Back outside, Adam blinked as the bright sun caught him full in the face. He took a moment to adjust, pushed his glasses up his nose, then proceeded to his assigned room. With the knapsack and duffel bag heavy on his back, his walking papers in hand, a working disguise, and a mystery to unravel, Adam felt like a character out of his favorite television show. As he walked across campus, he recited a familiar spiel to himself. "Good morning, Mr. Sakai. The murder of a 21-year-old student at the University of Toronto, Sidney Corso, occurred last night. An eyewitness with a video tape provided evidence that one notorious drug lord, Dimitri Aragopoulos, was responsible for the murder. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to discover the events leading up to the murder, uncovering the motive and arresting the killer. As always, should you or any of your IM force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This recording will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Adam." Adam smiled and continued walking, humming the theme to the TV series "Mission: Impossible". Finding the right building, Adam opened the door and went in. He went up a flight of stairs, then walked down a hallway, checking the numbers on the doors. There were a couple of students hanging out in the doorway of one of the rooms. They watched quietly as Adam searched for his room. The notices hung on the walls in the hallway, students walking here and there, stereos playing, showers running, even the smell of brewing coffee, all brought back memories to Adam's tired senses. He almost believed he had traveled back in time eight years and was on his way to his room after an early morning class. The detective stopped in front of a door, verified the number, then opened it and went in. What Adam saw within the room reminded him of his room when he was in school. Posters were all over the walls; books, CDs, and paper were on the beds, the desks, the floor. Dirty clothes were sprinkled everywhere. He remembered his old roommate, Billy, waiting for him so they could go to the library together to study. It was all so familiar that he half expected to see Billy sitting there now, waiting. Instead he saw a stranger's face, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a friendly enough smile. "Hi! You must be my new roommate," the stranger greeted him. "I'm Remi! Come on in!" Thinking quickly, Adam thought of his parents and answered in Japanese. "Hai," Adam responded. "I mean, yes. I your new... uh... roommate," he continued, his speech thick with a Japanese accent. After driving up to the cabin with Sheridan, he had tried hard to remember some of the Japanese he had once known. It bothered him that he had forgotten so much. "My name, Adam Ishikawa." He remembered how he had come up with his undercover name, the name on his new student card. For his last name, he had thought of some of the names his parents used when they talked about home. He had decided to keep his first name, simply because he responded to it, and he didn't want to get caught forgetting a new one. Remi smiled at Adam's apparent trouble with English. "Well, hi, Adam," he said, "Welcome home." As he swept his hand indicating what 'home' was, he seemed to realize what a mess the room was. He got up from the bed and started cleaning off the other bed. "This is your bed, and that's your desk." Remi pointed to a desk hidden under a pile of books and a jean jacket. Adam watched Remi, then tentatively started removing things from the desk. "You can put those over on my desk," Remi instructed, as he removed the last shirt and sock from Adam's bed. Adam did as he was told with Remi's things. He picked up a CD and read the label. Remi noticed and asked, "You like 'em? They're my favorite." Adam only shrugged. He'd never heard of the band, but didn't want to look like he was older than he was supposed to be by not knowing the music trends. Remi plopped back down on his bed as Adam started unloading the books from his knapsack. "What is 'Ishikawa' anyway?" Remi inquired. "Japanese?" "Yes," was all Adam said. "Hmmm," Remi thought out loud. "How did you get the name Adam? It's not very Japanese sounding." "I change to English name when I come to dis country for school. I... um... exchange student," he said, maintaining the accent he had heard from his parents almost every day of his life. Interested, Remi inquired further. "What was it before?" Adam decided to answer truthfully. What would it hurt? No one knew the Japanese name his parents had given him, and even they called him Adam when he was home. "Yoshiaki." "Yoshiaki Ishikawa," Remi repeated, butchering the pronunciation a little. "That's a mouthful, but a lot more interesting than Adam," he chuckled. Adam smiled as he started pulling things out of his duffel bag and putting them away. "So, you must speak Japanese," Remi assumed. "Hai," answered Adam, glad that he actually had been able to recall a little of what he had known. It wasn't much. Simple phrases really, and certainly not enough to hold an intelligent conversation. But it was enough to fool someone who didn't speak Japanese at all, and Adam thought it would be a neat addition to his undercover disguise. "How would I tell you in Japanese that I don't understand Japanese?" asked Remi, who seemed excited to hear his new roommate's answer. "Nihon go wakari masen," said Adam. "It mean 'Japan language understand no'. You can then say 'Nihon go hanashi masen' which mean 'Japan language speak no'." "Nee hon go wakeerie maysen," Remi tried to mimic Adam's words, and Adam cringed as he butchered the pronunciation. "Awesome!" exclaimed Remi. "Thanks!" "Arigato," translated Adam, and when Remi looked at him questioningly, he said, "Japanese for 'thank you'." "Areegatoe," repeated Remi. He looked at the clock radio on the small table next to his bed. "Hey, look at the time! I've gotta bolt! Class." Remi lifted up some clothes at the foot of his bed, grabbed a book underneath, and headed for the door. "Make yourself at home. I'll be back after class." With that, Remi was gone, and Adam was left alone. The detective sat down in the desk chair and looked at the room. He decided against a search. Remi looked like a regular student, though amazingly cheerful for someone who just lost a roommate to murder. All the same, there was no need to do a search unless Remi did or said something that would make it necessary later. **** A fire burned warmly in the fireplace. Though the furnace had warmed it up enough so that it was no longer freezing inside the small cabin, a chill still hung in the air. A freshly-stacked pile of wood sat next to the large stone hearth. After spending about an hour searching the woods for small logs and fallen branches, Sheridan and Meredith had accumulated a rather large pile outside. They had brought a couple of armfuls inside to start the fire and hopefully chase away the lingering chill. Nick sat in the chair next to the fireplace, which was close enough to feel its warmth without worrying about being burned. It wouldn't have mattered, though, if his rear end had been smoking and burst into flames, because he probably wouldn't have felt it. His mind was elsewhere. What was Adam doing and how was he doing it? Nick realized that it had only been a few short hours since his partner had left. The sun had barely crept two meters on the floor during that time. It was just that Nick had never felt quite so useless. Never before had an investigation been so one-sided. He smiled when he realized that Schanke would not have agreed with him on that point. How many times had he investigated a murder, and how many times had he dominated the investigation? It wasn't unlike the daytime investigations that Adam, Tracy, or even Schanke did while he huddled in the darkness and safety of his loft as the sun slowly crept across the sky, trapping him within, helpless. What was different was that when the sun went down, there wasn't much of anything he could do to help on this case, even if he could get away from his baby-sitting duties. A simmering fire glowed in the back of Nick's eyes as he looked at his captor, the one who forced him to be in this situation. Tudor had found a stash of magazines in one of the bedrooms and had settled down on the couch to look at them. Tudor flipped the pages so fast that Nick knew he couldn't have read more than a word or two on each page. The young man looked more like a person who had been waiting in the doctor's office just a little bit too long. "These magazines suck!" Tudor announced, pushing the stack onto the floor. "Half of them are about politics and finances, and the rest are all in Japanese." Nick glanced at the magazines on the floor and scanned the title on the top one. It was in Japanese, and it was a magazine on modern Japanese culture. There were pictures of a businessman, a traditionally dressed woman, a school yard full of children in uniforms carrying small briefcase-like satchels, and an illustration from the anime series "Sailor Moon". Nick wondered if Adam read the magazine to try to understand his heritage, or if his parents read it to find out what was happening in the homeland they had left behind. "Maybe Sheridan picked up something you could read when he went out for supplies," Nick speculated. "You could check the bags he left in the kitchen." "I already did," grumbled the student. "All he bought was today's newspaper. Who wants to read the newspaper?" >>>----------> The farmhouse was old, but clean and sturdy. Several rooms on the first floor had been converted into a makeshift field hospital, with beds neatly placed in each room. Outside the air was warm and sultry, and one could hear the sounds of various flying insects between the rumbling of a distant battle. The summer heat helped to intensify the smell of puss-filled wounds and rotting flesh that filled the rooms of the house. Nicholas wore civilian clothes; a pair of tight maroon pants, a white, high-collar buttoned shirt, and black boots that came up to his knees. A clean white apron covered his front from his upper chest to his knees. He read a section from a ribbon-bound stack of papers to a group of patients while a young doctor took each one's pulse and checked his bandages. "'Let us rather hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men bestride our down-fall'n birthdom. Each new morn new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows strike heaven on the face, that it resounds as if it felt with Scotland and yelled out like syllable of dolor.'" Nicholas read the text easily, as if he had memorized the words. He stopped reading as the doctor interrupted him. "Nicholas, can you not find something more cheerful than Macbeth to read to these poor lads?" asked the doctor as he carefully removed a soldier's bandage to check the wound's progress. "Mortal sword... new widows howl... new orphans cry... It all sounds too much like this bloody war." Nicholas nodded in agreement. "It was either this or make something up, and I'm afraid I'm not a very good tale spinner." He thumbed through a few of the pages, skimming the text and sighing. "It is a dark play, Marcus, but even you have to admit that Shakespeare was a brilliant writer." "Mmmm," answered the doctor, cleaning and dressing the wound. "Could you hand me a fresh bandage?" Nicholas got up, walked over to a box of supplies, and pulled out a small bundle of containing several strips of cloth. He took a moment to examine the texture and color, and realized that the material had come from one of the dresses the farmer's wife had had on the day before. She must have realized that they needed bandages, and sacrificed her own clothing, carefully ripping it into strips and boiling the pieces to clean them. While making a mental note to himself to buy the farmer's wife a special dress after the war, Nick moved over next to Marcus and handed the doctor the makeshift bandages. "Thanks," replied the doctor, who started to wrap the soldier's wounded arm. "I have seen a few of his plays, and I have enjoyed them, but they were of a lighter nature. 'Much Ado About Nothing', and 'As You Like It'. Both are full of mirth and leave one feeling merry." "True, but I do not have the text for those," answered Nicholas. "This one was given to me by Sarah Siddons as a sort of reward for playing the part of Macduff. It is one of the original copies Miss Siddons used when she played Lady Macbeth." "Sarah Siddons, huh? Impressive! So that is why you know the words so well." Marcus smiled as he finished bandaging the soldier's arm and moved onto the next. "All the same, it casts a shadow on hearts that are already lost in darkness, all because of this damnable war...all because of Napoleon." Nicholas walked back over to a chair in between two of the patient beds and sat down. He could tell it wasn't the play that was bothering the doctor, but the feeling of doom they all shared. Tensions were getting high, and a number of skirmishes had taken place in anticipation of something much larger. The wounded had started to trickle in at an increasing rate, and it was only a matter of time before they would have to give up the sleeping rooms upstairs for more patients. Nicholas sighed. "We are safe here, and if we need help, it is not far to the Mont-St.-Jean farm. The Allied troops are between us and the French, and I have heard rumors of some Prussian forces under the command of Blucher moving in to join the Duke of Wellington's armies." "I only hope they can get here in time to send the French back to France, and leave our beloved Belgium alone. I don't know how much longer I can do this, my friend. I don't know how much longer I can watch as bloody, mutilated men, good men, come from the field to me for help and I can do nothing but cut off their arms and legs." Marcus picked up the next patient's arm and felt for a pulse. "You save their lives," Nicholas offered as an explanation. "Yes, but what kind of life can a man have with only one leg, or half a body? And their women? Who will explain to them that I had to do it to save their fiances', their husbands', their sons', their fathers' lives? I am nothing more than a butcher, Nicholas, and my heart aches for a better way." The doctor dropped the patient's wrist and sat there on the bed, the patient looking at him with sad eyes. "How do you do it, Nicholas? How do you keep from feeling such pain when you have to treat these men's wounds in the harshest ways?" Nicholas looked down at his hands and closed the book within them. "I feel the pain. I have always felt the pain, and I hope never to stop feeling the pain." Marcus lifted his head and turned to look at Nicholas. "Why?" "Because if I stop feeling the pain, then I will no longer be human," answered Nicholas, the vampire tugging him from within. <----------<<< "I am so bored," Tudor complained, his voice bringing the detective back to reality. Nick was becoming more than a little irritated with Tudor. All the student had done was complain since he had first walked into the precinct, and every time he opened his mouth, Nick wanted to silence it in a more permanent fashion. Tudor got up and started pacing, and Nick watched as the student carefully inspected everything in the room. He opened cabinets and drawers, checked behind the curtains, under the couch cushions, and in and around the fireplace. He picked up the poker for the fire and started playing with the burning logs within. One log fell off the grate, and some sparks flew into the room. Nick nearly hit the ceiling as a spark almost landed on his lap. "That's enough!" he bellowed. Tudor's head jerked around at the sound of the detective's angry voice. Nick looked into the student's eyes and grabbed hold of his heartbeat. It was rapid and strong and beat loudly inside the vampire's head. Tudor's stare turned blank as Nick held his mind firmly. "Go take a nap, a long nap," Nick heavily suggested. "You need some rest." He looked away, releasing Tudor from his hypnotizing grip. Tudor blinked, then yawned. "I think I'll go take a nap," he said, then blinking again with a confused look, he added, "I need some rest." He turned and headed to one of the bedrooms. Tudor was asleep for hours. Sheridan was on watch just outside the front door of the cabin, and Meredith was sleeping in the other bedroom. The detective was alone. The peaceful silence was interrupted only occasionally by a snap from the burning logs in the fire. Nick took the opportunity to get some sleep himself. (to be continued ...) -------------------------------------------- For more information or to participate in the Forever Knight Virtual 4th Season, write to V4S@fkfanfic.com.