Disclaimer:  The Forever Knight characters belong to TPTB; all others are
mine.  Permission to post at FK Fanfic and FTP sites; anyone else, please ask. 
It will also be posted in its entirety (along with the rest of my stories) at my
homepage, which is located in my signature.

Special thanks to LizM, Cousin Jules, and Tamara for beta-reading this story
for me, and putting up with all my questions!  Also thanks to Marg Yamanaka
for her help with my Toronto questions!  Also, I did my best to research the
Boudiccan revolt and the Roman army.  If anything is inaccurate, just take it as
creative licensing! ;)

This is the the latest in my little 'series', including the titles:  About Last Knight,
The Heart of the Matter, and Sweet Surrender.  

Feedback, requests for story parts, are welcome, and can be sent to
lmharvey@hotmail.com 


A Time for Vengeance
c. 2000
By Lisa Harvey


Part One


Natalie leaned over the body, giving it her initial exam.  She could sense Nick's
presence growing nearer, and the thought gave her some comfort.  She
continued with her routine, until finally she heard his voice.  "Hey, Nat. 
Whatcha got?"  Nick held his hand out and helped her up.

"Not much, I'm afraid.  He was decapitated, but I'll have to take a closer look
back at the lab to see if that was the cause of death or not."

"In that case, I think I'll give Eric a hand interviewing the woman who found
the body.  You still free for dinner later?"

Nat smiled.  "I think I can fit you in, Detective, but only if you're ready to try
my newest protein shake."

Nick made a face and complained, "Aw, come on, Nat, give me a break, huh? 
I don't think I'm done digesting the last one you made me."

Her eyes widened in disbelief.  "Made *you*?  Made *us* you mean!  I didn't
think it was particularly appetizing either, but you didn't hear me complaining."

He grinned.  "That's because you couldn't keep most of it down.  I told you
they were bad."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try again."  She grinned
and poked him playfully in the chest.  "So be prepared to be a lab rat again,
buster."

********************

Dani ran back and forth between the dresser and the open suitcase lying on the
bed.  She should have known better than to unpack as much as she had; they
rarely stayed in one place for long.  She jumped as the door opened suddenly,
but it was only Shane.  "Don't do that," she growled softly.

"Sorry, love," he drawled as he flopped down on the bed, almost tipping the
suitcase over as he did so.  "Aren't you done yet?  She's going to be back
soon."

"Things would go a lot faster if you packed your own damn bag," she hissed. 
"Branwen only asked me to pack her suitcase, not yours.  If you're not going
to help, then get out!"  She pushed the suitcase further onto the bed, jamming
Shane in the leg as she did so.

He hopped off the bed and padded over to turn on the radio before joining his
'sister' in packing.  The beginning strains of some classical piece drifted over
the airwaves, but Dani didn't know what it was, nor did she care.  Sometimes
she thought that he only listened to it to annoy her.  She much preferred
modern music to this boring stuff.

Branwen walked in just as they were finishing up and the song was ending, at
least Dani thought it was; all this music sounded the same to her.  Wondering
what kind of mood her master was in, Dani studied Branwen warily.  Branwen
was all smiles, and she had a shopping bag with her.  "Oh good, I see you're
done packing.  We'll leave early tomorrow night then.  In the meantime, I've
brought the two of you a few treats.  I found the most interesting little shop in
my travels, and the owner is a vampire."

Dani turned the elegantly wrapped box over in her hands in order to examine
it, while Shane tore into his.  Branwen watched them for a few moments, but
her interest was soon diverted to the voice coming from the radio.

"The topic tonight, mes amis, is equality.  Is it possible for two people to be
equal in any kind of a relationship?  I say it is impossible, that it is the age old
struggle for domination over another being.  Anything else is an illusion..."

Branwen recognized the voice immediately, of course.  How could she ever
forget it?  Because of that man and the Emperor he'd fought for, she'd been
torn from her home, seen her family slaughtered, and her people enslaved.  She
hadn't thought of him in years; in fact, she'd thought him buried in the ashes of
Pompeii after the eruption of Vesuvius.  How fitting for her to discover him
while he was talking about equality; she'd soon show him what it was like to be
dominated.

********************

Eric snorted as the Nightcrawler's voice faded and the music began.  He
adjusted the volume so it was low enough to talk, but high enough to hear
when the music was over.  He wanted to hear the rest of this one; Lacroix was
on a roll tonight.  He turned to his partner and asked nonchalantly, "So, what
do you think of that, *partner*?"

Nick gave Eric a puzzled look.  "What?"

"The monologue?"  Eric rolled his eyes and pointed to the radio.  "You know,
your friend here?  Why do you even put it on if you're not going to listen to
him?  I was trying to make a point.  What do you think of what Lacroix said?"

"I think that he and Daisy probably got into one of their disagreements, and
he's sulking."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."  The irritation was evident in his
voice.

Nick sighed.  "Why don't you just tell me what I did now, Eric?  This will go a
lot quicker if you do."

"What *don't* you do?--I had that perp, Nick!  You know, I appreciate you
taking bullets for me, but I can handle the easy ones.  Honest."

He'd done it again, Nick thought to himself.  It wasn't that he didn't trust that
Eric could handle himself.  He was just trying to protect his partner...  He
didn't want to lose another one.  "Sorry, Eric.  I can't help being overprotective
after losing Schanke and Tracy.  I'll try to stop, I promise."

"It's okay," Eric sighed, his ire quickly dissipating.  He kept forgetting about
how Schanke and Tracy's deaths must have affected Nick.  "But that doesn't
mean that I'm not gonna keep reminding you about it.  You know, you should
listen to these monologues occasionally..."

Nick looked out the window before Eric could see him smirking; if his partner
only knew that Lacroix directed most of these little 'speeches' towards him.  He
was saved from a reply when the radio sounded, "81 Kilo.  81 Kilo, please
respond."  Eric picked up the microphone and answered.  Nick was only half
listening as he turned the Caddy in the direction of the crime scene while Eric
got the details. 

********************

After switching off the microphone, Lacroix leaned back in his chair and
sighed.  He'd purposely selected a long piece of music so he would be able to
take a break.  He had been irritable this past week and was at a loss for the
cause.  He'd sensed Marguerite's presence in the club, and he headed towards
his office, where he knew she was waiting for him.  Earlier in the evening
they'd had a disagreement, and although they had settled their differences
before going their separate ways, he could sense that he'd infected her with his
bad mood.  Now he sensed her to be in better spirits and he smiled; she never
could stay angry for long.

When he reached the office, he stood in the doorway for a moment, observing
her.  She was sitting on the couch reading a letter, presumably the one she'd
received from Janette in today's mail.  She'd taken off her shoes and had her
feet curled under her.  Her hair was up in a twist and the tendrils she'd pulled
out to frame her face hid her expression from his view.

Their argument had stemmed from that letter, or to be more accurate, the
sender of said letter.  Marguerite had kept in touch with Janette since running
into her in Paris three years ago, and up until recently had only dropped subtle
hints about his former child's well being.  But tonight, she'd crossed the line
and actually questioned him about his estrangement from Janette.  He'd tried to
avoid the topic; after all, he could barely admit the reasons to himself.  She
probably didn't want to have anything to do with him anyway, now that he was
no longer her sire.

As he stepped further into the room, Marguerite lifted her head and smiled. 
"Are we over our little snit?" he asked her blandly.

She rose and stretched slowly.  "I don't know.  Are we?"  She nonchalantly
dropped the letter on Lacroix's desk on her way to him.  Lacroix held in a sigh;
the girl was as stubborn as her uncle.  Instead of commenting, he took her in
his arms and kissed her.  Marguerite's eyes were sparkling as she pulled away.

Lacroix toyed with her hair as he stared into her eyes, trying to figure out what
had put her in such a strange mood.  "What brings you here so early, my dear?"

"My computer," she answered.  "It crashed and Sasha's fixing it, so I thought
that I'd take a break."

"Alejandro's *doing* something?" Lacroix asked in disbelief.

Marguerite gave him a dirty look, but ignored the jibe.  She changed the
subject instead.  "A woman came into the store tonight and spent a small
fortune.  She was very...unusual."

"Mortal?"

Marguerite shook her head.  "Non, one of us...very old."

Lacroix was curious now--an ancient immortal?  "How old?"

She shrugged.  "Hard to tell; I've never seen her before.  She was older than
me; about as old as you maybe."

"Curious.  I wonder if I knew her."

"I really didn't talk to her much; Anna was helping her when I came into the
store.  Anna seemed a little nervous, so I hung around the front until the
woman left."

"Very admirable," Lacroix teased with a straight face.

Marguerite stepped out of his embrace and started to look for her shoes.  She'd
been here for awhile waiting for Lucien, but Alejandro would be done by now,
and she needed to get back to the store to finish the work she'd been doing
when the computer had died on her.  "Seriously, Lucien, she was creepy...there
was something weird about her."  She picked up one shoe, but the other one
was more elusive.

He crossed his arms and sighed.  "And what would your definition of 'creepy'
be?"

Marguerite rolled her eyes before dropping to the floor in order to look for her
missing shoe.  The sight of her shapely bottom sticking up in the air nearly
distracted Lacroix from the fact that she hadn't answered him yet.  Her voice
drifted out from under a side table.  "I don't know, Lucien.  It was just a feeling
I got from her; I can't explain it."

"Perhaps you are overreacting, my love.  It has been known to happen once or
twice."

She shot him a dagger look as she rose and moved to sit on the couch.  She
contemplated throwing a shoe at him before deciding against it and  slipping
them on her feet.  "And you're the epitome of tempered reasoning?  Never
mind!  I have to go; if you're ready to take me seriously when you get home,
we can finish this conversation."

Lacroix watched as Marguerite went about getting her coat and bag together. 
He remained silent until he spied Janette's letter still lying on his desk. 
"Marguerite?"

Almost to the door, she turned to face him.  He held the letter out to her as he
said, "You almost forgot this."  She just stared at his hand.  If he'd annoyed her
with his attitude before, she was truly angry now.

"I cannot believe you can be that cavalier about your own daughter, Lucien. 
After a thousand years..."

"She is no longer my daughter," Lacroix growled.

"She will *always* be your daugher," Marguerite hissed before turning on her
heel and storming out.


++++++++++++++++++++


Shane sauntered down the street; he was in no particular rush to get where he
was headed.  After Branwen had heard that Nightcrawler guy on the radio,
she'd gotten all strange.  She'd told Dani to go down to the radio station and
find out whatever she could about the Nightcrawler, while Shane was free to
do as he pleased...for the time being.  He knew his master would find
something for him to do in whatever she was planning.

Dani was not happy, of course.  Whenever Branwen was upset, she seemed to
take it out most on her youngest child.  And while Shane cared for Dani, it
would do no good to get their master angry at both of them.  He just did what
he could to keep the peace without getting into too much trouble himself.  So
tonight, he decided to go to this little shop that his master had been raving
about, and pick up a trinket or two for the women in his life.

As he grew closer to his destination, a silver Porsche whizzed past him, and he
looked after it admiringly.  The driver parked it midway down the block--right
where Shane believed the store to be.  He quickened his pace when he saw that
the driver was a beautiful young woman.  This was turning out to be an
interesting evening.

As the woman put her hand on the handle of the entrance, he placed his hand
over hers gently.  "Observez-le, chiot," she hissed as she turned to face him. 
Her green eyes were flecked with gold when they met with his.

Startled, Shane took an involuntary step back; his hand leaving hers in an
instant.  It was a moment before he recovered; as he approached her he'd
sensed she was a vampire, but he'd been too distracted to sense how much
older she was.  And although he bristled at being called 'pup', he was quick to
turn on his charm and apologize.  "Sorry, love.  Didn't mean to startle you."

"Startle me?" she asked incredulously.  "Hardly."  She'd been aware of his
presence from the moment she'd stepped out of the car, but she couldn't
remember the last time a man who didn't know her had touched her so
familiarly.  She held the door open for him after stepping inside the store.

As he walked past her, Marguerite took the opportunity to look him over
quickly.  He looked to be in his mid-thiries, about 5'7", with dark auburn hair
and green eyes.  He was fairly good looking, and apparently believed himself to
be quite a charmer.  He couldn't have been brought across more than 150 years
ago, if that; originally from Ireland, judging by his faint brogue.

She shook her head as she took off her coat and put her things behind the
counter.  "You're new in town, aren't you?"

"Just visiting," he replied as he browsed.  "Know everyone, do you?"

"Practically.  Almost everybody finds their way to the Raven, and I've never
seen you there."

Shane glanced up from the counter.  "Raven?  What's that?"

Marguerite smiled in spite of her foul mood.  "It's a nightclub."

"A *vampire* nightclub?" he asked in disbelief.  He selected a small jewel box
that he knew Dani would like.

"Something like that," she replied vaguely.

He decided he'd have to check this Raven place out.  Intending to charm her
into meeting him there for a drink, he raised his head and noticed someone had
entered the room.  It was a male vampire, and he was leaning lazily against the
door frame.  He seemed to be just taking in the scenery, but Shane instinctively
recognized that the easygoing manner that this vampire affected was masking a
more intense nature.

The two men stared at each other for a long moment, but Marguerite hadn't
noticed; she was too busy searching for something under the counter.  Shane
tore his eyes away from the other vampire; there was no way he was up to
challenging him.  The brute was well over six feet and solidly built, and
probably much older than he.  Better to take his purchases and leave the flirting
for another day.  After all, he was bound to run into her at the Raven.

Alejandro had sensed Marguerite come into the store, and finally decided to
come out of the office to see what was keeping her.  He wasn't surprised to see
someone else in the store, because he'd sensed the other vampire as well, and
disliked him on sight.  He'd stood in the doorway just observing for a little
while, content with making the stranger uncomfortable.   Eventually he moved
to stand behind Marguerite as she finished up with the customer.   

He rested his hands on her shoulders and nuzzled her neck.  She smiled at the
obvious show of possession on his part.  "My computer?"

"Is fixed."

She glanced back at him.  "Naturellement.  I'm sure it took you five minutes
and you spent the rest of the time playing computer games."

"Fifteen minutes, and I finished up your little 'project'."

"Well, I'm impressed."  She smiled at Shane and murmured a 'good-bye' as he
hurried on his way.  She then turned her full attention to Alejandro, who was
frowning as he moved to lock the door.

"I don't like him, Margarita."

"Did I say that *I* liked him?" she questioned indignantly.  "He was very
arrogant."  They stared at each other for a long minute.  He didn't quite believe
her, and in her bad mood, she was annoyed that he would even joke about such
a thing.

"I saw the way he was looking at you; he'll be back."  His tone was almost
accusing, and Marguerite didn't like it.

She gave him a look that clearly let him know just what she thought.  "I'm well
aware of how he was looking at me, Alejandro.  But he won't come back here. 
I'm sure I'll see him at the Raven...even though he said he was only passing
through Toronto."

********************

Eric stared at the sheet in morbid fascination.  His eyes kept drifting towards
the head...correction, where the head *should* be.  This was the second
decapitated body they'd found so far, with no clue of where the heads could be.

The captain had met them at the scene where they'd found this body several
hours before.  He'd been understandably upset, ordering them to wrap this one
up before the media made a circus of it.  Not that Eric blamed him; the whole
concept was pretty creepy.  

Natalie looked up as she hung up the phone.  Yet more lab results.  Not that
they had any more answers than when they first started.  She'd already told
Nick and Eric that the deaths had occurred somewhere other than where the
bodies were found.  She also felt that both were dead before they were
decapitated.  Some kind of sharp blade had been used, but beyond that the
tests were inconclusive.  Whoever did this had to be very strong, and it
disturbed Natalie to even think about it.

She kept thinking about when she was first brought across, and Lacroix fought
Marcus.  After Marcus had been staked, he'd lingered; cursing Kayla as he lay
dying.--Until she could take no more and tore his head from his body.  She'd
done it easily, and the sight had been quite gruesome, but Nat had found she
couldn't tear her eyes from it.  Kind of like Eric with the body on the table, she
thought distractedly.

She watched Nick and Eric as she waited for them to be done with their
discussion over the body.  She hoped that they'd be able to find and stop this
monster before it could kill again.  Despite all she'd seen in her time in the
Coroner's Office, this case scared her.

********************

Shane entered the main room of the suite to find Branwen sitting on the couch,
sipping from a wineglass.  He spied Dani sitting on a chair off to the side.  She
looked a little less scared than before, the poor rabbit.  She must've found
something in her research that had pleased their master.

He strode into the room and headed towards the bar, helping himself to a glass
from the decanter when he got there.  Branwen noted the bag he'd left by the
bar.  "Nice of you to join us, Shane.  If you're done flirting, that is."

"I was doing my own research," Shane replied lazily.  "Tomorrow night I'm
going to check out the Raven..."

"You mean the vampire bar?  The one the Nightcrawler owns?" Dani asked
sarcastically.  "You're not telling us anything new, Shane.  I found that out
hours ago."

"Oh, really?"  Now that was an interesting development, Shane thought to
himself.  He had all the more reason to check this place out.

"Yes, really," Branwen said as she rose from her seat.  "We're going to be
staying here awhile.  The Nightcrawler is...an old friend of mine, and I think it's
time we got reacquainted.  You and Dani will go to the Raven tomorrow night,
and investigate it for me.  I want to know about the people with whom he
associates, and some other details.  I'll fill you in on what I want tonight before
you leave."

"If you wanna see this guy again, why don't you just go there yourself?" Shane
asked curiously.

Branwen fixed him with a frosty glare.  Even after all these years, he could be
so insolent at times.  She'd break him of it yet.  "I will make my presence
known when it suits me.  I am not about to explain my reasoning to you.  Until
then, you are to be discreet.  Find out what you can about him, but don't ask
too many questions.  That will only arouse suspicions.  Do not leave this suite
tonight until I have given you further instruction."

With that she turned and swept from the room.  Shane breathed an audible sigh
of relief as he sunk down into the couch.  He'd be glad when this little
adventure was over.


End Part One