Okay, don't own 'em. Don't have any money, so even if you sue me, you won't get anything. It's all for fun. I'm more used to writing Nunkies fantasies and total silliness, so Nick, Nat and Schanke are a bit of a departure from the norm. Anyway, here it is. Part 2 Christy ---------------------------------------------------- "Don't you *ever* knock, Schanke?" the blonde detective demanded of his partner. "Well, I never had any reason to knock before. Or did I, Nick? You and Nat have been 'friends' for a long time." Nick shot a 'none of your business' look at the broadly grinning man, grabbed his gun and badge and stalked into the lift. Schanke, grin still firmly in place, joined him as they made their way to the garage and the vintage Caddy. The ride to the crime scene seemed incredibly long. Between worrying about bloodless bodies being found outside the Raven and the sidewise glances and knowing grins his partner was bestowing on him, Nick was too preoccupied to even have a flashback. Schanke hadn't said anything else about finding him and Nat together, but he kept humming "Some Enchanted Evening"...off key, no less. They pulled into the parking lot of the Raven and found the usual organized chaos of a crime scene investigation in progress. Showing their badges to the uniform on duty, they maneuvered through the barricades and approached Natalie, who was already examining the corpses of two women and one man. Upon seeing the two of them, she blushed furiously then gathered her wits and hit the "professional" button. "Two females, somewhere between 24 and 28 years of age. One male, approximately 30 years old. No ID on any of them, but a couple of the female patrons identified the male as one Jonathon Bridges, an air traffic controller at Pearson." Nat met Nick's eyes. "I'm placing the time of death as somewhere between two and six hours ago. Apparent cause of death is exsanguination. Wounds to the throat...possibly an animal attack. I'll know more when I get them back to the morgue." "But, Nat," Schanke interposed. "If it was an animal attack, where's all the blood? Even if they were *dragged* here, there should be blood." Nat looked from Nick to his partner and sighed, "Well, gentlemen, I'd say it's probably *your* job to figure that out. I need to get my three visitors back to the morgue and do *mine.*" As Schanke headed toward the alley, Nat pulled Nick aside. "Has he..." she began. "Don't worry. He hasn't said anything about...us...since we left the Loft." "Thank God. Now, you'd better get yourself inside. Last I saw, they were questioning Janette. I don't know *how* I'm going to cover this one up, Nick." She nodded in the direction of the uniformed officers. "They're already starting to make Dracula jokes." His arm went around her as he led her to the car. "Let me worry about that. You just find out if it was an actual vampire attack." "And if it was?" "Then I'll have a lot of work to do, won't I?" "We both will." Opening the car door, he leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'll be by later to see what you found." He turned to find Schanke leaning against the Caddy, grinning again. Nick just prayed that his partner knew some other love song to hum on the ride to the station later. Taking a deep breath, he headed into the Raven to face the undoubtedly frustrated Janette. --------------------------------------- Okay! NEXT!