xover: Inner Fire and The Light (02/16)
Jeannie Ecklund Aug 14, 2000



Natalie grinned up at Nick.  She went to pick up the large fluffy cat
and kissed him,  rubbing his head.  Taking her pet to the kitchen, Nat
showed him where his food, water and bed was, then turned back to her
waiting husband, took his hand,  and walked with him up the stairs to
bed.

Life settled in at the cottage, as the residents called it. Nick had a
trainer/therapist come to the house. The man helped him exercise and
train his body.   Once Nick became used to the limitations of his 'new
body', the trainer started to instruct him in different forms of martial
arts.

They played war games, of sorts, to train Nick to rely on his human
senses to capture an assailant.  They had told the Instructor that Nick
had sustained some brain damage and needed to have his physical skills
retrained so that he could be a good detective again.

Natalie did some research and studied medical journals. Her  expanding
abdomen relayed the fact that the baby was growing strong and healthy.

Joe usually spent the day writing down the stories that Nick told them
of his life, and in the evening, Nick would either go over Joe's notes,
or tell them more stories. He told them about the mortals he had met
during his travels. People like Shakespeare, Chopin, Mozart, Dali,
Benjamin Franklin,  and many others who had touched his life.

Natalie watched Nick grow more confident as he became familiar with, and
learned how to use the strengths of his 'new' body again.  At night,
Nick studied the Bible, unable to get enough of it.  Generally, the
three of them would read the Bible and pray together just before heading
off to bed.

Joe was very unintrusive.  He tried to give the young couple as much
privacy as possible. Sidney started to spend part of his night?s with
Joe, keeping him company.  He had a spot picked out at the foot of Joe's
bed.   They had put in  pet doors that allowed Sidney to wander between
the two cabins through the enclosed passageway.

About three weeks after they moved into their new home,  Natalie decided
to invite Grace to come for a visit.  Nick had a limo sent to the
airport  to pick her up when she arrived.  When it drove up and their
dear friend got out of the car, she was dressed to kill.  She was
wearing a body-hugging black satin dress, and a big black hat with a red
silk rose that added a splash of bright color to the outfit.

As Natalie waddled up to her, she squealed, "Oh, girl, look at
you!" She grabbed Natalie in a big bear hug, being careful of the
growing baby.

Nick hurried down the steps to hug Grace, a big boyish grin on his face.
He was delighted with their reunion.  He'd noticed, lately, that Natalie
seemed nervous.  He had decided it was because of all the male influence
around and no girl talk.  She was, after all, having her first baby.

Nick glanced over at Joe's house and saw him peeking through his front
window curtains.  He'd been very adamant that he didn't need some single
woman coming around,  yet Nick had seen the idea take root in Joe's
mind.  Lately he'd seen a look in Joe's eyes that said the  man was very
much looking forward the Grace Balthazar's visit. He'd made an off-hand
remark to Nick that Grace 'was a real looker.'

"Look at you, Nick!" The big woman teased.  "I think you are getting a
bit gray.  It's about time! I thought you were going to stay the same
forever."

Nick flashed Natalie a grin. "Well, I'd chose this life anytime,"  he
said, indicating his pregnant wife. "Welcome to our humble abode, Grace.
I'm  so glad you're here. Nat's been beside herself all day waiting for
your arrival."

Grace nodded, "Me too!"  She wrapped her arm around Natalie, and they
went into the house.  Nick followed with a wide grin on his face.  This
was just what Natalie needed.

"Oh girl, would you look at this place!" Their guest exclaimed, as she
walked through the front door. "Lucky gal, this is amazing!"

Sidney came over and wrapped himself around her feet.

"Well  there you are, old friend." She said, picking the cat up and
hugging him to her.  "I've even missed you, bud."   She scratched behind
his ears as he purred happily.

Natalie smiled at her sassy cat, then said proudly, "It's a wonderful
house, Grace."  Taking the cat from the other woman, she hugged her
friend again. "Boy, I've missed you!" she said.

"Me too, Nat,"  she replied, then got a gleam in her eye and whispered
to Natalie, "Where's that gorgeous man?"

"Joe?" Natalie asked, grinning back at her.

"Yes, Joe!  You think I'm talking about sasquatch?"

 Natalie giggled,  "I think he's hiding in his house. Go easy on him,
 Grace.  I think he's really looking forward to this, but you know how
 it is... getting back into it all."

Grace sobered, "Yes, I do."  She sighed remembering how she had felt
when her husband was killed years go.  They had just been kids.

"How's the morgue?"  Natalie asked.

Grace said, with a twinkle in her eye, "They're still dying to get
in..."

"Funny..." Natalie grimaced at the very 'old' joke.

Grace sighed, "It's not the same without you two there, Natalie.  I miss
you, Nick,  always popping in and then suddenly disappearing like magic
all the time.  I never saw a man move so fast."

Nick only smiled.  He thought it better not to comment for now.

 Grace returned the smile,  soft punching Nick"s arm affectionately.
"I'm so glad you two finally figured out you couldn't live without each
other!  There were times when I wanted to bash your heads together.  The
looks you gave each other made ME hot!"

She chortled.  They were giving 'that look' to each other now . She
continued,  "I never could understand what kept you apart and then what
suddenly changed."

She seemed to be waiting for an answer. Nick fingered the cross
he wore on a long chain, around his neck. "Basically, it was a religious
difference. I was finally able to accept Nat's beliefs."

"That couldn't have been all it was," Grace muttered.

Realizing that she wouldn't accept his simplistic answer, Nick added,
"Also, I've lived my whole life in the dark... unable to see the sun.
What  kind of life would that have been for a wife and children?"

Grace nodded, but she still didn't looked totally convinced.

"Natalie, found a cure  for my allergy.  It freed me to love her, and
my faith was renewed."

"Uh  huh... " Grace said, a look of disbelief still on her face.

Nick sighed, going a bit further, "Do you believe in demon possession?"

That got her attention.  "Yes," she admitted, wide eyed.

"Nick, had a very nasty one," Natalie said.  "It would not allow him
into the light.  It took Angels, Grace!  Faith and Angels... to free
him.  I
saw the Angels!  With the Lord's help, Nick was set free. He"d always
been able to control it enough to work and live at night, but it would
incapacitate him by day."

Nick filled in a little more.  "I couldn't get to close to Natalie for
fear it might harm her.  We could only be friends."

"I DID see it on a few occasions,"  Natalie admitted to her
flabbergasted friend.

"It seemed able to control Nick more when he allowed himself to love,
so he kept everyone at arm's length.  Well,"  she finished, "enough of
this. It's over now and Nick is free to love and to live in the sun."

Grace still wanted more.   "How did you know how to free yourself?"

"Natalie had been studying the Bible a lot, and we talked about the
things she read. I finally realized that I had to ask the Lord to
forgive me of my sins and I had to choose to let them go.  I asked Him
to cleanse me from the evil and all it had made me do. I had to let go
of the overwhelming guilt and realize that it was something that had
controlled me.  The Lord forgave me and cleansed me.  I?m so glad that
He did."

Grace finally accepted this answer, at least for the moment.   It was
amazing,  but she had seen his temper on occasion,  and she could have
sworn she'd seen his eyes glow once.

"What about the blood in the frig?..."

"What ?!" Nick and Nat said, in unison.

"That time they brought you in as a murder suspect,  there was a
forensics report about blood in your frig."

Nick sighed. This woman was too smart.  "The demon fed on animal
blood."

Grace shuddered, "It was like being a ...."

Both Nick and Natalie covered her mouth.  "It's best not to say it out
loud."

Grace nodded.  "Okay,  not another word."  She hugged them both.   "I'm
just so happy for you both."

Natalie smiled, as Nick drew her close.  "We're kind of happy about it
all ourselves.  Now come on and let me show you the rest of the
house."

After the tour was over, Grace nudged Natalie.  "Don't you think we
could convince that hunk of a man away from his little house??

Natalie winked at her.  "Okay, let's  go see Joe.  Someone has to break
the ice, and it seems he?s content to wait for us to do it."

They went through the covered passage between the houses and knocked on
Joe's door.  Momentarily, they heard the big man's footsteps.

Joe opened his door, a smile on his face.

Grace stepped toward him, and Joe reached out and took her hands.
They stood and just stared at each other.

Nick and Natalie?s eyebrows rose,  and they exchanged silly grins. They
could see the color start to rise on both their friends' dark cheeks.

Nick cleared his throat rather loudly,  and the two jumped guiltily
apart.

Joe recovered first.  "It's good to see you again, Mrs.Balthazar."

"You too, Captain Reese,"  Grace answered, embarrassed by the completely
unexpected warmth radiating from her cheeks.

"Joe.  Call me, Joe," he said.

"Okay, Joe." She gave him a shy smile, "and you call me Grace."

"Grace, it is."

Natalie watched with interest. "How sweet,"  she thought.  "There are
definitely possibilities here... "

Nick suggested, "Pop, why don't you take Grace for a walk. Show her
around the grounds?"

"Pop?" Grace repeated.
Nick explained, "Yeah, we sort of adopted him."

He smiled affectionately at the older man,  leaned toward Joe and gave
him a kiss on the cheek.

Grace stared. "Well,  I see a lot has changed around here."

Natalie laughed at her. "You have no idea.  Come on. Why don't  you  go
up to your room and change.  You might want to dress down a bit. Put on
some comfortable shoes for that walking tour."

Grace was still staring at Joe and Nick. She shook herself mentally.
"Okay.  I'll meet you outside in about ten minutes, Joe."

Natalie and Grace went back to the main house, leaving Nick to stare
at Joe. "Hey,  Pop.  Grace looks pretty good."

"Yeah, Nick.  She looks REAL good."

Then he asked, "Why did you kiss me in front of her?"  He was obviously
embarrassed.

Nick apologized, "I'm sorry,  but when I'm happy, it just seems natural.
I love you,   my friend and mentor.  You've become the father I've
always wanted."  He tried, again, to explain about Vampire families.
"Remember that I've mentioned that vampires always show a lot of
affection when they are happy and a lot of abuse when they are angry.
It's a hard habit to break even though I'm human now."

Joe looked at Nick.  "Abuse? You've never talked about that much. I
always  knew  LaCroix was pretty rough,  but I didn't know it was that
physical."

"Yeah... rough..." Nick said. "He beat me to within inches of a
vampire's life, hundreds of times."  He turned away from Joe to hide
the tears that had welled up in his eyes. "I understand more now.  I
love him, and I know the man inside of him, loves me.  Unfortunately,
the demons within him can't stand love. They take over, and he becomes
the monster they are."  A tear escaped Nick's eye.

Joe saw it slide down his son's face from the side.  He reached out
and pulled Nick to his chest and held him firmly. "Pray for him, Nick.
That's all we can do. The Lord promised you would be safe from him."


End part 2  
*****  Jeannie Ecklund  *****  gersknightlady@cs.com