Topic: Fortuitous Circumstance

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:06 EST

Nick and Willow Gregory's life seemed to be built on changes these days. First the attack by Josef that had changed Nick into a vampire, then discovering that they had somehow created a dhampir that was growing like any other baby in Willow's womb. Now they had moved to New York, with Lauren's help and Tobias' financial support, and were in the process of finalizing certain details of the new business venture that would give Nick a purpose beyond being incredibly over-protective of his wife. Their house was beautiful, with interior features designed by Lauren herself to enable vampires to use it during the day without having all the windows shuttered. One thing Willow was particularly pleased with was the filter that had been laid over the glass of each window - it cut out the harmful rays of the sun without dimming the light, allowing Nick to enjoy the sunshine without danger.

Sitting in their newly appointed living room, bathed in sunlight from the floor-length windows, she stretched a little, and turned back to what she was supposed to be doing, gently stroking the high mound at her waist. 26 weeks into this pregnancy, and the baby girl inside her was communicating without needing to be prompted, often calling Nick in from another room just with an urgency of feeling because she wanted both her parents to be together for a little while. With each dose of Nick's blood, the bond grew tighter, too, finally having opened up to include Willow. She was aware of Nick at all times, no matter where he was, feeling closer to him every day.

With a smile, she pulled her thoughts away from that remarkable feeling, and turned her eyes to the page she was looking at. "What about this one?" she said mildly. "Got all the credentials you're looking for. He lives a little far away, though, and, uh ....oh, wait. Family. Not suitable." Sighing, she dropped the resume onto the pile of rejects. Finding a secretary for Nick's private investigation business was proving more difficult than walking a tight-rope.

It had taken nearly six months for Nick to not only adjust but accept life as a vampire. He had to admit there were some advantages to his new un-life, as he liked to call it. The seemingly psychic connection he had made with their daughter, and by extension, his wife, was almost solely worth all the pain and guilt he'd suffered over the last six months or so. The move to New York had been a good idea. It was a lot easier to hide in plain sight in a crowded city where no one gave you a second glance than a small town where everyone knew everyone else by name.

He'd had enough of moping around feeling sorry for himself and crawling the walls of Tobias' home until he felt like he was going to go stark-raving mad. He'd always been a man of action and purpose, and the idleness was almost harder to tolerate than the physical changes. All things considered, they'd settled into New York quite nicely, and Nick had found himself feeling almost content here, away from the constant vigilance of their benevolent caretaker, Tobias. The man - or rather vampire - meant well, but Nick and Willow had been on their own too long to let someone else take charge of their lives now.

Nick sat beside his wife as one by one they went over the pile of resumes that Tobias had forwarded - people he'd felt would be suitable to the job of secretary for a rather unorthodox private detective, people who might not be too surprised or alarmed to find out that their employee was not quite human. He shuffled through the pile, sorting the resumes into two piles - the rejects and the maybes. The pile of rejected resumes was decidedly thicker than the other, and Nick was starting to believe they'd never find anyone who quite suited their particular needs. He scanned yet another possibility before tossing it into the growing pile of rejects with an affected but not entirely necessary sigh. "What do I need a secretary for anyway' It's not like I need someone to take dictation."

"We're gonna need somebody who can see clients in daylight, if need be," Willow pointed out gently. "Somebody to field calls during daylight hours and keep the office up to scratch. Preferably somebody human whose name can go on the lease for the office, so we don't get unwanted invasions."

Nick's far more practical wife had a point, which only made the vampire scowl. He didn't really want to get anyone else involved in the complex web of their lives, but she was right. He'd been a detective for too long; it was all he knew, and while it wasn't too late for him to go re-inventing himself and discovering a new career and a new purpose in life, being a detective - private or otherwise - offered certain advantages that other careers could not, making his own hours, notwithstanding. "Mmm," he mumbled in grudging acknowledgement of his wife's practicality. "What about this one?" he asked, picking up yet another resume from someone toward the bottom of the pile.

She considered the option he set in front of her thoughtfully. "She's a possibility," she nodded in agreement. "I didn't think there'd be so many people who were almost suitable for us, much less that we'd agree on so many." Admittedly, the maybes pile wasn't overflowing, but there were enough names there to make the interview process entertaining in its own way.

Nick tossed what remained of the resumes on the table with a sigh. It was tedious work at best, and despite his better than human constitution, even he was susceptible to weariness, especially during the daylight hours. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," complained the man who had made a living out of doing just that for years as a police detective. He had suggested once and only once that Willow work as his secretary, but there was the tiny matter of her pregnancy that almost immediately negated that thought.

"We'll find someone," she promised him, sounding a lot more confident than she felt, and almost immediately grunted as a small but determined foot kicked her squarely in the ribs for that minor deception. "What was that for?" she demanded of the inhabitant in her womb, laughing as a wave of contrite apology swept over her from the tiny girl. "Little bully."

"Maybe we should just wait twenty years until she grows up and let her have the job," he remarked, though he wasn't really serious. They had discussed and debated the pros and cons of leaving the safety of Tobias' home, finally deciding it was time to rejoin the land of the living and try to build a new life for themselves outside the safe confines of Tobias' home. New York City wasn't so far away that Tobias couldn't be there if they needed him, but it afforded them a little breathing room of their own. Nick ineffectually rubbed two fingers against his right temple, more out of habit than necessity again. It wasn't just about finding a purpose in life, but a source of income, as Nick was too proud to sponge off of Tobias' good intentions forever.

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:07 EST

Willow chuckled softly at the silly suggestion, twisting a little to gently brush her fingers through Nick's hair. "Headache, baby?" she asked him softly, leaning close to press a tender kiss to his temple. Since moving out of Tobias' home, there had been less arguments between them, proof that living in close confines with a parental figure was definitely not good for their relationship.

"Just a little tired," he replied, though it wasn't the same kind of feeling he'd felt when he was human and was lacking sleep. It wasn't so much a weariness really, as it was a feeling of lethargy and weakness. Even a few swallows of blood would do nothing to help so long as the sun hung overhead. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about it reaching him here, so that Willow could enjoy the light, while Nick wasn't harmed by its deadly rays. "How are you feeling?" he asked, reaching for her hand and brushing a kiss against her wrist, feeling the pulse of her blood against his lips.

"Like an overfed duck," his wife told him with comical dismay. "I caught myself waddling when we got up a coupla of hours ago." She chuckled softly, still gently teasing her fingertips against his cheek as she smiled at him. Despite all the support they had, all the information Lauren was able to give them about dhampirs, Willow found herself growing tense and frightened whenever she considered the birth that was looming in her not so distance future. She didn't have a particularly high pain threshold, and she knew now that their daughter might well panic and claw her way out, rather than take the conventional route. It was not a happy thought. "You need to feed tonight," she reminded her husband fondly. "I can always call Lauren to come and babysit me, if you want me to."

"You're pregnant, Will, not fat. There's a difference," he reminded her with a soft smile, as his fingers strayed to the swell of her belly where he could sense their daughter stirring inside her. It wasn't just a matter of knowing their daughter was there or of feeling her movement - he could actually sense her presence, the psychic connection growing stronger between them with each passing day. The closer Willow got to the third trimester, the more anxious Nick became about her pregnancy and eventual labor. They both knew it could be dangerous to both mother and child, but as yet, they hadn't really discussed the details, and Nick knew it was a discussion that needed to take place in the very near future. As always, Willow somehow turned the conversation to his needs, rather than her own. "I'll be fine. There's always a drunk or two laying around an alley willing to let me gnaw on them for a little while."

Thankfully, his wife had come to terms with the practicalities somewhat faster than he had. She eyed him sideways for his lovely description of his meal to come, and snorted with laughter, rolling her eyes at him. "Is that why you came back last time smiling like an idiot and singing?" she asked him teasingly. "You're out drinking drunk blood?"

He shrugged as if it was of no consequence. "Blood's blood, Will. At least, it's unlikely that a drunk is going to remember it or care enough to report it to the authorities. I suppose I should get in touch with Tobias' contacts." That last part was grumbled a little. It was no big secret that Nick was a stubborn *ss when it came to accepting help, but he didn't really have much choice.

"I could do that, if you'd rather," she offered gently, fingertips still stroking in and out of his hair. She'd missed these quiet times with Nick, glad they had regained them since moving to the city. "Besides, if you don't eat tonight, you can't come for the sonogram tomorrow evening. Last time, you nearly ripped the guy's head off for startling us with the cold gel."

Nick grunted in response. "Don't blame me! Our daughter sensed your anxiety and passed it on to me." It was one of the down sides of being psychically-connected to a child who wasn't mature enough to understand what was going on in the world around her. "I'm tired of sucking on rats," he admitted glumly. It was his way of saying yes, without having to admit that he actually needed help. There were certainly enough of them, but it was like comparing a piece of beef jerky to a sirloin steak. Of course, some people actually like beef jerky, though he wasn't sure why anyone would choose that over a juicy steak. He tried to push the idea of fresh blood from his thoughts before it got the best of him.

"Well, one more night of rats won't hurt," Willow told him, groaning as she readjusted herself. It wasn't so much that she was in pain as the fact that their daughter had a tendency to pick a position and stay in it - the hybrid child was incredibly strong, even now. There had been a couple of touch and go concerns when it came to her mother's ribs after some particularly enthusiastic attempts to get Nick's attention. "Did you read Tobias' letter this morning?"

"Not yet. What did our benefactor have to say?" he asked, his fingers moving over her stomach as if to calm the child growing inside her. Morning was not his best time of day, though noon was the hardest, when the sun was high in the sky directly overhead.

Under his hand, the dhampir girl twisted and turned, reaching out with those sweet emotions that were reserved for her parents at all times. Willow smiled as she was included in the wave of adoring affection that rose from the child in her womb, wondering who was trying to calm who here. "I think it was mostly meant for you," she admitted ruefully. "Something about a movement within the after dark society that has its eye on a guy who seems to be immune. They want to put him down, Toby thinks, before the other side gets his trust enough to maybe start using his blood for a vaccine. Something like that, anyway."

"Immune?" Nick echoed doubtfully. "That's impossible. Nobody's immune," he said, though he knew about and was interested in Tobias' theories and research. This wasn't a Hollywood movie. As unbelievable as it was, this was real life. He'd never heard of anyone being immune to vampirism, though he was admittedly fairly new to life as a vampire. "What's it got to do with us?" he asked, his innate curiosity outweighing his doubtful nature.

"He lives in New York," Willow shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Toby's gauging your interest. Might be that he wants you to reach out to this guy before the dark side do, who knows?"

"Where's the letter?" Nick asked, curious enough to want to read it for himself. "Sounds like Toby is still hoping for a cure and thinks this guy might be key." Nick wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. Now that they were having a dhampir daughter, he thought he needed to remain a vampire in order to protect both her and her mother.

"Uh ....I think I left it on the kitchen counter," she told him. "Or in the bathroom. I'm getting kinda forgetful these days. And whose fault is that, hmm?" This last was directed to her belly, earning a wave of feeling that had a distinct edge of laughter to it. "You're gonna be such a handful, young lady. I hope you take it easy on your poor old parents."

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:08 EST

"You're both a handful!" Nick corrected with a smirk that was rare these days, but becoming more frequent now that they had their own place and didn't feel like they were completely dependent on Tobias' generosity. He leaned over to brush a kiss against Willow's cheek before moving to his feet and heading toward the kitchen with a fluid motion that was too quick and too easy for a human to duplicate. He found the letter on the counter and unfolded it to read it, eyes scanning the page with a serious frown.

"You love us, though," Willow called back to him as he rose and made his way into the kitchen, following at her own pace. As he read, she wandered about, putting together everything she needed for scrambled eggs. It was becoming something of a burden, having to cook to eat, especially since it was only for her. She deeply resented the loss of sharing mealtimes with her husband, but she tried to keep it to herself as much as she could.

He read the letter quietly, thoughtful a moment before folding the paper and laying it back on the counter. "If I'm reading this right, he wants us to go talk to the guy, warn him, offer protection." He idly drummed his fingers against the paper a moment, as he contemplated that thought. He'd need more information before he made such a decision and that meant replying to Tobias' letter. "Why all the cloak and dagger?" he mused aloud. "I mean, most people would just pick up the phone, but not Tobias. He has to write a letter the old fashioned way."

"Maybe because people don't expect it," Willow suggested thoughtfully. "Think about it - if you want to contact someone now, most people go with a call, or a text, or an email, and there are so many ways of hacking into those. But if you tamper with the mail, it's obvious and it can't be hidden. I think it's kinda clever, actually."

"So, am I supposed to write him back?" Nick asked, thinking it would be a lot faster and easier to just pick up the phone. "And yes, it can. You can open an envelope by holding it over steam and then re-gluing it shut," he informed her, though he got her point. He watched while she went about gathering the items together to scrape up a small meal. "We could go out," he suggested. Going out to eat was a challenge these days, since he no longer required or desired food, but he didn't think it was fair that she was stuck cooking for herself and eating alone every night. He, at least, made an effort by sitting at the table with her, and sometimes he even cooked, when he wasn't out feeding.

"Well, yeah, but it's really easy to spot when someone's steamed your mail, Nick," his wife chuckled, glancing up in surprise as he suggested leaving the house to eat. The sun was just beginning to set - it wouldn't be long before he could move around outside with ease. "Really' I mean, I know it must be kinda boring for you to have to just sit and watch me eat. I don't wanna bore you, Kringle."

He actually laughed, another rarity these days, though he was getting better at it the more he got used to being what he had become. "Watching you eat is never boring, Beanie," he assured her, swapping his nickname for hers. "We've been cooped up long enough. You deserve a night out." What did bore him was sitting around the house for days - or rather nights - on end with nothing to do but watch the paint peel. "It would do us both good to get out for a while. Besides, it's New York. The city that never sleeps. There's always something to do in New York."

"All right." Judging by the smile on her face, Nick had just made his wife's day. She'd been so patient over the past few months, but cabin fever was beginning to set in. A few hours out of the house would be just what the doctor ordered. She turned, curling her arms about him to press a kiss to his lips. "Thank you, baby. I didn't wanna ask, I know it's been difficult."

He frowned back at her, knowing how hard all this had been on her. Their whole world had been turned upside down, and yet, there was still cause for celebration. They had survived - if being a vampire could be considered survival. They still had each other, and they were finally getting a start on the family they'd been talking about forever, even if their daughter was going to be a dhampir child, rather than a human one. "Now that you can keep food down, I thought you might like a night out."

"I would like that, very much," she assured him, radiating a sweet sort of excitement. They had deliberately cut themselves off from the friends they had made in Albany, all but Tobias and Lauren, and though those two were good friends, a vampire and a dhampir could not really be considered company for a social evening. "Should I change" Where are we gonna go?"

"Where would you like to go?" he countered. They still didn't have a lot of money, but whatever they lacked in money, they more than made up for in love. As corny and cliched as it sounded, it was true.

She beamed, leaning into him tenderly. "Just somewhere simple would do me," she admitted, the thrill of the prospect based more in the outing itself, rather than the meal. "Somewhere that does a really good milkshake."

"Hmm," he considered. "What about pizza?" he asked, knowing her penchant for the stuff. He'd once been a pizza addict before he'd been changed, and while he could no longer partake of the stuff, he could at least enjoy watching her do so. Besides, pizza was a very easy meal to fake eating, since no one ever bothered to keep track of how many slices you were devouring or not devouring.

She grinned, kissing him once again. "I love my husband." A healthy kick against his ribs from their daughter underlined the momma's pleasure with his suggestion, setting Willow to giggling as she glanced down. "Looks like she does, too."

"You better," he replied, trying to hide an amused smirk. It made him happy to make her happy, and he felt very remiss in that department lately. A little outing would do them both good. He just needed to find a rat or something to tide him over in the meantime, though looking a bit pale was always a good excuse not to partake of too much food. "You're both stuck with me," he added, tapping a finger lightly against her nose.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, bao-bei," Willow grinned playfully, nipping his fingertip with gentle teeth. Her hand slid down to take his. "C'mon, before I start freaking out about being fat in a public place."

He rolled his eyes at her a little, thinking she'd been watching too much Firefly lately, but not daring to say so. "You're not fat. You're with child and anyone who thinks you're fat is a moron," he pointed out helpfully. "Are we waddling or driving?" he asked, with a completely straight face.

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:09 EST

"Hey!" Laughing, Willow clonked him on the arm with her loosely balled fist, secure in the knowledge that she couldn't do him any harm at all these days. "You waddle, I'll ride on your back." She stuck her tongue out at him, almost bouncing away to locate her purse. It had been a long time since they'd teased each other without any misunderstandings; no wonder they were embracing it this time.

He chuckled at the affectionate love tap, which did very little to dissuade hm from teasing her back. "I won't argue if you want to take the roadster," he said as she presumably went in search of her purse, which she seemed to be forever misplacing. Thankfully, his memory was a lot better than hers these days. He snagged his keys from off a hook on the wall and grabbed a jacket.

"The roadster works for me," she conceded, bent over the couch as she rummaged behind the cushions for the purse she was sure she'd left there. "Just, you know, no cruising for chicks while I'm in the car." She threw him a cheeky smile over her shoulder.

"We should probably trade her in for something more practical," he pointed out, not for the first time. The roadster only had two seats, after all, and they were going to add a third person to their little family sometime soon, but every time he brought the subject up for discussion, she either changed the subject or dissuaded him from selling. He shrugged his jacket onto his shoulders as he followed her back into the living room, chuckling a little at the search she was making for her purse. He picked up her purse from the coffee table and twirled it around his wrist. "This what you're looking for, Beanie Baby?"

Lifting her head, Willow groaned at the sight of her purse in his grasp. "Why can I never find that damn thing these days?" she demanded, pushing herself upright once again and setting the couch cushions back to rights. "I swear, it walks around when I'm not looking."

"I didn't want to tell you, but I found it sprouting legs and scurrying across the floor last night," he teased back. Their life might be weird, but it wasn't that weird. He had yet to encounter an inanimate object that could walk or talk. From the smirk on his face, he was obviously teasing her and enjoying it immensely.

"Well, that's obviously more likely than me forgetting where I put it," she grinned back at him, moving to claim her purse as it swung around his wrist. "I just don't do that sort of thing, do I?" Says the woman who had managed to forget where she had put her deodorant, while holding it in her hand.

"Much more likely," he agreed with a grin, both of them knowing how ridiculous that thought was. "Try not to worry so much, Will. Everything's gonna be fine." Was he trying to convince her or himself" Everything had to be fine. They'd been through enough already.

"Good advice, Yoda," she agreed, linking her fingers through his as she drew him toward the door. With the sun almost set, the shadows between the buildings were deep enough now to protect Nick from any exposure to the light. "Gonna take it for yourself, or just plaster me with it until I can't move?"

"I'd rather do something else to you until you can't move," he replied with another smirk. No, he hadn't answered her question. He had gotten the point though, but apparently, he wasn't going to let even that ruin his mood tonight. "You wanna drive?" he asked, pulling the keys from his pocket and dangling them from a finger.

"Oh good grief, man, you're gonna let me drive your baby?" She laughed a little incredulously, but didn't let the opportunity pass her by, catching the keys from his finger with a small but delighted giggle. "Better hope these don't sprout legs and run away, or we're walking home."

Had she not been pregnant, he might have picked her up around the waist and tickled her until she begged for mercy, but it had been a long time since he'd teased her like that. These days, he was far too concerned with the well-being of both her and the baby and had a tendency to be almost too gentle, as if he was afraid he might break her. The truth was he didn't quite trust himself or his new-found abilities not to hurt her, even as careful as he was. "That's what I have Triple A for," he reminded her as she snatched the keys from his finger. The mere fact that he was allowing her to drive was an indication of his mood, as well as his complete trust in her.

"Well, c'mon then, Triple A," she laughed, giving him a tug toward the door. "Time to hold on tight and stamp the emergency brake you don't have, 'cos I'm driving." She winked at him, pulling open the door, and breathing in the relatively fresh air with a smile.

It didn't take long to get where they were going, despite the traffic. There was a little pizzeria in Brooklyn Nick had visited during one of his trips to New York that someone had told him had the best pizza in town. He wasn't sure if that was true or not, but he'd had no complaints. Once there, they chose a small corner table that had a clear view of the rest of the restaurant and wasn't far from the door, just in case they needed to make a hasty exit. The place was small and quaint, with red and white checkered tablecloths on every table, as well as a candle that he thought was supposed to create some sense of ambiance, though Nick found it a little cheesy.

Willow couldn't have cared less if it was overdone or not; it was not the house. Cheerfully excited by their outing, she took a while to sit still, craning to see everything around them before finally turning her attention to the menu in front of her for all of five seconds. "This is great," she smiled happily to Nick, knowing he had to be uncomfortable and appreciating the effort even more because of it. "It really is. Thank you."

At least, a pizzeria was one place he could afford to take her without breaking their meager bank account. He really had to start working before the entire nest egg was drained, but he didn't want to think about that now, or about the fact that they'd been living off of Tobias Acton's generosity for the past six months or so. He shrugged a little at her thanks, wishing he could take her someplace nicer, but for now, it would have to do. "You deserve it, Will." Hell, she deserved a lot more than that, just for putting up with him.

"Just make sure you eat properly tonight, or you won't have the strength to take being thanked properly," she warned him, ordering a pizza topped with a random selection of meat to please the little being currently sleeping under her heart. "I miss doing couple stuff with you, baby. Everything's been so stressed out, we don't really spend so much time just being us any more."

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:10 EST

"I just need some time to get my head on straight, Will," he explained, reaching for her hand. "We've got our own place again. Once I find work and we have a regular income again, things will get back to normal." Whatever the hell normal was for them anymore.

"I know, baby," she assured him, curling her fingers into his. She barely noticed the slight chill on him these days, though he was only that way when he needed to feed. "I know you're gonna do everything you can to get us settled and safe. And once I'm done being the brand new mommy, I should be able to help out a little. I don't like leaving all that burden to you."

"You wanna get a job in a blood donation center and..." He broke off, waiting for the waitress to walk by before continuing, lowering his voice for her ears alone. "And smuggle me home snack?" He was teasing, but only partly.

She smiled, but didn't continue with that particular point. They differed in their expectations - Nick fully expected Willow to live through the birth of their daughter and remain human; Willow did not expect to continue living unless she was turned. "After seeing the look on Tobias' face when he drinks chilled blood, you really think I'd be that mean to you?"

"It's just sustenance, Willow. That's all it is. It's like drinking a V-8." Okay, maybe that was pushing it a bit. Anyway, as she well knew, he had always detested V-8. "Are you thinking about going back to work?" he asked, turning serious.

She hesitated, but now was not the time to be keeping anything back from her husband. "I don't think I should be making any plans right now, one way or the other," she said thoughtfully. "I'd like to be useful, to help support us, but it all really depends on our little lady in here."

Nick furrowed his brows. For all his intelligence, he wasn't quite following her and had stubbornly refused to believe their daughter would willingly put her mother in any harm. "What do you mean?"

Willow's smile was gentle, but her voice lowered, not wanting anyone to overhear what she was saying. "Baby, you heard what Lauren said," she reminded him softly. "No one's ever survived birthing a dhampir. If I do, it'll be because you turned me."

From the scowl on Nick's face, this was not a discussion Nick wanted to have here, or at all really. Maybe he was simply in denial, but he didn't want to have to make the choice between Willow dying or being turned. He didn't want her to have to suffer the same way he'd suffered. He didn't want her to have to give up her humanity in order to survive, and yet, he'd also considered the fact that if he didn't turn her, she was going to eventually grow old and die, while he and their daughter remained young. It didn't seem fair. Then there was the possibility of a cure. "Maybe Tobias will find a cure. Maybe something will come of this-this guy who's supposedly immune." As stubborn as he was, he wasn't stupid. He knew time was running out. If something didn't change in the next three or four months, he wasn't going to have much choice.

He didn't seem to have realized that Willow had already made that choice. It was her life, and thus, her choice. She refused to be placed in a situation where she had to grow old and weak, where her husband and her daughter had to watch her die of old age, where she had to leave them behind and go somewhere she wasn't sure she believed in any longer."Maybe he will," she murmured, not wanting to argue. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"Let's not talk about this now, Beanie," Nick told her, wrapping his fingers around hers and reaching to push her hair back away from her face with his free hand, a slightly sad smile on his face. "Let's talk about something else."

"All right, Kringle," she smiled back at him, warming to his affectionate touch. "Just promise me that we will talk about it. Soon." They needed to talk this through without arguing, but somehow, she doubted he would be capable of that just yet.

"Soon," he echoed, lifting her hand to his lips. "I promise." Though he wasn't sure how to define soon. Soon could mean anything from later that day to several months from now. He knew he couldn't put it off too much longer, but though he didn't want to admit it, some part of him was still hoping for some kind of miracle. Instead of a miracle, the waitress arrived with their pizza and set it on the table with a smile and an "Enjoy" before she left them alone to wait on another table.

Taking her eyes from his, Willow smiled up at the waitress, thanking her before taking a slice and tucking in straightaway. She hoped Nick hadn't been joking about enjoying watching her eat, because there wasn't any more conversation from her end until at least four slices had disappeared. Now she was keeping food down, her appetite had gone from wan to incredibly healthy, and she made the most of that.

It was a good thing Willow was hungry because she was not only eating for two, but three. It had to at least appear that Nick was eating, and the only way to do that was to swap plates often and make it appear that he'd been eating as much pizza as she was, if not more. He chuckled as she just about inhaled those four slices. "Glad to see you're enjoying it," he told her with a smile. The little bell above the door jingled as yet another couple stepped into the place, which was starting to slowly fill up. That didn't bother Nick much. He found it was pretty easy to hide in plain sight.

A little embarrassed by how much she'd eaten in one go, but relieved at the same time that Nick now at least appeared to have eaten with her, Willow chuckled, taking a long slow sip of her milkshake. "I guess I was hungrier than I thought," she admitted, her expression a little guilty.

"We should go out more often," he said, smiling warmly at her, when they were suddenly interrupted by a voice that Nick thought was vaguely familiar.

"Holy sh*t! Nick Gregory. What the hell are you doing in New York?"

Nick looked up to find a familiar face smiling down at them to go along with the voice.

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:11 EST

The man looking down at them was tall and handsome, roughly about Nick's age, with a head of dark, curly hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket over a pair of worn blue jeans and was accompanied by a very pretty, very pregnant brunette Nick had never seen before. It took about thirty seconds for Nick to put a name to the face, but as soon as he did, he was on his feet, offering a handshake to the other man. "Jason, how's it going" Long time, no see. Still over at Precinct One?"

Willow twisted, startled to find Nick hailed by someone who obviously knew him. Looking up, she smiled. Jason Daly was easy to put a name to once she saw his face, though she doubted he remembered meeting her. It had been rather rushed the one time they had exchanged words. She assumed the woman with him was his wife, an assumption borne out when she noticed the sparkle of twin rings on the other woman's left hand.

"You remember my wife, Willow?" Nick was saying to the other man as Willow turned her gaze toward them, quickly pulling his hand away from Jason's before the other man noticed how cold his hand was.

"Of course," Jason replied, good-naturedly, smiling down at Nick's wife. He either didn't seem to think much about the chilly handshake or was too polite to mention it. "Hello, Willow. Keeping the big guy here out of trouble" I see you remembered this is the best place in town for pizza." Jason turned slightly, his arm going around the plump waist of the woman beside him. "This is my wife, Bethany. Nick and I worked a case together a few years back. Serial killer. Messy business."

"Hey, Jason. Good to see you." It was easier to pretend that everything was fine when Jason had news of his apparent marriage and reproduction to share, but Willow couldn't ignore the anxious pang she'd felt when the two men had clasped hands. "Nice to meet you, Bethany."

Tucked into Jason's side, Beth chuckled at the blas" manner in which her husband commented on a gruesome case in conversation. "Shop talk before dinner, baby?" she queried with a low laugh, nodding to Willow in a friendly way. "Pleasure to meet you, Willow. And you, too, Nick. I haven't met many of Jason's work friends."

"No," Jason chuckled. "No shop talk." He smirked a little as he turned back to Nick and Willow. "She hates when I go on about work."

"She has a point," Nick remarked. "That case wasn't the high point of my career, but we did catch the bastard."

Jason chuckled again, though he didn't find the case amusing in the least, only the fact that he'd accidentally stumbled on what he considered to be an old friend. "So, what are you two doing in New York" Business or pleasure?"

Beth rolled her eyes at Jason's laughing tease, but smiled along. She didn't mean to seem unfriendly, but carrying twins wasn't fun anymore. Sitting down soon would be a good thing for her.

Willow echoed the other woman's reaction, laughing softly. "We moved here, actually," she told Jason, not seeing any need to hide this from him. "Couple of weeks ago."

It wasn't that Jason had forgotten his wife was very pregnant and didn't like standing long or that he was being rude, but he was a little excited to run into an old friend and even more excited to find he and his wife had moved to New York. "Really?" Jason asked with a grin. "That's awesome! We'll have to get together sometime and catch up."

Nick noticed Beth's eye roll and took pity on the woman who seemed as pregnant as his own wife, if not more so. Though he wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of socializing with anyone who was smart enough to figure out his dirty little secret, he thought he might make an exception for Detective Daly and his wife, if only for Willow's sake. "I think maybe we should continue this discussion at a later date," Nick broke in, with a friendly smile for Beth.

"In a place with comfortable chairs," Beth added, her expression grateful as she looked to Nick. She rubbed her belly gently. "I'd stand longer, but these two are kinda heavy these days."

Willow blinked, surprised and delighted for Jason and his wife. "Congratulations," she told them, genuine with her praise. "And God, please don't feel bad if you need to slip away and sit. I kinda understand."

"Did you request a transfer" I can put in a good word, if you like. I'm with the K-9 Squad now, but I can make a few calls," Jason volunteered to Nick, frowning a little when he realized he'd practically forgotten about Bethany in his excitement. "Oh, sorry, baby." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a card, which he handed to Nick.

Nick took the card and glanced at it briefly. "I'm in the private sector now, but thanks. I could use a few contacts and connections."

Jason grinned back at the other man, happy to have been able to help. "Call me in a few days, and I'll see what I can come up with."

Willow and Beth exchanged grins, each understanding in their own way the perils of being married to a man who, without them, would be married to his job and utterly unable to even contemplate a divorce. "You okay with evening calls?" Willow asked, guessing Nick wasn't going to press that point. "We're not really around during the day."

"Sure, that works out fine. I'm usually on duty during the day." Once again, Jason didn't seem to think much of the request, assuming the other couple was simply busy during the day with work and getting settled into a new house. "Seriously, if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to call." Clearly, there was some sort of history between the two men, though neither seemed to be sharing.

Nick smiled and offered a polite nod to Bethany. "Nice to have met you, Bethany, and congratulations."

"And you, Nick," Beth nodded to him, subtly leaning on Jason to make him move. "I hope you have a good evening. Nice to have met you."

"You too," Willow responded in a warm manner, trying not to laugh at how gently Jason was being manipulated into ending the conversation to feed his own wife. "Take care."

Jason got the hint and waved back at the other couple before allowing his wife to lead him away. The couple chose seats on the other side of the restaurant, not because they wanted to put some distance between them and Nick and Willow, but because the place was starting to fill up and most of the closer tables had already been taken. Nick sat back down and glanced at the card in his hand. Should he keep it and call his "old friend" or get rid of it and not risk getting him involved"

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:12 EST

Willow watched the other couple to their seats, and turned her eyes back to Nick, nibbling on a fresh slice of pizza. She watched as he considered the card in his hand. "Look at it tomorrow," she suggested softly. "After you've had a chance to sleep on it a little. See what you think then."

"Yeah," Nick replied, tucking the card into his wallet. "He's a good guy. Just not sure I want to get him involved," he explained to his wife, though if they were going to pretend at being normal and if he actually wanted to make a go of this P.I. thing, they couldn't become recluses forever.

"Hiding in plain sight is going to be difficult if we're avoiding normal interaction," she pointed out in a quiet tone. "People will notice if we're not at least occasionally social. Jason's not a bad choice in that department. At least he knows how to take care of himself."

"I didn't expect to run into anyone I know," he replied quietly, though maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, so long as he didn't get too chummy. Maybe he could use the connection to his advantage, at least as far as his new career went.

"Better it was him than someone from Albany," she shrugged, setting down the crust of that last slice. "I can't eat another thing," she admitted with a quiet giggle. "Would - would you mind terribly if I get a coffee, though' I promise, it'll be a latte. Not too strong."

"Why would I mind?" he asked curiously. It had been his idea to go out to dinner, and he didn't think something as small as a coffee would put them over budget. "Just don't blame me if you know who gets a little hyper," he teased, cracking a smile.

Willow laughed softly, reaching across the table to gently touch his hand. "I love you, you know," she told him, as she told him every day, determined that he should never doubt how she felt about him. "Even when you're in a crabby mood, I love you."

He arched a brow at her remark. "I'm not that crabby, am I?" he asked, curiously. While it was true that he'd had some bad days since this little adventure had begun, he thought he was slowly getting accustomed to his new life as a vampire. It was no big secret that he wasn't overjoyed with the change, but unless Tobias or someone else came up with a cure, he didn't have much choice. "I love you, too, you know," he continued, tangling his fingers with hers. "Even if I am kinda crabby sometimes."

"Not so much these days," she assured him affectionately. She let out a soft sigh. "I was worried, when everything first changed, that you were gonna divorce me and send me away. I know I was bitchy and I said some truly awful things, but I didn't mean any of it. I was just so scared that you didn't want me around any more. I was frightened that you didn't love me any more."

There went that brow again, arching a little higher at her confession, obviously surprised. "Will, I will always love you, no matter what. We've been together too long. Loving you has never been an issue. Keeping you safe was the issue. And..." He frowned, as he realized he'd had the same fears that she'd had. "I thought you'd be disgusted by what I'd become." He leaned closer, stroking a thumb affectionately against the back of her hand. "I thought you wouldn't want me any more, and I was terrified of losing you."

"You have never disgusted me," she promised him softly, capturing his hand between both her own, gazing into his eyes tenderly. "If you'd died, I wouldn't have been far behind. I never want to be without you, Nick, and I don't want you have to be without me. We fit together too well to throw everything away over pride or miscommunication. And I know I'm kinda late being honest about this, but this is the first time I've felt like we're properly getting back to us in months. Being around Tobias was like living with your parents again."

Despite the honesty and gravity of her words, he found himself chuckling a little at the comparison of Tobias to their parents or, maybe more accurately, grandparents. "I appreciate Tobias' help, but we've been on our own too long to ever be happy living under someone else's roof for very long." His sobered a moment as he backtracked to something else she'd said. "Nobody's dying, Willow. Not you, not me, not the baby. I'm not gonna let that happen." And if it took making her a vampire to make sure that didn't happen, then so be it.

"I am very glad to hear you say that." She raised his hand to her lips, kissing his fingers softly before brushing them against her cheek. "What do you say to testing the soundproofing on our bedroom tonight?" she suggested with an impish little twinkle in her eyes. "We haven't made the light fitting swing yet."

"What do we need to worry about soundproofing for" There's no one there but us," he reminded her with a smile as she touched his fingers to her cheek. "Our daughter is going to know all about the birds and the bees before she's even born," he teased back at her, his own eyes bright with something more than just a preternatural gleam. He'd need to feed before that, but that was just a minor detail. "You still want to order a latte?"

"Yeah," she admitted, a little guiltily. She didn't want to keep him waiting around, but she needed a little time for that enormous amount of pizza to begin digesting before she started walking around again. Coffee was a good excuse.

He raised a hand to flag down the waitress so that they could order a latte. Just one, not two. He had made sure she'd drank some of the water he had in his glass so that it didn't look like he wasn't eating or drinking anything. "I'm gonna have to call Tobias later," he remarked casually, making a mental note for himself. He wasn't going to contact the man by post when he could make a simple phone call. That was just silly, in Nick's opinion.

Willow chuckled softly. "I'll try and remind you," she told him. "Probably right before I go to bed, but it's not like dawn is exactly late for either of you, is it?" she brushed her hair back out of her face, glancing across the pizzeria to where Jason and his wife were sharing their pizza and laughing together. "I thought you said he was a confirmed bachelor, anyway."

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:13 EST

Nick's gaze drifted to the other couple who, as far as Nick could tell, looked ridiculously happy together. "He was, the last I'd heard. I guess things have changed. And no, dawn isn't really too late. Not for Toby, anyway." He found himself slipping into the more familiar form of the name out of habit, though he didn't dare use it with Tobias.

She grinned at his use of the more familiar nickname that she and Lauren could get away with to Tobias' face. It wasn't so much that Nick couldn't get away with it, as that he'd never tried and wasn't inclined to do so. "Or you could write him a letter," she teased, leaning back as her latte arrived.

Nick rolled his eyes at his wife's suggestion. "Do you know how easy it is to steal someone's mail" I swear I'm going to buy that man a computer and teach him how to encrypt his email," Nick complained.

She giggled, a surprisingly girlish sound from a grown woman obviously pregnant, but familiar to Nick's ears. He was the only person who could make her giggle. "Do you think you'll be able to do that without wanting to ram a pencil through his head?"

"Wouldn't matter if I did. He'd just heal," Nick replied with a straight face. Willow knew him well enough to know he was being facetious, though he seemed perfectly serious. "You'd think someone with his intelligence and experience could handle managing an email account." Hell, the old vampire had a lab where he was doing experiments to try and find a cure for vampirism. One would think he'd want the use of a computer to help him out with his research. Nick couldn't quite understand it.

His wife smiled into her coffee. She didn't mind listening to Nick grumble, knowing she did it herself an awful lot, too. Just so long as his grumbling didn't become heated, he was fine. "If he'd just heal anyway, would you do it to relieve your stress?" she asked him mischievously.

"As tempting as it is, no," Nick replied, glancing momentarily at her latte. There was a time when coffee flowed through his veins as easily as blood, but he had never been a fan of latte, even before he'd been changed. "After everything he's done for us, it would be kind of rude."

She laughed then, adding liberal amounts of sugar before stirring her coffee. "You take me way too seriously sometimes, baby, you know that' It's always been too easy to tease you." She grinned over at him, taking a sip and finding the drink more to her personal taste this time.

"Maybe I just let you think I'm serious so that you can enjoy teasing me. Have you ever thought of that?" he teased back, with that perfectly-serious look on his face that made it hard to tell if he was kidding. "I don't know how you can drink that stuff, Will. It's like ruining a perfectly good cup of coffee. Babies drink warm milk, not adults."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm not that excited about it myself, but I can't drink espresso while I'm pregnant," she smiled, rolling her eyes. "This is as close as I can get, so I'm going to enjoy it, thank you."

"There's espresso in it!" he pointed out with a chuckle. In his opinion, latte was a girly drink, but then Willow was a girl. You didn't mess with a good cup of strong black coffee. It was what used to get him going in the morning and calmed him down at night, but those days were over. "I kind of miss it, you know?"

She paused, sympathy in her big eyes as she looked over at him. She hadn't really considered all the things he'd had to give up, or that it might not be out of personal choice. "Is it really that bad?" she asked uncertainly. "Not being able to have things like a cup of coffee?"

He shrugged, uncertainly. "I have no desire for it, but I still miss it, if that makes any sense. It's like missing the things you used to love, but can't have anymore. I never realized I'd miss it as much as I do." He didn't bother to make a list of the things he missed. She knew him well enough to know what his favorite things were. He probably missed sunrises most of all. Donuts, pizza, coffee, beer. Sleep. Proper sleep, not the kind of unconscious oblivion he fell into for a few hours each day. Dreams. He missed having dreams. Not nightmares so much, but good dreams. Pleasant dreams. Cigarettes. Whiskey. The warm feeling of sunshine on his face. These were just some of the things that Nick missed in his new found life as a vampire. Chocolate. Ice cream. Warm summer days. The list went on.

"You still have me," she said softly, wanting to offer some kind of comfort to him but not knowing quite where to begin. "And I'm not going anywhere." Still, it was a little unnerving hearing him talk about the things he missed, knowing that she would go through the same type of withdrawal he described in the not so distant future. But if it was a choice between missing out on some things, and missing out on a life with Nick and their daughter, then it really was no choice at all.

"I know, baby. You're the best thing in my life. You're what makes it all worthwhile," he offered with a smile, reaching across the table to touch his fingers to hers once again, needing that simple touch. His fingers were chillier than before. It was well past time that he fed, though it didn't seem to be bothering him. It was like a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, the need for blood, for sustenance. He tried to ignore it as long as he could, hating himself for having to exist on the stuff. It was unnatural; it was what made him inhuman. But he couldn't ignore that nagging feeling forever. It was almost like a crack addict needing a fix. If he waited too long, there was no telling what he'd do to fulfill that craving.

Feeling the colder cast of his fingers brought a flicker of a concerned frown to her face, hastening the end of her coffee as she drained it quickly. "C'mon, baby," she told him, wanting him sated and safe again before she would relax properly. "Let's get going."

He arched a brow, a little surprised at her abrupt desire to leave. As far as he was concerned, he believed he had his craving under control, but they'd both seen first hand what happened if he let himself be overcome with bloodlust. "I'm fine, Will," he insisted, though he was looking a little paler than before. It wasn't too hard to figure out why she wanted to make such a hasty, sudden exit.

"I'll be happier when you're comfortable," she told him, always honest even if it took her a little while to actually express her feelings to him on occasion. "I don't like it when you're like this. All it takes is one accident, and you're not yourself. And I know how much you hate it when that happens."

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:14 EST

"There has to be a better way to manage this," he muttered, mostly to himself, and sighing in annoyance, but he didn't bother to argue. He knew she was right; the need for blood was starting to grate on his nerves. "I'll drop you off at home first," he insisted, knowing it shouldn't take too long to find a suitable meal, even if it was just a couple of rats to tide him over.

Willow didn't argue, leaving a small collection of bills tucked safely underneath her cup before moving to rise, very aware of the pregnant belly and the baby inside who was beginning to wake up again. "Don't take too long," she smiled faintly. "I worry when you're not around, you know. Seems almost silly, but I can't help it."

"I won't be long," he promised as he moved to his feet, glancing over at the other couple, who didn't seem to notice they were leaving. "Would it be too rude to sneak out without saying good-bye?" he asked his wife, uncertainly.

"Only if they notice us," she smiled faintly. "Besides, it looks like they're gearing up to leave themselves. It would be cruel to make Bethany stand about while you and Jason exchange goodbyes for half an hour." She winked teasingly at her husband, knowing he was either going to defend himself or laugh.

"Wouldn't take half an hour, but I see your point," he agreed to disagree, laying a hand against the small of her back to usher her to the door, almost hoping they could slip out without being seen, especially the way he was feeling. He was pretty sure he could keep his bloodlust under control so long as he was with Willow, but he wasn't sure how long that would last.

Luck was with them - they managed to slip out and onto the street without Jason or Bethany noticing that they were leaving. Once there, Willow slid her hand into Nick's, utterly confident that he could keep it together long enough to get her home, at the very least. "Will you at least promise me you're going to eat properly tonight?" she asked him softly as they walked along.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, slanting a glance at her as they walked hand in hand down the street to where he'd parked the car. What exactly was a proper meal for someone like him' Some skid-row bum that was drunk out of his mind" A pimp who was beating on a whore" A drug dealer" A rapist' A rabid dog" A couple of rats" "I guess I'm gonna have to look into these donors Toby keeps lecturing me about."

"You should." Perhaps it was strange that she should be encouraging him to drink human blood, but she had seen now the difference in him when he drank animal blood. "You're going to make yourself sick if you keep on the way you are, and I have no idea how to nurse you if that happens."

"I know," he replied, not bothering to deny it. Though drinking rat's blood might not kill him, it was likely to either drive him mad or make him so sick he'd wish he was dead. "I'll talk to Tobias. I promise," he told her, leaning over to brush a kiss against her cheek, as if to appease her. Back in Albany, he'd been drinking from Tobias' donors, but here in New York, he was on his own.

She smiled as he kissed her cheek, knowing he would follow through on that promise, and abruptly froze, a look of terror crossing her face. She could feel something sharp against her belly, and a figure at her back. Eyes wide, she looked up at Nick in shock as a rough voice spoke from behind her. "Money," the opportunist mugger demanded. "Or the baby comes early."

All Nick had to do was see the look of terror on his wife's face and hear the words of demand from the man who was threatening her to take action. His eyes abruptly changed from their usual green to an almost amber color as he surrendered control over his preternatural side. As the change came over him, his incisors grew long and sharp, as did his fingernails, until they looked more like claws than nails. He hissed a breath, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled the man's scent, sensing the blood that was pumping through his veins and stirring the hunger that he'd been trying to control. The man didn't really have much of a chance against the likes of a vampire. Nick was stronger, faster, and far more deadly. Before the man knew what had hit him, Nick took hold of the arm that was holding the knife to his wife's stomach and broke it with a crunch and a snap of bones, twisting the arm backwards and sinking his incisors into the man's neck before he even had time to utter a scream.

The mugger didn't even have the chance to put up any sort of fight. As he spasmed, caught in Nick's grip, Willow lurched away, one hand over her mouth, the other curling protectively to her pregnant belly. She thumped back against the wall, trying not to cry out or make any sound at all, shaking with shock at the threat that had been handed out to her. No matter how safe she was in Nick's company - as he had just proved - she was still a liability to him as she was.

Left to it, Nick would probably drain the man, partly out of bloodlust and partly out of rage for the attack on his wife. He was half out of his mind with bloodlust, and the more he drank, the more he wanted, but he had never drained a man like this before. It was like cocaine to an addict. It wasn't just sustenance when it was like this - it was murder, and though Nick judged the man probably deserved it, he struggled with his preternatural side to regain control.

"Stop ..." The whisper came from his wife, regaining her senses enough to try and prevent her husband becoming a murderer. "Please, baby, stop. Don't kill him." She reached out toward Nick, frightened that he really might go too far, and jumped at the sound of another voice nearer than she might like.

"Hey ....hey, is everything okay?" It was Bethany Daly, who had apparently noticed something odd as she and her own husband left the pizzeria.

Somewhere deep inside, some part of Nick that wasn't a monster heard his wife's pleas. He could hear - no feel - the man's heartbeat slowing in his chest. Thump, thump, thump. Each slow beat pumping more blood into his mouth and down his throat to satiate his ravenous hunger. Each slow beat that passed brought the man closer to death and Nick closer to becoming the monster he so abhorred.

"What the hell is going on?" another familiar voice exclaimed as Bethany was joined by her husband, who had been a cop for so long he almost had a second sense about some things. He'd thought something didn't seem right when they'd left the pizzeria, and here was his proof.

Willow Gregory · Date: 2014-07-16 13:17 EST

"Stay back a second," Willow told them, her eyes trained on her husband. She was the only one who could approach him without danger, and she knew it. With their daughter issuing waves of calm to try and help her father come back from the edge before he became a murderer, Willow moved toward Nick, laying her hand against his cheek. "Baby, come back," she told him, fearless and, for the moment, heedless of their audience. "Don't do this. It isn't you."

Nick paused as Willow came close, her attacker's pulse pounding like the beat of a tribal drum in his head. He didn't want to stop. Every last nerve ending was screaming at him to keep going, to drink as much as he could. It was only Willow's pleading that gave him pause - that and the baby inside her with whom he felt an inexplicable connection. Waves of calm washed over him, despite his rage at the man's threats. He momentarily subsided, pulling his mouth away from the man's jugular, sharp teeth covered in the man's blood.

"He's a scumbag, Will," Nick growled back. "He would have killed you and the baby without a second thought," he pointed out, vaguely aware that they weren't alone. Jason and Beth remained where they were, looking more than a little startled by what was taking place in front of them.

Despite her own fear, her own shock, Willow focused her attention on her husband, ignoring his growling, grateful that their daughter was on her side when it came to this. "That's him," she told Nick firmly. "That isn't you. You're not a monster, Kringle. And I know that you never want your daughter to see you lose it. She's following every second of this. Step back, and show her what an amazing man her father is. Please."

"Nick..." Jason started, taking one step toward his friend and colleague, though he was careful to keep Bethany safely behind him.

"Stay out of this, Jason," Nick growled, feral amber eyes flashing a warning. "I don't want you involved."

"We're already involved, Nick," Jason pointed out. "Let the guy go, and I promise I'll make sure he gets what?s coming to him."

Nick looked from his wife to Jason and back, knowing they were right, feeling his daughter's presence urging him to calm, just like her mother. Suddenly, the unnatural yellow faded from his eyes, and they returned to their usual hazel green; the fangs that had pierced the man's flesh receded. Once again, Nick looked more the man and less the monster, less pale than before now that he'd fed. "You going to arrest me?" he asked his friend. He still held fast to the man's body, almost as though he was using him as a shield.

Willow looked worriedly between Jason and Nick, feeling her anxiety ratchet up now that Jason had seen the truth of what was. But surprisingly, it was Beth who spoke, hidden as she was behind her own husband.

"There's nothing to arrest you for," she said quietly, her eyes wide with unmistakeable fear. She knew what she'd seen, and she knew what her father would have done. But she had common sense, as well. "You're just defending your family."

Jason wasn't really surprised that Bethany had answered for him. He wasn't sure what had happened to Nick since he'd last seen him, but then, Nick had no way of knowing all the strange things that had happened to Jason. "She's right," he said. "He's the scumbag, not you. I'm willing to bet he's got a list of warrants a mile long. You're doing the city a favor in catching him before he hurts someone else."

Nick snorted doubtfully, but visibly relaxed. It seemed the crisis was averted, at least, for now. Now it was just a matter of sorting out what to do with the guy. Nick lowered the man to the ground, considering him thoughtfully a moment. "He's gonna bleed out," he muttered thoughtfully, leaning over the man's prone form once again, but this time, instead of feeding off the man, he bit into his own wrist before pressing it against the man's mouth, not to turn him, but to close the wound.

Beth let out a strangled sound as Nick fed his own blood to the would be mugger, but Willow turned to her, trying to reassure the other woman. "I don't know how you know what he is, but he's not turning him," she promised the other couple. "He's just healing him. So long as this guy doesn't die in the next twelve hours or so, he's going to be a groggy human, not a ....well, you know."

Beth swallowed, accepting this since it seemed as though Willow knew what she was talking about. Her grip on Jason's arm, however, tightened - her father's warnings had not fallen on deaf ears.

Nick gave the man only enough blood to heal the open wound in his neck and halt the bleeding. He didn't really care one way or the other if he lived or died, but he'd had his fill and he wouldn't be like Josef.

Jason's face was pale in the moonlight, clearly shaken, though he'd seen worse things than this during his career as a homicide detective, and he knew Nick had, too. "Probably be doing the city a favor letting him die," Jason remarked, holding tightly to his wife to offer what little comfort he could. "But I made a vow to uphold the law and so did you," he told his friend.

Nick moved to his feet, looking as perfectly normal as any other human being now that he'd fed. "He had a knife," Nick pointed out. "He would have killed my wife and child for a couple of bucks in her purse." Said knife had fallen from the man's hand and lay beside the prone body on the ground.

"I know. We saw enough of it to know what happened. I'm gonna have to report it," Jason said, with a frown.

The women frowned, each understanding that reporting this could end up with more questions being asked about Nick. And again, Beth came up with an answer, that analytical mind of hers a little more creative these days now she knew what really was out there. "Yes, you are," she agreed with her husband. "After all, what kind of officer would you be if you didn't report an attempted mugging on your own wife?" She glanced at Nick. "How much is that guy gonna remember?"

"Not a lot, and what he does remember, no one will believe anyway," Nick replied, turning a glance to Jason's wife. "You'd do that for me?" he asked her, though it was really for him and Willow, not just himself.

"Not a lot," Beth repeated. "He'll remember the big details. Like pulling a knife on a pregnant woman, and her husband taking him out." She looked up at Jason. "We can do that. You two should get going. But we should talk, sometime soon."

Willow nodded, as flabbergasted as Nick that this woman who hadn't even known they existed before this evening was prepared to perjure herself to protect a secret that wasn't hers. "Thank you," she nodded to Beth, reaching to slide her hand into Nick's.

Jason wasn't particularly surprised by his wife's quick thinking, but then he knew Beth better than almost anyone, except maybe her mother. "Go on," he urged them both with a nod of his head and a squeeze to Beth's hand. "Get going before he wakes up." Or someone else wanders this way, he thought to himself. "Call me in a few days, and we'll talk," he continued, wagering that Nick had quite a story to tell.

"He'll call," Willow promised, giving Nick a gentle tug away from the crime scene their unexpected guardian angels were so magnanimously taking responsibility for. "C'mon, baby. Let's go home."

Nick wasn't sure whether to feel grateful or suspicious. If it had been anyone else, he might have questioned their motives, but he and Jason had once been through hell together and had forged a bond few had experienced, much less could understand. He wasn't sure if it was friendship exactly, but he'd saved the man's life once, and it seemed that in a way, Jason was returning the favor. "All right, just....Don't believe everything you see in the movies," he warned the other couple, having no way of knowing they they were not unfamiliar with such things as vampires.

"Get going already," Jason urged, a little nervously, but Nick didn't have to be told twice as Willow tugged him away from the crime scene.

It seemed that the decision whether or not to bring the other couple in on their secret was already made for them. Only time would tell if Jason and Beth would be able to handle it, but for now, they seemed prepared to cover a multitude of sins for the sake of friendship. It was enough, provided that call got made. And whether Nick was truly comfortable to make it or not, Willow would make sure it happened. There was too much at stake not to.

((Jason and Beth just keep stumbling on these supernatural events, don't they' Must be the Old Soul thing they've got. Many humungous thanks to my wonderful writing partner!))