I hope you enjoy it.

Part 1

The Continuation of a Scene
(with 2 alternate scenarios) for
"A More Permanent Hell"

A FOREVER KNIGHT Story

by
Knight Ranger
(KnightRanger1228@yahoo.com)

aka Debbie Grace
(Dark Knightie; Nick & Nat Packer; Caddy Whack;
Cousin of the Knight; part-time Immortal Beloved;
and overall Die Hard)

1/3/04

DISCLAIMER: This FOREVER KNIGHT fan fiction story is
based on characters created by James D. Parriott and
Barney Cohen. FOREVER KNIGHT was produced by Paragon
Entertainment Corporation in association with
Columbia/TriStar Television, a division of Sony. No
copyright infringement is intended.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A special thanks to all my friends
who pre-read this story for me, especially Donna R.,
Anne G., Michelle L., and Nancy Z.

SPOILER/NOTES/BACKGROUND: This story is the
continuation of a scene from the second season Episode
#225, "A More Permanent Hell", written by Ron Taylor
and directed by John Kapelos.

Nick and Schanke are investigating the apparent
suicide of an astronomer working at the Royal
Observatory. During the course of the investigation,
they learn that Asteroid 6748, larger that the one
that caused the dinosaur extinction, is going to hit
the Earth. When word leaks out that the world will
end in three months, there is panic in the streets,
with rioting and looting. Soon Marital Law is
declared and the army is brought in as peacekeepers.

Vampires begin killing without concern of being
exposed. An overwhelmed Natalie realizes she doesn't
have to die if she is brought across instead. She
asks Nick to do it, and when he refuses, she goes to
the Raven. At the Raven, she meets Spark, a young
vampire, who decides to take her up on her offer.
Natalie changes her mind, but Spark 'whammies' her and
gets her to bring him to her apartment.

Natalie was faking the whammy and tries to escape
from Spark by locking herself in her bedroom.
Arriving in the nick of time, by crashing through her
window, Nick fights with Spark and they proceed to
trash Natalie's bedroom.

This is what I would have liked to have seen take
place during the commercial break at the end of Act 5,
after Nick and Spark fight.

I also have 2 alternate scenarios regarding this
scene.

Now on with the story?.

+=+=+=+=+

Nick said, "Are you all right?... It was a hoax,
Nat."

In a daze, Natalie replied, "What?"

Nick repeated, "It was a hoax. The world isn't going
to end."

+=+=+=+=+

Natalie was still in shock from the close call with
Spark.

Nick said, "Nat, look at me. I want you to look at
me." When Natalie finally turned her head to look at
him, he continued, "Nat, make some tea, sit on the
sofa with Sydney and relax. When its time, I'll come
get you, put you to bed, and you will sleep. Do you
understand?"

In a trace-like state, Natalie replied, "Yes. Tea,
relax, sleep."

Nick said, "Good, now go and wait for me to come get
you."

Natalie turned and went into the kitchen to make some
tea. Nick hated 'whamming' her, but under the
circumstances, he thought it was the best thing he
could do for her. Normally, being a resistor, she
wouldn't be susceptible, but now she was so
emotionally drained, her defenses were down and she
was wide open for enforced suggestions. Nick even
thought about wiping her memories of the whole
incident with Spark, but he knew she wouldn't want
that, so he settled for letting her just relax and
sleep. He knew they would need to talk about this
soon and he wasn't really looking forward to it.
Right now, the night was slipping away and he had a
lot to do.

+=+=+=+=+

The first order of business was Spark. For Natalie's
sake, Nick wanted to get the body off of Natalie's bed
and out of her apartment as fast as he could. Spark's
body had already begun the slow process of decay, but
Nick wanted to help it along. Being careful not to
dislodge the stake, he took it up to the roof and left
it where the morning sun would quickly turn it to
dust.

With that task done, Nick flew off into the night. He
thought of swinging by and picking up the Caddy, but
with all the chaos in the streets, he didn't want to
chance getting stuck in cross-town traffic or stopped
at a military checkpoint. So, he flew. He was back a
short time later carrying a small duffel bag and two
pieces of plywood. He had returned to his loft for
supplies and then swooped down into a lumberyard for
the wood. He had left an envelope, addressed "To the
owner", with cash and a note written on the back of
his business card. He wasn't sure how much the wood
cost, but he was sure he'd left enough to cover it.

Now back at Natalie's apartment, Nick got down to the
business at hand. First he changed into the jeans he
brought with him. He could have changed at the loft,
but he didn't want to take the time. He wanted to get
back to Nat as quickly as possible; he didn't want her
to be alone too long. Then, he went into the living
room to check on Natalie. Assuring himself that she
was resting comfortably, he began cleaning up. He
swept up the glass, wood from the closet door, and
other debris from his fight with Spark, bagged it all
and flew it down to the dumpster. After another quick
check on Nat, he began tidying up her bedroom. He
re-hung one of the bookshelves and replaced the books.
The other shelf was broken, so he stacked the books
in neat piles on the floor. He up-righted the broken
lamp, then he rearranged the items in the closet as
best as he could. The last thing he did was cover the
broken windows with the plywood. Then he stood back
and surveyed the room. Everything was as neat and
orderly as could be expected, and it would have to do
until he could repair everything properly.

As the sun was rising, Nick went into the living room
and got Natalie. She was sitting on the sofa drinking
tea and petting Sydney. He handed her a nightgown and
told her to get ready for bed. When she came out of
the washroom, he led her to the bed, tucked her in,
and told her to sleep. She snuggled down under the
covers and immediately fell asleep. Sydney jumped up
and turned himself into a tight little ball near her
side.

+=+=+=+=+
End Part 1

I sent this a few days ago, but it didn't seem to go
through. So, here it is again.

You must see 'End Part 2' to have the complete
section.

Part 2

The Continuation of a Scene (with 2 alternate
scenarios) for "A More Permanent Hell"

by
Knight Ranger
(KnightRanger1228@yahoo.com)

Part 2/2

Nick knew he would be spending the day at Natalie's,
but he hadn't really considered his options. He
thought about making a dash for the Caddy and spending
the day in the trunk, when he realized the Caddy
wasn't there since he had flown over. The shades and
curtains were too thin, and because it was too bright,
the living room was out of the question. He would
have to talk to Natalie about replacing them with
heavier ones for future stay-over visits.

Next he checked all the closets, but they were all
stuffed full. He never knew Nat was a pack rat and
had so much 'stuff'. He thought about the bathtub,
and it could work, because there was only one small
opaque window that he could cover with thick towels.
Then he realized it would be very embarrassing if Nat
got up to answer 'the call of nature' only to find him
sleeping in the tub.

So, he decided to stay right where he was, sitting in
a chair by her bed, listening to the sound of her
breathing as she slept. Nick was also listening to
the slow, peaceful rhythm of her heartbeat and it was
music to his ears as he fed from one of his bottles of
cow blood. As he fell asleep, the empty bottle
slipped from his hand and landed gently on the floor.

As the day wore on, Nick awoke with a start and the
feeling of sunlight burning his skin. His vampire
alert system was warning him that there was too much
sunlight for him to tolerate within the room. After
boarding up the windows and closing the drapes, he had
hung up blankets for extra protection, but it still
wasn't enough for him to feel safe. He wasn't
burning, but he was fully aware that he could be at
any minute, and panic began to overtake him. In a
desperate act of self-preservation, he dove under
Natalie's bed. It was dark and when he realized he
was safe, the panic left and he began to relax. Soon,
he was asleep again.

+=+=+=+=+

Natalie had been sleeping so soundly, she really
didn't want to move, but it was either that or have an
accident in the bed, so, trying not to disturb Sydney,
she carefully got out of bed. As she made her way to
the washroom, she vaguely remembered sitting on the
sofa, hugging Sydney, and drinking tea, lots and lots
of tea.

As she made her way back to bed, now that she was a
little more awake, she began to remember even more.
She remembered Spark's fight with Nick -- the glowing
yellow eyes, bared fangs, and growling -- ending with
Nick staking Spark on her bed. She was confused, and
she began to think the whole thing -- Spark, Asteroid
6748, everything -- was just a dream.

As if to confirm for herself that it really was just a
dream, she began to look around the room. She saw the
window covered with plywood and blankets, the books
piled on the floor, a duffel bag she didn't recognize,
and Nick's clothes draped over the back of the chair.
Now she knew it wasn't a dream, it was really
happening, the world was going to be destroyed by an
asteroid in three months and everyone was doomed.
Then she remembered Nick's words, "It was a hoax,
Nat.... The world isn't going to end."

<'Nick!'>

She did a double-take glance at the room and ran to
the duffel bag. It contained bottles of blood. The
clothes on the chair were the ones he was wearing last
night. Now, she began to panic. <'Where was Nick?
It was the middle of the day, where was he? Why would
his stuff be here? And, what was he doing without his
clothes?'>

She ran into the living room, but even with the shades
and curtains drawn, it was very bright and she knew he
wouldn't be there. She began a room-by-room search,
checking closets and thinking to herself that she sure
had a lot of junk to clean out, but did not find Nick.
Finally, she ended up back in her bedroom scared out
of her mind that something awful must have happened to
him, when she noticed Sydney at the foot of the bed,
staring under it and ready to pounce on something.
She shooed him away and got down on her hands and
knees to take a peek. She didn't know she was holding
her breath, until she let it out as a huge sigh of
relief, when she saw some wavy, blond hair.

Then she remember Nick's clothes on the chair and
thought, <'What if he's naked?'> She moved an empty
'wine' bottle out of her way, as she maneuvered down
the side of the bed to get a closer look. Nick was
lying on his back with his hands folded across his
chest. She could see that he had changed his clothes
and wasn't naked after all. She thought to herself,
<'Maybe I shouldn't disturb him while he's sleeping?
He can't be comfortable under there? Why is he even
under there?'>

She looked around the room and saw some light creeping
in from around the window. The blanket had slipped
down, so she rearranged it to cover the window better,
and block the light from entering the room. Then she
decided to wake Nick. She began by calling his name.
Getting no response, she reached under the bed, and
gently shook his shoulder twice. There was still no
response. With a third, more forceful shake, glowing
yellow eyes snapped open, along with a mouth of
gleaming sharp, white fangs, and a deep growl erupted
from his chest.

Natalie rolled away from the bed and ran to the corner
of the room, while Nick shot out from the other side
of the bed and hissed at her. Sydney jumped up on the
bed, immediately puffed out his fur and began hissing
and growling at Nick. Nick growled and hissed back.
Surprisingly, Sydney held his ground for a moment, but
when Nick hissed again and took a step closer, Sydney
bolted from the room.

Natalie called to Nick, trying to get his attention
off the cat and focused back on her. Nick looked at
her with a confused frown on his face; then he looked
around the room, trying to remember where he was while
getting his bearings. He put his head down and took a
deep breath, which he really didn't need. When he
lifted his head again and looked at Natalie with deep
blue eyes, he said, "Nat, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean
to scare you... or Sydney. It's just? I was sleeping
and? I mean? I wasn't expecting?."

Natalie said, "Nick. Nick, its okay. I'm the one who
should be apologizing. I'm the one who woke you up in
the middle of the day. I should have realized you
would have been startled and unprepared. Anyway,
there's no harm done? to me anyway. I'm not so sure
about Sydney. He's going to need some calming down.
How about you? Are you all right?

Nick said, "Me. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

All of a sudden, Natalie started laughing.

Nick said, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I saw your clothes over there and was
wondering if maybe you were sleeping in the nude."
Natalie looked Nick over -- at his rumbled jeans,
royal blue T-shirt (which mirrored the color of his
eyes), bare feet, tousled hair -- and said, "Glad to
see you weren't, or this could have been even more
embarrassing." If Nick could have blushed, he would
have. Natalie continued, "What were you doing under
my bed anyway?"

They both sat down on the end of the bed and Nick told
her everything that transpired that night, including
how he 'whammied' her into sleep. It was hard for
him, but he had to tell her the truth. He wasn't
going to lie to her.

When Nick finished, Nat said, "Well, I am glad you
didn't pick the bathtub, because all that tea was why
I had to get up in the first place."

Nick yawned and said, "I'm really sorry about that,
but you were so upset. I had to do something to make
you feel better. Anyway, we have a lot of talking to
do -- about this whole situation with the Asteroid and
my not wanting to bring you across -- but its going to
have to wait until later tonight, if that's all right
with you." Nick stifled another yawn and continued,
"Right now, it?s still the middle of the day and I'm
having a hard time staying awake. I have to get some
sleep... and so do you. Thanks for fixing the
blanket. Now I can sleep in the chair if that's all
right with you. I can move it to the other side of
the room if you prefer not having me so close to the
bed."

Natalie said, "Oh, no you don't. You're going to
sleep in the bed like every other normal human
being." Nat held up her hand when Nick started to say
something. "No, hear me out. This room is dark
enough for you now, right." At Nick's nod she
continued, "Then you take the bed. I'll go on the
couch."

Nick replied, "Nat, I am not kicking you out of you
own bed. I won't hear of it, and that's final. The
chair will be fine. I've slept on worse and in a lot
of worse places. And, as you already know, once I'm
asleep, it really doesn't matter anyway, I'm dead to
the world, so to speak, and I'm totally oblivious to
everything around me. Okay."

scenario 1:

"Okay," said Natalie. "But, the chair can stay right
where it is. Oh, and I'll get darker shades for the
living room for next time, okay."

"Deal." Nick stood up, gave Nat a quick peck on her
forehead, and said, "Goodnight, Nat. Sleep well."

Natalie said, "With you here to keep me company, of
course I will. Goodnight, Nick."

With a smile on his face, Nick said, "I thought I
might have worn out my welcome. I'm glad I didn't,
because I love being near you."

Shortly before dusk, Natalie woke up. Nick was still
asleep in the chair. As Nat threw back the covers and
began to get out of bed, Nick woke up and practically
flew out of the chair to the far corner of the room.

scenario 2:

"Well, if that's the case, then we'll share the bed,"
said Natalie. At Nick's stunned expression, she
continued, "I have your word, Sir Knight, that you
will behave like a proper gentleman."

With a bow and a kiss to the back of her hand, Nick
said, "As Milady commands."

They both climbed into the bed. At first they both
lay there pretending to sleep, each knowing the other
was awake. A short time later, Natalie fell asleep.
With Nat so close to him, Nick was having a hard time
of it, but the daylight overtook him and he slept
soundly.

Natalie rolled over and draped her arm over Nick's
chest. Nick covered her hand with his own and held
her hand over his heart. That was the position she
found herself in when she woke up. Nick was still
asleep. True to his word, he hadn't moved all day.
Natalie enjoyed watching him sleep; he looked so
relaxed and peaceful. As she watched, his eyes opened
slowly and he
turned his head and looked at her. Immediately he let
go of her hand, and practically flew out of the bed to
the far corner of the room.

both continue:

Natalie said, "Nick, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Nat." As Nick lowered his head, she
thought she could see yellow flecks in his eyes. Very
softly he said, "I'm hungry."

Natalie got out of bed, went over to his duffel bag
and pulled out a bottle, then she walked over and
handed it to him. "You know, you really should have
put those in the refrigerator. I hope it hasn't gone
bad."

Nick said, "Its okay. Thanks," as he drained it in
seconds.

The situation was becoming awkward, so Natalie said,
"Well, please excuse me for a minute while I...."

"Yeah. Yeah, sure.... No problem," Nick said.

While Natalie was in the washroom, Nick fed from his
second bottle. When she came back and saw him, she
said, "If you don't mind, I'm going to make myself
some breakfast. And, I've got to find Sydney. I'm
sure he wants breakfast, too."

After a short pause, Natalie continued, "And Nick, I
don't think I thanked you for saving my life. I
almost made a terrible mistake and I'm glad you were
there for me."

Nick said, "Nat, you know I would never let anything
hurt you. But, Nat, I need to get going. I have to
swing by the loft and change before starting my shift.
We're both off tomorrow night, and if it's all right
with you, I'd like to come by and fix everything
properly for you. I'll replace the windows and get a
new bookshelf, closet door, and anything else that
needs fixing around here. We also need to have that
talk. What do you say?"

"That would be great, Nick.... Maybe I'll stop by the
precinct later and see if things are getting back to
normal," Natalie said.

Nick said, "I'll look forward to it." After at short
pause, he added, "Nat... thank you for letting me
spend the day with you. I wasn't even sure you wanted
me around anymore. I'm so glad to know that after all
that's happened, we're still friends."

"Yes, Nick, we're still friends and nothing can change
that. Not now, not ever. Well, you better get going,
you don't want to be late. I'll see you later, okay,"
said Natalie.

Nick said, "Bye, Nat," gave her a peck on the cheek,
grabbed his stuff, and with a 'whoosh' of air was
gone.

END NOTES: Either way, the first scene of the tag
after the commercial would also change. Nick and
Nat's conversation at the desk would not occur. To
continue with my version of events, Nick would go back
to the loft to 'freshen up' and then go to the
precinct. Nat would come by, (without the chip on her
shoulder), join the party, and everyone would have a
good time.

Lacroix' final scene of the tag and the flashback to
Pompeii would stay as aired.

End Part 2/2