Oops!  Forgot to mention.  Dead End can be archived at the fkfanfic site
and anywhere else, as long as I get credit.

Rose and I watched... I don't remember which episode it was, but it got us
discussing what would _really_ happen if Nick ate only human food.  I had a
couple of different ideas, and this is one.

Thanks to Cloud for reading it over with a red pen.  Thanks always to
everyone who writes with feedback!  Standard
non-copyright-violating-disclaimer-thingie.

Dead End (1/1)

      "Hey Knight, something wrong?  You're looking paler today."  Captain
Cohen's voice was concerned.

      "Nothing, Captain.  I'm just feeling a little... queasy."

      "Well do me a favor and don't get 'queasy' at any scenes, OK?  The
last thing we need is our detectives getting sick."

      Nick smiled and nodded.  After almost a week of eating nothing but
human food, his co-workers were starting to get used to him having a better
complexion.  It had been hard at first, but eventually, the hunger just
seemed to fade away.  He seemed closer than ever to mortality, and was
determined to see it through.

      Still, what he had told the captain was true-he wasn't feeling very
well today.  He felt weak, weaker than even a mortal should, and slightly
dizzy.  But he was sure it was just a passing thing and decided to ignore
it.

      "Hey, partner, wanna donut?"  Schanke had nearly fainted in surprise
when his partner had actually accepted his offer several days ago.

      "Nah.  I'm not really hungry."  It was true.  In fact, Nick's stomach
rebelled at even the thought of putting anything into it.

      The shift turned out to be a quiet one, and it was a good thing, too,
because the feeling of ill-being grew as time passed.  Nick found it hard to
concentrate on his computer screen, and his hand shook as he tried to write.
Worse, his head was pounding as though it would split open.

      "Nick?"  He heard Schanke's voice as if from far away.  "Nick, you
OK?"

      "Yeah, Schank, I'm fine."  His voice came out weak and faint.

      "Oh no you're not," Schanke answered firmly.  "Man, you look bad.
Maybe I should call a doctor or something."

      "No, Schank.  I'll be alright."  He rubbed his eyes, then quickly
buried his face in his hands as he was knocked by a wave of dizziness and
felt himself vamp out.  He groaned.  Now what?

      "Aw, man, you're not gonna puke or something, are you?"  Nick's mind
grabbed onto Schanke's comment, and, covering his mouth with one hand and
slitting his eyes, he bolted for the men's room.  Once inside, he shoved the
door closed and snapped the deadbolt in place.  Then, too weak to do
anything else, he slid slowly down the wall and sat there.

      "Nick?  Nick, c'mon, you're scaring us out here."  There was a pause.
"Man, I'm calling the hospital."

      "No!"  Nick's voice was harsh.  "Just get Natalie, OK, Schanke?"

      "I don't know, Nick.  You need-"

      "Just call Natalie."

      Schanke looked at the cops watching and shrugged.  "Well, if you say
so.  But if she says you need to go to the hospital, you're going."

      "Fine."

      Natalie was finishing up some paperwork of her own when her phone
jangled.  "ME's office, Lambert speaking."

      "Natalie, oh, Natalie, we got a problem down here."  Schanke's voice
was slightly panicked.

      "Schanke?  What's wrong?"

      "It's Nick."  Natalie felt her heart sink into her stomach.  "When he
came in, he wasn't looking to hot, but he said he was fine, but then a few
minutes ago he went a really funny color and bolted for the men's room.
He's locked himself in and won't come out.  He insisted we call you."

      Natalie was already on her feet and reaching for her 'vampire
emergency kit'.  "I'll be right there."

      "All right, guys, doctor coming through."  The cluster of curious cops
parted to let her pass.  She rapped on the door.  "Nick?  Nick, it's me.
Let me in."  For a moment, there was no answer.  Then the deadbolt slid back
with an audible 'click'.  Cautiously, Natalie pushed the door open and
slipped inside.  Schanke made as if to follow.  "Schanke, stay out," she
instructed firmly.  "If whatever he's got is catching, the fewer people we
expose to him, the better."  He obeyed reluctantly.  Natalie turned around.
"Nick?"  It took her a moment to notice him huddled against the opposite
wall.  He was shaking visibly and didn't look up.  "Nick!  Nick, look at me.
What's wrong?"  He didn't move for a moment, then slowly raised his head.
Natalie took a deep breath.  His eyes were blue, but just barely, and she
could tell he was struggling just for that.  "What happened?" she asked
carefully.

Nick just shook his head.  "I don't know."

"Are you hungry?"

"No."

"Not at all?" There was a meaningful edge to her voice.

"No."

"Nothing like this has ever happened to you before?"

"No."  It was clear that Nick had no more idea of what was happening than
she did.

Natalie sighed in frustration.  What could be causing this?  It sure wasn't
the flu.  "Nick, I need to take some samples so I can try to figure this
out.  Can you let me do that?"  Without a word, Nick held out his arm and
rested his forehead against his knees.  Natalie quickly obtained the blood
and tissue samples she needed, then tucked them into her bag.  "Right, then,
you need to go home.  I'll take you.  Do you think you can stay in control
just to get out to the car?"

"Yeah, I think so."  With Natalie's help, Nick levered himself to his feet.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, and leaning on Natalie, they left
the bathroom.

"Whoa, there, let me help you!" Schanke exclaimed as he leapt to Nick's
other side and wrapped Nick's arm around his shoulder.  Together, they got
Nick out to Natalie's car and loaded him into the passenger seat.  As
Natalie moved to get in the driver's side, Schanke stopped her.

"Natalie, seriously, what's wrong with him?" he asked, obviously worried
about his partner.

Natalie looked at Nick's slumped form.  "Not much, really," she said,
forcing her voice to be light.  "Probably just his allergies reacting to his
new treatment.  He'll be fine tomorrow."

Once Natalie was sure that Nick was safely in the loft, she sped back to the
lab, anxious to see what came up under a microscope.  The blood samples
looked like they always did, so she set them up for further testing, then
turned to the tissue.

"Oh my...."  Her voice trailed off into the silent lab as she realized what
she was seeing.  There, within the tissue sample, the cells were attacking
one another!  The victorious cells were breaking down the losers and
metabolizing them as she had seen them do with blood so many times.  She
looked again and again, tried different slides, but the truth was
inevitable.  Faced with a total lack of sustenance, Nick's body was
devouring itself from the inside out!

Grabbing her phone, she dialed Nick's number.  The answering machine beeped.
"Nick?  Nick pick up the phone!"  Nothing.  "Nick, if you can hear me, I
want you to feed, NOW!!!  OK?  Nick?"  Silence.  "Nick I'm coming over right
now, I'll explain when I get there."

Nick probably would have been glad to know that if he had been conscious to
hear it.

      "Nick?"  Natalie's voice echoed slightly in the still loft, sounding
terribly small to her own ears.  She cleared her throat as she stepped
cautiously past the threshold.  "Nick?" she called a little louder.  Still
no response.  Perhaps he wasn't here?  But a terrible feeling in the pit of
Natalie's stomach said he was.  "Nick?" she called a third time as she
approached the couch, then stepped back with a gasp.  Nick lay half-curled
next to the couch, as if he had fallen off of it.  He was absolutely still
and his eyes stared sightlessly.  "Nick!"  Now it was a cry as she rushed to
his side and shook him.  "Nick, talk to me!"  It was no use-the form did not
move in the slightest.  "Oh, Nick, no, no!"  Her hand flew to her mouth as
she realized the magnitude of the situation.

      With a violent shake of the head, Natalie forced herself not to panic.
"OK, Lambert, think!" she instructed herself firmly.  "He needs blood."
Moving quickly, she hooked a unit bag of donor blood to an IV tube and
slipped the needle into his elbow.  Nothing.  Natalie knew that Nick's body
should be absorbing blood like sand absorbs water, but there was no movement
at all.  She sat and watched it for a few moments, expecting-hoping-it would
change, but it didn't.

      "No, no, that's not going to work, what else?"  She looked around
franticly, as if the loft itself held a clue.  "There's got to be something
else!"  Natalie knew she was officially talking to herself now, but she was
too frightened to care.   She didn't know what to do!  The words of a
professor from med school popped into her head.  He had often lectured about
how too many doctors became so proud that they refused to ask for help.
Then, he would say, is when the fatal mistakes get made.  'If you don't know
what to do next, get someone who does!'

      "Get someone who does," she mumbled.  "Who?"  Of course.  "Janette!"

      "Miss DuCharme."  Janette turned to find Miklos standing behind her, a
hesitant look on his face.

      "What is it?" she asked with a touch of annoyance.  Why did everyone
need something just when she was in the middle of a conversation?

      "Dr. Lambert is on the phone and says she must speak to you.  She
sounded quite frantic."

      Janette frowned.  Now what?  "I'll be right back," she promised her
current toy, who grinned eagerly in return.

The silence of her office was almost deafening after the tumult of the club.
She picked up the phone.  "Yes?" she answered in her coldest tone.

      The caller didn't even notice.  "Janette, something's wrong with Nick,
I mean really wrong, I never thought this would happen, but I didn't realize
what his reaction would be-"

      "Doctor," Janette said firmly, "if would you kindly calm yourself."
She waited a moment.  "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

      "It's Nick.  He's unconscious.  Sort of-- it's more like he's in a
coma.  His eyes are open, but he's not moving or anything.  If he were
mortal, I'd say he was dead."

      "What has he taken in of late?  Any of your chemicals or some such?"

"No.  It's just that he's been trying to eat mortal food and it was going
really well-"

"How long has it been since he last fed?" Janette interrupted impatiently.

      "On blood?  Almost a week.  I tried to do a transfusion, but his body
won't accept it."

      "I shall be there immediately."

It was only a few minutes before Natalie heard a firm rap on the window.
Standing from where she was keeping watch over Nick, she hurried over and
let Janette in.  The vampire took in everything with a sweeping glance, then
moved to inspect her fallen sibling.

      "Tell me everything," she demanded.  Natalie took a deep breath and,
as calmly as she could, explained the theory behind the experiment, Nick's
apparent progress, and his sudden illness at work.  It wasn't until she
detailed what she had seen under the microscope that her voice wavered.  The
horrific scene and her terrible realization played out again and again
before her eyes.  With determination, she shook it off.  There was time to
react later.  Meanwhile, Janette looked over Nick, checking his eyes, and
inspecting the IV set up.  For a few long moments, she silently but
intensely tried to reach him through their bond.  But all she saw was
blackness.

      "Bring me a knife," she instructed shortly.  Natalie did, then stood
nearby; not too close, but able to see everything.  Janette unhooked the IV
needle, but kept it close at hand.

      "I thought vampires couldn't actually starve to death?" Natalie asked,
remembering suddenly.

      "Technically, we can, but normally it takes a very long time and
requires a considerable amount of effort."  Janette quickly made first a
slash in Nick's wrist, then in her own, and held them together.  "But
normally, a vampire facing starvation goes into a kind of hibernation.  They
do not attempt to continue to go about their lives, and they certainly do
NOT attempt to live off of mortal food."  By the time Janette finished the
sentence, her tone was scathing.  Natalie wilted inside, struck again by
exactly how little she knew about vampires.

      Janette glanced up and saw her expression, and her voice softened.
"That was not meant for you, Doctor.  You cannot be blamed for that which
you were never told.  Nichola's stubbornness is legendary-of all his many
qualities, good and bad, his willpower is among the strongest."  She smiled
bitterly.  "And that, of itself, is at times good, at times bad."  Her
attention turned back to Nick, who still didn't stir.  "Come, Nichola," she
said very softly.  "Like it or not, you are not yet done with this world."
She paused, then smiled to herself.  "Besides, I think you would have a very
disappointed doctor here if you should decide to die on her."

      Natalie stared intently at Nick, watching for any flicker of movement.
She saw nothing, but Janette drew in a sudden hiss of breath, her eyes
flickering golden.  "Bon, mon chere," she murmured, and Natalie
instinctively drew back as she caught the flash of fangs behind the
vampire's lips.  Janette paid her no mind, but with her free hand picked up
the IV needle and slipped it into Nick's stomach.  Now the blood flowed
quickly through the tube, and in less than a minute, the bag was empty.
Janette gestured impatiently to Natalie, who jumped, startled, then moved
quickly to replace the bag with one that was full.  Another bag followed
before Janette nodded and pulled her wrist away from Nick's.  Nick's skin
had returned to its normal pallor, but he was breathing regularly, and he
had relaxed into a natural sleep.

      "He will be fine," Janette stated, half to Natalie, half to the
sleeping Nick.  She shook her head and scowled at the still form.  "Fool!"
she muttered, though Natalie doubted she was actually angry.  Then,
suddenly, Janette turned to Natalie.  Natalie found herself arrested by
something inexplicable, inexpressible, in those inhuman eyes-not afraid, but
somehow unable to move as the vampire regarded her solemnly.

      At last Janette looked away and rose gracefully, glancing down at Nick
as she did so.  "This 'quest' of Nichola's is nothing but an insane dream,
and it seems that everyone knows that but him.  Yet I know that nothing I
say or do will ever convince him to give it up.  It has been a very long
time since he has listened to me concerning anything."  She looked back at
Natalie.  "Therefore I say this to you, in hopes that you will prove more
sensible than he."  She now stood less than a foot from Natalie, and her
tone was one of warning.  "Be careful, Doctor.  He was in no immediate
danger here, though he has been before.  In his desire for mortality,
Nichola has a way of discarding common sense, and it is up to those around
him to retain it for his sake.  Furthermore," the warning was even more
stern now, and heavy with meaning, "you are both very lucky that LaCroix is
away at the moment.  He would be quick to take advantage of such a
situation."  Though her face did not ch!
ange, Natalie could have sworn she saw something take hold in the other
woman's eyes... dread?

      Then she was gone.

      Nick awoke several hours later, nearly blind with hunger.
Immediately, a bag of human blood was held in front of his face.  He
snatched it and drained it ravenously, then another when it replaced the
first.  After two bags, he had regained his senses enough to look at the
figure sitting on the couch near his head.  Natalie sat in a posture of
resigned defeat, her chin propped up on her fist.

      "Well," she said glumly, "scratch that theory."

End

"Eternal nights too short,
How quickly melt away,
With all the love we shared once,
Forever in a Day."