"I still say you should have left her with Lauren," Tobias was saying as he lead Nick and Willow Gregory from their parked car toward the elevator that would take them to the guest penthouse currently occupied by Julian and Anabelle Stafford. It had been a full day since the Staffords had arrived, and despite Tobias' misgivings, one-year-old Alessandra was perched comfortably on Willow's hip.

"I'm not leaving my daughter anywhere while Josef is still at large," Willow countered sternly. "Besides, the sooner we know if these two can handle dealing with a dhampir, the better, and if they can't, it'll be three against two. Right?" Her eyes turned toward her husband, looking for support, and a moment later, Alessandra's eyes turned that way as well, the ever-present flicker of their daughter's emotions betraying that she was enjoying their outing, no matter what anyone else felt.

"If we'd brought Lauren with us, it would have been four against two," Nick pointed out, feeling there was safety in numbers. Besides, Lauren was a full-fledged dhampir, not to mention a friend and ally. "How old did you say these two are?" he asked, his gaze drifting to meet that of his daughter's and reaching out to playfully tweak her nose. They'd had a year to not only get used to being vampires, but being parents, too. It was an odd combination, but it seemed to be working well for them, and he had few complaints.

"The younger, Anabelle, is around my age," Tobias told them over the sound of the baby girl's laughter. "A little over two hundred. Her companion, Julian, is twice that, at least. He is the one you will have to convince of your competence; he seems to be the dominant partner."

Willow rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, she's still stuck in the age of a woman's place is in the home," she sighed, for a moment the walking epitome of the emancipated female.

"They would make formidable allies then," Nick observed aloud, his mind straying to the conflict ahead of them with Josef, unaware as of yet that the pair of newcomers had problems and an enemy of their own.

"They maybe in need of allies themselves," Tobias warned him, glancing up at the camera as the elevator stopped between floors. "Mr. Stafford" Mrs. Stafford?"

There was a pause, and a female voice came over the intercom. "Mr. Acton?"

Tobias chuckled. "Mrs. Stafford, if you would just press the green button on the pad in front of you, the elevator will continue its journey upward," he explained patiently.

Across the small space, Willow bit her lip, trying not to laugh as she crossed her eyes for the amusement of her daughter. After a long pause, there was a triumphant sound from the intercom, and the elevator continued on its way.

Tobias glanced at Nick. "They're not quite as familiar with modern technology as we are used to over here."

"Where have they been living" Under a rock?" Nick asked, in his usual sarcastic tone of voice. Even if they were a couple of hundred years old, why not embrace the technology that would keep them safe" "So, what are we dealing with here" A couple of vampires straight out of a gothic romance novel?" he asked, imagining Dracula or even worse, an Anne Rice novel.

"I did not ask," Tobias told Nick in amusement. "They have only just experienced a sunrise for the first time, be gentle with them. A vampire who feels out of place can switch from awkward to actively hostile at the flip of a switch."

Willow nodded, absorbing this as she jiggled Alessandra on her hip. A curious note touched the little girl's feelings as she looked between her parents. Why was everyone so tense"

"I assume this lawyer friend of yours dug them up and sent them here for a reason, but you don't know what that reason is?" Nick pressed further. It was hard to take the cop out of him, even now that he no longer had a badge. He had switched careers to the private sector, which not only fit his new lifestyle better, but afforded him more time with his family.

"No, I don't know the reason," Tobias told him yet again. "I realize it is a mystery you want to solve, Nick, but you need to learn to tread a little more carefully. Our lives revolve around secrecy, all of us. It is not a personal affront to you that they have not chosen to share anything but the vaguest of details as soon as they arrived. Try not to be too abrasive."

Beside Nick, Willow snickered softly against their daughter's hair, setting off Alessandra's peals of laughter once again.

Nick grunted a response, grudgingly accepting the elder vampire's advice, but it was hard to stay grumpy in the company of such a happy little girl. "Dare I ask what exactly you two are giggling at?" he asked, almost challenging Willow to dare say it was him, though there was a hint of amusement in his gray-green eyes that made itself known far more often now that he was a father.

Willow grinned at him. "Oh, just Grandpa giving Daddy a telling off before he's even said hello to these people," she told the men innocently, offered with Alessandra's gummy grin taking both of them in at once as well. It was difficult to be anything but amused in the presence of their cheerful little girl.

Tobias chuckled, shaking his head as the elevator slowed. "Behave," he told them. "All of you."

"Especially you," Nick said, poking a finger at his daughter's side to tickle her, which did nothing to stop her laughter, the sound of which was like music to his ears. He and Willow had been craving a child for years, and Aly - as she had affectionately become known - was not only their miracle child but the light of all their lives.

And it was that joyful sound, and the smiles that accompanied it, that were the first impression the Gregorys made upon the visitors from Europe as the elevator doors opened. Anabelle blinked in surprise, not having expected a child at all, and was instantly charmed by the view they presented. Brushing her blonde hair from her eyes, she offered a smile of her own. "Mr. Acton, welcome back," she greeted Tobias. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Gregory. Please, come in."

Willow's brows rose sharply at the sight of the youthful vampire in front of them. As Anabelle turned to draw them further into the penthouse, she leaned over to Nick. "No way is she the same age as Toby."

"Looks are deceiving when it comes to our kind," Nick replied, sotto voce. Though he had a feeling everyone there would be able to hear him, considering they all shared the same preternatural hearing, it seemed an unspoken rule among vampires to pretend not to notice. Nick, too, was a little taken aback by the youthful appearance of their hostess. She certainly didn't look a day over twenty-one, if that, but as he'd said, he knew looks could be deceiving.

From somewhere behind her, a man appeared who he assumed must be "Mr. Stafford". He, too, looked younger than expected, though there was something about his eyes that made him appear almost ancient. "I gotta stop watching late night horror movies," Nick murmured.

"Old Souls," was all Tobias would say, but to a vampire who had lived as long as Julian had, no doubt that answer would be enough.

It was for Ana, who nodded in understanding. "No wonder they do not flinch at the idea of playdates with a dhampir," she smiled, wiping the blood from her hand discreetly. "You have an interesting life here, Mr. Gregory."

"If we're going to be friends, you might as well call me Nick," he told the other pair, flicking a glance to the telltale blood she'd just swiped from her hand. "Sorry about that," he apologized for their daughter again. "And yeah, I guess you could say that." He wondered what they'd think when they found out he was a P.I.

"Children will be children," Ana smiled. "She cannot be more than a year old. She will learn."

Tobias cleared his throat suspiciously, but said nothing overt. He'd been on the receiving end of Aly's inquisitive bites for a while now.

Willow threw him a smirking glance, and turned her attention to Julian. "So, Mr. Stafford," she said, "business or pleasure?"

"I beg your pardon?" Julian asked, brows arching upwards, so distracted by the child, he'd lost track of the conversation. "Are you asking why we're here?" he added, turning his attention back to the child's mother, rather than the child herself.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Willow nodded. "I don't mean to be rude, but we don't get many visitors from Europe around here, and those that do come are just passing through. We've only crossed one who stayed for a little destructive fun, and he's on our list."

There went those brows ticking upwards again at the hint that their guests might have an enemy of their own. Tobias had hinted already hinted at as much, but Julian had not wanted to pry. He said nothing for a long moment as he considered whether to trust them with the real reason for their trip across the ocean. "Neither really," he said, turning to Tobias and asking a question of his own before he could answer theirs. "How much did Sheffield tell you?"

Tobias sighed softly, tearing his eyes away from where Anabelle was entertaining the baby still sat on Nick's knee. "That you needed to get out of England in a hurry," he told Julian. "It was all I needed to know. We don't, as a race, ask each other deep questions, but if there is a chance you have brought danger to our land, we should know about it."

Put that way, Julian didn't have much choice but to tell them the truth - or at least, as much of the truth as he dared. "I was turned four hundred years ago or so by a vampire named Serena. I do not know if that is her real name, but it is the only name I've ever known her by. She's old and ..." He paused a moment, hesitating before continuing. "She's a little bit mad." Or more than a little bit, if truth be told. "She means to destroy us, or at least one of us," he said, sliding a hand into Anabelle's as he spoke, revealing without saying so which of them was in more danger. "She left us a calling card of sorts outside our home in London, making her intentions known. I would deal with her myself, but I'm afraid for Ana."

"A mad vamp who goes after mates," Willow sighed, looking at her husband. "Sounds familiar."

Tobias shook his head as Julian spoke, not missing the protective grip the man took on Anabelle. "You believe her to be entirely focused upon you?" he asked.

"I do not believe it - I know it," Julian replied with a slight upwards tilt of his chin. He was not accustomed to answering questions or of feeling on the defensive, but he knew they meant well. He wasn't sure if they would offer to help or ask them to leave, but it seemed he was about to find out. "She turned me against my will and then murdered my wife and son. I have spent the last four hundred years trying to stay one step ahead of her, but ..." He sighed, revealing something he had not yet revealed even to Ana. "I'm tired. I grow weary of this cat and mouse game. I intend to end it, one way or another."

Ana glanced at him in concern. "I am not what you might call a formidable person," she admitted to their new companions. "But I am her target. The calling card she left us was a girl who looked almost exactly like me. She is obsessed, and she wants Julian to return to her. Either that, or to be all alone for eternity."

Though it appeared that Nick was toying with his daughter's fingers, he was actually paying close attention to the story told by the other two - a story not so very different from the one they were living, or more accurately, the one Tobias had already lived. "Serena," he echoed the name, looking to Tobias. He'd never heard that name before, but perhaps their companion had. "Have you ever heard that name before?" For his part, Julian gave Ana's hand a reassuring squeeze, though his face had turned paler than usual and his lips formed a tight line on his face.

"No, it is not a name I have heard before now," Tobias shook his head. "But then that is not so surprising. If this Serena is truly focused upon Julian, then she will not have visited here before, just as he has not. And she won't be able to use the diplomatic lines. We'll know if a vampire goes rogue in this city - that is likely to be our greatest clue that she has arrived." He sighed. "The mad always kill when they feed. Like Josef."

Willow frowned, tensing at the memory of Nick's death at Josef's hands. She had never been so frightened, before or since.

Julian sensed the trio had a story of their own, though again, he didn't want to pry. He thought they would tell them when they were ready. For now, his one and only concern was Ana's safety. "She will follow us. It is only a matter of time." He looked between them, as if he was gauging them, measuring them, debating how much to trust them. "There is a certain connection between a sire and their fledgling. I can feel when she's close, but I cannot read her thoughts. There is no question she will follow us, but how long it will take her to find us, I cannot say. I apologize for bringing this danger to your city. If it is your wish, we will leave and take the danger with us. I do not know who Josef is, but I suspect you understand our dilemma."

"Why should you leave?" Willow asked matter-of-factly. "You know she'll be coming, and she obviously has to be stopped." She glanced at Nick and Tobias, but forged ahead with the idea that had settled in her mind. "We help you with your problem, you help us with ours. Does that sound about right to you?"

Anabelle blinked in surprise. "We-we have a friend coming here, too," she offered. "Freya. She's older than anyone we know, even Serena."

Julian had purposely not mentioned Freya, though she was sort of their ace in the hole, so to speak - a friend and ally older than any of them and one even Serena might hesitate to confront. Why some old ones turned to madness while others didn't he wasn't sure, but Freya had been there for them - and especially for Ana - when they had needed her.

Tobias was smiling as the name was mentioned. "It will be good to see her again," he nodded, fully aware that this was going to be news to everyone else in the room. "Freya is my sire. Unlike Ms. Sheffield, she contacted me rather more directly than is entirely comfortable to ensure she would have somewhere to stay here." He chuckled, his expression almost fond. But then, Freya seemed to have that effect on most people. She was definitely a silver knife in a velvet sheath.

"I don't give a sh*t how we do it," Nick broke in, about as eloquently as Willow. "One way or another, we need to finish it. If this Freya is as powerful as you say, then let's see what she has to say about it."

"Then we can't discuss this any further without her presence," Tobias pointed out gently. "I think, perhaps, we should wait for her to arrive before we continue with this."

Anabelle nodded. "And this Lauren, too," she agreed. "If we are hoping for their help, they should be involved."

"Agreed," Julian replied, smiling amicably, despite the unpleasantness of their discussion. "I think we are safe enough for now. I will know if Serena is close. Nick, you should be able to sense Josef the same way."

Nick looked more than a little surprised by that remark. He hadn't been a vampire very long and had no idea how to tell what his sire was up to. "I'm not sure how that works exactly."

"I'll work with you. I'll teach you," Julian volunteered. "We must use this time to prepare as best we can. You can be certain Serena and Josef will be doing the same."

"So ....does this mean that I can feel you?" Ana asked Julian curiously. "Could I have done that before we shared blood?"

On the couch, Willow chuckled, nudging Nick's arm affectionately. "We never really gave ourselves the chance to find that out, did we?" she grinned to her own husband. "Too busy screwing on every surface we could find and being brand new parents with an empathetic baby."

"How do you think I found you?" Julian replied to Anabelle with a soft smile. "Or how you always seemed to know when I was getting close?" he added, a hint of sadness lingering in his eyes for the time they'd spent apart.

Nick winced at his wife's lack of tact in front of guests who seemed a little more refined than they. "Something to strive for, I guess," he said, though he wasn't going to argue about the screwing.

"What?" Willow said innocently, smiling at Nick's wince. "They're together, I doubt it's a surprise. The whole passion thing is just everyday for vampires, right?"

Tobias covered his eyes briefly, trying not to smile too deeply.

Across the room, Ana's brows rose as she looked up at Julian. So it was not as impossible as he believed, or as she had been allowed to think. His words made her smile, though. "I thought I was naturally gifted."

Nick only clucked his tongue and shook his head at her. Maybe it was the fact that he'd been a cop for so long that gave him an edge when it came to observing people, but despite their age, the other couple didn't seem to exude marital and passionate bliss the way he and Willow did. There was just something about them that made them seem more innocent than their age might suggest.

"You are, in other ways," Julian said, touching his fingers to Ana's cheek affectionately.

"And on that note, we don't want to wear out our welcome," Nick interrupted with a pointed look at Willow.

Willow rolled her eyes. "Looks like Mommy put her foot in her mouth again, Aly," she informed their daughter, holding her arms out to the squirming little girl. Aly lunged at her, sharing her smile as Willow moved to her feet.

"Oh ....are you leaving?" Ana asked, a little concerned that they had somehow chased the other couple away.

"Looks like you two have a lot to discuss," Nick replied, observant enough to recognize the signs of a couple who were a little lost in each other. He and Willow had been that way once, before Aly had come into their lives. "Besides Little Miss Fussbudget isn't gonna sit still much longer without sinking her teeth into someone's leg, so ..."

Tobias chuckled, rising with the other couple. "I will take my leave as well," he nodded. "I understand that Freya will be arriving either today or tomorrow, but there is no real rush to this. Just her presence in the city will be able to make our enemies take pause."

"It's been a pleasure to meet you both," Nick told the other couple, offering a hand to Julian as the other vampire rose to his feet, a polite nod to Ana.

"Likewise," Julian replied, taking hold of the younger vampire's hand.

Ana scrambled to her own feet to say goodbye to Willow and Aly, once again fascinated by the tiny girl in her mother's arms. "You are very lucky," she told Willow softly. "She is a treasure."

"I know," Willow answered just as quietly. "But there are a lot of children in the world, and not all of them have families. And I don't see that changing. Maybe she'll get a brother or sister sometime. If we can ever persuade her to stop eating everyone she meets!" She tickled the little girl, setting off peals of laughter.

Tobias snorted in amusement, shaking Julian's hand himself. "I will come back tomorrow," he promised the older vampire. "You and your wife will require food by then, and you should step outside and into the city to find it. I'll guide you."

It was too bad they couldn't offer their guests some refreshments, but as they all possessed the same affliction, none of them seemed to notice or care. "Very well," Julian replied, returning Tobias' handshake. "Thank you ....for everything," he told him sincerely. He said nothing to Willow or their dhampir child, other than for that polite nod, though he heard every word she and Ana had shared. He'd had a child of his own once, and even after four hundred years, the ache of that loss remained. It was partly why he'd rescued a young girl once upon a time, but that girl had long since grown to womanhood, and the love he'd felt for her had grown and changed with her.

Tobias nodded slowly, understanding that sincere thanks. "We are connected in a way I had not considered," he told Julian honestly. "I would be ashamed of myself if I did not do for you everything I would do for family. I will also attempt to keep Lauren from trying to visit you during the hours of daylight - she does not have much mercy on us when we are lethargic." He chuckled, stepping back to gently usher the Gregorys toward the elevator.

"Is she here ....in the city?" Julian asked further as he and Ana escorted the trio to the elevator. He had not thought to ask of the dhampir or her sisters' whereabouts, but if she was, indeed, here in the city, he wanted Anabelle to meet her.

"She is," Tobias smiled. "She's enjoying vogue as a popular interior designer at the moment, since she knows she's going to have to move to at least another state when the time comes for her identity to change again. She's been in New York for almost eighty years now, under three different names."

"Would you tell her I'm here?" Julian asked. "I would like very much to see her and for her to meet Ana," he said, taking Ana's arm and drawing her close, a warm smile on his face. He was feeling more hopeful than he had been earlier, and the thought of seeing an old friend again didn't hurt.

"How can you disappoint me when I have no expectations?" she asked him gently, rising up onto her toes to kiss him tenderly. "I am not asking for right now, this moment. But ....when the time feels right. I will not hide it any longer, if you will promise me to do the same."

"And when will the time be right, Ana" This is no silly romance novel. This is reality. This is you and I. There is no right time. There is only now," he told her, leaning close to cover her mouth with his and give her a taste of what it was she'd been missing all those years, sparking the desire in them both.

The sound that escaped her as his kiss ignited embers deep inside was muffled in that intimate exchange, a sweet exclamation of surprise that faded into a softer moan of desire as she melted in his fire. Without quite knowing how, or even why, her arms curled about his shoulders as she pressed into that kiss, tasting a hunger in him she was only too eager to share, if only she knew how.

Two hundred years he had waited for this very moment, to ignite the fire inside her and make her a woman at long last, a child no longer. He deepened the kiss, giving her a taste of his passion - a passion he'd kept hidden and buried for too long, nearly forgotten. His lips lingered against hers, like no kiss he had dared share before, and when he was finished, he swept her up into his arms and carried her into the bedroom with the intention of claiming her and making her his for all time.

Nerves were the only thing that could account for her giggles as she was swept off her feet, hugging tight to him as she was borne into the bedroom. "You will have to tell me what to do," she reminded him through her warm smile, soft lips daring to brush kisses to his jaw as though afraid he might tell her to stop.

The last thing he'd been expecting from her was giggles, as he carried her into the bedroom. He could only hope she wouldn't laugh when he took his clothes off. "You will know what to do, Ana," he assured her, believing she would follow her instincts, just as every other man and woman had since the time of Adam and Eve.

"I hope so," she murmured back to him. "I couldn't bear to disappoint you, not after making you wait all this time." Wriggling, she slithered down from his arms, shedding the softness of her cardigan as she swarmed close once again, her lips seeking his. There were no more giggles, no more laughter, though the heady feeling remained; a sense of being ever so slightly out of control and outside herself, even as every touch and kiss brought her deeper into her own being than she could ever recall having been.

He let her hair down first, slowly drawing each pin from its place, allowing it to tumble over her shoulders in golden waves. There were no buttons or laces to unfasten, except for her the denim that covered her slender hips and legs. His fingers wandered through the long waves of wheat-colored hair, even as his lips trailed kisses down the line of her slender neck.

There was something very sensitive about her neck. Perhaps it was the same for all vampires, she did not know. All she knew was that the moment his lips touched the slender line of her throat, she would have willingly walked into hell just so he did not stop. Perhaps it was not the wedding night either of them might have wished for in their deepest fantasies, but in the end, the ceremony did not truly matter. She was his, as he was hers, now and always.

No, what followed certainly wasn't a scene from a romance novel or even a film. It wasn't neat and painless and perfect. It was full of awkwardness and fumbling as they learned their way around each other. It would take time before they were comfortable with intimacy such as this, as clumsy and eager as teenagers, but what they lacked in skill, they more than made up for in desire and tenderness, love and affection.

And when they were done, aching and warm and caught up in that strange juxtaposition of satisfaction and embarrassment, it was no surprise that Ana began to giggle once again, nestling closer into Julian's arms to try and muffle the sound. She just didn't know what to say. What did you say to the man you had been waiting to love you all your life, just moments after he made a woman of you?

There she went with the giggles again, and he frowned worriedly, even as he held her close, unable to figure out what it was that was so funny. He might have felt better had she been crying - at least, then he might have thought she'd been moved to tears. As it was, he thought she was might be laughing at him. He'd never had quite that effect on women before. "I'm sorry ....Did I do something funny?"

She shook her head, raising her eyes so he could see her tender smile. "You could never do anything wrong," she assured him softly, teasing her fingertips through his dark hair as she nuzzled close. "I was trying to think of something to say, and ....Well, I don't think a discussion of the weather, or a frank compliment on your physical being, are quite appropriate for this situation."

"On the contrary, I will take all the compliments I can get," he countered, his frown changing to a slightly embarrassed smile before touching a tender kiss to her cheek. "I'm afraid I'm not the best lover." It had been four hundred years, after all. One was bound to get a little rusty.

Her smile softened as she touched her lips to his, closer to him than she had ever been before now, acutely aware of the gentle slide of his skin against hers. "Do you think I care to find a way to compare you with others?" she asked him lovingly. "You are mine, as I am yours. No other could ever compare to you."

Ironically, though they were older than their contemporaries, the two of them were like young lovers, inexperienced and lacking in skill, though not in desire. "I do not intend to share you with anyone," he told her, once she was done kissing his lips. "All mine was thine before thou hadst this more," he whispered against her lips, quoting Shakespeare once again.

She murmured a soft, "I love you," against his lips, the words almost unnecessary as he kissed her once more. They had all night and all day ahead of them, with no pressing need to do more than enjoy one another. And she realized that this was exactly what she intended to do ....learn and enjoy the love of her life and unlife, until she had only the energy to sleep in his arms through the heavy light of day.

He could not have asked for more than that. It was all he'd wanted for the last two hundred years, and he intended to do everything in his power to keep it that way.