Chapter Text
Chance Encounter At the Raven
by Llarian
"I swear, Albrecht, that woman is nuts. I mean... vampires?"
Detective Darryl Albrecht chuckled.
"So you don't believe in vampires, Draven?"
Eric Draven let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Vampires don't exist", he stated categorically.
"Right." Albrecht nodded. "And people don't come back from the dead, either", he concluded.
"Hey, that was low!"
Albrecht grinned at the younger man. Draven tossed his head back to glare at Albrecht. The two friends had opted to walk the short distance from their hotel to the club, and a cool night breeze kept blowing Eric's tousled mane across his face.
"I don't know why I put up with you, Albrecht!"
"Because I put up with you?" Albrecht retorted, smug grin still spread on his face. "You know, Draven, for one of the undead..."
"...living impaired!..."
"...whatever, you're a skeptic to rival Dana Scully."
"Dana who?"
Albrecht rolled his eyes.
"X-Files? Fox Mulder, Dana Scully?" he prompted.
"Oh, TV." Draven waved his hand dismissively. "I don't have a TV set."
They walked on in silence until his curiosity got the better of Draven.
"So, you believe in vampires?"
"Didn't say that."
Draven shot Albrecht a questioning look.
"All I'm saying is that I try to keep a more open mind since I met you."
"That's no answer."
"Yes, it is."
Draven sighed. Sometimes, Albrecht could try even the patience of a saint. He certainly tried his patience - something crows were not particularly known for.
"Just tell me. Do you, or do you not believe in vampires?"
"You really want to know, hmm? All right, I don't. Hell, Draven, I still have a hard time believing in you. And I've known you for a while now."
Draven nodded slowly.
"So, you agree with me that Dr. Lambert is crazy?"
"No."
"No? But you said..."
Albrecht held up his hand to silence his friend.
"I said I didn't believe in vampires. I never said anything about Dr. Lambert. Besides, I believe she simply mistook you for a med student playing a prank on her, and turned the tables."
Draven was struck speechless. When he found his voice again, he was less than coherent.
"Huh?"
Chuckling, Albrecht draped his arm around Eric's shoulder and pulled the younger man closer.
"Draven, you don't know a lot about the medical profession, do you?"
Eric shook his head, puzzled by the question.
"I had a girlfriend once, long before I met Cordy. She was studying medicine", Albrecht continued. "I learned one thing from her: Once people get into med school, they either develop a morbid sense of humor, or they don't make it. It's a kind of defense mechanism. They're simply not ready for all the disease and death they see every day. And it gets worse during internship."
"Is that why you split up?"
"No. No, that was... different. Guess it was really my fault."
Albrecht fell silent for a moment.
"There came a point when she worked all the time. She only came home to eat and sleep. Sometimes not even that. There was no 'us' anymore because there was no time for it. Every med student goes through that phase. Looking back now, I know I should have supported her
then. But I was too young and self centered to understand. I wanted to come first. In the end, we fought almost every day. I gave her an ultimatum. Medicine or me. She chose medicine."
Draven nodded his understanding.
"Shelly and I had a similar problem", he confessed. "I used to have gigs with the band almost every weekend."
"But you got it worked out."
Draven's eyes grew misty with the memory.
"Yeah, we did", he whispered. "One weekend, she kidnapped me. She showed me how much she really cared about me. About us."
Albrecht lightly squeezed his friends shoulder.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to stir up memories."
Eric smiled and looked up at his closest mortal friend.
"It's okay, Albrecht. It's a good memory."
Albrecht grinned back at him, releasing his shoulder.
"Come on, let's find this club and relax. And..." - he shook his index finger at Draven - "no more memories tonight."
"Deal."
The two rounded the corner of Duncan and Richmonds Street. Loud music greeted them, spilling from the Raven's entrance.
"Oh man, look at the people."
The line of people waiting to enter the club was at least half a block long. Two bouncers, both the size of pro wrestlers, but with an even meaner look about them, kept the waiting masses in line. Albrecht shook his head.
"No way we're getting in there tonight. Let's find another watering hole."
"Right."
Draven turned to go when one of the bouncers, a leather clad individual with enough piercings that he couldn't go through a metal detector without setting off the alarm, called out to him.
"Hey, you!"
Draven stopped short.
"Who? Me?"
"Yeah."
The bouncer looked Eric over closely and finally nodded.
"You can go in", he said, jerking his head in the general direction of the door.
Albrecht snickered.
"Told you it's your kind of place. You'll fit right in here."
Eric didn't quite get it. The bouncer had never seen him before, but treated him like a regular?
"Just like that?" he queried.
"Hey, you wanna go in, kid, you go in. Got it?"
"Sure. What about my friend?"
The bouncer shrugged.
"If he's with you, he can go in, too."
Eric nodded and stepped through the door tentatively, Albrecht in tow.
"Remind me to take you along the next time I want to go for a drink", the detective murmured into his ear.
A sharp glance from the second bouncer silenced the muttered curses from the waiting line.
End part 1
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