Subj: DARK FRONTIER (DS/TOS Crossover), pt 19
Date: 5/19/01 7:24:56 PM Central Daylight Time
From: JM Lane

It was some hours later that Barnabas and his listeners took a break from his lengthy explanation. Spock could only hope that this knowledge would not prompt another nightmare similar to the one he had had a couple of nights ago; the others reacted with a mixture of horror and sympathy to Barnabas' story, particularly when they learned how it had come about.

"Whoo! Remind me never to become involved with a witch…or a woman who dabbles in the occult," the Doctor exclaimed. "I sure as hell don't want to end up like you, Barnabas. That Angelique sounds-— literally-—like a fatal woman to cross."

Kirk silently agreed with McCoy even as Barnabas replied, "I doubt that that is very likely, Dr. McCoy, particularly in this day and age. However, stranger things have happened, so I would still be careful if I were you."

"It still seems strange to me that even with all the chances you had during our dates, that you never attacked me, Barnabas," Christine remarked.

"As I have said, I could not bear to harm you, Christine. You are far too precious to me for me to want to turn you into what I am," he explained. "Besides, I keep a goodly supply of blood around, so I…had some before my dates with you, which enabled me to control my craving while we were together," he finished.

"You said you very much disliked being a vampire," Kirk put in. "Is there any way it can be reversed?"

"I am coming to that," Barnabas returned. "I had a dear friend at one time who was a noted physician; she developed a serum which was supposed to turn me back into a Human again."

"So what happened? Why are you still…what you are?" Kirk wondered. "My friend, Dr. Julia Hoffman, could never find the proper agent to make the effects of her serum permanent. It worked—-but only temporarily…and there was a limited supply, so shortly after she died, I—- reverted back to my former state. Before that, however, she made me promise never to stop looking for someone who could come up with the necessary agent to make my reversion back to Human permanent."

"Do you have her notes or the formula?" McCoy wondered. "If so, it just might be possible…" His voice trailed off.

"Oh, yes, she left me her notes and the formula," Barnabas confirmed. "I would have to bring them to you and let you study them-—probably tomorrow evening."

It still seemed ludicrous to them all that they were even considering such a thing as helping a vampire become Human again, much less discussing it…but if it meant that the attacks would stop permanently, it would be worth it.

"You said you had access to blood because of her," Christine remarked. "Why not just use it to prevent the attacks?"

"Because I can only obtain a limited supply each month-—and to make it last, I must ration it, so you know what that means. That is why I told you my story, in the hope that you could understand my predicament and perhaps help me find a permanent cure."

"I can't promise or guarantee anything, Mr. Collins, but if you'll allow me access to your friend Dr. Hoffman's notes and the formula, I'll be happy to do what I can," McCoy offered.

"And if anyone can do it, Leonard can," Christine added. "Best of all, Spock and I will be helping him. If you're willing, we can start while we're here. Are there any laboratories around that we can use?" she asked.

Barnabas smiled and nodded. "My cousin, Quentin, has one. If I asked him, I am sure he would be willing to let you use it—-for a modest fee."

"Name it," McCoy replied.

"One hundred credits a week?" Barnabas inquired.

"What do you think, Jim? Can we afford it?" the Doctor asked hopefully.

"Perhaps…*if* it has all the proper equipment--*and* if we can get permission to stay here longer. We can't have the *Enterprise* out of service too long; as it is, we would likely have to put Scotty and Sulu in command for any short-term missions. Not to mention report our progress every few days in order for Command to be willing to authorize it," Kirk replied.

"Then let's get to it," the Doctor returned. "Barnabas, you come back tomorrow as soon as you can; bring Dr. Hoffman's notes and formula so Chris, Spock and I can go over everything…and ask your cousin for the use of his lab while we're here. Then let us know what he says-—and we'll contact Starfleet Command and see if we can get the extra time and money."

Barnabas smiled and nodded again. "I will. I cannot thank you all enough for your willingness to help me. I was certain you would feel duty-bound to destroy me, as you had to do with your unfortunate Miss Davidson. Most regrettable that that incident could not have been prevented."

"If it means stopping the attacks and saving lives, you would be surprised at what we would do, Mr. Collins," Kirk returned with a smile. "Now, I've got to go contact Starfleet Command, see how much more time and money I can wangle out of them. We'll see you tomorrow night."

Everyone stood up and stretched, then Barnabas took his leave after promising to return the following evening with Julia's notes and formula…and (hopefully) Quentin's permission to use his lab. Spock took Christine to her room, wanting to ask what she would do should Barnabas become fully Human again—-who she would choose—-but found that he didn't think he could handle hearing the answer, particularly if she chose against him.

Not that he could blame her if she did, considering what he had put her through…but the Vulcan hoped that she knew that it hadn't been a deliberate slight, that he had merely been protecting himself emotionally, not trying to alienate her…and he could imagine how it must have seemed to her. But he had always found her attractive, even if he hadn't been able to act on his attraction until now. He could only hope that she would give him another chance to show it. Upon arrival, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it in a very Old World manner, as Barnabas usually did, making his goodnights after stroking her lips with a finger. "Sleep well, Christine. I will see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, Spock," she returned quietly, touching his cheek and smiling before opening her door and going inside. As soon as the door closed, the Vulcan turned on his heel and returned to his own room, retiring upon arrival—-that is, after a shower and changing into sleeping-clothes. His two friends came in an hour later and did the same; Dickerson bedded down on the sofa bed in the living room as usual.

Kirk lay awake for a time after speaking with Admiral Komack at Starfleet Command, just watching his Vulcan friend sleep, watching for signs of distress even as the Doctor snored contentedly a few feet away. He sensed that Spock was slowly but surely falling in love with Christine; it would devastate him to lose her to Barnabas should the serum work and the latter become fully Human again.

He recalled Barnabas' declaration of love for Christine, but also his statement that it would be her decision…he would not force the issue any more than Spock would. He could only hope for the best, even while expecting the worst. If Christine refused him, Spock might never want to risk rejection again and possibly die in pon farr because he would not bond with anyone else.

It wasn't every day that a woman had two men in love with her, especially when one of them was a vampire trying to become Human again for her sake and the other a Vulcan who normally eschewed emotions of any kind. But even Vulcans had to marry at some point, and Spock could certainly do worse than Christine. In fact, he already had-—but that was ancient history.

In the meantime, however, they had to do all they could to help Barnabas…and consequently, themselves and others. It hadn't been easy to convince Komack, although he had managed—-but that news could wait until morning. Meanwhile, it was best that they all get as much sleep as possible because he sensed that they were going to need all they could get. Not just for this night, but all the nights to come for the foreseeable future. A few minutes later, the Captain was deeply asleep, having joined his friends in dreamland.

The others were pleased to learn that Fleet Command had granted them additional time and funding; even at that, they only had four weeks to finish their mission. All Kirk had said was that they had come upon some promising leads pertaining to their investigation and that they needed the extra time and money to follow up on them. Best of all, they even knew some people here who were willing to help them --two members of the illustrious yet infamous Collins family... the "present" Barnabas and his cousin Quentin.

Despite why they had originally come, however, no one on the *Enterprise* team believed that Command would swallow what they had learned about Barnabas or their true purpose in staying longer...to attempt to cure him of his vampirism. McCoy, Christine and Spock had carefully studied Dr. Hoffman's notes and formula, all believing that a permanent cure for Barnabas' affliction was within the realm of possibility.

Quentin had also generously granted them the use of part of his lab for the agreed-upon weekly fee. When he wasn't busy with his own experiments, he even did all he could to help the others with theirs.

As in any experiment, they had breakthroughs and they had setbacks, such as the discovery that Barnabas was allergic to something in the permanence agent, so McCoy and the others had to synthesize that ingredient and then try it again, see how Barnabas reacted to it.

Once that had been taken care of, they needed to work out a means of his obtaining a sufficient supply of the new serum long enough to do him good. In that case, Barnabas could either inject himself or Quentin could inject him as needed. McCoy and the others had determined that it would take regular, twice-weekly injections for a period of roughly two years to destroy all the aberrant cells in Barnabas' body which made him what he was, gave him the craving for blood and the inability to be out in daylight.

If anyone asked about the injections, both of them could claim that Barnabas had food allergies and that the twice-weekly injections were designed to offset those allergies, not to mention his "senstivity" to natural light. They would also erase his inability to die naturally, but Barnabas considered that well lost if it meant he could live a normal Human life again.

The closer they got to the final version of the serum, the more apprehensive Spock became, yet he knew that he would soon have to take a chance and ask Christine just where he stood with her. He had done all he could to show his feelings for her, within the limits of his Vulcan sensibilities, and could only hope that it was enough for her. But she had never discussed it with him since that one initial time, so Spock had no way of knowing for sure.

Barnabas was very bit as unsure of her as Spock was, since Christine hadn't indicated anything to him one way or the other either... but at this point he had a better chance, at least in the Vulcan's mind, since he had already confessed his intentions regarding her.

This, more than anything, was what made Spock so apprehensive. All he could do was his best, and if that wasn't enough, he would simply have to accept it. At least outwardly, although a part of him never would.

He may even have to have a talk with Barnabas Collins on the subject at the first opportunity, obtain his thoughts and determine if he had a fair chance or not. Particularly since they were getting closer with every passing day to Barnabas having a normal life again --and if he had a normal life again, the Vulcan knew what that would mean for him, as the Humans would say: "diddly-squat". No wife, no family...and worst of all, no Christine to be wife to him and help provide him with said family.

It was one thing to be distant and professional with her by choice, but this act would be strictly enforced. He would have to endure seeing her be wife to another, quite possibly having a family with him...and never be able to hold, touch or kiss her ever again. However difficult the former may hae been, the latter would be infinitely more so.

Particularly if he had to listen to her rhapsodize about how happy she was with Barnabas Collins--something which would be well-nigh unendurable to Spock because it wouldn't be him. The fact that no decision had been made either way was beside the point as far as Spock was concerned. He was convinced that he knew what the outcome would be, what her decision would be, and would not be persuaded otherwise, no matter how much either of his friends tried.

Both finally gave up trying to change his mind; it was truly a lost cause. Privately, however, both were just as convinced that matters were just as likely to transpire in the Vulcan's favor as against him...yet only time would tell who would be proven right.

**********

Finally, ten days into the designated month, McCoy felt secure enough to be able to tell Barnabas that he had perfected the new serum and that his anti-vampirism injections could resume. Of course, they would likely be even more painful than they originally were as his body once again began to revert back to being Human, and it would take most of the night for him to feel the full effects of the shot, but if it worked the way Julia and McCoy intended, Barnabas would be able to walk in the sunlight again...and have an appetite for real, solid food again.

The initial injection would last three days, roughly 72 hours, but another would be necessary before the end of the third day in order to continue the changeover and so on. Near the end of two years, the injections could gradually be phased out and at some point shortly after that, would no longer be necessary. Barnabas would be fully Human again...and best of all, age normally again.

Of course, they would not be around to see that. They would have to keep in touch with the two Collinses and monitor Barnabas' progress through Quentin after leaving Earth and resuming their deep-space missions.

Spock fervently hoped that he would not have to wait that long to discover what Christine's choice would be. It was difficult enough as it was, feeling as he did about her, without the uncertainty as to where he stood hanging over his head. Perhaps he would be able to speak with Barnabas about Christine after they saw how the initial anti-vampirism injection went. He would have to wait and see what happened...then, if all went well, act accordingly and maybe even find out what he wanted to know, once and for all.