Timeless (1/27)
by Elisa P. Black


He reveled in the ecstasy of the blood pouring forth into his mouth
and down his throat, strengthening his body, fortifying his mind.
Fresh human blood.  It seemed he'd chosen well again; this one was
like all the others he'd taken.  Although fear curled around the
edges, tingeing the blood excitingly, it was mainly a burst of
courage, strength, and an incredible will to live.  These he took
inside himself greedily, built up like a barricade and refused to
give back as he turned the intimate stranger in to his child.

Lovingly, he caressed the pale face.  A beautiful girl, seemingly
kind and gentle and intelligent; she would have gone far.  Would have
if not for her incessant naivety, her caring, taking a brooding
stranger like himself in.  And such wonderful secrets she had that he
could now see, more clearly than she ever could; the dark desires and
deception.  Our personal realities are our worlds, the only
battlefields we need, he thought bitterly.

"My child," he whispered to the sleeping form in his arms, "our
realities are one.  We will fight our battles together."

As he spoke the last word, a searing pain reached out from his core
and twisted his heart cruelly.  The girl's eyes fluttered open in
surprise. He dropped her to wrench at his chest, growling through
extended fangs, the world careening around him in dull red.  The girl
stared at him, afraid and confused, screaming, screaming like the
pain inside him.

Oh, god, what have I done, he wondered dimly.

Turning, he fled from the inescapable pain of his mind.

***

A weary Nick dropped off an equally tired Schanke, assuring him that
they would get a break in their case soon and getting in return, "As
long as it doesn't come during the weekend."

Amen to that, thought Nick as he turned on the radio.  As the
NightCrawler's softly spoken words floated in one ear and not quite
out the other, he was overcome by a sense of deja vu.  It was another
rerun. The fourth one this week.  A few seconds of curiosity was all
he could manage as he parked his car by instinct alone.

When the elevator door opened at his loft, he fell flat on his face
immediately beyond it and considered sleeping there for the day.  He
didn't think it'd be very comfy, so he started crawling toward the
couch and found himself looking at a pair of legs.  He followed them
up and found Nat trying very hard not to laugh.  He reached toward
her for help but that only sent her into a fit of giggles.

"Nat, please?" he asked, trying hard not to smile.

She pretended to think it over and replied, "Only if you go with me
to a dance tomorrow night."

"Huh?"

"It starts off the North American Convention on Criminal Science,
which this year, lucky for us, is in Toronto.  And it's formal."

Nick grunted, seemingly in acknowledgement.  Nat, satisfied, helped
him up, huffing and puffing.

"I'm too tired to go home.  I'll stayed in the bedroom," she declared
to an already asleep Nick.

She climbed the stairs and fell asleep on the black satin sheets,
dreaming sweet dreams of dancing with her love and his centuries of
experience.

***

"I appreciate your coming to the conference with me, Mulder, but why
are you really doing this?  It wouldn't have to do with the serial
exsanguination murders, would it?"

"Why, Scully, don't you think I can be a good friend?"  He grinned
innocently.

She gave him a teasing, sarcastic smile in return.  "And what kind of
wild theory do you have about this one?  Vampires?"

"Well..."

"I didn't think you'd find much interesting at a conference on
forensic science and pathology."

Mulder was trying to grin and look guilty at the same time.

Scully shook her head.  "Since you'll get into this one way or
another, I might as well tell you: I _could_ ask a favor of the
coroner in charge of the case since she's a friend of mine."

Mulder was grinning from ear to ear.  "Oh, goody."

"As long as you let me know where you are and don't get yourself
killed."

Mulder raised an eyebrow.

"Mulder?"

"I'll be one my best behavior."

It was Scully's turn to raise an eyebrow.


End of Part 1

--

Timeless (2/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Nick awoke with the setting of the sun feeling refreshed, and found
Natalie bustling around the kitchen making herself breakfast.

"Good morning, Nat," he greeted her while reaching in his fridge for
a bottle of cow's blood.

"Good morning," she returned cheerily, grabbing her meal and heading
for the door.  "Give me an hour to get ready and I'll meet you back
here."

"Get ready for what?"

"We have a date, silly.  The dance to start off the convention?"

"Oh, right.  Formal or casual?"

Nat sighed and stepped into the elevator.  "Formal."

The door slid shut between them.  Nick blinked dumbly at it for a few
seconds and then sighed.  Great, the weekend and I have to go to a
dance, he thought ruefully.  Nick flipped on the radio as he was
getting dressed.

The show sounded familiar again, the fifth one this week.  Maybe
LaCroix was taking a break; his "father" certainly couldn't be dead
or he'd feel it.  He decided to check with Janette on Monday.  The
rerun seemed to be about guilt, in fact, he could recall now that one
or two of the other reruns were also about guilt.  And the other two
or three were about desires.  Maybe LaCroix was trying to tell him
something?  He clicked off the radio pointedly.  He was in no mood to
play LaCroix's games tonight.

***

She raced down the street as fast as she could, running away, running
from the horrible thing she'd done, the horrible thing she *was*.
The buildings blurred from her tears, her disgusting bloody tears;
how could anyone cry blood?  She had to leave now , before her
ravenous hunger took over and made her strike again.  But where could
she go?

Where was she?  She pushed away the memory of her first victim which
continually hovered near the surface of her thoughts and concentrated
on her surroundings.  Nice little houses; she must be near the
outskirts of the city.  Oh, god, a few minutes ago, she'd been at the
very heart of it. What happened?  What did he do to her?

Immediately she knew the answer to that question was the key to this
nightmare.  But she just couldn't remember.  The smell, that sweet
smell called to her.  Human blood.  No!

And she found herself looking in the window of a house as her mind
clouded over with bloodlust.

Watching.  Waiting.  Hunting.

***

A steady stream of finely dressed people poured into the ballroom of
the Plaza Grand Hotel.  Natalie, in a jazzy blue dress lined in gold
partially dragged in a clearly uncomfortable yet ever-charming Nick.
He never noticed that many of the women there gave him more than one
appreciative look but Nat smiled happily.  She snagged a glass of
white wine from a passing waiter and continued her beeline towards a
red-haired lady and her date.

"Dana!" she greeted the beautiful petite woman in a simple black
dress. "It's great to see you again!  This is my date Nick."

"Natalie!" returned Scully warmly.  "This is my friend and partner,
Mulder."  She indicated the only man not wearing a tuxedo and he gave
them a sheepish grin.

"A pleasure to meet you," Nick said graciously.

***

"A pleasure to meet you," LaCroix sneered in a parody of politeness.

"The pleasure's all mine," Rikahn responded with equal venom.

LaCroix smiled inwardly, knowing that this 'distinguished-looking,'
gray-haired vampire, one of the most exalted Enforcers, and his
powerful cohorts couldn't handle this one job.  Intending to enjoy
this power as long as possible, he asked quite unnecessarily and with
extravagant innocence, "And what service is required of me tonight?"

Rikahn did rather well in hiding his anger at this impudent one.  He
smiled grimly and answered.  "It has been explained to you by the
others, I'm sure.  You will do as you have the previous nights."  His
voice was completely detached, and right after he'd spoken, he flew
off.

LaCroix laughed delighted to himself.

***

"So you're a cop?" Mulder asked.

"Yeah," Nick answered in their mutual effort at conversation.

Soon afterward, the women had left with a group of other people to
discuss the effect of some twenty-syllabled substance on some
ten-syllabled part of something.  The ladies seemed to be having a
very good time of it.  Other people were having supper and only the
very stiff people were dancing to the nondescript music.

"So," said Nick, "Any special types of cases you work on?"

Mulder replied, "Well, I work on unexplained cases, paranormal
phenomena, that type of stuff."

"Ghosts, aliens, ESP?"

"And witches, werewolves, vampires, so on."

Vampires?  Nick blanched; a really bad move since he looked whiter
than white against his black outfit.  Mulder looked concerned and not
just a bit curious and suspicious.  Nick plastered a smile on his
face, hoping it didn't look too much like a grimace.  "Sounds
interesting.  How about we ask the ladies to dance?"

With an effort, Mulder put away his curiosity in light of his
stagnated social life.  "Sounds good to me."


End of Part 2

--

Timeless (3/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Schanke pulled Myra closer to him on the sofa where they sat watching
a movie.  Jenny was perched in an armchair on his other side.  Ahh,
this is the life, he thought.  Good family, good movie, good pizza,
good popcorn...  He reached into the bowl to find it empty.

"We need some more popcorn," whispered Myra.  "I'll be right back."

He nodded.  "There's a good part coming up soon.  I'll pause it for
you."

She smiled and gave him a kiss.  Then they caught sight of Jenny's
strange expression.  "What's wrong, honey?"

"Mommy, are you going to the kitchen?"

"Yes, to make some popcorn.  Why?"

"Don't go."

"Why not, hon?"  Myra approached her daughter as fear began to build
in her.

"I just feel like something's gonna happen."

"Like what?"

"Something bad.  Really bad."

"OK, how 'bout this, sweetie?" put in Schanke.  "I was gonna pause
the movie anyway, so why don't we all go to the kitchen together, all
right?"

His daughter looked doubtful but nodded.  Schanke and Myra exchanged
a look of concern and they all proceeded to the kitchen.

***

She waited in the bushes by the darkened window, running completely
on instinct.  Her mind, left on its own, wandered into the first
thing it could think of.  She remembered...

Waking up in the darkness of her bedroom and she realized that she
could see everything more clearly than in the light.  That couldn't
be right, maybe she was dreaming.  Then she noticed that everything
was tinged in red even though her room was decorated in blue.

Strange feelings and thoughts ran through her, yet she couldn't quite
grasp them as if they were part of a dream which escaped upon her
waking. They left behind a feeling of an outrageously dirty secret
which gnawed at her even as a ravenous hunger gnawed at every inch of
her body and soul. Something horrendous had happened, but right now
she didn't care; she had to eat.

There was nothing in the kitchen; she had cleaned it out this
afternoon for a food drive and had planned to order out for the
meantime.  The hunger pangs hurt more than anything she'd ever
experienced before as she stumbled out into the empty hall and onto
the empty sidewalk.  She felt weak as if she could die in her tracks
yet felt a strange power straining within her.  Too confused to care,
she wondered where she could get some food.  Maybe she could make it
to the fast food restaurant on the corner that she'd always passed by
before...

A second later, she found herself at the door of the cheesy
establishment, though how she'd done it so fast, she didn't know.  As
she entered, a blast of smells came rushing at her.  Not the
overpowering grease she had always passed by, but something thick and
sweet she couldn't quite place.  There weren't any lines so she got
her order in no time and settled in Non-smoking.  The unappetizing
food stared at her, mocking and disgusting.

And then a strong thumping came to her, like a heartbeat.  Melodic
and entrancing, it called to her.  She found herself moving smoothly
into the next booth beside a ten-year-old boy, grabbing him, pushing
his head aside, biting...

***

They twirled around together, lost in the moment and in each other,
secretly, for they felt the pressure of the world upon them.  Nick
was such a wonderful dancer that Nat wasn't sure if they were dancing
or floating; he seemed so lost to everything that she wouldn't be
surprised if it were the latter.  She felt absolutely giddy in the
little bubble they had made together, wanted it forever...

She looked up into his face--she hadn't realized it was so close,
their lips were practically touching--and she instinctively started
to move forward.  The love in his expression was a reflection of what
she felt, but then it turned to the damned guilt and he imperceptibly
moved back. She looked away, trying to hide her disappointment, but
he knew; he was feeling the same way.  The spell was broken.

Maybe she should tell him that she remembered everything around that
Valentine's Day, let him know that she didn't care about LaCroix and
the danger the old vampire posed.  That she believed love could
overcome anything, that time was ticking away for her and she wanted
her chance before it was too late.  But she knew she wouldn't, at
least not now, because she believed that LaCroix *would* step in and
have his way, leaving Nick to feel even more guilty than he did now.
She couldn't do that to him nor could she bear to break the fragile
bubble they were rebuilding in spite of themselves.

They were locked in their own reality, taking comfort in each other's
presence, each praying it would last forever.  And, as if God were on
their side, the dance seemed timeless to their troubled minds.


End of Part 3

--

Timeless (4/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Scully was surprised by her partner's grace as he led her expertly
among the other dancers.  It was nice to be with him away from work
and especially good to see him smile.  Smiling back, she wondered if
she was doing the right thing by taking their relationship to even
this level.  A friendly date, they'd called this.  The silence which
had fallen between them was getting too awkward and she racked her
mind for something to say to lighten the mood.

Mulder had apparently been thinking along the same lines as he spoke
first.  "My mom gave me dance lessons for my 14th birthday."

Scully had not expected anything like this and dissolved in laughter.
Encouraged, Mulder continued, "She said she wanted me to be a perfect
gentleman."

She giggled some more and replied, "She did a good job.  You are
one... most of the time."

He grinned. "Hey, that's good.  I don't even try to be one most of
the time."

They both noticed that the music had stopped a while ago and laughed.
Being tired, they sat down at a table to order dinner.  The silence
fell again but this time it was companionable.  Then Mulder flashed
her a grin.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Your dress.  I've never seen you wear anything like that before.
It's nice."  His smile was sincere.

Scully felt a spark of delight running through her but quickly
squelched it.  She had been feeling something more than friendship
towards her partner for some time now, but she hardly dared to act on
it.  She wondered if maybe he'd been feeling any of the same things.
There was one way she could think of to try finding out right now.
Half hoping that it would lead to discussing themselves without being
too obvious, she asked, "Did you notice how Natalie and Nick were
acting towards each other?"

"Hmm, like friends?" guessed Mulder, disinterested.

She sighed in mock sadness.  "No, like they're in love."

"In love?" he perked up.  "How's that?"

"They're trying to hide it for some reason but it's there.  Trust me.
Women's intuition."

"One of the most mysterious paranormal phenomena," Mulder deadpanned.

"Oh, stop it.  Look, they're heading this way."

***

Nat smiled dreamily as they headed towards Mulder and Scully.
"They're in love."

Nick looked at her in confusion.  "Really?"

"Yes, can't you see it?"

"No, but if you say so."

Nat shook her head.  "Must be a guy thing."

They settled down with the other couple for a nice dinner.

***

She drank deeply the smooth elixir of his blood.  Her desire and
relief, his fear and astonishment crashing through her.  Memories,
not her own, and his life flashing before both their eyes.  He was
hers in this ecstasy, hers to control or destroy; she had the power.
The connection faltered then, his little heart was fighting hard, but
had to let go.  She sat still dizzy with the blood and the freedom
she'd felt.

Shock set in as she heard screaming.  A plump 30ish woman barreled
toward her from the direction of the restrooms and tackled her.

"You killed my baby!  You killed my baby!"

She was being thrashed by the crazed woman but couldn't feel a thing.
Damn it, this wasn't right.  She'd just killed a boy; she should be
punished.  She should feel pain.  She wanted to feel pain.

The word vampire crossed her mind.  No, it couldn't be; vampires
didn't exist.  Then what was she?  What had she just done?  Was this
a nightmare? It was more real than any she'd had before, but at the
same time, it was completely unreal.  She shook her head but the
confusion would not clear.

Sirens sounded in the distance, many blocks away she knew, but they
seemed to be right outside.  How?  She had to run and hide, somewhere
very far away from people.  Even now she was seeing the woman in a
strange light, her mind clouding over with a weird feeling.  Her mind
which was telling her that it was wrong to stay around the woman even
as it told her that it was wrong to run away from justice.  Maybe she
should wait for the police outside?

She pried the woman's white-knuckled hands off her throat and ran off
into the coolness of the night without looking back.  She was too
afraid.

She had ran as fast as she could.  Ran until she had noticed the sky
lightning, until she had seen the day coming.  What before would have
been dim grayness was now blinding and what had been coolness was now
too warm for comfort.  She'd dived into an abandoned apartment
building and fallen asleep immediately.  When she woke up to
darkness, she'd ran again, hungry as before, yet not daring to stop.
Nightmare or reality?  As much as she hated to admit it, this had
gone on too long to be the former.

Now she'd stopped to get her bearings when she should have been
running to the ends of the earth to destroy herself, the monster.
She'd stopped and she would pay.  But she knew that she would never
die willingly, because she was afraid, because her courage had
abandoned her.

Footsteps approached and everything was lost in the bloodlust.


End of Part 4

--

Timeless (5/27)
by Elisa P. Black


"Man, oh, man. Dinner!"  Schanke's eyes lit up as he opened the
refrigerator and started to gather a big pile of food.

"Don, put that back.  I'm marinading it for tomorrow."  Myra was
smiling.

He looked down at the plastic-wrapped dish.  "Oh, that's raw?  It
looked good enough to eat now."

She shook her head and turned to check on the popcorn.  Jenny watched
the proceedings anxiously.  Schanke had turned back to the fridge.

He was happily picking up condiments to go on his sandwich when his
cop's instincts flared up.  As he dropped everything and spun around,
both Myra and Jenny were screaming.  A young dark-haired woman held
Myra effortlessly and had her back turned to him.  He grabbed a heavy
wooden chair, the first thing he could find.

"Let her go!"

No response.  The woman was pushing Myra's head to the side, seeming
almost to snap her neck.  He swung the chair at the woman, hoping to
knock her out.  It was like hitting a stone wall; the woman didn't
move an inch and his muscles screamed with pain. She turned around
with the struggling Myra and growled, so fast it was amazing.  He
caught sight of the glowing amber eyes and the sharp fangs set
against her pale face.

"A vampire?" he whispered to himself in disbelief.

The creature was biting into Myra when Jenny's screaming suddenly
reached him.  "The chair leg, Daddy!  Use it as a stake!"

He looked down and realized that the chair had broken and now he held
only a leg with sharp splinters.  He hurried behind the vampire so he
could get a clear shot at her and then forced it through her body.  A
deafening scream erupted from her as she dropped his wife to pull at
the stake.  And then she was gone, a pile of ash.

Myra lay on the floor, pale, breathing shallowly, with two bright red
streaks coming from the bite marks.  Schanke knelt down to check her
vital signs. ‘Aw, man, not Myra!  This can’t be happening.’

He looked up into Jenny’s tear-streaked face.

"It’ll be OK, hon."

He was trying more to convince himself than his daughter.  Schanke
then went to call an ambulance.

***

He smiled through the pain of his newborn child feeding at his wrist.
Gently, he pushed the boy's head back.  "No more from me.  You will
find what you need soon enough.  And then we will fight the world
together."

A white hot pain racked him, but he stood his ground this time and
let it pass.  Another one of his children had been killed, and it
filled him with a euphoric anger.  The battle was on!  He laughed to
himself as it strengthened him and all of his remaining children who
were scattered about, purging the city.  He'd never felt more
powerful, more alive, more right.

And then he sensed it.  A faint presence trying to disguise itself
from his 5000 year old power.  One of *them*.  He laughed again, then
realized there were more.  Many more.  He couldn't fight them all.
So he left, sadly abandoning his frightened child.

***

The four were chatting about nothing in general and enjoying their
pleasant dinner when Nick's pocket began to ring.  He managed to look
guilty as he pulled out his phone and Nat shot him an unpleasant
look.

"Hello?"

"NICK!"  He had to force himself not to pull the phone away from his
ear too quickly as Schanke continued.  "You won't believe!...  Myra
was attacked by a vampire!  I-I think I killed it!  But I'm at the
hospital right now..."

Schanke's voice was so loud that the others at the table had heard.
He exchanged glances with Natalie as Mulder did so with Scully.  Nick
then turned his attention back to the phone in time to hear Schanke
ask, "Could you come over and bring Nat?"

"Sure, Schank.  How's Myra doing?"

"The doctors aren't sure yet."

"OK, hang in there.  We'll be right over."  He hung up.

"I'm sorry, but we have to leave."  Nick and Nat got up to go.

"Could we go with you?" asked Mulder.  He stood up to indicate he was
coming whether they liked it or not.  Scully shook her head grimly,
but stood anyway.

They piled into Nick's Caddy and sped off towards the hospital.


End of Part 5

--

Timeless (6/27)
by Elisa P. Black


They arrived to find Schanke pacing up and down the length of the
hallway since `the waiting area was too small,' and receiving wary
glances from several people.  Nick paced with him once around,
finally reassuring him enough to stay in the waiting room.
Meanwhile, Nat was trying to reassure Jenny who still felt uneasy and
restless.

Nick put his arm around his partner's shoulders and urged Schanke to
tell him what happened.  Mulder and Scully watched over the whole
scene unobtrusively.  As Schanke finished his story, he looked at
Nick and Nat desperately and asked, "You believe me, don't you?"

Nat cleared her throat, "Well, we should look into any other possible
explanations first--"

At that moment, a doctor walked in holding a clipboard.

"How's Myra?"  Schanke blurted out.

She looked at him with sympathy.  "You're her... husband?" she
guessed.

"Yes."

"All right.  I'll get to the point.  She's in stable condition right
now and getting better by the minute.  A few more days and she'll be
fine."

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"But if there had been as delay of a few minutes in getting her here,
she might not have made it.  She did lose a lot of blood."

"Can we go see her now?" asked Jenny.

"Only immediate family.  And don't stay too long; she needs her
rest."

After Schanke and Jenny had gone to see Myra, Mulder went after the
doctor for more information.  To make sure Mulder would do nothing
too extreme, Scully went with him.  Nick and Nat were left to ponder
what the situation meant.

"What if they start suspecting something about you like that
inspector from Scotland Yard?  I mean, we know it wasn't you who
attacked Myra, but what about the serial murders?"  Nat voiced the
exact same thoughts passing through Nick's mind.

"There has to be more than one killer.  No one vampire could drink
that much blood."  He felt so frustrated by their latest case.  "The
question is, how could this have been allowed to happen?"

At that moment, Mulder and Scully came back.  Nick wondered what they
had asked the doctor and what they might suspect but didn't dare ask.
They all sat in silence until Schanke and Jenny came in.

Looking towards his partner, Schanke asked, "Can Jenny and I stay
over for the night?  It's getting late and..."  He trailed off.

"Sure," replied Nick as the group left the hospital.  He'd have to
stay up and keep an eye on Schanke and Jenny until the morning.  He
wanted to make sure there would be no reciprocal action from any
vampires, especially in light of their latest case.

Only Mulder caught Jenny's strange look towards Nick.  Perhaps what
he suspected about Detective Knight was true.

***

Oh, he did enjoy this.  Chasing the wayward ones, playing with them,
killing them.  Even without the Enforcers `invitation,' he would
probably have chosen to do this.  It was such a refreshing change
from his radio show.  And all for the good of the Community.  What a
wonderful deal. Though he really must get back to the show one of
these days; there were some things Nicholas had to hear.

He debated to himself on just how much he should tell his youngest
child.  Nicholas was not essential to the present situation; he could
tell his son nothing if he so desired.  Perhaps a small clue dropped
here and there; the lesson would have much more impact that way.
That reminded him, he must tell Janette not to divulge anything.  Oh,
this *was* wonderful.  He chuckled to himself.

Looking down at his current target from the roof where he stood, he
was further amused to find that the young vampire had heard his
laughter and was looking about in fright.  Then noticing the coming
dawn, he regretted that he did not have much more time to play with
the boy.  Putting on his best face complete with glowing golden eyes
and sharp fangs, he jumped down in front of his prey and enjoyed the
look of shock on the other's face.  Then pulling out a wooden stake,
he made sure to show the boy every detail of it before thrusting it
into the young one's heart.

Not quite as fun as tormenting Nicholas, he decided.  There wasn't as
much guilty fire to fan in these new weaklings.  But tomorrow he
would begin anew; another vampire, another game.  It would have to do
for now.


End of Part 6

--

Timeless (7/27)
by Elisa P. Black


"Did you notice anything strange about Detective Knight?"

Scully fumbled with her key as she tried to unlock her hotel room
door. "Who?  Nick?  Well, he's a little pale but otherwise, no.
Why?"

Mulder leaned against the wall next to her door.  "Yeah, he's
*really* pale."

"That could be the result of a medical condition."  She continued to
struggle with the lock.

"Of course.  But he turned even more pale when I mentioned vampires."

Scully considered pulling her gun to shoot out the lock.  "When was
that?"  Were you explaining your theory about the serial murders?"

"No, just telling him what kinds of cases we work on."

Scully smirked.  "Most people have strange reactions to *that*."

Mulder wondered if he should help her get the door open but figured
he might get shot for the effort judging by the look on her face.
"The little girl, Jenny, she seemed to think there was something
strange about Knight too.  She gave him a funny look as we were
leaving the hospital."

"Hmm," Scully mumbled as she attacked the lock with new
determination, trying to force it open with her will.  One more twist
and it obeyed.  She stepped inside.  "A funny look could mean many
things, Mulder.  And even if she did believe *that*, it could just be
her imagination.  Kids have wild imaginations, as do you sometimes."

"Ha, ha, Scully.  I have theories, not imaginings."

"Whatever," Scully smiled.

Gosh, he loved that smile.  And quite a few other things about her as
well.  Sometimes, like when she smiled just at him as she was doing
now, he wondered how he could keep from running his fingers through
that fiery red hair or kiss her luscious lips.  When he had first met
her, he'd thought in passing that she was, to use Frohike's term,
"hot."  But over the years, they had come to depend on each other,
risk their lives for each other, share some of their deepest secrets.
He had come to trust her as he did no one else, not even himself.  He
loved her very much as a best friend but at times like these, he
could barely suppress the desire for more.  She was the most amazing
woman and he wanted very much to have her.  However, he wasn't sure
that he deserved her or why she even bothered to stay with him.  God
knew his obsessions had lead to much trouble and pain for them both.
He sighed, knowing that this time also he would be unable to take a
first step, to tell her how he felt.

Scully raised a questioning eyebrow at the sudden sigh but didn't say
anything.  It would have been much harder if she'd said something, he
could have responded then, they would have gone on talking until he
broke from the tantalizing proximity of her.  She always knew what
to, or in this case, what not to say.  He could walk away now with
his smoldering thoughts kept to himself.

"Good night, Scully."  He walked away.

***

Nick sat in a chair in the hall outside the bedroom, drinking cow
blood from a glass and enjoying the cool blankness of thinking about
nothing in general.  From within the room someone stirred and washed
up in the bathroom inside.  A few minutes later, Jenny appeared in a
gray shirt she'd borrowed from Nick.  The sight made him smile and
hope that one day he'd have a daughter like her on which his shirts
would be way too big.

"Morning, Jenny."

"Morning, Uncle Nicky."  She yawned and headed downstairs towards the
kitchen.

As she passed through the living room, her father woke up from the
sofa. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and spotted Jenny in the
kitchen looking for something to eat in the cabinets.

"Honey, Nick doesn't eat normal food.  There's nothing in there.
Wait a few minutes and I'll take you out for breakfast.  Then we can
find some other friend for you to stay with for awhile."

Schanke headed for the bathroom as Nick washed his glass out and put
it away.  It was his turn to sleep now after his long night's vigil.
He went upstairs to the bedroom.

Alone, Jenny could finally check out her suspicions.  Only last night
did she begin to think that Nick might be something more than human.
It had happened when she realized that the woman attacking her mom
was a real vampire.  She had felt a certain un easiness, something
foreign, something she could now detect in Nick.  With the way Agent
Mulder had scrutinized her last night, she didn't think she was the
only one with that suspicion.

She found one of Nick's special wine bottles in the refrigerator and
opened it to discover blood.


End of Part 7

--

Timeless (8a/27)
by Elisa P. Black


"Nicholas," LaCroix' voice whispered mockingly from the darkness.

Nick tried to get up and prepare for whatever his master might throw
at him.  It was impossible; his muscles felt like jelly and he
appeared to be strapped down.

"What are you dreaming, Nicholas?"

He tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn't move.

"What do you want, Nicholas?"  Suddenly, LaCroix' glowing eyes
appeared inches above his face, seeming slowly to light the blackness
around them. "Oh, you do have such a vivid imagination, my boy."

He found himself staring helplessly into the brightness of those
eyes. In their relentless glare, he somehow found a mortal heartbeat
rising, tramping, whirling into the march of many feet. All of a
sudden, he found himself sitting up ramrod straight, yet still unable
to move a muscle.  An army of toy soldiers marched towards the right
about a foot in front of him and finally came to a halt before
LaCroix.  He almost laughed at the sight of his master turning each
of the toys into a vampire.  When they had all been brought across,
LaCroix cried, "To the right, march!"

The scene changed to that of a bright cheery neighborhood made of
dollhouses.  The vampiric soldiers ran amuck, attacking pretty female
and male dolls along with other residents like the spare teddy bear.
Screams filled the air, and suddenly, it was all very real.  He was
sitting up in a hospital bed in the middle of the street, unable to
intervene in any way.  He could only watch as a real live
soldier-vampire took first the Schankes', then Nat.  NO!  Schanke,
Natalie, no!

He struggled harder to free himself from the invisible bonds but to
no avail.  All his cursed vampiric strength and he couldn't use it to
save his friends.  Every victim looked at him, accusing silently,
damning him. He moaned.

Instinctive guilt washed over him.  No, this was *not* his fault.  He
pushed it away and found himself jumping up.  "No!  I didn't do it!
I'm not guilty!"

***

LaCroix looked down at his sleeping son and smiled.  The dear boy was
thrashing about in agony.  It was so nice to know that Nick dreamed
of him.

"Soon, Nicholas," he whispered to the his unhearing son.  "Soon you
will learn the true meaning of anguish."


End of Part 8a

--

Timeless (8b/27)


From the dark corner wafted a puff of smoke.  The impeccably dressed
old man sitting in the corner glared sourly at the smoke.  Known to
Mulder as Well-Manicured Man, this distinguished gentleman did not
like the cigarette smoke nor the man behind it.  The First Elder
spoke.

"With the recent murders in Toronto, we cannot proceed with our
original plans.  We must resort to the young ones.  It will set back
our research a few years."

The men in the room nodded.  The First Elder directed a question at
the corner.

"You know that Mulder and Scully are in Toronto?"

Cancerman sat forward and grinned.  "But of course."

"They will interfere with our interests in that area.  What do you
plan to do about it."

"Keep them from finding the truth, of course." Cancerman smiled
infernally and puffed on the cigarette.

"Really?" put in Well-Manicured Man doubtfully.

"Trust me."


End of Part 8b

--

** If you recognize the setting which Nick dreams of below, well,
it's based on the courtroom where Q puts humanity on trial in Star
Trek: The Next Generation.  If you don't recognize it, that's OK too.

Timeless (9a/27)
by Elisa P. Black


He was now the defendant in a courtroom presided over by the
Honorable Amanda Cohen.  LaCroix sat in the witness stand, crying.
Crocodile tears, he thought sourly as he continued with his out
burst.

"He's the one who did it!  Lucien LaCroix!  I saw him!"

Cohen rapped her gavel.  "Order in the court! Sit down, Mr. Knight!"

A restraining hand was laid on his shoulder, gently pushing him into
his seat.  Natalie, his lawyer, looked at him sadly and whispered,
"There's too much evidence against you, Nick.  You should plead
guilty and take the DA's bargain.  Maybe we can get you off on a plea
of insanity."

He looked about the courtroom, desperate for an ally.  Among the
spectators were the Schankes', Janette, Miklos, Feliks and other
friends, but they all presented a wall of impenetrable accusation.
He turned back to LaCroix.

"You did this!  Tell them!  TELL THEM!"

LaCroix sobbed, crying blood.  "And he keeps accusing me!"

"Liar!  Tell them!"

The gavel was rapped again.  "That's enough, Mr. Knight!  What do you
plead?"

"Not guilty, your Honor."

Cohen stood, now an immense figure dwarfing all else.  "Mr. Knight,
the Court of Humanity finds you *guilty*!"

The last word rang in his mind.  "No!  Not guilty!  LaCroix did it!
I saw him!  Not guilty!"

A multitude of boos drowned him out.  The very dregs of humanity
lined the bleachers around him, dull yet full of vicious life.  He
suddenly found himself staring at a magnificently-dressed LaCroix.
His master sat in a hovering chair and swoop down towards him like a
bird of prey.

LaCroix leaned in confidentially to whisper in his ear.  "I already
told the soldiers that if you answered with anything other than
guilty, then they could kill your friends.  Really, must you be so
stubborn?"

He nodded towards somebody behind Nick and gave him a feral grin.
The crowd cheered.


End of Part 9a

--

Timeless (9b/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Scully had to wonder what Mulder had in mind for today.  Then again,
she had to wonder that just about every day.  Mulder gave her an
inscrutable smile as he drove them heck knows where after breakfast
at the hotel.

A few blocks more and they parked by the hospital.  Scully had to
marvel at Mulder's photographic memory; one ride to this place and
he'd already memorized the route.  But what did Mulder hope to find
out here?  Why couldn't they do normal stuff for once like tour the
city?  She sighed and followed him into the hospital.

Mulder marched right in to Myra's room.  "Hello, Mrs. Schanke.  My
name is Fox Mulder and this is Dana Scully.  We're with the FBI."

"Um, hello.  Isn't the FBI supposed to be in the US?"

Scully tried to keep her eyebrows from rising as Mulder simply parked
himself in a chair by the window and smiled politely.  Myra looked at
her in confusion and she could do nothing but smile.  She tried to
think of something to say since Mulder obviously wasn't saying
anything more.

"Yes, ma'am, it is.  We're not here on official business, however.
I'm a friend of Natalie Lambert and we're up here for a conference."

"Oh, well, nice to meet--"

Myra was interrupted when Schanke burst into the room with Jenny
trailing behind.  "Hon, you look so much better now!  How are you
feeling?"  He kissed her cheek.

"A little sore and weak, but otherwise, just fine," she smiled.

Schanke suddenly noticed the FBI agents.  "Hi."

Scully gave him a smile but noticed that Mulder's attention was
focused intently on Jenny as she ran over to hug her mother.  What
could he be thinking of, she wondered.


End of Part 9b

--

Timeless (10/27)
by Elisa P. Black


In the darkness of an abandoned building slept a young woman.  Her
pretty face seemed so innocent in slumber, her porcelain skin aglow.
The big man who watched her knew better though.

His big, angular face was set impassively as he stalked closer to the
still form.  Raising his arm high, he brought the stake down with
brutal force.  For a split second, the woman's eyes popped open,
shining amber, and slender fangs emerged from her mouth.  She
hissed... and then disintegrated.  He put the stake back into his
pocket, unmoved, and walked quickly away from the ashes.

He still had much work to do.

***

Schanke had left the room to find a working phone.  He was going to
call some friends to take care of Jenny while Myra was in the
hospital and he was at work.  Mulder pulled Jenny aside.

"Detective Knight, he's one, isn't he?" he whispered.

Jenny looked at him in confusion, as did Scully.  Was that what
Mulder had come to the hospital for?  To ask Jenny about Nick?

"You know what I mean," he continued.  "I saw the look on your face
last night.  You think he's one of them."

The confusion disappeared from the girl's face.  If she had
understood what Mulder was asking, Scully couldn't tell.  At that
moment, Schanke came back in the room and Mulder backed away.

Scully figured that Mulder thought he'd gotten the answer he wanted.
He really thought that Nick was a vampire.  What was he planning to
do about it?

***

Nick spun around to see two life-sized toy soldiers pointing rifles
at Natalie and the Schankes'.  A shot was fired.  Myra fell.

"No!  I will not stand for this!  How could you do this?  How could
you be allowed to do this?"

LaCroix and his chair floated even closer.  "Ah, but I am judge,
jury, and executioner.  However, since you are family, I'll give you
*one* more chance.  *Try* to do some good with it.  So, what do you
plead?"

The crowd booed and hissed.  Nick was torn.  He turned back towards
his friends, trying to decide.  He had to save them, but it hadn't
been his fault, had it?  Myra lay dying with the others kneeling
around her.  All four turned to him with grim accusation on their
faces.  Jenny's eyes, especially, burned into his.

"I know what you are," she whispered.

"Well?" demanded LaCroix, his face only centimeters from Nick's.

"You... did... this," whispered Nick, pronouncing each word
carefully.

"Wrong... answer," responded LaCroix in kind.  "Guilt did this."

"You mean mine?"

LaCroix smiled mysteriously as his chair moved up and back,
disappearing into the darkness behind him.  "It's not what you
think."

Suddenly, Nick found himself in a very familiar position, lying on
his back on Nat's autopsy table.  He blinked in the bright light,
trying to focus on the two figures standing above him.  They were
Scully and Mulder.  She wore scrubs and held a scalpel.  They didn't
seem to notice that he was conscious, much less alive.

"What do you think it is?" asked Scully.

And Mulder responded, "Whatever it is, it's not what you think."


End Part 10

--

Timeless (11/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Schanke showered profuse love upon his family as he headed out the
door to work.  Mulder fell into step beside the detective.  Scully
rolled her eyes; this could only mean that Mulder wanted to get
started on the serial exsanguination murder case now.  She had been
hoping for a bit of a vacation in Toronto.  Mulder, however, never
seemed to take a rest.

"Detective Schanke, you're going in to work now, right?  May we offer
our assistance on the serial murder case?  We've heard a lot about it
and thought we could lend a hand while we're here."

He turned to look at Mulder as they approached his car.  "That would
be great.  We need all the help we can get.  I'm heading for the
morgue right now; why don't you hop in?"

They rode in silence to the Coroner's Building where Schanke wanted
to check if there was any new information on the bodies.  As they
walked into the room where Natalie usually worked, they found the day
shift coroner working on a shriveled shell of a body.  The tall,
gray-haired man stood up and stretched as they approached.

"Hello, Detective Schanke!" he boomed.  "Terribly sorry to hear about
your wife.  As for these cursed souls," he pointed towards the crowd
of bodies overflowing from the freezer, "I haven't found anything new,
but then again, I just got here not too long ago."

Mulder took a look at the corpse on the table.  "If you need any
help, Scully can do some autopsies."

"Sounds good," said the male coroner.

Scully sighed.

***

Natalie rushed down the hall.  Hopefully, she could make sure that
Jensen, the most competent coroner in their department, wasn't doing
autopsies on the exsanguination victims.  There were just certain
things that needed to remain hidden.  However, she overheard Mulder's
suggestion.

"Oh, no," she murmured to herself.


End of Part 11

--

Timeless (12/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Natalie quickened her pace.  There was no way she could let Mulder
and Scully examine the bodies.  What if they found out that she'd
been holding back evidence on the case?

She couldn't hear anything else after Mulder's offer to help.  What
were they doing?  Just a few more steps...

She turned the corner and saw Mulder leaning over the body.  He
seemed to be inspecting the corpse's neck.  Scully stood beside him
with arms crossed and a wry expression on her face.  Schanke watched
Mulder's examination.  One of the other coroners, thankfully not
Jensen, stood by the desk.  He looked up.

"Why hello there, Natalie, dear.  How are you?"

"Hi, Tom," she tried to look cheery while watching Mulder from the
corner of her eye.  He had looked up and seemed to be scrutinizing
her. "I'm fine, thanks.  And you?"

"Good.  This case is a bummer, no?"

She laughed, trying not to appear nervous.  "Yes, it is.  Hello,
Schanke, Dana, Mulder.  Mulder, I heard your offer to help from the
hallway and that would be very nice.  But Dana has told me about how
she wanted something of a vacation while she was here..."  She trailed
off and hoped that Scully would jump in.

"Um, yes, I did.  Mulder, I'm sure that these coroners will be able
to take care of the autopsies."

Yes!, thought Natalie.  Mulder looked back and forth between them for
a moment.  "Scully, can I talk to you for a minute?"

***

Mulder lead her down the hallway.

"What's up, Mulder?"

"I want you to do the autopsies.  You'll be able to catch things that
these people won't."

"What are you saying, Mulder?  That these coroners aren't reliable?
They are supposed to report any anomalies they find."

Mulder lowered his voice.  "I got something in the mail yesterday.
It was a folder with information on Knight, Schanke, and Lambert.
There's something about these people and I want to know what exactly
it is."


End of Part 12

--

Timeless (13a/27)
by Elisa P. Black


"What exactly are you trying to investigate here, Mulder?  The serial
exsanguination murders or these people?"  Scully looked at him
incredulously.

"Just hear me out, Scully.  Many of the prisoners that Knight
arrested said things about how he would appear from nowhere, how he
looked like some sort of monster with glowing eyes and fangs, things
like that.  In the reports he files with his partner it's never
specified how they figured anything out, just references to Knight's
"amazing intuition."  His own partner has even complained about his
refusals to say where he got any of his information.  There was even a
time when Schanke suspected him of being a vampire. And when it's not
something about him, then it's Dr. Lambert.  I was given evidence that
she consistently failed to report certain kinds of information.

"But this, Scully," he held out a videotape, "This is the key.  It's
a video made by a TV news crew.  It shows Knight flying."

Scully sighed.  "It's probably faked.  No person can fly.  And there
*are* *no* *vampires*."

"We'll see."  Mulder walked back down the hall.


End of Part 13a

--

Timeless (13b/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Natalie had been anxiously waiting for Mulder and Scully to come back
in. She wondered what they were talking about; hopefully they didn't
suspect anything.  Schanke flipped through some of the latest
coroner's reports. Tom puttered around the body; good thing he was a
bit oblivious to oddities in the bodies.  She didn't have to worry
about him.  But if Scully were to start examining these corpses,
especially with these X-Files she'd heard about...

Mulder walked into the room.  Scully came in a second later, with her
lips pursed as if she didn't like what had just happened.  Natalie
wondered what had happened but decided it was more important to get
Scully away from the bodies.

"It's about time to get over to the convention for the first
presentation," she announced.

Scully glanced at her watch.  "So it is.  You and I can go together.
Mulder, what are you going to do?"

Mulder looked over at Schanke.  "Oh, I think I can tag along with
Detective Schanke."

Nat and Scully set off as Schanke and Mulder began to discuss the
case.

***

At the end of the presentation was a period for questions and
discussion. In the middle of a rather heated debate Scully thought
she heard a scream outside.  She told Natalie that she intended to
check it out.  Natalie decided to go with her so the two excused
themselves and stepped outside.

They found a woman lying by the corner.  Nat checked her out and
found that she had fainted, while Scully turned the corner into the
lobby.

"Hey!"  Scully's exclamation startled Natalie.

Her friend started to run into the lobby, yelling, "Let him go!"

Nat also turned to corner to a an old ragged man with his face buried
in the neck of the front desk clerk.  She'd seen this type of thing
enough to know what it meant.  Oh, God, Dana was running straight to
her death. Unless...

"Dana, stop!" she called.

Scully kept going.  "Hold it right there!  I'm a federal agent!"

"Dana, stop!  Don't!  It's already too late for him!"  cried Nat
desperately as she too, started to run.  Scully didn't stop, and the
old man dropped the drained body to turn towards her.  They both
gasped as he looked at them with glowing, blood-red eyes and dripping
fangs.

Scully stopped then, but she was already too close.  The vampire
moved towards her like lightning and reached for her... then pulled
back suddenly with a hiss.  Spinning around, he rushed towards the
front doors like a surreal blur.  An even faster blur came rushing in,
attacking the vampire.  Scully and Nat could only watch in confusion
until the blurring stopped and everything settled back into
normality, as normal as it could be for these two ladies, that is.
The new, younger-looking vampire stabbed the first one with a wooden
stake.  The first vampire disappeared with a horrible screech.  The
other one then turned towards them with a resigned frown on his
handsome features.

"Such pretty ladies.  What a shame you had to see that."


End of Part 13b

--

Timeless (14/27)
by Elisa P. Black


He had taken to staying up through the night and into the next
afternoon. He had to do that now since his children were being killed
off too quickly. By using some daylight hours, he could make more
children even as the other vampires slept.  No other one was old
enough to stay out in the light like he could, so they could not kill
his newborns during the day.  That was why he awoke so late this night
like he had done on other nights. But this time, something was wrong.

His children!  Where were all his children?!  There had been so many
yesterday, but today, he could feel the links with only a few.  No
vampires, no humans could have destroyed so many during the day.
Someone or something new was in town and he'd better find it quickly
before all of his plans were ruined.  He let out and snarl and headed
out into the night.

***

Natalie watched the vampire carefully, wanting to anticipate any
sudden moves he might make.  Of course, she knew that it was useless,
since she wouldn't be able to avoid anything he might do.  He caught
her eye and held her gaze, trying to hypnotize her.  But, of course,
she was immune.  He turned away in frustration.

Holding tightly to her arm, he tried Scully.  With her free hand,
Natalie undid the latch of her necklace and wrapped the chain around
her fingers, dangling the tiny cross.  Putting the hand in her pocket,
she turned to see how her friend was doing.

Scully's eyes started to glaze over.  Nat crossed her fingers and
held out the cross between her friend and the vampire.  He fell back
as if stricken and growled at her.  She advanced with the cross in her
shaking hand.

A ding! filled the silence as the elevator doors down the hall opened
to expel an old woman and a young girl.  Oh, God, no, not this,
thought Nat in a panic.

"Get out of here!" she yelled at them.

Too late.  The vampire had them.  "I don't want to hurt them," he
called. "But if you and your friend don't come with me quietly, I'll
be forced to!"

"What guarantee do I have that you won't hurt them?"

"I'm a man of my word and you'd better decide quickly before more
people get involved."

She looked at the two fearful hostages and made up her mind.  No one
else should have to get involved in this mess.  She pocketed the
cross.

Suddenly, she felt her self being swept into the elevator.  It began
moving upwards as the vampire successfully hypnotized the old lady
and young girl.  Since, there wasn't much room in the elevator, she
didn't dare take out the cross and threaten the man.  Scully seemed to
be waking up from her trance.

When they arrived at the roof, the brown-haired vampire grabbed Nat
and Scully by their waists and took off towards the magnificent vista
of stars. Nat wanted to see where they were going, but was afraid to
look down as they soared higher and higher.  There was no way she
would pull the cross out on him now.  Scully observed everything
silently.

Finally, he landed them at an abandoned warehouse, and tied them up
against adjacent poles.  Pacing up and down in front of them, he
wondered aloud, "What should I do with you ladies?  You," he turned to
Nat, "I can't hypnotize, and you," he turned to Scully, "are far too
hard to hypnotize.  I got a headache and almost hypnotized myself
trying, and all I got was your attention.  That leaves me no choice
but to kill you, but how?"

He stopped pacing.  "I know, I'll let you decide.  How do you want to
die?"


End of Part 14

--

Timeless (15/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Nick winced as the smell of blood and vampire ash hit him.  Looking
around, he cataloged things automatically in his mind.  A bowl of
popcorn and a popper sat on the counter top by an open window,
sandwich supplies were spilled by the fridge, a wooden chair with a
missing leg lay in the corner, and a pile of ash with the chair leg on
top sat near a pool of blood.

At the far end of the room, Schanke had just finished reconstructing
the crime for Mulder. They hadn't yet noticed that he was there. The
FBI agent knelt beside the pile of ash to examine it, and Nick felt
very uneasy.

"I would ask Scully to check this out, but I don't want to ruin her
vacation." Mulder pulled a vial from his pocket.

Nick knew that the agent wanted to get a sample of the ash. With
these "X-Files" that he'd heard about, he figured it would be
disastrous to let Mulder get a sample analyzed. He stepped forward and
cleared his throat.

"Hello, Agent Mulder. How ya holding up, Schank?"

Mulder's hand stopped halfway towards the ash as he looked up at
Nick. "Hello, glad you could join us."

"I'm OK, Nick," said Schanke.

Mulder gave him an odd look and reached for the ash again.

"So where's your partner, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder stopped again. "She's at the convention."

"Oh."

Mulder started towards the ash again.

"What do you want that stuff for? It's only ash." Nick inquired
nonchalantly.

Mulder stopped again and spoke seriously. "It's vampire ash. Possibly
containing residues which can be analyzed. Maybe we can find out how
to stop the vampires."

"Okaaay," Nick pretended to sound doubtful.

Mulder grinned. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

The agent went ahead to shovel a bit of ash into the vial. Nick
looked down to hide his look of frustration. Maybe he could "lose" the
sample later... Assuming that Mulder let down his guard enough for him
to steal it. A doubtful possibility, even at vampire speed.

"I know the coroner on duty now. He owes me a favor. Maybe we can let
him look at the ash," suggested Schanke.

"Why not Nat?" asked Nick.

"She's at the convention with my partner," replied Mulder. "But I
think Scully mentioned that the presentation would be over around," he
checked his watch, "now. So maybe I can call my partner."

He immediately pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number. After
a few minutes, he hung up.

"She's not answering." The unease was clear in his voice. "Could you
try calling Dr. Lambert?"

"Yeah, sure." Nick pulled out his own phone.  There was no answer.

The three exchanged looks of alarm and raced out the door.  They
piled into Nick's Caddy and headed for the hotel.  In the lobby they
found a crowd of people gathering around the front desk.  In the row
of chairs opposite a motherly-looking woman cried on the shoulder of a
young lady. Scully and Natalie were not there.

"Hey!" Nick called for attention and flashed his badge. "I'm a police
officer. Could somebody tell me what happened?"

Someone explained that they were all coroners who had just come from
a meeting.  They had found the woman barely conscious and the desk
clerk dead.  They'd called the police, and soon, the woman was able to
tell them what she'd seen.  She told her story again for the three.

"And then he took them all into the elevator and went up!"

Nick sprinted for the nearest elevator and headed up, leaving Mulder
and Schanke behind.  Hopefully, he could still find this other
vampire's trail.  Bingo! the unmistakable scent of vampire ash hung in
the air. The vampire must have been too close when he had killed the
other one in the lobby and some of the ash must have fallen on him.

Nick took to the air.

***

"I don't want to die just yet," answered Nat. She wanted to stall
him... and got the odd feeling that he would allow it.  After all, he
was pretending not to notice that Scully was working free of her
ropes. "Isn't there any other option?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Well, how about..." Nat hesitated then, wondering if it would be
wise to mention such a thing.  But since she couldn't think of
anything else to say, she continued. "How about, no... what if, I
suggested that you make us vampires? Not that I'm saying you should."

"Um, no can do. There are already too many new vampires running
around nowadays. We don't need more."

Natalie was about to ask why there were so many new vampires.  Then
something crashed through one of the high windows, sending a tinkling
shower of glass to fall in the soft moonlight.  They looked up
sharply to see, in the shadows of the far wall, a tall pale figure in
dark clothing.

"Shane," growled the man in a low voice which Natalie immediately
recognized, "you are a fool!"


End of Part 15

--

Timeless (16/27)
by Elisa P. Black


"I need no help from you, LaCroix."

"Oh, really?  Did you know that there is another witness to the
murder of the desk clerk?"

He put up a hand to stop Shane from leaving in a panic.  "Oh, it's
quite too late now; she's already told her story."

"But how...?"

"If you had any sense at all, you would have been able to detect it."

Shane was speechless.

"Furthermore," continued LaCroix, "you have exposed us to one who
investigates such things as the likes of us."  Scully shivered as he
ran the back of his hand across her cheek, as much from its icy
coldness as from revulsion.

LaCroix smiled ferally.  "And, since you obviously don't know, this
is Dr.  Natalie Lambert."

"Natalie Lambert.  The one who knows of us?  The one that Nick--?"

"Scully turned sharply to look at Natalie who carefully kept her eyes
on the two vampires.  LaCroix shook his head.  "And you sink us deeper
by the minute.  Really, after 1500 years, you should know better."

"Well, what am I supposed to do about them?"

"Let's see.  You could kill them both, but what would be the point
with Dr. Lambert? I dare say that Nicholas would kill you for her
death.  As for the other... her partner is quite the persistent type.
I think that you would pay for her death as well."

"So what should I do?"

"Why, let them go, of course.  I'm sure Ms. Scully can keep a
secret."

"None of your games, LaCroix.  This is serious."

"I *am* being serious.  After you let them go, I will find the other
witness and persuade her to change her story.  That way, she will
make an unreliable witness.  You definitely do not have the skills to
persuade her yourself.  Mind you, I'm doing this for the Community,
not you. And certainly not for your father."

"Rikahn does not need anything from you!"

"And I suppose, neither do you," LaCroix smirked.

Shane grumbled but ripped apart the ropes binding the two women.
With a final glare at LaCroix he flew off through the broken window.
LaCroix shook his head and picked up the frayed ropes.  Natalie and
Scully massaged their wrists while backing away towards the door.

He spun suddenly to face them.  "I suggest that you hurry and leave
now before I change my mind."

Nat gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement and thanks and turned
towards the door.  Scully stood her ground, pulling out her gun to
hold in a steady two-handed grip.  LaCroix simply raised an amused
eyebrow.

"Who are you?" demanded Scully.

Nat turned back to her friend. "Dana, we have to go now!"

Scully didn't move. "Who are you? Answer me!"

LaCroix grinned almost benevolently.  "Right now, I am your savior."

"I'll ask you one more time: Who are you?"

Natalie grabbed her friend's arm.  "Let's go!"

Scully stayed put.  LaCroix blinked and opened glowing amber eyes and
a fanged mouth.

"*This* is who I am," he growled.

Nat froze in fear despite her urgent need to run away.  Scully stared
in shock and confusion.  Another blink and the monster was gone, as if
it had never been.

LaCroix bored into Scully with clam, blue eyes.  "I suggest you leave
now."

Nat tugged again at her friend's arm.  "Let's go."

Scully hesitated.  Several more pale people in black suddenly
appeared in the room.  Three were distinguished-looking gentlemen and
the fourth was a beautiful dark-haired woman, none of whom Nat
recognized.

The five vampires stared solemnly at Scully.  She could feel some
immense force of power emanating from them, sensed how easily they
could kill her.  Yet she didn't want to believe it.  She wanted to
think that, with her gun, she could control the situation, take down
these people whom -- she was sure -- were hardened killers.  But the
tugging on her arm had grown in alarm and she relented to it.  After
all, Natalie knew about these people and just how dangerous they must
really be.  She quickly holstered her gun and followed her friend to
the door.  She didn't look back.


End of Part 16

--

Timeless (17/27)
by Elisa P. Black


"Why?"

The question stopped Natalie in her tracks.  She had been afraid of
that question, of what answers she might or might not have to give.
Scully had a right to know about what had just put both their lives in
danger. However, it didn't mean that she should tell Scully
everything.

"Why what?"

"Why are you and Detective Knight involved with these people?  Who
are they?"

Natalie knew that she could only skirt the issue for so long, but she
had to try.  "I don't know them."

Scully shot her a suspicious look but it *was* the truth.  She didn't
know anything about Shane or the last four vampires.  And she really
didn't *know* LaCroix.

"Natalie, please, I need to know.  They're involved in the serial
exsanguination murders, aren't they?  Who are they?"

Scully could see that her friend wasn't about to answer those
questions, so she tried another one.  "Well, maybe you don't know
exactly who they are.  Personally, anyway.  But you definitely know
what they are, what they can do, how dangerous they can be.  Lives are
at stake here.  Please tell me about them."

Nat sighed.  It would be a bad idea to tell Scully too much,
especially since her friend worked on these "X-Files," investigating
supernatural phenomena.  Granted, she didn't much like the idea of
vampires running around killing people, but not all of them were bad.
Nick wasn't bad, no matter what he thought of himself.  She understood
his needs, worked with him towards a cure,... cared deeply for him.
There was no way she could endanger him.  Even if it meant lying to
her friend, endangering her career, obstructing an investigation, and
protecting the bad along with the good.

She sighed again.  She didn't know what to do.  Caught between duty,
friendship, loyalty, and fear, she wasn't sure which one had the
strongest hold on her.  The best thing she could think to do now was
to keep an eye on what Scully and Mulder did during their stay in
Toronto.  Give them just enough information to keep them satisfied and
looking elsewhere, stop them from finding out everything about Nick.

But there was one other problem, what exactly could she tell Scully?
Her friend had looked at the evidence of vampirism, seen the teeth,
the eyes, Shane draining the desk clerk.  But she wasn't so much
worried how to explain about the vampires as vampires.  Rather, she
was worried that Scully would think her to be insane, or worse,
desperately lying.

She knew her friend, and believed that Scully could still be
skeptical of the existence of vampires.  By telling her friend that
those people were vampires, she would make Scully think that she was
just doing a poor job of lying to protect herself and Nick.  On the
other hand, there was no other way to explain the things they had both
just witnessed as anything other than vampires.  Or at least she
couldn't think of any other way right now.

Scully just stood silently and stared into her.  What could she tell
her friend?

***

Nick was nearing the end of the trail; he could smell it in the trace
of vampire ash and blood he was tracking.  Wincing once again at how
strong the smell had become, he spied a large, abandoned factory on a
dark empty street.  That had to be it, it had to be the place where
the vampire had taken Nat and Scully.

As he flew cautiously down for a look, something flying away from the
building caught his eye.  It was LaCroix.

His heart and stomach took a tumble.  Of course, it would have to be
LaCroix who took them.  He braced himself and hurried towards his
father. But LaCroix was too far away and much more powerful.  His
father spied him and zoomed out of sight with an irritating grin.
There was no way he could catch up.

Could LaCroix have left them in the building?  Were they dead?  He
landed and rushed in the front door.

The first thing he noticed was the chilling silence.  The silence of
death?  He quickly scanned the area, his heart tripping loudly in his
ears.

A sea of shiny objects caught his eye.  It was broken glass.  His
eyes traced it to the shattered window above as he tried not to think
about what one could do with sharp glass edges.  Damnit, where were
they?

He carefully searched the main floor area, then behind each pillar,
in every nook and cranny.  They weren't there.  He considered ripping
the place apart.

And so he did.  He battered each wall, the floor, everywhere, until
the building was an empty shell of exposed beams.  There was no trace
of them in the abandoned building.


End of Part 17

--

Timeless (18/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Nat sighed.  She was going to have to say something soon.  If she
didn't, then anything she said later would sound just that much more
suspicious.  Scully still stared impassively at her.  Oh, well, she
thought, this is it.  Taking a deep breath, she began.

"I really don't know that much about them.  They are definitely
powerful, *very* powerful...  I've seen things, Dana.  Things that
can't really be explained by science...  There's no other way that I
can explain them except for magic... or perhaps vampirism."

There she'd said it.  Now she wondered what was going on behind
Scully's enigmatic gaze.  The silence stretched endlessly.

Scully pursed her lips, her stare penetrating deeply into Natalie.
Nat tried to appear calm under the scrutiny.  After all, she hadn't
really been lying, she'd just hedged around the truth.  She hoped that
her friend couldn't tell.  Then her friend's eyes looked down just a
bit.

"There's no such thing as vampires...  And there was no flying.  We
were both hypnotized by that man Shane.  There was no flying, the
other one -- LaCroix -- did not fly in through the window, those other
people did not appear out of thin air.  I know that much.  But what do
you and Nick have to do with these people?  I do know that I heard
them mention both of you with familiarity."

Natalie could hear hesitation creeping into her friend's voice.
Scully really wasn't sure what had happened, especially with the
hypnosis. Shane's attempt must have worked on Scully to some degree,
or at least led her to believe that she had been hypnotized.  Maybe
Nat could convince her friend that she had imagined the connection
between the vampires, Nick and herself.  She took a look at Scully who
stood with a grim look of determination.  Maybe not.  After all, Nat
had already as much as admitted some sort of connection.

"Yes, Nick and I know about these people, and they definitely know
about us.  We aren't associated with them.  It's just... we know what
some of them do, but we can never pin anything on them.  There's no
viable evidence."  Well, it was true, in a way, Nat told herself.

Scully pursed her lips before speaking.  "Why haven't you told anyone
else about them?  No one should be above the law.  Perhaps a full
investigation could be set up--"

Nat interrupted.  "The department doesn't have the resources for an
investigation of these people.  They are very dangerous and powerful.
It's enough that they know about Nick and myself, know that we know
of them.  No one else should have to be endangered for no reason.
Since we can't catch them, there's no reason for anyone else's
involvement."

Scully looked down for a moment, and when she looked back up again,
her face was weary.  "It's getting late; we should get back.  We'll
talk tomorrow.  Now where are we?"

Nat let out an inward sigh of relief.  Scanning their surroundings,
she noted the desolate, abandoned air of the industrial buildings.
"This looks like the outskirts of the city, although how we got out
here so quickly, I don't know.  We're too far away to walk back; I'm
not sure exactly where we are anyway.  We'll have to call a cab, or
call Nick."

She dug into her coat pockets.  No cell phone.  Didn't she have it
with her earlier?  She could have sworn she did.

"I don't seem to have my cell phone on me, although I thought I had
it with me tonight.  Do you have yours?"

Scully rummaged in her own pockets but came up empty handed.  "No, I
don't.  I thought I had mine with me earlier, too.  Maybe both of our
cell phones were taken.  Or maybe they got dropped back at the
warehouse.  We should go check."

"No!" cried Nat in alarm.  "They might still be in there."

Scully considered for a moment.  "Well, would there be any phones we
could use around here?"

Nat took another good look at their surroundings.  The place was so
abandoned, she could almost swear she heard every little critter
within a square mile moving around.  So abandoned that there wouldn't
be any phone, electric, water, or other service in the area. "Um, I
don't think so."

Scully pulled out her gun.  "Then we should go check.  Or rather, I
should.  You stay here."

Nat started to complain when they heard an anguished and frustrated
roar.  The inhumanness of the cry sent shivers down the two women's
backs.  There was something familiar about the voice behind the cry,
and Nat realized with a start that it was Nick.

Scully had already started racing towards the warehouse where the
roar had seemed to originate.  Nat followed close on her friend's
heels, her heart and mind screaming in fear for Nick.  If somehow
those other vampires had gotten a hold of him...

They charged in.  And found Nick sulking alone in a corner with the
walls and ceiling ripped apart and debris lying all around him.  His
head shot up in shock as he heard them enter.

"Nat?" He sounded unsure, his gaze was full of wonder.

Nat ran to him, her eyes sweeping quickly over him, making sure that
he was okay.  "What happened, Nick?  Where --?"

Nick smothered her in a bear hug.  "Natalie!  Is it really you?"

"Yes, it's me, Nick. Are you alright?"

"Now that you're safe.  Are you okay?"

"Yes, Nick, I'm fine.  Did you see the other people who were here?"

Nick tightened his grip on her.  "LaCroix was here."

Her breath caught in her throat.  How could she tell him that LaCroix
had been their "savior?"  She wasn't even sure herself what that
meant, what LaCroix might expect in the future.  She didn't want Nick
to start beating himself up again for things that weren't his fault.

"There were others."  She heard Scully approaching from somewhere
behind them; the FBI agent had been checking the place out, making
sure that the coast was clear.  Now was not the time to talk with
Nick about the others.  She whispered in his ear.  "We'll talk
later."

They separated to find Scully studying them.  "Where's Mulder?  He
didn't come with you?"

"Um, no, I came alone," Nick replied with a distinct sense of being
caught in some headlights.

"Well, did you come here in your car?"

He felt a serious sense of uh-oh now.  "Uh, no, I-, my car wouldn't
start.  I, um, caught a cab."

Scully raised an eyebrow but didn't pursue it.  "Is it still here?"

"No, it left after dropping me off."

Nat decided to jump in and help him out.  "Do you have your cell
phone so we can call another cab?  Dana and I seem to have lost ours
somehow."

"Um, yeah," he pulled it out and called a cab.

Back at the hotel, everything had calmed down.  Or at least
everything except Mulder and Schanke.  The two were storming around
frantically, considering what course of action to take.  When Scully,
Nick, and Nat walked in, they did a double-take.

"Where have you been?  Geez, are you okay?"  Schanke spluttered.

"Dana and I were taken to an abandoned warehouse and Nick found us
there,"  Nat replied.

"Abandoned warehouse?  Where?"

"On the outskirts of town around an old business district."

"Wow, that's really far out there."  Schanke turned to Nick.  "You
musta been drivin' like the devil to get there and back so fast.  But
why the hell did you go without me?  I mean, I'm your partner and you
can't ever tell me what's going on.  You just have to rush in
half-cocked without backup..."

Scully smirked at Mulder.  "He's not the only one who runs off like
that.  I know someone else who does that same thing."

Her partner put on an innocent expression.  "Who?  Moi?"

He quickly changed the subject.  "So, Nick, why didn't you take your
car over to the warehouse?  How did you get out there?"

"It wouldn't start.  I had to take a cab."

"Really?"  The word didn't sound like a question but measured
suspicion. Mulder's tone and stare unnerved Nick.

Scully knew that something deeper had to be going on here.  However,
it truly disturbed her to think that Natalie, a professional and
competent woman, could be involved in anything underhanded.
Especially anything that could compromise Nat's integrity and work.
She didn't want to believe that what Mulder had suggested could be
true.  Would Natalie really cover up autopsy results and why?

She wasn't ready to deal with that just yet.  But even more, she
couldn't deal with the idea that she had been hypnotized, and dare
she even think it, that she been led to experience something like
human flight.  She knew that it had to be an illusion, or perhaps a
hallucination, but it could definitely not have been real.  Vampires
just did NOT exist.  Why would someone so practical as Nat even
suggest it?

There would be another time to inquire about these matters, but right
now, she was too tired and confused.  She wanted to sleep on it, and
hopefully gain a clearer perspective in the morning.

"Let's go, Mulder."

Her partner raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.  She turned and
headed for the door, Mulder following behind in silence.  They made
into their rental car and began driving off before he spoke.

"What happened?"

Scully turned a questioning gaze towards him.  "Hmm?"

"What happened to you and Dr. Lambert?  What is it that's bothering
you so much?"

She pursed her lips and considered for a minute.  "Well, I'm not
exactly sure what happened.  I believe that Natalie and I may have
been hypnotized."

"And?" he prompted.

"And I think that we saw someone attacking the desk clerk.  He
appeared to be biting into the clerk's neck, and when he looked up,
his eyes were glowing and he had fangs.  He attacked me, hypnotized
Natalie and myself, then took us in the elevator up to the roof.  And
then..."

Mulder took his eyes off the road to give her a brief encouraging
nod. "And then?"

She frowned.  "And then, umm, he seemed to pick us up and he flew us
to the abandoned warehouse."

Mulder's eyes opened wide in a half-pleased surprise.  "Oh???"

"We were hypnotized," Scully offered weakly.

"Yes, but only after you saw him attack the desk clerk and saw his
'glowing eyes and fangs.' Come on, Scully, what do you think that
could have been?"

She turned give him a patented 'Scully look' as her confidence
returned for a moment.  "A trick.  It was a trick.  Some make-up
perhaps, or even just the subconscious suggestion of what you told me
earlier.

"Anyway, when we arrived at the warehouse, the man tied us up.
Later, about five other people showed up, and we were let go.  Then
Detective Knight found us."

"So why did they let you go?"

"Something was mentioned about the difficulty involved in
disappearing a coroner and an FBI agent, I think."

Mulder nodded, his eyes still on the road.  "Okay, so why did the guy
take you in the first place?  Wouldn't it have been better to just
leave instead?  That way, he wouldn't have had to get so close to you
and Dr. Lambert, and there would be less chance for the two of you to
identify him."

"Well, one of the people who arrived later seemed to consider him to
be... an idiot."

"Oh," Mulder kept nodding as if everything were perfectly reasonable.
He pulled the car into the parking lot of the hotel where they were
staying.  Stepping out, he turned to face her.  The look on his face
changed from aloofness to concern.

"You look like you could use some sleep.  We can talk more in the
morning.  G'night, Scully."

With that, he himself yawned and headed off into the building.  She
was left wondering what could possibly be going through his mind.


End of Part 18

--

Timeless (19/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Natalie didn't say a thing as they drove along in the Caddy.  In
fact, she hardly seemed to be moving; there was hardly a sound in the
car, not a rustle of clothing, no slight shuffling, just the barest
touch of breath and a comforting heartbeat.  He felt so thankful that
she was still alive, but her silence made him uneasy.  What could
possibly have happened with LaCroix?  What did he do to her?

She seemed to sense his apprehension.  Turning away from the window,
she flashed him a weak smile which he returned.

"He didn't hurt us.  LaCroix, I mean."

"Then why was he there?" he asked tightly.

Nat fidgeted, shifted nervously, and resettled herself, giving
herself time to consider her words.  "I don't really know, but... he
saved us.  He stopped the other vampire from killing us.  He let us
go."

He shook his head.  It couldn't be.  It was impossible.  Unless
LaCroix was up to something far worse.  He took a deep breath.

"So what happened exactly?"

As Nat told him the story, he felt increasing agitation run through
him. He wanted very much to grab Nat and tuck her away somewhere
safe, to hide her from the bad things in the world.  But then again,
*he* was a bad thing, and if he hadn't met her in the first place,
then she wouldn't be in so much danger...

He suddenly became aware that Nat had stopped talking.  She placed a
comforting hand on his arm, and looked at him with compassion.  Why
was she comforting him?  She was the one who had gone through the
ordeal.  Why was she always comforting him?  This whole thing was all
wrong, he and she together were all wrong...

Nat sighed as she studied Nick.  Here he was again on another guilt
trip, no doubt over her safety.  How she wished that he would just
snap out of it!  It tore at her heart to see him hurting like this.
It seemed so unnecessary to her, he was destroying himself...

"Nick, this is not your fault.  I would have been at that convention
even if I hadn't ever met you.  I would still have run out into the
lobby when I heard that scream, and the vampire would still have taken
me.  In fact, it might have helped a bit that they knew who I was.
They might not have let us go otherwise..."

Nick's jaw remained resolutely clenched, but his eyes softened as he
looked at her.  He nodded gravely.

"All right.  But what about Agent Scully?  What exactly did she think
of all this?"

She knew that he must be worried about whether or not the FBI agents
would figure anything out; she was worried herself.  But there was no
way to stop them from investigating, at least not as far as she could
see. Somehow she had to tell Nick that without having him go berserk.

"She doesn't believe in vampires, but she does think that something
is going on here that needs investigating."

Nick sat silently as if waiting for more bad news.  She sighed and
continued.

"Before all of this, Agent Scully had asked to help with the autopsy
of bodies.  After all, we are getting too many bodies nowadays, and we
do need help..."

Nick raised an eyebrow, the rest of his body still rigid.

"Well," Nat explained reasonably, unwilling to be intimidated, "we
really do need help with all the bodies.  It would look suspicious to
refuse.  They will investigate no matter what, and we shouldn't give
them any reasons to suspect us even more."

Nick sighed and nodded.  "Mulder got a sample of some ash."

She didn't have to ask what exactly he meant by that; she knew it had
to be vampire ash.  He was asking her whether or not the FBI agents
would find anything interesting in the ash.  Using some simple
methods, she hadn't been able to find any useful information.
However, she hadn't been able to study any samples in close detail
before, and didn't know if anything could be found using more
sophisticated techniques.

She shrugged and shook her head.  "I didn't find anything in what
little ask I had been able to analyze, but I wouldn't know if further
study might turn up something.  Let's just hope that they don't find
anything."

Nick nodded grimly as he stopped the car in front of her building.
She said good night and started to get out of the car.  With a hand on
her arm, he stopped her.

"Nat, who was that vampire that took you?  Will he come back for you
at any time?"

"I don't know if he'll come after me, but I don't think so.  LaCroix
pretty much convinced him that it was a bad idea.  And I believe that
LaCroix mentioned that the vampire's name was Shane."

Nick's eyes grew wide in shock.  "Shane?  About my age and height,
dark eyes and hair, thick eyebrows, ..."

She felt bewildered.  Who could this Shane character be?  "Yes, why?"

She was even more shocked when he began roaring with laughter.
"What??"

Nick calmed down a bit.  "He is *the* laughing stock of the
Community. I'm usually sort of grateful that he keeps me from being
the one.  There are just so many stories of his incompetence that I
wonder how he was able to pull this off."

She snickered a bit.  "Well, LaCroix did call him a fool."

Nick sobered.  "I still don't know about LaCroix.  I have to wonder
what kind of game he's up to."

She nodded.  "I'm a little uneasy about it myself, but he did save
Scully and me.  I don't think he'll be doing anything so soon.  I'll
be fine for tonight at least.  So go home and we'll figure this out
tomorrow."

Nick hesitated.

"We should get some rest," she soothed.  "Go on, I'll be fine."

He nodded and let her go.

***

He had been out hunting for whatever was killing off his children at
such an alarming rate.  While he hadn't yet found the cause, he had
found something else very interesting.

At a hotel in the city, an interesting situation developed with the
idiot Shane and some ladies.  One lady in particular caught his
attention, an extraordinary red-haired beauty, intelligent and strong.
An amazing strength of will, independent, sensible, a challenge.

It was a good thing that the other fool, LaCroix, had prevented Shane
from killing her.  Now, he floated outside her window, gazing upon
her gorgeous face, considering just how delicious her blood must be,
how sweet and lush.  Oh, how would she react when she realized what
was happening to her?  When she died and was reborn?

He could wait no longer; the night was fleeting and there was much
still left to do. With a bit of concentration, his mind opened the
window, and he stepped silently inside.  She continued her peaceful
slumber, blissfully unaware.

He reached down and caressed her pale cheek.  She moaned softly to
her dream lover, shifted languorously.  Slowly, he slid his arms
around her, lifting her into his embrace.  Clad only in a black
nightshirt, she felt silky and supple against him.  He brushed back
her fiery hair, ran a hand down her pale neck, and began to kiss the
soft skin.

She sighed and shifted in his arms.  Slowly, he allowed his fangs to
emerge, running them lightly over her neck, searching for the perfect
spot...  Right there...

He bit in and she winced a bit.  The blood started flowing, lustrous
and sweet.  She moaned and moved restlessly, trailing towards the edge
of wakefulness...  Not yet, love...  He ran a hand over her forehead,
willing her to remain asleep.  With a final arch of her back, she
settled contentedly.  He shifted her again and prepared to bite in
once more.

Suddenly, someone grabbed him by the neck, choking him with an
inhuman strength.  He felt bones begin to snap under the pressure as
he gasped in pain.  Dropping his unfinished child, he reached up to
pull at the large hand.  This must be the one he had been searching
for, the hunter that was killing his children!  What was this being?!

He jumped back, trying to fly around and rip himself away, but his
attacker was too strong.  In another attempt to break free, he
twisted rapidly, and somehow was able to slip out of the iron embrace.
Whipping around, he launched himself at his enemy, intent on draining
the life and power out of the being.

His teeth met little resistance as they sank into the other's neck.
In the millisecond before anything rushed out, he could sense that
something was terribly wrong.  But there was no time to draw away, no
time to escape the caustic flow of fluid that bubbled into his mouth.

He screamed in pain and threw the being aside, staring in horror as
not red blood but some green substance flowed from the hunter's wound.
He clutched his mouth as the substance burned like fire.  This being
was not human or vampire, it was like nothing he'd ever seen in his
many millennia of life.

The creature was huge, seemingly a human male except for the green
fluid bubbling from its neck.  The large angular face stared calmly at
him, making no move to attack again.  It said nothing, and yet he
knew, it was allowing him this one chance to escape.  He had better
take it now or he would die.  Never before had he felt such fear,
never been the weaker one, but this being was far superior to him.

In pain and frustrated, he flew.


End of Part 19

--

Timeless (20/27)
by Elisa P. Black


An inhuman cry shattered everything.  On instinct, Mulder leapt out of
bed with his gun drawn.  {Did that come from Scully's room...?}

"Scully!"

He called out her name even as he threw himself against the connecting
door separating their two rooms.  The door gave in a little, but did
not open.  He rammed it again.

It crashed open, spilling him dazed into the room.  Immediately, he
noticed movement to the right.  It was the figure of a darkly-clothed
man, already in mid-dive -- head-first -- out the window.  {What the
hell?? This room is on the tenth floor...}

Sensing yet another presence nearby, Mulder spun rapidly, his gun held
out before him.  He found himself staring into the impassive, angular
face of a large man.  No, not a man... the Bounty Hunter!  He suddenly
noticed the puncture wounds on its neck, the green ooze bubbling
out...

{Oh, sh**.}  He jumped back quickly to avoid the effects of the toxic
'blood.' Calmly turning to approach the window, the hunter ignored
him.  With all the ease of a man hopping into a convertible, it tossed
itself out.

Mulder fought down the urge to give chase, instead starting to search
for Scully.  From behind the bed, two small feet stuck out
haphazardly.  He moved around the room to reach her.

"Scully?"

She had crumpled to the floor, unconscious or...  He didn't even want
to think it.  Her skin looked terrifyingly pale, almost a shocking
white.  Worst of all, two puncture wounds on her neck spilled profuse
amounts of blood onto the floor...

"Oh, Scully," he choked.

Kneeling beside her, he felt for a pulse, and thankfully, found one.
After a quick search, he found the room's phone and called for an
ambulance.  Then he settled down to hold her cold, unresponsive hand.

"Come on, Scully.  Stay with me.  I- I need you..."

{Damn vampires}, he thought. {Why her?  Why Scully??}

"There's no way you're getting away with this, you bastards!" yelled
Mulder into the indifferent night.

***

The phone rang.  Natalie ignored it, instead pulling the pillow around
her ears.  It continued to blare insistently.  Sighing, she reached
out to pick it up, and in the same motion, caught a glimpse of the
clock.  {4:30 AM.  Perfect.}

"Hello?"

"Dr. Lambert?"

It was Mulder, sounding tired and angry.  She got the distinct
impression that everything was going to hell.

"Agent Mulder? What's wrong?"

He let out a sigh.  "It's Scully.  She was attacked... by a vampire.
She's in the hospital now."

It was worse than she'd imagined.  Now that Scully was hurt, Mulder
would wage an all-out effort to track down the vampires.  He would
find the truth... and destroy Nick.

"How is she?" Nat asked fearfully.

"She's in critical condition.  She's lost a lot of blood."

Damn, who could have done it?  Who would be so stupid... or conniving.
LaCroix?

"I'll be right there."

She hung up.  Now she'd have to call Nick and tell him, something she
really wasn't looking forward to doing.  Before she could lose her
nerve, she picked up the phone again and hit the speed dial.  Nick
answered after the first ring.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Nat."

"Is something wrong?"

She smiled briefly at the instant worry in his voice; at least he
cared.  But she frowned again as she spoke.

"I'm fine, but my friend Dana is in the hospital.  She was...
attacked."

There was total silence on the other end.  Nat swallowed hard and
continued.

"You know what this means.  Mulder is very upset, to say the least. We
have to be very careful--"

"Nat," he interrupted, "how is she doing?  Maybe I could convince her
to...  And Mulder, maybe, if he believes..."

"No, Nick, Shane already tried to hypnotize her before, remember? And
Mulder, he wouldn't let you get near him.  He already suspects."

She took a deep breath, trying to build up the courage to make a
certain suggestion.  Nick wouldn't like it at all, but it seemed to
her the best option.

"Maybe... maybe we should talk to them, convince them to help us, at
least convince them not to persecute us for what we can't help.
Maybe we can convince Mulder not to destroy everything if we just tell
them--"

"No!" Nick interrupted.  "We can't tell them anything.  They must not
find anything or else we will be destroyed."

"Nick, that's what Mulder may do if he doesn't understand, doesn't
know that there is some good--"

"There is no good here, Nat!  There's nothing to be saved.  Mulder has
every right to destroy us."

Nat felt her heart drop at the tone of despair in his voice. "That's
not true, Nick.  There is something to be salvaged; that's what I'm
working for, with you.  We can talk to Mulder, make him understand--"

"Absolutely not!"

Nick's voice then softened.  "I'll see you at the hospital, Nat."

The phone click and he was gone.

***

{Cold, so cold.}  He curled himself tighter and tried to shiver.
However, his body refused to move much, and he only managed one
twitch.

After he'd dived out of the hotel window, it had been a long,
treacherous flight.  Every second, his body had threatened to freeze
up and plummet to the ground.  Only by an incredible act of will did
he make it back to his temporary home before collapsing.

What was happening?  What was that being that had killed so many of
his children and stopped him?  He'd taken in only a tiny amount of
the green fluid, yet it was affecting him so horribly.  It seemed to
act on the blood in his veins, the sweet blood he'd taken from the
red-haired beauty.  Slowly, the blood froze within him, growing ever
colder...

Time slipped away.  Never before had he realized with such acuteness
how meaningless its passage was, how forbiddingly endless.  A
lifetime, a million lifetimes, one and the same.  A hurt, a million
hurts.  One child, and one million children ever after...

A timeless cycle.  He *would* rise again.


End of Part 20

--

Timeless (21a/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Various devices beeped loudly in the dark silence.  From the doorway
Nat gazed sorrowfully at her old friend, Dana, who lay like a small,
pale ghost on the bed.  Beside the bed sat Mulder, holding his
partner's hand and putting his head down as if in prayer.  Nat took a
step inside with Nick right behind her.  The stillness was broken.

Mulder's head popped up and his stare penetrated Nat.  "Hello, Dr.
Lambert."

She swallowed.  "Hello, Mulder.  How's Dana?"

Mulder looked at her evenly, and she tried not to squirm.  "No change.
And she hasn't woken up yet."

She nodded and approached the bed.  Dana looked very close to just
fading away against the white sheets.  The woman's breathing was
shallow and labored.  Nat closed her eyes to say a short prayer.

"You."

Mulder's dangerous whisper sent chills down her back.  She opened her
eyes in time to see the FBI agent slam an unresisting Nick into the
wall.  A split second later, Mulder had his gun out and pointed
straight at the other man's chest.

"I should have brought a wooden stake, vampire," he hissed.

"No!" Nat shouted.  "He's not--"

"Well, I'll just shoot him in the heart and then we'll see."

If Mulder pulled the trigger, then Nick would pretend that he was
dead.  Hospital staff would come running; they'd take the body away.
If an autopsy were performed, she'd be lucky to get the case.  Ten a
'dead' Nick would leave for a new life elsewhere, leave her alone...

"No, please don't do it," Nat begged.

"You know what he is and yet you protect him.  Are you in his thrall?
Did he hypnotize you, take little drinks from you, make promises of
his love?"  Mulder's voice rose higher in pitch with every word.

"No!"

Bang!  Nick slid down to the floor.  Mulder looked shocked that Nick
hadn't counterattacked, or avoided the shot, or even simply remained
standing.  Nat stared in disbelief.

"Mulder," croaked a surprised voice from the bed, "you killed him?"

They both turned to see Scully trying to sit up.  Nat rushed over to
keep her friend from moving too much and hurting herself.

"I-I though he was a..." Mulder trailed off.

Nat rushed over to examine Nick.  He'd taken a bullet to the heart but
she knew he could survive it.  A moment later, she heard a number of
footsteps rushing into the room.  They were hospital staff coming to
see what had happened.

"Was there a gunshot?" someone asked.  "Was anyone hurt?"

Natalie's mind skimmed through the consequences.  No more Nick. Mulder
on a full-scale rampage.  The Enforcers killing them all.  She knew
what she had to do.

Making sure that her body blocked their view, she spoke calmly.
"Everything's okay.  He just fell and some stuff crashed."

"Are you sure?"

She stood and turned, still blocking their view.  "He's okay.  I'm his
doctor."

Satisfied, the hospital staffers left.  Now it was time to face the
others.  Mulder spoke first, his voice deadly calm.

"So he is one.  And you're protecting him."

"He's not evil," Nat explained.  "He's trying to make up for past
mistakes, and he's done so much good... He drinks cow blood, for
goodness sake!"

Scully jumped in.  "Right now, he's severely injured... or dead. You
should try to get him some medical treatment."

They both turned to stare at Scully.  She sighed.  "Whatever you
believe, there's no such thing as vampires.  Now *please* check on
him.  Or I'll get out if this bed and do it myself."

Nat spun around to look straight into Nick's accusing stare; Mulder
and Scully could not see him since she was in their way.  Looking back
evenly, she reached into her purse and took out a scalpel from her
ever-ready vampire first aid kit.  She knelt down and pried the bullet
out.  Nick grimaced, but then deliberately blanked his face and closed
his eyes.  She, in turn, crossed the room and dropped the bullet into
the hazardous waste bin.  Crossing back, she nudged him.

"Get up, Nick."

He refused to budge.

"Don't make me out to be a liar, Nick.  I told those people that you
were fine, and if they have to cart your body away, then I'll look
suspicious."

Scully spoke quietly.  "He's not getting up, Nat."

"Damn it, Nick!  This isn't a game!  You have a responsibility here.
You know very well what will happen when Mulder does more
investigating.  If we can't explain...  How far do you think he'll
get before the Enforcers kill us all?  Kill not just Mulder, but
Scully, you, all of our friends, me?"

Nick's eyes popped open at that and he let out a low growl.  Scully
gasped in surprise.  Mulder pulled out his gun again.

"No!"  Nat stood her ground in front of Nick.

"Move out of the way."

"Don't shoot him!"

"Why not?  It won't kill him.  Give me a good reason not to."


End of Part 21a

--

Timeless (21b/27)
by Elisa P. Black


"He's not to one who attacked Dana, but he's the only one who can help
us find out who did."

"I can do that on my own.  Now move!"

"Mulder, don't!"  Scully voice stopped him.

"Why would the good detective die anyway?" he asked bitterly, raising
the gun again.  "He's a vampire."

"Nick was weakened by your first shot," Nat explained.

Mulder looked unconvinced and his finger tightened on the trigger.
Scully tried again.

"Mulder, don't.  He didn't attack me so why should you kill him?"

The FBI agent lowered the gun reluctantly.  "Okay, talk."

"There are some vampires in the city who make up the Community," Nat
began.  "They usually live in obscurity thanks to the efforts of a
certain group called the Enforcers.  These older, more powerful
vampires eliminate anyone or anything that they think will threaten
the Community or threatened to expose its existence to the general
public."

"And you help them by covering up the evidence from the autopsies,"
Mulder retorted.

"If I hadn't known about them, the I would probably have missed the
evidence anyway," Nat argued.

"People are dying on a regular basis here, and you're covering up the
evidence.  You *do* know, so you *are responsible."

"I had no choice.  They would kill me, my friends, my family."

"Mulder," Scully interjected quietly, "how far would you go, how much
would you give up, for your sister? Or for me?"

He hesitated, and she continued.  "Let it go, Mulder.  We can't fight
each other while something much bigger is happening out there.  That's
where the most people are dying now, with whatever is going on,
whatever we have to stop."

He put away his gun and sank into the bedside chair.  Scully reached
out and took hold of his hand.  The two then turned to Nick and Nat.

"Well," Nat continued, "right now something very strange is happening.
There have been so many deaths recently.  If what the man who
kidnapped Scully and me before said is correct, then it's because
someone is creating many more vampires.  These young ones have not
been taught how to control themselves, and they must be destroyed.
The Community is working to get rid of them and to track down the one
behind this."

"So what are we supposed to do?  Just sit back and let people continue
to die?  Let this Community of vampires clean up after itself and
destroy all the evidence, leaving no one the wiser?" Mulder asked
sarcastically.

"No, we should do all we can to stop the killings.  Both we and the
Community have the same goal there.  The rest we can worry about
later."

Mulder considered it and then nodded.  "I can agree to that for now.
But I still don't trust you and I will be watching you two."

"Fine with me," Nat replied, somewhat relieved.

Scully nodded also.  "Good.  You'll keep me posted while I'm in here."

Her partner looked ready to protest, but she shushed him.  "And you
will check in with me every now and then so I know you're okay."

Mulder nodded meekly.  "Yes, mommy."

He got a punch in the arm for that.  Then they all turned to Nick who
had remained silent through the whole exchange.  The vampire looked at
Nat and sighed.

"All right.  But Mulder cannot run around killing vampires. Its much
too dangerous, and the Enforcers would see it as a threat."

"So what *do* we do?" asked Mulder in agitation.

Nat looked out the window and noticed the impending dawn.  Time to get
Nick home.

"Sleep for now.  Doctor's orders."

Scully laughed.  "I couldn't have said it better myself."

"Our doctors work on dead people.  What does that say about us?"
quipped Mulder.

They all laughed.

***

The men in the dark room exchanged grim looks.  It meant bad news to
be called so early in the morning.  In uneasy silence, they  waited.

Well-Manicured Man walked in.  "We may have a problem"

The pudgy man known as First Elder spoke.  "What do you mean?"

"A vampire, possibly the one who originated the Toronto situation,
attacked Agent Scully tonight.  The Hunter had to deter him
personally."

"What of the vampire?"

"We don't know.  It took in some of the Hunter's 'blood' and began to
fly away erratically.  Our man lost sight of it somewhere along the
way."

"But it knows.  As does Mulder and Scully.  This is not good." First
Elder looked extremely worried.

"Dr. Lambert and Detective Knight also know, " continued Well-
Manicured Man.  "I believe that the four may have formed a truce."

"A dangerous alliance for us to face."

A new voice interrupted.  "I wasn't called for this meeting?"

The men all turned to see the most recent arrival whose voice they
recognized far too well.  It was Cancerman, smirking insolently at
them.  He took a puff on his cigarette.

"Leave those four to me, gentlemen.  I can handle them."

Well-Manicured Man let out a snort of laughter.  "Really?  You can't
even handle Mulder alone."

Cancerman simply smiled.


End of Part 21b

--

Timeless (22/27)
by Elisa P. Black


It was a restless day for Natalie and she couldn't even get in a
decent hour of sleep.  Deciding to get up early at dusk, she puttered
around the apartment, keeping busy and trying not to think about the
problem at hand. Every now and then, a half-form ed thought slipped
through: could they really find the source of the problem?  What
vampire would be stupid or driven enough to make so many new young
ones?  What would happen if they couldn't stop it?  Would Mulder and
Scully remain on their side?

A stain refused to leave the tabletop that she was diligently
scrubbing. She sighed.  Why did everything have to be so difficult?
While reaching for the bottle of cleanser that sat at the other end of
the table, she noticed that her cat was staring at her strangely.

"What is it, Sydney?"

The cat stared solemnly at her, his ears flicking frenetically and
his fur standing on end.  She felt the hairs on the back of her own
neck raising in response.  Her spine tingled with fear.

"What is it, sweetie?"

The grey tabby suddenly dashed across the table to knock the cleanser
over the edge.  With a cry of frustration, she leaned forward in a
futile attempt to stop it.  At that same moment, she heard a loud pop
accompanied by breaking glass.

She gasped.  That was a gunshot through the window!  Keeping her body
down against the table, she pushed herself sideways and dropped to
the floor.  From there, she looked at the kitchen window to see a
gaping hole in the glass.  If Sydney hadn't gotten her to move at that
instant, she would have been hit.

Fear hung heavily over her, turning her insides as she wondered what
to do.  Would they fire another shot?  Who wanted her dead, and why?
Should she call someone for help?  She crawled into the next room and
grabbed the phone.  Using speed dial, she called Nick.  When he picked
up, she immediately spoke.

"Nick, someone just shot at me through my window."

It was enough.  The phone clicked; Nick was on his way.  Now all she
could do was wait.

***

Mulder had gotten up early.  For about an hour, he'd sat in a rental
car parked a little ways down from Detective Knight's loft.  Now it
was getting darker, and he considered whether or not he should just
walk up to the door and knock.  He *was* getting bored out here, and he
wondered if the good detective would ever get up.

Jumping out of the car, he stretched out as much as he could,
reaching out as far as possible, throwing back his head.  A good
stretch to try wringing the fatigue out of his body.  Then he saw it,
a dark figure running on the roof of the warehouse.  It was too fast
to be human.  A split second later, it took off into the air, flying
out of sight within a minute.  It looked very much like Knight.

Cursing softly, Mulder ran into the building and rushed upstairs to
the loft.  When he emerged from the elevator into the living area, the
place was almost pitch black.  Pulling out his flashlight, he
conducted a quick search of the whole loft.  No one was there.  He
cursed again. Oh well, while he was here...

In the bathroom, he found nothing interesting.  The bedroom was full
of dark clothes and silk sheets.  The living room and some other areas
held a few pieces of art, all of which he supposed were probably
expensive.  In the kitchen, he found a conspicuous absence of food.
There were also many wine bottles filled with blood like the kind that
had been described as "paint thickener" in the report of the time that
Knight was in jail. Otherwise, the loft was pretty much bare, as if no
one really lived there.

Spotting the radio, Mulder turned it on, hoping to find something
interesting.  Half-listening as he continued his perusal of the
living room art, he heard a male voice whisper smoothly and intently.
The man spoke of love and hate in a dire tone, laughing heartily at
the hopelessness, and proclaiming his own eternity.  Uh, OK, though
Mulder, this guy is a certifiable nut.  But there was something so
compelling about the voice and manner, so hypnotic even, that Mulder
couldn't just dismiss it.  He got the sneaky feeling that this
NightCrawler must be a vampire.

Mulder set out to find a radio station.

***

"Natalie?"

Nick burst into the apartment to find her sitting on the floor of her
living room.  She pointed wordlessly at the broken window, and he
immediately zipped over.  There was an open window in the next
apartment building.  The muzzle of a weapon peeked out from behind
some curtains.

Assuring himself that Nat was unhurt, he then rushed out and
half-flew up the stairs of the next building.  Without hesitation, he
burst into the apartment where he had seen the weapon.  He searched
every room, but no one was there.  Quickly taking to the air, he
scanned a radius of two miles but couldn't find anything suspicious.
How could the shooter have escaped so fast?

He headed back to the shooter's apartment dejectedly.  What if the
person tried again in the future?  Nat might not be so lucky then.
How was he going to protect her?

Thoroughly disgusted with himself, he half-heartedly searched the
apartment.  The whole place was amazingly clean, despite its
desertedness. That was very suspicious; someone must have spent a lot
of time cleaning here before.  The whole thing might ha ve been in
planning for a while. The thought made him shiver in fear.  Why Nat?
Who would want to kill her?

He noticed that the weapon muzzle he had spotted before was nothing
more than a small metal cylinder propped up in the window.  Well that
explained how the shooter had gotten away; the person had left a long
while ago. He also saw something on the floor by the window.

It was a still-smoking cigarette butt.


End of Part 22

--

Timeless (23/27)
by Elisa P. Black


Mulder found the radio station's door locked.  Not surprising when
people needed to lock doors for their own safety, but what rules
applied to a vampire at night?  He wondered if it would be better to
try breaking/sneaking in, or to knock and simply hope for the best. In
the first scenario, the "NightCrawler" would probably not be surprised
-- or amused -- and might immediately kill him.  In the second, the
vampire might not respond, or might still kill him.  He didn't like
either idea.

As he stood around waiting for inspiration to hit, a muffled noise
suddenly caught his attention.  He listened carefully, and pinpointed
its location.  There was something rumbling on the other side of the
door!

"Oh, sh--," he muttered to himself.  "I hope its not a *bad* vampire."

Figuring that he had nothing to lose, he pulled out his gun and poised
himself, ready to kick down the door.  With a foot hanging in midair,
he realized then that rumbling wasn't really so menacing. Slow, with
rhythmic stops and starts, it sounded very much like...

"Snoring."

He laughed softly and lowered his foot.  Pulling out a lockpick, he
wrestled with the lock for a few moments, and finally yanked open the
door.  The rumbling snore rolled out at him like a sonic boom.  He
stumbled back and shook his head.

"How can they go on the air with that in the background?"

A quick check reassured him that the boom came from an unmenacing old
sleeping guard at the front desk.  He carefully shut the door and
tiptoed down a hallway.  Hopefully he could surprise the NightCrawler
if the snore -- he winced -- covered up the sounds of his arrival.

Many offices and studios were empty and dark.  Soon, he found himself
in an area where thankfully the sound did not penetrate so well.
However, it meant that his own movements were that much more audible.

He spotted a soft light in the distance.  Crouching down, he moved as
quietly as possible toward it.  When he was right outside the studio,
he peeked in.

A solemn figure in black leaned towards a microphone.  Lights on the
equipment panel colored the man's head fuzz a pale purple.  Unable to
look away, Mulder stared in fascination as the NightCrawler turned
slowly to look right back at him.

A second passed.  Then two.  The NightCrawler turned away
indifferently.  This irked Mulder very much.  Getting a good grip on
his gun, he kicked open the door, and pointed the weapon at the DJ's
back.

The NightCrawler swiveled around in his chair, looking straight into
Mulder's eyes.  The vampire's calm stare made the gun seem as
insignificant as a water pistol.  Mulder tried to shake his feeling
of vulnerability by waving the weapon a little.

"What do you know about Detective Nick Knight?"

At the mention of the name, the NightCrawler's eyes sparkled.  It was
a vicious light, full of menace and mischief.  An evil smile passed
over the pale face.

"One moment please," the gravelly voice murmured, and its owner spun
back briefly and worked several controls.  "There, I've put on a
pre-recorded show.  Now you were saying?"

Once again the dark eyes bore into him, and he felt a vague
discomfort.  The NightCrawler's sudden interest at the mention of
Detective Knight caught Mulder off-guard.  He could tell that the
menace had not just been directed at himself, but also at Knight as
well.  Together with the evil that he could sense in the
NightCrawler, he felt that he and the detective might be in serious
trouble.  Maybe he shouldn't have come here after all...  The vampire
looked expectantly at him, waiting for his next move, somewhat like a
cat playing with a mouse.  Possibly his only chance would be to talk
his way out of here.

"Uh, I asked you what you might know about Detective Knight, Mr...
Mr.--?"

"LaCroix."

"Mr, LaCroix, what do you know about Knight?"

LaCroix' sudden look of evil amusement had his stomach doing flips.
"What has the dear boy done now?"

'Dear boy?', wondered Mulder.  What was the relationship between the
two vampires?  Why did this one make Detective Knight sound like
nothing more than an errant schoolboy?

"Now *that* is very true, in *many* ways, Agent Mulder."

Mulder blinked in surprise.  That was a loaded sentence LaCroix had
just uttered.  He was certain that it referred to the thought he'd
just had about the 'errant schoolboy' bit.  The NightCrawler must
have read his mind.  But to admit it so blatantly, meant that the
vampire had some plan in mind.  Some 'dastardly' plan, he thought
jokingly.

"How did you know my name?"

LaCroix steepled long, fine fingers and smiled over them.  "It is my
business to know."

"Oh, then you *do* know something about Knight.  And about the
exsanguinations."

"Perhaps, but I am *not* in the business of telling."  LaCroix stood,
looking him straight in the eye, and continued with a new growl in his
voice.  "I suggest that you leave it alone... and *forget.*"

The last two words were spoken with a compelling resonance, and
glowing amber eyes.  He felt an extreme urge to obey, but realized
just in time what was happening.  The vampire was trying to hypnotize
him!  He had to fight the influence of that growl, those
all-encompassing eyes...  He would...  He would make cross eyes into
that gaze to break its hold!

He did it.  LaCroix burst into hearty laughter.  Once again the dark
'gentleman,' the vampire shook its head.

"I really must go now.  I have errands to run."

LaCroix departed, leaving Mulder to sway on his feet, too dazed to
follow.


End of Part 23

--

Timeless (24/27)
by Elisa P. Black


It was with immense pain that he awoke this evening, the monster's
"green blood" still coursing through his system.  What he needed was
fresh blood to flush it away.  He looked into the darkness with
frustration; it was already late so he'd lost a few good hours.  He
must not waste any time.  Half of his work had already been undone
earlier in the day by the green-blooded creature, and he must now
salvage the rest.

Staggering out of the building, he found the nearest human lying in an
alley.  The tramp was dirty, drunk, and raving mad, but he had already
taken to long getting even this far, and he could not be picky.  He
snuck up, clamping a firm hand over the man's whiskered mouth and
sinking in with eager fangs.

The tramp flailed wildly, scratching and tearing at him, but he didn't
care.  Long draughts of alcohol-laden blood flooded in, easing the
sharp pain.  In his arms the body grew weaker, the heart slowed,
breath failing...  It was time to leave and carry on with his work.

He started to pull away when the body suddenly moved.  Caught by
surprise and still weak from the "green blood" poison, he could not
defend himself.  The tramp screamed shrilly and attacked him. Terrible
pain throbbed from his cheek as the man bit in.

He pushed frantically at his attacker, but to no effect.  The tramp
stood tall now, holding *his* limp body, and he felt himself growing
weaker.  As the time stretched on, the blunt teeth embedded in him
turned to fangs, and at long last, withdrew.  He couldn't prevent
himself from falling bonelessly to the ground.

Try as he might, he could not move.  Staring helplessly, he could see
nothing but a section of trash-strewn alley.  A moment later though,
the tramp's grizzled face moved into view.

The fangs were large, exaggerated in length and sharpness.  The eyes
were even more hideous, not the burning amber he'd come to expect of
vampires, but a glowing green, like so much sewage and hate.  A gleam
of insanity still shone in them.

"You're like all the others, ya lousy bastard!  I'll show you all!"

The tramp growled in a murderous rage, gesticulating wildly in his
madness, seeming likely at any minute to throw himself to the ground.
His dirty whiskered face could not seem to hold still either.  With
every moment, it seemed to fluctuate, to grow longer or shorter,
wider or thinner.  The cheekbones rose, then fell; the nose contorted
in length and width; the eyes shifted their size and slant in endless
combinations.  Only the mouth remained a similar size to fit the
overgrown fangs; yet the lips grew and shrank in thickness.

The newborn monster disappeared gleefully into the darkness.

***

Dana Scully stared boredly at the late night black and white horror
movie.  On the small TV hanging in the top right corner of the room,
ridiculous monsters chased terrified maidens.  Their screams sounded
muffled with the volume lowered.  Her mind, however, was really on
the phone on the bedside table.  Since no one had had the decency to
come see her and distract her from perpetual boredom all day, nor
update her on what was going on, she was hoping for a call, at least.

It was then that something happened.  An ear-splitting shriek came
somewhere nearby.  She almost instinctively stood up to see what was
happening, but one of her IV's stopped her with a stab of pain. Ouch!,
she shouldn't have pulled that.

Then something burst through her window.  Correction: *someone*.  A
someone with glowing green eyes and fangs.  Whose face changed
constantly, somewhat like a grotesque version of Mr. Potato Head. No,
it must be a trick of the light.

She looked around for a weapon, but nothing was available nearby. Even
worse, her IV's were hooked up to the pole standing on the other side
of the bed, right next to the intruder.  What she wouldn't give for
her gun right now...

"It *is* you," growled the intruder. "They want you, ya know.  I saw
it in his head; they're after you.  I won't let 'em get you!"

"Who are you?!" she demanded in her most authoritative voice.

He chuckled.  "No one.  Everyone."

She found herself staring into Melissa's face.  "Wh-what?"

"Do you like it?" asked the very male voice.

She shook her head to clear away the illusion.  Just a trick of the
light, she told herself.  Can't lose my head now.

"Oh, really?" taunted the gruff voice.  "How about *this*?"

The face became a perfect copy of her brother Bill's, then her mother
Margaret, her daughter Emily, Mulder, Skinner...  And then Cancerman,
Well-Manicured Man, other old shadowy men she recognized, the Bounty
Hunter...

The long grim face looked incongruous on the short stocky body.  In
this guise, the intruder stalked slowly around the bed.  She took a
step back, felt the IV's pull on her, started to rip them out.  He
was only a few feet away.  She tore the last needle free, and pressed
her bleeding arm against her gown.  As she neared the door, she
spotted a familiar uniform in the hall.  Police!  They may have come
about the scream she'd heard earlier.

"Help!" she yelled.  "There's an intruder in my room!"

The man, wearing yet another new vampiric face, was now past the bed
and halfway across the room.  Two cops brushed in past her with their
guns out.  They stopped for a moment in shock before ordering him to
stop his advance.  He jumped at them, knocking them to the floor, and
bringing himself within a foot of her.  She started to leave the
room.

Someone else crashed through what was left of the window.  She and the
first intruder whirled around to see the Bounty Hunter.  The Hunter
headed straight for the man beside her, and stabbed his chest with a
wooden stake.  First Intruder snarled in rage and pain, as green fluid
oozed from the wound.

The Hunter's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and he suddenly flicked out a
stiletto instrument.  As Intruder pounced in attack, the Hunter
stabbed at the back of his neck with the stiletto.  Intruder fell to
the ground, breathing heavily.  Green blood also bubbled out from
this injury, but the man did not die.

Scully remembered then about the toxicity of the green blood.  Yet the
cops lay right next to the Intruder, and although dazed and shocked,
they didn't seem otherwise ill.  Even now they were shaking their
heads clear and attempting to stand.

The Intruder got to his feet and scurried to the window.   With a
little leap, he took off... into the air.  The Bounty Hunter looked
grimly about, then walked across the room and out the window.  Scully
and the cops stared after them in amazement.


End of Part 24

--

Timeless (25/27)
by Elisa P. Black


When Mulder came back to his senses, he got the nagging feeling that
he was missing something.  He glanced about at the softly glowing
equipment as if he could find it there, but nothing came to mind.
Perhaps it had something to do with the NightCrawler, LaCroix...?

That was it!  He remembered now.  Scully had mentioned the name
before.  LaCroix was the vampire who had "rescued" Scully and Dr.
Lambert from the other vampire Shane.  But why had the NightCrawler
done it, and what was up with this nighttime radio show?

A thorough search of the studio revealed nothing.  The only signs of
LaCroix in the place were tapes of old shows.  Maybe he'd just take
one to analyze later...

His cell phone rang.  It was Scully telling him to get to the hospital
right away.  She gave no explanation, but the tone of her voice sent
him sailing out the door, and speeding over.  He was just a few blocks
away from the hospital when he heard a scream.

Slamming on the brakes, he jumped out quickly, gun in hand.  He ran
towards the source of the sound, somewhere in a nearby alley.  There
he saw the silhouettes of a large, familiar form leaning over a small
female.  The large one was the Bounty Hunter.

"Hey!  Back away from the girl!"

The Hunter paid him no attention.  Pulling out a sharp object, the
alien stabbed it into the female's chest.  She shrieked in pain.

"Hey, stop!"

Mulder fired off a few shots at the Hunter.  Then, to his amazement,
the girl crumbled to dust.  She must have been a vampire.  First
driving off the vampire in Scully's room at the hotel, now killing
this one; what was the Bounty Hunter's stake in all this?

The alien was walking away now,  He ran out of the alley after it, but
the street was empty.  He searched all over, but the Bounty Hunter had
completely disappeared.  Returning to the alley, he took a sample of
the ash.  There was no wooden stake around so the Hunter must have
left with it.

Some debris suddenly fell nearby.  He looked up and spotted someone on
the fire escape three stories up.  It was LaCroix.  The vampire looked
at him coolly for a second before disappearing in a blur.

Seeing nothing more of interest, he continued on to the hospital.
Outside Scully's room, he found a lot of police milling around,
including Detectives Knight and Schanke.  The pair was speaking with
two cops who looked the worse for wear.  Further down the hall,
Scully sat in a wheelchair with an IV pole, and Dr. Lambert, beside
her.  He rushed over to his partner.

"Scully, are you OK?  What happened?"

"I *saw* things, Mulder."

He crouched down before her.  "What did you see?"

At that moment, Nat interrupted.  "We can discuss this later. Right
now, I want to know what Nick and Schanke found out from those
officers."

There was a hint of warning in her voice.  Mulder figured that it had
to do with Schanke, who looked hyper and tense.  Knight was trying to
calm his partner down.

"Schanke, I don't really think this break-in has anything to do with
Myra being here."

"She's here, the creature came here; maybe it stopped at Agent
Scully's room first, but it could have gone for Myra next!"

"Schanke," Nat cut in, "why don't you go spend some time with your
wife while you're here?  I'll bet you haven't got much time to visit
her yet.  And I'm sure she'd love it."

"There's more than enough people to handle things here," Knight added.

"Uh, yeah, that's a good idea."  The portly detective headed down the
hall.

Knight motioned over the two injured cops.  "I'd like to speak with
each of you separately about what you saw.  Barnett, you first."

The tall, grizzled cop followed Knight into an empty room.  Mulder
came in after them.  From the annoyed look on Knight's face, Mulder
could tell that the vampire did not want him there.  Ignoring it, he
settled himself in a chair near Barnett, and asked the first
question.

"Can you tell us what happened, from the beginning?"

"Well, sir, my partner Jones and I got a call about someone in the
window in the room next to Agent Scully's.  As we were taking a
statement from that patient about some monster, Agent Scully called
for help.  Jones and I rushed into her room, but the creature jumped
us.  We were pretty well-dazed by his attack so we didn't really see
what happened next."

"And this creature, what did it look like?"

"It was a short stocky guy whose face kept changing, but he always had
these glowing green eyes and large fangs."

"Are you sure that's what you saw?" asked Knight, looking the cop
straight in the eye.

"Yes--"

Knight interrupted with a compelling growl in his voice.  "It might
have been the light, don't you think?"

"Actually, yeah, it could have been the light..."

"Thank you, that's all."  Knight's voice was pleasant again.

When the cop had left, Mulder turned to the detective.  "Why did you
have to do *that*?"

"Letting him continue to believe would be too risky.  Better that I do
it than the Enforcers."

Mulder didn't like it, but there was nothing he could really do about
it.  Knight made quick work of Jones in the same manner, and then they
brought in Scully and Dr. Lambert for a private conference. Scully
told them about what she'd seen, and Mulder told of his recent
encounter with the Bounty Hunter, minus the NightCrawler part.  Nat
then told of the attempt on her life made earlier that day.

"When I looked for the assassin, all I found was a cigarette butt,"
added Knight.

"What kind?  Do you have it now?"

Knight handed it over, confusion on his face.  There wasn't a brand
name on the little stub, but Mulder *knew*; he could see and smell
it. It had to be Morley's and Cancerman.

"I think that Cancerman and his cronies are interested in Toronto's
vampires for whatever reason.  These recent exsanguinations must have
thrown them off course, so they sent the Bounty Hunter to fix things.
We must be very close to something that they don't want us to know.
This intruder, this being, I think it's really some combination of
vampire and alien.  It can't be killed by the normal methods."

"So how *do* we stop it?" asked Nat.

"How indeed," came a voice from the doorway.

"LaCroix, what are you doing here?!"  Knight immediately stepped
between the other vampire and everyone else.

"Please, Nicholas, I am not here to quibble with you.  There is much
more at stake."

"Leave now!"

"Agent Mulder, perhaps *you'd* like to hear my story."

"Sure, pull up a chair."

The NightCrawler settled himself gracefully in a chair beside Mulder.
Everyone watched the master vampire warily as they waited.

"Once upon a time," LaCroix began, a tone of mocking in his voice," a
*very* long time ago, lived a simple man.  He had a lady, whom he
loved very much, and who loved him.  She was beautiful, with fair
skin, and fiery red hair."

LaCroix stopped for a moment to look pointedly at Scully.

"One day he was attacked and made into a vampire.  Later, he
discovered his attackers lurking nearby and feared that they might
hurt his love as well.  He pondered whether or not he should speak to
her, or even make her a vampire to join him.  Yet in horror and fear,
he hid, not daring to approach his love, afraid of her reaction or
that *he* might hurt her.  But he waited too long and they fell on
her, drank of her, but did not give back the blood to make her a
creature of the night.  She died, and he grieved, far too late...

"He sought out the murderers and destroyed them.  In his rage, he
found *all* of the vampires and killed them.  Then he tried to kill
himself,...  but he couldn't.  The vampire survival instinct was too
strong in him.  Again and again he tried, and failed.

"One night, however, a victim of his was able to overpower him, and
drink of his blood.  This newborn vampire was insane, and therefore,
cunning and powerful.  It eluded all attempts to capture and kill it.
And in its madness, it brought many others over to the darkness.

"Many generations later, those many others have populated all over the
world.  That reluctant father... *He is our father*.  Every vampire in
existence now descends from him.  He still feels the guilt -- that he
did not save her, and that he created us.  And he is still trying to
escape it, here in Toronto."

"Escape how?" asked Mulder.

"Why here?" asked Nat.

"The guilt.  He felt a kinship with someone here, the second guiltiest
person in the world: Nicholas.  He looks for understanding. Or perhaps
his killer."

"It was agony for him, not to join his beloved in death, or to have
her by his side.  He felt immensely guilty that he had not saved her,
had not offered her eternity, the only chance for them to be together
forever...  Now all he had was time, alone; endless empty time.

"For a long time, he has been the most powerful being on earth.  Yet
he cannot do what he wants the most: to kill himself.  He needs
someone else to do it for him, and has come to his last resort.  He
must make himself atrocious enough that someone will risk all, will
be outraged enough, to finally kill him.  The green blood from the
hunter has weakened him; the time is now."

"Where did you get this story?" asked Nick suspiciously.  "I've never
heard anything about it before."

"My dear Nicholas, only the old ones among us know it."

"Why have you told us?" asked Mulder.

LaCroix fixed his gaze on Scully.  "Because I need your help."


End of Part 25

--

Timeless (26/27)
by Elisa P. Black


"No, Scully, don't do this. It's too dangerous."

"Mulder, I'll be fine.  You'll all be here to back me up."

He shook his head and whirled around to glare at LaCroix.  "How do you
know that this guy hasn't fixated on her?! That he doesn't believe
she's the same woman as his beloved, and he won't try to make her a
vampire?"

"We will not let that happen," answered the NightCrawler coolly.

"Damn right we won't!  She's not going to be the bait.  Why not use
Knight instead?  He came here because of Knight, right?"

"He has traced Nicholas to this city through a faint blood link with
all his children.  He may not know that it is Nicholas he was drawn
to.  Nor may he be able to trace the link any further.  He *does*,
however, know the look and scent of Agent Scully."

"No, she should still be in the hospital now--"

Scully cut in.  "I'm fine, Mulder, and I am going to do this.  I'm not
sure it will work, but I'm willing to try and stop these killings."

Seeing that she would not back down, Mulder reluctantly took up
position behind a crumbling pillar.  He glanced quickly at where the
others were hidden, although, of course, he couldn't really see them.
The pillar across from his hid Knight, Dr. Lambert hid behind another
pillar near Knight's, and LaCroix had floated up somewhere within the
rafters.  Scully herself walked restlessly between the large main
space of the warehouse and outside the building.

Mulder felt uneasy as she stepped outside, out of sight.  Though she
walked with her usual confident step, Scully looked extremely pale in
the weak moonlight, still weak from the prior blood loss.  He also
feared that their quarry would take her away while she was out there,
where they could not see, and would suspect only too late.  Yet his
mention of the possibility to LaCroix earlier had only elicited a
soft laugh.  'It will not happen,' the vampire had said, 'and besides,
there is nowhere to hide outside, and we *must* hide.'

Scully wandered back in, pretending to inspect the place a bit, then
headed back out again. A few seconds passed, and a few more.  Scully
should come back in just about *now*.  She didn't appear.  Mulder
raced for the door.

"Scully!"

"Mulder, come quick!"

He was surprised to hear her voice, perfectly free of distress, yet
full of urgency.  Hurrying his pace, he burst through the door and
brandished his gun.  Scully stood, uninjured, with her own gun
trained... on the Bounty Hunter.  The large being stood calmly with
an equally large, equally grim, dark-haired friend.  The Hunter and
his friend held between them a 40ish-looking, brown-haired male
vampire who struggled furiously in their grip.

"Hold it right there!" yelled Mulder.  "We'll take care of the
vampire."

Bounty Hunter and friend started walking away with their prisoner.
Mulder took a chance, firing at the Hunter's friend, hoping that the
man didn't have toxic green blood.  Unfortunately, the man did. Mulder
pulled Scully back to avoid its effects.  By that time Nick had come
out, and asked what was happening.

Mulder answered.  "The Bounty Hunter and his friend are getting away
with our man.  The 'friend' is leaking green blood so Scully and I
can't go after them.  You'll have to do it."

"Can't we just let them take him off our hands?"

"No.  They won't kill him.  They'll just use him to do *worse* things
than he could ever do alone."

Nick nodded grimly and ran off after the retreating figures.  Before
he could get there though, the Bounty Hunter suddenly went flying
back.  He saw LaCroix standing over the dazed alien.  The Hunter
stood up and began grappling with LaCroix.

"Nicholas!" called LaCroix.  "Kill the vampire!"

The Hunter's friend was marching his prisoner steadily forward. Nick
pulled a wooden stake from his coat pocket and considered it for a
second.  Should he really do this?  At that moment, the captive
vampire looked straight back at him with clear blue eyes.

"It's *you*," whispered the man, wonderingly.  "Please... Please do
it.  Kill me; I am guilty.  I would kill them all.  My children and I
would kill them: Schanke... Natalie..."

He finally nodded, understanding, horrified.  With all his speed, he
rushed at the man.  The Hunter's friend deflected him.  Growling in
frustration, he doubled back to try again.  The captive vampire
roared suddenly, its eyes glowing bright amber and fangs descending.
It struggled wildly, trying to escape.  That move forced the alien to
concentrate on holding the captive.  This gave Nick the chance to
come up undeterred.

The stake found its mark.  Nick backed away quickly to avoid the other
vampire's death throes and the alien's grasp.  A moment later, the
vampire dissolved into ashes.  The alien did not pursue Nick, but
instead stood still, looking grim as ever.

Nick turned and walked back toward his 'father'.  The Bounty Hunter
extracted himself from LaCroix' grasp and walked away with his
friend, disappearing around a corner.  The two vampires then joined
Mulder, Scully, and Nat back in front of the warehouse.

"So it's done?" asked Nick.

Mulder shrugged.

"What's going on over there?" asked Nat, pointing towards bright
lights in the distance.

"Trucks," said LaCroix, "coming this way."

Soon enough, headlights appeared, bringing along a loud rumbling.
Mulder and Scully exchanged glances.  They knew the sound well enough
by now: military vehicles!

Two familiar silhouettes darted from behind somewhere towards the
bright lights, holding someone else between them.  They were the
Bounty Hunter and friend with a new prisoner.  Scully squinted into
the glare and gasped.  LaCroix confirmed her suspicions.

"It is the new creature; the vampire with the green blood."

The vehicles rumbled closer, and they could see the large bulks of
four military trucks followed by a small jeep.  Hunter and friend
jumped into the back of the second truck with the creature.  The
vehicles did not stop or slow down at any point, but just continued to
roll past.

"He's what they wanted all along!" shouted Mulder over the din.  "An
alien-vampire hybrid.  We can't let them take it away!"

He broke into a dead run towards the lead truck, but LaCroix beat him
to it.  Grabbing the driver through the side window, LaCroix threw the
man onto the sidewalk.  The soldier was knocked out.  Meanwhile, the
truck swerved into a stout pole.

The front end wrapped into the barrier while the truck's main body
swung across the road, effectively blocking the path.  Smoke gushed
from the engine, and fluid slowly spread over the ground.  Soldiers
flooded from the back of the vehicle.  The other trucks ground to a
halt, then began backing up.

Nick raced toward the second truck, intent on reaching the creature.
The grounded soldiers moved to intercept him.  Nat spied one man
bringing out a large weapon with something strapped to his back...

"Nick, look out, it's a flamethrower!"

Her warning came too late.  Fire licked out, engulfing Nick.  He
screamed, struggling blindly...

Until something pulled Nick from the fiery blast.  Still blazing in
spots, he was thrown to the ground and rolled about furiously by a
grim LaCroix.  Nat raced over.  She caught a glimpse of the master
vampire's badly burned hands before LaCroix quickly stuffed them in
his pockets.  Her concern, however, was for Nick who had burns nearly
all over his body.  His clothing lay in tatters with burnt black
flash showing through.  His eyes were closed and he did not move.

"You're not going to die on me," she whispered fiercely and started to
work.

While everyone else's attention had focused on the burning Knight,
Mulder had made a break for the second truck.  Scully had watched
uneasily as he took a quick peek inside and then climbed into the
vehicle.  She had a bad feeling about the whole thing, so before she
could change her mind, she too ran for the truck and hopped in.


End of Part 26

--

Timeless (27/27)
by Elisa P. Black


She shouldn't have hopped in without looking around first.  It was
pitch black inside the truck and she couldn't see a thing.  But if
she had stayed outside a little longer, the soldiers out there would
probably have spotted her.

So now she stood, poised with her gun before her, trying desperately
to see.  She sensed some sort of danger, and felt very vulnerable. But
she wasn't about to back out now, not when Mulder was in here,
possibly needing help.  She chanced a whisper.

"Mulder?"

There was no answer.  As her eyes adjusted to the dark, everything
started to gray slightly.  She could barely make out some large
shapes, but wasn't sure what they could be.  This was ridiculous; she
needed some light.  With one hand, she held her gun, using the other
to fish around her pockets.  Darn, no flashlight, but she had some
matches.  She struck one.

Not five feet from her stood Mulder with a wooden stake in hand.  He
was about to strike it into the heart of the 'vampire-human hybrid.'
The creature, in turn, was reaching out to pull him into a sinister
embrace, one where it could bury its fangs into him.  Startled, they
both turned to look at her.

The creature started closing in again, and Mulder noticed its arms
snaking around him.  He jumped back, but the creature lunged forward.
Scully did the only thing she could think to do -- besides, the fire
was burning close to her fingers now -- she threw the match.

The creature yelped and jumped back.  In the dying light, Scully
struck another match.

"Don't even think about trying anything.  I've got plenty more."

"It's OK, Scully.  I found something even better."

Mulder stepped into view with a flamethrower.  The creature quailed
visibly and sank to a seat on a nearby bench.  Turning on an electric
lantern, Mulder sat on another bench, and Scully joined him.

"So," he said, "why don't you start by telling us what happened to
those two, uh, men who brought you in here?  I didn't see them leave;
how did they disappear?"

The creature chuckled heartily.  "Oh, I'll never tell *that*; that's
not important."

"Then what *is* important, sir?"

"Why you two, of course!  You two, and what they want with you, what
we must not give them."

"Who's 'they'?" Scully interjected.

"You know very well who they are.  Old men in suits.  One in
particular with cigarettes... He's coming, you know.  Coming for me
now."

"What do they want?"

"To use you, or have you out of their way.  One or the other.  But you
know that already."

Mulder gave a half-nod of acquiescence.  "But why do you care?  I
mean, you--"

The creature seemed not to have heard him.  "I'm truly sorry, Agent
Scully.  I should have learned more before...  Well, let's just say
that if I'd known that might have wanted you out of the way, I would
never have attacked you..."

It-he-whatever trailed off, and they noticed for the first time that
the creature's eyes had faded to brown and its fangs had vanished.
He seemed amiable now; a grizzled, even friendly old man.  Calm,
rational, and even docile.

The did not relax their guard though.  Scully still held her gun and
matches at the ready.  Mulder tightened his grip on the flamethrower.

The man threw back his head and laughed.  "Perfect!  That's exactly
what you need to do.  Trust no one.  Not even friendly old men."

He directed his gaze at Scully and continued.  "As it is, I have my
'father's' memories.  I remember the taste of Agent Scully, uniquely
lush and... ripe.  If it weren't for your weapons, I wouldn't mind a
sip right now!"

It laughed, turning once more into a garish parody of a vampire. "Oh,
don't look so shocked, my dears.  Really, the taste of Dana is so
sweet, intense...  Have you ever tasted her, Mulder?  Oh, I know you
haven't, but it's just a suggestion."

"Um," Mulder searched with determination for something to change the
subject, "why are you afraid of fire?  Wooden stakes and the stiletto
instrument don't seem to hurt you much."

"But they *do* hurt, Agent Mulder, very much.  They just don't *kill*
me.  I wouldn't know about the fire, but after what happened to poor
Nicholas outside, I have no desire to try it.  I felt it, you know,
the burning."

"Well, what were you planing to do now?" asked Mulder grimly.  "Were
you just going to sit here and let them take you?"

"Of course not!  I know just how long I can stay.  Old Smokey thinks
that he will catch me.  Nay, he believes it sincerely...  He, with
his puny guns, his limited intellect; he purports to 'know' that he
can take me."

"You can read their minds?  His mind?"

"He is near now; I must go.  And so must *you*."

Suddenly, Mulder and Scully were blinded by an intense white light.
They threw up their hands to block it and blinked rapidly, trying to
see.  Hands reached out to grab them and take their weapons.
Roughly, they were shoved forward, and then bodily carried out into
the cool night air.

Away from the direct path of huge spotlights, they could see soldiers
milling around busily.  The last two trucks were gone, but the first
one was still wrapped around the stout pole where it had crashed.  The
jeep stood beside the second truck from which they had just been
taken.  The two agents were shoved off to the side out of the way,
where two soldiers stood to guard them.

Natalie was still working on Nick a few feet away with LaCroix
standing nearby, keeping a few other soldiers at bay.  Still other
men came out of the second truck, but they did not have the creature
with them.  Did the alien-vampire hybrid escape?  Or was it still
inside, either shackled or of its own free will?

Either way, Mulder and Scully could not get past their guards to find
out.  Soon, the soldiers who had come from the truck packed up
everything, and hopped back into the truck.  The soldiers facing
LaCroix joined them.  The truck then turned around and rumbled away.
When it was out of sight, Mulder's and Scully's guards hopped in the
jeep and zipped away.  They were too far ahead to catch up to; by the
time they could get a car, the soldiers would be gone.

"Was the creature in there?" Mulder asked.

"No," said LaCroix.

"Are you sure?  It got away?"

"It wasn't in the truck."

"Where is it now?  Where can we find it?"

"It has now blocked its presence from me.  I do no know."

The sounds of a chopper interrupted Mulder's reply.  They were
suddenly pinned by the bright searchlight of a large, dark
helicopter. It hovered overhead for several moments.  Then something
very small was thrown out, falling towards the wrecked truck.  The
chopper sped away.  LaCroix had scooped up Nick and Nat.

"We must go now!"

He sailed away with Scully following and Mulder in the rear.  The
fluid leaking from the wreck ignited, and flames raced along to the
broken vehicle.  It exploded.

LaCroix landed gently a safe distance away.  Scully half threw
herself/was half thrown to the ground, but was unhurt.  Mulder landed
hard and started moaning.

"Arrgh!  I think my leg is broken."

Scully picked herself up and went to take a look.  Sure enough, it
was.  She quickly checked him for other injuries -- just bumps and
bruises -- and returned her attention to the leg.

"OK, Mulder, let's just set this."

After that was taken care of, Mulder stopped moaning long enough to
question LaCroix.

"Was it in the chopper?  Who was in the chopper?  What did they throw
out?"

"I do not know if the creature was there, but a smoking man was.  He
threw out his cigarette."

Mulder groaned in frustration.


EPILOGUE

A few days later, they still couldn't find any sign of the creature.
However, the exsanguinations did stop.  The wrecked truck, abandoned
warehouse, and even some of the bodies moved out of the overcrowded
morgue all disappeared.

In Nick's loft, Mulder lay on the couch and Nick sat in an overstuffed
chair.  The voice of the NightCrawler drifted around them somberly.
Nick still looked a little extra pale from his brush with death.
Mulder had a large cast around his right leg, and was very agitated.

"This bunch of young vampires who were committing all the murders,
they're gone?  Just gone?"

"Yes, all of the were killed.  It's over."  Nick seemed glad.

Mulder shook his head in disbelief.  "What about the rest of you? The
public has a right to know."

"No!  It cannot happen.  The Enforcers would not allow it.  They would
kill you, Scully, Natalie, myself, and everyone else around us.
Besides, no one would believe you.  You have no proof."

Mulder felt the two sample bags of vampire ash in his pocket, but did
not comment.  One sample had come from the Schankes' house, and the
other from the alley.  He'd have to have them analyzed when he and
Scully got back home.

***

Meanwhile, Nat and Scully were in Nick's kitchen, preparing chicken
soup.

"Nick will eat that?" asked Scully.

"Whenever I can force him to," Nat smiled.

"I noticed that there's almost nothing in this kitchen except for
those wine bottles.  They contain--?"

"Blood," answered Nat nonchalantly.

"Is he really different, biologically?  Is it in the blood, the cells,
the physiology...?"

Nat ignored the question.  "What are you planning to do with Mulder
now?"

"Go back home, and get back to work."

"No, I mean what are you planning to do with *him*?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Yes, you are.  There's something between you two, and I think that
it's... love."

Scully started to object.

"No, listen. I've been doing some thinking.  See, I love Nick, and he
loves me.  These past events have made me realized just how quickly
things can change, how even Nick doesn't have all the time in the
world...  He almost died in that fire, Dana.  And now, while he can't
run away at full speed, I'm going to try to do something about that
love.  Since Mulder's also down for a while now, I suggest that you
do the same."

Scully began to protest again, but a knock at the door cut her short.
In walked Schanke, Jenny, and Myra.  Mrs. Schanke looked a little
pale, but she was smiling happily along with her family.

Don Schanke wielded a large package.  "Hey, Nick, want some souvlaki?"

***

In a dark room somewhere, a group of old men waited.  Soon, Cancerman
stepped in.

"We have it, gentlemen."

"Is it securely locked away?" asked the First Elder.

"Of course."

***

In a dark hallway somewhere else, a large, battered door hung weakly,
swinging back and forth on one squeaky hinge.  Many bodies were
scattered carelessly on the floor.  Some were doctors in white, while
others were soldiers.

In the middle of it all stood the alien-vampire hybrid, with eyes
ablaze and large fangs dripping blood. It waved its arms in victory,
very much free to do as it pleased.  Throwing back its head, it
laughed.


The End