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