Timeless (6/?) 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 Com munity. 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 Jannette 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 ever y 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