Timeless (20/?)
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