Timeless (7/?) 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 firey 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